by Luna, David
He heard his friend sigh through the line. “There are several things that could be happening.”
His friend paused, so he pushed. “Just say it. Rip it off like a Band-Aid. I need to finish here so I can call you and get to the hospital.”
He wanted to hear it. Needed to, actually, but the words made him feel sick to his stomach when Syed finally gave him the details. “The impact and adrenaline from the accident could have put him into AFib. He’s taking coumadin, the medication on his bracelet, to help him with that. It’s a blood thinner. He’ll be given an EKG, a CT scan of his head, and bloodwork. If he’s in AFib at the time of arrival, they’ll give him medication to try and stop it.”
“Will that even work?”
Syed made a noise that was neither a yes nor a no. “It could. Hopefully, it does. If it doesn’t or if his heart rate is too high, they'll do a cardioversion in the ER. Because he takes coumadin, they’ll have to check his levels to see if he’s at risk to throw a clot during the procedure.”
He sucked in a breath, scared to death for the boy. “Jesus, Syed, I don’t even know what any of that shit means! I didn’t see anything else, but fuck, who knows what was going on internally.”
“Let’s not borrow more trouble. It all depends on what medication he uses to control his AFib. If he’s taking another drug for the arrhythmia, he may not be in quite as much danger of internal bleeding.”
“And what the fuck is a cardioversion?”
“It’s where they’ll try to convert his AFib to sinus rhythm by shocking his heart with paddles.”
“Jesus, Sy. You’re not making me feel any better.”
“Thorn, he’ll be sedated. If his head CT is clear, with no internal bleeding, he could be released tomorrow if he’s got a concussion, which he most likely does. Hell, you most likely do as well.”
He ignored that part and asked, “And if that doesn’t happen?”
“Depending on where the bleeding is, they’ll give him something to thicken up his blood.”
“Where could he be bleeding?”
“Internally, but we’re not going to go there right now. You have enough information to help you understand what could be going on with him. Hopefully, he’s just got a concussion, and he’ll be fine.”
He growled, “Sy, tell me.”
Damon spoke up instead of his husband. “Thorn, you don’t need to know every possibility. It’s not going to help you, and we know you want to get there as soon as possible. Finish up with the cops and your insurance and give us a call when you’re ready for us to come get you.”
Jesus, he had to call his insurance too. He sighed, knowing they were both right. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll call you soon.”
Two hours later, cursing the insurance company and emergency personnel for the delay—all while knowing it wasn’t their fault—Syed picked him up, took him to their house, and checked him over. Besides the bruising that would get worse and the achiness he’d feel in his neck and his body for some time, Syed thought he would be fine but warned Thornton to call him if he started to feel a lot worse. He gave Thornton a travel bottle of over-the-counter pain meds and had him wash the blood off his hands and borrow a shirt so he wasn’t walking around with blood on his clothes.
They dropped him off at the hospital. When he approached the front desk, he saw the woman’s gaze on him. “Where—” He cleared his throat, suddenly even more nervous about Asher. “Where is Asher Simmons? He was brought in a couple hours ago, head injury, arrhythmia. I need… please.”
Seeing the woman’s expression soften, he knew he must be more of a wreck than he thought. She got onto the computer in front of her and typed what he assumed was Asher’s name. While still typing and not sparing him a glance, she asked, “Sir, are you family?”
He couldn’t go through not knowing how Asher was. He just couldn’t do it. Fuck. Clearing his throat, he answered in what he realized was a whisper, “Y-yes.”
She gazed up at him expectantly, so in a bit of a panic, he told her the only thing that came to mind. “I’m his husband.”
She raised her brows at that, but he didn’t know if it was because she didn’t believe him or because he was gay. But the only way her feelings mattered at that moment was if she didn’t believe him and he couldn’t get to Asher. She tapped a few more keys and nodded. “It looks like he’s been admitted and is on the fourth floor, room 418. Take the elevator around the corner to my left to the fourth floor, turn right, and you’ll see nurse’s station there. They will show you where his room is.”
He swallowed and nodded. “Thank you.”
She smiled at him in sympathy as he walked away to follow her directions. When he reached the fourth floor, he found the nurse’s station and waited to speak with the nurse behind the desk.
He gave a halfhearted smile when the nurse acknowledged him. “Hi, my name is Thornton Hayes. I’m here to see my husband, Asher Simmons.”
She nodded and turned, tipping her head towards the door. “Come with me. He’s resting, but I’m sure he’ll be very happy to see you.”
As they walked into the room, her words faded into the background when he laid eyes on Asher. Jesus, he was tiny in that big bed, tubes hooked to monitors, surgical tape, and gauze wrapped around his head protecting the injury on his temple.
His straight blond hair still had remnants of blood. His eyes were closed, but Thornton would never forget the startling blue-green brilliance of them. He was pale as a ghost. Even his lips, which had been pink and full when he was in the car, now looked faded. Overall, he looked awful and yet still beautiful.
Tuning back into his surroundings, he watched as a different nurse checked Asher’s vitals. She began to fill him in about Asher's injuries, and he was overwhelmed with just how much had happened since he’d last seen Asher. The young woman smiled at him. “Your husband is a survivor. He came through the procedure and is doing well.”
She headed towards the door, and he managed a wobbly, “Thank you,” as she left.
Chapter Three
Asher
There was a pounding in his head unlike anything he’d ever felt in his life. He could feel his heartbeat in his temple, a steady bass drum making itself known with every thump. That alone was enough to wake him up. But it was the distinct smell filling his nostrils and the tug on the top of his hand cluing him into the fact that he had an IV drip going that pushed him towards opening his eyes.
He fucking hated hospitals.
Cracking his eyes open just brought more pain to his head, but he forced the issue, realizing it was mostly dark in his room as the beeping of the machines droned in the background. He turned and realized what it must have been that woke him up—or rather who—and jumped a bit in his bed.
“Hi, Asher. I’m Jess, your shift nurse. You were in a car accident. Do you remember that?”
God, did he ever. If he never drove again, he’d be happy as hell. But he didn’t think she’d care about that, so all he did was nod, which fuck, that hurt.
She must have seen the pain he was feeling written all over his face as she smiled sympathetically and asked, “How are you feeling?”
“M—” He cleared his throat and tried again. “My head is killing me.”
“Not surprising. You hit your head pretty badly and have a concussion.”
“What else? My ribs hurt too.”
“Yeah, three of your ribs are cracked. You also went into AFib so they had to do a cardioversion, the paddles on the chest. We’re gonna keep you for observation for twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
With how he was feeling, none of that surprised him. He didn’t have the energy to try nodding again, so when he said, “Okay,” she continued.
“I’m going to give you some meds to help with the pain, all right? You should feel better soon.”
He managed to whisper an affirmative as she gave him a dose of pain meds through his IV, and the pain overtook him again. He slowly glanced around the room, his gaz
e coming to rest on a gorgeous sleeping man that had his mind buzzing. God, the man was perfection. He loved a nice, short beard and thick, wavy, dark hair. He was sprawled out in a chair, his legs impossibly long. Asher glanced back up at his face and noticed the longest eyelashes he’d ever seen. He couldn’t help but sigh.
But, why was he in Asher’s room? And come to think of it, why was he reacting so strongly to a man he didn’t know? He’d never reacted to someone like he was to this stranger. Somehow this man was different, which he couldn’t begin to understand. And while he’d normally panic at having someone he didn’t know in his room; panic wasn’t what he was feeling. And wasn’t that just a mind fuck?
He turned back to the nurse, confusion in his eyes. Her smile was warm when she filled him in. “He’s been so worried about you. You’re one lucky man.”
“I’m… what?” Did his concussion come with a side order of hallucination? Because something wasn’t adding up. And why did the man look so familiar?
“You’re lucky to have such a sweet, attentive husband. He hasn’t left your side since he arrived.”
Husband? On what planet… Pain lanced through his head, making him wince and let out a low moan.
Wincing with him, she patted his shoulder. “You’ll feel better soon. In the meantime, I’m going to get you some water. I’m sure you’re parched. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Nodding and then regretting it immediately after, he simply closed his eyes to ward off the pain as much as possible until the meds kicked in. But no sooner did he close his eyes than they popped right back open. Thornton. Asher hadn’t been dreaming him. Hadn’t conjured him up at the accident site. He turned to face the beautiful, sleeping man in the chair and didn’t dare look away until the pain meds had him drifting off to sleep.
When he woke sometime later, his head finally feeling somewhat better, he immediately turned to see if somehow, he’d dreamed that Thornton not only existed but was sitting in the chair next to him. The beautiful amber eyes, gorgeous masculine features, and dark, sculpted facial hair was a jolt to his system, even though he’d half expected to see him there. He couldn’t help but feel some level of tension; the man was a stranger, after all. But somehow, when he thought the panic would bloom, it just… didn’t.
But, what was he doing here?
“Hey, you’re awake.”
“Thor—” His mouth had gone dry, but he had a feeling it was because of the sexy-as-sin man before him, rather than anything else. He cleared his throat and tried again as the near stranger leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and watching him intently. “Thornton?”
The sweet smile that graced the guy’s lips did fluttery things to his stomach. Concern suddenly hit Asher. “Are you hurt? I’m so sorry.”
Thornton frowned, and somehow even that was sexy. “Why on earth would you be sorry? I’m the one that hit you.”
He shrugged, not knowing why he felt like he needed to apologize. Technically, he knew his light had been green, but he always felt so out of sorts when he was driving. So keyed up and stressed out, he couldn’t imagine he wasn’t partially responsible in some way.
Thornton shook his head, tilting it to the side, and giving him a disbelieving look. “You were doing everything right. I was glancing behind me as I was trying to change lanes and obviously not going slow enough when visibility was so bad. By the time I turned back around, I saw you in the intersection and realized the light had turned red. This was my fault.”
Asher still felt bad, whether it made sense or not. “But are you okay?”
“Asher…” It wasn’t censure in Thornton’s voice so much as confused exasperation. “I’m a little sore, but I’m just fine. You’re the one in the hospital bed.”
He didn’t have anything to say to that, so he stayed quiet as he kept eye contact with Thornton until the man smiled and said, “I’m surprised you remembered my name. I wasn’t sure you would. You were pretty dazed.”
Hell, he was still dazed and would remain so, as long as he was under such close scrutiny of a man so utterly gorgeous, out of his league, and most likely straight. He… Wait. The nurse had called him Asher’s husband. Surely, she didn’t just come up with that on her own. “Do I have amnesia? I don’t think I have amnesia.”
The confused look on Thornton’s face nearly made him smile. Asher couldn’t imagine any scenario where the man wouldn’t appeal to him. On every possible level. Thornton shook his head. “I doubt you do if you remember who I am. What makes you ask?”
He bit his lip, for some reason embarrassed to even say the words out loud. “The nurse said I was a lucky man because I had such an attentive husband and that you were so worried about me that you hadn’t left my side.”
He thought the man might blush—hell, he knew he would have, if the situation were reversed—but he didn’t look chagrined in the least. A sweet smirk was all he got. Well, that and an unrepentant shrug. “I have been worried, and I haven’t left your side. I had to be able to see for myself you were going to be okay, and that seemed to be the only way they’d let me back here. That and it was the only thing I could think of at the time. We don’t exactly look alike, so…”
Asher blushed and looked away. But strangely, besides being a bit embarrassed by the husband bit, he felt strangely comfortable with Thornton, and he never felt comfortable with strangers. He’d have to think on what that meant later. Asher gazed towards the windows, noticing for the first time how dark it was already. “What time is it? Are visiting hours over soon?”
He didn’t want them to be. He had no idea why, but he didn’t like the idea of Thornton leaving. He watched as Thornton checked his watch. “It’s three-thirty.”
“AM?” As soon as he said it, he felt like an idiot. Of course AM. It was pitch black outside.
“Yeah.”
“But… it’s no longer visiting hours.”
Again, that smirk. “Husbands don’t have to go home when visiting hours are over.” His face flamed even brighter, and he couldn’t help but look away. Thornton obviously didn’t feel awkward about the situation at all as he continued. “I feel awful about what happened. I’m so sorry you were hurt so badly. Is there anyone I can call for you? Anyone you want to be here with you?”
He glanced up quickly, and his brow creased in confusion, pain exploding in his head at the movement, radiating out from his temple. “Ow, fuck.” Asher’s voice was barely there, and no sooner had he whispered it than his hand was captured on its way up to touch himself where the pain originated. The much larger hand gently squeezed his and pulled it back down to the bed, holding it there. Yeah, okay, probably a good idea not to touch. That thought kept him from using his other hand to rub at his painful ribs.
“Shit. You should be resting, and here I am chatting with you as if everything is fine. I’m sorry. Let me call the nurse.”
No. He didn’t want that. Not yet, anyway. He just wanted to… be. Just for a little while longer. He didn’t even mind the direct and very intense gaze he kept being subjected to. “No. I’m okay.”
Pain meds always put him out, and even with the pain nearly making him whimper, he was afraid if he woke up again, the gorgeous apparition before him would disappear. He’d learned his lesson, though. He knew well enough now not to shake his head or make any more facial expressions that might cause pain to lance through him.
The soft caress of Thornton’s thumb on the back of Asher’s hand nearly made him sigh. It was rare that he was touched, and when he was, it was never a caress. “Asher, there’s no reason you should be in pain if they can make you more comfortable.”
The man’s authoritative tone brooked no argument, but… “Are you going to leave?”
Asher hadn’t meant to sound so needy—or pathetic, for that matter. Thornton’s raised eyebrows had Asher’s heart pounding. Feeling embarrassed, he gazed down at his lap until he got another squeeze of his hand. He looked up just as Thornton asked, “Do you want me to?”
The barely there lines around Thornton’s eyes crinkled when he gave Asher a soft smile. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He’d never been an assertive person. All he could chalk his bravery up to was the situation: his pain, his vulnerability, and the fact that he had nothing to lose. If Thornton left, he’d never see him again. If he didn’t, then being honest and asking him to stay would be well worth the embarrassment. Even if he didn’t understand what he was feeling around this enigmatic man, he knew he wanted more of it.
“Is there anyone I can call for you? Family or friends?”
“No. Well, a coworker friend of mine drives me to work most days, so I’ll need to call her in the morning to let her know she doesn’t need to pick me up. She can tell my boss.”
He waited for a pitying look from the man. Admitting he basically had no one in his life was a tough pill to swallow. But all he saw there was understanding. “All right. Well, I’ll call the nurse, so you can get some relief. And then later this morning, if you need to you can use my phone to call your friend.”
He closed his eyes, grateful the decision about the pain meds was being taken out of his hands. “Thank you.”
He winced when the tinny voice of the nurse came through the speakers in the room. “Nurses’ station. How can I help you?”
He looked at Thornton, but before Asher could answer the nurse, the little smirk was back, and Thornton took care of it for him. “Yes, ma’am. My husband is in a lot of pain. Can he have some more pain medication, please?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll send his nurse in after she’s finished with her current patient.”
“Thank you.”
The speaker clicked off. The wink and cheeky smile from Thornton set his heart racing. He didn’t think his face would ever return to normal if he continued to spend time with the older man. He could feel the heat of his blush all the way down his neck. There had to be something illegal about what he’d done. He couldn’t keep the scandalized tone from his voice when he whispered, “We could get in trouble.”