Page 53 of A Reluctant Boy Toy
“Maybe he knows who drugged you.” Dad finished for me. He wanted that bastard even more than I did. It killed him to know that with all his money and success and connections, he hadn’t been able to protect me.
How could it be Monday already?
“Has Molly stopped by?” I asked.
“Of course. She pretty much moved into this facility as soon as they brought you here.”
A middle-aged nurse wearing royal blue scrubs came in. “How are you doing? Feeling some pain?”
“Everything hurts.” So what if I sounded pitiful.
“Can you tell me what level of pain you’re feeling? One being no pain and ten being the worst pain you’ve ever felt?”
“Seven maybe? Eight for my left arm.”
“Then I have good news for you. Help is on the way.” She had a syringe of something to add to my IV. Warmth spread through me.
“Dad?”
“What is it?” His hand fell gently next to my head. Thanks to whatever she gave me, I could hardly keep my eyes open.
“It’s starting all over again, isn’t it?”
“No. I won’t let it.” Like most kids, I grew up thinking my dad was the biggest badass ever. In my case, though, it was true. “Don’t worry, Sebastian. No one will ever hurt you again.”
Just a father’s anguished promise in a world that didn’t come with guarantees.
Dad and I had both cursed the day I went to that party. I reeled between outrage and horror whenever I thought about it. The pain I felt probably meant outrage had won the night I’d taken a golf cart and run it into a tree. Apparently, I’d also fallen off a cliff.
Why did I take other people’s transgressions out on myself?
A glance at the nightstand showed my phone on a charger. I was surprised Dad brought it. Maybe he knew I wasn’t in any hurry to see how much more damage had been done to my reputation and career.
Molly could be my buffer against the world. I needed to get well and go back to work, but I was tired all of a sudden. I let my eyes shut, just for a minute.
My father pressed a soft kiss to my forehead and tiptoed from the room. I was almost asleep, but I wished he’d stayed. I felt safer with him there.
The next time I woke, Molly sat in the chair beside my bed.
“I’m baaaaack,” I croaked.
“Well, hello there, sunshine.” She held water for me to drink. “God, your breath stinks.”
I turned away. “Don’t just stand there. Find me a mint.”
She dug around in her purse and came up with a piece of gum.
“Here, this is all I’ve got.” She unwrapped it and pushed it between my lips. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I’m told…pretty much everything.”
“You scared the hell out of everyone. You know that, right? Why didn’t you wake me up? When you saw that video, why in heaven’s name didn’t you come to me?”
“I don’t know. It was all starting again. I felt humiliated. I wanted—”
“They’re writing you out of the show until you’re better.” She couldn’t care about that, could she?
“Makes sense,” I said carefully.
