Page 30 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

Love made people do desperate things. Bold, reckless…necessary things.

And if swallowing his pride meant doing something he’d said he’d never do again, to give back to the man who’d sacrificed everything for him, then Furi was going to do it.

And while he suffered the consequences, he’d watch the twenty-thousand-dollar royalty checks flood in.

Xander Vale

The private hospital wing was quiet and serene with its overpriced abstract artwork on the walls, in soothing blues, grays, and golds. Fresh cut flowers were arranged at every nurse’s station. The halls had low, cream-colored sofas and sleek leather chairs tucked into small alcoves beside polished end tables stacked with current issues of magazines and books, clearly reflecting that this hospital catered to a certain class, unlike the county hospital.

As he moved through the halls, his security stood near every entrance, hands folded in front of them.

Xander hated that this was his new normal, moving with a cluster of guards as if he were an important politician. He couldn’t stand the way everybody gawked at him. As if he was something fragile…hunted.

Devyn limped beside him with one hand pulling his IV cart while he used the other to steady himself against the railing.

He looked better, still rough, but better.

The bruising around his jaw and left eye had faded from violent purple into a sickly yellow-green. A long healing incision disappeared into the hair near his temple where surgeons repaired a fractured orbital bone after the first blow from the pipe shattered it.

His staggered gait was the result of three cracked ribs, and his left wrist was wrapped in a hard brace after reconstructive surgery repaired the multiple torn ligaments.

But he was alive and walking, which was surprising since four days ago nobody knew if he or Luke were going to survive.

Luke—Devyn’s boyfriend—had taken two direct blows to the skull trying to protect him.

The doctors said the second impact had almost killed him.

A subdural hematoma caused dangerous swelling around Luke’s brain, but the quick surgery relieved the pressure, and he was placed in an induced coma before it could become fatal.

Part of Luke’s skull had temporarily been removed to save his life before being surgically restored yesterday morning.

Now?

He too was awake and responsive.

Some memory gaps still lingered around the attack itself, but he remembered Devyn…remembered everything important to him.

Devyn smiled as they made another slow lap around the hall.

“The first thing that man mouthed to me after waking up was ‘marry me.’”

Xander smiled weakly.

“Still had a damn tube down his throat but he couldn’t resist shooting his shot again.” Devyn laughed softly. “I guess he figured I couldn’t tell him ‘no’ this time. Not after saving my life.”

Xander swallowed hard as the guilt surged again.

It should’ve been him. His chest tightened until it hurt to take the next breath.

“I’m sorry,” Xander whispered.

Devyn stopped walking, turning and glaring so hard Xander took a step back. “You better not say that shit again.”

Xander blinked.

“I’m serious,” Devyn snapped. “Enough blaming yourself for someone else’s crazy.”

“I just—”