Page 35 of Private Exhibit
After a beat, Andy asked, “What were you going to ask me?”
“Huh? Oh.” Devon frowned and shook his head. “I forget–” He gasped. “Oh!” Devon turned towards the curb, staring at the building across from them. The structure was enormous, taking up the entire city block. Big windows stretched all along the façade, showing off the wares of the various shops on the ground level, but there were no doors that Devon could see. Just a tall, wide archway that opened into an inner courtyard. Presumably, all the shop entrances were in there.
But that wasn't what caught Devon's eye.
“What is it?” Andy asked.
Instead of answering, Devon blurted out, “I need to see it closer.” He hurried to the nearest crossing, raced to the opposite side of the street once it was safe, and headed for the building. As he drew near, he noted the archway was adorned with clingingvines, adding color and texture to the structure, making it look like a living tunnel as he stepped through it. He entered the building's inner courtyard, open to the sky, and stopped with another gasp.
“Oh,” he whispered, staring up at the jacaranda tree in full bloom. “It's so pretty!”
He slowly circled the tree, reaching up to carefully brush his fingertips through the lower-hanging growth. The vibrant greens and purples brought an instant smile to his face.
It was so cheerful. So alive.
Devon felt Andy watching him the whole time. The awareness made him blush, but he couldn't make himself walk away. The simple beauty of the tree was too perfect to miss.
“You know, they have these in the hospital gardens,” Andy said quietly.
Devon whirled around to face him. “They do?”
Andy nodded. “I used to take…Well, I used to go sit out there sometimes, between patients. There are gardens on every level. All a little bit different, if I recall. You could go explore them on your lunch breaks.”
Devon felt his chest swell with excitement. He'd caught glimpses of the terrace gardens every time he'd been to the hospital, but only from the street, gazing up at the building. The gardens were only accessible from inside the hospital itself. Any time he'd been there as a patient, all he'd wanted to do was get out as quickly as possible, so he'd never bothered lingering long enough to seek them out.
But now he had a good reason.
“Yeah,” he agreed, eager to take Andy's suggestion. “Yeah, that'll be really nice.”
He turned back to the tree and gazed up at it again. This was just what he'd needed. Something colorful and pretty to cheer him up.
“Devon?”
Devon gasped. It wasn't the first time Andy had used his name, but somehow, it felt like it was, and it sounded so achingly intimate in that voice. Of course, that was probably just him hearing what he wanted to hear, but still. “Yeah?”
“What's wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
“You looked…sad.”
“Oh.” Devon pulled his shoulders in, stopping short of hugging himself. “I just had a rough evening, that's all.”
Beside him, Andy visibly tensed. “An attack?”
“What? Oh. No.”
“Was it the fight? I'm really sorry about that, by the way. I should have apologized earlier.”
Devon shook his head. “No, it wasn't that,” he said. He paused, tempted to ask why Andy hated Dr. Crawford so much, but he didn't want to see the man angry again. “I just got some sort of bad news.”
“What kind of bad news?”
Devon waved a hand. “You don't want to hear about all that. It's a long story.”
After a tiny pause, Andy murmured, “I've got time.”
Devon shivered, feeling the man's voice all down through his body. “I know you're just saying that, but I appreciate it.”
