Page 23 of Digging Deeper

I lift my shoulders in a half-shrug.

“I thought you’d finally turned a corner,” Holds says in a dejected tone.

“He has,” Gavin says sharply. “This week he’s really embraced his treatment and done more than I even expected of him.”

Holds looks at his best friend while gesturing at me with his arm. “It doesn’t sound like it if he’s giving up on being a cop. It’s all he’s ever wanted. I really thought…”

I gasp as my vision dims and my brother’s words fade as if they’re coming through a tunnel; an excruciating prickle shoots from the ball of my foot right into my gut. It’s worse than the normal phantom pain I experience when I wake up.

Gavin is out of his chair and squatting next to me before the stabbing ache subsides and my vision clears. “Hendrix, are you okay?”

Blinking, I lean into his hand on my shoulder while I catch my breath. “Yeah, sorry. The phantom pain has been getting worse.”

“You didn’t tell me you’ve been having pain.”

“It’s no big deal.” I sit back up, and after a pause, he moves to his seat. “I’ve been having it since I first came out of the coma. Usually only when I wake up, though.” When I see the concern on all four of their faces, I decide to wait until they leave to ask the nurse on duty if she can give me something for nausea. The pain this time was so sharp and intense, I thought I was going to vomit.

Holds reaches across the table, palm up, so I reach over and lay my hand in his. “Are you sure you’re okay?” At my nod, he continues, “I’m sorry I was being an ass. It’s just…”

As he drones on, I nod when appropriate, but keep stealing glances over at Gavin. It’s not until Aiden asks him about Brutus and Nana that he fully drags his speculative glances from drifting to my legs and pays attention to the conversation at the table.

10

Gavin

Ican’t help but glance at Drix every few seconds and wonder what’s truly going on in that handsome head of his, and why he’s calling his leg pain “phantom pain.” His legs are still there, if he’s having pain, there’s nothing phantom about it. And the fact that he’s feeling anything at all is a good sign. A really good sign. But the fact that he’s treating his legs like…

Snapping my gaze up to Hendrix again, my eyes widen as I realize what he’s doing. He’s treating his legs as if they’re gone, as if they’ll never work again. He’s given up the hope of walking and is determined to nail everything in that chair. That’s not okay, not if he’s having feeling coming back, not if there’s still hope.

Drix meets my eyes and tilts his head to the side, taking me in as he asks, “Are you okay over there?”

I scan his features, those lips surrounded by a smooth jaw—I kinda miss his scruffy beard—the hair falling over his forehead, and those sapphire eyes that are looking at me in concern. He’s simply gorgeous—but he’d probably kill me if I say that out loud. Finally, I nod and quietly say, “I’m fine.”

Drix leans forward a little, almost like he’s going to tell me a secret, but he suddenly pulls back, a small frown tugging at his lips. “Are you sure?”

I shoot him a tiny smile. “I’m good, Drix.”

“Good… guess you can show me the picture of my couch now, huh?”

My eyes widen. “I was hoping you’d forgotten about that.”

“Your dog ate my couch. That’s not something I’m bound to forget.” I’d texted him when it happened, but I’d hoped he would forget so I could get a new couch and pretend nothing ever went wrong.

“I’ll replace it.” I pull out my phone and scroll through the pictures before finding the one of the giant hole Nana and Brutus dug in a cushion when I left the room for a ten minute shower.

As Drix looks it over, I hold my breath, sure he’s going to be pissed and tell me to move out, but when he passes the phone back, he chuckles and shakes his head. “Those little brats. I can’t believe they did that.”

“Me either.” I slide the phone in my pocket. “Now I have to bring them into the bathroom with me while I shower. It’s like I have an audience.” I chuckle, but when I see Drix’s eyes dilate, my laugh cuts off and my breath catches.Why is he looking at me like that?

“You—”

“Did you guys want one of these brownies?” Aiden asks, cutting Drix off.

I whip my head around, suddenly aware of the three other men in the room. All of whom I forgot existed for the last five minutes. What the hell? I’d been so focused on Drix, I’d forgotten entirely about the rest of my friends. I blink a few times at Aiden before pulling two brownies out of the tupperware and passing one to Drix as I say, “Thank you.”

“Welcome.” Aiden shoots me a sweet smile that I return. He seems like such a great guy, and I decide then and there that I want to become better friends with him. He’s been around a lot, but I haven’t spent a ton of time talking to him. He’s a cutie, too, with that carrot top hair and freckles covering his pale skin. He’s fit, of course, since he works out with Jameson all the time. And since I have eyes, I have to admit that he’s sexy in that adorable, shy guy way. However, even though I can see that, he doesn’t grab my attention the way someone else in this room does. Ugh.

“Thanks, Aiden. Did you make these?” Drix asks, making me watch him chew his brownie.

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