Chapter 92
“What’re they doing here?”
“Jenny wanted to make sure you’re alright,” Eli said, “and Mum and Dad wanted to talk to you.”
“Why.”Rob’s voice was hard as stone, and Danny’s face matched.
Jenny snorted.
“Because I’ve just had a gorgeous little boy, safely, thanks to you, instead of being attacked and maybe losing him in a dirty car park,” she said snottily. “So shut up and meet your new nephew.”
“My—what? He ain’t my nephew,” Rob said, his voice slurring again.
“He’s mine, though,” Eli said, “which means he might as well be yours.” He kissed the top of Rob’s head, and grudgingly accepted the baby, cradling him against his chest so Rob could see
The baby squirmed and opened a tiny maw of a mouth to mewl quietly before cuddling into Rob’s hospital gown and, apparently, going back to sleep.
“It’s fuckin’ tiny,” Danny said, awed.
“And he’s safe and healthy and here because of you two,” Jenny said firmly. “And I’ll never forget it. Proper never, because I’m going to call him Robert Daniel Bell, after you two.”
Rob baulked.
Danny hooted with laughter.
“Fuckin’ hell, mate, you’re fucked now!”
“Go fuck yourself, Danny.”
Eli laughed as the baby stirred and clutched a tiny starfish hand into Rob’s gown. He had a crop of dark hair, and Eli kissed Rob’s ear and said, “If you’re not careful, people will think he’s your son, not your nephew.”
“Eli, seriously, go open the fucking window and jump out,” Rob grumbled hoarsely, but he pressed his head into Eli’s neck. “S’a baby. Take it back.”
Eli smiled and handed the baby back to Jenny, who cuddled him with an anxious look. “How are you, Rob?” she implored.
“Hurts,” Rob mumbled. He was slipping again, the flash of awareness having worn him out.
Eli hiked the blankets a little higher and squeezed Rob’s shoulders.
“Drugs’re shit. Nurses’re shit. And this bed’s fucking crap.”
Jenny giggled.
“Grumpy,” Eli teased, stroking Rob’s hair. “You’ll be alright, though.”
“Danny’s already said he’ll kick my arse f’I’m not…”
“Good.”
Mum’s voice was a loud surprise, and Eli felt Rob jump and hiss in pain. She didn’t seem to care though, standing at the end of the bed with her determined face on, and fists firmly planted on her hips.
“We were wrong about you, Rob,” she said flatly. “You saved both my children last night, and my grandson, and I won’t be forgetting that. We’ve misjudged you badly, and for that I’m very sorry.”
It was a simple, blunt apology, and Rob’s face turned a faint pink. Danny coughed, going scarlet.
“You put yourself on the line for my son and daughter,” she continued, “and you’ve made my son happy, which he hasn’t really been ever since he was small. So I’m sorry for the way we’ve treated you, and I hope we can start over again.”
Eli waited patiently, curled against Rob’s side, Rob’s head cuddled below Eli’s chin. He could feel the tension, could almost see Rob looking for the trap, but he said nothing. Whatever Rob decided, Eli had told his father the truth—he would walk away, if it meant keeping Rob. He was done.
Dad coughed when Mum elbowed him, and said, “Yes. As I, uh, already discussed with Eli…we have been…mistaken.”
Danny went an alarming red and scowled, but subsided when Eli shot him an angry look. This was for Rob, not for Danny. Rob had the power now, and Eli would keep it that way.
“Er,” Rob said eventually. “Right.”
It seemed like that was all he was going to say, for he made a wobbly hand gesture in Danny’s direction and said he needed more drugs now. Eli jerked his head at the curtains, and his father beat a hasty and grateful exit. Jenny tried to stay, arguing with Mum, but Eli ignored them and stroked a thumb over Rob’s jaw, peeling himself away to look Rob in the eyes.
“I love you,” he said firmly, uncaring that his mother and sister were still in the ward to hear him, “and no matter what you decide to do about starting over with Mum and Dad, I’m on your side. Okay?”
Rob’s hand was shaky on the back of Eli’s head, but his kiss was firm, albeit stale and foul-tasting.
“Okay,” he rasped.
And it was. Eli knew it—he could feel it in his bones, in the way the anxiety and anger had fled down the hospital corridors. His world had reshaped itself around merely him and Rob, rather than having the whole world and both families in there with them.