“Mom used to say that Parker was mini-me,” Lance agreed, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.
The door opened and an older, distinguished man stepped into the room with a stethoscope dangling from his coat pocket and a medical clipboard in his hands.
“Good evening, gentlemen! I’m Dr. Aldous Richards. And you must be Parker’s older brother.”
“Lance Kingsley,” he confirmed with a brief smile. “Pleasure.”
“I’m the lead physician of the team caring for your brother, and I was on duty this afternoon when your brother was admitted.” He looked down at the chart in his hands. “Let me cut right to the chase. He gave us a good scare when he arrived in the ER. I suspect that his state of unconsciousness was primarily due to shock and the intense pain caused by several broken ribs. His CT scan and MRI results confirmed the exact location of the broken ribs, and that surgery will not be necessary. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, those results also confirmed there are no signs of internal bleeding, organ damage, or intracranial bleeding. It will take about six weeks for his ribs to fully heal. He will need to come back then to get medical clearance to resume normal activities. However, with youth and good health on his side, I expect he should be as good as new in no time. He was extraordinarily lucky today, that’s for sure!”
Lance heaved a huge sigh of relief, dropping his head back on the chair’s headrest. He closed his eyes briefly and said, “Thank God!” Realizing what he’d just said, he quickly backpedaled, blushing furiously. “I mean, thank you so much, Dr. Richards, for all that you’ve done for Parker.”
The doctor shook his head and chuckled.
“Just happy to deliver good news for a change. Your brother’s going to be just fine. We’ll keep him overnight for observation, but he should be ready for discharge tomorrow before lunch. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must visit with several other patients and their families this evening.”
“Thank you again, Dr. Richards,” Lance said.
As soon as the doctor left, Lance huffed a laugh born of sheer amazement and disbelief. He smiled and looked up at Tanner, saying, “Holy shit! He’s gonna be just fine!”
Tanner smiled as he reached over to playfully tousle Lance’s hair.
Tanner ducked out of the room and pulled out his phone to search for a nearby hotel. Holiday Inn was only a few blocks away, so he booked their room there to save time. Since Parker would be discharged the next morning, they could pick him up right after checking out.
Lance was just leaving Parker’s room when Tanner returned, wearing a big smile.
“He woke up for a few minutes. He was really groggy and mostly out of it, but I told him I’d be back tomorrow, and he fell right back to sleep. Shit—I’m just so fucking relieved! I’m about ready to pass out myself.”
“Hold off on the fainting act a bit longer, okay? I just booked the last room available at the Holiday Inn right down the street, whenever you’re ready to cut out. Then tomorrow after he’s discharged, we can move all of his stuff out of his dorm room and drop him off at your parent’s place along with his school stuff. Everything should fit with no problem in Big Blue.”
“I can’t ask you to do that. It’s Saturday tomorrow, you should be off—clubbing, or—doing whatever it is you need to be doing. You’ve already done more than enough!” Lance argued, shaking his head.
“Clubbing,” Tanner said with a scoff and an eyeroll. “That’ll be the day! My Saturday plans consisted of chasing dust bunnies rolling around my condo and counting down the hours ‘til you and I could grab a beer, so—I’d much rather hang with you guys. Besides, you didn’t ask me. I volunteered.” BeforeLance could launch a protest, he kept going. “Come on. We have to swing by the pizza place to grab an extra-large meal deal on the way to the hotel. I’ll bet your ass is starved by now. I know mine is! A carb coma sounds like the perfect way to round out the day.”
“I’m not really—” Lance protested but Tanner cut him off again.
“Unless you want to end up underweight and puny like me, you’d better plan on helping me with that meal deal. I’m not lettingthat,” he said, motioning towards Lance’s well-developed chest, “waste away on my watch!” Although he’d meant it as a joke, it ended up sounding mostly serious. Yikes. Lance jumped all over it.
“That?” Lance repeated questioningly. “So, I’m just a piece of meat to you?”
Tanner studiously ignored his question. “Car. Pizza. Hotel. Come on, Rain Man, let’s hit the road!”
“Rain Man?” He wasn’t too thrilled with this new nickname.
“Meh—I’m trying it out.” Tanner’s self-satisfied smirk told him he’d be hearing it again. He laughed and shook his head as Tanner grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him down the hall to the elevator.
Since there was a big hockey tournament in town, Tanner was lucky to even find a hotel room for the night. But what he’d failed to notice in his haste to reserve their room was that it had one king size bed, not the two regular beds he’d expected. He’d fucked up big time.
Lance dropped his overnight bag next to the bed and looked over at Tanner with raised brows.
“Fuck—and that’s what you get for trusting an Army man to read.” He laughed at himself and shrugged. “I’ll sleep in the truck.”
“Like hell you will!”
“Nah, seriously. It’ll be better. I have nightmares and shit—” he said, rubbing the back of his head in disappointment and frustration.
“Tanner, I’m too tired to argue about this. I’m warning you now, if you leave this room to go sleep in the truck, I’ll be right behind you, and then we’ll both be sleeping in your truck. I’m petty like that.” Lance scowled with an angry glint in his eyes that said he wasn’t fucking around. With a sigh, he flopped onto the bed, making the mattress bounce beneath him. After a moment of watching Tanner standing there, still hesitating, Lance jumped off the bed and said, “I’ve got first dibs on the shower!”
At the door to the bathroom, he looked back at Tanner, one eyebrow raised in clear challenge.
