Page 28 of Devil and the Deep Blue Fish

“You’re his only blood relative. Is there anybody else you’d like to clear to be in the room with him at any given time?”

“Lance,” Dex said promptly. “I mean, Dr. Luna—he gets visiting privileges. My husband, Carlos, for the times I can’t be. And he’s gonna need to talk to Mr. Rivers here sometime tomorrow.”

Jackson wanted to cry with gratitude. He also wanted to run the other way.

“Okay, then,” the doctor said. “I’ll put him on the list too. Anybody else?”

“Jackson?” Galen Henderson was a lot of things—dry, snarky, self-assured, disdainful—but this was the only time Jackson could remember him sounding as though he were pleading.

“Galen Henderson,” Jackson said. “His boss—and his friend. Trust me, if Henry needs diverting, sniping at Galen will punch the ticket.”

“Yeah,” Dex said, nodding. “Galen’s fine.”

“Good.” The doctor nodded. “So, who’s first?”

“Lance,” Dex said softly, nudging Lance with his shoulder. “But please tell him the rest of us were here, and we love him, okay?”

And Jackson saw the tears that Lance Luna had kept at bay during the entire awful night, finally slipping down his cheeks.

“You gotta come with me,” Lance almost begged. “God, Dex, I don’t think I can do it without you.”

Jackson watched Henry’s brother wrap his arms around Henry’s lover’s shoulders and soothe him enough to function, and suddenly he hungered for Ellery in his own arms so he could cling to somebody too.

It had been a long goddamned night.

Dex turned to Jackson just before he and Lance followed the surgeon down the hall and held his fingers up to his ear in the universal “We’ll talk” gesture, and Jackson nodded.

Then he turned wearily to John, who stood and spoke. “For those who didn’t hear—he’s stable. Not out of the woods completely, but Lance and Dex are going to go sit with him as he comes out of the anesthesia. You guys should all go back and get some sleep, and while I might hit the office around noon, tomorrow wasn’t a scene day, so pretty much Kelsey’s going to be answering phones for a few hours and that’s it.” He gave a little smile. “You guys were great tonight. You really showed up for your brother, and me and Galen and Dex and Lance—we’ll make sure Henry knows how much he means to y’all.”

Jackson blinked, and he felt Ellery’s almost comic surprise next to him.

John had to be tired if he was letting his southern roots show.

The waiting room started to empty out, the kids holding hands or draping arms over shoulders, seeking comfort in physical closeness, Jackson thought, which probably said a lot about why they’d ended up at Johnnies in the first place. Sometimes sex was just expression—and sometimes when you were young and fit, it was the expression you craved.

“I’m going to take Galen home,” John said, offering his arm to Galen on one side as Galen leaned heavily on his cane on the other. “I already texted Dex to tag me after Henry wakes up, and Galen can come take a shift after he’s had some rest.”

Jade drew up alongside them, Crystal and AJ at her side. Jackson had taken a few moments to talk to them quietly as they’d waited and update them on the game plan.

“We’ll text you about any new developments,” Jade promised. Jackson’s sister-of-the-heart looked rumpled—she still wore a cap over her magenta-tinted hair to keep the style neat, and her usually impeccable makeup hadn’t been applied. The crackling intelligence that characterized her sharp brown eyes and curvy body had been dimmed a little by sleep deprivation, but Jackson could feel it—will and vitality and a pure lack of bullshit—thrumming under her frowzy demeanor. Jade yawned in the middle of saying something else and then picked up the thread again. “And don’t worry. Jackson’s not going anywhere until he’s got backup.” She gave him a mutinous look then, and he held up his hands.

“I’ve got backup,” he said placidly. “Or I will before I really go at it tomorrow.”

“Who’s backup?” Jade asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Yes, Jackson,” Ellery said smoothly. “Who’s backup?”

“I’ll tell you when he says yes,” Jackson returned, just to be contrary. Ha! Think they were going to keephimdown because his partner was laid up. Nope nope nope nope nope.

Jackson Rivers was done being a grown-up for this long, awful night. Peace fucking out.

THE DRIVEback was about a thousand years long, but part of that was that Ellery had to take him to Isabelle’s apartment building to pick up Jennifer. Thank God the haunted minivan cooperated, because by the time Jackson pulled up alongsideEllery’s Lexus in the garage, his legs and arms felt leaden, and his throat was doing that awful tickle dance that said he’d gone out in the rain and dried in the air-conditioned hospital and wouldn’t that be a nice way to get sick?

But Ellery had arrived first, and he shoved a hot tea and Theraflu concoction into his hands pretty much the minute he got undressed.

A year ago he might have chafed at the nurse-maiding, but now? He just grunted, “Thanks,” before he tossed that shit back, let out a belch, and took his glass to the dishwasher while Ellery eyed him suspiciously.

“What?” he asked as he returned to their bedroom. There were two bedrooms in this house, and each one had an absurd amount of floor and closet space. Jackson had noted this before, but he didn’t really appreciate it until he climbed into the king-size bed and realized itfeltas though he and Ellery slept in a corner, almost like their bed alone was a loft and the rest of the house belonged to somebody else. Sometimes being able to curl up in a ball in the corner was way more comforting than being in freefall with every step through the atmosphere.

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