Trevor choked out on a sob. “Oh, Daddy.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Drake soothed on an unstable voice
of anguish. Shifting he stared at Trevor with love, ethereal and glowing, on
his face before he pressed a feather-soft kiss to the young man’s swollen lips.
“I love you, my precious boy. I love you so much.”
Absolute adoration sparkled in Trevor’s eyes and the ground
beneath me started to crack. Dayne had deserved the
kind of devotion that these men shared. But he’d been raped and robbed of ever
having the chance. An oily and repugnant bitterness pulsed through my veins.
On a thin wail, Trevor sobbed, “I’m sorry, daddy. I’m so
sorry.”
“Oh god. No baby. No.” Drake slid a wide hand to Trevor’s
nape, dropped his head to the pillow and shattered.
His deep, guttural howls echoed through the room and I stood
helplessly watching the rugged mountain of a man crumble. The weight of his
anguish clawed at my heart. A part of me felt as if I were intruding on a
precious, private part of their lives. Their love was so blatantly pure and awe
inspiring, I began to shatter too.
Drake’s big body shook with each grief-stricken sob. Finding
his lover so senselessly beaten and mauled completely destroyed the burly man.
I wanted to wrap them both in my arms, rock and soothe them with the promise it
would be all right, but I feared it never would be.
Moving in toward the two, Mika slung his arm over Drake’s
shoulders as all three cried openly. Watching the brawny men fall to pieces,
the tattered threads of my resolve shredded. Clenching my teeth, I tried to
take an emotional step back, but I couldn’t. Frozen in place, I watched and
listened to their mournful wails.
“Look what they’ve done to you,” Drake howled. “I’m so
fucking sorry I wasn’t there to protect you, my sweet precious boy.”
The devastating guilt and suffocating remorse consuming
Drake was a familiar affliction I lived with daily. I hadn’t been there to save Dayne anymore than Drake had Trevor. The
gut-wrenching symmetry swamped me, and a blistering wave of shame, regret, and
heartbreak thundered through me.
“ Is’no your fault, daddy,” Trevor
wept. “I tried to fight ‘em off…I did.”
“It
is
my fault,” Drake cried. “I should have gone
with you to get the ice. Why the fuck didn’t I go with you? I’m sorry, baby…so
fucking sorry.”
Cupping his thick hands around Trevor’s face, as if he were
cradling a baby bird, Drake stared into his lover’s eyes. The love they shared
was blinding.
The poignant exchange was too much…too raw, too emotional,
and more crushing than I could stand. The familiar fist of anguish gripped my
heart and squeezed unmercifully as every crushing memory of the soul-stealing
night I’d lost Dayne —lost my whole world—careened
through my brain.
The dividing wall between sister and nurse disintegrated.
The professional façade I’d tried to draw around me burst at the seams. A cry
of anguish rose from my chest. I slapped a hand over my mouth holding my pain
inside before racing past James and into the hallway. I hunkered over the
computer outside Trevor’s room praying my co-workers wouldn’t notice the tears
sliding down my face. Sucking in deep breaths, I desperately tried to regain my
composure.
“Liz?”
The tender whisper of my name felt as if James had stroked
every jagged edge of my heart. Reaching up, he brushed a strand of honey-wheat
hair behind my ear. His fingers lingered against my scalp, and I fought the
urge to turn and nuzzle into his touch.
“Are you all right?” he murmured.
Nodding, I swiped at my tears, feeling like an inept fool.
“I’m so sorry. That was totally unprofessional of me.” The words spilled from
my lips in a quiet, nervous rush. “Please. Forgive me.”
“No,” he adamantly
replied, shaking his head.
No? Cindy would have my ass on