Page 100 of Missed Steps

“Eddie!” A loud voice cuts through Bethany’s sentence. A carbon copy of Eddie strides into the room, going right to his side and bending to hug him. “I’ve been looking all over the building for you. You can’t just tell me you’re in the hospital and then not be in your room when I get here. That’s sadistic! I have Mom and Dad blowing up my phone asking who you beat this time and if we need a lawyer.”

It’s Eddie’s brother sitting next to him. The student-teacher from primary school. My first crush.

Leonard.

Bethany’s gaze shoots to the side and she pointedly frowns. A fist clenches my insides and I follow her gaze to my heart monitor; watching with her as the number spikes into the triple digits.

“Kyle, are you okay?” she asks me.

Her voice draws Eddie’s knowing gaze as well as Leonard’s. I meet his eyes. It takes a second, maybe two, before recognition blossoms. Leonard goes rigid and grips his brother’s knee. His throat works over several times before he can swallow.

He turns to Eddie. “Please tell me you didn’t put him into a hospital bed?” He speaks quietly but in the silence of the room it carries. His voice is brimming with stress.

Stress I feel. Stress I…stress I am letting go of. Stress I don’t need to hold on to anymore. I can’t be hurt like I was in the past. I have Mark. I have Chris. I’m safe.

“Eddie helped me,” I say, seeing that Eddie is struggling to figure out what to say. “My brother is the one that hurt him.”

Mark strolls in. He draws up, dark eyes flashing to Leonard. Half a second later, he’s looking at me and then the monitor. “You know,” he says, “this is a privateroom for my boyfriend.” He walks into the centre of the room and plants himself between me and Leonard so I can no longer see the man. “And my boyfriend is supposed to be resting, not being kept up by average-at-best looking guys.”

I blink.

Bethany leans toward me, her eyes on Mark’s back. “Any chance you’ve hooked up with Leonard before?”

“I had a crush,” I admit.

“Mark’s such an asshole,” she mutters.

“We’re moving in together,” Mark adds. To nobody. Literally nobody asked. Nobody even spoke.

“Mark,” I say. “How about you sit down?”

Mark takes a step back and sits on the end of the bed, making sure his torso is positioned between me and Leonard. I still can’t see the guy, and I’m not even slightly tempted to try to peer around Mark.

“This isn’t the same Mark you’re friends with, is it?” Leonard asks Eddie.

“Somehow,” Eddie says. “We should go out. Kyle just woke up, and you might stress him out if you’re here.”

“It’s okay, Eddie,” I say. “I’m fine.” And when I peek at my heart rate monitor, it’s coming right down to earth again. I am fine. It’s not a lie.

“Get out,” Mark says, blunt and mean.

“Mark,come on.”

The door opens, and it’s Chris that comes in next. He draws up short, clearly picking up on the tension in the room immediately.

“He’s—” I hear a rigid note in Leonard’s voice. He stands up, and Mark is no longer blocking him from view. Leonard glowers at Chris. “You assaulted my brother?”

“No, my brother did,” Chris replies calmly. “And he is in police custody now. Eddie interfered in my little brother’s assault, and thanks to him, we were able to resolve things quickly. This is for you, Eddie.” Chris offers a plastic bag to him.

“I told you I don’t need any thanks,” Eddie’s voice is gruff.

“Bethany, would you mind taking it for him?” Chris asks.

Eddie snatches the bag before Bethany can even look at Chris. I stifle a laugh. Onecomment about Chris being good looking and Eddie hates Bethany being in the same room as him.

Chris represses a grin.

“My boyfriend is trying to sleep,” Mark puts in.