Craved (Book 2)

-16-

Update: 06/13/20

Chapter Sixteen

Greyson

For the first time in months, he had slept through the night. It was peaceful and serene. Yet it was all shattered the moment someone began violently shaking him.

"What the fuck?" He groaned straining to open his eyes against the bright sunlight.

"Greybee wake-up!" The urgency in her voice shook the rest of the tiredness from his body and he was sitting up ready to go on the defense if need be.

"What? What's wrong?" He looked around the room taking in everything. When nothing presented itself as an immediate threat, he turned his attention to Red.

She held his phone in her hand, confusion took over as he wondered why she had it. As he took it from her the screen came to life and he noticed it was the hospital calling about his grandmother. He quickly snatched the phone now sitting up on the side of the bed.

"Hello?" He asked cautiously. He felt the bed shift, Red moving to sit behind him rubbing his back.

"Mr. Wolfe? It's Natalie." The sad tone of her voice told him this conversation wouldn't end well for anyone.

"Natalie, what's going on? How's my grandmother?" He asked hurriedly. Worry building in his chest and clouding his mind. This couldn't be the call he dreaded it just couldn't be. He wasn't ready for it.

"I'm sorry Mr. Wolfe. It's not looking good. I think you should get here as soon as possible." Her voice began to break at the end and it took everything in him to not throw his phone across the room.

"Thank you, Natalie, I'll be there as soon as possible." He finally hung up and sat there as every memory with his grandmother surfaced. He needed to call his family and tell them the news, yet he just couldn't pull himself to do anything but sit there.

Red wrapped her arms around his shoulders resting her face next to his. "Do you want me to come with you?" She asked softly. It was the first words he'd heard her speak since last night and it warmed his heart a bit. It made this situation hurt a bit less.

"No, I think I should do this alone." He wasn't sure what he wanted; he just knew he had to get through this somehow. He felt the bed shift as she moved to climb onto his lap. It was then he noticed she had on a big sleeping shirt, and her hair was half straightened while the other half was still in its wild bush.

Greyson took a deep breath and welcomed the slight distraction she was offering.

"How long have you been up?" He asked pulling on a strand of her hair watching it curl back up once he let it go.

"About an hour and a half. You looked like you needed the sleep more than me, so I didn't bother to wake you." She then looked at him with worried eyes. "You didn't have anywhere you needed to be, did you?"

At the shake of his head, he felt her visibly relax.

"The hospital had called twice before I woke you up. I didn't want to pry so I left it alone but after the third call back to back I knew it was important." She answered burring her fingers in his dreads, massaging his scalp. It helped to soothe some of the anxiety he was feeling.

"It's been a crazy these last few weeks, sleep has been the furthest thing on my mind. A man has gotta eat right?" He shrugged his shoulders, closing his eyes and enjoying the sensation of her fingers in his head.

It grew quiet between the duo, and Greyson could no longer hold back his questions.

"Want to talk about it?" He peeked one eye open and watched as her face twisted in a grimace.