Page 109 of Flare

Jesus Christ, was I really going to throwthisman away because of a bit of dick fuckery? Had I lost my fucking mind?

It’ll be over soon.

Like fuck it would. I deserved Beck and he damn well deserved me. They weren’t taking this from me. Not this time.

I kissed the dragon, wiped at my eyes, and pulled my phone from my jacket pocket. About to call, I stilled at the most recent name on the screen.

Jack?

Shit.I swiped it open.

Mum’s in surgery at Auckland Med. We’re heading there now.

* * *

Call it cowardice, but I found my way to the right ward by texting Jack, that way Beck couldn’t tell me not to come, but I hadn’t counted on Rafe being there as well. Still, I should’ve guessed Beck would want his best friend for support, especially since his boyfriend had flaked out on him.

Three sets of eyes landed on me when I pushed through the waiting room door—Jack’s with relief, Rafe’s with a disapproval that spoke to the fact he was familiar with at least some of what had gone on that morning, and Beck’s with utter shock and obvious exhaustion. The latter no doubt having something to do with me.

Jack leapt to his feet and came in for a hug, which caught me off guard but was also kind of nice.

“He didn’t know you were coming,” Jack whispered against me, and I rubbed his back.

“It’s okay.”

“Rhys.” Rafe stood and offered his hand.

I knew before I shook that I was going to get the death squeeze, and I did. Couldn’t really argue with it.

“Thanks for coming. Jack texted you, huh?” Beck didn’t get up and so I sat next to him.

“He did. I’m so sorry about Serena. And I should’ve answered your texts. I’m sorry about that too. Is Serena okay?”

“She’s still in surgery. They said she’s lost a lot of blood. No one even knew she had a fucking ulcer.”

I jolted at the worry in his eyes and kicked myself again for being such an arse.

He ran a hand through his messy hair. “They rushed her in, and we’ve been waiting to hear. There’s a prison guard allocated to stand watch in her room.” He glanced to where Jack was talking with Rafe and lowered his voice. “She has to be okay. I don’t know what he’d do.”

“Shh.” I slid my hand over his thigh and risked hooking my little finger around his. “Let’s just wait and see what they say. No point borrowing trouble, right? God, I sound like my mother.”

He stared at where our hands touched and his shoulders gave a sudden lurch. He unhooked our fingers and covered my hand with his. “I’m sorry about this morning.”

My heart swelled and a fat ball of hope threatened to choke me. “Me too, baby. Me too. I should’ve stayed and talked. Hunter tore me a new one, enough said. Thank you for the note and the gift. Let’s talk when things settle.”

He nodded, closed his eyes, and let his head fall back against the wall. I glanced to where Jack watched us with the barest hint of a smile on his troubled face and Rafe with nothing remotely close to it. I sighed. You can’t win them all. I rested my head on Beck’s shoulder and settled in for the wait.

Rafe did a food and coffee run even though most of the food lay untouched, and it was another hour before the surgeon arrived in the waiting room with enough of a smile to give us hope.

“First off, she’s doing really well.” He took a seat next to Jack rather than Beck, which was insightful of him. “She needed a lot of blood, and it was a tricky repair, but so far she’s looking good and we’re just waiting for her to wake up in recovery. When her vitals are stable, we’ll get her down here pronto and you can see her. She’s going to need some time to fully recover and maybe a change in diet, but we don’t expect any problems. She’ll stay with us for a few days, maybe the week, depending on how she goes before transferring back to Hills. She was lucky the guards got onto it as fast as they did.”

Jack pummelled the poor man with questions while Beck slumped in his chair and pressed his palms to his eyes, shoulders shaking. I squeezed his hand and risked a quick kiss to his cheek. He turned at the last minute and our mouths met. Just an awkward brush of lips, not near enough to reassure with too much unsaid between us for anything more certain.

Rafe came across and broke our staring match. He hauled Beck into his arms and I wanted to punch the guy for doing what I wished I could but didn’t feel was quite right. Not yet. Rafe eventually released Beck with what I thought was a smirk directed my way.

Fucker. Even if I did kind of admire him for it.

“Feeling better?” I checked with Beck who retook my hand, which I figured was a good sign.

---