“What did Casey say?” Nate asked, clutching Colin’s arm. “How bad is he hurt?”
Colin leaned back against the wall and drew in a deep breath. He felt light-headed with exhaustion. “He’ll be OK,” he said, his voice clipped.
“AreyouOK?” Nate asked.
Colin hissed out a breath, his face twisted in anguish. “Did youseehim?” he asked, teeth clenched in rage. “I promised I’d always protect him, and did youseewhat that bastard did to him?” He spun to face his friends. “Some fucking protector I turned out to be!”
“Colin, don’t do this,” David begged. “This won’t help Josh. This will only make things worse for him.”
“You can’t follow him around twenty-four hours a day,” Nate said. “If you want to blame someone, blameme!It wasmyfucking jacket he was delivering when that bastard grabbed him.”
“Nate, stop it,” Colin growled out, wrapping an arm around Nate’s neck.
“You did everything humanly possible to protect him,” David added.
“Yeah. For all the fuckinggoodit did!”
“That wasn’t your fault!” David said, then turned as the door to Joshua’s room opened and Adam Casey stepped out.
“You can come in,” Casey told them.
“How is he?” Colin asked, trailing the doctor back into the room.
“He’s in and out of consciousness,” Casey said, watching as Colin lowered the railing and bent over his husband.
“Is that normal?” Colin asked, and when Casey didn’t answer Colin wheeled to face him. “ISit?”
“Colin, he has a grade 3 concussion. Technically, it constitutes a traumatic brain injury.” And when Colin’s eyes widened in fear, Casey took a step toward him.“Amildtraumatic brain injury!”he assured him. “Any kind of unconsciousness isn’t good, but in this case it’s also fairly normal.”
He walked to Colin’s side and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Listen to me. This is all you need to know. Right now, his brain needs to rest. I want his neurons going: ‘Ping’,” Casey said in a slow, dreamy sing-song voice. “Ping,” he repeated the word leaving a long, silent space between. “And...ping.” He tightened his grip on Colin’s arm. “What I do NOT want is his neurons firing off like a fucking Gatling gun going: “PINGPINGPINGPING!” He waved his fingers frantically in the air miming frenzied movement. “And a lot of that—if notallof it—is going to depend on you.”
Colin sucked in a trembling breath and nodded.
“He feeds off your energy, Colin. If you’re frantic,he’llbe frantic, and it will not only be bad for him, but it’ll also slow his recovery.” He glanced toward David and Nate who had crept into the room behind Colin. “I’ll let David and Nate stay, but I’d prefer that he didn’t have any other visitors for a while. A couple days at least.”
“What the hell can I tell his mother?” Colin asked. “Jesus, she’s going to freak out.”
“Then tell her nothing!” Casey blurted out. “I don’t want anyone around him who’s freaking out!”
“Bracha won’t freak out,” David told Colin. “She’ll put Joshua’s well-being ahead of everything else.” He pressed his lips together. “Colin, in my opinion, you havegotto call her.”
Colin nodded, then turned back to Joshua and bent over him, staring down at his stricken husband. “I wish he could tell me whathewants.”
“Right now, nothing he says will make much sense. Not for the next few hours at least, and possibly for the next few days.” The doctor turned and moved toward the door. “I’ll be back to check on him later.” He gestured to the light switch. “Keep the overhead lights off. Use the bedside lamp. He may have a bad reaction to light right now.” He stopped in the doorway. “Remember what I said: low lights, low voices, low stress.”
Colin watched him leave, then he bent over Joshua again. He lifted Joshua’s fingers to his lips and stared down at the face he loved. Then he turned to David and Nate. “I’m not going to call his mom and brother in Glencoe until morning,” he said. “They may as well get a good night’s sleep since Josh isn’t critical.” He glanced at the wall clock which read four thirty-five a.m.
“How many stitches in his head?” Nate asked.
“Casey said twenty-two I think,” Colin said. “Not stitches. Staples. And what happened to Donnie?”
“He had to go back to the police station,” David told him. “He said he’d be back later on.”
Nate wheeled toward Joshua who stirred and mumbled incoherently. Colin bent over him, trying to hear what he was saying.
“What did he say?” David asked.
“It sounded like ‘you don’t want to’ and I couldn’t catch the rest.” He half-sat on the side of Joshua’s bed, leaning over him, his face close to Joshua’s. “I love you,” he whispered, his voice thick with tears. “Please don’t stay away too long. God, baby, I need you.” He bowed his head, and Nate choked back a sob when he saw Colin’s tears falling onto Joshua’s hospital gown.
