“Thanks officer,” I say, eager to get him out of my doorway. “Anything you need from us?”
“Nope. Only wanted to stop by and let y'all know what was going on. We will get to the bottom of this, I promise. It's a small town. Someone's gotta know something.”
He isn't wrong about that last part and I bet I can get to the truth quicker than these clueless fuckers can. It all starts at the hospital too and with this other man who's been on the visitor list.
“We appreciate it and we'll be around if you have any more questions.” Patrick's rocks on the balls of his feet. He grabs onto my hand and I smile down at him, needing to take him back to bed where it can only be the two of us again. Where I can make him forget what all he learned just now.
“No problem. We will be around too, keeping a close eye and will update you as we know more.”
“Sounds good,” I say.
As soon as I close the door, I tug him to the room and he stops me. “I want to go to the hospital.”
“I don't know if that's a good idea right now. Let's wait a few days.”
“Please.” His eyes hook on mine. “I need to be with my brother. I need to see him and see that he's okay.”
I look up at the ceiling and then back down at him. “If that's what you need then we'll go.”
“I think I need to be there as much as I can. In between the chores and…” he pauses, eyes growing larger. “The animals. I haven't—”
“I got it covered,” I counter. “Don't worry about it. They've been fed, water, moved and I even gave some of them a pet or two.”
Laughing, he squeezes my hand. “Only one or two? So the bare minimum I see.”
I ruffle his hair and he laughs, tugging at my shirt to pull me into a kiss. Melting against him, I close the small distance and my tongue snakes its way inside his mouth. Seconds later I pull away gasping, I kiss him on the nose and we rub our heads together.
“It's going to be okay, little bo.”
“How do you know?” His words are jumbled.
“Because I'm going to do everything I can to make it okay.”
After grabbing fast-food, we head to the hospital, arriving there five minutes later. We eat in the parking lot with me needing to constantly remind Patrick to slow down on the chewing.
“It's okay. You don’t work today so I think there's room on your short list for the heimlich maneuver.”
A laugh pushes past my lips and I hand him his coke when he starts coughing. “I much rather have room for other things so drink this and let's go see your brother. One of you in the hospital is more than enough.”
He takes the coke and sips on the straw. After a few swallows he laughs, pushing open his door and says. “Okay, my near death experience is over, let's go.”
I get out after him, tossing the trash in one of the bins on the way inside the building. It's busier today, people rushing by and piling in on the elevator. Patrick stays close to me the whole time, latching onto my arm and not letting go until we are in his brother's room. He approaches him slowly and when he lifts the blanket to observe his hand, he sinks down into the chair next to the bed.
“I'm sorry, Glenn. I'm so fucking sorry. I keep failing you. At least I feel like I do.”
Standing behind him, I rest a hand on his shoulder and stay quiet as he talks to his brother some more. He tells him he loves him and how he'll be happy to know he finally knows his sexy neighbor's name. I laugh at that, rubbing both of his shoulders and relaxing more when he does.
He clears his throat a few times while saying a prayer they used to say with their mother when they were younger right before they went to bed and I offer to get him some water.
“Yeah, that would be great.” His voice cracks and I leave the room, going to the first kitchenette area I stumble upon. As I'm heading back, I stop dead in my tracks when I see a pink bag on the nurses station. It's identical to one Patrick thought I left on his table. A nurse reaches for him and my breaths stutter when she takes a cookie out. She munches on it and a blonde woman steps behind her to grab one too.
“These are so addicting,” the first one says.
“They are. Not only is he a great husband, he's also a great baker.”
“He left his business card behind too,” the blonde chirps.
“Oh, where. I'll definitely have to order something from him soon.”