Page 102 of Homecoming

“Who the hell is that?” Kat sits and covers herself with the sheet from the bed.

“Stay there, I’ll get it.”

“Darius…Kat…” the voice yells from outside the door. “Hey,c’monopen up. I need to talk to you.”

“It’s Digby. Something must be wrong.” Kat leaps from the bed as Darius unlocks the door to the suite.

“Where the hell have you been?” Digby’s voiceishurried and frantic. “I’ve been trying to call you. Do you never answer your damn phones?”

“Oh my God…” Kat gasps as she pulls at the dresser drawer and takes out the two cellphones. “I put them on silent so we wouldn’t be disturbed, and I must’ve forgotten to turn them on. What’s happened? Oh no, is it the pups? Has something happened to the pups?”

“No. No, calm down. It’s not the boys—they’re fine. It’s Riley, well not him exactly, but his dad. He’s been in a car wreck and has been taken to the hospital.” Digby’s face is contorted with concern and his hands clench in a balled fist of anxiety. His dark hair is a matted mess, and his clothes are crinkled like he slept on the floor. “It doesn’t sound good. Riley tried to call Noah,tryin’to reach us a couple of hours ago, but… we got more than a little drunk and passed out at the club. We only just picked up the messages.”

“Oh my God…Riley.I need to go to him.”

“Kat, wait, slow down. Go take a shower and get dressed first, I’ll drive you.” Darius holds her wrapped in his arms.

“Okay… uh, yeah. Yeah, that’s a good idea… Digby, can you pack up my stuff while I get cleaned up?”

The bedroom falls into silence as Kat then disappears into the bathroom and the early morning light breaks through the large floor to ceiling windows and lifts the gloom of the lowly lit room.

Darius grabs up his shorts and pants from the chair while Digby stares, watching him pull them on. “It looks as though you two had a good night?” he gestures to the sex toys strewn across the floor and waves his hand towards the prominent mark raised on Darius’neck. “What’sgoin’on with that?”

Darius doesn’t answer.

“Dee, I said what’sgoin’on?”

“Nothing. Things just got a little… we played a little rough, that’s all. Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Did you hurt her?”

“No. No, I would never hurt her. No. Digby, I wouldn’t, alright? I’m extremely careful to hold back.”

“Geez… I just worry, that’s all. I’ve seen it when you lose it and it’s not good.”

“That won’t happen. I won’t let it go that far. So what’s the news from the hospital?”

“I called Marco in the cab on my way over here. He’s making his way over there now.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize she’d turned the phones off.”

“Well, we didn’t get the message either. Like I said, it was a pretty fucked up night. Hey, I met that guy… the architect. Hell, he sure can party and I have to say that Tyler seems okay, too. Donovan said he’s going to call you during the week and re-arrange the appointment.”

“So where have you been?” Darius frowns, gesturing to Digby’s crumpled attire.

“Oh… yeah, we drank way too much, and kinda passed out in Rhys’ apartment. I left Zak and QT cleaning upcuzRhys spat the dummy about the mess. I told them to go to the hospital once they finish up, but Noah’s headed there now before he goes home to check on the pups.” Digby looks down at the blood on the sheets of the bed. Sniffing, he can taste its scent; the smell is not fresh but more like it’s been dried on his skin for hours. And his nose twitches as he and Darius stare at each other.

Having finished up in the shower, Kat returns to the room wrapped only in a small towel. She grabs her holdall from under the bedside dresser and pulls out a clean tee-shirt and fresh pair of jeans. “I’ll get dressed.” She kisses Digby’s cheek. “By the way… Good morning.”

He curls a hand around her waist. “Hey… you um… you smell really good.”

“Hm… " she wrinkles her nose,“you, on the other hand, do not. Did you sleep in these clothes?” she frowns.

“Yeah. I guess I did. Perhaps I should take a shower before I go to the hospital,” he sniffs his tee-shirt. “You mind if I use the bathroom?”

“No, knock yourself out,” Darius watches Kat dress, then grabbing up her phone and purse from the table beside the bed, she prepares to leave. “What are you doing?”

“I need to go. I’ll grab a cab downstairs. You can head over when Digby finishes up.”

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