Close To Home IV

Chapter 11





“How bad is it, Doc?” Brian asked the doctor on duty in the ER.

“You definitely have a major infection in your right leg.  It looks like a staph infection,” the doctor replied.  “Did you have a cut to that leg?”

“I think I know what happened,” Brian said slowly.  “I scraped it when we were moving into our new house.”

“That would explain it,” the doctor said.  “You need to be really careful with cuts and scrapes.  We don’t want to be dealing with septicemia.”

“Septicemia?” Justin asked.

“It can be fatal,” the doctor warned.

“But this…?” Justin continued afraid of the possible answer.

“It’s an infection that we can deal with by the looks of it.

“That’s good,” Justin said with a sigh of relief.

“We’re going to start you on some IV antibiotics and we’ll continue them overnight. You’re lucky you got here when you did.”

“He has to stay all night?” Justin asked his voice sounding very small and worried.

“I think it’s the best procedure to follow,” the doctor explained.  “These staph infections can be hard to get the better of.”

“But … couldn’t I take the antibiotics orally?” Brian asked.  “I really don’t want to stay in the hospital all night.”

“You don’t like our five star rooms and superior service?” the doctor joked.

“As wonderful as the amenities may be, I’d rather be home,” Brian protested.

“I don’t want to take a chance that the oral antibiotics might not do their job.  Then we’d have an even bigger problem to deal with,” the doctor continued in his professional but unbending manner.

“I think it might be best to stay,” Brian,” Justin said, having listened to the doctor’s sobering words.

“I want to go home,” Brian stated.  “I don’t like hospitals.  I’ve spent too much time in them already.”

“Doctor, can you give us a moment?” Justin asked.

“Sure, I’ll go arrange for the tech to come start your IV.”  He gave Brian a pointed look before leaving the cubicle.

“You’re on the fucking doctor’s side, aren’t you?” Brian griped.  “I should have known.”

“You sound like a fucking petulant two year old,” Justin lit into him.  “Grow the fuck up!  You have a serious infection.  You’re fucking staying here until we know it’s under control.  And I’m not on anybody’s side except yours.  I want you to be okay.”

Brian’s face flushed and his mouth opened.  Justin waited for the diatribe that he fully expected from Brian.  When nothing came out, Justin stared into Brian’s eyes.

“I love you, you know,” Justin whispered.  “I want you to be okay.  You need to stay here.”

“Will you stay with me?” Brian asked, feeling like the scared little two year old that Justin had just called him.

“Of course I will.  And you’re going to be fine.”

“Yes, Dr. Taylor,” Brian said trying to get his patented smirk to work.  It fell kind of flat.

“You must be the lucky fellow who’s getting the good drugs,” a handsome black tech said as he pushed the curtain aside and entered the cubicle, carrying his little basket of tools.

Brian’s gaydar immediately pinged.  “I don’t think what you’re going to give me falls into the category of good drugs,” Brian told the man.

“My name’s Charles, and you’ll be getting very good drugs for what ails you.  Trust me.”

“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it,” Brian said in not too snarky a voice.

“Let the man do his job, Brian,” Justin cautioned laying a hand on the arm that Charles wasn’t working on.

“This is going to…”

“Hurt you more than it hurts me,” Brian interrupted Charles.

Charles laughed.  “No, I was going to say that this was going to prick a little bit.”  Brian raised an eyebrow.  “But it’s all done.  I’ll send the nurse in to start the drug regimen.”  Charles gathered up what he had used and threw some packets in the trash can.  He headed for the curtain.

“Thanks, Charles,” Justin said.

“You’re very welcome.  Get well soon,” Charles added with a tiny wink in Brian’s direction.

“He was flirting with you,” Justin said annoyed, since he had been so pleasant with the tech.

“Some of us simply have it,” Brian smirked.

“Asshole,” Justin said smacking Brian’s arm affectionately.  He made sure he touched the arm without the IV port.

“Mr. Kinney, I have your IV,” a nurse said as she entered the cubicle.  She quickly hooked Brian up.  “We have a bed for you on the fourth floor.  The orderly should be in soon to take you up there.”

“Thanks,” Justin said with a smile.  “I want to spend the night with my partner,” he added making sure the nurse knew how serious he was about that, and stressing the word partner.  “Can that be arranged?’

The nurse raised an eyebrow, but then smiled back.  “I’ll check with the doctor,” she said before leaving.

“You don’t need to stay,” Brian said. “I’m a big boy.  I can do this on my own.”

“You’ve sure changed your tune from a few minutes ago.  Did you make a date with that tech when I wasn’t looking?”

Brian glared at him.  “Yeah, we’re going dancing at midnight right after I get up out of this chair.”

Justin winced.  Brian could see that his words had hurt both him and Justin.

“I’m staying,” Justin stated.

“I was just … teasing,” Brian said trying to mollify Justin after what he had said.

“I don’t care if you were teasing.  I’m still staying.”

Brian smiled.  That was just one of the hundreds of reasons that he loved Justin Taylor.  Justin always knew when Brian really needed him.  And he did need Justin no matter what idiotic words came out of his fucking mouth.  “Well, if you insist,” he said with his own wink for his partner.

“I do.”

“Okay then.”

Some time later they moved Brian to a room.  Justin went with a nurse to arrange to stay with Brian, while the orderly took Brian upstairs.  Once everything was arranged, they watched a little TV in Brian’s room, until Brian seemed to get a bit drowsy.

“You want to sleep?” Justin asked.

“I think you should go home.  You need sleep as much as I do.”

“I’m not going anywhere.  This chair folds out to a makeshift cot,” Justin informed him.  “The nurse showed me when you were being brought up here.  I’ve got a blanket and a pillow over there.”  Justin pointed to the linens on a nearby counter.

“I … I need you to call Cynthia in the morning and tell her I’m going to be off work tomorrow and probably the next day.  Tell her to keep it under her hat about what’s going on.  I don’t want to show any weakness, especially to…”

“Kip Thomas.”

“Yeah, and Marty Ryder.”

“You’re not still planning to buy the company, are you?” Justin asked in surprise.  Surely this infection would make Brian think twice about adding more stress to his life.

“I most certainly am,” Brian stated.  “I have almost all the details worked out.”

“But…” Justin started; however, he knew it was useless to continue.

“You don’t think I can handle running the company.  I knew you felt that way.”

“Shut up!” Justin ordered calmly.  “I think no such thing.  I just worry about the added stress running the whole company will cause you, when you don’t have to do it.”

“Oh,” Brian said softly, “I want to do it.”

“I know.”

“So, you’re all right with it?”

Justin sighed.  “I’m as all right with it as I can be.  I don’t like it, but you know I’m behind you a hundred percent whatever you decide to do.”

“Thanks.”

“Now go to sleep.”

“Okay, I’ll try.  Sleeping in a hospital is no bed of roses.”

“More like a hard, lumpy bed of nails,” Justin said as he opened the chair and felt the support he would get when he laid down.  He pushed it up against Brian’s bed.

“I told you to go home.”

“I’m staying.  Now shut up and go to sleep.”

Brian chuckled.  “How could I disobey, master?”

“Don’t disobey.  Do as you’re told.”

Brian closed his eyes and let his head sink into the pillow.  He felt Justin take his hand and a little smile played around his lips.

“Stop smiling,” Justin ordered.  “You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

“I might sleep better if you fucked me first,” Brian said keeping his eyes closed and whispering.

“Wait till we get home,” Justin chided.

“Don’t you realize that was why I wanted to go home?”

It was Justin’s turn to chuckle.  “You are incorrigible.”

“That’s why I’m still alive.”

“Brian…”

“I know I shouldn’t say stuff like that, but it’s how I feel.  If I wasn’t such an ornery asshole, I would have given up long ago.”

“I love you, you ornery asshole, and I’m glad you didn’t give up.”

“I almost did that one time…”

“Let’s not talk about that.  It didn’t happen,” Justin said emphatically, not wanting to think about Brian’s despair at that moment in his life.

“Yeah, better left in the past,” Brian said softly.  “I do hate fucking hospitals though.  Nothing’s going to change that.”

“Go to sleep and don’t think about being in the hospital.  Think about sleeping in our beautiful new bed.”

“Mmm.”

“That’s better,” Justin whispered sensing Brian was letting himself go to their home, their bed, at least in his mind.  Maybe those pleasant thoughts would let him sleep.

“Time to take your blood pressure, Mr. Kinney,” an officious nurse said as she came through the door.

“He’s sleeping,” Justin said annoyed that the woman had barged right in.

“Not anymore,” Brian said with a sigh.

“Good, then I’ll take your blood pressure, like I do with all my patients at this time of night,” the woman said, looking pointedly at Justin.  “You must be the partner who’s staying the night.”

“Correct,” Justin said forcefully, making it clear that he would not be driven away by her or anyone else.

“Suit yourself,” she said.  “Those chairs are about as comfortable as a torture rack.”

“The chair is just fine,” Justin lied.

“No hanky-panky,” the woman said as she breezed out of the room.

“What the fuck!” Justin gasped.  “How dare she?”

“Maybe my ancient reputation has preceded us,” Brian said sleepily.

Justin was about to start a rant about the nerve of some nurses, but the tired tone of Brian’s voice made him think twice about doing that.  “Go back to sleep,” Justin said gently.

“I’m trying.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Hold my hand.”

Justin smiled.  He remembered the bad ass Brian he had first met at the loft.  That Brian would never have dreamt of asking someone to hold his hand.  Justin picked up Brian’s hand and wove his fingers with Brian’s.  He laid the hand back on the bed and stared at Brian’s beautiful face.  He thanked the gods or God or whatever powers ruled the universe that he had found Brian.  He also prayed that they might have many good years together.

“Your eyes are burning a hole in my face,” Brian said.

“I didn’t know I had X-ray vision,” Justin chuckled.

“You’re my superhero.”

“And you’re mine.”

“Not much of a superhero who can’t even fucking walk.”

“You’re the best kind of superhero there is, someone who’s real and honest and caring.  And you’re all mine.”

“At least the last part of that is true,” Brian said with a long sigh.

“Sh,” Justin whispered.  “I love you.”

“I know, and I love you back.”

“Good night, Mr. Kinney.”

There was no answer, but that was all right with Justin.  Brian needed to sleep.  And Justin knew he would keep his fingers linked with Brian’s.  They would give strength to each other through the long night ahead.