Page 24 of Resisting You

Bowen sat up straight. “They fucking what?”

Frey rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Then the cops tried to question him without an interpreter, and when Renato tried to stop them, they threatened to arrest him too. Rex saw a good chunk of it, and I swear I’m going to be paying therapy bills until I die. I’m just…fuck, I am so over everything right now.”

Bowen and Lane exchanged glances, and then Bowen grabbed his hands again. “Pajama party when Rex is discharged.”

Frey shuddered with relief. “Yeah?”

“I’ll make a kid charcuterie board with all the sugary shit they could ever want, and we’ll pack a garbage bag full of Briar’s Squishmallows,” Lane told him.

Bowen nodded. “We’ll get pizza—or whatever Rex feels like eating. We can call the guys too. Dallas will probably sit it out since he’s got the tiny one, but I bet Gage would totally hang out with the little ones and teach them some fun stuff on Minecraft.”

It all sounded amazing and also a little overwhelming. But by the time Rex was discharged and up for visitors, Frey would welcome a little party. At the very least, it would keep Rex occupied, and it would let him unwind a bit. Maybe even get a nap in. “Thank you.”

Lane rolled his eyes and shook him gently. “Don’t you dare thank us. Not for this.”

Frey didn’t know what to say, so he just let them sit near him as he smiled, then eventually choked down his crappy hospital coffee.

Frey sent Bowen and Lane home before Rex was out of surgery. There was no point in them sticking around since there wouldn’t be anything either of them could do, but they only agreed to go after Frey promised to text them the moment Rex was in recovery.

He found himself pacing the third floor, not wanting to push boundaries by hovering outside the pediatric OR since he wasn’t technically on his shift any longer. And in all honesty, he probably wouldn’t have been able to resist poking his head in, and Renato really would kill him if he did that.

So, like all nervous parents, he wore a hole in the floor and ignored all his texts until his work phone finally buzzed with a text.

0213: Rex is out of surgery. Did great. Come up to recovery in ten.

Which meant Renato wasn’t going to come out and talk to him. Frey appreciated it. He didn’t want to hear anything in front of a room full of strangers. He managed to wait a whole six minutes before swiping his badge and walking through the heavy doors, and he went right to the nurses’ station. He didn’t recognize any of them, but they must have been prepped for him because the older woman who was busy arranging some flowers smiled at him.

“For Rex?”

Frey’s shoulders sagged. “Yeah. Do you know what room he’ll be in?”

“Three-oh-six,” she told him. “It’s the room with the elephants. All the kids love it.”

Rex didn’t give two shits about elephants unless they were dressed up as brides and grooms, but he wasn’t going to tell this woman that. He just smiled at her and nodded before hurrying down the hall and letting himself in.

The room seemed strangely empty without a bed, and he paced in front of the window until he heard the telltale sounds of squeaking wheels. A moment later, the door swung open, and the medical assistant grunted as he pushed Rex’s bed past the threshold.

It was obvious his son was still groggy, but his eyes were open a little, and he managed something like a smile when he saw Frey waiting for him. Frey fought the urge to yank him from the warming blankets and hold him.

‘Hi,’ he signed once the bed brakes had been set. ‘You feel okay?’

Rex just blinked at him, and Frey decided it wasn’t the time to worry. It hadn’t even been an hour yet. He smiled, leaning in to press a kiss to his son’s forehead, and he brushed a few sweaty locks away from his skin.

“He did well,” the MA said. He reached over to connect Rex to his monitors, and the quiet ding was almost soothing, especially when Frey was able to see for himself that his vitals were all normal. “Dr. Agosti should be in short?—”

A knock interrupted the man, and Frey turned just as Renato walked in through the door. He was still in scrubs, though he’d taken off his cap, and Frey found his mussed hair a little endearing, which was something he was not expecting to feel.

Renato said nothing for a long moment as he stared at Rex, who’d closed his eyes again, and then he sighed. “It went exactly as expected. He didn’t have any sort of adverse reaction to the anesthesia, and I was able to set everything so he shouldn’t lose any range of motion. But he will need PT for a few weeks once the sling is off.”

Frey felt a pulse of irritation, but he knew that was just leftover anxiety. “I do this for a living. I know all that.”

“And yet, now you’re the patient,” Renato said. “So you also know it’s my job to tell you all of this.”

Frey took in a deep breath, then nodded, staring down at his shoes. “Thank you for taking care of him.”

Renato made a soft noise and took a few steps closer. “Just because you hate me doesn’t mean I’d take anything out on your child.”

Frey looked up into his face. “You really believe I think you’re that petty?”

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