“Do you remember when I hired you I said we’re like a big family here?”
Tyler did and thought nothing of it at the time. It sounded like one of those clichés any business owner would make up to convince a prospective employee to work for them.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I take care of my family. I’m going to take care of you now, Tyler. You have nothing to worry about except recuperating, so shut up and let’s get to the hospital.”
Marcus slid a bracing arm around his shoulder to help him stand and for the first time in forever, Tyler understood what it felt like to be protected and safe.
Chapter Nine
‡
Marcus couldn’t recalla more hellish night. Even with the “in” of knowing the orthopedist, it took more than five hours before Tyler was seen and taken in for X-rays. Frustrated at being left behind in the waiting area, he knew he annoyed the nurses with his constant questions about Tyler’s condition, but the vision of the man’s bloodied and beaten face remained imprinted in his mind, vividly there every time he closed his eyes.
The clock moved past midnight and with his barely restrained patience already thinned to the snapping point, Marcus attempted to slip into the Emergency Room, but the nurses impeded his progress.
“Sir. Where are you going? Only family members are allowed.”
He’d already decided no one would stop him from seeing Tyler. Thinking fast, Marcus turned on his most charming smile. “I am family. We’re engaged to be married. He just said yes, and now he’s hurt, and I can’t bear to be apart from him.” He blinked and rubbed the corner of his eye.
The nurse’s stern face softened. “Oh, that’s so sad. I hope your boyfriend checks out okay.” After consulting a sheet of paper, she pointed at the swinging doors with her pencil. “He’s in Room 7. Through the doors, down the hall, and to your left.”
Marcus flashed her a grin and took off, entering the chaotic world of the ER. Nurses and doctors rushed past him; patients lay on gurneys, presumably waiting for an open room; police officers and EMS workers congregated around the central station, filling out forms and talking. There were small, curtained-off areas running along each wall. Marcus counted off the numbers until he reached 7 and pulled aside the curtain.
Tyler lay on a hospital bed with his eyes closed. His chest barely rose from his shallow breaths, and he looked worse than he did when Marcus first saw him at Sparks, as the bruising had settled in, mottling his face and neck in purple and brown splotches. Lucky for Tyler, they hadn’t broken his nose or an eye socket.
A savage need to hurt the person who did this to Tyler choked Marcus. “Oh, Ty, what did they do to you?” Making sure he didn’t put pressure on the damaged skin, Marcus stroked Tyler’s cheek with his fingertips. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”
A woman in her late thirties came in. “Are you Micah’s friend?” At his nod, she introduced herself. “I’m Dr. Lerner, the orthopedist. Your friend here has a few cracked ribs. Due to the extensive bruising from the beating he received, I had them check out his spleen and his kidneys but luckily they’re clean. I’m having him stay the night for observation to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion.”
“That’s good.” Marcus approved of this doctor and her no-nonsense attitude.
“He may not even get to a room. We’re very backed up with real emergencies.” She checked Tyler’s chart. “Are you going home tonight?”
There was no reason for him to stay any longer. Tyler’s condition seemed stable, and Marcus had a club to run. He thought of Antonio and his planned hook-up for tonight. And technically, Marcus could do nothing for Tyler by remaining at the hospital. He’d be watched, and they’d let him know if there was any change in his condition.
“I’ll be staying. Thank you for your help, and please make sure you forward any bills for his care to me.” Tyler didn’t know it yet, but he’d be coming back home with Marcus instead of returning to that wretched little apartment in the bowels of Brooklyn.
Dr. Lerner was halfway out of the curtained-off area when she answered. “Fill out the paperwork when you go back outside. We gave him a shot, so he should sleep for a few more hours.”
Then she was gone, leaving him alone with a sleeping Tyler and his own confused thoughts. He sat in one of the hard, uncomfortable chairs next to the bed and stretched out his legs, dropping his head in his hands. What the fuck was he really doing here? With the bet over, he could be in bed with the hot and willing Antonio instead of sitting in a grungy, smelly emergency room with a man who never expressed anything but lukewarm approval for him.
Marcus knew most of the men he took to bed only did so because they thought they’d get something out of him. He made no promises of a future or even a second night. There hadn’t been a time in recent memory he hadn’t gotten a man into bed with little effort, except for Tyler.
That hot kiss they’d shared had only juiced him up for more; he wanted more of Tyler. He wanted all of him.
The raw sexuality of Tyler’s dancing coupled with his complete immersion in the music mesmerized Marcus. Seeing him move on the dance floor, Marcus knew he’d be a wildcat in bed and wanted to be the one to uncage Tyler’s beast. The unexpected hands-off attitude and prickly behavior were a change for him—a challenge. That must be it, Marcus mused as he closed his eyes. He only desired Tyler because he had to work to get him.
*
A curious beepingnoise infiltrated his brain. Why did he have an alarm set? He didn’t need to get up in the morning.
“Marcus?”
His eyelids fluttered open to the sight of a hospital room instead of his bedroom. His neck hurt and his legs were contorted in a pretzel-like position. He untangled himself from the chair he’d fallen asleep in after they moved Tyler to a room last night around three a.m., and walked over to the hospital bed where Tyler lay wide-awake.
Tyler stared up at him, confusion apparent in his furrowed brow, but Marcus noticed his bright, pain-free eyes.
