Desperate for Love

by Aliana James

  “Pancakes,” he mumbled, picking up to pick up the platter of pancakes and placing it in front of Alec.

  “Are you expecting company this morning?” Alec said, eyeing the food in front of him. Shit. His boyfriend. Peter.

  “Nope,” Travis answered as he sat and dug into his plate.

  “Thanks for the coffee and the food. I needed it.”

  “Still feeling the aftereffects, huh? I’ve never seen you drink so much.”

  Yup, definitely pissed. Travis hadn’t looked at him once. Alec took a bite of the omelet. The eggs, creamy and light, melted in his mouth.

  “Sorry. I don’t remember what the hell happened last night.”

  Travis frowned and continued to eat his breakfast. Maybe he had plans last night with his boyfriend? Bits and pieces from last night filtered through his brain. It rained; he remembered it drizzling when he got to the club. Travis wasn’t around when he first got to his favorite seat at the bar. A new bartender served him, then Jonas. His memory blanked out after that.

  Alec pushed his plate away, his queasy stomach signaling he’d eaten enough. Imagine waking up to this every day. He hoped his boyfriend knew he was a lucky guy.

  Travis gathered the plates in front of him. He placed them in the sink and handed him a bottle of water from the fridge. “Hydrate.”

  “Yes, Mom,” Alec said with a smirk.

  “Ass.” Travis smiled.

  “I hope I didn’t make things too awkward with you and Peter. I’m sure bringing home a strange guy to sleep on your floor isn’t weird.” Alec leaned against the counter drinking his water. He hadn’t met Peter; their schedules never worked out. Peter had never joined them at the gym, and he hadn’t run into him at Raven either.

  Travis eyed Alec’s plates still on the island in front of where he sat. “Can you grab those for me?”

  “I’ll clean.” Alec grabbed his plate and waited for Travis to move out of his way. “So what are you guys up to today? Sorry if I’m messing up your Sunday plans.”

  Travis looked into the living room, shoulders slumped. He tried not to gawk at Travis’s gorgeous hair, his slim waist or his sexy smile. His eyes paused on Travis’s ass and, still in deep thought, he nearly missed his reply.

  “No plans. No boyfriend. We’re better off as friends.”

  “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know. Why didn’t you mention it?”

  “I thought I had. He suggested we see other people.” Travis paused. “It’s been a change. For the both of us.”

  Travis’s ex was an idiot, but he refrained from saying anything to the effect. “What do you mean?”

  “He had a car accident in August. He needs help since his injuries were horrible and he’s having a bunch of regrets about us.” Travis waved his hand. “It doesn’t stop him from calling me. He hasn’t fully recovered and his family lives in Colorado.”

  Alec didn’t understand. Peter dumped Travis, dated other people, and then called him when he needed him? What an asshole. He was happy they’d never had a chance to meet. Alec dried the last of the plates and put them on the counter.

  “Where do these plates go?” he asked.

  Travis pointed to the cabinet above his head. “Sorry. I don’t mean to unload on you.”

  “It’s okay.” Alec reached up and put away their breakfast dishes. “The least I could do is listen.” What did he say to Travis last night? Did they talk?

  Alec folded the towel on the side of the sink. He could be domestic if he needed to be; he’d better learn to be if he had to get married. What to tell Travis? He needed someone on the outside to put this hot mess into perspective. Why share how screwed up his family was with anyone else?

  “Thanks for breakfast. And for dragging my ass here last night. I owe you.” Alec grabbed his wallet and phone off of the coffee table. Travis had a spotless place, so the last thing Alec wanted to do was make a mess. As if getting piss ass drunk last night wasn’t horrible enough.

  Torn between asking for details and apologizing again, he paused. The distance this morning between Travis and him baffled him. Better to leave it alone.

  “No problem.”

  “I’ll see you at the gym on Tuesday, right?” He opened the front door and Travis leaned on the doorjamb.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there,” Travis said.

  Alec walked toward the elevator, looked at his phone, and noticed it was dead. The hallway split on the way to the elevator, and when he glanced to make sure he didn’t go in the wrong direction, he tripped over something. Catching himself on the wall before he faceplanted, he got his bearings, and a moan sounded behind him.

  Turning at the sound, he gasped. The man lay slumped on the floor. He held his arm tight to his body as if it could fall off at any second. One eye was bright red, and the other was purple and closed. Dried blood on his face lingered from the open cuts on his cheek. The man’s foot lay at a weird angle, encased in his ripped and dirty jeans.

  Alec grabbed his phone.

  “Shit.” His phone was dead. He squatted in front of the man. “Hey. I’ll go get help, okay? Just hold on.”

  “Travis.” The man sucked in a deep breath. “Get Travis.”

  Alec stopped. “Tyler?” He crouched in front of the man. His face, disfigured and bruised, made it hard to be sure. The man grabbed his wrist with his uninjured hand, he found Alec’s hand and squeezed. As Alec looked at his face, he saw tears in his eyes.

  “Fuck. What the hell happened to you? Hold on, okay? My battery is dead. I’ll be right back.”

  He sprinted around the corner and banged his whole body into Travis’s door. He forgot to ring the buzzer and slammed his fist into the door two times.

  “Christ. What the hell?” Travis yanked the door open. “Alec? Why the hell are you banging on my door?”

  “Need your phone. It’s Tyler. He’s hurt by the elevator.”

  Travis turned and ran back into his apartment. He pushed his cell into Alec’s hand. Travis grabbed his keys and stuck his feet into his sneakers.

  “What? Where? Show me.”

  Alec dialed 911 and pointed down the hallway. “Right by the elevators.” Alec watched Travis break into a run and jogged behind him.

  Travis sank to his knees in front of his brother. Why Tyler? He was the sweetest kid. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen him.

  The 911 operator came on the line and Alec stated the emergency.

  “The ambulance is on its way,” Alec said.

  Travis cradled Tyler’s face.

  “Help is coming. Jesus, Tyler, what the fuck happened?”

  “Got jumped.” Tyler grimaced in pain. “Hurts to talk.”

  “Don’t make him talk Travis. You don’t want to aggravate any of his injuries.”

  Alec squeezed Travis’s shoulder. The elevator opened and two EMTs walked straight for them. They must have been close when he called.

  Travis’s shoulders shrunk inward and his eyes watered. Every moan from Tyler caused Travis to get more upset.

  Alec wanted to walk away. Even after his time in the service, he didn’t do well at the sight of blood or emergencies. But he owed him for last night. So he stayed in the hallway, while the EMTs put Tyler on a gurney.

  The EMT turned to Travis. “We’ll take your brother to Mercy Hospital.” He looked at Travis’s smiley face pajama pants. “Meet us there.” They turned and pushed the gurney into the elevator before Travis had time to blink.

  “Tyler! I’ll see you at the hospital.”

  Tyler raised his good hand in response.

  Travis sank down, grabbed both his knees, and sucked in a breath. As he stood, one tear rolled down his cheek. “Damn it!” He took a deep breath through his nose and balled his fists at his sides. “Not again, fuck!”

  “Hey.” Alec touched his shoulder. If this had happened to one of his siblings, he’d be inconsolable right now. “He’s on his way to the hospital. The doctors will take care of him.” He steered him toward his apartment.
“You need to change so we can go.”

  Tears soaked his face as he put his arms around Alec’s waist for support. A faint smile graced his lips. “You didn’t faint,” Travis said.

  “The army cured me. No choice over there.” Alec shrugged. To this day, he still hated the sight, the odor, hell, even the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. In Iraq, he didn’t have a choice but to get over his issues quick.

  He put his hand on the door over Travis’s head. Travis’s eyes were red, his nose was running, and his hair was sticking up from his hands running through it. Alec still thought he was gorgeous.

  Before he second-guessed himself, he pushed his way past Travis and into the apartment.

  “I’ll go with you to the hospital,” Alec said as he sat on the couch.

  Travis hadn’t moved from his spot by the door.

  “Trav?” Alec got back up and moved back around the corner. Travis stared at the picture on the wall. There were five guys in the picture. Travis stood in the middle, his smile huge. They were on the beach, all wearing board shorts, hamming it up. In the front, the small boy with a wide smile posed with his arms folded. Tyler had been in middle school when they were in college, but he loved to come visit and hang out with them.

  “Good times,” Alec said.

  “It was a fun day.”

  Alec touched the side of his arm. “Go change, so we can leave.”

  Alec spotted a charging station on the side table. He fished his phone out of his pocket and said a silent prayer the cord would work for his phone. When the cable clipped in place, he let out a huge sigh.

  Twenty-four hours ago, his life was perfect. Now, he didn’t have a clue about what to do. He, who planned everything, had no plan. He chuckled as he leaned his head back on the sofa and closed his eyes.

  His grandfather’s rules needed to wait. They had more pressing issues. Travis had said ‘Not again’ after the EMTs took Tyler away. What was he talking about? He leaned forward, still stiff from last night, and rolled his neck.

  Kane. Kane served with him in the Army and he now ran the security division of his grandfather’s company. He could figure this out. Travis emerged from the bedroom as he scrolled through his contacts. He would text Kane once they got an update at the hospital.

  “Let’s go,” Travis said.

  He needed answers. Now.

  Travis

  The taxi caught every red light on the way to the hospital. Travis fidgeted in his seat as he wished the driver to go faster. Alec placed his large hand on Travis’s knee.

  Travis sat still. It terrified him to think Tyler could die before they got to the hospital. What had he gotten himself into this time?

  He remembered a year ago when he paid the last debt. Tyler’s penalty from the loan sharks, three broken ribs, and a broken nose. If Tyler needed more money, he didn’t have it.

  The cab came to a stop, and he jogged up the steps to the emergency room. Shit, he hadn’t paid the cab driver. Alec waved him ahead.

  Two nurses manned the desk, one seated while the other stood behind her and pointed over her shoulder at the computer.

  “Excuse me?” Travis waited for them to notice him. When the one standing looked his way, he spoke. “I’m looking for my brother, Tyler Andrews.”

  The nurse sitting in front of the computer clicked the mouse on the screen, pulled the keyboard toward her, and typed. She glanced behind him at Alec, then smiled at him as she grabbed a piece of paper from a stack on the side.

  “Here are passes for both of you. Go through those doors, past security. He’s in 12A on the left.”

  Travis grabbed the passes and they walked toward the doors.

  Sounds of misery hit their ears before the doors to the emergency room even opened to allow them access. They passed a woman with her head bandaged sitting in a wheelchair. People ran across hallways in and out of rooms. A nurse or a doctor grabbed a clipboard and stopped to talk to two other nurses. The three of them left the huddle and walked in different directions.

  The wailing grew louder. Travis cringed and prayed their pain stopped soon. The person sounded miserable. A melody of beeps echoed from each alcove they passed. Alec pointed out the numbers on the wall and they followed them around the corner.

  More wailing. Then a shout.

  “That hurts! Owww!”

  Tyler! Travis recognized his voice and sprinted to his brother’s room. Pushing aside the curtains, two nurses were trying to get blood from his brother’s arm.

  “Mr. Andrews, you need to stay still. You’ll aggravate your arm.” The nurse changed out the vial for the next one.

  “Tyler, I’m here” Travis brushed past the second nurse to position himself near his brother’s head. One butterfly bandage was on his forehead and a large square one was on his left cheek. The dried blood caked into his chin and neck was no longer there. His eyes were swollen, and he had a difficult time opening them.

  “Travis.” Tyler hissed as the nurse changed the vial to the next one. “It hurts.”

  Travis turned to the nurse. “Has someone given him anything for the pain?”

  “Yes. He’s just gotten back from x-ray. They’ll take him to get his arm set soon.” She looked up at Travis and then at Alec. “And you are?”

  “His brother.” Travis answered her and looked at Tyler. “Try to relax. They put stuff in your IV.”

  The doctor opened the curtain and glanced at the chart in his hand. “Mr. Andrews?”

  Tyler, face scrunched up in pain, didn’t answer so Travis did. “Yes, he’s Tyler Andrews.”

  The doctor extended his hand toward Travis. “Dr. Wilder. I’m the orthopedic surgeon on call today.” He shook Alec’s hand next and held on longer than he had to. He wanted to walk up and put his arm around Alec’s waist. His mind remembered the feel of Alec’s hands on his body.

  Now was not the time for these feelings to surface.

  Dr. Wilder checked the IV bag and his vitals before leaning over the rail to lift Tyler’s ragged shirt. Someone cut it in the middle and it only half covered his abdomen.

  “The nurse said you are brothers?” Dr. Wilder looked at Travis and then at Alec. Dr. Wilder’s eyes swept over Alec’s chest. So quick that if Travis wasn’t paying attention, he might have missed it. What was with this guy?

  Alec looked at Travis with his eyebrows raised and smiled. “Travis is his brother, I am a… friend.”

  The doctor glanced at him as he glared at Alec. What the hell was wrong with him?

  “What’s wrong with Tyler, Doc?” Alec asked.

  Dr. Wilder examined Tyler, and Tyler drifted off to sleep. The tension in his face eased. The pain meds were working.

  “Your brother has a broken arm, several broken ribs, and a broken leg.” Dr. Wilder gestured to the hallway. “He’s resting, so let’s talk out here for a moment.”

  The three of them went out in the hall and Travis waited as the doctor answered a nurse’s question. Dr. Wilder signed a chart, his face tense.

  “What happened to him?” Dr. Wilder asked.

  “We don’t know. We found him in the hallway by my apartment. Someone jumped him.”

  The doctor folded his arms across his chest, raised his eyebrows, and glared at him. “These types of fractures result from two people and a baseball bat.”

  The shock on Alec’s face mirrored his own. “You’re saying two people attacked my brother with a baseball bat?”

  Dr. Wilder nodded. “Your brother has finger marks on his upper arms consistent with someone holding him still. The angle of the breaks suggests someone attacked him from the front while he was held. I notified the police.”

  What the hell had Tyler gotten himself into now? A sudden tightness in his throat made it hard for Travis to breathe. Alec grabbed his waist and anchor him to his side. Dr. Wilder glanced at Alec’s hands before looking at Travis.

  Travis took a deep breath and leaned against Alec. He watched the nurse look at them and then at the doctor a
nd shook her head.

  “I have to set his arm and his leg. I’ll admit him for at least two days to see how he heals. An optometrist will be in once the swelling decreases to look at his bruised eyes. Questions?”

  Travis shook his head and left Alec to go back to Tyler. As the curtain closed, he heard Alec tell the doctor to work on his bedside manner.

  Chapter Five

  Travis

  Waiting had never been Travis’s strong suit. He sat in the hard plastic chair by his brother’s bed and wished he was anywhere but at the hospital. Hours had passed. The staff whisked Tyler away for test after test, each time the news grimmer and grimmer.

  Broken ribs, a broken leg, arm, and a fractured eye socket, the surgeon reported back to him. He wasn’t a fan of Dr. Zach Wilder but if he put Tyler back together again, he supposed he’d grow to like the man. Tyler wasn’t Humpty Dumpty, and this definitely wasn’t a nursery rhyme.

  Travis imagined the broken bones healed. The internal damage was much worse. How could he help Tyler? Yet another problem to figure out. That’s how it worked: Tyler fucked up and Travis fixed it.

  A hand squeezed his shoulder, and he jumped.

  “Sorry. Can you handle a cup of coffee or maybe something to eat?” Alec asked.

  He signaled for them to leave the room. As they passed the nurse’s station, he told them they were going for coffee. Alec’s silent footsteps followed him as they got on the elevator.

  It took a while for them to find a coffee shop. A large sign stating ‘Open 24 Hours’ greeted them. Travis sat at a table and unwrapped the muffin Alec had insisted he eat. He smiled. Since they arrived, Alec was on a mission to feed him.

  Had it only been this morning when they found Tyler in the hallway?

  Alec’s schedule made it hard on various days to even meet for a workout. Spending all day in a hospital had to put his life out of sync, so he appreciated him being there. He groaned as he remembered the huge meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning.