The backs of my eyes sting, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from breaking down. “Thanks,” I manage to mumble.
“Okay,” the receptionist cuts in, coming back to her desk, “I spoke with Crew, and he states he only wants Anderson back there, so if you want to come with me, Anderson. You two can take a seat in the waiting room.”
Another wicked shiver rolls through my body as my blood chills. Trying to swallow past the golf ball in my throat, I nod at the woman. I’m about to see him, yet I still have no idea what I’m walking into. Looking over to Knox and Katie, I try to smile, but know it doesn’t meet my eyes. “I guess I’ll be back. Is that okay?”
“Of course, it’s okay,” Katie says.
“We’ll be right here if you need anything, bro.” Knox slaps me on the back before they turn, strolling toward the waiting room.
The lady scans her keycard, opening the automatic doors that lead back to the emergency room. Nurses are speed walking around us, the sound of a baby crying fills the air, and a couple of medics are bringing someone in on a stretcher ahead of us. She takes me all the way down the hall, the second door from the end, on the right. Knocking once, she pushes the glass sliding door open, shoving the privacy curtain open enough to walk through.
My heart beats noisily in my ears, my body temperature feels like it’s risen about twenty degrees, and sweat lines my forehead and my palms. Entering the room, my gaze immediately finds Crew, who’s already looking our way. I let out a heavy breath, feeling slightly better from seeing him awake. He’s fidgeting with his hands on his lap, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he studies me.
“Oh, hi! You must be Anderson!” A nurse I didn’t even notice is standing beside his bed, clicking away on her computer, I’m assuming taking his vitals. Her voice is entirely too chipper, given the circumstances, but it’s nice.
“Hi. Yes, I am. Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, so nice to meet you, too, dear. My name is Callie. I’m Crew’s nurse for the next twelve hours, or until whenever he’s discharged. If you need anything, just holler.”
She walks around me, out of the room, and it’s then I notice the receptionist has already left, too, leaving me alone with Crew. My tongue feels three sizes too big when I try to swallow down my nerves.
“Hi,” is all I manage to get out, crossing the room to sit in the chair beside his bed.
“Hey. I’m surprised to see you. How did you know I was here?” His voice cracks. An IV sticks out of his right arm and a pulse oximeter is on his index finger. His hair is all over the place, looking like it hasn’t been washed in days, and his skin is pale. Eyes red-rimmed and puffy. He looks like shit.
“Knox received a call from his uncle, uh, letting him know about Kalen. I guess he told him you were here, too.”
Nodding his head, he looks down at his lap. He’s got his lip sucked between his teeth and tears streaming down his face. Every part of me is screaming to reach out and take his hand, comfort him, but something is stopping me. My heart breaks seeing him hurt like this, but I don’t know how to help him.
As shitty as this makes me sound, I can’t help but feel relieved by Kalen’s death. I’m not ignorant enough to believe Crew can’t get drugs from somewhere else, but maybe—just fucking maybe—this will be the wake-up call he needs. Especially after witnessing something like that firsthand. I can’t fucking lose him. He needs to wake the fuck up and realize what’s at stake. He needs to fucking fight for himself, because there is no me without him.I cannot fucking lose him.I wouldn’t survive it.
After several long moments of strained silence, I clear my throat and look at him. “Why are you here? Are you hurt?”
He sniffles, running his hands down his face. It’s something I’ve come to learn is a nervous habit of his. “Nah. They brought me here as a precaution. I guess they didn’t believe I didn’t take any of what he had. They said I was dehydrated, though, which is part of what’s in my IV.”
“You didn’t? Take what he took?”
Shaking his head, he whispers, “No.”
“Why not?” My tone comes out hard, and I hate it, but I can’t help it.
He’s fidgeting with his hands again, refusing to look at me. He’s uncomfortable, I know it. “Uh, we got into an argument beforehand.”
“A fight?! A fight about what?”
“Um, about you, mostly.”
Pulling back as if I’ve been physically hit, my brows furrow and my heart races. “What?! Why me?”
“Do you really want to hear this shit?”
“Yes, Crew. I do. This is a whole fucking side of you I’m completely in the dark about, and I want to know.”
Sighing heavily, he trails his hands through his messy hair. “He wanted to hook up, but I didn’t want to. I haven’t let him do anything to me since that time you beat him up… the first time. Anyway, he got butthurt and asked if it was because of you.”
Why the hell is my fucking heart beating so fast? “And?”
“And I said yes, you were one big reason why. We got into an argument about it, and he said he wasn’t going to share.”