by Chris T. Kat
As soon as he disconnected, I blurted, “Who was it?”
“The hospital. Alex is awake and fully conscious. Heart rate seems to be normal and his core temperature is still low but within the normal range, so they got him off the ventilator.”
I sucked in the information, feeling the tight, steely band around my heart easing up. “That’s good.”
“The nurses seemed to have liked him better when he was unconscious.”
“What? Why?”
“He’s driving them crazy with his demands to get a room together with Sean. He actually threatened them with a lawsuit if they don’t comply within an hour. They were busy changing rooms and called to tell me the new room number so we wouldn’t search for him. Oh, and he asked for you.”
The effect this statement had was ridiculous. A huge grin spread over my face. “He did?”
“Yeah. Well, not exactly asked. After making sure you were all right, it was more along the lines of ‘why the fuck isn’t he at my side, holding my hand?’”
Chapter 27
I LAUGHED. That sounded definitely like my Alex.
Parker grinned at me. “Sounds like your boy is okay.”
“It seems so. Could we….” I trailed off.
“Get to the hospital so you can see him? Although Williams wants to talk to you first thing this morning? Well, you’re in no way fit to drive and I left my car at the medical center, so it won’t be my fault when you get away from me, right?”
“As long as you won’t be right at his side, no,” David chimed in.
Parker’s head whipped around, a searching look on his face. A knowing smile appeared on David’s face and Parker blew him a kiss. David looped an arm around Parker’s waist, really kissed him, and said, “It’s okay, Pu—uh, Parker.”
I snorted while Parker rolled his eyes. “You,” he made an encompassing gesture with his arm to include both of us, “are horrible and I’ll make sure to play the guilt card.”
“I won’t say a word, honestly,” I assured him quickly.
Expectantly, Parker gazed at David, who said, “You do what you think is right. Now help Jeff find some decent clothes.”
Parker strolled toward David’s bedroom and emerged from there a short time later. He threw a package of clothes to me and said, “There you go.”
“In case you want to take a shower, either Parker or I will accompany you to make sure you don’t faint,” David told me matter-of-factly.
Deciding that staring at him and waiting for him to develop two more heads was futile, I settled on shaking my head. “I’ll skip the shower.”
THE half-hour ride to the medical center was torture. I squirmed in my seat and gnashed my teeth at each red light. Every fucking light on our way turned red for an annoyingly long period of time.
As soon as David killed the engine in the parking lot, I opened my door and rushed out. I barely remembered my manners and called, “Thanks for all of your help, guys!”
Parker shouted something after me but I was already too far away to understand him. My legs covered the ground amazingly fast, especially considering that my muscles had refused to cooperate with me maybe an hour and a half ago. Interpreting this as a good sign, I walked inside and punched the elevator button for Alex’s floor. Fortunately, Parker had been very forthcoming with that information; otherwise I wouldn’t have known where to go to now.
I drummed my fingers against my thigh while I waited for the elevator. Finally the liberating ping of the elevator announced its arrival. I stepped inside without bothering to let other people walk out first. It earned me some glares.
The elevator only stopped once before my floor came along, and when it arrived at my destination, I practically burst through the doors. Hurrying along the corridors, I checked the numbers on the rooms.
I saw my destination early as it was clearly labeled by a uniformed officer standing in front of it. As I approached him, I wondered what he’d made of me kissing Alex. Or maybe he hadn’t seen the news?
The icy stare I received from him told me all I needed to know. Politeness obviously wasn’t required if dealing with a gay man. Even if said man held a higher rank. The uniformed officer nodded at me. “Detective.”
“Officer….” I searched for his nametag on his uniform, “Lopez. Pleasure to meet you.”
His face contorted into an ugly mask. That was why I didn’t want anyone finding out. I’d get quite a few similar reactions in the future. Ignoring the queasy feeling in my stomach, I plastered the sweetest smile I could muster on my face. “I take it there’s no problem with me visiting my lover, right?”
Lopez vigorously bobbed his head up and down. He stepped aside, bringing as much space between him and me as possible. If I was a homicidal boyfriend, Alex would be an easy target right now. I doubted Lopez would mind. Pushing my anger aside, I opened the door.
TWO beds occupied the room. One had railings up on each side and a small figure laid there huddled under a blanket. The occupant of the other bed had an IV drip attached to his right hand and various cables to his chest.
“Hey! About time you showed up!” Alex greeted me in a scratchy voice.
I didn’t move an inch at first, too overwhelmed by the fact he recognized me. Alex beckoned me over, swinging the line of the drip back and forth.
I moved quickly. I heard Alex muttering a surprised “Oomph!” when I pulled him up and against my chest, my arms locking viselike around his torso. Seconds later his hands scrabbled along my back, searching for something to hold on. He settled for the back of my collar and gripped tightly.
For some time, I was aware only of our harsh breathing, our chests pressing against each other, and Alex’s steady heartbeat. I glanced at what I figured to be a heart monitor next to his bed. Lines appeared there in up-and-down waves, showing his heart working as it should.
The horrible image of a flat line on this monitor popped up in my head. I squashed this thought by cradling the back of Alex’s head in my hand and kissing him on his cheek. Voice rough, I said, “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Me too. Because not being okay would seriously suck. Not to mention all the paperwork that would follow—”
“Alex!” I snapped.
I pushed his head slightly backwards so I could see his face. I confirmed my suspicion when I looked into his watery eyes. “Stop mucking about. This is no joke and no tough-guy contest. Got it?”
Alex nodded as he pushed back into my embrace. Seconds later, I heard as much as felt him start to cry. I held him, rubbed his back, and occasionally offered what I hoped would be comforting words. Mostly, I kissed parts of his tear-stained face every time his sobs seemed to get a hysterical edge. He calmed down each time.
Exhausted from crying and probably being scared out of his mind, Alex drifted off to sleep. When I was sure he was sound asleep, I lowered him back on the bed and pulled up the blanket. A very low trill caught my attention. Looking over at the other bed, I found Sean’s eyes wide open.
“Hey.”
Sean grunted a reply. He flailed his arms around, accompanied by a few more, distinctively questioning-sounding trills. He quickly became exasperated with me when I puzzled over the meaning of his questions for a while. Finally, it dawned on me. “Oh, you want to know if Alex is okay.”
Sean nodded and stopped flailing his arms in the air.
“It seems so, doesn’t it? I’ll ask the doctor later, okay?”
Sean huffed and scowled at me. I was at a loss. “You wanted to ask something else?”
He shook his head.
“But I didn’t tell you all you wanted to know?”
A nod. I groaned. “Sean, I can’t interpret your, uh, noises as easily as Alex does. How about we wait for him to wake up and you ask him?”
Sean stared at me for a while, motionlessly. Then a tear rolled down his cheek, quickly followed by another one. Alarmed, I got up and rounded his bed. “Hey, hey, no reason to cry, okay?”
Sean
patted his face before pointing at Alex. He did this several times until his movements became too clumsy and he mostly slapped himself.
A flashbulb went off for the second time today. “I’m a bit slow on the uptake, huh? You want to know if he’s okay because he cried.”
Another nod, this time accompanied by what counted as a smile for Sean.
Smiling back, I said, “Yes, he’s okay. Sometimes you just need to cry before you can feel better.”
After heaving a heavy sigh, Sean closed his eyes. Maybe one minute later his breathing evened out. I straightened the blanket and made sure he was sufficiently covered. For a moment I debated whether I should go to the station and talk to Williams. Instead, I retrieved the one and only chair in the room, positioned it next to Alex’s bed, took his hand into mine, and waited for him to wake up.
ALEX woke up half an hour later due to a nurse checking on him. She radiated that deep sense of contentment that comes from doing the work she loved. I craned my head to read her nametag, which identified her as Marion.
She sent me a beatific smile as she changed the bag with fluids on Alex’s IV stand. Sluggishly, Alex tried to fend her off while she took his temperature. I captured his other hand and held them both in mine, gently rubbing my thumbs over the back of them. He blinked his puffy eyes open, and for a split second I feared he wouldn’t recognize me.
“You’re still here,” he croaked.
“I have been told you weren’t too pleased with my absence this morning.”
Marion giggled while she rearranged his blankets to her satisfaction. Alex threw me an irritated glance, but I could only shrug.
Marion caught a glimpse of our silent conversation and spoke up. “You were a real mess when you woke up this morning and noticed that he,” she pointed at me, “wasn’t there. You really gave us a hard time. The doctor was close to giving you a sedative. Of course, after what you’ve been through, your reaction is very understandable. To top all that you woke up with a tube in your throat, which must have been frightening.”
Gently, she pushed a stray lock from Alex’s forehead and bent down to whisper in his ear, “You caught yourself a fine man, a real hero. You must be proud of him. Now get some rest, young man, so you’ll be discharged soon.”
Alex gawked at her retreating back before he managed to stammer, “W-What the hell? I m-mean, what was that about?”
“Apparently, there was a news helicopter filming the whole rescue scene. Let’s say our relationship is out in the open,” I filled him in.
His eyes widened. I wondered if he feared problems at his job, but he interrupted my train of thought by asking, “Are you in trouble now?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. I was supposed to have a talk with my boss this morning.”
“Why aren’t you there?”
“Williams can yell at me at any time, and… I wanted to see you.”
I concentrated my gaze on his hands, allowing myself to feel the warmth of them seeping into mine. Alex swallowed audibly before he cleared his throat and gently slipped free his hands. Had I said too much? Too mushy?
Alex squirmed closer to me and linked his hands behind my neck. His fast and shallow puffs of breath tickled me. I frowned when I realized his heart was racing. “Alex? What’s going on? I’m relatively sure there’s an alarm that’ll go off if your heart beats any faster.”
He gulped in air and purposefully attempted to slow down his heartbeat. When he spoke, he sounded choked and tearful. “I wanted to see you too. So very badly.”
“Just to give you fair warning, you’ll get to see me more often in the future. You might regret your words.”
He lifted his head to look at me. “No, I won’t, but what about you? I don’t come alone, you know that. I won’t give Sean up. Not even for you.”
His gaze skimmed away and his arms lost their strength around me. I prevented him from withdrawing completely by cupping his face in my hands. I coaxed him into looking at me again. Those dark eyes shined with sadness. After shaking my head, I kissed him firmly on his lips. “I know all that. I’d never ask you to give up Sean for me.”
“No, maybe you wouldn’t ask for it outright. But you’ll get tired of him coming first and….” He would have shifted away from me had I given him the chance. When I didn’t, he continued softly, “Maybe we should stop seeing each other. It might be bearable now.”
My hands around his face tightened. I had to consciously unclench them so as not to hurt him. Through gritted teeth, I squeezed, “No, it won’t. At least not for me. Alex, come on, don’t make me beg.”
“But—”
“No. We’ve already been over this, remember? In one of our seriously weird after-sex talks.” I dredged up a tiny smile. “We’re both taking a risk. I can’t promise you it’ll work out. I can only promise you to try, very hard. Sean is not a problem for me.” Upon seeing his doubtful gaze, I hurriedly added, “Well, not anymore. I might not always feel comfortable, but I will try to get there.”
In the end, I begged nonetheless. “Please, Alex.”
“Geez, Jeff! How could I possibly say no to that?”
A whole wall of bricks that had surrounded my heart crumbled. Pathetic, but true.
I pulled him into a tight hug, which caused him to say, “You might want to leave my ribs unbroken.”
Both of us chuckled as I loosened my grip around him. Hoping to snatch another kiss before I eventually had to head over to the station, I tilted my head. Our lips didn’t meet because the door opened. A jabbering, downright hysterical Winston Bernard stumbled into the room. Lopez followed him but turned on his heels when he caught a glimpse of Alex and me entangled in a tight hug.
Suppressing the urge to rip his stupid head off his shoulders, I kept my mouth shut. Alex brought some space between us and greeted Winston. The old man continued to gabble incoherently, then turned sharply to the door.
Something inside me snapped to alertness in an instant. The door lock clicked shut. Turning back to us, the bus driver pointed a 9mm Beretta at us.
Chapter 28
ALEX inhaled sharply. So did I.
Getting up, I held out my hands placatingly. “Mr. Bernard, what seems to be the problem?”
I positioned myself between the crazy old man and Alex’s bed. Cold sweat already coated my back. I desperately wished for my own gun. It would at least provide us with some kind of protection.
“What seems to be the problem?” Winston screeched.
Bedding rustled in the background. I heard Alex mutter something soothing to Sean. Why did the kid have to wake up right now? If he started to trill or grunt or emit some of his other noises, it could tip Winston right over the edge.
Quietly, I repeated, “Yes, that’s what I asked. Why are you waving a gun in here?”
Winston cackled. The sound raised the hairs on my body. Stiffening my spine, I spread my stance slightly, hoping to intimidate the bus driver by my sheer bodily presence. It had worked in my favor before. Not this time, though.
Winston took a few steps in our direction but kept enough of a distance between us. “I’ll need the gun to finish my job.”
“Which job would that be?” And why didn’t Lopez break down the door? I made a mental note to punch him in the face when we were done here.
“He was supposed to drown! It could have been so easy! The wheelchair is heavy; there was no chance for him to survive! The impact on the water alone should have broken his neck! Everything would be fine now!” Winston yelled.
Sean squeaked in protest. I flinched when Winston pointed his gun around wildly. “Stupid little thing. He’s not worth living and ruining other people’s lives!”
“Winston! What are you talking about? This is Sean you’re talking about. You like him.”
“Alex,” I hissed.
My warning came too late. Winston zeroed in on Alex, his face contorted in a mask of fury and disgust. Taking a step back to avoid coming into my reach, Winston said to me, “
Over there. Back to the wall. Now!”
I obeyed. Dry-mouthed, I watched Winston move around Alex’s bed. For a split second I thought I saw his expression soften. Instead, he slapped Alex right across his mouth, drawing a surprised shout from him.
I stepped forward on autopilot only to have Winston snarl at me, “You stay put. Alexander and I need time for a little chitchat before I blow his brother’s brains out.”
Sean whimpered. Alex did the same.
I watched Winston grip Alex by his hair, tilt his head back to a painful angle, and press the muzzle of the gun against his left temple. The heart monitor beeped in alarm.
“I never liked your brother. He’s ugly, disgusting, a disgrace to humankind. He’s not worth the care he receives. But I liked you. Because you’re compassionate, you care and are willing to make sacrifices. It shows an admirable strength in you.” His voice softened as he added, “Just like my Nelly.”
“Who’s Nelly?” I asked.
Winston gazed at me thoughtfully while he kept his hold on Alex, whose eyes were wide open. Fear was etched in every line on his face.
“I know what you’re trying to do. You want to keep me talking so I might change my mind. Not going to happen, Detective Woods. Yes, I did my homework and know who you are,” he spat.
“That couldn’t have been too difficult since it was probably all over the news last night.”
I wished I had kept my mouth shut and let him continue to gloat. His eyes narrowed before he let go of Alex’s hair. The relief was short-lived because his hand connected with Alex’s cheek, hard. Instinctively, Alex put a hand up to cover his hurt cheek. His eyes shone with unshed tears and he gasped when Winston tangled his big hand in his hair again.
The heart monitor shrilled by now. The sound of at least two people running toward the room reached my ears. Someone rattled the doorknob. Upon finding it closed, I heard Marion yelling, “Open the door!”