Promises 2 (33 page)

“Rome,” Duke hissed. “Settle down. They did help us.”

Damn, his friend knew him well. Ignoring the warning, Quick was ready to throw up a challenge, but he felt more than he saw the heavy presence of Day’s partner. God was watching Quick with the intense green eyes of a fierce guardian. It was a look that told Quick without words that he may want to think about his next move very carefully. God looked like a man who didn’t appreciate his possessions being threatened, either. Quick’s heart pounded in his chest, and his hands began to squeeze the arms of the chair, almost to the point of tearing them off. The look Day wore, it was like he took pleasure in making others squirm. As the captains talked and the rest of the team went back to work, no one was paying attention to their silent exchange.

Quick looked back at God, he didn’t think the man had even blinked. If there was one thing a predator could immediately recognize, it was when he was in the company of another predator who was just as strong. Regardless of how well trained Quick was, he didn’t want to go up against a man who actually called himself God. When two alpha lions fought, there was rarely a victor… just mutual destruction and a lot of bloodshed.

He turned away. His inner beast didn’t like backing down from the challenge, but he had more important things to handle. Fighting God wasn’t one of them.

When he finally turned back, Day nodded his head and whispered, “I thought so.”

Cayson

As soon as Cayson woke up, feeling groggy and unsettled, he saw Dr. Rajih standing there, looking up at the television, which was airing a special report about a local homicide. Cayson turned away from the typically inflammatory local news. It took him a minute to look around, his head pounding hard enough for him to grit his teeth. Did I fall? Cayson thought back to what had landed him on this bed in the surgeon’s lounge.

“Cayson!” Dr. Masey came in, with a flourish of long blonde hair, with White Diamonds perfume lingering on her white coat. She was on the transplant board with him, so he’d gotten to know her pretty well. “Oh, my lord. I just got in and I heard what happened.”

“Great,” Cayson groaned, leaning up on one elbow.

“Hey, hold on, Doc. Your scary nurse friend said that you were not to move if you woke up, and to come get her as soon as you did,” Dr. Rajih said, hurrying towards the door.

Cayson had no clue what time it was, but looking out the window, he could see it was fairly late. The sun had gone down, and the daylight was slowly creeping behind it. Dr. Masey laughed, sitting on the foot of the cot he was resting on. “He must be talking about Jenny.”

“Sure, Dr. Rajih. Thank you for keeping watch. But I’m fine.” Cayson’s voice was full of exhaustion that he couldn’t hide. He waved the doctor away, hoping he could be gone by the time he made it all the way back from the ER with a very busy Jenny.

“So what happened?” Dr. Masey asked, poking gently at the bruise on his cheek. “You got a little bump there. Did that happen when you passed out?”

“I guess.”

“Did you want to run a few tests? I’ll work them up myself,” she asked, smiling sweetly while her expert fingers traced the bones of Cayson’s cheek.

“I’m good, really. I was already on the floor when I passed out. It was blood pressure. I assure you. I remember now. I was upset about something and hyperventilated. I’m fine Gina, I swear.”

“Only if you’re sure. You’re the specialist.” She winked, still cupping his sore cheek.

Cayson held her eye contact for too long, feeling uncomfortable with her extra flirty bedside manner. Dr. Gina Masey was a beautiful woman. Young, and a brilliant urologist, but Cayson couldn’t return her advances and she was fast to pick up on it when he gently removed her hand from his face. Maybe she was just testing the waters, but Cayson wasn’t bi, he was gay.

He gave her an apologetic smile while he sat upright and began to gather himself. “I really need to get home.” He stood up and swayed a little on his feet. She jumped up and grabbed ahold of his elbow. He barely resisted tugging it out of her grasp. When he checked his cell phone, he saw he had no messages from Quick and it was almost six. Cayson felt like he was going to pass out again. Surely, Quick could’ve sent a text or something by now, if he wanted to. This about confirmed it, Quick was done with him. He probably already had a medical records release request from Duke and Vaughan in his mailbox. He’d not only lost patients, but guys who he’d considered friends, and Rome…
Please don’t give up on me
. Cayson felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes. He couldn’t lose out on love now. He was almost certain he’d never find it again.

“I’m gonna use the bathroom, Gina. Then I need to make a phone call, if you don’t mind.”

She waved him off like he was being silly. “Of course. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

“Thank you.” He avoided looking at her as she left, not wanting her to see his morbid expression.

He went in the bathroom to relieve his bladder, and after finishing, spent an extra few seconds splashing cold water on his face to try to wake up, but all it did was aggravate his headache more. Cayson couldn’t help but think about Brian, too. Was he alright? Had he gotten all his tests done? Was he discharged or admitted? He knew it wasn’t a good idea to go looking himself, because running into Ford was the last thing he wanted to do. They were probably all down there now, if Brian was still here. Cayson’s eyes stretched wide. He had to get out of the hospital before any of them found him.

Cayson peeked out the bathroom before he left; wanting to be sure he wasn’t seen. He looked at the two computer terminals in the lounge and thought about pulling up Brian’s record to see what had happened, but he changed his mind. No longer any of his business. He threw on his big coat and grabbed his personal items off the cot where he’d spent the last few hours. He walked as fast as he could, which wasn’t fast at all, trying to escape unseen, but it was obvious word of his fall had spread fast. About thirty people offered to drive him home, but Cayson refused everyone. The walk was a short one, it was still at least somewhat light outside, and the fresh air would help clear his head, maybe even stop the pounding.

His brain was on overdrive. He was asking himself so many questions, so quickly; that he could barely answer one before another was on its heels. He began questioning everything, from his life and chosen profession, to his ridiculous behavior of falling in love with a man so far out of his league it was comical.

He thought they’d both overcome a major hurdle and had learned to trust each other. Cayson even made love to him. Quick had to feel it, right? Before he knew it, his walk to clear his head was over and he was at his gate, unlocking it. He let himself inside, pretending not to see his little old neighbor waving at him. He simply wasn’t in the mood for a conversation about perennials. He wanted to get in his bed, close all the shades and put on some sad ass love ballads. He’d never got to experience real heartbreak, and he had to admit, they didn’t exaggerate on those Lifetime movies, because this shit hurt worse than anything imaginable.

He didn’t bother to turn on his television, instead heading straight to his vinyls. His chest ached right along with his head. He picked an Al Green album from 1975 and placed it gently on the turntable. It’d been his dad’s favorite. As soon as the first sounds of crackling emerged from speaker, Cayson thought he’d lose it. Why couldn’t he just be left alone to be happy? “Goddamnit!” Cayson picked up the ceramic bowl on his coffee table and threw it with all his might against the wall, shattering it into a zillion pieces, which he was too fucking tired to clean up. Smart, Cayson.

His stomach churned and convulsed like he was going to be sick, but he fought it. There wasn’t a damn thing in there to bring up but stomach lining; he hadn’t eaten since his English muffin breakfast. He couldn’t imagine eating anything right now.
I’m just going to bed.
This was going to be it… this was his life… again. He shouldn’t be that upset, because it was only a few weeks ago that it’d been his normal routine. And he was okay with it then. He could’ve done that forever. But now. Now look at him. He was alone, heartbroken, and probably wanted by the police for questioning, if what Dana said was right. He’d unleashed a madman into his friends’ lives. There was no recovering from that.

He wasn’t on the second step when his doorbell rang. Sweat popped up on Cayson’s temples and leaked down his cheeks as he shook nervously all the way to the door. Was it the police? The knock sounded official.

“W-who’s there?” Cayson stammered.

“FedEx with a package.” A woman’s voice answered.

Cayson opened the door, peeking his head out. He saw the large white truck parked outside his gate and opened the door a little wider.

“For a Dr. Chauncey. I need your signature, sir.”

“Um, who’s it from?” Cayson already had one return to sender package, and didn’t need two. She could take it right back if it was from Joe.

“Last name, Webb. That’s all I got on here.”

Webb. Cayson breath hitched. It was from Quick. He squinted at her hand-held gadget and accepted the stylus, scribbling his illegible doctor’s signature before handing it back to her. “You guys usually come earlier.”

“Sorry, new to the route. Running a little behind. Have a good evening.” She handed him the flat package and hurried back to her vehicle.

Cayson flipped the square envelope over and saw it wasn’t from Quick, but from Vaughan. Why was he sending him a package? He inquisitively ripped the tab and looked inside, almost knocked off his feet. It was an actual record. An old vinyl record, but he didn’t recognize the name. He barely closed his front door, still studying the cover. Jeffrey Osborne? Stopping Al Green, Cayson pulled out the record and placed it on his antique record player. He sat down on his couch and listened for the first few notes to start. He wondered what kind of album Vaughan would think to get him. They never discussed music together.

Oh, how he wished he hadn’t put on that record. He immediately recognized what it was after the first few beautiful lines.

I don’t even know how to love you

Just the way you want me to

But I’m ready to love,

Yes, I’m ready to love.

It was their song. The one Vaughan had chosen especially for them on their first official date out. He’d bought the record for them to have, to probably share together. Cayson rubbed his hands over his face, not realizing he was crying until he had to wipe his wet hands on his pants leg. He was torturing himself by listening to every note, every word. Punishing himself. He held his hand to his chest and tried to breathe through the pain. He was ready. He’d been ready. And before he could enjoy it fully, it was ripped away from him. The story of his life.

He must have fallen asleep on his couch, because he was woken up by thin, firm hands, holding him around his waist. It felt different, felt wrong. He fought through another groggy state, trying to understand why he was being held and where he was. As soon as he heard unknown voices, he shot upright, his head screaming as he did. “Oh, my god. Joe! Joe, what are you doing here? Get your hands off me. How’d you get in here?” Cayson jerked and squirmed until he was sitting all the way up. He looked behind him and saw two men who looked like they were well-dressed mobsters standing behind his couch.

“Your door was open. Look, Cayson. I need your help. I’m so sorry about everything. The way I treated you. Talked to you. And I know I don’t deserve it, but I need you. I need a friend. I mean really, really need your help.” Joe stopped trying to hug Cayson and started walking back and forth in front of him. “I swear to you. I’m innocent.”

“I didn’t accuse you of anything,” Cayson countered, still peeking back at the large men, who had yet to speak.

“Don’t worry about them. They’re for my protection. I’m in trouble, Cayson. You have to come down to the police station with me and tell them I didn’t do it.” Joe’s hair was a messy bird’s nest on top of his head and he had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in days. He had on an Adidas tracksuit, like he’d just come from the gym. Cayson had to be careful not to let his worry show. He’d never seen the man in anything less than business casual. Joe looked like he really was on the run.
Maybe I should… definitely.
Cayson pressed and held every button on his watch, too scared to look down and make sure he was hitting the right one for 911. He wasn’t concerned with Joe’s innocence; he just wanted him gone. He didn’t know this man. It seemed he never had. Cayson just wanted to be left alone, by everyone.

“Turn yourself in Joe. Tell the truth. Your dad has lawyers up the ass.”

“I only told that idiot to scare Roman Webb. I didn’t tell him to actually try to kill anyone, and I damn sure didn’t tell him to hire more men. It wasn’t supposed to get this far!” Joe’s hands shook with his wild gestures.

“What?”

“Now my outcast nephew on my mother’s side is at the police station fabricating a story to get himself a deal and frame me. I wouldn’t try to have anyone killed!” Joe grabbed Cayson’s arms, shaking him. “Cayson you have to know that. You have to help me.”