Chapter Seven

Rider's knee bobbed as he went through Ben's phone. No one had been more surprised than him when the device unlocked with his face. Then he recalled buying the device for Ben and setting it up so he could always reach him. When Ben had started working for him, he had some ridiculous pay-as-you-go phone that failed him more often than not. Rider couldn't have that.

As hard as he tried, Rider couldn't find an emergency contact listed. There was no one programmed as Mom or Dad. Rider racked his brain. He couldn't recall hearing anything about Ben's parents, so he didn't know their names. There were no texts to or from anyone other than him, except Matt, which was a whole other can of worms, and Tanner. Rider wasn't ready to deal with that when he was so fucking scared. He was so sick he couldn't breathe. He wore a face mask, praying no one took his temperature and kicked him out of Ben's hospital room.

A loud crash had torn him from a fever-induced coma. With a spinning head, he had made his way to his office to find Ben on the floor. Blood gushed from a gash where he had hit his head going down. He wouldn't wake, and Rider had never been this goddamn terrified. So he did what he could do; he searched Ben's phone fruitlessly. His gaze kept sliding to the bed. All the machines said Ben was okay. He wasn't reassured. Ben still hadn't opened his eyes even with an ambulance ride and doctor examinations. They had taken blood and stitched his head. Still, he slept. The nurse had tried reassuring him several times. Rider couldn't be comforted right now.

Ben's phone rang, startling him. Rider checked the face. It was Tanner. The sight of the team owner's name reminded Rider he hadn't let anyone know they couldn't work right now. Rider stood and answered as he headed for the door. If he didn't deal with this, Tanner wouldn't stop calling.

"Hello?"

A silent pause met his greeting before Tanner finally spoke. "Rider?"

Rider headed down the hall and stepped outside. "Yes."

"Why are you answering Ben's phone? Never mind. Why aren't you in the office? I've received several calls about your continued absence and now Ben isn't in the office either."

"An emergency has occurred and—"

"I don't want to hear it," Tanner snapped, interrupting him. "You've been flitting around the globe for weeks with one excuse after another. We're inches away from winning the cup and you're fucking around." Rider's temper grew with each word. He was scared shitless about Ben, sick, and he had just lost his father. Something inside Rider snapped.

"For your goddamn information, we're not in the office because Ben is in the hospital. You know good and damn well I do an amazing job running the team despite your constant interference. It's your team and I realize you should get to do what you want, but if you can't handle a few emergencies, then get your ass down here and run it yourself." The more Rider talked, the angrier he got, and the more the resentment showed itself. "Ben and I have worked ourselves into the fucking ground for you for zero appreciation, so you know what? Fuck you. Consider this my resignation. Good luck figuring everything the fuck out." Rider disconnected the call and stormed back inside. Heads turned as he passed. Rider knew fury rolled from him in waves. He couldn't worry about any of that now. Rider had too much happening at once.

When he stepped back inside the room, he found Dr. Night waiting. The dark-haired doctor looked his way while still listening to Ben's chest with a stethoscope. He straightened. "I wondered where you'd gone."

Rider tried calling his temper under control. "There was a call I had to take. Thank you for dropping everything for this. I'm not getting any answers from the ER doctors."

Craig nodded. "They're overrun here. The great flu and Covid collide. You gotta love this time of year." He motioned toward a nearby open laptop. "I just received Ben's medical records. As much as I hate opening myself up to a malpractice suit, this is likely my fault. When Ben called me about you, I didn't think twice about prescribing an antiviral to protect him from catching anything while caring for you. Unfortunately, I'm not his primary doctor, so I didn't have access to his medical records then. Generally, the medication I prescribed is safe for most everyone, but with Ben's immunotherapy treatment, he shouldn't be on that particular antiviral."

Craig's words only confused Rider more. "Immunotherapy?"

Craig nodded. He picked up his laptop and clicked around. Craig spoke with his gaze locked on the screen. "It seems nine months ago he had a cancerous tumor removed from his pancreas. While it appears they feel confident they were able to remove all the cancerous cells, immunotherapy was still recommended since the cancer was apparently more extensive than they believed prior to surgery."

Rider's head spun. Ben had been working for him nine months ago. Surely he would know if Ben had cancer and gotten a tumor removed. A vague memory surfaced. Ben had taken a week's vacation. That week had been hell. When Ben had come back to work, he had moved slower than usual. They had bickered for weeks afterward due to Ben's inability to keep up with him. He'd had a fucking tumor removed and came back to work like nothing happened after less than a week? What the actual fuck? Rider had to shake that off for now.

"Why isn't he waking up?"

"My guess is dehydration combined with low blood pressure and head trauma. Exhaustion. His vitals are perfect now, though. He isn't comatose. Just sleeping. He'll be fine. The fluids they're giving him will help with the dehydration and also to flush the antiviral faster. I've looked at his bloodwork. He's good, Rider. Just relax. Don't forget you're sick too."

Rider nodded, but he felt anything but reassured. While Ben looked like he slept peacefully, Rider wanted to see his beautiful hazel eyes.

"I'll come by the house and check on him again in the morning. Once he's awake and moving, he'll be released. They don't have beds available to admit him over this."

Rider kept bobbing his head, agreeing to everything. He had no idea why. Not an ounce of information sank into his brain. All he thought about was that tumor. Then he was alone with Ben and didn't recall saying his goodbyes. His gaze dropped to Ben's phone again. Not only had he not known about Ben's struggles, he didn't know who to call. He was so fucking angry, confused, and frustrated with himself. Rider had let his career cloud everything. He had taken and taken from Ben while Ben listened and gave him everything. Ben had shown up and stayed through every horrible life event in the past two years, and Rider didn't even know who to fucking call.

He unlocked Ben's phone again. Rider's lawyer's number was listed in his contacts. Rider hit the call icon. Richard answered on the second ring, proving how much respect Ben commanded. Rider's calls were never answered so fast.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Rich. It's Rider."

"Mr. Bailey. How are you?"

Rider ignored the question. "I need you to do something morally questionable for me."

"That's what you pay me to do."

Good. He had been prepared to bribe him. "I need you to do a thorough investigation on Ben."

A pregnant pause met his request. Richard cleared his throat. "Um. Okay. How thorough?"

Rider didn't hesitate. "I want to know everything, including a copy of health records."

"All right. I know a guy. It likely won't take long."

"Good." A thought hit. "Send the file to my phone."

"Okay. Is everything okay?"

Rider wanted to say no. He wanted to tell everyone he was a piece of shit. "Yeah. It's not for a bad reason. There's just something I'm trying to find."

"Oh. Okay." Richard sounded relieved. "Give me an hour or so. I'll have your file."

"Thanks, Richard. I appreciate it."

"No problem."

Rider disconnected the call and went back to staring at Ben. It was time to focus on him now. Rider had been selfish long enough.

A throbbing pain woke Ben. "Ow." He reached up to rub his forehead. His fingers met some type of sticky tape. He pried his heavy eyelids open. Rider slept in a chair next to him, wearing a face mask. His skin was blood red. Ben looked around. He was in a hospital room, but it wasn't a typical room. It looked like the ER. Ben sifted through his thoughts. He had been working in Rider's office. That was it. He didn't remember anything after that.

"Rider."

He didn't budge.

Ben tried again, a little louder. "Rider."

Rider shot upright like he had been prodded with a sharp stick. He blinked at his surroundings, as if just as confused as Ben.

"You should be in bed."

Rider's gaze swung his way. "Hey. You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Confused." Ben's voice sounded groggy. He couldn't control it.

"What do you remember?"

"Working in your office."

Rider nodded. "You lost consciousness and hit your head. I couldn't get you to wake, and you were bleeding pretty heavily. It's a good thing I called an ambulance, though. Otherwise, the meds Dr. Night prescribed you might've killed you."

Ben blinked. His head cleared a little more by the second. "Really? Whoa. Who knew an antiviral could kill anyone?"

"Definitely not me, since you never tell me anything."

Ben's head pounded. He had no idea what Rider meant. "I talk to you every day."

"Then why didn't you tell me you had a tumor removed?"

Ben barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "They got all the cancer cells. It was no big deal."

Rider's eye twitched the way it always did when he was suppressing his anger. "I'm sick right now. We both need to get some rest. Just know we're talking about this when I'm well."

"Talking about what?"

"You don't have to always take care of everything alone," Rider said, finally exploding.

Ben made a dismissive gesture. "I've been taking care of everything alone my entire life. It's no big deal."

Rider's gaze turned pleading, making Ben realize this was way more important to him than Ben realized. "But you're not alone. You have me. I want to know what's going on in your life."

Someone knocked on the door. Lauren stuck her head inside the room. "Hey."

Lauren had worked in Chuckers' media relations for years before Ben had been hired. They spoke a lot, but he had no idea why she was here.

"Hey. Come in."

She stepped fully into the room, holding a huge and expensive-looking vase of flowers. Lauren set them on the first flat surface she spotted. "These are from Mr. Paige. He also wanted me to tell you to take however much time you need. Your job will still be waiting for you." Her gaze moved Rider's way. "That goes for you too."

Ben met Rider's stare. "Oh, dear. What did you do? Tanner is never nice unless you're mean to him. I'm pretty sure it's his kink."

Lauren laughed. It was an uncomfortable sound. "Well, I have to get to the office. Despite this errand, you know Mr. Paige still expects me to show up on time."

That didn't surprise Ben. "Thank you. I'm sure I'll be back by tomorrow."

Rider growled.

Ben released a quiet sigh. It seemed they wouldn't be getting along for a while. A blowjob had changed nothing. There was some comfort in that.

"See you later." Lauren waved over her shoulder as she left.

Ben's gaze returned to Rider. "What did you do?"

"I heard you were awake. Are you ready to go home?"

Ben took a calming breath at yet another interruption. He smiled at the nurse. "Yes. Thank you."

She nodded. "You need to follow up with Dr. Night. Is this your ride home?" She pointed toward Rider.

Rider nodded. "I'll get us home."

The blonde smiled. "Good. He also can't be alone for the next twenty-four hours. Will you be with him?"

"He won't be alone." Rider's reassurance sounded like it came from the heart. Ben didn't know what to think.

She went to work unhooking the IV and heart monitor. "I'll get the paperwork started. It should move pretty quickly since we're short rooms right now."

"I appreciate it." Ben really wanted to take something for his headache and go back to sleep. Plus, Rider looked like he felt like shit.

The moment they were alone again, Ben's gaze shot Rider's way. Even with a mask hiding half his face, Ben could tell he tried playing innocent.

"What?"

"Tanner. Spill."

Rider shrugged. "I might've told him to bring his lazy ass down here and run the team."

Ben's eyebrows rose. "And?"

"I resigned."

Ben took a steadying breath. "Well, it seems he didn't accept." Thank God, since Rider's resignation put him out of the job.

"That doesn't mean I accept his non acceptance."

Ben did not feel well enough to deal with this. Rider always picked the moments Ben was at his lowest to be the most difficult.

"Let's just go get some sleep." What Ben really needed was a drink… and for Rider to stop looking at him like he might drop dead any second.