Nicholas Pov
My car eased to a stop at the private security gate of St. Mercia Medical. The familiar emblem catched the light under the evening sun and the guard gave a clipped nod as I rolled down the window. He didn't look like your average rent-a-cop. He leaned in slightly toward the window, his voice direct and calm.
"Name and reason for visit?" he asked
"Nicholas Grey, I'm here to see a patient. Martha Callahan" He typed something into a tablet and I saw the change in his posture the moment my name registered. It was respect and something like caution not sure which.
"Visitation isn't on file but I'll notify the front desk" I nodded once
"Appreciate it"
The gate slid open and I eased the car forward, my tires barely making a sound against the stone-paved drive. Reed's mother had been admitted here and the decision stopped feeling optional because I owed her that much.
The doors opened on cue swallowing me into the quiet lobby. I approached the front desk, the woman behind it looked up cool beaded in a pressed navy jacket exactly the kind of gatekeeper this place preferred.
"Good afternoon, can I help you?"
"Yes" I said. "I'm here to see a patient. Martha Callahan" She typed something quickly, her eyes never leaving the screen
"What's your relation to the patient, sir?" There it was the question I hadn't prepped for not because I didn't expect it but because there was no acceptable answer.
"A friend of the family" I said, she nodded and tapped in the final details before directing me toward the private wing.
Martha lay against white pillows pale but peaceful. The IV snaked from her wrist like a leash and beside her like a bad habit that just wouldn't die sat her husband john. It had been a decade since I last saw him and time hadn't been kind to him. His hair was grayer, his face drawn thinner and his eyes were sharp with that same old resentment and bitterness.
The room was quiet with medical equipment hidden behind sliding panels with a flat-screen mounted in the corner. On the side table sat a bouquet of get well soon flowers ordered by someone with a guilt complex, I of course added my own offering; a basket of fruit on the table without saying a word.
Reina Reed's sister stepped through a door, her gaze flickering between John and I, but John? He looked at me like I'd tracked filth across the marble floors. If looks could kill I sure as shit know I'd be six feet under. I matched his stare or glare, definitely glare with the same calmness I've perfected over the years. He and I never bothered with pleasantries; just mutual indifference dressed up as civility.
I don't respect him and he can't stand the sight of me. In his eyes I wasn't just a lover I was a thief, I stole his perfect son, corrupted him, tainted him with my sickness and burned his legacy on the way out and the worst part? I'd do it again.
Reed being bisexual, being queer wasn't just unacceptable to John it was a betrayal of everything he believed made a man. He still calls it a phase, something Reed will outgrow like a bad habit. Years passed and Reed definitely did not change and that added to his disappointment and resentment.
Martha and Reina knew about Reed's sexuality of course and they supported him however they could. As for john here he only knew how to love the version of his son that stood straight, wore a uniform and called him "sir." The rest? He treated like a flaw that needed to be corrected.
"What the hell are you doing here?" John asked in a tight voice laced with anger.
"I came to see your wife" I replied, locking eyes with him as a slow devilish grin touched my lips. The tension in the room was thick as smoke and I swear it could choke someone to death.
"I told you to stay away from my family, from my son haven't you done enough?" I tilted my head.
"You don't get to tell me what to do, Callahan, that was true years ago and it's still true now." I continued calm as ever. "Besides, me showing up doesn't mean I've done anything wrong, It just means I still give a damn."
"You call what you did giving a damn?" he spat. "You dragged him into your mess and dragged him in your sick little world until he couldn't tell right from wrong and now he's out there pretending to be something he's not. Some faggot in a uniform"
Reina inhaled sharply like she'd just been slapped across the face and I? I wanted to punch him in the face until he stops breathing, but I won't, obviously because i have better self control and manners.
"You wanna run that back?" His eyes narrowed at me but he didn't repeat it "You don't get to talk about him like that, not in front of me, not ever. "I took a step closer, "Reed has more courage in his little finger than you've managed in your entire life and for the record?" I stared down at him "He never pretended to be anything, you just didn't have the guts to really see him."
I felt someone at the door and I knew the person in question was here. I took several steps back and turned to Reed who was still at the door, his hands clenched beside him. His shoulders were tight with tension, It practically radiated off him like heat.
"So that's what you really think of me." Reed says and John's face twisted as he scoffed
"After all these years I thought you'd grow out of it. Settle down and marry a woman, give me a grandson but no-" his voice sharpened to a sneer, "still clinging to this phase like a damn parasite." Reed didn't back away but his jaw clenched. "You little shit" John barked. "Ungrateful after everything I did for you-"
"Everything you did to me" Reed cut in, his voice steady but low "Let's get it right." John's nostrils flared, his gaze flicking to me like poison searching for a new host. "And you," he spat, "You're the one who did this to him, you had your hooks in him. It must've been real easy with that pretty face and your charming lies" I didn't move because Reed was already stepping forward
"Don't." The word sliced through the room "Don't you dare put this on him."
"Reed-"
"No" he said, fire flaring behind his eyes. "You want someone to blame for who I am? Blame yourself and the years I spent hating myself because of you. Blame the rules, the pressure to be everything but me." His voice cracked again. "Nicholas didn't ruin me, he saved me again and again even when I didn't want to be saved." John opened his mouth but whatever he was about to say died the moment Reed added, "You want a grandson? You should've raised a son you didn't make ashamed to breathe."
The silence was uncomfortable, Reina swallowed her eyes wet and I watched Reed walk out of that room like he hadn't just torn his father's legacy in half with a few sentences. I stared at the fucker smiling at him and the because well he deserved it and worse. I swear the man is infuriating, I don't know how he birthed someone like reed or hell Reina. I waited a beat, long enough to give Reed space and not long enough to let him think I wouldn't follow.
Outside the air was cooler when I spotted him. He didn't look over when I stepped beside him but he knew it was me, he always knew the sound of my steps and my breathing. We were both wired that way
"I never asked you to choose," i said and he didn't look at me
"You didn't have to" he murmured his arms crossed so tight you'd think he was trying to keep himself from falling apart. "You knew I'd choose duty"
"I hoped you wouldn't" I say and that made him back away, I knew him too well not to notice the pause
"I thought I was protecting you" he said making me scoff but it was more sad than angry
"You don't get to decide what protects me Reed and you definitely don't get to disappear and act like it was mercy."
"I was trying to keep you safe." he said finally turning to face me, his tired and devastated eyes boring into me "You think it was easy walking away from you?
"You didn't just walk," I snapped. "You ran and you didn't call, you didn't even explain to me why you left, you ghosted me like we didn't mean anything. I was fucking depressed and devastated." His breath caught and I saw the guilt and the ache in those expressive eyes.
"I never meant to hurt you nick, If I could take it it back I would." clenched my hands at his words. "I never stopped thinking about you, needing you.*
"You don't get to say that." my chest ached with wanting him. His throat bobbed and he looked away
"Then what do you want me to say?"
"That you regret it." My voice cracked. "That you regret leaving me like I was nothing." Reed exhaled sharply dragging a hand down his face.
"You think I don't live with that regret every damn day?" He stepped forward close enough that his scent smoke, soap, something achingly familiar wrapped around me. "Nicholas... walking away from you was the only way I thought I could survive. But it never worked. I never survived it." I should've walked away but instead, I grabbed him by his neck and kissed him hard, our tongues clashing together.
"Let me make it up to you nick. Take me back, I swear I'd do anything" Reed said breaking the kiss "come home with me... I just need you there" Every bone in my body screamed at me not to give in but I nodded anyway because well I'm too far gone with him.