Nally slipped slightly, and Jude clutched at him to keep him from sinking. “We’re okay,” he said to reassure him. “Nothing happened in the end. We’re alive and relatively unhurt.”
Nally turned to stare at him, which seemed to ground him. “Your nose,” he said.
“My social media followers are going to love watching my journey to recovery and regaining my dazzling beauty again,” Jude insisted.
Nally gaped at him, then burst into laughter. “You’re sick,” he said, shaking his head.
Jude might have been utterly weird, but his joke broke the tension exactly when and how it needed to be broken. An ambulance siren sounded from the far end of the drive, but before it could reach them, Officer Sparks walked Jude and Nally to one of the benches so he could take a quick statement. Janicecame with them, hovering like the mother hen she was, but also unable to stop her tears.
It was all too much, and by the time Officer Sparks was finished with them, for the time being, at least, and the ambulance crew was given the okay to move in and take a look at Jude’s nose and the bruises Jude hadn’t noticed forming on Nally’s neck. Jude was too overwhelmed to do anything but let them.
Another bit of good news was that Jude and Nally were able to ride in the ambulance to the local hospital together. Jude’s pain flared into the center of his awareness as one of the EMTs checked and treated his nose. He could hold Nally’s hand as they rushed through the night and take painkillers as they went, so everything was okay in the end. They were even given beds right next to each other in A&E while waiting for more treatment.
“I definitely wanted to end up in bed with you tonight,” Nally said as he slipped off his bed and climbed onto Jude’s, “but this was not what I had in mind.”
Jude laughed, then grimaced as his freshly bandaged nose flared with pain. “I lub you,” he said, scooting over and making room for Nally, then lying back with him. He closed his eyes and rested his head against Nally’s. “I really lub you.”
Nally chuckled and threaded their fingers together. He then did something Jude would have never imagined he’d do. He took his phone out, held it above the two of them, and snapped a selfie of both of them looking beat up and miserable in the hospital bed.
“You’re not actually goin’ to post dat, are you?” Jude asked in his nasally drone as Nally pulled his phone down and started tapping his way around to Instagram.
“I don’t want the story to get out any other way,” he said as he set up the post.
“Fuck, you hab changed,” Jude laughed, then screwed up his face in pain again, which caused even more pain.
“Hush, dear,” Nally told him as he posted the selfie with the caption “Had a bit of a day. We’re fine, but more to come later.”
“People are goin’ to flip,” Jude said, snuggling against Nally’s side even more. “Dey’ll blow your DMs up.”
“Let them,” Nally sighed, putting his phone away and drawing Jude into his arms. “I don’t care about anyone’s DMs but yours.”
More laughter and pain followed.
Jude was right about people flipping out, though. Particularly when the story of Quentin’s attack and the near disaster Jude and Nally had lived through made the news. Reporters were at the hospital before midnight that night, and it took the combined presence of Nick escorting them home and Janice tearing into everyone about the need for privacy before people left them alone.
There were plenty of calls to answer, interviews to give, and posts to make the next morning, though.
“At least we can use this whole thing to bring awareness to unhealthy celebrity obsessions and the real dangers of stalking,” Nally said as they sat cuddled in his bed, working on their phones, well into the morning.
“I hope those policemen who refused to do anything about Quentin when he showed up at LSO St. Luke’s are kicking themselves,” Jude said, still sounding a tad nasally, as they worked together on editing the video they’d made explaining the incident…with as few details as possible.
“They weren’t bad people,” Nally said, half scolding. “And to be honest, Quentin hadn’t really given any indication he would get that violent.”
Jude lowered his phone and stared at Nally. “You’re lucky that the two of us are endgame, sir. You’re far too innocent for this world, and you need someone to take care of you.”
“And that person is you?” Nally asked with a smug grin.
“That person is absolutely me,” Jude said, tilting his chin up imperiously. “I don’t trust anyone else to do the job.”
“Neither do I,” Nally said with endearing affection. He pivoted so that he could cup the side of Jude’s face with one hand and leaned in for a kiss.
It was just their luck that Jude’s face was in far too much pain and Nally’s attempt to kiss him bumped their noses together. Jude let out a shout of pain, and Nally pulled back…laughing.
“Bastard,” Jude said, sounding silly and pathetic with his swollen nose.
“I love you,” Nally answered him, picking up his hand and kissing his knuckles instead of his lips.
Jude had no idea how he’d won life’s lottery and ended up with Nally by his side from the start. All he wanted to do was will his nose to heal, throw their phones aside, and roll around in bed with Nally until the two of them were exhausted from fucking each other silly.
