I sat up suddenly, then clutched my stomach when it pitched and rolled, threatening to spill its contents all over the bloody floor. I got extremely lightheaded and began to sway as blackness threatened to pull me back under. I needed to stay awake. What if we were still in danger?
“Rupert?” I asked, more like slurred. The sirens got louder as our help got closer.
“Ran like the fucking coward he is,” Macio growled. “He’s not going to get very far.”
“You’re bleeding really badly, Macio,” I pointed out.
“It’s just flesh and muscle. I’m going to be okay,” he tried to assure me. I was having a hard time focusing on him because there were suddenly three of him and none of them would stay still long enough. “You have some nasty cuts and you banged your head really hard, but you’re going to be okay too. I love you, baby.”
“You’re so fucking sexy,” I told him. “All three of you.” Another wave of nausea hit me and I couldn’t hold my contents inside me the second time. Later, I would be mortified that I vomited in front of Macio or worried that he saw me as weak, but right then I was too miserable to care.
The cops and EMTs arrived on the scene and separated the two of us to get us ready for transport. Macio insisted that he was fine to walk, even after the blood loss, and insisted on riding on the same ambulance as me. He held my hand and spoke to me and, although I couldn’t hear the words he was saying over the loud sirens, I knew whatever he said was beautiful and full of emotion.
I could feel the edges of oblivion creeping up on me and knew I was about to lose consciousness again. It seemed like the harder I fought to stay awake, the heavier my body got and the dimmer my vision became.
“Don’t fight it, baby. I’ll still be here,” Macio told me.
The next time I opened my eyes, it was Barry sitting beside me and not Macio. I assumed the worst when I took in Barry’s tired, stressed expression and body language. I tried to sit up, but Barry reached over and laid a calm hand over my chest and gently pressed me back down against the bed.
“Relax, kid,” he said gently. “Macio is fine. He’s out of surgery and resting in his room next door. The bullet missed bone, but it tore through muscles and ligaments. He’s looking at months of physical therapy to get the strength back in his arm.”
I reached for the covers, prepared to throw them off so I could go find my man. “He needs me.”
“He does need you, and that’s why you have to stay here and rest. Aiden, do you trust me?” I did, although I didn’t know him well. I always had the impression that he had Macio’s best interests at heart, which I could never say about Rupert. I nodded, then regretted the action immediately because of the pain the movement caused. Rupert reached over and patted my hand where it rested on the bedrail. “I’ll make sure you two get moved into the same room. Okay?”
It would have to do because I was too sick to be going anywhere. “Thank you, Barry.”
“No problem. Now that I know you’re okay, I’m going to go check on Macio, then see about moving you guys in as roomies for the night.” He pinned me with a serious look, then said, “As long as you both promise to stay in your separate beds and actually do what the nurses tell you.”
I had to think hard about it for a few seconds because being in the same room with Macio and not sharing the same bed felt like torture, but he would need his rest. “Okay,” I promised, maybe with a slight bit of petulance in my tone.
The next time I woke up, my guy was in a hospital bed parked next to mine. He smiled weakly at me and I thought to myself that he had never looked more beautiful than he did right then. He was banged up and in pain, but he was alive. I wanted so badly to go to him, to run my fingers through his hair and kiss his face, but I had made a promise to Barry and I would keep it.
“How long we in for?” I asked him.
“We’re both going home tomorrow,” Macio said. “Barry made sure that all signs of Rupert will be gone.”
“Have they found him?” The thought of his crazy ass waiting for us to return made me sicker than I already felt. As gimpy as Macio and I were right then, it would’ve been like shooting fish in a barrel.
“Fuck yeah, they did. He won’t be able to hurt anyone ever again,” Macio told me.
I released a relieved breath and smiled at my guy. I held up my hand and gestured to our surroundings, then said, “This isn’t my idea of a sleepover, baby.”
“Mine either, but it’s just for a night and then we’ll be back to sharing a bed again.”
I could handle one more night. In the grand scheme of things, it was no big deal at all. At least he was still beside me and neither one of us were gravely wounded.
“Unless you want to come over here and snuggle against my good side,” Macio said invitingly.
“I promised I’d be good,” I told Macio.
“Not going to happen,” Barry said, walking into the room. He had a blanket and a pillow tucked under his arms and wore a scowl on his face. It was obvious he didn’t trust us and had intended to set up a night watch. “I decided not to take any chances where you two are concerned.” He pointed his finger at both of us. “Besides, both of your families are coming tomorrow and you’ll need your rest to deal with them.”
Macio and I both groaned. So much for some peaceful cuddling while we recuperated.
The media circus that rolled into our world after the incident with Rupert trying to kill the love of my life was one for the record books. Aiden and I had reporters shoving microphones in our faces the moment we left the hospital. They were waiting for us at our home, all hoping to catch whatever juicy details they could, simply to sensationalize our lives. Neither Aiden nor I gave them much, because it was our private lives, our business. One of the headlines read: “MMA Gay Love Triangle” as if that was even close to the fact. There was no love on my part for Rupert in that way. I really hated how the media had a knack for twisting facts to make fiction. On the brighter side of the scandal, at least Lisa, Rupert’s wife was made aware of her husband’s antics. Last I’d heard, she was filing for divorce. Good for her.
As for the media circus, the only rag we gave the truth to was Ringside. I already had the best reporter who wrote his stories with integrity living right with me, just the way I wanted it. That was also one of their highest selling issues, because everyone wanted the inside scoop on what happened that day Rupert broke into my home in hopes of killing my sexy lover. As if I’d ever choose him after the fact. Crazy ass bastard. As for me, it wasn’t all rainbows. Because of my injury, I had been on the mend and trying to get back into fighting shape. I had to forfeit my championship belt because I wasn’t physically fit to defend it at the time.
