Page 48 of Searching for the Prince
“Hard to snore when you don’t breathe. And I’ll have you know, your jiggly leg thing is far more annoying than my snoring.” He’d give anything to portal to Gwil and kiss him but they’d be discovered and ruin their chance of finding Simon. “Best not kick the big fang in your sleep.”
“Twat.” Gwil sounded so fond. “I’ll text when I can. We’ll be at the facility tomorrow, and we’ll see if my phone works.”
“Be careful, if you do something stupid, I’ll find a way to kill you again.”
“Love you too.” There was a muffled conversation, he couldn’t catch. “Sorry, Robin’s out of the bath. I better go.”
“Love you.”
The call dropped and Hyax felt bereft. He spotted Midnight asleep on the chair and without a second thought, scooped her up and plonked her on his lap. He didn’t expect her to stay but maybe she was missing Gwil too and settled down. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he comes home.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Gwil had managed to grab a few hours of sleep at the hotel, his nocturnal habits didn’t help and sharing a bed with Robin had been uneventful. No random cuddling and Robin had insisted Gwil would not have to sleep on the floor. They boarded a minibus to be transported to the facility, Robin making it clear he had no intention of participating in small talk, and Gwil thought he probably never travelled on mass transit. Some of the other patients tried to speak to them, but Robin was not engaging. Gwil picked up the strain of making small talk with strangers where no one really wanted to know each other’s business while Robin fell back into his persona of a submissive and somewhat meek partner as an excuse to ignore them.
Robin’s mobile buzzed, he showed Gwil he had a text from Dad, not expected as they were meant to be low contact apart from emergencies.
Dad:Hope the treatment goes well. Maybe when you get back, we can get you a new cat, I know you were upset when the other one disappeared.
“I guess we should be searching for a new moggie,” Robin said.
Gwil hummed, he hadn’t a clue what Sebastian meant, and Robin didn’t seem any more the wiser. “I guess so. Not sure we’re best suited for pets.”
“Let’s see what happens, eh? We might find that a few days at the facility gives a new perspective on things.”
He hated wasting time, and the minibus ride had taken a couple of hours, which was longer than he’d expected. Copperpipe’s intel suggested the facility should have been closer, so Gwil suspected Mettle had taken precautions to help hide its location by sending them on a circuitous route. Many of the roads were too narrow for two cars to pass, or little more than bridleways in some places, but somehow they didn’t meet any oncoming traffic, which only made him more suspicious.
A high, solid brick wall came into view, as if rising out of nowhere and he couldn’t see over it nor were there any gaps. They followed the perimeter wall until they reached two large black gates, and the minibus slowed but didn’t halt completely. The gates opened to reveal a manor house built in the late Georgian style, but it appeared new, no weathering, its marble frontage almost gleaming.
The minibus didn’t take the main approach but instead they were driven around the side to where there was a modern-looking extension that would’ve made a conservation officer weep in despair. They entered a garage where a team of people wearing white uniforms waited.
As the minibus came to a halt, Nurse Helm stood. “Please make your way off the bus, your luggage will be delivered to your rooms, and you will be reunited once the admission process is complete. If Rob and Will could disembark last, you’ll be with me.”
Gwil thought it would only be a matter of time before they were separated.
“I was worried we might be outside for a bit, we’re not good in daylight,” Robin said, another lie as Robin had told him he was not as susceptible to daylight as the average vampire.
“Your best interests are at the heart of everything we do here, Rob,” Nurse Helm said. Gwil somehow managed to contain his snort of disbelief.
Gwil took hold of Robin’s hand as they were led inside into the main house. He’d expected the white walls and grey floors, given this was supposed to be a hospital, and they entered a small reception room where another nurse waited. Her electric-blue eyes were off-putting along with her sharp features, and jet-black hair and eyes. “This is Nurse Teller, one of the senior staff, she’s going to look after Rob, and I’ll take care of Gwil.”
“You’re splitting us up?” Gwil asked, sounding surprised and a little aggrieved, play-acting for the benefit of the nurses.
“You are individuals, and medical care has to consider the individual not the couple. We don’t have couples’ quarters here, but you’ll not be permanently separated.”
Robin bit his bottom lip, looking coy and nothing like the real vampire who would happily rip out the throat of someone who crossed him. “I’d rather do this together.”
“After the initial consultation, you’ll be reunited.”
“Fine,” Gwil snapped. “Make sure you don’t forget to tell them all the important stuff.”
Gwil was escorted down the corridor leaving Robin with Nurse Teller. He was shown into a little room, with a chair and a desk but not much else, it didn’t even have a window. Nurse Helm handed him a clipboard with a stack of papers. “Please fill these out. Dr Mettle will be with you as soon as he can, but he will see the patients in order of priority.”
It was clear to Gwil that he wasn’t near the top of the list, and he might be waiting a while. “I thought I’d already filled in the forms.”
“I’m afraid they’re endless when it comes to healthcare. I’ll get you a coffee while you wait.”
Three coffees and many forms later and Gwil was ready to start a commotion—he was supposed to be an arsehole so he could be excused. He’d had blood taken and pissed into a paper cup, had his cheek swabbed, and now he wanted a kip. He was about to leave the room and shout down the corridor when Dr Mettle entered. “Apologies for the delay, Mr Carpenter.”
