“Be more fucking careful, or I’m going to refuse to take you, and then you’ll get to ride in the ambulance with that poor medic I’ve been harassing,” Leon said as he secured his arm around her back. He shot the paramedic his best approximation of an apologetic smile. “Thank you, and I’m sorry, and thank you.”
He was pretty sure he heard the paramedic sigh indulgently, but he was already guiding Hailey slowly back to James’ car. “Can you drive, darlin’? I’ll sit in the back with both of them.”
“Yeah, of course,” James said as he led Trina to the car as well.
Getting both teens into the car and to the hospital was a slow, tense process. James abided by every single traffic law on the way, not wanting to risk an accident with the two teens in the car.
James pulled up in front of the ER and said he’d find parking while Leon got them both inside and checked in. The ER was surprisingly empty given the horrid weather, but maybe other people involved in accidents came in through the paramedic entrance like they were supposed to.
“Can you go into the back and find Mom?” Hailey asked.
Trina sighed as she tried to keep the ice pack pressed to Hailey’s face, even as she insisted on talking, looking around, and fidgeting.
“I don’t think I can just march in there,” Leon said with a sigh even louder than Trina’s. “When they call you back, I’ll ask around, okay? That’s the best I’ve got.”
James walked into the room, and the woman doing intake called out to him. He walked over and smiled warmly at her, bending down to speak quietly across the partition. There was a lot of nodding and even a short laugh, and then James gestured for the three of them to come over.
“Oh my god,” Hailey said as they both helped her to her feet. “Is James a doctor whisperer?”
Two nurses emerged from the double doors to the left of the check-in desk, each pushing a wheelchair.
“I’m fine,” Hailey tried to say, but Trina made a noise Leon was fairly certain he’d heard James make before. A very mensch-like noise of being ready to throttle their partner.
“Okay, fine,” Hailey grumbled. “But only if you get in the other one.”
“Gladly,” Trina said, all but collapsing into the chair. When they’d checked in, Hailey had insisted Trina be checked over as well, and Leon was grateful they’d been so agreeable. At this point, though, Leon was about ready to collapse as well.
As they passed James, he fell into step beside them, immediately wrapping his arm around Leon’s back. “I’ve been here enough to know several of the intake and charge nurses. They pinged Hailey’s mom and told her Hailey was here to talk to her. You should probably head her mom off, though, because Hailey does look a bit…”
“Gnarly,” Leon said, nodding in agreement.
After wheeling both teenagers into the triage bay, a nurse with bright purple hair offered to bring Dr. Sharp, aka Hailey’s mom, to them.
It took less than a minute for her to appear, worry written all over her face. Leon did his best to explain the situation in a calm, collected manner, but he still couldn’t feel his fingers, and he was starting to fray around the edges. Thankfully, James was able to pick up the slack. Together, they walked with Hailey’s mom towards where Hailey was already getting set up in a bed. Her mom’s blonde ponytail, identical to the one Hailey usually wore, bobbed frantically up and down as she hurried across the room and enveloped her daughter in a hug.
The professionals took over from there. Hailey’s mom clocked out for the night so she could stay with Hailey and Trina. The other ER doctor did a quick assessment of them both and determined that Hailey did have a concussion, as well as a nasty cut above her eye. Apparently, the reason she hadn’t been able to “open her eyes,” as Trina had put it, was because of the blood running down her face. She hadn’t actually lost consciousness, which sounded like good news to Leon. Trina was completely fine, except for a wicked bruise from the seatbelt and another one beginning to form along her neck from the airbag.
“You’re both so incredible,” Hailey’s mom said, hugging Leon, then James, and then Leon again. “I think I’ve got the rest from here. Trina’s going to stay with us tonight because their parents are out of town–something thatapparentlyhappens quite often, which I was unaware of.”
Leon grimaced, imagining that had probably not been a fun conversation with Hailey and Trina. He and James had spent the past two hours fetching water, ice, and snacks for the two patients and Hailey’s mom, and they must have missed this revelation.
At least there were small mercies.
“We’re just really glad we could be there for Hailey and Trina tonight,” James said before they wished them all goodnight and trudged their way out to James’ car.
Leon was glad for a lot of things, the first of which was the man who hadn’t left his side for even an instant all night. He’d barely flinched when Leon had called him his husband. He’d let Leon bluster and get answers from the paramedic, but had taken charge in the ER waiting room. Anytime they were within arm’s reach of each other, James had his hand, an arm, or his knee pressed up against Leon’s.
Leon appreciated that more than he knew how to express.
As they made their way home, he realized that he was having a lot of feelings he couldn’t express. Part of him wanted to cry, first with relief, but as they entered his apartment and he saw all the decorations James had worked so hard on, he also wanted to cry with grief. Poor James had done so much tonight, and it had all been ruined by a fucking February ice storm. What had he been saying right before they got the call? He’d been looking forward to talking?
Leon had been looking forward to that, too. He’d given a lot of thought and even spoken with Caden about his need for control. His whole childhood had felt so utterly out of his controlthat he’d spent the next twenty years of his life carving out space where he was the only one who could decide who came and went, how he was treated, and how love was shared–and it sure as hell wouldn’t look like anything he’d grown up with. He had tried so hard to make sure his house was a safe space for Hailey, and now for James, Noah, and Aspen. Even with his new ADHD and dyslexia diagnoses, he felt like he was getting a handle on his life, and having James be a part of it was all he wanted…quite possibly, forever.
According to Caden, that was why Leon felt so safe giving up control in certain instances in the bedroom. James made him feel safe enough to ask to be taken care of and to know he wouldn’t be met with ridicule or neglect.
As Leon mulled this all over, James took his coat from him again, hanging it up in the closet before walking over to Leon’s fridge. “We both need to eat something, probably with some sugar and protein. I could make dinner or–”
“James,” Leon whispered.
