Page 88 of Deceived Wrath

“Take this fucking thing off me.”

“Sir, you need to keep your IV in?—”

“I’m not in pain.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Well, good luck trying to find a vein.”

I hover in the doorway to the room, feeling overwhelmed with relief at the sight of Ray sitting up and talking. He’s hooked up to half a dozen machines, and his complexion is slightly gray, but he’s alive.

“You’re a stubborn bastard, you know that?” I say to announce myself.

The nurse turns around to glare at me. “Sir, you shouldn’t be?—”

“This is my nephew,” Ray says without hesitation. “He can stay.”

I walk into the room and drop into the chair beside his bed.

The nurse quickly finishes up with her task and disappears, leaving the two of us alone.

“How are you?”

“Oh, you know…”

“You had a heart attack.”

“I’m aware. Think it’s all those damn pancakes your son makes me eat.”

I know it’s Ray’s way of trying to lighten the mood, but it doesn’t work.

“You could have died.”

“I’m going to die, eventually.”

“That’s not the point.”

“It is.” Ray holds a hand to his chest as he winces. “I just don’t want it to be in front of your son. The kid struggles to sleep enough as it is without having nightmares of me corking it.”

“Fuck, Ray. I’m so sorry?—”

He waves his hand with the IV taped in place. “Enough of that. It’s bad enough that you came all this way as it is. There’s no need. Holly is already fussing. I don’t need you to as well.”

“Holly’s here?”

I haven’t seen Ray’s daughter in years, but I’m glad she’s here. I don’t like the thought of leaving Ray by himself, no matter what he says.

“She took Scout down to the cafeteria to get a milkshake. I think he was getting a little anxious seeing me surrounded by all these machines, you know?”

Even I’m feeling anxious seeing Ray like this, so god knows what state Scout is in.

Even though every beep of the monitors is a reminder that he’s alive, it does little to quiet the guilt clawing at me.

I replay the last few months in my mind, the pressure I piled on Ray, the long nights I expected him to cover for me, the phone calls I didn’t take because I was busy. I hate that it’s taken him having a heart attack for me to realize that things need to change, but they will.

I won’t make the same mistake twice.

Ray’s health is not worth jeopardizing just because I refuse to ask for help.