Page 40 of Private Exhibit
Devon blinked.Crawford?What did Dr. Crawford have to do with the Gate? “Why do you hate Doctor Crawford so much?” he blurted out, then felt his cheeks go hot. “Sorry. You don't have to answer that if you don't want to.”
Andy was silent for a long moment, then let out a heavy sigh. “No, it's fine.” He dropped his arms to his sides, then reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “And I apologize for thatagain. I should have taken that argument to another room so you wouldn't have to hear it.”
Devon smiled shyly.
“But I suppose I do owe you an explanation after all that,” Andy went on.
Devon waited, watching the man as he stared at the empty Gate before them. Andy was silent for so long, Devon thought he wasn't going to answer after all.
He was about to change the subject when Andy finally whispered, “My son died.”
Devon whirled around to face him.What?His jaw dropped as he tried to process that, wondering what it had to do with the conversation. Then he saw the pain on Andy's face.Oh gods. Poor Andy.
Andy started to walk away, then put his hands on his hips and hung his head.
Devon shifted from foot to foot. Should he leave? Should he say something? Before he could decide what to do, Andy turned back.
“I need to be sitting down for this,” the man mumbled. He hesitated, giving Devon a strange, intense look, then held out his hand.
Devon gulped. He trembled as he slowly reached out and took Andy's hand, sending an electric shock all through his body.
Andy gave his hand a squeeze and let out a shuddering breath, then turned and led Devon across the Square to the fishpond. The pond had a raised, marble surround that served as one continuous bench where people could sit and admire the view or feed the fish. Andy led them around to the far side, where there were fewer people at the moment, and helped Devon to sit. He paused there, looking up. “This the one?” he asked, pointing at the willow tree that shaded them.
Devon nodded, still too caught up in Andy's confession to really appreciate it at the moment.
“It's beautiful,” Andy murmured. He stood there for a long while, then finally let out a heavy sigh and sat down.
Devon turned slightly towards Andy and pressed his hands between his knees, waiting in silence.
“There was an expedition–” Andy began, then shook his head. “No, I should really start from the beginning.” He blew out a heavy breath. “I was sixteen when I met Lydia. My ex-wife.” He gestured at himself and quickly added, “Bisexual, in case that wasn't obvious.” Andy barked a quick, almost nervous laugh, then turned utterly serious. “I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life back then, but I knew I wanted her. She was all I could think about, day and night. The start and end of all my ambitions.” He paused. “We were eighteen when we found out she was pregnant. Most guys my age would have been terrified—and I was, don't get me wrong—but I was also thrilled. I'd had a very happy family life, growing up, and I couldn't wait to experience that with my own kids. It was sooner than I'd anticipated, but I just ran with it. Started making plans. We talked about where we were going to live. How we'd raise him. What our life would be like.” Andy shook his head. “It all sounded so fucking perfect.”
Devon glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye, seeing tension in every line of Andy's body.
“Then something went wrong in the middle of the pregnancy,” Andy murmured. “We thought she was having a miscarriage, so we rushed to the hospital. By the time we got there, everything was fine. All the scans showed normal, so they chalked it up to a fluke or indigestion or some such nonsense. The day he was born, though–” Andy clasped his hands, his knuckles turning white. “It was obvious, right away, that something was wrong. Junior didn't come out crying. He cameoutscreaming. And he failed a few of those tests they run on newborns, checking for reflexes and whatnot. So they ran some more tests and even took a blood sample for analysis.” Andy swallowed hard. “When they came back and asked for blood samples from both me and Lydia, my heart nearly stopped.”
Devon fought the urge to squirm. Andy's tension was palpable, getting under his skin. But he couldn't walk away. Not now. He looked down at the ground, letting his vision go hazy, and focused on listening.
Andy took a deep breath and whispered, “Gods-damned Ashworth-Grahams.”
Devon gasped.Oh my gods. He looked at Andy, who stared resolutely down at the ground.Holy shit. What could he even say to that?
“I was studying human biology at the time,” Andy went on, “following in my father's footsteps because I didn't know what else to do with my life. After the diagnosis, it was easy enough to switch majors. I jumped straight into medicine. Buried myself in school. Graduated at the top of my class in record time. They even hired me as a student doctor at U.H. while I was still taking classes, and when I wasn't working Diagnostics, I was studying the disease. I took every case I could get my hands on, both my own son and anyone else I could find. Every waking moment of my life was dedicated to finding a cure before it was too late.”
Devon winced, feeling the pain in Andy's voice.
“Junior died four years ago,” Andy mumbled. “He was sixteen.”
A heavy silence passed, Devon holding his breath, waiting to see if Andy would say anything more. Because what could Devon say?I'm sorryjust never seemed like enough.
Andy sniffed and started to straighten up, then slumped down and rested his forearms across his thighs, looking like he was bracing himself. “Shortly after that, there was thisexpedition to Tanas. The Tanasian government sent through a request for medical assistance. Their knowledge and technology are severely antiquated compared to ours.” He nodded towards the hospital. “Bokin asked if I wanted to go, to get away for a while, but I turned it down. Junior was a brand-new ghost, struggling to adjust, grieving the loss of his own life.” Andy blew out a heavy breath. “As relieved as I was that he was still around in some form, I was grieving, too, of course. I could no longer hold my son. At least, not yet. He hadn't learned to be tangible. And, yeah, he probably could have come with me if I'd gone, but I couldn't bear to take him away from familiar surroundings, so I turned down the offer. Crawford went instead.”
Devon waited, watching Andy as the man glanced around in silence.
“The expedition team were gone for five months,” Andy finally went on. “When they came back, Crawford wasn't with them. The Tanasian government kept him there. Stopped him from coming back through the Gate. Apparently, he'd married one of their women, so they claimed he belonged to them now.”
“Gods,” Devon breathed, staring at Andy with wide eyes.
“And that wasn't the worst of it,” Andy went on. “Turns out, he had a kid here, from a previous relationship. One that none of us knew about at the time.” He paused with a wry smile. “I only know about the rest of this because doctors are theworstgossips.”
