Attachment Strings (28 page)

“Parker!” David said.

“What? It’s true.”

“He had a dizzy spell and couldn’t stay upright without help just a few seconds ago. Either hand me the coffee so I can help him or you do it.”

“What?” I squeaked. “That’s not necessary, I’m fine.”

Parker smirked and sat down next to me, which caused the air in the mattress to shift rather dramatically. Another wave of nausea rolled through me. Even though I tried, I couldn’t completely suppress uttering a distressed moan.

“Maybe tea would be better,” David said.

“Coffee is alright. It’ll help boost my blood pressure.”

“I’ll drive you two to the medical center anyway. You should let yourself get checked out again.”

I grimaced. Parker held the mug with coffee under my nose and despite my protest held it for me. I swallowed down my pride and took a cautious sip, gauging the temperature. As it was still a bit too hot for my taste, I shook my head. Suddenly I remembered something. “I’m sure I heard wrong a few moments ago, but… did David call you
pup
?”

Parker stiffened and his cheeks flushed in the deepest red I’ve ever seen on a human face.

David sounded genuinely distressed when he said, “Oh damn! I’m sorry, Parker. It just slipped.”

I laughed as Parker groaned. He handed me the mug while saying, “Here. I decided you’re fit enough to hold it.” Toward David he hissed, “Couldn’t you just deny it? No,
you
had to confirm it!”

“I’m sorry I embarrassed you, but that’s no reason to speak to me in that tone of voice.”

Fascinated, I watched their interaction. Something I couldn’t grasp went on between them. My curiosity spiked so high that I could barely hold my tongue. Parker opened his mouth but shut it when David raised an eyebrow at him. He got up, his body language all but screaming
pissed off
. Anyone sensible wouldn’t try talking to him for the next few hours.

Parker’s voice matched his body language when he announced, “I’ll set the table.”

“Thank you.”

I watched Parker walk downstairs before I turned to David. He gave me a friendly smile and answered my unspoken question. “No, you probably don’t want to know what is going on. Just don’t give him a hard time about the pet name, will you?”

And let such a good opportunity for mocking him slip? David’s stare froze this train of thought. I heard myself muttering, “I won’t.”

David sat at my side and slowly eased his grip on me. We heard Parker puttering around, sometimes clanking the dishes a bit more forcefully than necessary.

The coffee helped me feel better and with David’s guidance I got up and went downstairs. Breakfast was a mostly silent affair, only interrupted by the occasional uttered, “Pass me the butter,” or whatever. Parker didn’t meet my eyes most of the time and moved in a way that showed he barely held onto his temper.

After breakfast, he began clearing the table and David helped. David told me to sit and drink my second cup of coffee. I felt almost human again, just with a thoroughly sore and exhausted body. When I peered over the counter into the kitchen, I saw David coming up behind Parker, wrapping his arms around him. Parker’s posture seemed far from inviting and I cringed. I would be seeing Parker flipping out and maybe destroying his tentative relationship with David.

David either didn’t recognize Parker’s clear message or he ignored it. He murmured something into Parker’s ear, which resulted in Parker nodding and molding against David’s body.

I blinked several times, then shook my head. Well, I most definitely hadn’t expected
that
reaction from Parker. I didn’t understand
how
they worked, just that they did. Would Alex and I work so well, too?

The mug in my hand suddenly doubled in weight, so I put it on the table. Nausea rose anew and I rested my head on my crossed arms on the table.

A gentle hand rubbed between my shoulder blades, asking, “Feeling sick or worried?”

“Sick and panicked.”

“Want me to—” The shrilling of his cell phone interrupted Parker.

My stomach clenched even more violently, threatening to spill its contents all over the floor. While I did my best to keep the upper hand, considering my breathing, I listened to Parker’s side of the conversation. I didn’t get much information out of it.

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?’”

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.”

T
HE
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.

T
WO
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.