Page 9 of Saving Noah

“Melia, can you make sure John’s paperwork gets taken care of for me? Try to rush things, if you can. Mr. Maverick and I would like to have John back in the safety of his apartment before the sedative wears off.”

When Melia rushed off to take care of the paperwork, Zach began carefully removing John’s IV. To keep Cameron in the loop and Zach on his good side, Zach said, “Agoraphobia? How long?”

Cameron shrugged like it was no big deal at all—as if John wasn’t trapped inside a prison he’d created and probably didn’t have a clue how to get out of.

“Oh, I don’t know. All his shit started about four years back. Things slowly got progressively worse for him, and he stopped leaving the building about three years ago.” He looked down at his watch and spat out a string of curse words. “Listen, how long is this going to take? I can’t spend the rest of my day babysitting Scaredy-Cat over there. I need to be in court in two hours. Jeezus, keeping John out of the nuthouse is a fucking full-time job.” Cameron’s ringing cell phone cut his tirade short. He yanked out the noise-maker, looked at who was calling, and muttered, “I’ve got to take this. Perfect. Fucking perfect. Now I’ve got to answer tohim.” He turned and strode away, leaving Zach drowning in hatred.

“Why do you hang out with people like him, sweet John?” he whispered to his patient. “You deserve so much better. You need to be with people who really care about your health…who really care about you.”

Is that me? No, that isn’t possible. What I’m feeling toward John simply has to be connected to my profession—my commitment to offer aid and assistance to those in need. Oh hell, my infatuation with my neighbor doesn’t have one damned thing to do with my physician’s oath. It has everything to do with the way my heart speeds up when I see John. Or the way I get angry with him when I see other men going into his apartment. Maybe it’s connected the sweet smile John tries to hide when he sees Denala in the hallway or elevator.

After a few minutes, Cameron came barreling back into the cubicle, interrupting Zach’s thoughts. “Are we ready yet? I’ve got to get to the courthouse. Something’s come up.” Sweat coated Cameron’s red face. The ugly vein right next to his left eye throbbed with a nervous twitch. His entire body looked jittery and tense. Obviously, the phone call hadn’t gone well.

Good. Zach took a few seconds to enjoy the asshole’s discomfort. Seconds before Cameron totally lost it and got pissed with him again, Zach said, “Why don’t you go do what you’ve got to do, and I’ll make sure John gets back to his apartment. If it’s all right with you, I’d like to sit with him for the rest of the evening—just to monitor him because of the blow to his head.” Zach didn’t give a fuck if it was all right with Cameron or not; he wasn’t leaving John’s side, but the noose of playing nice stayed wrapped around his neck for the moment.

Zach could see how torn Cameron was with his offer—it didn’t make one bit of sense, but the other man wasn’t pleased with the prospect of Zach sitting with John. Were they an item? He sure the fuck hoped not since Cameron stepped right over the asshole line and straight into being a complete motherfucker when it came to John’s wellbeing.

“I don’t really like people being around John,” Cameron mumbled. Then, seeming to catch the questionableness of his comment, he quickly added, “John doesn’t really like to be around people. His crazy doesn’t sit well with meeting new folks, talking, being social.” He laughed out loud. “You know? All the stuff the rest of us call normal.”

As Zach ground his teeth down to nubs, his fingers itched to squeeze the life out of Cameron—squeeze until his eyes bugged out and his lips turned blue. He’d show the motherfucker crazy. Crazy meant being a total asshole to someone you called your friend. Hell, Cameron said he had the goddamned ability to make medical decisions for John. Zach hoped to hell the poor kid never got a mild cold—Cameron would want to pull the plug before it was plugged in.

“I’m pretty sure it’s referred to as a mental illness instead of crazy,” Zach corrected, but did it with a smile he hoped Cameron would interpret asI-get-ya, but the medical profession didn’t smile on being politically incorrect so he had to mention it. “Anyway, I see plenty of folks coming and going from his apartment. He must not hate being around people too awfully much.” Guilt ran through him for the comment, but he still couldn’t get past not knowing what John did with those men. Whatever happened in John’s apartment, Zach was jealous. He wanted it to be with him.

Cameron laughed again. “Oh…you noticed that, did you? Hot guys coming and going all the time.” His grin grew more evil when he asked, “What do you think is going on, Doctor?”

“Not my business,” Zach answered gruffly. The look on Cameron’s face made the hair on the back of Zach’s neck stand up. “I was only stating the facts. You said John says he doesn’t like being around people, but it seems like he may say one thing, but wants something differently.”

“I like you, Doc. You’re all right. I didn’t think I would at first, what with John talking about you all the damned time, but you’re okay. John’s a model for an adult website. The guys coming and going are just other models he’s doing photo shoots with.” Cameron waggled his eyebrows and said, “Since he won’t leave the building, I needed to find a way to share his prettiness with the rest of the world, right? He may be a pussy, but he’s a pretty pussy. He makes a fucking fortune with those photo shoots.”

Zach stomach churned with bile. What type of photo shoots did one do for an adult website? Sure, it beat prostitution, but still pissed Zach off. The thoughts of other men jacking off to pictures of John made Zach’s blood pressure go through the roof.

Wait…shit…what had Cameron said about John talking about him? Why had John talked about him to Cameron? Was it good? Was it bad? Had John noticed Zach’s surreptitious glances when he’d thought John wasn’t watching? There was so much Zach didn’t understand, but he knew one thing: he wanted Cameron out of his eyesight. Fast.

“I’m sure you’re busy, so let me take care of this for you. I was headed home, anyway. John knows me, so when he wakes up, it shouldn’t be too scary for him.”

“Okay,” Cameron finally conceded, glancing down at John still out on the gurney. “I appreciate it, man. I really do need to be in court. I’ll call Mack and make sure he helps you get John up to his apartment and then he can override the security code and get you inside Fort Doom and Gloom. I doubt I’ll be able to come over and check on him later this evening, but Mack has my number if you guys need me for anything.”

Zach frowned. “Who’s Mack?”

“Oh, yeah, Mack is head of security at your apartment building. He helps me keep an eye on John. I talked with him earlier about what the hell went on and he told me a computer glitch caused all the locking mechanisms on the doors to malfunction.” Cameron laughed again, and for the first time since arriving at the emergency room, he reached down to actually touch John, using the tip of his finger to brush John’s hair off his forehead. “Most of us would have muttered ‘what the fuck’ and used our key to get inside our apartments. John went and had a fucking panic attack.”

Zach wanted to yank Cameron’s hand away from John and demand he never touch him again. He wanted to punch him in his arrogant face until it was unrecognizable. He wanted to tell him he didn’t deserve a friend like John. All those things would be nice, but, instead, he nodded and smiled.

“Okay, you get going, and if you don’t mind, call ahead and make sure Mack is waiting on me.” Mimicking Cameron earlier, Zach glanced down at this watch and added, “He won’t be out much longer; I’d better get moving. Don’t worry about him. I’ll make sure he arrives safely back at his apartment and keep an eye on his head wound. Good luck in court,” he offered politely. “A lawyer?”

“Yeah, DA’s office. Thanks again, Doc. I appreciate this. John sucks a lot of time out of my schedule.”

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