“I need you to go away.” King turned and narrowed his eyes at Ace. “Now.”
“Right. Going.” Ace hurried off, and King shook his head. How was this the same man who’d taken out a target at twenty-three hundred meters? He headed back to Leo. “How are things looking?”
Leo beamed up at him. “We’re doing great! I sent Colton the updated spreadsheet, and he’s got Joker and Gio working on the rest of the pillars. All that’s left are the windows. Clara’s already making arrangements for the celebration.”
King opened his mouth to reply when Gio yelled. He spun in time to hear the loud crash and see Joker on the floor, tangled in his ladder. Shit! He’d been about to run over when the amount of cursing that came out of Joker’s mouth had him instead turning to gather up anyone who wasn’t family.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be okay. We’ll take care of it,” King promised as he quickly ushered everyone out of the ballroom. They did not need to hear the words coming from his brother. When he was done assuring them everything would be okay, he ran back to his family.
“Don’t say it,” Joker gritted through his teeth.
Shit. Judging from Red’s expression, Joker was about to be on his way to Urgent Care.
“Son of a bitch!”
“What is it?” Gio asked.
“We need to get him to Urgent Care,” Red said gently. “He’s fractured his leg.” He carefully pulled up Joker’s pant leg. “It’s already swelling.”
Leo nodded and ran off, quickly returning with Joker’s coat, scarf, hat, and gloves. He handed the coat to Mason, who handed it to Colton, who slipped one of Joker’s arms into a sleeve while Laz slipped Joker’s other arm into the opposite sleeve. Uh oh. The Boyfriends were about to go into mothering mode.
Leo wrapped Joker’s scarf around him, and Fitz put Joker’s hat on his head. Maybe King should step in because Joker looked like he was trying really hard not to lose his shit. Thankfully, Gio was all over it, talking quietly to Colton, who nodded and corralled the other Boyfriends, ushering them away from Joker.
King walked to Leo’s side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “He’s going to be okay, sweetheart.”
Leo nodded, but that didn’t mean he’d stop worrying.
“What do you want to do?” Depending on how bad the fracture was, the next step was either arranging surgery, which would mean going to the next town since that’s where the hospital was, or the best-case scenario, Joker would get a cast put on his leg.
“We should keep going,” Leo said. “If we go back to the cabin, my brain’s going to start catastrophizing, and that could spiral into panic attacks, and I’d like to avoid that. Decorating will keep my brain busy until Joker’s back at the cabin.”
“Sounds good.” King kissed the top of Leo’s head. “Just tell me what to do. I am at your service.” He purposefully lowered his voice, making it sound husky.
Leo blinked up at him. “Oh, you’re good. Or should that be evil?” He narrowed his eyes. “I can’t decide.”
King chuckled. “Well, until you decide, how about you and I finish those pillars?”
“What if you fall?” Leo asked worriedly.
“We’ll make sure there’s no cord wrapped around the ladder. How about that?”
“Okay. But you’ll be extra careful?”
“I promise.” He took Leo’s hand and led him to the pillar Joker and Gio had been working on. Picking up the garland, he frowned at the metal loop. “This must be why Gio wasn’t there with Joker. The hook is bent. I’ll grab the pliers.” He jogged over to the toolbox and returned a moment later.
Leo still looked worried, which was why King needed to climb the ladder. It would go a long way to putting Leo’s mind at ease and showing him that everything with Joker had just been an unfortunate accident. King set the ladder back up, giving it a little shake so Leo could see it was stable. Then he fixed the bent loop and tossed the pliers on the floor next to the pillar.
Climbing the rungs, he fastened the loop over the hook at the top of the pillar and then looked down at Leo, who was watching intently. “Okay, start wrapping it around.”
Seeming to snap himself out of the beginnings of an anxiety spiral, Leo grabbed the garland and started walking around the pillar with it. King descended the ladder, then moved it out of the way so they could finish wrapping the garland and fixing the spacing. The way Leo’s shoulders visibly relaxed had King breathing a sigh of relief. His sweetheart was such a worrier.
They continued to work on the pillars until a group text came through from Red. “It’s good news,” King told Leo. “No surgery needed. There is a fracture, so he’ll have to be in a cast for a few weeks. They’re on the way back to the cabin.”
“Should we go?” Leo asked.
“We can, but if you’re wanting to see Joker, Gio will probably talk him into spending the night resting in their room.”
“You’re right.” Leo let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad he’s okay. Let’s finish up.” He had a determined look on his face, so King followed his lead, and by dinner, they were done. The ballroom looked incredible and just in time. Christmas Eve was almost upon them.
