• • •
At about two in the morning, Grant put a sleeping Lucky down on the sofa in his office, and turned to Chuck who was standing by his open office door.
Chuck beckoned Grant closer and said, “Thank you for being with Lucky. She needs you right now. Listen, I, uh, was thinking. Someone should let Curtis know about this.”
“Why?” Grant asked. “He’s filming in Scotland. There’s nothing he can do. By tomorrow morning we might have word that there’s no reason for Curtis to catch a flight, or cancel production, or whatever it is he might do in a hurry so that he can feel like a hero.”
Chuck looked at Grant and said, “Son, I understand that things between you and Curtis are tense at best. But he was part of Leo’s life for a very long time. He deserves to know. I can call him, or Meryl can. Someone’s going to let him know, though. It’ll be morning there soon enough.”
Grant grimaced and rubbed a hand through his hair. “Why bother telling me? I can’t stop you.”
He turned back to Lucky and sat down at the foot of the couch, there was just enough room. He studied at her sleeping face, her limp body, and sighed. He looked back toward the door to find that Chuck had left, probably to go call Curtis, and Grant sighed again. Even if the experimental protocol managed to work, Curtis always added so much drama to Leo’s life. It wasn’t healthy and it wasn’t what Leo needed right now. But Grant would fight that battle later when Curtis was actually here. He’d have him banned from Leo’s room if he needed to. He’d do whatever it took for Leo to get well.
It was quite early in the morning in Scotland. Grant supposed if Curtis caught a flight as soon as possible, he could be in Blountville by around midnight the following day. One thing was for sure, if they made it through this, he was going to talk to Leo about setting up some paperwork giving him power of attorney over Leo’s healthcare and vice versa. Assuming Leo would want that. He knew he did.
He sighed again, glanced at Lucky, and thought about her trip to Scotland with Curtis earlier in the month. She’d been reluctant to go, and she hadn’t even been gone a week when she’d called home one night and begged Leo to come get her.
It wasn’t surprising to Grant that Lucky hadn’t handled the separation well. Grant knew how attached Lucky was to Leo, and, over the last few months, she’d grown habituated to Grant, too. Lucky was like Leo in more than just her looks—she was loyal, and devoted to her home and family—but, she was different in the way she expressed those things. No, Grant hadn’t been surprised at all that Scotland had been a bust.
In the end, Curtis had brought her home, and he’d even been unexpectedly relaxed about it, given that his time with her was thwarted. Leo said he’d grown up. Grant speculated that taking care of Lucky on his own while trying to star in a film in another country had been more of a pain in the ass than Curtis had thought it would be. In the end, Lucky’s version of events made Grant think he was right.
Now Grant watched Lucky sleep and stared at the clock. The hours went by slowly and he swallowed back fear over and over. He’d never felt this way before. After he’d left his aunt and uncle’s home, he never put himself in a position again where he couldn’t win.
Now, though, he was in love. And it wasn’t just Leo who had a hold on him, but Lucky and her little earnest face and her deep need for someone to trust. Every moment, every second, it became clearer he that he needed them in his life, and he didn’t trust anyone else with their well-being.
He looked at the clock. Only six more hours and they should know something. Six more hours of hell. He felt suspended in time, as though each second were longer than he ever imagined possible. He’d never been so helpless.
When this was over, Grant decided, he was going to do something about all of this. He was going to get back some control. He was going to ask Leo to make this thing between them legal. In the common vernacular, he supposed, he was going to ask Leo to marry him.
Grant didn’t sleep. He watched the clock and when it said eight in the morning, he waited, and he waited. Lucky dreamed on and he didn’t wake her. He waited some more.
When Chuck finally showed up at Grant’s office door, grinning and giving him a thumbs up, the rush and whirl in Grant’s ears was so loud that he couldn’t hear over it. He stared into Chuck’s eyes, trying to make sure he understood correctly.
“He’s going to be all right. It’s working. The treatment is working,” Chuck said. He hugged him, and Grant hugged the man in return. Chuck thumped Grant’s back hard over and over, saying, “He’ll make it. He’s gonna make it.”
Grant nodded and let out a long breath. He swallowed, rubbed at his eyes, and then he looked down at Lucky. She would probably wake at any moment.
Heart in his throat, Grant said to Chuck, “Watch Lucky.”
Then he rushed from his office. He passed Alec and Dennis hugging in the hallway, and when they called out to him happily, he ignored them, heading directly toward the ICU.
Because he wasn’t going to tell Lucky another damn thing until he’d seen Leo and talked to Dr. Gregor herself. It’d been too close. Too close, and he had to know for sure before he renewed his promise to Lucky that Leo would be okay.
He’d been an imbecile, a cocky, terrified, son of a bitch to make a promise like that to begin with. They’d been lucky. Damned lucky.
Now they needed to stay lucky.
Chapter Nineteen
A Week Later
Chuck and Meryl were late picking up Lucky from Grant in the hospital cafeteria after they’d spent most of the day going back and forth between Leo’s hospital room, and Jennifer’s new set up in the rehab unit. The unit was not the best in the state, but Leo, Jennifer, and their parents seemed to believe that Jennifer would have better success getting off to a clean, new start if she remained in Blountville.
Lucky was still anxious about her mother, though, and she told Grant while they ate together in the cafeteria that she didn’t want to see Jennifer. At least not yet.
“I don’t have to like her now, do I?” Lucky asked him sipping her chocolate milk and gazing at him with her clear eyes.
“Nah,” Grant said. “Why should you like her? You don’t even know her.”
Lucky picked at her green beans and shrugged, not meeting his eye.
“Who said you had to like her?” Grant asked.
Lucky bit the end off a green bean and chewed it for a long time before saying, “Denise at school says that everyone loves their mommy. That they have to love their mommy. She says it’s just the way it is.”
Grant snarled up his lip and said, “Is Denise a psychologist?”
Lucky laughed. “No, she’s five. She’s the line leader on every other Monday, though.”
“So, who are you going to believe? Me or a line leader? She’s not even line leader every day.”
Lucky grinned and took another bite of her food. “Sometimes I’m line leader,” she said. “On every other Wednesday.”
“Cool,” Grant said.
Lucky sighed. “So, it’s okay then, if I don’t love Jennifer?”
“Seems okay to me,” Grant said, stealing one of Lucky’s fries because he’d already finished his own.
“Dad will be sad that I don’t love her, though,” Lucky said.
“Your dad will understand,” Grant said. “Love isn’t something that you feel because you’re supposed to.” Grant sat back in his seat. “It’s not something you control. Sometimes you even feel it when you shouldn’t. Or when you don’t want to.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to?” Lucky asked.
Grant thought about Leo in the OR seizing on the table and the terror that had ripped through him, and he thought of Leo pale, gray, and puffy in the recovery room, and he thought of Leo’s gray eyes crinkled in laughter, and his smile that made Grant’s stomach flip, and the desperate way that Leo clung to him in bed, and the expression on Leo’s face when he came.
“Beats the hell outta me,” Grant said, though
it scared the pants off him even still.
“I wish I loved my mom,” Lucky said. “But I don’t.”
“Your dad would probably say to give her a chance,” he said.
“Do you think I should give her a chance, Dr. Grant?” Lucky asked, all earnest eyes and worried face.
“I say wait it out. See if she sticks around.”
Lucky nodded and looked thoughtful as she ate the last of her fries and started to unwrap the cookie. “Yeah, that’s a good plan,” she said. “And Denise is stupid. She doesn’t even know her multiplication tables.”
“Oh, well, in that case, never listen to a word she says,” Grant muttered.
“But Granny Meryl says that she’s only five and most five year olds don’t know that yet.”
“It’s never too early to start with intellectual snobbery.”
Lucky gave him a look that made Grant smile. It was a look he’d seen on Leo before. It said very clearly, “You’re full of shit.”
Grant liked that Lucky already knew when that look was appropriate and he said, “Give me part of your cookie.”
“No!” she said. “It’s not yours!”
“Give me,” he said waggling fingers at her.
She laughed and took a huge bite and shook her head. Grant sighed mournfully and sat back to watch her eat it.
A few minutes later, after Lucky had devoured her cookie, Chuck and Meryl finally showed up looking harried and tired.
“How’s my girl?” Chuck asked, hefting Lucky up and hugging her close.
“I see Grant has fed you dinner already,” Meryl said, wrapping her arm through Chuck’s, and smiling warmly.
“Green beans, French fries, and a cookie,” Lucky said.
“Healthy,” Meryl said, raising an eyebrow at Grant, but her eyes were full of good humor.
Grant shrugged, picked up his tray, and said, “I’ve got rounds.”
“So late?” Meryl asked.
“Yep, well, I had a little company this afternoon.” He narrowed his eyes fondly at Lucky and winked at her.
“Dr. Grant’s patients get mad when he brings me with him,” Lucky said.
“You took her on some of your rounds?” Meryl sounded a lot like Leo.
Grant shrugged. “Only the boring ones. I could do those with my eyes shut.”
“That’s what he told them,” Lucky said.
Grant winked at her again and headed out of the cafeteria, leaving Lucky with Chuck and Meryl. He wasn’t sure which of them would take her for the night, but either way she was sorted, and now he only had to see a few patients, and then he could go to Leo.
• • •
Leo was awake.
Jim told him when they passed in the hall. And even if Jim was trying to get on Grant’s good side in the hopes of a pay off in some completely delusional future, Grant had to admit the guy was a good nurse. He’d taken very fine care of Leo.
When Grant knocked on Leo’s door, Leo called out for him to enter. Leo looked exhausted, but he was alive, breathing, and smiling at Grant like he was the best thing he’d seen all day. Possibly in his life.
Grant felt shot through with warmth at the sight of him.
“Hey,” Grant said, and pulled up a chair to sit close to Leo’s bed. “How do you feel?”
“Alive,” Leo muttered through chapped lips. It was the first time in almost a week that Leo wasn’t half-asleep on painkillers. Leo smiled lazily up at Grant and said, “Gotta reward me for that soon.”
“Yeah, well,” Grant said. He narrowed his eyes and gazed at Leo warmly. “I can’t wait to reward you for that feat.”
Leo’s eyes widened in mock surprise. “Really?”
“Yep. I can’t wait to give you everything you want for the rest of your life in reward for that.” Grant pushed Leo’s hair off his forehead. “I gotta say,” Grant said, keeping his voice low. “This, uh, being in love with you thing. Made me pretty worthless.”
Leo’s eyebrows lifted and his eyes were soft and full of affection. “How’s that?”
Grant swallowed, brushed his hand over Leo’s hair, and shrugged again. “I panicked. I’m a doctor. I keep my cool in moments of disaster. I do my job. But seeing you—” Grant shook his head and pressed his lips together. “I couldn’t…I couldn’t even think about anything. Or anyone.”
“But you were good with Lucky,” Leo said, taking Grant’s hand and kissing it. “Dad said she only wanted you.”
“Yeah,” Grant nodded. “I could stay focused for her. I don’t know what else I would have done.” Grant gazed down at Leo intently, studying his face, the curve of his lips and cheeks. “Don’t ever do this again. Do you hear me? I won’t lose you.”
Leo laughed softly and said, “I’m not making any promises, but I’ll do my best.”
“You better. I’ve never been so scared.”
Leo blinked slowly, his eyes so tender and full of emotion. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Just get well. And stay well. Forever.”
Leo laughed. “Okay, I’ll just find a sparkly vampire to bite me and become immortal then.”
Grant nodded and said, “That’s fine with me. Whatever it takes.”
Leo snorted and motioned for some water. Grant handed it to him and watched as Leo sipped out of the straw. Grant took a deep, steadying breath, and put the cup back on the tray.
“Leo,” he said. “I never thought I’d ever ask anyone this question. It’s not part of the plan.”
Leo tilted his head and said, “Plan?”
“I never wanted a family, but I never wanted a lot of things. And now there’s you, and this situation—and the kid. She needs stability. She loves me. I love her. And—”
“Wait, you love Lucky?” Leo asked.
Grant blinked and his mouth opened and closed a few times. “Yes. I mean, yes…is that a problem? Of course I love her. Why do you think I spend time with her? It’s sure as hell not her chess game.”
“No, of course not,” Leo said, smiling. “You love her?”
“Yes.”
“Grant, that makes me so happy.”
“Well, good. And you love me. And we love each other. It’s how it works? Right?” Grant didn’t think he’d ever said the word ‘love’ so many times in his life. “That’s what’s supposed to make a family. And I know I’m babbling, and I might be freaking you out, but this—I’m serious and I’ve thought about it. It’s legal to do it now, and it’s…I…just…marry me.”
Leo’s smile was like summer and pie and cookies and casseroles and ice cream and everything that Grant loved best in the world.
“You’re such a jerk,” Leo said.
Grant swallowed. That was not the response he was expecting. “Well, yeah. But—but you knew that.” he stuttered. “And what did I do now?”
“What did you do? I was going to ask you. I had a whole romantic thing planned, you jerk. You stole my thunder!”
“Oh,” Grant said, his heart pounding and his stomach twisting. “So…what does this mean? Is that no? Or yes? Or…?”
“It’s yes, jerk. It’s a big, fat, hell yes,” Leo said, lifting up enough to grab Grant’s face in both hands, and pull him down for a kiss. “Yes,” he said again. “I love you.”
“Love you,” Grant murmured kissing Leo back, wrapping his arms around Leo’s body to pull him close. He practically crawled into the bed, hovering over Leo, careful not to put pressure on Leo’s body or side. It was probably his knee that hit the call nurse button.
The buzzer by the bed announced, “This is Janet at the nurse’s station. You called us?”
Leo started laughing and Grant cursed.
“Oh, sorry, Dr. Anderson,” Janet said. “I’ll just cancel it out.”
Grant kissed Leo again and then crawled out of the bed carefully, saying, “You need to get well and get home.”
“Yeah,” Leo agreed. “I’ve got to get my hands on you. I can’t wait much longer. Or Jim is gonna catch you in a weak
moment.”
Grant kissed Leo again and muttered, “I’d have to be unconscious or dead.”
“Well, that’s a weak moment,” Leo said earnestly.
Grant’s face went soft with affection, and he teased, “I’m starting to think he’s wanting a threesome. You in?”
Leo snorted softly and shook his head no. Then he grinned. “So…you wanna marry me?”
Grant grunted his agreement and ran his hands over Leo’s hair again, and said, “Yep, Leo. You did something to me. I drank the Kool-Aid.”
“You like Kool-Aid,” Leo said, his eyes glowing with happiness.
“Mind altering red dyes,” Grant said softly, leaning closer for a kiss. “Smashed bugs.”
“You love me,” Leo said against Grant’s lips, and there was a touch of wonder in his voice like he still didn’t entirely believe it.
“Yeah,” Grant admitted, kissing Leo again.
“I must be pretty delicious Kool-Aid,” Leo said softly.
Grant smirked. “And now that you have a new kidney, you can finally taste mine.”
Leo’s eyes went wide with amusement and lust. “Grant.”
Grant nodded and cupped Leo’s cheek. “Hurry up and get well. I’ll let you drink all that you want.”
Leo pulled Grant down by his collar and kissed him hard. Grant laughed against his lips, and they both groaned when Janet beeped in again to check on the sudden rise in Leo’s heart rate.
Chapter Twenty
Four Weeks Later
The first night home from the hospital, Leo sat at the kitchen table at the farm supervising Lucky’s homework, and watching as Grant and Chuck carried the last of his luggage from the hospital out to the truck.
“Well,” Chuck said, clapping Grant on the shoulder. “That’s the last of it. Your mom will want you all to come to dinner tomorrow night. Jennifer’s arranged to have a family pass for the evening.”
Grant noticed Lucky shrink a little in her chair, and duck her head so that she wouldn’t have to meet Chuck’s eye.
“Your mom’s looking forward to having everyone together,” Chuck said. “What about you, Grant? Can you make it?”
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