Page 86 of Wanted
Tears came out of nowhere, and he turned away from Frank, mumbling thanks as he discreetly wiped his face and then opened the wrapper before digging in as he stared at a poster informing about symptoms of sepsis. The sweetness did help, but the only thing that would truly calm him would be holding Knox’s hand and making sure he was comfortable.
The steps of someone approaching the door almost made him choke on the last bite of the Twix. When the doctor stepped out with a frown on his face, Liv’s heart galloped and knocked at his breastbone.
“Jesus Christ, that took for fucking ever,” the doctor said, rubbing his wrinkly forehead and glancing to his nephew.
It seemed people who were here off-the-books didn’t get the courtesy of politeness. But it didn’t matter.
Liv dropped the wrapper onto the seat and rose. “How is he?”
The surgeon burned him with the gaze of his pale eyes. “Better than he might have been if he hadn’t spoken up literally moments before we started.”
Liv’s cheeks cooled as he closed Cy’s jacket around him. Even his gums were pulsing from all this stress. “What?”
“The patient has serious heart issues. I should have known this way beforehand, not seconds before we put him under. It could have ended badly.”
Oh fuck. Oh God.
Liv licked his lips. “I didn’t know it mattered, since it was his should—”
The surgeon continued, not caring for his explanation anymore. “At this rate, his state will gradually worsen anyway. He should have had surgery long ago. Ideally, as a child.”
The ground started crumbling under Liv’s feet as the edges of his vision blurred. “‘Surgery’?”
The doctor squinted at him as if this was Liv’s fault. “Yes. If he died on my table tonight because of a bad reaction to the anesthesia, it wouldn’t have been my fault!” He looked at Cyborg with a snarl. “You need to get smarter prospects. This one told me he knew about the need for surgery but said that he ‘doesn’t have plans’ of going through with it.”
Cy took a deep breath, as if trying to calm down before he approached his uncle. “Let’s talk business in your office.”
As rude as the surgeon was, he had saved Knox, so Liv shook off the discomfort of having to deal with him and headed straight for the door.
The doctor stopped him, clicking his tongue as if Liv were an unruly horse. “No. The nurse is preparing him in the post-op room. She will come and get you. Don’t disturb her.”
Liv wrapped his arms on his chest, trying to take deep breaths. He had to fight the urge to storm into the room so he could be there, like he’d promised Knox.
The doctor mumbled something Liv couldn’t hear anymore and rushed down the corridor, closely followed by Cyborgwho towered over his uncle like a bodyguard over some short celebrity.
The screech of their shoes on the polished floor soon died down, and Liv was once again stuck with Frank watching him like a parent might a child.
Dark thoughts formed a dense cloud around his head, but he fought through it and turned around. “I can’t fucking believe it. He told me he just needs the pills.”
Knox’s words from earlier now rattled in Liv’s head ominously.
We both know you’ll live longer.
Was he planning to just never tell Liv about his issue? How dare he ignore something this serious?
Frank hung his head. “Don’t make that the first thing he hears once he wakes up.”
“Why the hell not? It’s insane to ignore something like this,” Liv raged and entwined his fingers on his nape as he started pacing. He needed to see Knox and talk some sense into him. Right. The fuck. Now.
“You don’t know the reason. And you shouldn’t agitate him right out of surgery if he has a weak heart.”
Fucking Frank and his reasonable arguments when all Liv wanted to do was smash that vending machine, then go yell at Knox for ignoring health advice.
He wanted to raise his voice. To kick the machine until it broke, but when his gaze met Frank’s calm gaze, anger slowly simmered down. “He should have told me,” he muttered, thinking back to their pristine Subaru Impreza. They’d packed so much money into that car. And then, Liv himself wasted so much on dates and gifts for his many girlfriends. Even if all of that cash couldn’t have paid for the surgery Knox needed, it would have been a start.
“His parents… they must have chosen not to go through with it,” Liv muttered, dropping into the seat next to Frank’s.
"He probably didn't want to worry you. All you can do is show him that you’re capable of shouldering the burden." Frank patted his back, and strangely enough, that small gesture took away a bit of Liv’s pain. He was glad he didn’t have to sit here alone, but the support did nothing to relieve the guilt and anguish burning deep inside him.
