Page 78 of Devil's Hour
“He’s my world,” he replied. And God, it was true.
“That’s so sweet,” Dr. Sanchez said. “I’ll tell you what, we’ll start out following the rules and see how it goes. If Mr. Key responds well to treatment and benefits from your presence, then we ultimately want what’s best for him.”
“I’m what’s best for him,” Royce said confidently.
She patted his arm. “One of our nurses will take you back to see him soon.”
“Thank you,” he told her.
“Hey, honey,” Holly said gently. “I’m going to run to your house and pack a bag for you since it might be a while yet before I can see him. Is there anything specific you want?”
He shook his head. “Thanks, Holls. I love you.”
“I love you too.” She held him tight. “He’s going to be fine.”
Sawyer’s prognosis was better than Royce had feared, but he was prepared to help Sawyer through anything. When Holly turned to ask the Keys if she could bring them anything, Jace caught his eye and jerked his head to the side, indicating he wanted a private word.
Sawyer followed him out of the waiting room and around the corner. “Thanks for coming.”
Jace replied by pulling Royce into a tight hug, shocking the hell out of him. “You scared the fuck out of me twice in two fucking months. Maybe you should get a different fucking job.”
“That’s a lot of fucks, bro,” Royce said, grinning at the man who’d been his only hero growing up.
“It’s a Marine thing. Your curvy spine saved you in more ways than one.” Royce hated the pain he saw in Jace’s eyes, and he wished for the millionth time that his brother could find peace from his memories and trauma from years of combat. “I’m really serious about making things right with the people who matter to me. You and Holly matter. I don’t know Sawyer, but he’s important to you and Holly cares for him a great deal. He matters to me now too. I’m looking forward to getting to know your guy. Fuck the rest of the family, Ro. You were always better than us.” Royce shook his head because Jace never gave himself enough credit. “I’m your big brother. Don’t shake your head at me.”
Royce snorted. “Okay.”
“Anyway, things are going to be different between us, yeah?”
“Yeah.” Royce hugged Jace tight. “Don’t hurt my best girl, Jace. She’s been crazy about you since forever. You deserve her love, so stop pushing her away.”
“I’m working on it, little bro.”
“What’s going on out here?” Holly said, sounding suspicious.
Jace hooked an arm around Royce’s neck, pulled him in, and kissed his temple. “Something that should’ve happened a few years ago,” he said, releasing Royce. “We’ll be back in a bit, Ro. Call us if you need anything or you get any updates.”
“I will.”
Royce hugged them both and returned to the waiting room and sat beside Blue. “You can go home to Zeke. I’ll call you as soon as—”
“I’m right where I need to be,” Blue said, flipping the page of hisCosmopolitanmagazine. He smiled up at Royce. “With my boo.”
It took another forty-five minutes before a nurse came out and said they could see Sawyer. Royce gestured for the Keys to go first so they could see him together while he waited with Blue. They only stayed in there for thirty minutes, but it felt like thirty days passed before Evangeline and Baron returned to the waiting room. Evangeline fixed him with a watery smile, squeezed his hand, then kissed his cheek.
“Are you okay?”
“No,” she said honestly. “Seeing my child injured like that is horrible, but I’m so grateful to you. We could’ve lost him tonight.”Not if he’d listened to me,he thought. “Go see your man, then I want to see your butt in that recliner getting some shut-eye.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Royce was grateful for Blue’s presence, both his size and his comforting fortitude because he nearly collapsed when he saw Sawyer in the hospital bed, gauze covering the majority of his body.
“Remember what the doc said,” Blue said gently. “Most of his injuries are minor. This looks a lot worse than it is.”
Royce wanted to take Sawyer’s hand to kiss and hold against his face, but both were heavily bandaged.It’s only temporary. You’ll be kissing every inch of skin, scarred or not, before long.
Blue walked to the bed and spoke to Sawyer in a gentle voice. “Take care and get lots of rest, buddy. I’m so glad you’re going to be okay.” He hung around a while longer to make sure Royce was all right before he patted him on the shoulder and left. “I’ll be back soon.”