by Andrew Grey
“Did you hit your head?” the EMT asked.
“No. I can think clearly and don’t have any pain. I think I’m a little sore from being jerked around when we stopped, but other than that, I’m okay.”
The EMT removed the blood pressure cuff. “Your pulse is a little rapid and your pressure is high, but I suspect that’s just stress. Why don’t you sit here a few minutes and try to calm down? We’ll try it again in a little while. We want to make sure nothing’s wrong. Sometimes injuries can be masked by adrenaline, and after that crash, I don’t want to leave anything to chance.” The EMT went to speak to one of the other paramedics, who was overseeing getting Chuck loaded into another ambulance.
Dean sat next to Lee. “I was so scared,” he whispered as he put an arm around Lee’s shoulders.
“Who was the guy who grabbed us?” Lee asked, leaning against him.
“It was Chuck. He was behind all of this. Even the stuff with Cliff. He paid him to cause trouble, trying to get you to quit. He wanted you out of my life, one way or the other. God, I can’t begin to understand how his obsessive mind works anymore.” It was too much at the moment. “The stinky cowboy guy, as you call him, is Chuck’s cousin. Apparently he went after you because Chuck asked him to so he could have a clear shot at getting me back. I don’t know why he thought that was possible, though. It was never going to happen.” He tugged Lee closer.
“It’s not?” Lee asked.
“Of course not. I found someone who makes me happier than I have ever felt in my life. You make me want to be better, to be worthy of you.” Dean closed his eyes. “When I got the call that Chuck was behind this, I freaked out. And then, when you and Scott didn’t come back—” His voice broke, and he nearly lost it right there. “I just kept thinking that if Chuck did anything to you, my life would be over.” He took a deep breath. “See, I thought my life was over after Chuck, and I lived as though I didn’t really care about anything, because I didn’t. Nothing mattered for a long time. But now I feel like I’m alive again, like my heart is back in one piece and sitting right here.” Dean took Lee’s hand. “You hold it, and you have for a long time. I freely give it to you because I love you and I want to see where you and I go from here.”
Lee gasped and smiled. “You love me?” He seemed breathless, and Dean was glad no one was monitoring either of their pulses right now or they might both get bundled into the ambulance behind them.
“Yes, I do.” Saying those words was both frightening and freeing at the same time. It had taken a long time before Dean felt his heart was strong enough to give to someone else.
Lee turned and hugged him tightly. “I love you too. I was in that car, and I kept thinking that if I didn’t do something, I might never get to touch you again. We wouldn’t go to the gym, or go swimming like we talked about, or do all the other things you’ve shown me again. Then I remembered what Race taught me.” Lee stepped away a little and stood on his own, taller and more confident than Dean had ever seen him. “I’ve been fighting my blindness for years now. I didn’t want to be blind, and I still don’t. But you helped me see that it isn’t the end of the world. I can be loved and live a full life. Yeah, I know that James and Trevor are happy, but I always thought that might be a fluke or something, that I would never find someone to care for me that way. And then you came along and took me places and showed me things just for fun.” Lee’s voice crackled, but he didn’t stop. “You made me feel like a whole person.” Lee buried his face in Dean’s shirt.
“Because you are. So you can’t see. That is part of you, but it isn’t who you are. You’re so much more than just that, and that’s why I love you.” The thought that he might not have been able to see Lee, hold him again, had nearly brought Dean’s happiness to an end. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but Lee had stepped right in, becoming his world and filling him with a light Dean hadn’t even known was missing. Lee was special.
“How are you feeling?” the EMT asked Lee. Dean instantly felt the loss of heat when Lee moved away from him. The EMT took Lee’s pulse and nodded. “Your pulse is closer to normal. Are you still feeling okay?”
“Yes. I think I’m fine physically.” Lee still seemed jittery, and maybe it wasn’t the best time for them to have a deeply emotional conversation, but as soon as the EMT moved away, Lee came to him once again, and Dean cradled Lee in his arms, holding him as the activity continued around them.
Lee spoke with the police, answering their questions, and Dean stayed with him. It was hard keeping quiet at times, but Lee explained what had happened.
“Do you know why he lost control of the car?” Officer Kendall asked.
“Yes. He was going pretty fast and I was getting bounced around really bad. I was having a hard time keeping my sense of direction, and my head started feeling light. But then we ran into some traffic. When we slowed down enough, I decided to put my self-defense training to a test, and made him S.I.N.G.” There was silence at the admission. “I hit him—hard,” he corrected. “Then he lost control and all hell broke loose. All I could do was hold on and pray that we came to a stop.”
Brent signed to Scott what Lee was saying, and he joined them. “It was like being in a washing machine,” Scott added from right next to Lee. “I was feeling a little sick.”
“Yeah. But then it stopped, and all I heard was Scott telling me he was okay. And then there were sirens and people everywhere, telling me that it was going to be all right.”
“Thank you.” She made sure she had all their information and then thanked them again.
Lee was excused, along with the rest of them, and Dean carefully led him back to the car. Dean got everyone inside and merged back into traffic before turning around to head north toward home.
HOURS LATER, Dean and Lee sat in Lee’s parents’ living room, explaining what had happened. Jane shot daggers at Dean, and Lee grew more and more agitated by the second.
“You need to back off, Mom,” Lee snapped. “This isn’t Dean’s fault. He did everything he could to try to help me. I’m okay.”
“He’s more than okay. Lee saved himself and Scott.” Dean put an arm around Lee’s shoulders.”
“I know you’re frightened, Jane, but Lee is okay and this whole incident is over. This isn’t anyone’s fault except the man who took Lee, and he’s going to jail,” Neil added. “I think we all need to get on with our lives.”
Dean reminded himself to get Lee’s father something extra special for Christmas.
“Mom, I’m okay. It was frightening, but then Dean was there, and….” Lee coughed softly to clear his throat. “You getting upset isn’t helping me. We all need to move on.” Lee sighed.
“I’ll go make some dinner,” Lee’s mother said, and Lee got up with her and went into the kitchen.
“Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever understand my own son,” Neil said once they were gone. “His strength is stunning, and the things he’s able to deal with….” Neil was definitely proud. “He blows me away. If I were a betting man, I’d say he’s in the kitchen trying to make his mother feel better even though he’s the one who should be feeling traumatized. I know it might catch up with him, but for now, I’m very proud of the man my son has become.”
“That’s why I love him,” Dean said before he even thought of what he was going to say. The words just came out as smooth and easily as silk.
“I know,” Neil said with a half smile. “Lee is growing and doesn’t need us the way he used to. And he won’t any longer.” He sighed and pushed himself up out of the chair to join the rest of his family, leaving Dean alone until Lee returned and sat next to him.
“What’s next?” Lee asked.
“Your mom is going to make dinner, I think,” Dean answered.
“No, I mean what’s next in the big picture, for you and me?” Lee smirked in that way that always set Dean’s heart racing, then leaned closer and kissed him.
“I don’t know. And maybe that’s the real fun in life. Hav
e you ever been on a roller coaster? There are ups and downs, just like in life, but it’s always a great ride.”
And with Lee by his side, Dean hoped this ride would go on forever.
Epilogue
“DEAN,” LEE called from out front as he waited for Dean to close up the garage just after noon. He held his bag and lifted his head upward, letting the sun warm his skin a little.
A deep rumble grew louder, and Lee grinned. He knew that sound.
“Come on and get in,” Dean called as the Cobra drew closer. “I think it’s time we take this baby for its first spin. I need to show it—and my sexy boyfriend—off a bit.”
Lee opened the door and carefully slid into the passenger seat, putting his bag at his feet and settling into the snug interior.
The work on the Cobra had taken almost a year. The business had been such a success, with new commissions coming in quickly once the first restored cars had been delivered to their owners, that there hadn’t been a lot of time to fix up the Cobra. He and Scott worked in the restoration garage almost exclusively now, as did Dean and two other mechanics. There was a jack-of-all-trades guy named Cole, and Maria, who they called the mistress of the drivetrain, though if she ever heard herself referred to that way, she’d probably take the speaker’s head off. Maria was tough, and Lee liked her a lot.
“Ready to ride?” Dean asked.
“Yes, but shouldn’t Scott be here for this too? He did as much work as I did.” Lee didn’t want him to be left out.
“Scott is going to be able to take it for a drive, but I wanted to give you the first ride.” The engine revved, and Dean pulled out onto the road. The ride was amazing, as was the sheer power. This was as much a dream come true for him as it had to be for Dean. “It sounds awesome.”
“Sure does,” Lee said over the air that rushed around them. “This is so awesome,” he cried into the wind, letting it carry his words away.
They rode for a while, and then Dean turned, building up speed, and suddenly they were heading down the freeway. What a glorious time!
Dean took his hand for a second once he had shifted into overdrive, and they zipped down the highway. “This is worth all the hard work, setbacks, and troubles locating parts. I always wanted to drive one of these.” Dean sounded like a little kid in a candy store.
After a few minutes, he slowed down and took an offramp, then eventually came to a stop at a traffic light.
“That’s amazing!” a man said from next to them. “Beautiful car.”
That made Lee smile. He had been a major part of bringing it back to life, and it felt like the car itself was showing off. Lee waved, and they moved on, making a left turn and then another.
“Are we going home?” Lee asked as Dean made a few more turns and pretty much screwed up his sense of direction.
“Eventually,” Dean answered. “I’m going to take it back to the shop and lock it up there. Then you and I can go home.” A few minutes later, he added, “I’m taking side streets this time,” Dean explained as the wind blew Lee’s hair, tinged with the growing scent of the water, which only got more intense as they pulled to a stop.
“Where are we?” Lee knew they weren’t at the garage or at home.
“On the bluff, overlooking the lake.” Dean got out and, a few moments later, opened Lee’s door. He stepped onto the concrete parking area, and Dean led him onto the grass. The whistle of the wind and the pounding waves washed away any sounds of the city. It was just them, surrounded by the power of nature in all her glory.
“Are we stopping for something?” Lee turned toward the water, lifting his nose to catch the intense scent.
“Yes.” Dean took his hands. “Lee, I found you at just the right time in my life, and I have been grateful ever since. You fill my days with joy, and I’ve never felt the way I do when I’m with you.”
“Dean, I….”
“Lee, let me get this out. I practiced what I wanted to say. Well, sort of, and now I’ve lost my place.” Dean’s hands shook slightly. “So, I’ll just come out with it. I want to ask you to marry me. I want to be with you forever, and I want to stand in front of all our friends and family and make it official.”
Lee pulled his hand away and wiped his eyes. He was speechless. Yes, marriage was legal and it was open to them, but the idea was something he hadn’t really considered. “Me? You want to marry me?”
“With all my heart.” Dean took his hand again.
“Then, yes. I will marry you,” Lee said, silent tears rolling down his cheeks. “I can’t wait to tell my mom she gets to help plan a wedding.” Lee smiled, and Dean gathered him into his arms, sweeping him off his feet.
“I love you, Lee, so very much.” Dean kissed him hard, deeply, and Lee held on for dear life. And he’d keep holding on, for what he hoped was the rest of his life—their lives, together.
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