Page 62 of Private Exhibit
Devon looked down and shuffled back a step.
“Dev?” Andy asked.
“That's Levi,” Devon whispered. “Hayden's twin. He and I were in the same orphanage for a while when we were babies. And that's Nash,” the boy went on before Andy could get a word in, pointing at a big, muscular man standing just behind the twins. “Levi's husband. He owns Turner Security–”
“Hey,” Andy gently interrupted him as he pulled the boy aside. “Everything alright? You look tense. If it's too many people–”
Before Devon could answer, the elevator arrived once more, and three more people joined the group crowding the hallway just outside the apartment. They were now nearly the whole party that had been at the club last weekend. Noise erupted again as hugs, handshakes, and introductions were shared all around.
Andy turned back to check on Devon.
Doctor Gerard!
Andy barely got a second to glance at his boy when someone collided with him. He looked down to see a ghost, Frankie, giving him an enthusiastic embrace before stepping back with a grin.
“Hey, kid!” Andy replied. “How've you been?”
Great!the ghost exclaimed, then turned and grabbed the hand of a bearded man around Andy's age.Doc, you remember Bren?
“Brendan Shyth,” the man introduced himself. He shook Andy's hand with a puzzled frown. “I'm sorry. Have we met?”
Doctor Gerard did my autopsy, Frankie responded before Andy could do so.You met him when you went to claim my body.
“Oh.” Brendan winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I'm sorry. I think I was pretty drunk that day. I don't remember too much.”
Andy gave Brendan a nod.Pretty drunkwas an understatement. The poor man had been slurring his words and stumbling all over the place, as Andy recalled, completely drowning in both alcohol and grief.
And this is Connor, Frankie went on, introducing the other boy with them.
Andy shook Connor's hand, then looked at Brendan again. The man was almost unrecognizable now, compared to the wayhe'd looked the day he came to the morgue. He'd been a red-faced, haggard mess back then. But now?
Brendan practically radiated joy.
Andy glanced at Devon. He couldn't help picturing the boy as a ghost, perpetually stuck in his current form. Never able to age. Never again able to truly feel or taste or smell. It might be years before Andy could touch him again, and then he wouldn't feel the same. Not really. Andy was grateful beyond words that he could touch Junior, but the sensation was different. It wasn'tright.
Gods damn it all. He needed to get out of there. Needed to get back to the hospital and throw himself back into his work. He had to find a cure.
Hayden ushered the whole party inside the apartment, crowding Andy away from the door. Maddie had disappeared at some point, but everyone else followed as Hayden took his twin by the hand and led the way to the dining room.
Andy hung back with Devon, taking up the rear. “We can go if it's too much,” he murmured, running his fingers through Devon's hair.Please say it's too much, he thought. If Devon wanted to go, he'd rush the boy right out of there and take him home, then head straight to the hospital.
Devon hesitated, then finally sighed. “No. I wanna stay.” He winced. “It's loud but…I don't want to miss this.”
Shit, Andy inwardly cursed. But he put on a smile all the same and squeezed Devon's hand. “Whatever you want.”
Devon gave him a sweet smile, then took a deep breath, drew himself up, and followed after the crowd.
So Andy joined him, knowing that, if they left right then, and Devon died that night, the boy would regret missing out on this opportunity. And Andy would regret taking it away from him.
But a part of him couldn't wait to get out of there.
Chapter 23
DEVON SAT beside Andy and gratefully accepted a cup of coffee, giving him something on which to focus.
Everything was so loud.
The spacious, elegant dining room practically echoed, all the boys seeming to talk at once, their voices ringing off the polished surfaces.
