Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

Gage

The last phone call I ever expected to receive was a number out in California that I didn’t recognize.

While I had half a mind to ignore it, something nagged at me to answer it. Almost like I had some guardian angel whispering over my shoulder that it had something to do with Xavier.

Because who the hell else did I know from California that would be calling me this late at night?

“Hello?” I answered.

There was a slight pause on the other end. “Uh, hey, Gage... it’s Dexter.”

That immediately had me sitting up in my bed. “You okay?”

Alarm bells were going off in my head immediately. There was no reason for Dexter to be calling me of all people unless there was some dire emergency going on. Not when Xavier could just do it himself.

I kicked off my covers to roll out of bed and head over to my closet, my heart pounding.

“So... dad was kind of in an accident,” Dexter said slowly.

Oh god.

Oh, fuck.

My hands shook while reaching for one of my shirts hanging in the closet. “How bad?”

There was some noise on the other end as the line was muffled. I couldn’t tell what it was or if Dexter was talking to someone else to get the information, but either way, I was about ready to throw the fuck up.

Finally when he came back to the phone, he said, “He had a lot of smoke inhalation. They have him on a ventilator.”

“Smoke? ”

What the fuck was Xavier doing around a goddamn fire the same day he came back form vacation?

What, was his station a bunch of fucking slave drivers?

They couldn’t give the man one fucking day to recover?

“Yeah. He wasn’t wearing any gear so it was pretty bad. I guess it was his neighbor?”

Leave it to Xavier to play fucking hero.

“I’ll be right there. Can you text me which hospital you’re at?”

Dexter sputtered on the other end. “You don’t have to come all the way out here. I just wanted to call and let you know so you weren’t worried that he wasn’t answering your calls or texts.”

This kid was too sweet for his own good. Despite all of the bad shit that’s happening to him and between him and Xavier, he still cared deeply for his loved ones. I could appreciate that wholeheartedly.

“Dexter?”

“Yeah?”

“Just text me the hospital.”

He was silent for a moment. “Okay.”

“Great,” I said, shoving one of my legs through a pant hole. “I’ll see you soon.”