The Phoenix Club (written as CJ Bishop)

CH 5: "Dark Diagnosis"

"C O L E?" Devlin thought he was hallucinating at first when he came down the corridor and saw the man speaking to one of the nurses. His shift had just ended and he was headed out, on his way home. "What're you doing here?" Alarm pricked him; Abel. Had the boy had a turn for the worse? Had the MRI missed something? Dread squeezed his gut. "Is Abel all right?"

Cole nodded. "He's in the waiting room." he said. "But he left his pain medication at home, and he's hurting pretty bad. I was just trying to get something for him."

"Yes, of course." He turned to the nurse Cole had just been speaking to. "Nurse, Vicodin ES oral, single dose." She nodded and left to fill the order. Devlin looked at Cole. "Why is Abel back here? What happened?"

"His sister got sick." the man said. "He wouldn't stay at home, insisted on coming with her."

Devlin glanced towards the heavy doors that led to the waiting room. "He's out here?" Cole nodded and Devlin stepped towards the doors then shoved through. The waiting room was empty but for Abel, sitting with his arms wrapped around his stomach, eyes squeezed shut and face pinched. An unexpected ache stabbed him at the sight of the boy he had feared he would never see again. He walked to Abel and sat down in the chair next to him. "The nurse is getting you some pain medication." he said quietly, concerned. He longed to touch him, caress his shoulder, stroke his hair, soothe him until relief arrived. But he remembered the way the kid had seemed on the verge of running from him before.

The boy jumped and his eyes snapped open as he stared at Devlin almost fearfully. His focus shifted to Cole then back to Devlin. He simply nodded and looked away. Reaching out, Devlin pressed the back of his fingers to Abel's brow then his cheek. The boy flinched and he could feel him wanting to pull away.

"You seem to have a bit of a fever." he said. "But the medication should help with that as well as the pain." The nurse entered as if on cue and handed Devlin a small paper cup with two pills. "Thank you." he nodded at her then handed the small cup to Abel. "Here, take these. It'll help." He glanced at Cole who remained standing, watching them. "Could you get him some water?" he nodded towards the water dispenser across the room. Cole went for the water and Devlin turned his gaze back on Abel. The boy held the paper cup in his hand, staring at the pills rather than at Devlin.

Just give me one look with those beautiful eyes – and I'll give you the world. Devlin was a bit startled by his own thoughts, and his desperate need for Abel to show him direct attention. He glanced up when Cole returned. The man handed him a paper cup with water, his eyes resonating that same knowing look as the first time he'd been here.

"Here's some water." he gave the cup to Abel. "Take the pills. You'll feel better soon." Abel did as he was told and handed the two small cups back to Devlin.

"Thank you." he mumbled.

"Of course." Devlin smiled, then glanced at Cole. "His sister...how bad is she?"

Cole shook his head. "We don't know yet. She was coughing really bad, throwing up. Didn't seem like she could breathe very well when she was lying down."

"Sounds like it could be pneumonia." he looked at Abel. "How old is your sister?"

"Sixteen." he murmured.

Devlin frowned. "We don't get a lot of pneumonia cases in kids that age."

"Savannah...she's kind of sickly." Cole explained. "Low immunity."

"How long has she been having symptoms?" he asked Abel.

He shook his head. "It came on suddenly. She was out in the cold with no jacket last night."