Page 26 of Will & Patrick's Endless Honeymoon
PART TWO
Chapter Six
“Did you textDinah?” Will paws through a stack of Good Works contracts and papers he’s brought along for the trip on the private jet. They’ve reached cruising altitude, and the pilot has given the okay for them to relax.
“Yep. I texted her this morning.” Patrick closes his eyes and hopes the Xanax he’s popped kicks in soon. He hates heights and flying in particular. Worse, this trip is going to be ridiculously long. Why didn’t he and Jenny choose a closer location? Like, say, within driving distance? North Dakota is surely perfectly nice this time of year.
“And?” Will prompts.
“And the adoption is going through for Eric.”
“That’s great! Dinah and Phil must be ecstatic.”
“They are.” Patrick sits up straighter and glances at Will, outlined by the sun through the window. “Jane is upset, though, because she doesn’t understand why they can’t adopt her too.”
“Let me guess. Her bio-mom keeps pulling that same last-minute crap?”
“Months without contact and then, right before child abandonment laws kick in, she shows up.”
“Evil.”
“She loves her daughter,” Patrick mutters. “But not enough to leave her for good.”
Patrick feels the echo of his own family pain rise around them. His father was an alcoholic who never got over his mother’s death. He’d used Patrick’s talent at the piano to earn money for bottles and to pay the rent. When that wasn’t enough, he’d been willing to let Patrick prostitute himself.
That was when Patrick turned himself in to Child Protection Services and ended up a foster kid with Phil and Dinah. Bad memories taste like chalk and he swallows them down with a bitter grimace.
Finally, the moment passes and Will says, “I hope you gave Dinah, Phil, and the kids my love.”
Patrick shrugs. “Why would I? They know you love them.”
Will rolls his eyes but laughs softly. Then he turns to peer out the window at the fat clouds passing by.
So long as Patrick doesn’t look down, or think about the fact that only lift, thrust, and drag are keeping them alive right now, he does okay. In fact, the clouds out the window almost make things better. Like he could step out onto them and have a nap in the sun.
He frowns. Will’s fanciful thinking is wearing off on him. Or maybe it’s the Xanax.
“So that nurse was let go?” Will asks quietly. “I heard you on the phone with Don earlier. It’s only been, what, three days? They found the evidence quickly.”
“Yep. I was right, of course. I always am.”
“So what does that mean for her?”
“Charges are being pressed.” Patrick wrinkles his nose. “It’s out of my hands now.”
Will nods and sighs. “People make such bad choices sometimes.” He shivers slightly, and Patrick checks to see if the air vent above them is open too far. “What did she do with the drugs she didn’t administer to your patient?”
“She was hoarding what she could get to take it out to the rez. Indian Health Services is crap.”
“I know. But let’s not get into the American government’s broken promises to the Native peoples today. It’s too depressing and we’re on vacation.”
Patrick frowns. “That’s right. Vacation. Just you and me for ten days.” He takes hold of Will’s hand. “You’ll be sick of me by then.”
“Never.” Will’s brown eyes take on a gleam and Patrick’s heart flips over. He loves when those eyes shine. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?”
“No.”
“I know it’s somewhere warm since you packed my summer clothes.” Will grins and pokes him in the side. “Are you really going to make me wait for the details until we land?”
