by TJ Cross
Brandon, he murmured, almost praying to the young human, happy to consider him his talisman for victory.
By the time Gurney barrelled into the finish to the cheers of all the viewers, he simply lowered his window as one of the organizers, a big name in the scene, ran to him.
"Holy shit, Firestarter, that was amazing. You won! Hell yeah you showed that Jay Jefferson who's the boss!" the man gushed.
"I won. Good. Hold on to my winnings. I'm getting out of here," Firestarter simply said, raising his driver's side window again as he honked for people to get out of his way... and then he drove off.
Victory, defeat, those were all passing, transitory experiences.
He drove slowly back to his loft in uptown Seattle, taking his phone from the glove compartment as he drove. With the helmet now sitting on the passenger's seat, he was Dr Keller again.
"Two missed calls?" he thought aloud, not recognizing the phone number.
But intuition told him it had to be Brandon.
CHAPTER SIX
Brandon
He had gone back to the hospital on a crazy whim, just hours after he had been discharged. Sleep that night wasn't something he thought he was going to be able to do, having passed the day in the ward asleep; he found himself craving something else.
A connection.
Sitting alone in his apartment, nursing his cast on his lap, the young man had gone through a few episodes of his favorite TV shows on Netflix before being too bored to continue, twisting his body in bed so his laptop fell off his body and onto the beanie cushion he placed at the foot of his bed.
A thought came to him suddenly and he reached out with his one good hand, awkwardly grabbing the laptop and swinging it back onto his lap as he sat up straighter, feeling the brushed aluminium of his computer slap against his body with a little more harshness than he had initially intended.
"Who is Dr Gurney Keller?" Brandon asked aloud as he began inputting that very question into his browser, noticing that already his left hand was gaining speed when it came to one-handed typing.
He was expecting maybe a LinkedIn resume page, nothing more. But instead he found articles upon articles about Gurney. Praise about how he won this and that award, citations over his contributions to medical journals, photos in newspapers.
So he was a famous doctor. But... why? Because he looked like a male model, sort of a stronger, more sleek Jon Hamm? Doctor Mad Men didn't seem to be the reason why. Because he served the rich and famous? He was a surgeon, sure, and not a cosmetic one.
Brandon had to skim through the older articles available online before he came to understand why. "The first shifter doctor the world has seen," he murmured, whistling in admiration as he read.
A shifter. So that was it. Somehow it all made sense to Brandon, explained the strange, ethereal connection he had felt to Gurney.
"Of course he's a shifter," Brandon remarked to himself. "What kind of a normal everyday guy is called Gurney anyway?"
Something changed inside him when he discovered Gurney was a shifter. What sort wasn't mentioned, but that was understandable. Brandon had hardly known any shifters but he assumed that was largely information you would only really volunteer to the world if you wanted. Who would judge a shifter for keeping their true nature quiet? Brandon wouldn't.
A twinge of jealousy came over the young man. It seemed unfair that of course Gurney would be able to shift into some sort of animal form, having the powers and instincts and primal urges of an animal. If there was one thing Brandon felt he hated about himself, it was the way he often second-guessed everything he did. There was no instinct. Just constant questioning.
Of course he was a smart guy who always thought hard about everything before doing it, but Brandon had gone wishing when he was a child that he could just... let go. Not feel awkward about anything, but instead chase whatever he wanted, if he wanted it.
Instinct and intuition.
That was when that passing whim caught him. You want Gurney, it said to him, so you're going to get dressed and march to the hospital and say so right to his face.
Brandon slipped a red checkered flannel shirt with his best jeans, wrapping a maroon scarf around his neck as he quickly made his way out the door. This was the New Brandon, he decided. No pussyfooting. No worrying. No overthinking.
If he wanted something, he would put in the effort to get it.
Rejection, after all, was at least concrete evidence that something wasn't going to happen. Leaving it be and just doubting himself would torture his mind with ambiguity.
Maybe Gurney was interested in him, maybe Brandon was just exaggerating it in his head, projecting all his desires onto their unusual connection.
But either way the last thing Brandon wanted was not to gamble on that chance. The Uber he hired took him all the way to the hospital, as he batted away questions about why he was heading there from the overly friendly Lebanese driver, who instead shared a long story about how he had been the country's top youth basketball coaches until he had to flee to the United States with his family.
Brandon went inside, smiling at nurses he thought he recognized from his most recent stay. He gravitated to the part of the hospital he had been staying in, the emergency wing, he imagined, and he took a circuitous route that he thought would make him find Gurney.
Of course, he knew just as well that it could be that the doctor would be in an operating room, saving someone else's life. The thought of it filled him with a minor pang of jealousy... which was irrational, of course.
Brandon laughed those thoughts away, but he knew what was happening here. This was way more than just a crush. He decided against asking anyone if they knew where Dr Keller was going to be, instead preferring to wander around himself.
It was almost 2am, anyway. This was a crazy attempt to try to see Gurney, and if it didn't work out, Brandon could always try calling him again... some other day.
The spontaneous burst of courage that had filled him would probably fade by then, but at least this evening gave birth to New Brandon, the brave, the motivated, the resourceful.
And as he dwelled on that, walking right back into the reception area of the emergency section, it seemed like all his past-midnight efforts were rewarded in an instant -- because who else walked in, except Dr Gurney Keller himself.
He didn't look like a doctor. He looked like a badass.
Instead of an ill-fitting suit in boring, professional colors, Gurney wore a slim-fit white button-down without a pocket, a gunmetal grey peacoat hanging unbuttoned over his muscular frame. Rich black chinos dropped down to polished motorcycle boots. He was a man straight out of the latest fashion magazines.
"Brandon," he murmured, looking surprised... yet sounding as if he had been expecting exactly this.
"Doctor, I had been... looking for you," Brandon said, following up with a shy laugh. Their eyes caught each other's, and if not for the harsh hospital lighting, he could easily imagine everything in his vision softening except for the sight of the dashing, gorgeous doctor.
If he was even a doctor at all. Seriously, look at him.
"I take it you were the one who tried calling me earlier? I apologize for not being able to pick up. I... was rushing around, must have missed it," he said.
Brandon blushed, biting his lip to stop himself from grinning. He nodded in an attempt to look passably solemn. "I understand. Hope you didn't mind the missed calls all the same, I was just... you know, you did give me your number, if I had any questions."
"And I meant it," Gurney said, stepping forward until he was close enough to pierce into his personal space.
Unnoticed by either of them, the hospital continued buzzing and operating and moving around and caring for people. Brandon felt frozen in place when he was looking at Gurney, and enjoyed the sudden flood of warmth that came to him as he spoke to the man who had intrigued him so much.
"I was actually discharged but I thought I might just, you know, bump into you or somet
hing here. If you were working," Brandon said.
"Funny, because I'm actually off tonight and tomorrow night, but I drove here because I noticed the calls and thought it was possible you might still be in your ward... perhaps you might have enjoyed the company."
"Oh, I definitely would have," Brandon said enthusiastically. "But yeah, got discharged and all. The cast's a little weird, because I've never really had anything like this happen to my body before. But I feel a lot better. No more pain. Just rest."
"I'll inform the team here that you can come back in one or two weeks to get the cast taken off, pending an X-ray, of course. But I also happen to have my full confidence in your recovery," Gurney said.
"Thank you."
"What was your question, by the way?" Gurney asked.
"Hmm?"
"If you tried to call me, it must have been because you had a question for me, right?" Gurney said, his eyes flashing as he smiled. It seemed like he was cornering Brandon now, that the younger man was slowly realizing that he had shown his hand in terms of his interest.
Not a bad thing... right?
"Yes, I did," Brandon answered, feeling as if he was being put on the spot enough that his answers were spat out staccato.
"Let's hear it," came the doctor's response, a playfulness creeping into his words.
"Umm... it was, heh, do you think we can meet again?"
Brandon knew when he was being toyed with, and he felt incredibly shy about it -- he hardly ever opened himself to anyone this way, which had always been why his love life had been considerably more conservative than, say, Zara.
It didn't help that Gurney was teasing him by acting as if he was deep in thought, contemplating what Brandon had to say. Brandon was almost about to shrink into himself and blurt out some sort of apology, when Gurney came to the rescue by speaking.
"I'd like that... but it's also natural that I should answer that question with another question. And that question is: would you like to go out on a date with me, Brandon?"
The young man's eyes lit in pure delight as he heard Gurney's words. Even his arm felt like a non-issue now. But he enjoyed the playfulness of their negotiating around the date that he wanted to play hard to get, too.
"Oh, I don't know... I'm a very busy guy some days. Do you have an idea when you want to go out?" Brandon said airily, as if what Gurney was offering wasn't the one thing he most desperately wanted.
His whole body was singing in joy, even if he pretended otherwise. And the surge of arousal that came from the prospect of spending some real time alone with Gurney was exceptional... in his pants he could already feel himself stiffen to an utmost erection.
In a hospital! With sick people all around! Get a grip, Brandon!
"I did say I was free tomorrow night as well, right? Let's do then. I'm not the kind of guy who likes to wait a long time," Gurney said, with a smile bearing teeth. Predatorial, almost... sexy. An alpha male in control.
"Me neither. I've waited a long time already," Brandon murmured.
"You know, I'd say the same thing. I'd very much like to see you again, Brandon. To delve into you, to discover what sort of a fit we make. So, again, I'm asking you out on a date. Say yes this time."
"Yes. Yes, of course, yes," Brandon said, his grin turning wonky. He glanced over at the door.
He needed a graceful exit and a long phone call with Zara talking about his incredible success tonight. "I guess I'll wait for your call with all the details, then?" Brandon said, keeping that airy, mock-uninterested tone, even if he seemed to wink at Gurney every other word.
"I'll pick you up at seven. But yes, we'll work out everything else before that. Don't hesitate to text."
"Only if you start first," Brandon said, nodding seriously. "Anyway, uh, got to head off. You know how it is, if you can find an Uber at this hour you might as well grab it."
Gurney glanced down at his watch. Brandon didn't know anything about watches, but he immediately guessed it wasn't just expensive, it was exquisite expensive. Not your average doctor's piece to congratulate himself on making more money than most people. This was a piece belonging to someone who knew and loved art. "I can drive you back."
"And find myself unable to resist inviting you inside? And knowing how that'll end up? No thank you," Brandon suggested, shaking his head even though his whole body urged him to take his words back. "Buuuuuut... I can say this. I'm perfectly willing to wait until tomorrow night."
"I respect someone who enjoys bucking the trend of instant gratification," Gurney smoothly answered, emphasizing the last word with a barely perceptible accent.
Deliciously sexy.
Now he definitely had to leave. Brandon nodded and winked and squeezed the doctor's arm as he blurted out his goodbyes and walked, practically skipping, to the door. He wanted this so much.
New Brandon was way more fun than the old one. Maybe that accident had been a blessing in disguise after all.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Gurney
Dragons were hardly ever associated with joy, but Gurney had been filled with lightness when he got home from the hospital that night. His loft was quiet as it could possibly be, resembling a chic human residence than a dragon's traditional lair... but Gurney didn't need any of that now. Even in the darkness of the early hour, the dragon felt like the warmth in his heart was enough to light the way for him.
Well, that and dragons saw perfectly in the dark, anyway.
He racked his brain for ideas for a date with Brandon -- what could he, a shifter with one of the most elite and exclusive heritages, do with the young man that wasn't going to freak him out? It was imperative that he come off as perfectly relatable. That Brandon not think he was too distant, too alien for him.
He saw so much promise in being with the young man.
I can't even remember the last time I was with someone, he realized. Another human, back then. A brief love, followed by a long period of pleasant friendship. It was never going to work out. Being a shifter in a relationship with a human, especially back in the years before the great Revelation when the wider shifter community came out to the world, meant either hiding an immense secret... or revealing it in private, and forever setting yourself apart as an oddity.
Those were one of many reasons Gurney had made it a point to separate his life from romance for the last few decades. Mastering medicine came first... and when he did that, it was no surprise he found that the fulfilment and satisfaction that came from being so dominant at work made for a way to fill the hole.
But all that came crashing down when he met Brandon. The intensity of their connection stunned him... but it made sense. There was destiny at play here, building on the incredible physical and emotional interest that propelled his desire to get to know the young man better.
"Could I call him my omega?" Gurney said, laying down in his bed, getting ready to do something he rarely did:
Sleep.
The next morning, he found himself impressively rejuvenated. The first thought on his mind was their date -- what were they going to do?
Whatever it was, it was going to be the perfect thing.
He found himself glancing at his watch over and over again as the clock neared six in the evening, doublechecking to make sure all his arrangements were complete. He enjoyed a hot, steamy shower, contemplating stroking his hard cock amid the hot water and steam to calm himself... but he knew he didn't need to do that.
