The Boss [LGBT]

Chapter 25

  Hospitals had always weirded me out. I mean, people had died in those places and that just scared me. Police were on the outside, though, trying to barricade the press, and that meant I wasn't sure how I was going to get inside. I cringed, looking at the large building. Ugh. It was just so freaky to me. I walked up to an officer and said to him, "Excuse me, sir, I'm here to visit a patient."

"Who?" he asked.

"Lafayette Jeff," I responded, knowing he probably thought I was an idiot.

"Yeah? So is everyone else. The press conference isn't until later."

"I'm Emerson Lane. He's-"

"Oh, you're the one. Yeah, alright, he's been asking for ya. Cheryl!" he called to a red-headed officer.

She came over, asking, "Is this him?"

"Yep, escort him inside please."

She nodded and motioned for me to follow. The press started shouting questions like crazy when they saw someone actually able to enter. I couldn't help but wonder about people trying to visit patients other than Lafayette. Would they not be allowed or something? That would suck. Maybe they had a list of who was allowed to go through or something. Cheryl led me through the hallways and I kept my eyes on the back of her pretty hair, avoiding everything else. A bunch of people were in the waiting room that was outside of Lafayette's room. His parents, his siblings, Donald, Vince, Emilio, Michael. Michael didn't even say anything to me. He just grabbed me and shoved me into Lafayette's room.

And there he was, lying on the bed in patient clothes, eyes closed. It had been basically a month since I had last seen him. He looked really bad. There were bags under his eyes, his skin was not glowing, his hair was messy in a non-sexy way. I don't know if it was because he had been shot, or because of other reasons. I walked over to him and looked down at him. He wasn't asleep, just resting. "Lafayette?" I asked.

He drowsily opened his eyes, and his normally bright hazel eyes looked less luminous. He smiled faintly. "Hey," is all he said.

I didn't know what to say, so I asked, "How's your arm?"

He chuckled. "Being shot is really painful. I can't feel it, but when the drugs wear off then it's bad."

"But you're okay?"

He took a while to answer me, peering into my eyes. "I can't even tell you."

I sighed, getting emotional because it was all just so much. "What the hell is going on?"

He tiredly sat up and moved over. He patted the space next to him on the bed and I sat next to him. "I'll just start from the beginning I suppose. It was back in November when it happened. Rick Solanzki found out about you and I being together. I don't know how exactly, but he finally had something against me. Still, I'm not sure what he really wanted from me. He did this to multiple people actually. See, he threatened me. And you. He said I had to break up with you, and if I didn't then he'd hurt you. He didn't want money. I think he just wanted to be in your spot. I'm not sure. There's something demented about him. Anyway, when I dumped you, I had that ear piece in because he was telling me what to say. You know what I did after you left?"

"I hope you cried."

He laughed, a sparkle appearing in his eye again. "I bawled my eyes out. So Rick comes in and-" He shook his head. "He just screwed everything up. However, I knew I could get him sent to jail. He is incredibly sketchy, and I just had to wait for him to carry a gun. We were suppose to have a birthday party with lots of people, and so I knew he'd have one on him then. That's when I had the opportunity to stop him and his blackmail and everything. I told him everything he did not want to hear and got him so angry he'd shoot me. He shot me, and I was really hoping he'd just aim for my torso, but he nicked me in the arm, too. Emilio quickly came in and tackled him before he could do anything. Michael called the police and that's why I'm here. Everyone who has ever been wronged by Rick is now showing all the horrible things he's done to them, too. They never could before because they were afraid he'd kill them. Now he's out of everyone's hair."