Page 73 of The Lies We Told Ourselves

He’d made it three steps before they burst open, and we all seemed to hold our breath looking at the grim-faced doctor who walked toward us.

“The Farrington family?” he asked.

Trace and Xander moved forward as I stood there, wondering if I really had a right to be here right now.

“He’s a lucky man,” the doctor said as Delaney came and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Nasty break in the right arm, which is going to take some time to heal. But apart from the head lac and some bruising to his shoulder and side, he’s going to be fine. He’ll probably need some physical therapy on the arm, but I can’t see it giving him any long-term problems. He’s young, he’s healthy, he’ll be back on his feet in no time.”

“Thank god,” Trace sighed, turned around, and then strode to me and Delaney and wrapped his arms around us both.

This was the strangest situation I’d ever been in. Not just because of Booker being hurt, but because these people seemed to have accepted me as one of them so quickly.

Trace leaned back and gave me a smile. “He’s going to want to see you first.”

My eyes widened in surprise, and when I looked at the doctor about to ask if that was okay, he just nodded. “I take it you’re Reece?”

“Yes.”

“He’s asking for you. Perhaps you can persuade him to stay overnight at the very least. He seems to think that because he’snot dead he’s invulnerable, and I need him to at least pretend he needs my help, even if just for my ego.”

Xander barked out an unexpected laugh, and we all looked at him in surprise. “Good luck with that,” he said with a shrug.

My first instinct was to jump to Booker’s defense, but even in the short time I’d known him, I knew they weren’t exaggerating.

“I’m not sure even my powers of persuasion are that good,” I told them both.

“Oh, I’ve got an idea,” Delaney suddenly piped up, but then Trace’s hand slapped over her mouth before she could say another word.

“Let’s save it for ourselves,” he murmured, quickly kissing her on the cheek and then making a face, pulling his hand back in disgust. “Did you just lick me?”

I left them bickering in the waiting room and followed the doctor through the doors that apparently held no special powers and just led up to some examination bays. In fact, the other side of them was just anticlimactically an ordinary hospital suite.

“I kind of thought there’d be something else back here,” I mumbled, looking around.

“Nah, we keep the really cool stuff in the back,” the doctor quipped before he showed me to a curtained-off bay.

I could hear Booker’s irritated sigh before I’d even reached to pull it back.

“Don’t even think about sticking me with that needle,” he snapped. “I told you I don’t want the damn painkillers.”

“Mr. Farrington, please. It will just take the edge off while we get your cast on. You’ll heal better if you don’t move around too much.”

“And you won’t let me leave tonight if I’m flying high on whatever’s in there,” he countered.

I saw the guilty look on the nurse’s face before she looked at me beseechingly. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him,” she mumbled.

Booker’s gaze moved to me then, and the annoyance instantly melted off his face. “Come here.”

I moved like I was in a dream, needing him as much as he seemed to need me. As my hand slipped into his, I felt my heart settle. Seeing him sitting up and bitching out a nurse was a surprisingly reassuring sight. But touching him and knowing it was all real was even better.

“I might be slightly angry with you,” I told him, my head tipped to the side as the relief cleared my mind enough for me to realize just how true that was. “What did you think you were doing?”

“I was riding to your rescue like a goddamned knight. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“It was pretty brave,” I conceded. “I was so scared for you, Booker.”

“Not half as scared as I was for you, baby,” Booker said, pulling me closer and then wrapping his arm around my waist as he drew me into his side. He kissed the top of my head lightly before he rested his forehead against mine. “I’m so sorry, Reece. I should have made sure the gate was closed. I can’t believe I was so stupid to leave the damned thing open. If you’d been hurt, I don’t know what I would have done.”

My head reared back in surprise. “You didn’t leave it open, Booker.”

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