Page 10 of Tone Deaf
Danny gasps, and pulls out a stick of gloss and slathers his lips as he glares up at his boyfriend.
“For a few minutes only,” Tobias adds and leads my friends out of the room.
“Cool,” Bobby says, talking around a sucker stick protruding from the corner of his mouth.
My eyes slide to Raef, who’s standing there, like he’s frozen in place. His eyes are on the nurse like he’s the Martin D-18E that Kurt Cobain played at the height of his career. The ultimate prize for my friend and the ultimate, near-impossible bucket list item he’s trying to attain.
I want to chuckle at the look on my friend’s face, but I hurt too much to let out a laugh.
Raef has no idea what he’s getting into if he wants to hook up with that nurse. I bet Lyric would lead him on such a crazy chase that my friend wouldn’t know what hit him.
“Raef,” Connor snaps out over his shoulder.
Raef’s eyes jump to our drummer, then to me, and back to Lyric again before he stalks out of the room with a frown. His and Bobby’s security guys, Fig and Jordan, follow right behind Raef.
Fig announces from the doorway, “We’ll stand outside the room and wait.”
“Yep,” Bobby says with a thumbs up.
“This is your final warning, Mr. Fitz. You need to keep your voice down.” Lyric points a no-nonsense glare at him. The nurse then walks over to the side of the bed and quickly checks on me. “Are you in pain?”
“Yeah, a bit,” I admit with a slight groan. Although I’m happy that the room has quieted down.
“Here.” Lyric lifts a small, wired rectangular remote that’s connected to my IV stand, and he places it in my good hand. “This will administer a dose of pain meds into the IV. Just push the button and in a few seconds, you’ll start feeling it work.”
“Could he overdose if he presses too many times?” Dom asks softly as he observes the IV line.
“No, it’s timed. One push for every four hours.” Then Lyric looks at me, “If the pain reliever isn’t working, let me know and I can call the doctor and ask him for something stronger.”
“Okay.” I then press the button, and the pain almost immediately begins to slowly ebb away. “Thank you.”
“If you need anything else, use the call button on your remote.” Lyric places it next to my hand and smiles. He slidesa narrowed-eyed frown to Dom and Pen, and a glare at Brian before walking out of the room.
Dom and Pen remain on alert, standing as sentries, as Brian approaches me. “Cal?—”
“Dude, your face,” Bobby interjects, his lips in a full frown. He isn’t one for blood—or anything to do with bodily fluids. I’m surprised he didn’t pass out when he came in here. “You really do look like shit.”
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” I slur, feeling more of the effect of the pain meds flooding my system, and I yawn.
“I’m glad you’re okay. But dude…” Bobby’s forehead has a light sheen, and he can’t look me straight in the face. He’s going to be sick.
“Thanks. Now go before you puke all over me,” I say to my friend. And without another word, Bobby bolts out of the room.
“Son.” Brian steps around Dom. His eyes, which look exactly like mine, are glazing over, like he actually cares.
Even doped up, I know better. Still, I’m actually taken aback at the sudden emotion I see in my father. And just as fast as it arose, the split second of concern fades and leaves the bastard I know him to be front and center.
“I don’t know where you come up with this shit, but you can’t blame me for your attack. I’m glad your mother isn’t here to see you like this. I told you that your poofter ways were going to put you six feet under.”
I struggle to get my brain cells in order. I only want to do this once. “The guy called out your name. He saidBrian Fitz. So I’m asking again, what shady shit are you in?”
Dom steps in front of Brian and gets in his face. “You best answer his question,” he snarls.
“But I’m notinanything shady.” Brian’s mouth gapes open, like he has more excuses to throw at me. Then he glances at Dom’s hard expression and Brian quickly snaps it shut.
“I’m sure the cops will be real interested in knowing you had something to do with your son’s attack,” Pen adds with a shake of his head.
Dom shifts to the right and I’m able to see Brian’s face. His wide eyes shift from Dom to me. “Callum, don’t you see that I’m trying to?—”