by Crafter, Sol
"What happened?" Cole shrugged. "Someone egged my door while I was at work. It's had the time to get pretty gross."
"Do you need my help?" Anderson asked.
"Do you need my help? It's nice of you to offer, but I've pretty much got this." Cole gave him a weary smile. "I sprayed it all down to soften the goop, so it shouldn't take me that long. Why don't you go inside and I'll be in in a couple of minutes?"
Anderson reluctantly gave in to Cole's urging and went inside. He had to step carefully not to trek anything in with him.
Cole sighed and swiped the back of his arm across his forehead. The smell of the cleaner was maybe making him a little sick, but it was really working.
He went back to scrubbing the door, wanting to just get done as soon as possible.
* * *
Anderson felt bad about not helping Cole, but the other man said he could do it on his own.
He set the bag on the table and sat on the couch. He was quickly coming to the realization that Cole's apartment was more comfortable than his own place.
It just seemed that the only time he was able to truly relax was when he was here. Which made him madder about the idea of someone egging the place.
He leaned back on the couch as he listened to the furious scrubbing against the door. There was something vaguely hypnotic about it, so he shouldn't have been too surprised when his eyelids started getting heavy.
He was woken by the jouncing of the couch when Cole settled down next to him. The other man smelled like the bodywash he used and his hair was still damp, the ends curling up impishly. He'd changed into a pair of loose sweat pants and a white tank top that showed off the muscles of his arms.
"You had a shower and didn't ask me to join you?" Anderson said, sitting upright. He rubbed the grittiness from his eyes and blinked around. A quick glance at his watch told him he'd probably been sleeping for a little over half an hour.
Cole grinned. "You had a shower and didn't ask me to join you? Well, you were snoring so peacefully I didn't want to disturb you. Besides, by the time I was done I was pretty gross." He made a face. "Eggs dry horribly."
Anderson leaned forward and opened the bag, taking out the two take away containers and plastic wrapped forks. "This is a little cold. Do you want me to heat yours up?"
Cole shrugged and took one of the containers. "Do you want me to heat yours up? I honestly could care less. Besides, the bottom's still warm so it's not too bad." He opened the lid and leaned forward to take a big sniff. "Smells good."
Anderson watched him take a bite, his fingers graceful with the fork. He felt a ball of warmth growing in his chest, something that had been happening more and more around Cole.
The feeling wasn't some overwhelming passion that would have him walking out into traffic or anything. It had crept up on him quietly and consumed everything else in its way until all he knew was that he wanted to spend as much time as possible with Cole.
"I love you," he blurted out.
Cole froze, his wide eyes suddenly locked on Anderson's. "What?" he mouthed.
"I just wanted you to know," Anderson said, feeling incredibly awkward in the face of Cole's genuine surprise. He'd kind of assumed that it was a feeling shared, but evidently he was the only one that felt it. "You don't have to say it back or anything, but I just thought it was time for me to tell you. That's all."
"That's all." Cole licked his lips, still looking shocked, then he grinned. "I love you too."
"Well, that's good," Anderson said. He nervously glanced around, wondering what he was supposed to do next.
Cole laughed and leaned over to kiss him. "Well, that's good. And it really is." He pulled away after a minute, his food still balanced across his knees. "Let's finish eating, then we can explore our feelings a little more in depth. In the bedroom."
Anderson grinned. "Sounds like a plan to me."
Everything was going perfectly. For the first time in his life, all was right with the world.
* * *
Being in love kind of shaded everything with a dreamlike quality. Cole floated through the rest of the week in a blur of kisses and groping with a slight sprinkling of him getting his work done mixed in. He felt like he was walking on clouds.
He was so distracted that he didn't even realize anything was wrong until he pushed open his apartment door and found the place trashed.
His couch had been sliced up and there was upholstery and stuffing everywhere. His TV had been thrown on the ground and stomped on, the screen completely destroyed. His clothes had been dragged out of his bedroom and were spread around everywhere. He thought he could smell shit and urine, the combination turning his stomach.
He was still kind of boggling at the sight when he realized that he'd had to unlock the door to get in.
Cole's heart had just kicked in and he'd barely started to feel a surge of adrenaline, when he whirled around to run and got a punch right to the jaw. It sent him stumbling sideways and he was still trying to figure out what was happening when another punch got him in the mouth and he just felt his lip explode against the man's knuckles and his front teeth scraped the man's skin.
His eyes were flooded with pain tears and the whole world was spinning around him and everything was just color and confusion. He felt himself being punched in the ribs and gut. He felt his knees go out from under him and found himself on the ground with someone straddling his waist.
Everything was happening so fast that he couldn't even breathe, then he really couldn't breathe as hands wrapped themselves around his throat and he felt himself being throttled, the back of his head bouncing against the floor.
He scrabbled at the hands holding his throat, but quickly realized that wasn't going to do anything, they were too strong. He brought his hands up, groping for the man's face and tried to dig his thumbs into the man's eye sockets.
Color flared at the corners of his eyes before beginning to fade away. His lungs screamed for air and he felt incredibly slow and clumsy. Still, weakly, he fought, clawing away a trail of blood down the man's cheek, until it just seemed like all the energy was sucked out of him.
He felt the backs of his hands thump against the carpet and he wanted to howl in frustration.
This was not the way he was going to die!
Except there was nothing he could about it. Everything was getting so dark... his brain was shutting down and...
The last thing he saw was Mary appearing over the man's shoulder like an avenging angel. She was haloed by light and the frying pan she swung with a two-handed grip splattered melted butter everywhere. Her lips were drawn back from her teeth and her green eyes blazed with indignation.
Then he was gone.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
He was standing in line at the deli when his phone rang in his pocket. He gave the people around him an apologetic look, but quickly answered.
"Hello?"
"It's Mary. You need to come to the hospital right now."
"Whoa, what's going on?" he demanded worriedly. He'd never heard her sound so panicked before. "Why are you at the hospital? Are you all right?"
"It's not me," she said. She was breathing hard and he could tell she was trying to keep control of herself. "It's Cole. Someone broke into his apartment and attacked him. He's here at the hospital right now."
Anderson stumbled out of line, not even caring that he bumped his shoulder against some man. "What? Is he all right?"
He ignored everything around him as he started heading toward the exit. All he could think was that Cole was hurt, maybe even dying.
"They say he's going to be okay, but he's pretty beat up," Mary said. "He looked so bad lying there. I thought he was dead. Oh... You've got to come."
"I'll be right there," he promised, striding out across the parking lot toward his car.
It took everything he had to keep to the speed limit and not drive recklessly as he hurried to the hospital. The last thing he needed was to get a ticket or end up in an accident.
He fought down frustrated cursing when it took him nearly seven minutes to find a parking spot once he got to the hospital. He was just about to leave his car and just run in when a mini-van backed out of a slot and he took it.
He had to stop at the reception area to find out where he was supposed to go, then he hurried up to the fifth floor. He jogged down the hallways, following the markings painted on the walls to find the correct waiting area.
When he ran in, Mary came rushing at him. He barely had time to notice that she'd been crying before she flung her arms around him, knocking the breath out of him.
"Oh God, it was so awful," she cried. "I thought he was dead. That guy was on top of him and he wasn't moving anymore and... Oh Jesus, I thought he was dead."
"What..." he had to stop and draw in a deep breath. "What happened?"
"I don't know," she said, pulling back. Her face was unattractively sallow and her eyes were red from tears. "One minute I was making a grilled cheese sandwich, the next I hear all kinds of noise next door. And when I went over there, some guy was beating the crap out of Cole. So I hit him with my frying pan then called the police."
Anderson couldn't help a huffing laugh and he gave her another hug. She was the most beautiful woman in the world to him right now. "Thank you for being so tough."
"I try," she said, laying her head against his shoulder for a moment.
He gave her a tight squeeze, then gently let her go. "Do you know where he's at?" he asked.
Mary drew in a deep, shuddery breath and stepped back. "They said something about room 502, but you should check with the nurse's station."
"I'm going to do that. Will you be okay here?" he asked. He felt bad at the idea of leaving her, but every particle of his being was telling him to find Cole.
Her smile was a fragile thing. "Yeah, I'll be all right. Besides, I'm supposed to stay here and wait for the police to come and question me. They told me not to go anywhere."
"Well, if anyone tries to put you in jail, make sure you call me first, okay?" he said.
She snorted. "It was completely a case of self-defense and defense of another."
"Always a good reason to brain someone," he nodded.
"Exactly." She was trying to be tough, but he could tell that she was really shaken up. "I felt like a superhero or something."
"You totally are a superhero." He leaned down and pressed a kiss against her cheek, trying to ignore the taste of tears on her skin. "Thank you for saving him."
He jerked a quick nod and walked over to the nurse's station. "Excuse me, can you tell me what room Cole Heath is in?" he asked.
The rather heavy-set dark haired nurse gave him a look. "What is your relationship with the patient?"
"He's my boyfriend," Anderson said.
She clicked away at her keyboard, her eyebrows going up at what she saw. Her eyes were sympathetic when she looked at him again. "Unfortunately only family is allowed in to see him right now, but his mother's already on her way. She should be here shortly."
"Thank you," Anderson fought to keep the "Fuck you" out of his voice, but it was a battle.
He walked over to the bank of plastic chairs where Mary had sat down in one of them. He sat next to her. "They wouldn't let me in because I'm not a member of his family. His mother's on the way."
"Ooh, have you ever met her?" Mary asked.
"Just a couple of times," Anderson said. "She's kind of hard to get to know, but you can tell that she really loves him."
He sat next to her, twisting his fingers together nervously as he waited for Anne Heath to show up. Mary huddled next to him, every line of her body screaming exhaustion.
He didn't know what all had happened and he didn't know if he really wanted to hear the whole story. Not until he could see Cole and know for sure that he was all right.
"Ms. Paterson?" a voice asked.
Anderson glanced up and was surprised to find two police officers standing there. The one in the lead had thinning red hair and full cheeks, though he wasn't overweight. His partner was a Latina woman with a no-nonsense expression and an uptight posture.
Mary raised her head. "I'm Mary Paterson."
"I'm Officer Mann and this is Officer Guervo. We need to talk to you for a moment about the incident earlier tonight." He looked around the otherwise empty waiting room, then slanted a glance in Anderson's direction. "We can talk here, or we can find someplace else if you'd rather have privacy."
Mary grabbed Anderson's hand, squeezing it tight. "No, I want him with me."
"And you are, sir?" Officer Mann asked.
"Anderson Bester. Mary's my friend and Cole's my boyfriend." There was no way they were getting him to leave the room.
Mann looked around, then walked over to grab a loose chair and dragged it over. He sat down facing Mary and pulled a small notepad out of his pocket. "Why don't you tell me in your own words what happened tonight?" he said.
Mary licked her lips. "I had just come home from work and was making a grilled cheese sandwich before going to the gym. I was just melting the butter in the frying pan when I heard what sounded like a fight from Cole's apartment." She shook her head. "I don't know why I did it, but I grabbed the frying pan and took it with me when I went over there.
"I don't know what I thought I was going to see, but when I walked in there I saw the man's back first. Then I saw that Cole's legs were sticking out from under him and I realized the man was choking him and Cole wasn't moving at all. I just... it was like I blacked out or something. I don't remember hitting him with the fry pan, but he was knocked out on the ground and I realized I had to call the police and an ambulance. So I did."
"You didn't recognize the man choking Cole?" Mann asked.
Mary shook her head. "No, should I have?"
"He was employed at the same company as both you and Cole Heath," Mann said, his eyes sharp on her face.
"Wait a minute, he was one of our employees?" Anderson demanded.
"Until about three months ago. Are you sure you don't recognize him now?" Mann asked.
Mary shook her head. "No, I only saw him from behind, then he was laid out on the floor. I wasn't really paying much attention to him at that point. I just wanted to get Cole some help."
"I see," Mann said, standing up. "Well, you've already given us your contact information, so we'll call you if we have any more questions."
"Wait!" Anderson stood up. "Who was the man that attacked Cole?"
Mann paused to look at him, then seemed to shrug. "His name is Mark Etty. He's currently being treated for a cracked skull and burns." He glanced at Mary, his lips quirking a little. "You really did a number on him. Have you thought about going out for professional baseball? Thank you for your time."
The officer didn't even wait for her to respond, just gathered up his partner and left.
Anderson stared after them. "That was kind of weird."
"Mark Etty? Wasn't he the guy you replaced?" Mary asked.
"Yeah."Anderson shook his head. "I can't believe he's the guy." He could picture Mark Etty in his mind, and he couldn't help the way his fists clenched. Etty was twice the size of Cole, so to imagine him beating the crap out of Cole... it made him want to hunt the guy down and crack open the other side of his head.
"Thank you for braining that idiot," he said.
Mary nodded.
They sat down and waited. His leg jiggled nervously and he was filled with desperation to see Cole.
It seemed like they'd been waiting forever when there was a flurry of activity at the door and Anne came rushing in. She was wearing a flowered dress with a long jacket thrown over the top to flop loose.
She went right to the nurse's station. "Where is my son? Cole Heath?" she demanded.
Anderson patted Mary on the shoulder, then hurried to stand next to her. "They wouldn't let me in," he said.
She glared at the nurse. "Take me to see my son immediately. And his boyfriend too; he's family." She wasn't asking a
question, she was demanding, and anyone that went against her would be a fool.
The nurse didn't seem to be a fool. "He's in room 502. I'll buzz you back and you can go right in."
"That's fine." Anne grabbed Anderson's sleeve and tugged him toward the double doors. There was a loud buzzing sound and she pushed one of the doors open, pulling him after her.
Looking at the side of her face, Anderson could see that she was on the raggedy edge of control. Her body was all tense lines and she was clenching and unclenching her teeth. He didn't want to say anything and set her off, so he just followed her down the hallway.
The door to room 502 seemed to loom over them and he caught his breath when she reached out a shaky hand and pushed it open.
He didn't know what he thought they were going to find, but he couldn't help the low, moaning sound he made when he saw Cole for the first time.
The white sheets seemed to make Cole's injuries look worse. He looked so pale and small lying there, his face looking like one big bruise at first, his lower lip swollen and split. Both eyes were blackened so it took Anderson a moment to realize that he was awake and looking at them.
"Mama."
"Oh, my baby doll!" Anne ran across the room to hover at his side. She carefully took his hand in both of hers, tears splashing against his wrist.
Anderson wanted to run too, but it was like his legs were made out of rubber. He just kind of wobbled his way to the other side of the bed, his hands shaking so bad he was scared he might hurt Cole more when he took his hand.
His lips trembled and he couldn't even speak. He just stared down at Cole's face.
"Hey," Cole said, looking at him.
"Hey," Anderson said. It took him a minute to realize that he was crying. Just this silent stream of tears as he realized that Cole could have died. Especially when he took in the mark of wringing hands around Cole's neck.
He fell to his knees and buried his face against the blankets at Cole's side. He never let go of Cole's hands as he cried.
Distantly he heard Cole telling him that it was all right, everything was all right. But all he knew was that Cole could have died and there wouldn't have been anything he could do about it.