"Alright, stop lecturing me! We can't all be fucking perfect like you, Othello," he shouted. "I made a mistake, okay, and I promise I’ll make it right."
"That's what you said months ago," Othello snapped.
"Hey, lay off him," Roderigo shouted.
"Why the fuck are you here?" Othello yelled, wanting to punch a hole in the man's face.
"Does it make you jealous that he wants me here, Moor?" Roderigo countered.
"What the fu..."
"Othello, that's enough," Alessandro said, stopping him from saying more. "We need to get some coffee into him and clean him up. I'm sure Emilia is worried about him and doesn't need the added stress right now. I'll go and get him some coffee."
Othello nodded, watching the old man leave, grabbing Roderigo with him before the man could protest.
"She's not, you know," Iago whispered, his head down. "Emilia turned down my proposal.”
“When?” Othello asked.
“The day I took her to buy a ring, she said she didn’t want to marry me,” Iago cried. “She's leaving me."
"Do you blame her?" Othello scolded, recalling Iago's excitement that he would finally propose to Emilia. But that was a long time ago. Had he been holding on to the hurt for so long? "And you had to make it better by inviting your lover."
"I didn't invite her. She just showed up," he explained, looking up at him. "O, I love Emilia, I really do. It's just I can't seem to do right by her. But she’s also changed."
“What do you mean?”
Iago shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it. She won’t talk to me or let me touch her.”
"Then maybe you need to let Emilia go or figure your shit out."
"You're right," Iago said after a few moments. "But I can't. She's my heart and the reason for everything I do."
Othello said nothing. Love was a crazy thing, but one thing he was sure of was that if a person really cared about someone, fucking another person wasn't the way to show it.
"He's going to cheat on you," Iago said out of nowhere.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"That doctor. He's good-looking, fuck, bordering on pretty. If I were into guys, I would have..." He paused and cleared his throat when Othello growled, warning him to tread carefully. "Anyway, you need to watch him carefully. I saw the way he and Cassio were eye-fucking each other. It's going to be the Phillip situation all over again."
"Des isn't anything like Phillip. Don't talk about shit you know nothing about," Othello snarled.
"Hey, don't get mad at me. I'm just telling you what I saw tonight."
"Was that before or after you were drunk off your ass?" he snorted.
Iago stood and moved closer to the window. "Fine, don't believe me. I'm just trying to be a good brother and protect your heart. But mark my words, he will fuck around on you. Take it from someone who can spot one of their own."
Othello didn't want to listen to more of Iago's ramblings and was thankful when Alessandro returned with a large coffee for Iago. Not saying a word to his father, he left them alone and went to find Des to get some information.
When he found his lover, he was standing by the nurses' station dressed in scrubs, chatting and smiling with another doctor. Othello stood to the side and watched his lover, who seemed very at ease, as he tried to not let Iago's words affect him. Othello wanted to say he was sure Des would never step out on him, but even he couldn't be certain.
Fuck, what the hell am I thinking? Des wouldn't do that to me. He's nothing like Phillip. Unlike that bastard, Des trusts and cares for me.
Pushing that out of his mind, he walked over to Des.
"How is Emilia?" he asked, getting his lover's attention as he gently slipped an arm around his waist.
