Page 19 of Seeing Grayscale

I keep my distance, wanting to offer as much privacy as possible. Gray made it explicitly clear that I was not to leave him alone, so I’m not. Reaching to scratch discreetly behind my head, I try not to eavesdrop, but it’s unavoidable.

Gray lowers into the chair and pulls up the leg of his pants. “It’s probably broken,” he mutters before white-knuckling the armrests.

Perry’s face gives nothing away as he kneels far too gracefully for a man his age and carefully touches the bruising. Gray flinches but doesn’t make a sound. I flick my gaze to his face, noting the harsh way his jaw tics as his left cheek hollows out.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is the pain? 1 being no pain at all and—”

“Eight,” Gray says immediately. “With the meds that…with meds, anyway.”

“So, the worst pain you’ve ever felt?” Perry glances up.

“No,” Gray whispers.

My eyebrow arches, wondering what injury he’s suffered that’s worse.

“Close, though,” he tacks on quickly.

Perry has him go through moving his leg this way and that way; all the while, Gray keeps silent. Even when he winces and sucks in harsh breaths, he doesn’t cry or whimper. It dawns on me that he’s afraid of being vulnerable with Perry, but I’ve heardboth when it was just us. When he fell by the highway and when he cried in the restroom.

Stop over-analyzing.

“I’m sure there is a break, but I’d need to x-ray it to see just how bad and where it is.”

Gray’s panicked eyes fling to mine. “You said he would do it here.Here.”

“He is,” I soothe.

“Let’s have a look at that eye, yes?” Perry smoothly changes the subject, and Gray nods.

For the next ten minutes, Gray is picked apart by my doctor. Perry is extremely thorough, not wanting to risk his patient by overlooking something, so when he confirms that there are no broken ribs and the eye beneath the swollen lid is fine other than a few blown blood vessels, I regret my decision to keep the other injury quiet. The one that caused Gray to bleed all over the ass of his jeans. I’m throwing out the pair the second I get the chance.

“I’d like to take a few blood samples and urine just to make sure everything on the inside is as it should be. High cholesterol is a silent killer of men.”

“Old ones,” Gray retorts.

“You’d be surprised.” Perry winks, flipping open his briefcase to retrieve his things. “Also, I’d like to ask you a few questions. Can we have Hunter step out for a minute? It’ll be quick.”

Thank fuck.

Gray squirms as the packaged sterile needle and tubes are placed on the table. “What kind of questions?”

“Private ones—all perfectly normal and part of my job to ask, as I do with all my patients.”

“Only a minute?” His voice cracks as he glances back at me.

“Maybe two.”

Sighing, he runs a hand through his messy bleach-blonde hair. “Okay.”

“I’ll be right outside,” I say.

I’m not leaving you.

TEN

There’snologicalreasonwhy I’m so fucking afraid right now.

This old dude is a doctor here to help me, but I know what questions he wants to ask.

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