Page 102 of The Laughing Game

Gideon returned. “I should have asked her for some gloves. I’m going to go wash my hands.”

“Bathroom’s over there,” I said, showing him.

“Wow, you’re pretty good in a crisis, Angel,” Gideon said, grinning at Vihaal. “I guess we should keep him.”

“I guess we should,” Vihaal said, in a shockingly affectionate way for someone holding a towel against their bleeding face.

He reached for my hand and I gave it.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said, as Gideon made his way to the washroom.

Chapter Twenty

We waited about four hours for Vihaal to be seen. I think the nurse at Reception got tired of getting us clean towels so she sped things up.

I stayed in the lounge while Gideon accompanied Vihaal to the exam room. I tried to relax, even though an ER was not the place to do that easily. Although I supposed it was better than the Intensive Care Unit.

According to Dr. Google, it wasn’t particularly unusual for someone who frequently got nosebleeds to find themselves in this situation. At least we’d insisted that he seek medical attention, so things could be resolved. Hopefully he wouldn’t need to be admitted.

After checking out the probable prognosis online, I had nothing to do but play games on my phone while they were gone. It could have been worse. At least no-one was screaming. A baby cried now and then, and at one point a little kid was running around cursing randomly until someone stopped him. But other than that, it was peaceful.

A shadow fell across my phone. I looked up.

Gideon stood there, looking green.

“Are you okay? Where’s V?”

“They’re packing his nose. I couldn’t handle it.”

I looked past him to the exam area. “What does that mean?”

He sighed and collapsed in the chair beside me, making a face.

“It means they shove all kinds of shit up his nose…like, way up. To keep the bleeding at bay, I guess.” He threw me adisgusted glance. “So gross. He’s lucky I’m so fucking in love with him. They cauterized the bleed first, but it didn’t stop. So they’re packing it.” He gave me a wry look. “V is not amused.”

I laughed softly and shook my head. “No, I bet he isn’t. So, he gets these a lot?”

“Not like this. I’ve never seen one this bad,” Gideon muttered. “Usually he just pinches his nose and sits still for fifteen minutes and it stops. Like he said, he’s had nosebleeds all his life. I think his dad gets them too.” He put a hand on my shoulder and looked at me with gravity. “Are you okay? Not getting super squigged out, are you? Or figuring we’re more hassle than we’re worth?”

“Fuck no. I’m upset that we had to stop our scene. I, uh, didn’t actually mind being so vulnerable. I was enjoying myself.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Couldn’t wait to see what he had planned for you.”

“Is that so?” Gideon said, gazing at me with a familiar look in his eyes. Then he looked over my shoulder.

“Here he comes.”

I followed Gideon’s gaze and saw Vihaal walking toward us. He looked exhausted and displeased.

White packing gauze bulged out of one nostril with a string hanging down. He was carrying his coat and a bunch of papers. Gideon and I walked to meet him.

“I’m so sorry. I look disgusting.” His voice sounded even stranger now and he did look ridiculous. But he was still Vihaal and the Dom vibe was still there, somehow.

“It’s not that bad,” Gideon said. He took Vihaal’s coat. “Are you free to go?”

“Yes. At least we can go home. I’m so sorry about all of this.”

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