Cecil absently rubbed the bridge of his nose with his hand,
the heavy thudding between his eyes growing worse. The worry and anxiety
building inside of him was causing his head to throb.
“Headache?”
Cecil dropped his hand to his lap as he nodded. Mind numbing
migraine was more like it but he wasn’t about to admit that to Creed. The man
took his health and safety very seriously.
“You’ve been getting a lot of those lately.”
“I probably need a few days off.” He worked hard, long
hours. He might have inherited money from his parents when they passed away
but the bulk of his money came from working that money to the best of its
advantage. That took time and planning and burning the midnight oil.
“Maybe you should see if Manny wants to go to the lake house
with you after he gets out of the hospital,” Creed said. “I’m sure the two of
you could find something to occupy your time.”
Cecil grinned at the amusement he could hear in Creed’s
voice. He really couldn’t think of anything he would like more than to spend a
quiet weekend with Manny at his lake house, just the two of them. They could
spend the entire weekend naked. Cecil would insist on it.
When the limousine pulled up in the entrance of County
General fifteen minutes later, Cecil was a little white knuckled from the wild
ride but he was there in one piece and that was all that mattered at the
moment.
He scooted toward the door thankful when it opened before he
got there. He quickly exited the vehicle, in no way surprised when Creed
climbed out after him and started scanning the area for danger. Creed might
not follow him into the office every single second of the day but the man took
Cecil’s security in strange places very seriously. Cecil knew Creed would
follow him as he hurried in through the emergency room doors. In public, the
man was never more than a few feet away from him.
Now, he just needed to find Manny.
“Are you out of your mind?” an all too familiar voice
shouted, giving Cecil a direction to head in.
His throat felt too thick to call out or to even ask a nurse
where to find the owner of that deep, slightly accented voice, the same voice
that Cecil dreamed of almost every night since he had laid eyes on Manuel
Lopez.
Cecil didn’t know if it was the desperation in his eyes, the
fancy suit he wore, or the large man following behind him, guarding him, but
no one stopped him as he made his way through the emergency room corridor,
heading toward the man that held Cecil’s soul. He wouldn’t be able to breathe
again until he laid eyes on Manny himself and knew that the man was alive.
He knew Manny was hesitant about their relationship, even
standoffish on occasion. Cecil didn’t hold it against the man. Once Manny got
used to the idea of them being together, he would fall into line easily
enough. Manny was just too used to being all alone.
Cecil planned to change that.
There was something about the tall Hispanic man that had
caught Cecil’s interest from the very first glance. Cecil had been unable to
think of anyone else since. He had even gone as far as getting rid of his
little black book.
One night spent in Manny’s arms had proven to Cecil that he
didn’t need anyone but the sexy marine. Convincing Manny of that was proving
to be just a tad bit harder. The morning after they had practically fucked
each other unconscious, Manny started running. Three weeks had gone by since
that night and Manny was still running. Cecil hadn’t gotten to where he was in
the business world without being stubborn. He refused to give up when he
wanted something, and he wanted Manuel Lopez, and he wasn’t going to stop
until he had him.
Cecil’s heart beat a little faster when he saw Sheriff John
Henry Harrison standing in the doorway of one of the emergency room cubicles.
If John Henry was standing in the doorway that meant his partner Charles
Pennington III was inside the room.
And that meant Manny was inside as well.
John Henry turned just as Cecil reached him. He stepped
forward, holding out his hands as if to stop Cecil, but no one was going to
stop him from getting to Manny. Cecil continued to walk forward then quickly
zipped around John Henry.
He paused in the doorway, finally able to breathe again for
the first time since he received the phone call from Charlie that Manny had
been injured. Manny was alive. Manny was breathing.
Manny was pissed.
Cecil frowned as he glanced from Manny’s scowling face to
Charlie and then back again. He wasn’t real sure what was going on but it
seemed to him that this was the last place Manny and Charlie should be
arguing. Besides the fact that it was a hospital, Manny was obviously injured.
There was a white bandage around one of his arms.
Cecil opened his mouth to say something, and hopefully
defuse the situation, when the words Manny was speaking filtered through the
worry that had been clouding Cecil’s brain since he had received a phone call
from Charlie over an hour ago.
“I can’t believe you called him,” Manny snapped, his dark
cocoa brown eyes blazing with fury. “I went on that stupid mission to get away
from Cecil.”
Cecil stood utterly frozen in the doorway, his heart
thudding painfully in his chest. Only by sheer force of will did he continue
to stay standing when everything inside of him was crumbling around him.
“You left on a mission to get away from me?” Cecil’s words
were whispered but loud enough to be heard by the two men in the room. Manny’s
face drained of color as he turned to look at Cecil.
“Shit.” Charlie rushed over and grabbed Cecil’s arm as if
Cecil was about to collapse and Charlie was trying to keep him standing.
Cecil shook Charlie off and stepped into the room. “Answer
me, Manny. Did you go on that mission to get away from me?” Cecil swallowed.
“And I want the truth.”
Manny sighed as his shoulders slumped. The cold, congested
expression that settled on Manny’s face as he glanced away gave Cecil his
answer even before the man opened his mouth. Cecil’s heart stuttered for one
last bit of life before shattering into a million painful pieces.
“I see.” Cecil cleared his throat and tried to gather the
remains of his tattered pride around himself like a shield. He stiffened his
back and squared his shoulders then raised his eyes to meet Manny’s. He had
never shied away from anything in his life. He wasn’t going to start now. “My
apologies, Mr. Lopez. I will not bother you again.”
|