Page 74 of Adored

In amusement, Gamble just shook his head.

“What do you want me to do?” Gamble asked, referring to the reason they were there. “With your parent’s remains?”

He sat there and contemplated it since he knew what they had wanted. It was in their will that the barrister had delivered when Poe got there.

“They wished to be buried with Hemmingway, and I know I told you that, but that means I have to pick out caskets. I’ve already hired someone to come open the ground to bury later this week. I don’t plan on being there to see it. I can’t.”

Poe sipped the truly terrible tea, but it warmed him up, and that helped.

“That’s all they specified other than they wanted a wake for everyone to say goodbye.”

Unfortunately.

Well, that was easy to handle. Gamble could do this for him.

“Okay, sit here, and I’ll go sign for the bodies to be released.”

Poe was thinking a little more clearly now, and had to point out one thing.

“You’re not me,” he said.

He laughed.

“Are you having a stroke, Doctor? I know I’m not you, but I’m good at handling situations like this. You just sit there and wait for me. This shouldn’t take long.”

Poe wasn’t sure if it would work, but honestly, he didn’t want to deal with it.

Oh, he loved his parents, but he wasn’t as strong as he liked to believe.

What he really wanted was to close his eyes, and for this all to be over.

Was that so much to ask?

It had been a rough four days.

“Okay, Mate.”

After Gamble gave him a kiss, he headed into the morgue, and Poe sat there.

In silence.

The whole time, he was acutely aware that people were down the hall, watching him. Immediately, he knew that this was going to be tabloid assholes looking to make a quick buck on a story about his family.

He just knew it.

Poe felt panicky, and he wasn’t sure how long Gamble was gone, but the people were moving closer, and Poe was paranoid.

A part of him said to get out of there, and he was pretty sure it was the panic attack that was about to go down. The last thing he wanted was cameras in his face as he was asked about his parent’s murders.

Standing, he saw the men’s room, and that overwhelming need to escape hit him.

Yep.

He was out of there.

Granted, Gamble told him to stay there, but he just couldn’t. Heading into the loo, Poe was praying that they’d just leave him alone.

Hadn’t he been through enough?