Chapter 53: Dinner With Xavier
Zeke sat behind the wheel of his car, parked in the quiet hospital parking lot. The sun was high, casting golden rays across the hood of his vehicle. But inside, the air felt stifling.
Some things aren’t meant to be found that easily, Ezekiel.
Sandro’s words echoed in his head, looping with irritating clarity.
Zeke leaned back in his seat, one hand resting on the steering wheel, the other rubbing the side of his jaw as he stared through the windshield.
The thought sat like a stone in his chest, pressing down with a weight he couldn’t shake off.
His temple throbbed.
Without a second thought, Zeke reached toward the passenger seat and grabbed the prescription bottle Dr. Julianne had given him earlier. He popped the cap open, took one of the white pills, and swallowed it dry, no water, no pause. Just desperation.
The bitter taste clung to his tongue, but he didn’t care. The pain had to stop.
He leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply.
He couldn’t stay like this. Waiting, wondering, drowning in the what-ifs. It wasn’t him. He wasn’t the kind of man who folded just because the path wasn’t clear.
No.