Page 33 of Private Exhibit
Andy frowned.Shit. How's she doing? I haven't seen her back yet.
She's, Junior slowly began, his scowl fading into a grimace,hanging in there.Junior paused.Did you find out how she died?
Yeah. I've been waiting for her to come back so I could tell her. And her mom came to claim her body this morning.
Junior winced.So what was it?
Blood clot in the brain, Andy told him.
Gods, Junior said with a flinch. He looked down at his hands.I guess it was pretty quick, though, huh?
Andy hesitated a beat before he said,Yeah.
Junior frowned, his posture full of tension. Even without actual skin and muscles, Andy could see it just in the way Junior held himself. He was probably thinking the same thing Andy was.
The boy's long, slow decline toward death.
Andy bit back a curse. For most people with Ashworth-Grahams, death was sudden and unexpected. A simple loss of signal to the heart, and that was it. Game over. For some, though, it was a steady progression of paralysis, of systems shutting down one after another, of breathing becoming more difficult, of senses slowly fading down to nothing. A long, agonizing journey, hoping all the while that those signals would get through again and things would turn around, only for it all to continue getting worse until everyone involved started begging for it to finally be over already. Andy had seen both extremes of death—and everything in between—far too many times throughout his study of the disease.
Which would it be for Devon?
Andy's whole body tensed at the thought. He barely knew the boy, but it didn't matter. Andy knew the disease. He knew what it could do to the body, with no hope of a cure. Not even hopeof relief except by chance. What if Devon had an attack tonight? What if his heart stopped? What if he became paralyzed and wound up bedridden for whatever days he had left?
Every new question had Andy inwardly cursing. He wasn't a doctor anymore. He'd given up his study for a reason, no longer caring about solving the great mystery when it no longer mattered.
But what if it did matter again? Yes, he barely knew Devon, but what if he simply couldn't live without the stunning boy who'd made him feel more alive than he had in years?
Junior rubbed his arms.I gotta go, he suddenly blurted out, then vanished from sight.
Andy blinked, torn out of his thoughts.Junior?Andy called, looking all around.Junior?
He held his breath, waiting, but the boy didn't return. Silence crept in again. It surrounded him, making his skin crawl.
“Damn it.”
Andy ran to his bedroom, pulled on some clothes, grabbed his keys, and got back into his car.
He wouldn't be able to sleep that night unless he saw that Devon was still alive.
Chapter 13
DEVON STARED hopelessly at one of his computer screens.
He was still logged into the Gentleman Hackers chatroom, but there was nobody with whom to chat. Oliver was also logged in, of course, as wasGrim, but Oliver was giving Devon some privacy whileGrimwas being his usual, silent self.
There was the hack to work on, but Devon was no longer in the mood. He glanced at the Rosses' letter, feeling that pang of rejection all over again. Devon shook his head. Work was the last thing on his mind. What he really wanted was a breath of life. Of beauty. Of peace.
He glanced at the time. It was late enough now that all the rush hour traffic would be gone, but not so late that he'd be cutting into his usual bedtime if he went out for a while. He wasn't keen on being around people, but at least it wouldn't be as bad as it was on the weekends.
Devon secured his computers, got up, and went to his room. He changed back out of his pajamas and put on regular clothes, then went to the washroom and brushed his teeth for good measure. Devon avoided the mirror, knowing what he'd see there. A plain, uninteresting face that apparently not even a mother or father could love. He swallowed down the heavy feeling in his throat and went to grab his shoes. “I'm going out.”
Oliver's head shot up from behind his monitors. “Out?”
“Yeah.”
“You usually never go out on a work night.”
“Tomorrow's an optional workday, apparently, so I don't have to go in. Besides, I need…” Devon paused, trying to find the word. “Something.”
