The streets outside were waking up by the time Frank’s phone finally burst into life. He rushed to answer so fast that he almost dropped it. “Frank Walker.”
I held my breath, straining to hear the voice on the other end. Frustration and fear bubbled when all I could register was a tinny sound. But the answer came not from them, but Frank himself.
“Oh, thank fuck.” His shoulders caved in, one hand going to his forehead. “Thank you for saving him. Thank you.”
Relief hit me, so overwhelming I was almost dizzy with it. I wanted to snatch the phone and demand more answers. To learn what his recovery period would be like. If he’d be medically discharged. If he was allowed visitors.
But I had no right to demand any of that. I was no one to Dominic. Just someone he’d had a secret fling with when he was a teenager who didn’t know any better.
I rubbed at my chest. Fuck, this hurt so much. I was so fucking happy that he was alive, but tonight was yet another reminder that he wasn’t mine to worry about. That he never had been. Not really.
I needed to focus on Frank. Not myself. I got up from my chair, going around the table to put my arm around his shoulders. I held him as he continued to babble his thanks, tears thickening his words.
When he hung up, I hugged him a little tighter. “See? Told you. Dominic’s too stubborn to die.”
Frank had his face buried in both his hands now as the strength that had got him through the past few hours left him.
I swallowed hard. “Did the doctor say anything else?”
He pulled himself together long enough to answer. “He’s got a long road ahead of him, recovery wise, but he’ll be able to do so over there. They don’t think it’ll be enough to discharge him over, unless he has PTSD or any other complications.”
“That’s good. All sounds positive.”
“He’s not alone either,” Frank added. “Max has been given a few days leave and is at his side.”
Suddenly it felt like the inside of my throat was coated with razor blades. I turned the fury inwards. How the fuck could I be jealous that Dominic had his best friend with him at a time like this? I had no fucking right to be.
Even if I desperately wished I could be there instead, it just wasn’t possible.
Especially as Dominic would never want that.
“He’s going to be okay,” Frank sobbed, like the realisation was truly setting in. He swiped the heel of his hand against his eyes. “My boy. He’s alive. He’salive.”
Tears climbed up my throat to join Frank’s, but I choked them back. Dominic had to reunite with Frank, if for no other reason than to see that he wasloved. That what his father had done was unforgiveable, but that he’d never truly wished he was dead.
His reaction proved that.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” Frank babbled, standing up and wrapping me in an enormous bear hug. “We’re going to get him back.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Dominic might never be back in the way he dreamed of. And certainly not how I did. It was stupid of me, but I’d never fully got over Dominic Walker.
Tonight was evidence of that. One phone call about his life being in danger and I’d dropped everything to be here.
Hugging Frank, I realised that my world had changed with the passing of the storm. Yes, Dominic hadn’t died. He was still in the world. But it wasn’t right that he was still part ofmyworld. Not when I was the only one keeping him there. Dominic sure as shit didn’t want to be a part of it. Eight years of silence had made that clear. Wasn’t like he could blame it on being in the military either. Xander wasn’t in the same branch of service, but he didn’t have any trouble keeping in touch.
The difference was that Xander wanted to keep our relationship alive, even if all we shared was friendship.
Dom didn’t. It was as simple as that.
I couldn’t keep letting Dominic hurt me. He hadn’t even done it intentionally this time. Wasn’t like he’d leapt in front of a bullet.
At least, I hoped he hadn’t.
But that didn’t change the anguish I was feeling. The agony of knowing he was injured and that I was powerless to help. That I wasn’t even entitled to updates on how he was doing.
Because Ryan Davies wasn’t anything to Dominic Walker. He never had been.
And he never would be.