Page 68 of Laugh

He presses a kiss to the side of my face with a sigh. “I know, baby. I know.” He holds me for another few moments while I have a mini breakdown.

A sense of panic rushes over me, and I wiggle out of his hold. “We need to go.”

He doesn’t fully release me, not before he bends me backwards and takes my mouth with an urgent need to tell me it’ll be alright. It’s all his words without saying them and I know, right at this moment, Beau is telling me he loves me.

The moment he’s done, he looks into my eyes like he wants an answer to the question he just asked. I have no words… that doesn’t happen a lot to me. Swallowing hard, he gives me a firm nod, then pulls us from the room, apparently satisfied with whatever he read on my face.

I barely notice the time we take to drive over to Momma B’s house. I’m totally engrossed in the thoughts that are bouncing back and forth between that kiss and what’s happening to Marcus.

Once we park, I’m shooting out of the car and racing inside, up to Marcus’s bedroom, where I’m immediately stopped by what I see. His mom is sitting on the bed next to him, quietly imploring him to take a drink of the shake she’s gripping with white knuckles. Marcus is lying on his side, facing the door, but not looking at anything in particular. And he looks just plainsad.

I feel Beau’s heat behind me, reinforced when his hand spreads across my lower back, urging me gently to step forward into the room. “Marcus?” I call out quietly then blow out a breath in relief when his eyes slide over to where I’m standing.

“Harry,” he mumbles out, but it’s not entirely clear. Flicking a look up at his mom, she gives me a helpless smile, like sheknowsthat something is happening to her son.

“Hey, best friend,” I say, forcing a smile when I look back at him. I quickly make my way to the opposite side of where she’s sitting and ease my body down so that Marcus can see me better. There’s no stopping my hand from reaching out to stroke his hair back from his face. “How are you feeling today?”

His brows furrow just before he looks at his mom for an explanation. She pats his shoulder before standing. “He’s got a bit of a headache this morning. We’ve been trying to get him to take these.” She holds out her hand with some little blue tablets. “But he’s having a tough time getting them down. Maybe he’ll let you help him with that? I want to run and change my clothes before we go.”

Nodding at her, I let her drop the pills into my hand without taking my eyes away from Marcus. I keep my voice gentle when I ask, “Want to try to sit up and take these, Marcus? I can help you.”

“My head hurts, Harry.”

Blinking back tears, I peek over at Beau, who’s squatting down next to us, holding the meal replacement drink Mrs. O’Brien must have handed him on the way out. I feel him reach around and ground me with his hand, wrapping around my calf. Turning back to Marcus, I give him a watery smile.

“I know, honey. Can you try to take a drink for me? It’ll make you feel better, I’m sure of it.” I know I’m begging, but I’m desperate for him to do something that would make it feel like our world isn’t ending right at this moment.

He doesn’t move to sit up, and he doesn’t answer my question. Instead, he continues to run his eyes over my face, breaking my heart in the process. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”

Sucking a sob that tries to work its way out of me, I shake my head and lean down to kiss him on the cheek. My tears are finding their way out, but I quickly swipe them away, along with the one that falls on Marcus’s cheek. “I know you don’t understand. But it’ll be okay, I swear it. We’re going to take you to the hospital in a few minutes. They’ll make you feel all better.”

My words are false, even to my own ears. I watch as a single tear runs down his nose and drips off the end onto his pillow. His eyes haven’t wavered from mine. Unmoving, he doesn’t react to where my hand is holding his. “I don’t know what’s going on,” he pleads again, another tear quickly replacing the one that soaked into the pillow.

I feel Beau’s hand grip my calf harder and I look over at him. His eyes are glassy; sorrow pouring off of him as he watches me try to reassure my friend that everything’s going to be okay.With a subtle shake of my head, I plead with him to help me out here. Blowing out a breath, he fortifies his own emotions before leaning down and resting his hand on Marcus’s shoulder. My podmate doesn’t register it, still staring at me, begging me to tell him what’s happening to him.

“Hey, man. You ready to get up and go downstairs?”

Finally, Marcus looks up at him. “Why?”

I go to try to explain again, but his parents come into the room, dressed and keys in hand. “Are we ready to go?” Mr. O’Brien asks. He’s always been a quiet man, so it crushes me to hear his voice waver while trying to stay strong for his son and wife.

I slip off the bed, letting my hand slide from Marcus’s as I step back to allow Mr. O’Brien to try to coerce Marcus to get up from the bed. My best friend is a stubborn little shit and is getting irritated with the two of them.

Eventually, Beau looks down at him, then asks everyone in the room, “Any of you have a problem if I just pick him up? Marcus, are you alright with that?”

He doesn’t answer him, just looks back into the distance like he can’t be bothered with what’s going on around him. With his parents’ permission, Beau quickly shifts Marcus around and lifts him into his arms.

Seeing the two of them like this really makes it hit home how frail he is now. How unhealthy his weight is. Beau doesn’t struggle at all as he carries him down the stairs and out to their vehicle. Marcus is pissed and struggling a bit, but Beau whispers calming words in his ear. They seem to do the trick as he settles into the front and curls up into a ball as best he can.

Shutting the door, Beau spins around and grabs my hand, tugging me to his car and helps me inside, practically lifting me onto the seat. I think he’s as overcome as I am as we both ride to the hospital behind their car, silently gripping each other’s hands. When we make it to the emergency room, they rush Marcus into the back with his parents quickly following. The staff told me that they’re only allowing a limited number of people in the rooms, so we have to wait in the waiting room.

Wait, wait, wait.

That’s all we’re doing. Waiting for word on what’s happening and what the plan is. Beau, bless his heart, has been doing his best looking up awful jokes and making me laugh.

Snorting at the last one he shared, I look over at where he’s squeezed into an uncomfortable chair, two sizes too large for the seat. “You’re terrible at these! What the hell site did you go to?”

Frowning down at his phone, he squints to read the web page. “I dunno. It’s some dad joke link I clicked on. They’re pretty bad.”

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