Fuck, why are they fucking gossiping in my room while I’m trying to sleep? Get the hell out so I can rest.
“I feel sorry for Doctor Ellington, though; he’s kind, sexy, and pretty sweet,” said the first voice with a giggle. “I fall in lust with him every time I look into his green eyes.”
“He really is, and very good to the nursing staff.”
Not wanting to hear anymore, Othello moaned and shifted in the bed as if he were waking up. He heard the two women gasp. Cracking his eyes open, he watched the two leave his hospital room. Not wanting to think about it anymore, he snuggled in the uncomfortable bed as he drifted back to sleep, recalling green gems that reminded him of an angel.
Des slammed backhis fifth or sixth shot of the night, before slumping down on the sofa. He was grinning like a fool as he felt the spirit run through his bloodstream, giving him the sweet buzz he wanted.
“You alright, man?”
Des turned his head, looking at Gray, who had stopped by unannounced with alcohol and Frango Assado com Piri-Piri from the local Portuguese restaurant not far from Des’s house.
“Yeah. I’m good.” His eyes felt droopy, but he knew he wasn’t sleepy. “Are you going to tell me why you’re here? And what reason do you have to get me drunk when you know I have work tomorrow?” He was slurring his words but didn’t care.
Gray chuckled. “I didn’t force you to drink. And can’t I come and see my best friend?”
“Ha! Best friend, my ass.” Des pouted. “You’ve been so busy I thought you forgot about me. It makes me wonder if you’re seeing someone. You’re starting to act like Bianca when she gets a new lover.”
“Nah, I could never forget you. I’m just busy with work.”
Gray, whose real name was Gratiano Marchetti, was quite handsome with his tall, muscular build, dark brown hair, and hazel eyes. Although they had been friends since college, they had never dated or done anything remotely intimate besides kissing each other on the cheek or falling asleep in the same bed. Des had seen the kind of men and women Gray liked to go out with, and Des could say he wasn’t remotely Gray’s type, which had never bothered him. Except for when they hung out together. Because men and women fawned over him, completely forgetting that Des was even around. It wasn’t that he wasn’t a looker. He’d been described as gorgeous with androgynous features.
He got his light green eyes from his dad and his jet-black hair from his mother. He kept his hair short and always appeared as if he’d just rolled out of bed, so whenever he wasn’t working,he normally gelled it down to keep it in place. He kept in shape by swimming and doing calisthenics whenever he had time off. Thanks to his parents, he ate healthily but enjoyed a good hamburger and fries smothered in ketchup on a good day.
“How’s work?” Gray asked.
Des shrugged his shoulders. “It’s work. Nothing else for me to say. I saved a gunshot victim a couple of days ago.” Sitting up, he poured himself another drink and took his shot, no chaser, since he wanted to feel the burn. “Want to know what’s weird?”
“Yeah?”
“They don’t want me to report it. I was practically threatened to tell my parents if I reported it to the police. So I don’t even know how he got shot.”
“Do you want me to look into it?” Gray asked.
“No, I told you I can’t tell the cops,” Des snapped.
“Did you forget I’m a cop?”
“You’re different,” Des said, taking two more shots. “You won’t do anything to draw attention to me. What if he’s a part of the mafia...”
“Alright, that’s enough.” He took the shot glass away from him. “Sometimes I forget how you get when you drink too much.”
“I need to drink so I don’t have to think about how much I don’t like my job.”
“If you hate your job, Desi, quit,” Gray said, rubbing his shoulder in comfort.
“You know I can’t. I need my inheritance to open my gallery. And I don’t dislike saving lives, Gray. I might not love it, but I am good at what I do,” he said, then laughed. “Can you imagine it, though?” He turned to face Gray. “Better yet, picture me telling the folks that I’m giving up their dream for me because I want to follow my own.”
Des had told everything to Gray about his enriched family life back when they were in school, and he had been trying to convince him to walk his own path, but it was hard for Des because he was too fucking loyal to his parents. Not only that, he felt indebted to them, or that was how they had made it seem his entire life. They never failed to remind him they’d paid for him to attend the best private school, his college and medical school tuition, and even the apartment building he lived in was bought by his parents where he lived rent-free.
“Fuck, I hate this for you, Desi.” Gray sighed.
“Don’t call me that,” he groaned, flopping over and resting his head on Gray’s shoulder. “I want to meet someone. Hell, I want to lose my virginity before I die of old age.”
“To do that, you have to step away from your parents' shackles.”
“I know—two more years. I can do it, and then I won’t have to deal with them,” he said, snuggling into Gray’s neck.
