Hell & High Water (THIRDS 1)

“Sloane, come on, buddy. Dex needs medical attention. You gotta let them do their thing. They’re here to help him.”

Sloane huffed and turned his head to Dex, nudging him, a soft growl escaping him. Dex put his hand to Sloane’s nose and smiled. “S’okay.” A wide pink tongue licked at his hand and Dex scrunched his nose. His voice was hoarse when he spoke. “Ew, that’s gross, man.”

Sloane closed his eyes, his muzzle wrinkling before he stood and padded to one side. Dex kept his eyes on him as the paramedics made their assessment before moving him onto a gurney, causing him to cry out at the pain when someone hit a sore spot. Sloane let out a thunderous roar, and Dex put a hand out to quiet him. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was bright amber eyes watching over him.

“THIS IS all my fault.”

Despite being in a private room that resembled more a bedroom than a hospital room, Sloane still couldn’t feel at ease. Normally, he wouldn’t have stepped foot inside one of these places, but they’d brought Dex to the New York Presbyterian Hospital, the THIRDS preferred medical facility

. There were some perks to working for his organization, and outstanding medical treatment was one of them. It wasn’t the service, however, that made Sloane anxious, but the deep-rooted anxieties it brought out in him. Still, he couldn’t leave Dex. He had to know his partner was okay. He had to apologize, had to…. God, he didn’t know what he had to do. He knew he’d fucked up, and now Dex was lying in a hospital bed. How was Sloane going to face Maddock and Cael knowing he’d let this happen?

“Hey, stop for a second.” Ash took hold of his shoulders, stopping him from pacing a hole in the pristine carpet. “Are you okay?” He motioned around them. “In here, I mean.”

Sloane breathed in deep and let it out slowly. He appreciated Ash’s attentiveness. “I’m fine.” He wasn’t. Not by a long shot. But he couldn’t leave. He deserved this for what he’d done. Dex had been nothing but supportive, making him smile, laugh, making him feel things he hadn’t felt in so damn long, and what had Sloane given him in return? A lump formed in his throat at the sight of Dex under the white sheets, his tan skin covered in ugly bruises, cuts, and scrapes. The medical staff had taken x-rays, and the doctor confirmed there was nothing broken or torn. There was some swelling, and Dex would be in a lot of pain for a couple of weeks. Most surprising of all was when the doctor stated the assailants had gone easy on Dex. Like they were trying to hurt him, but not cause any real damage. It was unlike any assault he’d ever come across.

“Oh my God!”

The heartbroken expression on Cael’s face hit Sloane hard, and he found himself unable to do anything other than watch Cael rush to his brother’s bedside. He reached for Dex’s face then hesitated. There was a nasty bump on his brow from where the rock had hit him, and despite the amount of blood it had let out, it hadn’t needed any stitches. There was a small cut over his nose, nasty scratches down the right side of his face, his bottom lip was bruised at the corner, and there was another bruise on his left cheek. In the end, Cael opted for gently brushing Dex’s hair away from his brow.

“What happened?” Cael asked, his voice so low it was almost a whisper.

“Dex crashed on my couch last night. I was going to take him home, but he passed out in the car, and I didn’t know where he lived. Anyway, we had an argument this morning and he left. I thought he’d gone into work when Ash showed up.” He and Ash had given their statements to Recon agents as soon as they’d arrived at the hospital. That had been difficult when all Sloane had wanted was to be at Dex’s side. But there wasn’t much else he could do while the medical staff wheeled Dex away for emergency treatment to rule out any internal hemorrhaging, swelling, or broken bones.

Ash recounted everything that had happened while he’d stood outside with Dex, and Sloane confirmed it. “I remember the guy from the bar. Dex actually pointed him out. Thought he was interested in me. Now I know he was interested in something else. I gave Recon a description and they’re getting Intel to run it through Themis. Soon as they get a hit, they’re putting an APB out. Defense agents are putting the screws on the guys who didn’t get away.”

Cael nodded, and Sloane stepped up to him, tentatively putting a hand on the younger Therian’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Cael. I should have looked after him better.” Cael shifted his gaze to Sloane, the anger in his eyes was expected, but when Cael spoke, Sloane had expected that anger to be directed at him.

“It’s not your fault. You’re his partner, not his babysitter. He’s a fucking THIRDS agent for Christ’s sake. He knows better!” Cael shook his head, tears in his eyes. “He’s always doing stupid shit like this. He gets hurt or pissed off and instead of doing something about it or talking to someone, he keeps it all inside until he ends up doing something fucking stupid. Asshole.”

“Hey.” Sloane drew Cael into his arms and hugged him close. “It’s okay. He’s going to be okay. I know it looks bad, but it’s mostly bruising. The doctor gave him a sedative so he could rest.”

“What about the next time?” Cael replied hoarsely. “Dad’s going to be so pissed at him. Good. He deserves an ass kicking.” He pulled back and wiped at his eyes with his hoodie’s sleeve.

Seeing Cael like this, out of his uniform, looking so vulnerable and small, he was reminded how young Cael was, and how much responsibility Sloane now carried. He’d failed to protect Cael’s big brother. The way the kid looked up to Dex, the admiration in his eyes, the way he looked out for him, boasted about him…. Sloane had forgotten that kind of love existed.

“I’m gonna go get him some coffee for when he wakes up, or he’ll start bitching,” Cael grumbled, leaving the room.

Sloane let out a heavy sigh and dropped down into the pale green two-seater beside Dex’s bed.

“Stop it.” Ash walked over and dropped down next to him, putting an arm around him.

“Ash, he was pissed off I didn’t tell him about me and Gabe.”

After some thought, Ash shrugged his large shoulders. “It was your decision to make.”

“Yeah, but he’s my partner. I should have trusted him. Instead he had to hear it from that prick, Isaac.” Out of all the people who could have walked into the garage to help Dex, why did it have to be Isaac Pearce? Sloane was grateful the guy had shown up when he did, but out of all the other HPF officers who had most likely been in that courthouse, why him?

“Wait, Dex knows Isaac?”

“Kind of. He helped Dex out, then invited him for a drink.”

Ash hummed. “Did Dex say what they talked about?”

“Other than him telling Dex about Gabe, I have no idea. I don’t even know why he would tell Dex anyway. What does Dex have to do with it other than he’s my new partner?”

“Probably looking to stir shit up. The guy’s a royal jackoff.” Ash removed his arm from around Sloane and sat forward to look at him. “What’s going on?”

Sloane sat back. “I’m fine.”