Saved by the Dominant

Twenty

Morgan

"Excuse me, could you tell me where I might find the Moore family. I'm a friend and I—"

"Morgan!" I looked to my right to see Zade standing at the end of the hall, trembling. I thanked the lady at the desk and started walking towards Zade, who nearly ran to me. His eyes were red and shining with tears.

When he reached me, Zade all but collapsed into my arms. I held on to him tightly and ran my hands along his back to calm him.

I kissed his forehead and rested my head on his, "I'm here, Baby. I'm here," I whispered and he whimpered, pulling away and wiping his eyes.

"They . . . The doctor says he's not gonna make it to the New Year. He's not even sure Dad's gonna make it to next week. I—I don't know what to do,"

"Baby, Zade, you're shaking. Come on, let's sit down,"

I guided him towards the waiting area and found an empty couch. It was small, so it was a tight fit for the two of us, but we made do. I rubbed his arms slowly, not knowing what to say outside of the normal 'sorry this is happening. It sucks' montage. What else was there to say to someone who was in the process of losing a parent.

"Zade?"

We looked up and a woman, Zade's mother I presumed, was standing a little way away.

Zade automatically sat up and said, "Yes, Ma'am?"

"Your dad is going to head down for another dose of chemo. Why don't you go say goodbye before we leave?" Zade nodded and stood.

"I'll be right back, Morgan,"

After Zade left, I stood up to stretch my legs, after driving for so long, but Zade's mother intercepted me. She studied me for a minute with a piercing gaze and I understood why Zade reacts the way he does around her.

"So, you're Morgan? Zade said you broke up,"

"We did, Mrs. Moore, but I made a mistake and I know how difficult this must be for him, for all of you, and I thought he'd need another person by his side,"

She sighed and nodded, sitting down next to me, "He will. Zade and his dad have been close all his life, even after he came out to us as gay. I didn't take it very well at first and I know Easton doesn't agree, but Jackson came around faster than any of us," Mrs. Moore sighed and patted my hand, "Thank you,"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand,"

"My family has been through this before and I know what's going to happen, we all do. Zade's been independent for so long. Never brought anyone to the hospital, not a single friend. I don't think he could bear the idea of someone seeing him look helpless. So, thank you for being here for him. Thank you for making sure he isn't by himself anymore in Florida. We worry about him. He's not like Easton. Zade can take care of his own, but I'm always afraid to get that knock on the door that something happened to him. So, I am happy that there's someone there to help him,"

I smiled awkwardly, not wanting to take any credit for helping Zade as I haven't done much. At least I didn't think I had.

Zade came from around the corner and waved me over. I excused myself from the couch and let Zade pulled me into a hug.

"I want you to meet him. Even if . . . even if it's just the one time," he clutched my arm and pulled me along to a private room. The hallway around the room was quiet. Too quiet.

"Dad? This is Morgan. Morgan, this is my dad, Jackson Moore,"

"Whoa. You weren't kidding when you said he was big. How do you do, Morgan?"