“Is that so?” He chuckled, and their grip on each other relaxed a bit. He left his hand on Neil’s chest but eased up on the pressure, rubbing gently in circles instead. “I’m pretty sure he’ll do that for you. You can ask him yourself when he gets back.”
Neil grunted and sank back under, face relaxing.
Now, he needed their boy here. Immediately.
He lifted his hand from Neil’s chest and pulled his phone back out, glad for his doctor-dexterity as he texted Alain again one-handed.Hurry back, please. Neil is fine, but I need you here.
He didn’t get a text back, but he did get Alain, two Sprites, three bottles of water, a Coke, a Dr Pepper, two turkey sandwiches, and two huge cookies coming through the door as his phone dinged. “I’m back with goodies.”
“Wow.” He hurried to help, taking drinks and setting them on the window ledge. He wasn’t sure how much to tell Alain. On the one hand, he was trying to help his boy to feel safe in their city, and on the other he needed Alain to actually be safe right now. “Neil was awake, but he’s gone back to sleep comfortably now. He said to tell you he wants corn bread.”
That made Alain chuckle. “Every day. I can do it every day once he’s home. You look peaked. Have some food, hmm?”
He nodded. He was going to have to tell Alain something when the other Doms arrived, but right now they should both eat. “You too.”
“Yes, Sir. I watched them make the sandwiches. I told them, no raw onion or peppers for you, and the vinegar and oil. I know the onions upset your belly if they ain’t cooked.”
“Thank you. You really are the best boy. So thoughtful.” He pulled Alain over to sit and wondered what he’d do if he had to be alone in this hospital room with Neil right now. He was relieved he didn’t have to worry about that—one of the surprising and wonderful things he hadn’t really thought about when he and Neil took Alain on.
Together, they formed something stronger than any one of them alone.
“I bought a deck of cards downstairs. I figure we can play while we wait.” Alain wrinkled his nose. “Waiting is hard.”
“Right? I don’t like it either. But I’m good at cards.” He smiled at Alain. “Rummy?”
17
“Master! Master, take him and run!” They were coming for Alain and Isaac. He could see them, and he couldn’t keep them at bay any longer. “Run! Isaac, hurry!”
Cool fingers squeezed his, and a warm hand put pressure on his chest. Isaac’s calm, deep voice cut through his panic. “We’re here, boy. We’re all safe. You’re dreaming.”
“What?” Neil shook his head; something was in his nose, and nothing smelled right. “Help me. Something’s wrong.”
“You’re in the hospital, Neil. Take a deep breath, then try to open your eyes. You’re okay.”
Wait. What? “No. No, I was… I was meeting… I was… Something…” He couldn’t quite remember, but Isaac was here. “Kitten? Safe?”
“Right here, Chou. We good.” Someone squeezed his fingers again. That must be Alain.
“You were meeting a CI, and someone beat the hell out of you. Can you open your eyes?”
Oh, he’d been beaten before, that wasn’t too terrible bad. “Yeah. Yeah. I’m in the ER?”
He cracked his eyes open, and everything swam for a minute. Whoa.
“No, baby. You had surgery on your hip, you’ve been here for a little over a day. Blink slowly, let your eyes adjust.”
“My hip?” He sighed, eyes falling closed again as he fought to focus his thoughts.
“You done been shot, Chou. In the hip, and they had to take out the bullet. M’sieur says you got the good drugs, so I hope you don’t hurt too bad.”
“I—” Did he hurt? He wasn’t sure. Mainly he was heavy and tired. The pain came in waves.
“Just relax and take it slow, boy. Alain and I aren’t going anywhere, and we’ve got some friends outside the door. We’re all safe.”
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, it was dark, and his kitten was dozing in the pull-out chair while Isaac did work on his laptop. “I fell asleep. Can I have water?”
“Chips.” Isaac closed his laptop and moved to his side. The room was dim, just a couple of lights on. Isaac held a spoon to his lips. “Very exciting.”