Disbelief seized his heart. He held John tightly as he tore at the dirty sheet and pushed it off the bed. Dammit, he’d knocked the call button off the bed in his show of anger. Slowly, still not placing John back on the bed, Kellus rounded to the other side, trying everything to keep John up while extending a leg to get the call button in his hand.
“What’s happened?” John’s mother said from behind him.
“He’s got a bedsore. I need to call the nurse.”
“Oh no. I’ll go now.”
Kellus stayed bent over the bed, holding John in his arms for what felt like forever. By the time the staff came to take over, his heart was crushed, his breath heaving. As someone he’d never seen before lifted John out of his arms, he whispered hoarsely in John’s ear, “You hang on. I promise we’ll get you out of here.”
When he was confident they were finally paying attention to John, he left the room in search of the social worker. Of course, there were only two for the entire facility and both were in a meeting. At the front desk, he scribbled a note to the social worker, letting her know what he needed. He also left a note for John’s doctor to give him a call. Then he went back to John’s room to find Lisa.
“Make sure they wash him and keep that sore clean,” he said, his focus solely on the attendants working on John right then. “He needs to be moved regularly. I don’t care how many patients are in this facility, he deserves your attention.”
“Kellus, they’re trying.”
“No, they aren’t, Mrs. Nickerson. I’ve got some things I have to take care of. Can you stay here with him today and call me when they finish?”
“Sure, honey. Kellus, you need to calm down, son. It’s not safe to drive like this.” She reached out to pat his forearm.
All he could see was red. He’d been a fool yet again to think if he tried hard enough, he could make up for the faults of this dingy place. He gave Lisa a kiss on the cheek before walking out.
Stalking toward his car, he searched the number for his real estate agent. He had some money, and Gage wanted him for other shows. If he sold his house, maybe he could come up with the cash to help John’s parents get him out of that hellhole.
~?~
With his shirt sleeves rolled to his elbows, Arik hung his silk tie over his shoulders and adjusted his sunglasses, trying to get out of the glare of the sun while studying the blueprints in front of him. Damn, he was pissed off at himself. The project had to be at least two months behind. How had he let that happen?
He spread his hands across the makeshift table, anchoring the flyaway ends, trying to calm his anger before he turned and fired every single motherfucker on this jobsite. How in the hell did anyone justify claiming a paycheck? They were stealing from him, and Arik hated that more than he hated how far behind they’d become.
His phone rang. He’d laid it on the far side of the table, so he leaned forward to venture a look. The only person he’d ever pick up for would be Kellus, and he never called this time of day. The glare made it impossible to see so he lifted the phone, surprised to see Kellus’s name. He answered on the fourth and final ring.
“Hey. Everything okay?” he asked, releasing both sides of the plans, letting them fly in the wind. He saw the contractor scrambling to save the pages as he turned to take several steps away to gain some privacy.
“Are you busy?”
“Not for you,” he said, pivoting on his heels as his heartbeat spiked. He stared off at the rolling waves of the ocean not more than a hundred yards from where he stood.
“Are you outside?” Kellus asked.
“Yeah. We’re a tad bit behind.” Arik kicked at a clump of sand on the ground.
“I can call back…”
“No!” Arik almost yelled. “Really, I need the break. What’s up? Missing me?” Arik added quickly.
“Tonight I will for sure.”
A smile cracked the scowl he’d worn since he’d arrived. He loved hearing Kellus missed him.
“Did I tell you I had my chef create a Thai menu for you? It should be there when you get to the house tonight,” Arik said and started to pace. Not twenty feet away, his entire executive team and construction general managers stood staring at him, waiting for him to continue their meeting, while he talked about missing his man and making sure he had enough to eat. God, he had it bad for Kellus.
“Thank you. I’m getting another call, but I need to ask you something,” Kellus said.
“You sound so serious.” The butterflies in Arik’s stomach were starting to make an appearance at the tone Kel used.