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“You can go in you know?”
Callum looked to the nurse who spoke.
“Visiting hours are officially over, but I won’t tell anyone if you don’t?” She said, with a sympathetic smile.
“I...um,” he stuttered. “Is it, erm, is that okay?”
She placed a hand on his arm and gave a small nod. “I can give you five minutes.”
Callum thanked her and slowly pushed the door open, the harsh beeping of the machine being the only sound in the room.
He took a seat next to the bed, gripping onto the bag he was holding even tighter, and looked to the man lying in there.
He’d wasted too much time lying to himself about his feelings for Ben, and now just like with Chris, he’d missed his chance.
Callum took ahold of Ben’s hand and gently rubbed his thumb across it.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Ben,” he said with a sob. “You don’t deserve this. I’m sorry for my brother, I’m sorry for how I treated you.”
“I was scared. Too scared to be me, but seeing you there. Bleeding out. Dying. I knew I couldn’t carry on like it. You were right, Whitney calling off the wedding. It was blessing.”
The beep of the machine continued.
Callum tightened his grip on Ben’s hand.
“I need you Ben. I need you to be okay. I can’t do this without you. Please.”
“and, you was in the middle of telling me a story. You can’t just stop there.”
He dug into the bag as he spoke and pulled out a few items.
“See,” he said with a small smile. “Even got you some props.”
Callum had scribbled “For Lexi” on a piece of paper and placed it on the small table next to Ben’s bed and placed a large soft lion on top of it before placing a smaller one on the bed next to Ben’s head.
“You have to finish it now,” Callum said and ran his finger across Ben’s cheek.
There was a soft knock of the door, and Callum knew his time was up. He wiped a small tear away and got up to leave.
“Please don’t leave me Ben. I’m begging you,” he placed a small kiss on Ben’s forehead. “Because y’know, I kinda like you too.”