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“Dee.” I looked around the room, as though the ominous they might be hiding somewhere behind the fucking IV pole. “Darius.”
The nurse’s expression changed. Softening from worry to confusion. “He hasn’t been admitted here. Your partner is okay.”
That didn’t help. And partner? Wow, even banged up to all hell my gay flag hung high. Good for me.
But only for a moment. Then my heart immediately picked up speed again. Panicked speed. Because if he wasn’t here, I didn’t know where he was.
I grabbed for my phone on the tray beside the bed, my battered fingers fumbling on the screen. There were missed calls. Messages. Mason. Trevor. Numbers I didn’t know. Camp staff. But nothing from Dee.
My vision blurred before I could even think straight. I opened his contact and typed.
Me:
Where are you, DeeDee? Are you safe?
Sent. Then another.
Me:
Are you okay? Just lemme know you’re okay, okay?
I stared at the screen. No bubbles. No little indication that he was typing a reply.
“Alvin.”
I knew that voice. The little hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. The nurse turned towards the door and smiled like every other fool for him, while my father stood there.
Awesome. Because apparently almost dying wasn’t enough punishment for a lifetime.
He wore his black pastoral shirt and white collar as if God Himself had dressed him that morning. No tears. No panic. No desperate father rushing to his son’s bedside. Just that same controlled look he always had on his wrinkly face when something wasn’t behaving the way he wanted. Me included.
The nurse glanced between us. “I’ll give you some privacy.”
“Stay.” The word left me immediately, and she stopped.
My father smiled at her. “It’s all right. My son is understandably emotional.”
I glared at him. “Get the fuck out, old man.”
The nurse’s eyebrows climbed to her hairline, while my father stepped farther inside. “I think we need to talk,” he insisted.
“No.”
“Alvin.”
“No.”
He sighed. “What happened to you was terrible…”
I laughed and it hurt so badly I almost cried. “You know who did it, don’t you?”
“I know there are people in this community who have become increasingly concerned about your behavior.”
I stared at him. There it was. Clear as the disappointment twisting up one side of his mouth. “What the fuck did you just say?”
His eyes briefly flicked towards the nurse. “Watch your mouth, son.”
I smiled. “Fuckity fuck, fuck, fuck.”
