Chapter 8
DEXTER
“Morning, sunshine.”
“Morning, Mum,” he replied with a smile.
He wanted to give her a kiss, but had been told to limit any physical contact as she was still prone to infection.
This was the first time she’d been lucid since she’d been brought in.
After some further testing, they found that whatever she’d taken had been mixed with something toxic, which had almost caused her entire body to shut down.
She was still on oxygen, her blood pressure was low, and her pulse was erratic.
In short, she wasn’t going anywhere for a while.
Dexter needed to go back to work tomorrow, so he would need to juggle his hospital visits and work.
The intensive care unit allowed visitors between twelve and seven, and despite what the A&E doctor had said, they were quite militant about those hours.
Perhaps he could start at seven in the morning and leave at three.
That way he could spend a few hours here.
It would take him an hour to get to the hospital from the office, so he’d only get a short time with her. He was sure Simon would be reasonable.
He still couldn’t believe Simon was the guy he’d sucked off at Mickey’s, and then again in his office.
How could he have forgotten that cock? It was perfect for him.
He didn’t like girthy ones like his own, the stretch was too painful, but a long one with average girth was perfect for hitting all the right spots.
He wondered what it would be like to be fucked by Simon, and then dismissed that thought.
There was no way that would ever happen.
He was ready for the “this must never happen again” talk they were going to have tomorrow, but he could still mess with the guy a bit, for fun.
Seeing Simon lose his shit on Friday night, and the mask slip from that icy demeanour he liked to give off, had pushed all of Dexter’s buttons.
He wondered if he could provoke Simon into hate-fucking him.
“What are you smiling at?” asked his mum.
“Nothing.”
“Is it a girl?”
“No.”
“A boy?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“A boy, then.” She smiled.
She knew him far too well.
“Tell me about him.”
What was he supposed to say? He had a very open relationship with his mum, but “I sucked my boss’s cock in his office” was something he would not share with her.
“It’s new and . . . I don’t want to jinx it.”
What the fuck had he said that for? There was no chance of anything ever happening again with Simon, and why would he even want it to?
As soon as his mum was out of hospital, he’d be looking for a new job and be out of that place.
The recruiter had been angry with him. They didn’t hire the other candidate and were starting again with another search firm, so they’d lost their commission.
He explained that his mum was in intensive care, but she’d only berated him for not saying that in the first place.
Dexter didn’t think it would have made a difference to someone like Ben Morley.
The guy was an arsehole, and the more he’d reflected on it, the gladder he was that he didn’t get the job.
Simon was an uptight prick most of the time, but at least he respected your skill set. He doubted Ben did that with anyone except himself. And now he was defending Simon in his head. God, if Gabriel and Jason knew what he’d done, and what he was thinking, they would disown him as a friend.
Dexter chatted with his mum for a bit before she fell asleep, then he stayed with her for another couple of hours, just reading a book on his phone, although he wasn’t sure any of the words went into his head.
He was exhausted and needed to get home and sort his flat out, but what if he left and she woke up and needed him?
It was only three o’clock, so he still had another four hours before they’d kick him out.
Perhaps he could get some shopping, go home, clean up, and then come back for a couple of hours?
Yeah, that’s what he’d do. He spoke to the nurse and asked them to tell his mum he’d be back later.
Dexter woke up with a start. It was light out, so he scrambled for his phone.
It was six o’clock in the morning. Oh, fuck, and his phone only had two per cent battery.
He plugged it in and stumbled into the shower.
He had a splitting headache and wasn’t sure what had happened.
After he’d left the hospital, he’d gone shopping, but he’d had to go to a small supermarket because the big ones closed early on a Sunday.
He’d bought enough food for a few days, until he could get out again one evening during the week.
As he stepped under the hot spray, he remembered coming home, putting the food away, and lying down for a bit.
He must have nodded off and slept right through until the morning.
Fuck, he’d promised his mum he’d be back to see her.
He’d need to call her. Hopefully they’d charged her phone.
She couldn’t move and do it herself. If not, he’d need to call the hospital.
Dexter made quick work of his shower and wondered if he could get away without shaving, but he didn’t want to turn up to work looking like shit.
Perhaps if he got in early enough, he could talk to Simon.
The guy was always an early bird. He would want to talk about what happened on Friday, but Dexter couldn’t deal with that now.
Besides, he really wanted it to happen again, and more.
That was something he couldn’t understand, and he’d have to tamp those desires down until they passed.
Dexter was positive it was just hormones taking over his brain.
Once he was dressed, Dexter tried to call his mum, but her phone was switched off, so it obviously wasn’t charged.
When he called the hospital directly, he spoke to a nurse he knew.
She said his mum had slept through the day and night, so hadn’t noticed he wasn’t there.
That eased some of his guilt. He confirmed he’d be along later, but wasn’t sure what time it would be. He needed to speak to Simon first.
“Have you got five minutes?” asked Dexter, from the doorway of Simon’s office.
Simon had been focussed on his screens, and was wearing glasses, which he did occasionally.
There was nothing nerdy about the look, though.
The guy still screamed alpha, especially with the way he’d fucked Dexter’s throat, and in this very room.
He unconsciously looked at the wall Simon had been leaning against when Dexter had dropped to his knees.
Simon noticed where his eyes went, and glanced over as well with a frown. That wasn’t good.
“Can you close the door, please, Dexter?”
That got his mind spinning in different directions.
He wondered what it would be like for Simon to fuck him on his desk.
But that wasn’t why he was here. He closed the door, as requested, and before Simon could take control of the conversation and talk through the million reasons why what had happened on Friday could never happen again, he got in there first.
“I know we need to talk about Friday night, but I have a personal thing first that I need to talk to you about as my manager.”
Manager felt like a safer word than boss – well, in his dirty mind anyway. He noticed Simon’s features soften immediately. This was the side of him he didn’t show often, not to Dexter anyway.
“Of course, have a seat.”
“Thanks,” he said, sitting down.
He was unsure why he was nervous, but when he talked about his mum, he felt like people were judging him or making assumptions about the person he was.
“My mum is still in intensive care.”
“Do you need to take some more time off?”
“No. I can’t be there all the time because of the visiting hours, and I don’t want to just sit around thinking. I need to keep myself busy.”
“When are visiting hours?”
“Twelve till seven. I was just wondering if we could agree on an earlier start and earlier finish, so I could at least spend a few hours with her each day.”
“Just do what you need to do to make it work. There’ll be times you need to be around in the evening for interviews, but you could take a long lunch to visit instead. We don’t need to agree on a set schedule or anything.”
“What if you need to get hold of me and I’m not here?”
“Keep your diary up to date so I know you’re not around, and I’ll speak to someone on your team. Have you shared this with them?”
“I just said a family member was in hospital. You say intensive care, and people ask questions. I know it’s just natural curiosity, but I don’t want to get into it.”
“You don’t have to share anything you’re not comfortable with.”
He sighed. Was he going to regret saying this to someone he barely knew? He needed to talk to someone about it, and maybe Simon was the safest bet as he wouldn’t try to give an opinion like his friends did, albeit from a well-meaning place.
“My mum’s had problems with drugs for years. She’s a registered addict and gets prescribed methadone, but her tolerance is so high now she has to find other ways to manage her habit.”
He glanced up at Simon. There was no judgement in his eyes, just compassion. He was genuinely just listening to what Dexter was saying.
“We’ve tried rehab twice, but she comes out and it doesn’t take long for her to go back to her old ways.
Once she’s addicted again, she goes back to the doctor, who prescribes her the methadone again.
This is not the first time she’s ended up in hospital, although it’s the first time she’s been in intensive care. ”
“How is she doing now?” asked Simon gently.
“She’s better than she was, but they’ve still got her in her own room to limit the risk of infection. Her immunity is low as her organs were shutting down, but they seem less concerned about her kidneys and liver now. It’s the lungs and heart they keep going on about.”