16. Adam

16

Adam

C hase shut the door of his office with a click and then leaned against it, his hands in the pockets of his scrub pants. He said, “You that worried that you have to stick around?”

Sitting there on Chase’s chair and with his feet on the top of Chase’s desk, Adam said, “How was it?”

“Great,” Chase said. “Everything went great. Janet’s putting Shiro up for the night in Ward 3B.”

“Thanks,” Adam said. “For doing that.”

Chase snorted. “Oh, wow! That’s the first thanks I’ve ever gotten from you. Even when your life was on the line with a silver bullet stuck in your chest and I did the surgery brilliantly, you never thanked me. Shiro must mean a lot to you, huh?”

“Saving me is your obligation,” Adam said. “Helping Shiro is not.”

Chase laughed. “Yep, obligation. My job.” He straightened and then walked over to sit on the sofa across the room. “Ah, fuck, I’m tired.” Resting his feet on the table, he asked, “Mind getting me a cup of coffee or something?”

“No problem,” Adam said, getting up from his seat.

He went to the staff break room a couple of doors down the hallway and took a few minutes to brew Chase a mug of hot coffee. When he returned, Chase was half snoozing, his eyes closed and his arms folded across his chest. Adam shook his head as he placed the mug of coffee on the table. He said, “You should get some good sleep.”

The man opened his eyes then and said, “We’re short-staffed.”

“Then hire more,” Adam said. “It’s not like you’re short on cash.”

Chase eagerly took the mug of coffee and then brought it to his lips. He drank to his heart’s content, sighing pleasantly after. “Ah, that’s better.” To Adam, he said, “Of course I’m not short on cash flow. It’s finding good, experienced, fully qualified staff, ones that don’t mind treating beastkin; that’s the problem. Heck, I don’t mind hiring beastkin, but as you know, the qualified ones are few and far.”

“That’s because colleges and universities won’t accept them,” Adam said. “Of course you’ll be short on qualified beastkin doctors and nurses. You’ll be lucky if you find one or two.”

“And I am lucky,” Chase said. “My current staff are a godsend.”

Adam turned on his heel. “I’m going to check on Shiro.”

“Mm-hmm,” Chase responded and then took another sip of his coffee.

Before heading out the door, Adam picked up Chase’s tablet from the desk and handed it to the man. “I sent you something.”

Chase narrowed his eyes as he took it, suspecting something was up. Adam turned on his heel and then walked out the door. He came down to the third floor of the building a few moments later, and as he neared Ward 3B, Janet strolled past him.

“Sir,” she said.

Adam nodded at her and then walked into Ward 3B. The room was dimly lit with only one small light switched on in a corner, casting a golden glow across the place. Standing beside the bed, he rested his hand on Shiro’s head while gazing down at the boy’s pale complexion. Shiro fluttered his eyes open then and said softly, “Adam.”

The man smiled and said, “Chase said the surgery went great.”

Shiro licked his lip and he reached out to touch Adam’s hand. Adam noticed that the boy’s hand was slightly shaky.

Shiro said, “Yeah. Are you going home now?”

Adam nodded.

“So… tomorrow?” the boy asked tentatively.

“I’ll come and pick you up tomorrow,” Adam said, unable to hide the amusement in his voice. He knew the boy was afraid he’d abandon him. As if he’d do anything like that. He knew for certain not having Shiro around would feel almost empty, not that his life had ever been empty before, but the boy brought a new sense of warmth and light into his life that he hadn’t felt before. A sense of contentment and happiness. He supposed that was love, huh?

Ah, love. Adam admitted he had fallen in love with Shiro, which was most unexpected. Of course, the boy was beautiful and made his heart beat faster, but to fall completely in love with the boy, and only within a couple of days of them knowing each other, too, that was certainly unexpected.

“Okay,” Shiro said. “Thanks.”

He ruffled the boy’s hair, and because he felt the urge to, he leaned down and planted a kiss on the boy’s forehead. He heard a slight sucking in of a shaky breath. He wondered if his action affected Shiro that much. In a good way, he supposed. Was he acting too loving and paternal toward the boy? he wondered.

“Good night, and rest well,” he said. “See you tomorrow.”

Shiro nodded.

He turned on his heel then, and he was about to leave when he felt eyes on him. Adam glanced over to the other side of the room and noticed the two boys watching him. There was no doubt in their awe and shocked expressions that they recognized him. He put a finger to his lips, to indicate that they should not tell others of who he was. The two mutely nodded at him, which Adam nodded back in return. Then he walked out the door.

He returned to the fifth floor to find Chase with a dark scowl on his face. Adam had no doubt the report of Aka’s history affected him .

“I see I’ve ruined your mood,” he said, taking a seat on the sofa opposite Chase.

Chase sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. He said, “Fuck!” He looked at Adam and asked, “What are you going to do about it?”

His face a hard mask, Adam said, “You know damn well what I’m going to do.”

Chase snorted. “Then count me in. I’m going to fuck those bastards up so bad, they’ll never see where it comes from.” He sighed. “Ah, poor Aka, and I can’t believe he’s Shiro’s adopted brother.”

“Looks like we’ll have to instigate a meeting between them,” Adam said.

“Aka comes here often enough,” Chase said. “He works night shift five days a week.”

“Speaking of work,” Adam said, “Shiro wants to work here.”

“I see.” The man raised a brow. “And you’d let him?”

“It’s not like I can say no,” Adam said.

Chase chuckled. “You’re soft on him, aren’t you?”

“Just as you’re soft on that redheaded runt,” Adam said. “I can see the allure.”

“Yeah,” Chase said. “Looks like he got the gorgeous looks from his mother.” He tapped on Elaina William’s profile picture on the tablet screen. “Still a beauty and as popular as ever at forty-five.”

“And a cold-hearted bitch to the core,” Adam said. “Who’d abandon their own child just because he’s a beastkin.”

Chase ran his fingers through his hair again, looking agitated. “Fuck, right now I feel like I want to kick these bastards’ asses.” He tapped on the list of names on the report.

“Yeah, you’ll get to do that soon,” Adam said. “And you’ll feel so fucking satisfied after, you’ll want to go on another series of vigilantism.” He laughed.

“Then why don’t we start planning?” Chase asked. “I’m pumped about it.”

Adam nodded, and his friend got started. An hour later as they were immersed and deep in discussion, they heard a voice calling out, “Aka! Aka!”, followed by the loud noise of doors banging shut. The two looked at each other and then both headed out into the hallway. There, they saw Shiro slumped on the floor, looking dejected.

Adam swore under his breath and rushed over to the boy. Close, he said, “Shiro!”

Shiro raised his head then, to see Adam before him, and said softly, “Adam.”

Adam went down to one knee and wrapped his arm around the boy. Stroking the boy’s head, he asked, “What are you doing here?”

Shiro looked dazed and confused for a moment and then said, “I was sleeping and I had the nightmare and then…” He sighed, looking around the place as if searching for something or someone. “I thought I saw my brother and I ran after him but…” He clutched on to Adam and buried his face against the man’s chest. “Sorry. I’m being a nuisance. I was seeing things.”

Adam scooped the boy up in his arms and, to Chase, he said, “I’m taking him home.”

Chase nodded. “I’ll come by and check on him tomorrow. ”

Adam nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

Half an hour later, they arrived back at the penthouse, and because Shiro had no shoes since they were still back at the clinic, Adam carried the boy into the building, never mind that Shiro was still wearing the hospital pajamas and his fox ears were showing. Although it was well past two in the morning and no one was around, except for the guards, but of course, none questioned Adam because he owned the building, after all.

On the top floor, he keyed in the passcode and then went into the penthouse. There, he took Shiro straight to the master bedroom where he laid the boy on the king-sized bed.

“Adam,” Shiro said. “I’m sorry. I’m being a nuisance.”

Adam ruffled the boy’s hair, chuckling. “You’re not being a nuisance. Now sleep.”

The boy nodded and then made himself comfortable. Adam went into the en suite to shower. When he returned, feeling fresh and clean and his hair wet, he noted Shiro was sound asleep. After pulling on a sleeping pants, he, too, got into bed.

The moment he was in between the sheets, Shiro moved closer to him and nestled his face against his chest. Was the boy attracted to body heat or something? Adam wondered. If so, then he had no doubt it was because he was used to sleeping in the cold streets.

He wrapped his arms around the boy and hugged him tightly. “Better now?”

The boy nodded and groaned softly. “Mm-hmm.”

“Good night, Shiro,” he said, chuckling.

“Mmm,” was the response, and Adam smiled.