by Brandon Witt
This scavenger hunt took less time since he knew which nurse to go to, and he was back in Zachary’s room in a matter of minutes. “One of the nurses had some makeup remover sheets or cloths—whatever they’re called. I can’t say I’ve ever taken off makeup before, but do you mind if I try to clean you up a little better?”
The expression that crossed Zachary’s face nearly broke Teegan’s heart. Zachary didn’t speak but nodded with a little wince.
Teegan sat on the edge of the bed facing Zachary, careful of the monitors and to not disturb or shift the mattress too much. After pulling out one of the wipes, he tentatively smoothed it over Zachary’s cheek with his thumb.
They were silent as Teegan cleaned one side, got a new sheet, then started on the other. Occasionally, Zachary’s gaze would flick up to Teegan’s, then dart away. Teegan thought his eyes were green, but it was hard to tell in the dim light. Zachary wasn’t handsome, but the more makeup Teegan removed, the… prettier Zachary looked, which seemed rather strange. As he worked, the silence grew charged with energy between them. At first Teegan thought he was making it up, but after a bit, he was sure Zachary felt it too.
Maybe the feeling was nothing more than their closeness. Zachary’s warm breath on Teegan’s hand. The heat of their bodies radiating off each other. The glistening of Zachary’s full lower lip, freshly cleaned and kissable.
Kissable! The thought jolted Teegan upright, causing Zachary to let out a groan as the bed shifted.
“Oh, sorry.” Teegan started to reach out and touch Zachary by way of apology, but drew his hand up short before he made contact. He moved for the compact instead. He held it up for Zachary’s inspection. “I… uhm… couldn’t get all of the mascara off, I was afraid of hurting your eyes, but the rest is clean.”
“That’s okay. I wear it by itself sometimes anyway.” Zachary looked at his reflection, then let out a relaxed sigh. “That’s better.” His gaze flicked up to Teegan’s and held this time. “Thank you, Dr.… I don’t remember your name.”
For a split second, he didn’t remember either. “Teegan, er… Dr. Chau. Dr. Teegan Chau.”
A shy smile played at the corner of Zachary’s lips. “Thank you, Dr. Chau.”
“You’re welcome.” Again he felt the urge to kiss Zachary’s lips. See if they were as soft as they looked. He broke their eye contact. “Well, I should let you rest. Anesthesia always wipes a person out.”
“Actually I do feel pretty exhausted, but it was so nice of you to….” His words trailed off, and his expression changed, a different emotion cutting through whatever had been between them a moment before. “Wait a minute. You said I had surgery. For what?” No sooner had he said the words than his eyes widened and he glanced down at his crotch.
So he did remember part of their earlier conversation. That boded well for his head injury.
Zachary gazed back up at him, fear in his eyes.
Teegan nodded, confirming the unspoken question. “Your right testicle was crushed and had to be removed. The left had a tear, but I was able to repair it.”
Zachary looked down at his crotch again, then back up at Teegan, before he darted his eyes quickly away to stare out the window. But not quickly enough to keep Teegan from seeing shame wash over him.
“Later you can have a prosthetic put in, but it may or may not be covered by your insurance. And there are choices to be made on what you’d like it to be. Before long you won’t notice that it’s gone.”
A tear glistened as it rolled down Zachary’s cheek, and he let out a broken laugh. “Well, I guess tucking will be easier from now on.” He glanced back over at Teegan, appearing shocked, obviously not having meant for Teegan to hear. “I just mean….”
Teegan rescued him, as much as he could but not nearly to the level he wanted to. “It will all be fine. I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through tonight. But you’re going to make a full recovery, and life will hopefully get back to exactly what it was before in a few months.”
Zachary wiped the tear away with his uninjured hand and met Teegan’s gaze once more. Strength cut through the exhaustion. “Thank you, Dr. Chau.”
“You’re welcome, Zachary. I’ll see you in the morning.”
After checking on a few other patients, Teegan crawled into the cot at the back of the break room to hopefully sleep for a while. At first he lay there, mentally raging at the ones who’d hurt Zachary. Wishing he could find them and pay them back tenfold. After a while, those thoughts gave way to the remembered heat between him and Zachary, or spark, or whatever it had been. Probably just in his mind. That’s what it had been—exhaustion and the fallout from an emotional case.
But those large, expressive eyes. And those soft lips….
CHAPTER THREE
Zachary Cooper
“A couple of the people who stepped in to help you were able to give minimal descriptions, but nothing that helps too much, honestly. Three young white guys narrows it down, but not a whole lot.” Marlon moved closer and sat on the edge of the bed, then laid his hand briefly on top of Zachary’s. “I know you’ve got to be exhausted, but do you remember anything about them that might help?”
Pat spoke up before Zachary had the chance to respond. “You’re right, Marlon. He is exhausted, and he needs his rest. Daniel and I have overstayed our welcome too. How about you do this later this evening or tomorrow?”
Zachary tried to speak up but couldn’t. Only part of it was that it hurt to even breathe. The other part was having Vahin’s boyfriend—Officer Marlon Barton—close enough to touch him. The man was as gorgeous as Vahin, and somehow, outside of Mary’s, he was even more intimidating than usual.
“I’m sorry, Pat. The sooner we get details, the better chance we’ll have of finding these guys. You know as well as I do that half of the time the gay bashers aren’t found. I’m not willing to have that happen to Zachary. Not on my watch. I should’ve pushed the issue when he got harassed several months ago. I’m not letting it go this time.” Marlon turned his brown gaze back on Zachary. “Do you remember anything that might help?”
Zachary shook his head and whispered an apology. Or at least tried to. It came out as a half wheeze, half grimace.
“Try, okay?”
Despite Marlon’s intimidating size, his voice was low and warm and full of care. Zachary closed his eyes, falling instantly back to less than twelve hours before. Part of him expected to slip into a panic. He’d been actively trying not to picture what happened, but the sensation didn’t come. Marlon’s hand was back on his; Pat and Daniel were right beside him. Despite the pain he was in, Zachary felt safe.
He couldn’t picture them. He didn’t remember seeing anything.
But he could hear them. The initial yell in his direction.
The thudding of his heart in his ears followed by the pounding of their feet behind him. That he could hear, almost as if it were happening again. Hearing them behind him. Knowing, as close as he was, that he wasn’t going to make it to his house. Waiting for the inevitable impact even as he ran. He could hear them breathing. He hadn’t noticed it the night before, but he could. As he slipped back into the darkness, he heard their breathing. Felt their breath on his neck before he went sprawling. That couldn’t be real, could it? Either way, he felt it. Could feel it now. Hot on his face. He braced for the next hit.
“Enough!” Daniel’s voice cut through the sensation, and Zachary opened his eyes to see his drag mother beside his bed, glaring in fury. “Marlon. Stop this. You’re retraumatizing him.” Daniel looked away from Marlon, then reached out and cradled Zachary’s face in both his hands, using his thumbs to wipe across his cheeks.
Had he been crying?
Daniel’s whispers were soothing, like he was comforting a child. “It’s okay, baby. You’re right here. With us. You’re safe.”
It took several moments before Zachary could force himself to speak. “I know. Sorry.”
“Baby, you don’t need to be sorry.” Daniel cast a
n accusing glance at Marlon.
For his part, Marlon winced but turned determined eyes back on Zachary. “Once more, okay? Just try one more time, and then I won’t ask again.”
Daniel and Pat spoke over each other in loud protests, but Zachary shook his head. “I’ll try again.”
Pat joined Daniel beside the bed, putting her hand on Zachary’s shoulder. He wondered if his mom would look similar to Pat if she’d lived. If she’d have hair appointments every three weeks to keep out the gray like Pat, or if she’d be as obsessed with the color orange. He didn’t even remember what her favorite color had been.
“Why don’t you wait until later, sweetie. Your body has had enough stress. It doesn’t need any more.” Pat glared at Marlon. “I may not be the nurse on this floor, but I have no problem kicking you out.”
“Stop!” Zachary winced as he cried out. Holy shit, it was like his ribs had just gotten punched again. He breathed slowly and shallowly as the three of them stared at him. Then he spoke, making sure to not inhale too deeply. “What I don’t need are three of the people I love the most fighting about me. I’ll try one more time.”
He expected Daniel and Pat to argue again, but they didn’t. Maybe he’d finally mastered his determined face.
Without waiting for more of a response, he closed his eyes once more and forced himself to go back. Before there was running. Before he could hear their stomping feet on the sidewalk or their excited breathing.
Home was so close. He’d just passed the coffee shop. Insects in the trees were chirping. He’d had to move over to make way for the three men walking toward him. He’d scraped his right elbow on the brick wall. The same arm they dislocated and broke a block away.
Zachary felt his heartbeat increase, and he forced the thought away. Stay in the moment. The seconds of their paths crossing. Focus on that.
He scraped his elbow. And then glanced back at the men. Only one of them had looked him full in the face. The man’s eyes had widened when he’d noticed Zachary’s makeup. The shift in his expression had been instant and made clear exactly how much danger Zachary was in.
There. Stay there. In that moment. When their eyes had met, when fate was sealed.
And he did. Like he was studying a snapshot.
A fuzzy, dark snapshot, but it was something.
The moon and streetlights were bright, but not enough for Zachary to make out the man’s eye color. Light, maybe. He couldn’t see the man’s hair color either. He had on a Rockies hat that shoved down on his ears, making the top of them push away from his head. Two earrings. Two diamond studs in the man’s left ear.
At the memory, Zachary nearly opened his eyes, but he didn’t. He pushed further. Below the earrings, a tattoo stuck out of the collar of the man’s T-shirt. Words of some kind.
“He had two diamond studs in his left ear and wore a Rockies hat. There were some words tattooed on the left side of his neck. And, uhm, he had light-colored eyes. I think.” Zachary opened his eyes, and Marlon stared directly into them.
A smile curved Marlon’s lips. “I knew you could do it. Others mentioned the earrings, so that’s more confirmation. Hadn’t heard about the tattoo yet or possible eye color. Good job, Zachary.”
“I, ah….” Zachary suddenly realized he was panting, the pain increasing over his torso. He tried again. “I didn’t ever see the other two’s faces.”
“That’s okay. This helps. A lot. We have a couple of details about the others, but not a ton.” Marlon squeezed his hand, smiled again, and stood up. “I’m gonna get these fuckers, Zachary. I promise you.”
At that moment there was a knock, the door opened wide, and the doctor walked into the room. He stopped short at the sight of Marlon, and then his gaze flitted over to Pat and Daniel. “Wow. We’ve got a roomful.” He looked directly at Zachary. “Are you okay?”
Zachary had been wondering in the couple of hours since he’d woken up if he’d dreamed about the doctor coming in during the night. Surely, it had been one of the nurses who’d taken off his makeup and been so gentle with him. He’d bet the pain meds had transformed one of them into the vision of a sexy, muscled Asian doctor. They did that, right? He was on the good stuff. The meds had probably decided he’d been through enough and needed a hot doctor fantasy.
Apparently not.
The doctor… Teegan Chau, that had been his name, was even more beautiful in the light of the late-morning sun pouring through the window than he’d been in the moonlight. Full black hair and thick eyebrows over bright dark eyes. Golden skin, glowing with health. Strong, wide nose. Full lips. Complete with the glorious cliché of chiseled jaw darkened by the hint of stubble.
Daniel let out a cackle, sounding more like ManDonna than he usually did when out of drag, and broke the spell the doctor had placed over Zachary, who realized he’d been staring.
“Well, that’s my girl! Whatever damage those fuckers did last night apparently didn’t break your ability to appreciate a hot man!” Daniel waved his fingers like a prissy child toward Teegan. “Hello, Doctor. I just remembered I pulled a groin muscle last night. Would you mind taking a look to see if you’d be able to… adjust it for me?”
“Shut up, Daniel!” Pat smacked him on the shoulder. “I have to work with this man.” Pat shook her head in Dr. Chau’s direction. “Sorry, Dr. Chau. Daniel is part of our Mary’s crew. And he’s disgusting.”
“Well, I never.” Daniel reared back in mock offense. “You’re almost as filthy as I am, Pat Pinto, even when you’re wearing your nurse’s scrubs. I know you’ve been picturing the same things about the good doctor that I’m thinking right now.” He refocused on Dr. Chau. “I’m glad the hospital saw fit to put such a smoking doctor in charge of our precious little drag queen here.”
At Daniel’s words, Zachary darted a glance at the doctor. He wished he could slink out of the bed and crawl away. But if Dr. Chau had any negative thoughts about learning Zachary was a drag queen, they didn’t show.
Marlon broke the moment, thank God. He stuck out his hand. “I’m Officer Barton. I was just getting some details from Zachary so we can get the punks who did this. But I’ve got what I need, so I’ll get out of your hair.”
Dr. Chau shook Marlon’s hand, seeming relieved to be out of Daniel’s attention. “I hope so. There’s been too many situations like these. People who target us. It’s got to stop.”
Other words were said, but Zachary didn’t catch them. Didn’t even respond to Marlon as he left the hospital room. People who target us? As in, us? As in, the doctor was gay too?
Maybe the sense of attraction he’d felt from Dr. Chau in the wee hours of the morning hadn’t been drug-induced either.
Zachary brushed that notion away. It was conceivable the doctor was gay. It was ludicrous to think he’d be attracted to Zachary. Especially when Zachary was nothing more than a cliché abused queer with makeup smeared all over his face.
Then the doctor’s gaze found him again. “How’s the pain this morning? If I had to guess, I’d say your ribs are what’s hurting the most.”
Zachary had to force himself to nod, to quit focusing on what had to be nothing more than wishful fantasizing. “Yeah… uhm, it’s hard to breathe.” With his good hand, he motioned to the sling enveloping his right arm. “Can I get something like this, or a cast, to stabilize my ribs? That might help with the pain. Or are we waiting for the swelling to go down?”
Dr. Chau started to respond, but Pat spoke before he could. “You shouldn’t wrap ribs, sweetie. Even if they’re injured. If we wrapped them, they couldn’t move correctly when you try to breathe, which could lead to pneumonia.”
He tried not to be irritated at her. He loved Pat. But he wanted to hear the doctor. Hear the sound of Dr. Chau’s calm voice. See if he could detect any bit of attraction.
He was being ridiculous.
The doctor nodded. “Pat’s right. Unfortunately all we can do is manage the pain the best we can. I’m not too worried about your ribs, thou
gh. It’s your head trauma that concerns me. But you seem to be doing well, even clearer than when I checked on you last night.” His gaze darted questioningly to Pat.
She nodded. “Yeah, he’s doing great. He was even able to remember some details to give to Marlon… er, Officer Barton, about the attackers. And he seems like himself.”
“That’s good.” He smiled at Zachary. “Always helps to have another health-care professional who actually knows the patient. If things keep going as well for you as they are right now, I’d actually be okay with discharging you later this evening instead of tomorrow. Especially if Pat is willing to check up on you before you go to bed and in the morning.” He glanced at her again. “Even if it’s only a phone call.”
“Of course I will.” She smiled over at Zachary. “We’ve already come up with a schedule. You’re not spending the night alone for a while. If you want us after that, you just have to ask. However, for the next week, you don’t have a choice. I have to work the graveyard shift tonight, but I’ll be off in two days.”
“You’re stuck with me tonight.” Daniel grinned down at him. “We’re watching Bianca Del Rio’s movie again. And no, you don’t have a choice. My husband set his foot down last week and said he couldn’t take it anymore. Darwin and Cody are staying with you tomorrow, so you’ll probably be stuck watching Old Yeller or Little House on the Prairie, or some other Midwestern shit.”
Zachary started to protest, overwhelmed by their kindness and not wanting to be the center of everyone’s attention. Then the idea of being in his house alone, in the dark, flicked through his mind. It was enough to make him want to tell the doctor to keep him in the hospital another night. “Thank you.”
Dr. Chau nodded in approval. “Well, that settles it. I’m sure there won’t be any problem with you going home this evening. I’m glad you’ll be so well taken care of. I’ll have you come back the day after tomorrow, once the swelling has reduced, and get your arm in a cast. I wish I could do more for your ribs, but unfortunately, they just need time and rest. You won’t be doing any heavy lifting for a while.”
