Chapter 304: A New Client!?
The hospital room felt smaller with every passing minute. The steady *beep... beep... beep* from Aeri’s heart monitor was the only real sound besides my own breathing. I was still holding her hand, thumb moving slowly back and forth across her knuckles, when the phone buzzed again in my lap.
I glanced at the screen. Jonathan.
I hit answer and brought it to my ear.
"Hello fucker!" Jonathan’s voice burst through the speaker—loud, bright, full of that same dumb energy he always had. Completely clueless about the mess I was sitting in.
"Jonathan..." I said softly, almost too quiet.
"Obviously who else would it be?" he shot back. I could picture him raising one eyebrow, smirking to himself like he always did when he thought he’d caught me off guard.
"Yeah. I mean—hello," I said, clearing my throat. I sounded rough even to my own ears. I coughed once, trying to shake it off.
"Man, you sound so dull, brother. Everything okay?" His tone shifted a little—still light, but now with a tiny edge of worry. "I haven’t seen your face in a while. You ghosting me or what?"
"Yeah... I’m good," I lied, pressing two fingers hard into the spot between my eyes. The pressure helped keep my head from spinning. "Just had breakfast. Got some decent sleep. You know."
I didn’t want to tell him. Not yet. Not over the phone. Not when I still had no real answers myself. Aeri was lying right here, hooked up to machines, drugs in her blood that made no sense, and I didn’t even know where to start. I’d tell him when the time felt right. If it ever did.
"Ahhh, that’s why," Jonathan said, dragging the words out like he’d just solved a mystery. "Enjoying life with your step-mom, huh? You sneaky little bitch."
He laughed—big, loud, the kind of laugh that usually made me roll my eyes and grin back.
I forced a small laugh too. "Hehe... sorry for that."
The sound felt fake coming out of my mouth, but he didn’t seem to notice.
"So what’s up?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from me. "Why’d you call? New client or something?"
Jonathan sucked his teeth like I’d just insulted him.
"What makes you think I only call you when it’s about work?" he said, voice turning fake-serious, like he was about to give a lecture. "I can’t just check on my friend? See how my favorite pain-in-the-ass is doing? Damn, Ezra. Give a guy some credit."
I let out a tired half-smile even though he couldn’t see it. "Yeah, yeah... you’re right. Sorry."
The hospital room felt even quieter after Jonathan’s loud laugh faded into the phone. I kept my eyes on Aeri—her chest moving up and down in that slow, steady rhythm the monitor was counting out. I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to shake off the heavy feeling sitting on my chest.
"Na, not like that," I said, keeping my voice calm so he wouldn’t worry more than he already sounded. "I just thought something must’ve come up, that’s all."
"Well yeah!" Jonathan answered, his tone dropping a little, almost flat now. "You’re right though. I did call because some work came up."
"Thought so," I said, matching his flat tone without even trying.
He let out a short laugh. "Haha, you know me well enough now."
"Obviously," I replied, letting out a small sigh that slipped out on its own. "Since when do you think I don’t know you?"
"Hehe..." He just laughed again, softer this time, like he was caught.
I shifted in the chair, the plastic creaking under me. My free hand rested on the bed rail, fingers tapping once, twice, restless.
"So what’s the work you’ve got for me?" I asked, cutting straight to it. No point dragging this out.
"Well, Mister," Jonathan said, putting on that fake-fancy voice he sometimes used when he was trying to sound professional. "You have a new client today."
"Ohh... I see..." My voice went slow, dropping lower as my eyes drifted back to Aeri’s sleeping face. The words felt heavy coming out.
"Yeah," he went on. "It’s urgent. And the client—she especially asked for you."
I swallowed. "For the entire night? Or just the evening?"
"It’s not reserved yet," Jonathan explained. "She said she’ll decide depending on if she’s enjoying it or not. You know how some of them are—starts as a couple hours, turns into sunrise if the vibe’s right."
I scratched my forehead hard, nails digging in a little. The skin felt tight there, like a headache was already building behind my eyes.
"Alright," I said after a second. "I’ll be there in an hour."
The line went quiet for half a beat.
"You sure?" Jonathan asked, voice dropping the joking tone completely now. "You still sound off, man. If you need to skip—"
"No," I cut in, quick but quiet. "I’ll come. Just... give me an hour to sort things here."
"Cool. I’ll tell her you’re coming. Same room as usual. Don’t be late, yeah? She’s paying good money."
For a long moment I just stared at Aeri. The IV drip was still going, tiny drops falling every few seconds. Her face looked peaceful, but that only made the knot in my stomach worse.
I didn’t want to leave her. Not even for a second. The thought of walking out of this room while she was still out cold made me feel sick. But I also knew Jonathan was covering for me these last few days. I hadn’t shown up for shifts, hadn’t answered half his messages. If I bailed again, he’d start losing patience. And I needed the money—hospital bills don’t wait.
She won’t wake up till tomorrow anyway, I told myself. The doctor said 18–20 hours at least. I’ll go, do the job, finish early if I can, and be back before she even opens her eyes.
I leaned forward, brushed a few strands of hair off Aeri’s forehead with the back of my fingers. Her skin felt cool.
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