“Colin! Goddammit, you’ll be disbarred!” Lenny cried, yanking on Colin’s arm. “You being in jail won’t help Josh! Put the fucker down!”
Breath hissing through clenched teeth, Colin’s face contorted in hatred and rage. His left hand closed around Page’s throat while his right hand drew back, balled into a fist. Frozen in time, he stared into the eyes of the man who had abducted his husband, consumed by a fury unlike any he had ever known. He longed to smash his fist into Page’s face until it was a bloody pulp beneath his hand…but as if from a distance he heard Joshua’s voice and his anger burned away in moment of absolute clarity.
“I can heal from anything if we’re together, Colin. But if I lose you...nothing could ever heal me. Nothing.”
A choked sob caught in his chest and his fist unclenched. The hand holding Page’s throat relaxed, and he heard Lenny’s voice: “Colin, he’s notworthit.”
Then from behind them Donald’s voice rang out. “We found him! Colin, we found Josh!”
Colin gasped and spun, hurling Page to the floor where he was surrounded by uniformed officers. With Lenny one step behind him, he sprinted toward the sound of Donald’s voice. They stumbled through a sagging and splintered archway and into a small dark room at the rear of the church.
Two EMS attendants hovered over a prone figure, and Donald Thompson knelt beside them, his face stricken.
“Donnie!” Lenny called. “Goddammit, is he...”
“He’s alive!” Donald called. “Colin, he’salive!”
Colin felt a burst of joy explode in his chest. He took two tentative steps forward, then jerked to a stop, paralyzed by horror. Joshua lay unconscious. His beautiful, angular features were grossly misshapen and bruised nearly black. Blood ran down his forehead and seeped from several facial lacerations. His clothing was torn, filthy, and drenched in blood. Crimson stains covered his hair, his face, his hands.
Colin gave a sharp, anguished cry and sank to his knees. He lifted both hands to cover his eyes, blotting out the sight of Joshua’s bruised and battered face.
“Colin! Listen to me!” Randal, one of the EMS attendants, called out. “I know it looks bad, but none of this is life-threatening far as we can tell!”
“I heard him!” Joshua croaked out, flailing his left hand in the air as if reaching for something...someone. “I heard his voice!”
“He heard you yelling at Page,” Fred, the other attendant said, then bent over Joshua trying to staunch the stream of blood flowing from the wound on his head. “He’s here, Josh. Colin’s here.”
“I heard him!” Joshua cried again.
Colin staggered to his feet. He tore off the heavy body armor flinging it to one side as he dropped to his knees beside his wounded husband. “I’m here, baby,” he choked out. He reached for Joshua’s hand, but Randal stopped him.
“Careful, Colin. We think that arm is broken.”
“I heard him!” Joshua cried again, reaching with his left hand, groping, searching.
“He’s not fully conscious,” Randal said. “He’s got one mother of a gash on his head.”
“Josh,” Colin said. “I’m here.” He bent over Joshua. “I’m here, baby.”
Joshua’s eyes turned blindly toward his voice.
“He can’t see you, Colin,” Fred said. “His eyes are swollen shut.”
Shaking with sobs he fought to suppress, Colin bent over Joshua again. “I’m here, Josh,” he choked out. “Can you hear my voice? I’m right beside you.” He bent and pressed a gentle kiss to Joshua’s shattered face. “I’m here, my darling.”
Joshua sucked in a gasping breath but the blind, restless motion of his hand ceased, and he turned his head toward Colin’s voice. “I can’t see you,” he whimpered, his breath hitching in his chest.
“Which arm is hurt?” Colin asked Randal, who pointed to Joshua’s right arm which rested on the floor at an awkward angle. Colin nodded and lifted Joshua’s left hand in his. He guided Joshua’s bruised fingers to his own face in a slow exploration of every angle.
“Feel my face,” he whispered, his voice shaking. “You know this face, my darling. You don’t have to see it. Your touch knows it.”
He bent closer, his lips near Joshua’s ear. “Hear my voice. You know my voice better than anyone on earth.” He moved Joshua’s fingers into his sandy hair. “Feel my hair,” he choked out. “You know this hair. You’ve had your fingers in it ten thousand times.” He pressed the palm of Joshua’s hand to his lips. “I’m here, my love.”
“Colin?” Joshua whispered, his voice weak and shaking. “Colin?”
“I’m right here, darling,” Colin whispered, his lips nearly touching Joshua’s ear. “Right here beside you.”
The fingers in Colin’s hand tightened, and a faint smile curved Joshua’s swollen lips. His breath caught as tears streamed from his blackened eyes. “Iknewyou’d come.”
