Page 88 of Private Exhibit
Andy helped him take another sip of coffee. “Do you not want him to look into it?”
“No. I mean, yeah. Of course I do. I want him to have closure. It's just…other than that, Oli hasneverkept secrets from me. He's told me everything. I don't get it.” Devon flung out his left arm in frustration.
Andy jerked upright in his seat. “Dev?”
Devon blinked. It took him a moment to realize what he'd just done. He gasped and held his breath, then slowly and deliberately lifted his arm.Holy shit. He could move! Not much. And it was his non-dominant arm, which would still make things difficult. But it was something.
He carefully reached out, grabbed the handle on his coffee mug, and brought it to his mouth.
Andy's face shone with relief. “Thank gods,” he breathed. “Maybe you're coming out of it.”
Devon almost managed a smile of his own as he set the mug back down.
Oliver breezed back into the room, bent over his phone as he rapidly typed a long text message. He shoved the phone into the pocket of his flannel pants and jumped right back into making breakfast as though he'd never left.
Devon watched him in silence.Shit. Should he tell Oliver what he'd found in Dannika's file? Would it be enough? Or would it just make Oliver more desperate to know everything?
Andy leaned close and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Dev? What's wrong?”
Devon squirmed. “What if he never finds all the answers?”
Andy stilled, then gulped down the rest of his coffee and got up. “Oliver?” he called as he headed for the kitchen and dropped his mug in the sink. “I'm going out.”
Oliver looked up from the stove and blinked. “Right-o.” He glanced at Devon. “Don't worry. I got this.”
Andy nodded in thanks, then breezed back by the table and pressed a kiss on the top of Devon's head before fleeing to hisbedroom. A few minutes later, he came back out, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. Andy snatched up his wallet and keys, then flew out the front door.
Devon winced.
“Hey,” Oliver called. “Hungry?”
No. Devon opened his mouth, ready to blurt out what he'd learned about Dannika, then stopped himself. He couldn't bear to see the look on Oliver's face once he explained how his friend died. Devon's stomach turned. “Yeah,” he answered dutifully.
Oliver grinned and set a plate down in front of him.
Devon picked up a fork, struggling to hold it with his left hand. He ate mechanically, forcing down every bite, praying that it wouldn't come right back up in an hour.
Oliver sat across from him, hidden behind their monitors. The dining table was set up exactly like it had been at their apartment, but the whole thing looked completely wrong.
Devon eyed his computers. He hadn't bothered turning them on yet since he couldn't use them. But what about now? Typing one-handed would be difficult, but at least he'd have a distraction.
He started to reach for the power button, then drew his hand back and picked up his fork again instead. There was no point in trying. He wouldn't be able to type well enough to work on any hacking jobs, and knowing his luck, the chatroom would be empty again.
Devon finished his breakfast and pushed the plate aside.
He idly listened to Oliver typing away on the other side of the table. Every half hour or so, Oliver would stop, jump up, see if Devon needed anything, then go right back to whatever he was doing.
Devon sat in silence and gazed out the window until Oliver finally took a break, suggesting they watch a movie instead. Oliver rolled the chair over beside the couch, grabbed theremote, and scrolled through the various menus. The day slowly drifted away with mindless distractions, broken only by Oliver helping Devon eat or relieve himself.
The next few days were more of the same. Andy got up early and went to work, then came home just as Oliver was putting Devon to bed. All the hours in between were spent in near silence. Devon had nothing to do but sit and wait for the inevitable, surrounded by blank, white walls that began to feel as sterile as the hospital itself.
At the end of the week, Andy was about to rush off to work when he stopped and turned to look at Devon instead. Before Devon could ask what the man was thinking, Andy strode up to him and grabbed the chair. “You're coming with me. Both of you,” he added, looking at Oliver.
Devon grimaced. As much as he wanted to spend time with Andy, it wouldn't be any different at the hospital than it was there. He'd be stuck sitting around with nothing to do.
“I'd like to run some tests,” Andy quickly added.
Devon blinked. “What?”
