Page 96 of Worth the Wait

“How is he?” they answered.

“Broken collarbone. Pretty bruised, but otherwise fine. He’s okay, Verity,” Jack promised. “Did you hear anything more about Keith?”

“He’ll be fine.”

“Are you still at the hospital?” Jack asked, walking to the elevator banks.

“Of course. Landon and Gregory came, too.” Verity sounded beyond tired.

“Do you want to meet me in the cafeteria for coffee?”

“God, yes,” they replied, hanging up.

Jack dropped his phone back into his pocket and rode down to the cafeteria, finding Verity, Landon, and Gregory already there.

Landon was on him as soon as he saw him, wrapping him in a tight hug and weeping into his ear. Jack automatically patted Landon’s back in a soothing motion before letting his hand drop to his side. He lowered his forehead onto Landon’s shoulder, a cry leaking from his lips.

“He’s okay, yeah?” Landon asked.

Jack nodded, shoulders heaving with the weight of his tears.

“He’s really fucked up,” Jack whispered. He stepped back and sniffed, wiping his eyes with the backs of his hands and forcing a smile. He ran a reassuring hand down Landon’s arm and nodded as positively as he could manage. “It’s okay, though.”

Landon looked at Jack sorrowfully, with Gregory at his back and Verity by his side. He wiped his eyes and stepped back toward Jack, pulling him into another hug that had Jack instinctively rubbing a calming hand through Landon’s hair.

Landon reached behind him and swiped his hand away. “You’re not my Daddy, Jack,” he whispered. “Okay?”

Jack mashed his teeth together and forced a nod, a dam shattering behind his eyelashes as the tears he’d tried to hide from Callum broke free. Verity’s arms wrapped around him from behind and he sobbed in the hospital cafeteria while Verity and Landon held him steady.

“I want to marry him. He won’t let me marry him until he’s healed,” Jack hiccupped with a self-deprecating laugh.

Landon tensed briefly, then tightened his hold.

“Nonsense,” Verity whispered.

Landon stepped away, backing into Gregory. Verity loosened their hold on him and wiped his cheeks with their fingers.

“Jesus, I work tomorrow,” Jack scrubbed his hands down his face. “My first day starts in two hours.”

“That’s obviously not happening,” Gregory confirmed, handing him a cup of coffee.

“Isn’t Justin your boss? I think he’ll understand.”

Jack’s shoulders tensed and he took a drink of the shitty hospital coffee. “I should go find him.”

“No, you should sit down and collect yourself so you can be there for Callum,” Landon countered. “We’ll go track them all down and see what’s going on.”

“You stay here,” Verity said, pointing at the plastic chair Jack had just lowered himself into.

“I told Callum I’d stay.”

“You are staying. You’re in the hospital still,” Verity twisted their hair out of their face and leveled a warning look at him. “If I’m not back in half an hour, you can go back to his room, but you need time to gather yourself together and take a breath.”

“Alright,” he agreed, knowing Verity was correct.

“We’ll be back,” Landon confirmed, pulling Gregory toward the doorway.

“Thank you,” Jack whispered, unsure if anyone heard.