Brothers by Bond Read Free

thought his emotions could not be more wrung out than they already were but he was wrong. Standing under the hot spray from the shower his tears once more overwhelmed him when he saw the pink tinged water swirling down the drain.
     
    Chapter 2
     
     
    Off in the distance the phone was ringing and Mike cursed the asshole who wasn't answering. The annoying noise would not go away and instead, insisted on becoming louder. His anger at being woken up on his day off grew until he was finally awake enough to realize that he was the asshole who wasn't answering the annoying phone.
    Everything came back to him in a rush, the events of the last forty-eight hour slamming him into wakefulness. Shit, Johnny ! Mike reached for his cell phone on his night table as a wave of nausea swirled through his gut. Please don't be a death call, he prayed as he answered without checking the caller I.D.
    "Morgan," he barely got out of his suddenly dry throat.
    "There have been no changes, son," Mr. B.'s steady voice came over the line. "I didn't want you to panic so I covered that first."
    "Thanks, Mr. B." Mike replied numbly as he turned to look at the clock in shock. He had slept for fourteen hours. Never before had he slept more than six and it used to drive Johnny crazy. Mike was always the early riser when all Johnny wanted to do was sleep the day away.
    "... pick you up and we can take care of that," Mr. B. was talking and pulled Mike's attention from the memories that were surfacing. "Son? Are you still there?"
    "Yeah," Mike replied and scrubbed his free hand over his face.
    "So, I'll see you in an hour?" Mr. B. asked.
    "I can be ready in twenty," Mike told his adoptive father.
    "Alright. See you then," Mr. B. said and hung up.
    Mike sat in the middle of his queen size bed and did nothing but let his guilt consume him for several moments. He knew he should have just come clean with Johnny but he couldn't risk losing his best friend. That would kill him as surely as a bullet to the head. Johnny knew every secret that Mike ever had and never betrayed him. But this was one secret he would just have to keep to himself. Somehow he would deal with it and make sure things got back to normal between them.
    Thinking of Johnny, reminded him of where he needed to be and spurred him into getting his ass out of bed. Ten minutes later, Mike was showered, shaved, and dressed. He could thank the Army for teaching him that.
    His foot had just stepped off the bottom stair when a knock landed on his front door. Mr. B., Punctual as ever. Mike opened the door and was greeted by Mr. B. holding two extra large cups from Dunkin' Donuts.
    "Figured you could use these," Mr. B. said as he handed over one of the cups. "I would've brought donuts to go along with but Sophie would smell them from a mile away."
    "Thanks," Mike accepted coffee and appreciated Mr. B.'s reference to Mrs. B. She had raised him and Johnny to eat healthy and the only sweet treats they indulged in were during the holidays. It was a habit that both he and his brother had brought into adulthood.
    "I think you boys must be the only cops who don't fit the stereotype." Mr. B. continued to try and draw him out of his silence, as if nothing was wrong.
    Mike knew it was just his way of dealing with the situation. He had seen Mr. B. act the same way when his parents died. Chatting about the mundane was his shield. Once in the car, Mike broke their mutual silence when he noticed they were not driving in the direction of the hospital.
    "Where are we going?" Mike practically growled as his anger spiked when he realized Mr. B. wasn't taking him directly to Johnny.
    "The precinct. They want your statement and then we will head to the hospital."
    "Fuck the precinct and fuck the statement. It can wait." Mike huffed and for once didn't care about his coarse language. "I need to be with Johnny."
    "I know, son, but the sooner you get this out of the way the better." Mr. B. tried to be the voice of reason. "You have