Page 12 of Lorenzo & Lily

Hector’s lips thinned in irritation and he shook his head.

“If you go, I’ll stop by in the morning and tell you how things went.”

“That’s blackmail.”

“That’s motivation.”

“Whatever. I don’t need to know what happens.” The disappointment on Hector’s face told Lorenzo a different story.

“You’re right.”

Hector’s eyes locked with his.

“You don’tneedto know. Youwantto know.”

Hector scoffed and reached for his orange juice. “No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do. You’re gonna be wondering all day about what my family says.”

“I won’t.”

“You will.”

“Jesus. What are you, twelve? I won’t.”

Lorenzo grinned. “Fine, you won’t. But I’ll check in with your physical therapist just in case.”

His grin dimmed as he leaned over Hector. He wrapped a hand behind his neck and forced Hector’s eyes to his. “You can do this, man. I know you can.”

Hector let out a shuddered breath. “There’s no fucking point, Low, and you know it.”

As the sharp flash of anger swept through him, Lorenzo’s hand tightened on Hector. “I’ll tell you what I know. I didn’t want to get out of that damn jungle.”

Hector blinked.

“Yeah, learned that in therapy. Didn’t think about it when it all happened, but at one point I wished I’d died in that jungle. Thought I was the last in our unit. Knowing that I’d get shit for being the prince who made it back, when none of the other soldiers did. Knowing everyone’s fucking death was on my goddamn shoulders, and it still is. But then I saw you were alive and you needed help. I had to help you.”

Hector sucked in a breath.

“Yeah, man. I see you’re getting it. You don’t stop living with this shit. You just learn to fucking manage it. And I’ll tell you something else. If I had died in that jungle, I never would have met Lily, and we never would have made a daughter. I never thought about how it’d feel to be a father and, even though I’ve only known about my girl for a couple hours, it’s changed me. This feeling…I can’t explain it except to say that it has changed everything.Everything. If I’d died, I never would have known this feeling. I would have died. Not. Fucking. Knowing.” A different kind of anger, this time at Lily, swept through him, but he tamped it down. He’d confront Lily later.

Hector’s voice was shaky, his fists clutched tight in the bedsheets, his body tense. “Low.”

“You don’t have to say anything. Not yet. Just accept the fact that I’m right and do what I tell you.”

Hector shook his head. “You always were a bossy asshole.”

Pleased to see some of the fear in Hector’s face replaced by irritation, Lorenzo gave Hector’s neck another squeeze and let go. “I was a bossycaptain.”

“Same difference.”

Lorenzo smiled, then relaxed his face. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Perez.”

Brows drawn and lips pursed again, Hector just nodded.

He’d go to PT, Lorenzo was sure of it. Hector had finished PT once he’d received the prosthetics, but depression had kept him bedridden so much that the doctor had recommended he complete it again. Once Perez got stronger physically, Lorenzo would focus on getting him stronger emotionally.

Therapy had helped Lorenzo tremendously. It hadn’t been easy. He’d been terrified, not just of the task of digging out the shit that lived in him, but he’d had to be extra cautious so the press wouldn’t find out.

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