Page 68 of Natural-Born Cullers

“Aaron, right?”

“Hmm?” Light looked over at the nurse, just briefly, as she pulled her coffee free of the machine.

“You’re Mr Raoul’s son?”

It riled him how people always stepped too close. He’d only ever really been used to Brin stepping close, and he’d read that completely wrong. “Light, my name’s Light,” he said quietly, wanting the distance, but like the man on the bed, he was stuck in one position, unable to move, mostly because of Ray.

“Yeah? Light? Are you…?” The nurse got an elbow off the guy, but it only won a smile off her. “Are you looking to be a regular here. At the MC?”

“At a fucking hospital?” Light looked at her. “You been at the Entonox?”

The woman’s eyes widened a little. “Oh, you—”

“Quit it,” said Ray, coming in closer to Light but shielding him more from the nurse. “You’re both wearing name tags. I’ll know where you live in five minutes. Fuck off.” But it didn’t sound too hard, and he reached across Light to grab a lid for the nurse’s coffee and cover it for her. “Move on, people. Peep show and playing voyeur is three doors down. And it has an age limit of over twenty-one, which, I’ll remind you nicely, Light’s still only eighteen. But his dad is one of the bosses of this, erm, hospital, to which you know he’ll love having a quiet word in your ear when it comes to—”

“Over-occupancy of hospital beds, sir?”

“Precisely,” said Ray.

The nurse laughed, more offered a blush, a sorry, and her and the man walked off, heads together as Light frowned at them. A moment later, he took position at the coffee machine and made his choice. As he waited for his drink to pour, his look went back to the private room.

The girl still scribbled on paper, the young man locked in sleep. There was peace there despite how sad it all seemed. But it was broken a moment later by a big bulk of a man that blocked his way as he headed into the private hospital room.

The little girl was scooped up, and giggles hit the air.

“Hey, Voodoo, there you are. You looking after Chase for me and Ash?”

Light frowned. The man’s voice sounded so familiar, rough… gravel-filled, and as the big guy came out, Voodoo scooped up in a big arm, the man stopped in his tracks just a few feet from Light.

Damn scary… big. And the girl perched on his arm didn’t care one bit. Arms wrapped his huge neck, staking a claim that called it out in her look how the man was hers, no one else’s, and….

We get your father out first….

Light jolted.

“Hey.” The man flicked a look at Ray, eyes flaring for a moment too. “Light… erm. How are you doing?” Concern simmered in his eyes. “Everything all right?”

Ray eased Light away. “It’s all good,” he said quietly as he shared a look with the big bulk.

The machine behind Light cut off, but Light just blinked as—

We get your father out first.

“Raif.” Shifting Voodoo in his arms, the man held out a hand. “It’s my name, remember? We met—”

We… get your father out first.

Raif.

He’d been the one to pull Simon out of the café as debris hit Light’s face. Light had been on his back as he’d started to choke, Gray on top of him, shaking him out of the daze, and Raif. Raif had pulled Simon out, then Gray… Raif had helped him get Gray out and then….

Brin.

Light’s breathing came hard and fast, to the point it hurt, and he shoved past, not meaning to do any harm and startle the girl and send her drawing to the floor, but he needed out. Away from the crash of debris, of ringing in his ears, of Brin….

He slammed into the main doors, found them locked via card access, then made it back into the waiting room a moment later and crashed onto a chair, head in his hands.

Someone stood by him a moment later, then Ray came through and something was said. Light’s breathing hurt too much to focus on who… what… when… where. Why.

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