Page 48 of Never Too Late

Are you staying at the hospital?

Yeah, I replied.I’m going to try to work out a way that they’ll let me see him once he’s out of surgery. Someone should be here to hold his hand.

If I were Cillian, I doubt I could have resisted a cutting remark to his announcement of holding another man’s hand, but he was made of stronger and more decent stuff than me and only said,You’re a good friend.

Go to sleep, I finally said.

I’m fine.

GO. TO. SLEEP.

Yes, sir!

My phone fell silent after that and I resolved to let Cillian get at least a few hours before he was up with the larks to do whatever it was an advertising mogul did all day.

Two hours passed extremely slowly, even with Elyna going out of her way to chat with me. She introduced me to her friend, Andre, his brother also in surgery for a perforated ulcer. She told me about her family, pulling out her phone to show me pictures of her husband, two children, and their black labrador Beaumont.

The plastic chair became increasingly uncomfortable as more time passed, pacing within the confines of the small room not helping once I had to sit again, and copious amounts of the awfulvending machine coffee doing nothing to stop the yawns from escaping once the clock passed three in the morning.

Despite my discomfort, I was almost nodding off when Elyna nudged me. “A handsome man is staring at you.”

I sat up with a jerk, considering for a moment as I followed the direction of her gaze that perhaps I’d fallen asleep after all. Because I couldn’t think of a better explanation for Cillian being here, when only a few short hours ago he’d been in London in front of the familiar backdrop of his living room. But here he was, as large as life and twice as handsome, his slightly rumpled appearance doing nothing to detract from his good looks.

“Do you know him?” Elyna whispered.

“Yeah,” I said as I stood, Cillian coming my way. “He’s my boyfriend. He’s supposed to be in London, though.”

“Lucky you,” Elyna said with a smile. “Men who will rush to your side in times of need are in short supply. You should hang onto him.”

Perhaps not moving as far as Australia had been a brilliant decision, after all.

Chapter Seventeen

I met Cillian halfway to carve out a sliver of privacy for us within the confines of the small room. “How are you…? I don’t…” I flipped my wrist over to stare blearily at my watch. “And this quickly?”

The twitch of Cillian’s lips said he found my inability to follow a thought through to completion amusing. “You needed me,” he said simply. “So here I am. Was that the wrong thing to do?”

He still wore the suit he’d worn to work that day, and although I knew he would have shaved that morning, enough hours had passed for dark stubble to cover his jaw. Rather than making him look scruffy, it made him look rugged and manly. It was hard to remember a time I’d wanted to kiss him more as I stared at him. Maybe the night when we’d first met, and I’d realized that of all the men he could have gone for, the handsome stranger only had eyes for me.

His eyebrows drew together, and I realized too late the question I hadn’t answered while I’d been gawping at him. “No!” I blurted. “It’s not wrong. It’s not wrong at all. I can’t tell youhow pleased I am you’re here. I’m just surprised, that’s all. Especially seeing as you said nothing about coming.”

“Even with calling in a favor and using a friend’s personal jet, I didn’t know how quickly I could get here. I didn’t want to get your hopes up that I’d make it to the hospital.”

“But here you are,” I said with something close to wonder in my voice. Giving myself a mental shake, I reached for him. “Come here.” I might not be able to kiss him without the risk of raising some eyebrows, or even worse someone lodging a complaint about the gay love-in happening right under their noses, but a hug was well within the bounds of reasonable expectations within a hospital setting.

Cillian was warm and so comforting after the night I’d had, our hug continuing for as long as I could draw it out without it looking weird. When we did finally break apart, he was smiling. I drew him back to where I’d been sitting, Elyna looking absurdly pleased at the turn of events for someone I’d only known for a few hours. I introduced Cillian to Elyna and Andre, and then Cillian squeezed himself into the seat next to mine.

“Laurent isn’t out of surgery yet,” I explained to him. “Which, I’m trying not to take as a bad sign.”

Elyna reached over and patted my hand. “It is better the surgeon takes his time rather than rushing.”

“Elyna,” I said, with some fondness, “has been keeping me sane with reassuring comments like that all night.”

“She’s right,” Cillian said. “It doesn’t mean there’s been any complications. He might even be out of surgery, but no one’s found the time to come and tell you yet.”

“Maybe,” I admitted.

The wait went on for another thirty minutes, Cillian’s hand on my knee a warm and reassuring weight. When a nurse entered the room and made a beeline for me, I jumped to my feet. “Laurent?” I questioned. “Is he okay?”

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