"Drake," I said, sitting up on my elbow.
After a moment, he turned over, a hand covering his eyes.
"Ms. Bennet, what's going on in that mind of yours so early in the morning?"
He pulled his hand away and there was a bruise on his face, below his eye, which was turning black and blue.
"Drake, what happened?" I leaned over and examined him closely. "You’re hurt."
"I got into an," he said and hesitated. "An altercation."
"What?"
"I don’t want to talk about it."
I didn't say anything more, due to the note of finality in his voice. Finally, he opened his eyes, blinking against the brightness of the morning light. His eyes were so pale blue, they seemed to pierce my heart when our eyes met, but they were definitely bloodshot.
I looked him over from head to foot. "Why didn’t you wake me up when you got home? If I had known you were injured…"
"If you had known, you wouldn’t have slept."
"What happened?"
He exhaled heavily. "Maureen and I had it out and I kind of lost it. Chris and I had a pushing match and I came out worse for the wear. Luckily, neither of us pressed charges. Then, I kind of lost myself for a few hours. When I came home, I was too drunk to even get undressed."
I frowned. "What do you mean, 'lost myself'?"
"I drank with Dave Mills. I believe he drank me under the proverbial table and had to drive me home. I'm surprised I didn't wake you up."
"What happened to make you and Chris fight?"
He sighed heavily. "I don't want to get into it. Suffice to say Maureen pretty much rejected my request to give Liam the photo of my dad."
"Oh, Drake..." I kissed him briefly and he let me but he didn't kiss me back. He said nothing, turning over and I knew not to push him.
I had a shower, still a little hung over. It upset me to think Drake and Chris got into a fight. After I dried off, I saw that he was still sleeping so I put on my robe and went to the kitchen to have something to eat.
In about an hour, I heard him having his own shower.
Later, we sat at the island, looking out the window at the blue sky. Usually, we'd discuss the plans for the day. Instead, he was silent, smiling briefly at me when I handed him his coffee. He sighed heavily and it made me think he really did want to talk about Maureen.
"Drake, tell me what happened."
He made a face and turned back to the Manhattan skyline.
"Maureen didn't promise me anything except that she'd give the picture to Liam when he was eighteen."
"Why did she want you to come to the hospital?"
He said nothing for a moment and then he blew his breath out as if he was trying to calm himself. "She wanted me to see him," he said, his voice breaking. "In case he died before we left for Africa." He rubbed his forehead. "She also wanted it to be the last time I made contact with her or him until he was eighteen. She wants me to give the donation and fade into the background. I asked her if I could meet him, talk to him after, but she said no. She told me not to bother making contact with her or him and if I did," he said, his voice really low. "She said she'd get another restraining order."
A shock when through me, the adrenaline making my heart beat faster. "That's horrible, especially since it wasn’t you who made contact in the first place."
"I guess I shouldn't have expected anything more from her." He sat quietly, staring out the window. I wanted to press him, but didn’t, letting him say what he wanted, when he wanted. "When they left for supper, I went back to Liam's room. I know the nurses and they looked the other way because they know I'm his biological father. I spoke with Liam. Told him I was a doctor and wanted to check in on him. He talked to me for a while about the whole procedure. He's such a strong little boy." He said nothing for a moment as if he was overcome with emotion. "I was leaving when Chris came back for something and saw me with scrubs on. He confronted me, followed me out of the hospital and we had a scuffle outside in the parking lot."
"Oh Drake, I'm so sorry…"
He shook his head. "I was good enough when I might be a potential tissue match for Liam, but once I agreed to donate, I'm back to being the evil ex-husband with perverted proclivities."
"Hardly perverted. You're mild compared to the Doms whose profiles I read on FetLife."
He rubbed his forehead. "You know that and I know that, but to Maureen, I'm the Devil's spawn. I was a jerk, Kate, not really knowing what I was doing, clumsy, demanding, but I wasn't nearly as kinked out as many Doms are. And I would never say anything to Liam about who and what I am to him. I just wanted to speak to him, hear his voice…"