Page 102 of Sycopation
Good. Bad. He couldn’t tell. He just wanted to get there andseeRay. Touch his hand. Verify what his logical brain knew was true. Ray wasalive.
Zavier needed to see the rise and fall of his chest, feel the warmth of his skin. Wanted to know beyond a doubt that everything was all right. He cared for Ray more than he’d ever cared for any other friend. Didn’t know what that meant, needed to examine it further, but there was no time, because the taxi pulled up to the hospital.
Thank goodness he’d shoved his driver’s license and a credit card into the pocket on his phone case, because he had no cash whatsoever. His wallet was packed in some bag at the hotel, but he refused to be without some means, even at fancy dress parties. He handed the credit card over. When the receipt came back, he left a sizable tip and signed. Then he was out of the cab and heading toward the door of the emergency department.
There was a metal detector to get through at the emergency room, then an information desk. He explained who he was, filled out some paperwork while they checked out his license, then led him back.
“My daughter really likes you guys,” the nurse murmured. He was a thin black man with a hard-to-place accent. “You’re a bit too punk for my tastes, but I’m glad you care for each other.” He slowed as they neared one room. “He’s in here.”
Zavier stopped at the threshold and sucked in a breath. Beyond the wooden door lay Ray, in a hospital bed, unconscious,pale, and in a hospital gown. There was an IV drip and wires running from underneath the sheets. One of those pulse monitors had been clipped to his finger.
Mish and Dom sat nearby, both looking as exhausted as Zavier felt.
“Hey, hon.” Mish rose from a nearby chair, still in her black dress, strangely somber and out of place against white linoleum and the green bed curtains. She pulled him into a hug.
The bubble of pain rose closer to the surface, and he pushed it back down. Hedidn’tcry. Hecouldn’t. Not now. But he did sag into her embrace and press his forehead into her shoulder.
“He’s gonna be okay,” Mish crooned into his hair.
He drew back and took in Ray and the equipment connected to him. Many of the numbers on the machines meant nothing to Zavier, but his pulse seemed good. Blood pressure, too.
Alive. Ray was alive. “I’m so, so...” Happy? That wasn’t the right word at all. “Glad.” Grateful. Relieved. “I wish I could have done more.” Donesomething.
Dom rose slowly from his seat, still decked out as Domino, makeup and all. Garish in the dim light and surrounded by the sterile environment of the hospital. “You kept your cool. Made me go with him.”
“Was the right thing to do.” The jealous part of Zavier thought it should have beenhimby Ray’s side. But Dom had the legal means where Zavier didn’t. That Zavierwantedthat level of connection to Ray, that responsibility, meant something, too.
He shook his head and pushed the churn of questions in his soul back down. “You’re his friend, too.”
Dom nodded. “Still.”
Yeah. Still. But Zavier was here now. Ray’s chest rose and fell. The monitor showed his heartbeats. Zavier crossed the small distance to the bed and laid two fingers on Ray’s hand, the one that didn’t have the IV catheter in it.
And yes, he was warm. So warm.
He didn’t realize he was trembling until Mish steered him to the seat she’d vacated and pushed him down into it. “You’re gonna fall over. Where would you be then?”
He shrugged. “You and Dom do fine on your own.”
“Bullshit,” Dom said. “And you know it.”
Mish tousled Zavier’s hair, which he generally hated with a passion, but from her it felt fine. “You’re starting to sound like Ray when you say things like that.”
He did sound like Ray at the moment. He stared at his unconscious form. “What did the doctors have to say?”
Dom spoke. “What we thought—a severe allergic reaction. They got him under control, though. The EpiPen was a good idea.” He sounded bone-tired, and far closer to being Dominic than Domino, despite his state of dress. “They’re running blood tests to figure out what was in his system, but he should be back to normal in a few days.”
Zavier propped his elbows on his knees and dropped his head into his hands. Ray would befine. If only his mind would catch up. In his mind, Ray collapsed into his arms. Over and over again. Carl’s sneer.
Fuck. Rage was a volcano inside him. He hissed out a breath and sat up. “That fucking assholeCarldrugged him.”
“What?” Both Mish and Dom spoke, both twitched away, as if Zavier had struck them.
“It was on the security video. He dropped something in Ray’s drink, probably trying to start an incident for the rumor mill, only it nearlykilledRay.”
Nearly. How much of a misstep would it have taken for Ray to have died? He didn’t want to think about it. Couldn’t help running each scenario through his head.
Mish’s hand was in Zavier’s hair again, and she drew his head against her side. “Honey, it’s okay. He’s alive. He’s here.”
