Page 64 of Beck

Dr Stevens chuckled. “It’s the least we can do.”

With that cryptic message, the doctor jerked his head to the side, a clear message to his coworkers that it was time to leave. Beck wanted to ask what that sentence was about, but he assumed it had something to do with them knowing who Beck was.

“That’s all I need,” he said. “I hate being a celebrity sometimes. Although Joey says we’re not celebrities. We’re celebrities’ acquaintances.” Beck huffed. “Can’t see what the difference is, really.”

Kole smacked his feet to the floor, clapped his hands on his thighs and stood, glaring. “You should be grateful they are doing this for you. It doesn’t matter why they are doing it. There are people who probably had a knife in their hand who’ve waited for days before they got it sorted.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Beck said.

“I’m not being dramatic,” Kole replied. “It’s the truth. Not everybody is lucky enough to get top-notch treatment, and I am so grateful that you do. Especially because…” His breath hitched, and he covered his mouth with his hand.

Finally, Beck took his head out of his ass and realised. “Oh, fuck. Come here.” He held out his good arm, and Kole collapsed onto him, sobbing.

“I’m so sorry he did this to you. I didn’t think it would be anything. I didn’t think he would be like that. Even with him attacking me, I never actually thought it would go further. My brain obviously did because that’s why I needed to speak to the therapist, but my mind never caught up to that fact until now. I was so scared he was gonna hurt you, and he did!” Kole broke off on another sob.

Beck held him, pressing his lips against his temple and making shushing sounds like a mother would to a baby—not thathe was saying Kole was a baby, but the universal sound calmed most people.

It took a few minutes, but Kole eventually calmed enough to wipe his tears.

“Are you okay?” Beck said.

“Not particularly,” Kole replied with a laugh. “I guess I was more upset than I thought I was.

“Maybe just a little,” Beck teased.

“Hey, if you’re not careful, I’ll pull that knife out myself,” Kole warned.

Beck laughed. “Think you might be in trouble with the doctors if you do that.”

“Yeah, I think so, too,” Kole agreed.

Beck latched onto something to keep the conversation light, spying the carrier bags to the side of his bed. “I have a feeling several of those items are going to have to be thrown straight in the bin.” His tone implied the sheer horror of throwing away what would have been good food.

“At least we can buy it again and have it tomorrow.” Kole smiled.

“Think you might be doing the cooking if we did that.” Beck laughed. “Not sure I’ll be doing much with this hand as it is now. We did get some crisps and things, though, and I am hungry. Maybe we should eat some of it.”

Kole stood. “I want to check with the doctors that it’s okay first. I don’t know what kind of surgery you’re going in and whether or not you’re allowed to eat.”

“Oh, bloody hell,” Beck said. “If they tell me I’m not allowed to eat, I’m tempted to walk out of this hospital because I’m starving.”

Kole chuckled. “You’ll do as you’re told.” He winked at him and disappeared out of the room.

While he was gone, Beck had nothing to distract himself, and he stared at the bloody mess that was his hand, hoping with everything in him that he’d heal nicely and have no problems with it later on. Although he was right-handed, he did use his left hand for certain things while tattooing. If it became impossible to do, he didn’t know what he would do with his life. Tattooing was all he knew and all he wanted to do. It would truly devastate him if he was taken from him.

“They said you can eat just fine,” Kole said when he reappeared. He went to the bags, bringing them up on the side of the bed. “So, what do you fancy? Uncooked pasta? Bacon crisps? Onion rings? Nik-Naks?”

“I’ll always go for the Nik-Naks,” Beck said, reaching for them.

“Good job there are two packs of them,” Kole said, grabbing another from the bag. “How about something healthy, too? We’ve got apples or bananas?”

“All right. I’ll do my duty and eat a banana first,” Beck said, turning his mouth down to make him look sad.

“Those puppy dog eyes won’t work on me. Eat your banana,” Kole said, but the twitching of his lips gave away his humour.

They switched on the TV, and he let Kole flick through the channels to see if there was anything decent to pass the time. Beck hadn’t checked his phone since they arrived, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. He had no idea the messages he would have. Though he expected plenty of ‘let me know if I can do anything’ type messages from his friends. He wasn’t sure he could stomach them right then.

Kole settled into the uncomfortable chair but brought it right close to the bed so that they could hold hands. He’d chosen a rerun of some old murder mystery, which wasn’t Beck’s cup of tea—or coffee—it passed the time.

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