Taking Care of You [Taking Care 1] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Dani Gray

  “Car accident? Is Andy okay?” Shane was stunned that Andy was hurt in a car accident. The man used to race cars before he came to work for him. He liked speed.

  “Yes, sir,” the nurse replied. “He will be fine. I can’t say anything more over the phone, so I will need to you come here.”

  “Yes, thank you. We are on our way.”

  Everyone was looking at Shane, since they’d heard his side of the conversation.

  “I need someone to take me to Mercy General. Andy has been in a car accident. He’s okay, but that is all they would say to me.”

  “I can take you.” Abe then turned to Travis. “Sweetness, will you please come with me? I need to be there to protect Shane and Michael, but I can’t leave you here alone.”

  “Yes. What do you need me to do?”

  “Please stay by my side. That’s all I ask.” Abe gave Travis’s hand a gentle squeeze as they stood up to get ready to go.

  “We will wait here and keep watch on the house,” Aaron stated. “We can also get a room ready for Andy here since I know he lives in his apartment over the garage. Let us know if there is anything special he needs when he gets home, and we can make sure it’s here.”

  Shane was really thankful for his family right now; they were the only thing holding him together. With everything that was going on, and now this, Shane was close to fracturing.

  As Abe rushed them through the city streets to the hospital, Michael held his hand while Shane tried hard not to think the worst.

  Once they arrived, Abe opened the door to the car and had Shane’s wheelchair ready. After Shane was settled in the chair, Michael went with him to go check in Andy, while Abe and Travis parked the car. Abe said they would wait in the family room for when they were done.

  When Shane rolled up to the desk, he spoke to the nurse on duty. “Hi, I’m Shane Turner. I’m here for Andrew Deans.”

  As the nurse checked to see where Andy was, she spoke to someone on the phone and after hanging up, asked them to wait in the family room and someone would come get them. Shane grabbed Michael’s hand. “I’m so worried, Michael. Do you think he’s okay?”

  Michael gently turned Shane to look at him. “Hun, stop borrowing trouble. Andy will be fine. Let’s go see how he is and when we can bring him home.”

  Shane looked at Michael with a huge smile on his face. “You said home. Do you think of it as your home now?”

  “Yes, hun. So long as you are there, it’s my home, too.” The smile Michael gave Shane warmed him, but something also settled in him. Now he knew that he was in love with Michael, but this wasn’t the time or place to make that declaration.

  When the door to the hospital area opened, a nurse called out, “Shane Turner.”

  Shane moved his chair toward the man, with Michael following behind him. “That’s me. Can you tell me anything about Andy?”

  “Let’s get you to see him,” the nurse said. “Then we can get the doctor to answer any questions you may have.”

  When the nurse led him to a room, he gasped when he saw Andy’s face. It was so swollen, and his left arm was in a cast. Seeing his friend lie there in a bed with an IV in his right arm, with eyes shut from how puffy his face was, hurt Shane in ways he never wanted to feel again. His chest felt tight and breathing was difficult. “What happened? Is he okay?”

  “He’ll be fine in about eight weeks,” said a young woman in a doctor’s coat. “Hi, I’m Dr. Caroline Chambers. Mr. Deans suffered a broken ulna and radius. The breaks were clean, so he should heal fine. The damage to his face was from hitting the window. His nose was broken along with his left cheekbone, but they will heal on their own. It will be painful for a bit, but using ice will help lower the swelling and should reduce the pain some. I will be prescribing some mild pain medication, but he shouldn’t need that for very long, and then over-the-counter ibuprofen should be good.”

  “Do you know what happened?” Shane asked. “Andy is an excellent driver.”

  “From what the report I was given, a drunk driver ran a red light.” The doctor shook her head. “I’m glad Mr. Deans is okay, but the other driver died at the scene of the accident. I know this goes against the doctor’s code, and while I’m sorry he died, I’m also glad he didn’t take anyone else’s life.”

  Shane shook in his chair. He could have lost his friend. He moved over closer to Andy and grabbed his good hand. “I’m here, Andy, and as soon as they give us permission, we will take you home.”

  Andy held on to Shane’s hand, giving it a slight squeeze, but his painful moan broke Shane’s heart. He hated to see his friend hurting so much.

  He looked to the doctor. “Is there anything you can give him for the pain? He sounds like he’s hurting so much.”

  “Let me see what time his last dose was.” The doctor grabbed the chart and checked. “He last had some almost four hours ago, so he can have some more. Let me go write these orders and get the nurse to give him the meds. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.”

  Shane sat there, quietly telling Andy that he was going to be okay, that they would all help him get better. When tears began leaking out of Andy’s eyes, Shane felt like he was ready to start crying, too.

  Michael stepped up next to Shane. “It’s okay, hun.” Michael wrapped his arms around Shane. “He knows you are here, and we will all help him make a full recovery. He’s well liked in our home, and we will not let anything more happen to him.”

  Andy really started to make noise then and grabbed Shane’s hand tightly. Shane began to worry something was wrong and started to yell for the doctor. The staff came running right away as the alarms on the monitors started to make loud noises.

  “Please come with me, sirs. I’ll take you to the family room to wait as they help your friend,” a nurse said to them, leading them out of the room so the medical staff could get to Andy.

  As they turned a corner, Shane suddenly stopped. His face lost all color as he stared at a man at the end of the hall. “You!” he yelled and tried to get to the man, moving the chair as fast as he could. By the time he rolled up to the spot he’d seen him, the man was gone.

  Michael, Abe, and Travis all came running when Shane yelled, as well as a security officer.

  “That man,” Shane gasped. “He was one of my attackers.” He was short of breath from trying to get to the man as quickly as possible.

  “Are you sure?” Abe asked. “Positively sure?”

  “Yes, absolutely sure.” Shane glared at Abe. “I will never forget them, but I really couldn’t explain them to the police. They all looked the same. Same clothing, same hair, same eyes. They could be related.” Shane ran his hand through his hair in agitation. “I don’t know.”

  “Okay,” Abe said. “Let’s see if the security guys have anything on the camera’s that we can give to the police. Travis.” Abe grabbed his hand, pulling him close. “Stay with me, please.”

  As they left with the security officer, Shane and Michael went to the family room to wait to hear about Andy. Abe and Travis joined them thirty minutes later.

  “We have a copy of the video,” Abe said. “We can give it to the police tomorrow.”

  After an agonizing hour, the doctor came to speak to them.

  “He’s okay,” she said. “We don’t know what happened, but he reacted to something, and that seemed to stress him out. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with his injuries. My best suggestion, take him home and let him rest.”

  Shane let out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank you so much. I would be devastated if something happened to my friend.”

  It was 3:00 a.m. before the tired bunch finally made it home and everyone was tucked into their beds. Shane’s last thought was wondering how Michael was, and wishing he was in bed with him. He could really use those big arms wrapped around him.

  Chapter Seven

  “What? Who is it?” Michael woke to a knock at his door, and he wasn’t the happiest of people first thing in the
morning. Considering what time he went to bed, he grew grumpy when he looked at the clock. That had been just an hour ago.

  “You need to get out of bed,” his mom yelled through the thick wooden door. “We need your help.”

  “Mom,” Michael whined. “It’s still dark out.”

  “Abe is asking for you.”

  That woke him up quick.

  Michael grabbed some clean clothes from his dresser. “Where is he, Mom?” he yelled at the door as he dressed.

  “Shane’s office.”

  “Thanks,” he said as he pulled the door open. He gave her a kiss on the cheek as he rushed by her. “What about Shane?”

  “Dad is helping him get dressed and in his chair.”

  As Michael rushed to the office, he wondered what was so important. The sight that greeted him added to his concern. He wasn’t sure when they had been set up, but Abe was surrounded by six monitors. They all showed different areas inside and outside the house.

  “When was this all set up?”

  Abe quickly looked up at Michael. “Last night while we were at the hospital. I had Eric bring in some guys and get it done. I had a bad feeling in my gut, and I always listen to it.”

  “What’s up? Why did you need me?”

  “Let’s wait for Shane, then I can fill everyone in on what is going on.”

  As he was saying this, Shane and his parents came into the room. He shouldn’t have been surprised to see that Travis was already sitting in one of the chairs in the office, but he had been so quiet that Michael hadn’t noticed him when he came in the room.

  “Good, the group is all here,” Abe continued. “Except for Andy, but when I last checked on him he was still asleep. Whatever they gave him in the hospital has him sleeping like a baby.”

  Sandy nodded. “He should be out for a bit longer.”

  “Here is the situation,” Abe said. “There are three men who have been scouting around the exterior of the property for the last two hours. I’ve been keeping my eye on them, but they are now moving onto the property. They think they are being careful, coming during the night and staying in the trees. I had most of the security cameras set up in that area as I knew it was the biggest risk.”

  Michael thought about that for a minute. “Could these be the same three guys that were attacking Shane?”

  “Not sure. Shane, could you please come over here? I managed to get a facial shot of two of them. Take a look at them and let me know if they are familiar.”

  As Shane wheeled himself over to look, Michael came up behind him to see if he could recognize any of them. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to, but he did with one of the guys. He didn’t want to say anything as he waited to see if Shane saw the same thing he did.

  “Holy shit!” Shane exclaimed. “Those were two of the guys who attacked me. Should we call the police to let them know they are here?”

  “I already did,” Abe said. “I also called Eric, and he is sending a couple of guys to try and catch them. The guys he’s sending are from my former military unit, so catching these guys should be easy for them. I don’t think these idiots are trained.”

  “Trained?” Michael looked at Abe. “What do you mean by trained?”

  Abe pointed to one of the monitors. “Look at how they are stomping through the area like bulls, no stealth. That is what I mean by not being trained. If they had any, they would be looking for security, making sure they aren’t caught.”

  “Oh, that makes sense. So, why are they here?”

  “Million-dollar question.” Abe suddenly grinned. “And here comes the cavalry now.”

  Michael watched as some men came up behind the attackers. When they were about to reach them, it looked like someone yelled out, but since there was no sound, Michael couldn’t figure out what was being said.

  What freaked him out was the sudden tossing of a smoke bomb. How did they get that, and why? Suddenly, the area turned bright. After the flare of light, Michael saw the good guys running toward the house while the trees went up in flames.

  Abe quickly reached for his phone and called 9-1-1. He reported the fire and let them know that the ones who had started it were the same people who’d attacked someone a week previously that the police were investigating. Abe warned them to be cautious, since he wasn’t sure if they were still in the area.

  Poor Shane, he had such a deer in the headlights look on his face.

  “Can someone get the back door and let the guys in?” Abe yelled to the room.

  Michael was about to go when he saw his dad run out the door.

  He jumped a bit when someone grabbed his hand, but when he looked down and saw it was Shane, he clasped their hands together tightly. Somehow, he thought that Shane needed the grounding.

  Abe was gathering up a sleepy-looking Travis, whispering something to him. Travis nodded and left the room. Abe then clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

  “Okay, folks, let’s move this into the dining room. I asked Travis to make coffee, tea, and some food so we can all sit down with the guys and make a plan.”

  Michael started to move, but was pulled back by Shane.

  “What’s the matter, hun?”

  Shane looked at him with tears in his eyes. The sight of them broke his heart. Shane should never have to cry.

  “When this is over and we go back to bed, can you please try to lie down with me?” Shane pleaded with him.

  “Yes,” he simply said. There was no way in hell he was going to deny this to Shane.

  For the past few days, Michael had been giving serious consideration as to what he thought his limits were going to be regarding having physical contact with Shane. He now knew that he was ready, and was grateful that Shane had given him the time to get to this point.

  “There was something else I wanted to ask you about.” Shane turned his head toward the door, then turned back to face Michael. “I would like to ask your parents to move in with us. They can keep the suite they are staying in. This way they can travel, not worry about you, and still have a home to come back to when they want to come back and visit the family.”

  The generosity Shane gave to those around him astounded Michael, and he was so very grateful that it extended to his family.

  “How about we ask them later, when the excitement has died down? I think they might like the idea.” Michael certainly did. “This way, they won’t have to worry about their house being empty while they are traveling. I know they were concerned about that. Thank you for thinking about them. I do know that they have come to care about you almost as much as I do.”

  Shane turned his face up to Michael. “Please, kiss me.”

  “You never have to beg for a kiss from me ever again. I’m yours.”

  What had started off as a kiss of comfort soon turned into a raging inferno. Tongues were dancing around the flames of their desire, and neither men had any intention of stopping. Michael went down to his knees so he could get as close to Shane as possible. Their chests rubbed against one another, while their hands were busy roaming. Michael didn’t want to stop/. He wanted to undress Shane and worship every inch of the man.

  A not-so-subtle pounding on the door jerked both men out of the kiss. When Michael looked over and saw his dad grinning at them, he groaned and hid his face in Shane’s lap.

  That had an interesting reaction Michael didn’t expect. Getting a face full of hard cock surprised him. He moved closer to that and inhaled the smell of Shane. It was intoxicating, and he really did want more of it. The groan Shane let out was nice to hear, too.

  “Michael,” Aaron warned. “You guys need to come to the dining room. This is important.”

  “Okay.” Michael sighed. “Come on, hun. The sooner we go see what they want, the sooner we can go back to bed.”

  “Promise?”

  Michael grinned. “Absolutely.”

  Shane started to wheel himself over to Aaron with a huge smile. Michael was proud of himself for putting said smile
there. He walked over to his dad with the grin on his own face growing wider.

  When Aaron stepped in front of them, he grabbed both their hands. “I’m so happy for you both. I hope you have as many happy and loving years together as your mother and I.”

  It wasn’t often Michael saw his dad with tears in his eyes. He had his own when he pulled his dad into a hug. “Thank you, Dad, for everything. I know it wasn’t easy dealing with me when I was younger, but you and Mom were amazing. Are amazing. No kid could have better parents than you. You have no idea how much I appreciate you two. Thank you.”

  They broke apart when they heard a sniffle, both of them moving toward Shane.

  “Look at me, Shane,” Aaron pleaded as he knelt in front of Shane. “Please know that Sandy and I love you. You have made our son so happy, happier than we have seen him in a long time. You are ours now.”

  Shane burst into huge sobs and Aaron pulled him into a hug, crooning softly to him. After a few minutes, he calmed down a bit. “I miss my parents so much, the parents I had when I was younger.” He hiccupped. “I never realized it until now just how much. Thank you.”

  “The pleasure is ours, son.” Aaron gave Shane a kiss on top of his head. “Now, let’s go get you cleaned up, or Sandy will rip me a new one for upsetting you.”

  They all laughed as they went and waited for Shane while he tidied up. Michael and his dad shared the quiet, leaning on the wall with their shoulders touching. Somehow, Michael knew this was the calm before the storm.

  As Shane emerged from the bathroom, he looked up to Michael. “Do you think I should call Les and hold off on therapy for a bit? At least until this is sorted out with? I don’t want anyone to get hurt coming here to the house. I’m already worried about the ones who are here.”

  “Let’s go ask Abe,” Michael said as they started moving toward the dining room. “He would be better able to answer that question.”

  Once they arrived in the dining room, it seemed everyone was sitting down having a bite to eat. Travis was fluttering around, making sure everyone had enough. Once Shane rolled up to his spot, Travis brought over a plate with some fresh fruit and yogurt.