UNMASKED

#10

For the second time in less than a week, Eli found himself waking up in a hospital bed. It wasn't what he would consider the best way to wake up. Especially when the person staring down at him from the seat next to his bed was his mother.

It was enough to remind him of several things he would rather were just some particularly vivid nightmare.

"Er, hi Ma." Eli didn't think that was the best thing to say, but he was honestly at a loss.

He probably would have thought of something better if he knew she was going to look at him like she was on the verge of a heart attack and then call the doctor. Eli hated dealing with doctors almost as much as Matthew did.

The doctor was nice enough to explain to him just how lucky he was to not be dead. She said it in a lot nicer way, but that was the gist of it. There were other details Eli missed simply because he was too damn tired to care. As far as he was concerned, he was alive and that was good enough.

Also, he kind of just wanted the doctor to go away.

When she finally did, he changed his mind and wanted her to come back because now it was just him and his mother. Eli was suddenly very aware he had a lot of explaining to do.

"How are you feeling?" his mother asked, looking even paler than usual in the overly bright hospital room. Eli wondered just how many grey hairs he'd given his poor mother in the span of a week.

"I'm alright, don't feel too bad." Whatever they'd given him was amazing because Eli wasn't in excruciating pain. "What about you? Are you okay?" His mother actually laughed at that.

"Honey, you're the one who took a beating," she said, looking better now that she knew Eli wasn't in danger of dying. Some of the tension in her shoulders disappeared and the tight lines around her eyes softened once it was clear Eli would be fine. It was a welcome change.

"Where's Matthew?" Eli asked, suddenly aware that he was nowhere to be seen. Which was weird for the man whose hobby was stalking Eli. That was clearly the wrong thing to say, if his mother's frown was anything to go by.

"He's around," was her vague answer. Understandably, Eli wasn't convinced. Mostly because he knew Matthew well enough to know it wasn't normal for him to not be near Eli when he'd almost died.

"Around where?" Eli asked, and didn't miss the way his mother's lips thinned in displeasure.

"Outside. I thought it would be best for him to stay away for a while."

If Eli weren't feeling absolutely exhausted, he might have facepalmed. At the moment, he was more worried about how miserable Matthew must be at the moment.

"I'd rather he not worry I'm dying," Eli said in the flattest tone he could manage.

"I'll tell him you're fine." He wasn't surprised his mother wasn't budging on that particular issue.

"Or, he could come in."

For a moment, Eli and his mother just stared at each other, both trying to make the other give up with only the power of their glare. In the end—and probably because he got a lot more practice thanks to Matthew—it was Eli who prevailed.

"He almost got you killed!" his mother hissed, trying not to raise her voice.

"No, the asshole who broke in almost got me killed."

"You know what I mean! And why didn't you tell me?" There really was no need for her to elaborate on what she meant. Eli just asked her to because he felt like being a jerk.