Touch And Go - Aiden Bates Page 0,17

since he wasn’t one. I’d identified him almost immediately. “How’d you hear about something like that, exactly?”

Pete moved forward, and Shae gasped behind me. I stood my ground even though he reeked of cigarette smoke. “C’mon, man, we’re worried about him. Is he here or not?” Pete looked over my shoulder, and I followed his gaze to the security guard staring him down.

Maybe I was just jealous, because I didn’t want to think about Seb with the guy at all, but putting two and two together…this guy was big enough to have twisted Seb’s wrist, to have knocked him out and thrown him into the river, to… Whoa. Backpedal. There was no evidence anyone had “thrown” Seb into the river. And if this was the kind of machismo idiot Seb liked, it was none of my business. But I still wanted to smash my fist into his face. I took a deep breath and reminded myself, yet again, that it wasn’t any of my business. I’d offered the patient help and provided him with information about crisis centers and outpatient programs. My duty of care was done. I could let it go.

If only it was that easy.

“You’re going to have to contact the authorities if your brother has gone missing.”

Ben nodded, but Pete wasn’t hearing it. He clenched his fists at his side and leaned in so we were nose to nose. “Fucking bullshit, man. I’m his boyfriend, keeping him away from me is homophobic.” He spat the word. With actual spit.

I hardened my tone, my stance, and my resolve. This guy might be able to intimidate Seb, might take his aggressions out on someone half his size, but today, he wasn’t dealing with Seb. He was in my face. His bad luck, too. “Sorry.” The hell I was. “I’m bound by doctor-patient confidentiality, I couldn’t tell you anything about someone who may have been here, even if I wanted to.” Which I didn’t.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s a load of a shit.” He poked his finger into my chest and Ben pulled him back.

“C’mon, Pete. We’ll find him.” Ben mumbled as he urged Pete away by the collar, the thug keeping his eyes on me as they swaggered out of the emergency room.

Something was definitely off. My instincts were screaming at me, but I couldn’t hear what they were trying to say. It was late, but maybe Eli would be up. The last update I had from him came hours ago and all it said was he was following Sebastian downtown. I was about to call, when I noticed a text from Eli. Shit. I’d missed an update.

No. A single string of numbers that made my blood go cold.

911

My heart jumped into my throat. What if Eli was hurt? Or Seb? I wanted to run out. Sprint home if I had to and find out what the hell was going on.

“Shae… How long until my shift is done?”

She looked at the clock then at me. “Half hour, Derek.”

Thirty-minutes. Too long. “Shit.”

I chewed my bottom lip raw, and my stomach tightened as I dialed then listened to Eli’s phone ring. But before the call could connect, a little girl with a broken toe came into the emergency room screaming bloody murder and my worry faded to the background. Taping her up kept me occupied until I was able to get out of there.

Eli still wasn’t answering his phone when I sprinted out of the hospital and headed for my car— except Eli had given me a ride to work. No car.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

It was a short sprint to the taxi rank, but my pulse was thundering by the time I threw myself into the backseat and told the driver the address of the Vanguard Tower. If something happened to my brother—or Seb—I would never forgive myself.

6

Sebastian

Derek’s business card was dry and crisp. I dug the corner into my thumb and rubbed my skin raw with the edges of the card as I wandered around Georgetown, vaguely making my way toward my apartment. I felt like shit, my wrist burned without any painkillers in my system, and my head wasn't doing much better. I took a bunch of twists and turns down streets I barely recognized, and I found myself half-lost as the sunset cast a golden light over the buildings and the monuments here. But when I caught a glimpse of the top of my building through rooftops, I turned around, determined to get even more lost. I walked the labyrinth