“We only allow two visitors at a time, and there are already two people back there.”

Noah’s body tensed as he gripped the counter. “I need to see him. How is he? What happened?” He couldn’t lose Cooper. Not again. Not permanently.

“Are you family?” she asked.

Wes and Braden both groaned beside him.

He is the only family I have. I love him. “He’s my partner.”

Her eyes widened, before she smiled kindly at him. “Let me call back there and let them know you’re here.”

Noah’s feet wouldn’t keep still as he paced in front of the nurses station. “What do you know?”

It was Braden who spoke. “He saved a kid. He ran into that house and saved a little boy.”

And as scared and angry as he was, there was pride there, too. That was his guy. He expected nothing less of Cooper.

“Just as he got the kid out. We don’t know if something hit him and then the floor collapsed, or how it went down. He’s got a puncture wound where a piece of metal went through his shoulder. He was knocked out, and there is obviously worries because of smoke inhalation.”

When he heard the phone click behind him, Noah turned back to the nurse. The way her eyes cast down told him everything. They weren’t going to let him see Cooper. “No one’s stopping me from getting through those doors,” he told her. As he did they slid open, Vernon and Autumn stepped out.

Thank God. Noah rushed over to them. “Is he okay? They won’t let me see him.” Noah reached for Autumn, but she chewed her lip and looked away.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Vernon growled.

And that’s when he knew. Things hadn’t gone well when Cooper told them. “Listen, I know you might not agree with things between Coop and me, but now’s not the time. We need to be here for him.”

“His family needs to be here for him, and we are,” Vernon replied.

No matter what they thought, Cooper was his family. Wes’s hand came down on Noah’s shoulder. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. “He’ll want me there. I know this has to be confusing for you guys. I understand that, but I love him and he loves me. I can promise you he’ll want me in that room with him.”

Autumn gasped, leaning on her cane. Vernon’s eyes turned to ice.

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for him. You might not like it but he feels the same way about me.” Then he realized Cooper never made it there. They’d said he saw the fire on his way. Damn, this was a hard time for them to find something like this out but there was nothing to do about it now. “He was going to tell you, today.”

“Today, huh? You lying piece of shit. You show up, out of the blue and tell me my nephew is in love with you? You haven’t talked to Cooper in seventeen years! How the hell did you know what happened? What makes you want to push your way into that room the way your whole damn family shoved their way into our lives all those years ago?”

“Now, wait a minute.” Braden stepped forward, but Noah grabbed him.

They didn’t know. They didn’t even know Noah had come back. Why wouldn’t Cooper have told them that much? “You didn’t know I was here? That I’ve been living with Cooper for months?”

Cooper had said his aunt wanted to see him. He looked at Autumn, hoping to see knowledge there, but she looked just as taken aback as Vernon.

Cooper had lied to him. He’d even kept their friendship hidden, just like David had.

“Whatever you thought was going on between my nephew and yourself, you’re wrong about. I won’t let you try to ruin his life like—”

“—Vernon!” Autumn cut him off. “It wasn’t his fault. Noah was his best friend.”

“I’m fucking in love with him!” Noah yelled. He didn’t give a shit what any of them said. Even as angry as he was at Cooper, he wasn’t leaving this hospital without seeing him.

Noah went straight for the doors. Vernon tried to stop him, a look of disgust on his face. A glance at Autumn showed him, she was crying, a hand covering her mouth.

Noah just needed to see Cooper.

Before he could get a chance to do anything, security grabbed him. He hadn’t even realized they were here. His muscles tightened—chest ached.

Both Wes and Braden started yelling, trying to defend him.

But none of it mattered. Noah wasn’t family. Noah wasn’t even officially Cooper’s partner. Security escorted him from the building. He felt like he was cracking apart, his breath cut off. None of it mattered to them. There wasn’t a damn thing Noah could do about it.