Chapter 15 - The New Plan.
He wasn’t sure what time it was. It must be pretty late - or really, really early, depending on how you looked at it - since the amount of activity in the ER had now dwindled to practically nothing. Hobbs was now the only person sitting in the waiting area. All the other patients had finally been seen to and taken to rooms elsewhere in the hospital or released. There was only one nurse left at the admitting desk and for the past hour she’d been engrossed in some tacky paperback novel, only coming up for air for the occasional phone call to the desk or to respond when some other hospital staff person passed by. Nobody seemed to pay any attention to Hobbs. So, he continued to sit there, his mind blank, at a complete loss as to what he was supposed to do next.
Just as the scenery outside the ER waiting room windows started to become discernable, the darkness outside getting fainter as the night inevitably resolved itself into a new day, Chris was jarred out of his revery by the approach of a janitor pushing along a squeaky-wheeled cart filled with cleaning supplies. The elderly white man with the exaggeratedly drooping pot-belly parked his cart a dozen feet away from where Hobbs was sitting and proceeded to round up and empty the wastebaskets located randomly around the room. The man nodded to Hobbs with a half-smile as he passed Hobbs’ seat but didn’t otherwise acknowledge him.
“Norman,” said the nurse at the admitting desk, finally rousing from her reading at the sight of the janitor. “I’m sorry to bother you, but the paper recycling in the breakroom is overflowing. Could you please empty that before the day shift starts. They’ll give me shit about it if it isn’t taken care of before I leave tonight.”
“Of course, Ms. Gretchen,” replied the amiable janitor as he shuffled off towards a nook behind the admitting desk, leaving his cart where it was for the moment.
Gretchen, the nurse, followed behind the janitor as he passed, apparently to give him more instructions on how to empty the recycling, since it was really such a difficult job and might be too complicated for a janitor whose intelligence was presumed to be higher than that of your average trained monkey. When the two of them had left, Hobbs was all alone for the first time in the huge ER waiting area. His eyes were drawn to the janitor’s cart just a few steps away from him since it really was the only new thing of interest to stare at other than the chairs and other decor that he’d already been staring at for hours.
Norman, the janitor, apparently wasn’t quite as intelligent as the hypothetical trained monkey, though. The man had left his hospital ID badge and keys sitting openly on the top of the cart. Hobbs didn’t even really think about it - he just grabbed the keys and ID, unhooked the bag of dirty laundry that was hanging off the back of the cart and quickly made his way over to the hallway that led from the ER towards the main part of the hospital.
Fifteen minutes later, Hobbs emerged from a bathroom near the hospital cafeteria, now dressed in a set of dark green hospital scrubs, the errant staff ID badge pinned to the waistband of his pants where it was partially obscured by the long hem of the shirt, with the bag of dirty laundry (now including his own clothes) slung over his back.
Hobbs had a new plan. Now, he just had to figure out where they were keeping Taylor.
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The room was spinning; streaks of silver and white with bright splashes of color whirled around his head. Then Justin felt a large warm hand grab his hip, stopping his body from turning and instantly the room stopped spinning too. The white and silver streaks immediately resolved themselves into streamers and balloons. The splashes of color became the brightly hued dresses and suits of the people around him. Just then his sense of hearing returned and Justin could hear strains of an oldies song . . . 'Oh I know, that the music's fine, like sparkling wine, go and have you some . . .’
Then the most beautiful image he'd ever seen walked into Justin's range of vision - Brian. His beautiful chestnut hair was slightly tousled and his face was rosy from exertion. He was dressed, impeccably as always, in a dark charcoal suit, the rumpled black tux shirt underneath unbuttoned a bit so you could see tantalizing glimpses of the golden tan skin of his chest. Brian circled around Justin, his left arm holding Justin's hand high over the blond's head, until they were facing each other and then the strong brunet wrapped his right arm around the boy's slim waist, pulling their bodies close. Two heartbeats later, the pair was gliding along the dance floor, Brian leading them in a perfectly choreographed waltz.
Brian was smiling that sweet unselfconscious smile that Justin saw so rarely. Then Brian even laughed, the sound full of abandoned joy and fun. Justin was mesmerized by the light tinkling notes that seemed to drift around him, mixing the laughter with the glitter sparkling in the air until he couldn't see where the sparkling laughter ended and the glittery confetti began.
The two beautiful, enraptured men twirled about, the rest of the room fading into the background. Brian's large, expressive, hazel eyes were the only things that could hold the giddy blond's attention. Nothing in the rest of the world mattered. The only thing Justin could see was the unmistakable love shining out of his partner's eyes. That glimpse of the forbidden emotion made everything in Justin's world bright and happy and whole. Everything was right. This was how everything was meant to be.
The dancing seemed to go on and on and on. Each step either of the lovers took was perfectly choreographed. Not even the ground would dare to trip up this particular waltz. But since even perfection must eventually come to an end, the refrain of the music circled back towards the chorus and the final line of the song was imminent.
'Oh baby, save the last dance for me . . .’
Brian spun Justin around one last time. Then, as the music started to fade, the guiding right arm circled even more tightly around the younger man's waist and Justin felt his upper body being dropped backwards in a deep and elegant dip. He laughed in sheer amusement at the playful move, crooking his right leg up around Brian’s and letting his head fall back almost to the floor below. Brian’s strong arms pulled him back all the way upright and into a passionate embrace, the length of their bodies pressed firmly together.
For one frozen moment, the blue eyes locked with the hazel, and everything was perfect. Justin could never again doubt Brian's love from that moment on. His green and gold eyes revealed everything he'd been trying to hide in his heart for so long. Then, as if to seal their joy, Brian bent to capture his lover's full coral pink lips in a heart-stopping kiss.
The warmth of those dream lips pressed against his was palpable. Justin could even feel the moist heat of Brian's breath on his face, the familiar scent of sweetened coffee and cinnamon comforting and arousing at the same time. He didn't want to open his eyes and dispel the magic of this wonderful dream, so Justin kept his eyelids firmly closed.
Then, Justin felt Brian's fingertips move up to his face, trailing lightly down his cheeks and over his jaw. The delicious kiss deepened and the sensations were amplified by his lack of sight. The sleepy boy’s immediate reflex was to lean into that soothing touch and to bring his own hands up to entwine his fingers with those of his lover. So he did just that, wrapping his own grip around the strong wrists and revelling in the instant spark of recognition he got when his hand touched the bare skin of Brian’s forearm.
Except that’s when the first note of discord interrupted the flow of the beautiful dream. Justin’s left hand reached up at the same time as his right, but instead of contacting smooth, warm skin, he instead felt rough fabric and an edge of scratchy velcro strapping - sensations that just didn’t belong in his perfect dream of kissing Brian. The inconsistent touch of something that wasn’t his Brian’s soft smooth skin, jarred the boy out of his dream and he reluctantly let his eyes drift open.
As the darkened sapphire eyes fluttered open, Justin could see that it hadn’t been just a dream after all. Even after his eyes were open, the kissing went on, as did the tender, light caresses against the sides of his face and jaw. The overhead lights weren’t turned on and the weak light coming in through the nearby window wasn’t strong enough to light up much of his surroundings, but there was more than enough light for Justin to register the beautiful face of the man right in front of him. It was Brian, of course - his dreamland impressions hadn’t mislead him - he’d known those lips, those tender touches and that kiss even while he was unconscious. However, there was something not quite right with the image of Brian he now saw before him.
Justin immediately came fully awake and pulled back from the amorously kissing lips of his lover far enough that he could get a good look at Brian, who was obviously a little the worse for wear this morning. The incongruous feeling of Brian’s right wrist was apparently due to a sturdy looking canvas mesh and hard plastic brace strapped onto the brunet’s forearm and hand. And, to further disconcert Justin, Brian’s gorgeous countenance was marred by a nylon patch covering the man’s right eye.
“Shit, Brian!” Justin rasped out indignantly - his voice quiet and creaky but insistent - outraged that someone had hurt his man and more worried about the extent of Brian’s injuries than his own at the moment. “What happened to you? Are you okay?”
“Shhh, Sunshine,” Brian hushed him with a finger pressed lightly to the boy’s dry cracked lips. “I’m just fine. You’re the one who’s in the hospital, for fuck’s sake. You need to calm down and not get all upset, okay.”
“But, your eye . . . .” Justin protested as he reached up to delicately touch the edge of the eye patch as if to lift it up and check underneath to more fully assess any damage. Brian grabbed Justin’s hand though and gently laid it back on top of the light hospital blanket covering the young man’s chest.
“I’m fine, Justin. Really. I have a small scratch on my cornea that the doctors said will heal on it’s own. I’m only wearing the patch to keep it covered because the light hurts. I’ll be okay in a few days.” Brian was quick to reassure the worried blond before the boy vaulted out of the hospital bed to come to his lover’s aid.
“You, on the other hand, Sunshine, need to stay still and stop floundering around before you puncture a lung or something. You have a third degree concussion, multiple cracked and bruised ribs and you have cuts and bruises all over. Plus, you’re severely dehydrated. If you don’t lie still so you can start to heal, I’m going to tie you to the fucking bed. That’s after I implant a GPS tracking chip in your fucking neck so that you can’t ever get lost on me again,” Brian continued to complain at Justin as he affectionately but forcefully replaced Justin’s arms at his sides and tucked the blankets tightly back in around his thin body as if he was swaddling a newborn. “You’re not fucking allowed to get kidnapped or beat up ever again, you hear me? You’re not allowed to go back to that shit hole apartment that has no fucking security at all - you’re definitely NOT allowed to use that reeking filthy communal toilet. You are not ever going to scare me like this again, or I won’t ever let you out of my fucking sight, you stupid little twat. Fucking Hobbs . . .”
Brian’s voice died off as he looked quickly over at Justin to see if he’d said too much - he didn’t want to bring up anything that would upset his injured blond. The concerned, pacing, ranting man was relieved to see that Justin was merely sitting in his bed where Brian had bundled him and was watching the brunet’s antics with a sweet little grin on his face. The blankets were pulled up to the boy’s chin and he looked even younger than his 22 years but Brian thought that he looked safe enough - finally - and decided to take a deep breath and stop with the ranting.
When Brian at last fell back into the hard plastic chair next to the big hospital bed and grinned up at the patient sheepishly, Justin finally let out the guffaw he’d been trying to hold back during his man’s little queen out. Brian was too happy to see Justin alive and awake to take offense - he even huffed out a bit of a laugh himself, shaking his head in denial at the same time. The laughter relieved a bit more of the stress he’d been holding onto since Justin had first gone missing. Meanwhile, the two happy men simply stared at each other, filling their eyes with the sight of the other man, not really needing to talk for the moment.
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Hobbs had been wandering around the hospital corridors for a while now, trying to look busy while keeping his eyes open to see if he could find any clues as to where Taylor might be. He didn’t want to risk asking anyone to help him find the guy, since he didn’t know if the police were still around and were looking for him or not. But, using his disguise as a hospital employee, he’d been able to wander around pretty freely and had at least ruled out a couple of possible wards.
He knew from his earlier time spent loitering in the ER that Taylor couldn’t still be down there. He also managed to take a quick look around the ICU ward and didn’t see the blond anywhere. Hobbs had even braved a look around the surgical waiting rooms to see if he could locate either the Boyfriend or others of Taylor’s friends and family which would be an indication that his victim was still in surgery - there wasn’t anyone down there he recognized, though. That meant that Taylor had probably been admitted to a room on one of the regular floors. By further ruling out the pediatrics wing, the oncology wing, the burn unit and the maternity ward, he had narrowed the possibilities down to the south wing of floors three through six which were used primarily for general admissions and non-infectious surgical patients.
So, that is where Hobbs had been concentrating his wanderings this morning. He’d already walked all over the sixth floor, looking surreptitiously at the names on each chart at every occupied door. So far, there was no sign of Taylor. The determined man with the one-track brain was now off to do the same with the fifth floor.
Hobbs hefted his bag of dirty laundry over his shoulder again, using it as an integral part of his costume, but trying to avoid jostling his broken left arm which was throbbing with pain in spite of the cast right now. It was definitely time to take another pain pill, he thought. As soon as he trudged down the stairs and pulled open the stairwell door for the fifth floor, he dropped his laundry bundle again, defty dug through it to find his pain meds which were still in the pocket of his jacket which was, in turn, hidden in the bag. After delving a little, he located the bottle, pulled it out and immediately started looking for a drinking fountain where he could wash down the meds.
About halfway down the fifth floor corridor, he saw an overhead sign indicating the location of a men’s toilet. Hobbs, assuming that there would be a nearby water fountain, headed that way, dragging his laundry behind him, too tired to heft it up again. The tall ex-jock was in pain and not really paying much attention to what was around him at that exact moment. He was fixated on just getting to the restroom and downing his next dose of painkillers. Which is probably why he didn’t see that just around the corner from the men’s room, down a short side corridor, there was a police guard standing watch outside one of the hospital rooms.
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Brian wasn’t known for having an abundance of patience under normal circumstances. He thought he’d been doing quite well so far this morning - seeing as he hadn’t slept hardly at all in the past three nights and had spent almost the entire time at this fucking hospital. But, he wasn’t a fucking saint and, after two hours of nonstop doctors and police questioning and prodding his blond, he was completely out of patience.
Going into uber-protective mode (like he hadn’t been there already most of the last night and this morning), Brian determined it was time for all the well-meaning nosy do-gooders to get the hell out and leave Justin so the boy could get some rest. They could all come back and ask their repetitive and useless questions some other time. Right now, he could see that Justin was getting tired and was in pain, again, and the young man just needed some peace and quiet.
“Enough!” Brian roared, standing up abruptly and taking the police detective who’d been taking Justin’s statement completely by surprise. “Justin’s tired. You’ll have to come back later.”
“I really need to get this report filed, Mr. Kinney,” the detective began to object as Brian authoritatively pulled the man out of his chair and started pushing him unceremoniously towards the door. “Detective Horvath has made this case a priority and I need to just . . . “
Justin didn’t hear what the detective ‘just needed’, since the rest of the man’s sentence was cut off when Brian pulled the door to the room closed right in his face. The weary patient smiled affectionately up at his personal bodyguard, amused by Brian’s possessiveness and too tired to point out that he didn’t need to be quite so overprotective. The police had informed him that Hobbs was still on the loose - Justin wanted the man caught and put away for good and thought that if the police needed to question him to get that accomplished, then he would gladly answer their questions. He was getting pretty bushed though. Maybe Brian was right and the rest of the questions could wait a while.
“Brian,” Justin said, thinking he’d try again to get the solicitous man to take a break himself. “You should go get some rest yourself or at least go get some coffee and something to eat. I’m just going to sleep for a while. I’ll be fine here alone. You said Horvath put a guard outside my door, right? So, please just go get some rest so I don’t feel so guilty for making you into such a mess.”
“I don’t want to go right now, Sunshine,” Brian actually whined - a sure sign he was more tired than he would admit. “I’ll get something later or call Debbie to bring me by something, or . . . .”
“Brian, stop. You need sleep. Go.” Justin ordered, trying to get his voice to sound commanding even though he still couldn’t really hack it. “I’ll be fine. Now, go!”
“Sunshine. . . .”
“Brian. . . “
“Fine,” Brian conceded when Justin accompanied that last entreaty with a pouty look and his sad puppy-dog eyes. “I’ll just go get a shower, though, and change clothes. I’ll be right back. I don’t really need to sleep yet, I’m fine . . . “ Brian’s sentence faded out into a huge yawn, completely negating everything he’d just been trying to assure Justin about.
The weary brunet knew arguing was now useless. When Brian was finally able to stop yawning, he dismissed Justin’s giggles with a shake of his head, left his blond with a quick peck on the forehead and merely waved as he shuffled out the door. Outside Brian waved at the uniformed officer sitting in the chair next to Justin’s door. The man looked up from the magazine he had been paging through and nodded at the man waiting to speak with him.
“I’m leaving for a bit, Bob,” Kinney addressed the officer he’d met the day before informally. “Justin needs to get some rest so can you please keep any visitors away for awhile. I’ll be back in a few hours after I get a shower and a quick nap.”
“No problem, Mr. Kinney,” Officer Winston assured the already retreating man, smiling at the mega-yawn Brian didn’t try to cover up as he turned away.
Brian didn’t see the monstrous yawn the officer himself couldn’t stop just as the older man left. Winston had been on double shifts since the bombing last Thursday - pretty much everyone at the precinct had been and would continue working long hours until this thing was solved, he thought. He was glad to be doing guard duty so that he could at least sit down for a while. The officer turned back to his magazine and flipped forward a few pages, yawning again uncontrollably. On the other hand, sitting around here all day was likely to be incredibly boring. Winston just hoped he’d be able to stay awake.