Chapter Six

 Good Monday morning,

Last Friday morning I woke up to a cheek the size of a baseball. A trip to the dentist revealed that I have an infected wisdom tooth. He prescribed strong antibiotics. Today I see the oral surgeon. That's a good thing because my eye is half swollen shut.

Because of this newest health challenge and Mr. B's ongoing health issue, this will be my last chapter for a bit. I will be working on the next chapter, hint - Jimmy's chapter, but am not capable of giving it the greatness it deserves. So, if the next chapter is not up, Monday. Please don't rebel. I am working on it.

Chapter Six

 

Parker pushed Lee’s wheelchair out of the elevator and down the hall toward the intensive care unit. There were no doubts in his mind that the next few minutes would be fascinating. He wished he had popcorn and a soda while he watched the drama unfold between Lee, Morgan and Tatum. Odds said they would remain somewhat polite, but the undercurrents would be a thriller.

“I’m getting in there, no matter what,” Lee stated.

Parker smiled. “My money is on you.”

“It’s a good bet.” Lee paused before saying, “Hey, Parker.”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“No Problem.”

Parker stopped the chair outside the ICU, ready to use the phone attached to the wall to announce their intentions to visit Reese. The double doors burst open, revealing Morgan and Tatum.

Lines marred Morgan’s forehead and bracketed the corners of his lips. “The doc’s with him.”

“Good,” Lee responded. “Then he can update me on Reese’s condition.”

“They’re giving him drugs to keep him in a coma.” Morgan shoved his fingers through his hair, leaving tuffs standing on end. “Damn, he’s messed up.”

“Move,” Lee ordered.

The two men stared at each other, the tension in the air thick enough to cut with a knife. With the tiny hairs on his arms rising, Parker looked from one to the other, trying to read what was not being said out loud.

Parker made a decision. Once Lee and Reese were healed and back at the hacienda, Parker would totally interfere in their lives as well as Morgan and Tatum. Enough was enough.

Tatum put his hand on Morgan’s back. “We’ll wait out here if you need anything.”

 Morgan moved into the hallway, making room for Parker to push Lee through the doorway. Leaving the other two behind, Parker made their way down the tiled aisle, recognizing the controlled chaos around him. Steps were brisk, but not hurried. Movements straight and to the point, not wasted.

He paused at the nurse’s station, noting that next to each of the glassed-in rooms, were smaller, individual workstations.

Behind the counter, a younger man, looked up from a stack of paperwork. Parker took in his thick black glasses, messy curls, and wrinkled blue scrubs. The identification card hanging from a rope around his neck revealed he was a registered nurse, but Parker couldn’t make out his name.

“May I help you.”

Parker strove for a pleasant, but firm tone. “We’re here to see Reese Palmer.

“Palmer-Sanchez,” Lee inserted. “I married Reese almost three years ago.”

Whoa. Parker wondered if Roman knew that piece of extraordinary news. The family was going to be pissed that they hadn’t been invited to the event. Way to widen the already great divide.

The man stood and lifted his chin enough to stare down his nose at Parker and Lee. Parker didn’t need a magnifying glass to see homophobic disdain, emphasized by the hint of the curling of his upper lip.

Parker braced himself for the crap that was about to come out of the guy’s mouth.

“Save it,” Lee cut the man off. “Point toward Reese’s room and go back to your paperwork.”

The man’s lips drew into a thin line. Parker sensed the explosion about to happen.

The wheelchair shifted and Parker used his weight to keep the chair in place as Lee stood. Just out of surgery, no doubt exhausted, with a multitude of drugs streaming through his system, Lee Sanchez still was a phenomenal looking, badass of a man. Frowning, with a jaw hardened with determination, Lee would make even the bravest human being think twice about standing in his way.

Parker decided the nurse wasn’t brave, but stupid.

“I can call security,” nurse ratchet threatened.

 Lee’s chuckle sent chills down Parker’s spine. The nurse must have finally gotten a hint that he was facing someone far stronger than he. Parker would have added stronger in character, not just body, but he wouldn’t give the nurse credit of having any character attributes.

“I can call my lawyer,” Lee retorted. “I’m sure he’s just itching to file a discrimination lawsuit against this hospital.”

A tall woman, holding an electronic tablet walked over. “Is there a problem, Ken?”

“I’m not sure,” Lee answered before the nurse could speak. “I’m here to see my husband, Reese Palmer-Sanchez. Is that a problem, Ken?”

Parker couldn’t stop the snort that left his nose. Yeah, he should have acted in a more adult manner. At least he hadn’t pointed and laughed out loud.

“No problem.”

Yeah, the pouting tone in that answer screamed there was a problem.

The woman slid her finger over her tablet and frowned. “We’ll have to change Mr. Palmer’s file to reflect his correct name, Ken. I’ll let you handle that while I show Mr. Sanchez to his husband’s room.”

As the woman rounded the corner of the counter, she smiled. “My name is Rita. I’m the supervisor of this shift. If you have any problems or concerns, feel free to contact me or one of the nurses. We believe, for the well-being of our patients, keeping the loved ones informed is one of our top priorities.

“I don’t think all of the people working under you would agree,” Parker commented, and followed Rita down the hallway made of glass, patient rooms on each side.

Rita paused at the second room from the end and rested her hand on an empty chair sitting in front of a large computer monitor.

“Again, contact our nurses or I, if you have any questions or concerns.” Rita pointed to a row of boxes sitting on a small shelf. “Please slip those on before going into the room. I’m going to ask that you wait until the doctor is finished caring for Mr. Palmer-Sanchez before you go into the room. Visiting times are fifteen minutes per hour.”

“Think old Ken is going to get an ear full,” Parker asked as the woman walked back toward the nurse’s station.

“Yep,” Lee answered.

Parker wrapped the yellow, paper smock over Lee’s sling the best he could. He knelt on one knee and slipped the paper booties over Lee’s shoes. Beside him the glass door to Reese’s room opened.

A tall, thin man, wearing green scrubs and a bright multi-colored skull cap stopped in the doorway. Behind him, back by the bed, a woman leaned over Reese, holding a long plastic wand near his mouth.

“Hello,” Lee greeted the doctor. “I’m Reese’s husband. How is he?”

Parker stood and nodded in greeting.

The man stepped forward, letting the door shut back into place. Parker watched as his gaze traveled over Lee.

“Dr. David Aggard.” The doctor shook Lee’s hand. “Is there an empty hospital bed somewhere with your name on it?”

“I’m where I’m supposed to be,” Lee stated.

The man’s lips parted into a smile that revealed flawless, bright, white teeth.

“Why do I have the feeling that you are going to give the staff all kinds of trouble concerning the rules?”

“I have no problem with rules.” Lee shrugged one shoulder. “As long as they’re reasonable.”

The doctor’s perfect eyebrow rose. “We keep the visits to fifteen minutes per hour in the Intensive Care Unit. Our patients need to rest and heal. Once they are transferred to a regular room, visitors can stay with them longer.”

“Tell me about my husband’s condition.” Lee ignored the doctor’s warning.

“We are keeping Mr. Palmer in . . .”

“Palmer-Sanchez,” Lee interrupted.

The doctor nodded. “As I was saying. We’ve decided keeping Mr. Palmer-Sanchez in a medically induced coma will give his body the best chance to heal. During surgery we were forced to repair one lung by removing a part of the bottom portion. The damage to his body wall was extensive and wasn’t helped by the scaring from prior trauma. We are doing our best to fight the infection that is causing him to retain fluid.”

Lee looked through the glass at Reese. “How long will he have to be intubated?”

“Once he starts breathing more on his own, we’ll start turning the machine down until he’s no longer relying on it,” the doctor answered. “My concern right now is his elevated heart rate and blood pressure. I hope by giving him time, he will stabilize on his own, but if the infection isn’t contained and he continues to retain fluids, decisions will have to be made.”

“Are we talking hours or days?” Lee asked. The man’s tone stayed even but on the edge of demanding.  

Parker was impressed with the man’s control. If either of his husbands were lying in the intensive care unit, he’d have journeyed into the land of hysterical.

“The nurses will contact me if an emergency arises,” the doctor replied. “Otherwise, I’ll reevaluate his chart later today.”

“If I were a betting man, I’d say Reese’s intense hatred of hospitals is contributing to his numbers.” Lee glanced up at Parker. “Let’s get in there.”

* * * *

Lee’s patience had ended back in the last hospital, about the time he woke up from surgery. If the good doctor taking care of Reese didn’t move his ass, Lee would run over him with the wheelchair.

He knew he was being rude, but he’d promised Reese long ago, that he’d never be alone again. Coma or not, he believed Reese knew Lee wasn’t with him.

The glass door opened, and the walls fell away as Lee’s vision centered on the hospital bed and the love of his life.

His sweet, beautiful Reese, reduced to an array of tubes invading his body. The breathing tube held in place by tape covering the lower half of Reese’s face almost broke Lee’s heart. A face, puffy, skin shinny and stretched, almost unrecognizable.

One monitor showed an outline of lungs, expanding and deflating to a monotonous whooshing accompanying the rhythm. Squiggly lines crossed another monitor, reporting Reese’s vital statistics. A beeping, red, light echoing his heartbeat. A warning bell rang out and green lights began blinking. After a moment they quieted, and Lee’s sudden panic eased.

“Take me around to the other side of the bed,” Lee growled out.

After reaching the far side, Park turned the chair around, facing the foot of the bed. Lee reached out and took Reese’s poor bruised and swollen hand. Gone were the slim, tan fingers. Replaced with grotesque digits, skin tight to bursting.

“I’m here, Sunshine.” Lee’s words were a hair above a whisper. “I’m here.”

A hand squeezed Lee’s shoulder. He looked through the blur to find Parker, looking down at him, eyes bright with tears. Lee realized his own cheeks were wet.

Lee swallowed hard. Deep under that smothering fog of drugs, Reese existed. Lee vowed to find him and bring him back.

“The sun is shining today,” Lee began. “I’ll see if the nurses will push your bed closer to the window so that you can feel the sun’s heat. We have visitors. The gang from Rescue for Hire West are here. They heard about your encounter with trouble on the beach and wanted to make sure you’re okay.” Lee took note of the different plastic bags attached to the bed. He identified the one collecting Lee’s urine. He thought the color too dark. “I think once you are ready to get out of that bed, we should visit them at the hacienda.”

Lee identified another couple of bags as drains from Lee’s wounds. The gunk inside them looked nasty. Eight bags of medications and fluids hung from one metal stand. From where he sat, he couldn’t count how many bags hung from another stand. The doctors had bypassed Reese’s arm and the medications entered Reese’s body through a catheter set in next to his throat.

“I love you, Sunshine.” Lee cleared the emotions clogging his throat. “I love you.”

Lee began describing how much fun they had the last time they had driven down the coast. Each stop led to checking out the sand on each beach. Reese loved those grains of warmth under the sun, hugging the ocean.

A short time later a nurse entered the room. “Visiting time is over.”

Parker left the chair in the corner, squeezed Lee’s shoulder, and walked out.

“Sir, I sorry, but it’s time for you to leave,” the nurse told Lee.

Lee kept holding Reese’s hand. “Now, I want you to pay attention, Sunshine. You might hear raised voices, but I’m not leaving you. I see that your heart rate has evened out a bit. You keep listening to my voice. I’m here now.”

 “Sir.”

Lee winced as the volume of her voice rose. Didn’t the woman have something better to do than harass him? Vicki, he saw by her card, her name was Vicki.

“Vicki.” Lee plastered a smile on his face and tried his best to look friendly. “I think I’m going to stay a little longer and talk to Reese. He has a deep hatred of hospitals. The last time he was in one, he staggered out in a hospital grown and was lost for weeks. I’m not going to let that happen this time.”

“That’s very unlikely,” the woman argued. “He’s in a coma.”

“It’s a known fact that people have reported being able to hear while they were in a coma,” Lee pointed out. “I’ll just sit here a while longer so that Reese knows he’s not alone.”

The woman turned and left, but her pronounced sigh told Lee she was about to bring in the big guns. Well, he had a few of his own.

Lee pulled out his cell phone and found a certain contact.

“Hello.”

Some of the tension eased at the sound of his good friend’s voice.

“Hey, Vinnie.”

“Lee, tell me you and Reese are all right,” Vinnie demanded. “I went down to the beach and found the place full of cops. They said they had to call in a chopper for Reese and an ambulance took you away. They let me take your hotdog cart. It’s in my garage.”

Once Vinnie seemed to run out of words, Lee assured his friend, “I’m a bit beat up but okay. Reese’s is in a coma.” Lee took a deep breath and proceeded to do something he vowed never to do. Take advantage of his friend’s power and money. “Vinnie, I need a favor.”

Vinnie may be in his late seventies and was considered the beach’s Casanova, wooing of women, young and old. Most of the beach’s visitors humored him, thinking Vinnie a harmless and smooth-talking old man who took over Lee’s hotdog cart once in a while.

Little did they realize they were in the presence of a prestigious and multi-millionaire, Vincent Angleo. Once Vinnie left the beach, he donned a suit and tie, becoming a powerful man who had a seat on many boards of directors. Including this hospital.

“Anything.”

Lee knew Vinnie meant that statement. The man had been a good friend to Lee for many years.

“Reese in in the intensive care unit at UCI Trauma Center,” Lee explained. “They’re trying to make me leave because of some bullshit fifteen-minute rule. We both know between Reese’s brain damage and hatred of hospitals, if I leave this won’t end well.” Lee let his gaze travel over Reese’s too still form. He wanted to crawl in bed with him but knew if he tried to stand, he’d fall into a heap on the floor. Exhaustion crept closer, trying to snare Lee in its tight grip. “Can you make a call so that I can stay with him. Otherwise, you’re going to be my one call from jail, because for me to leave Reese’s side, they’re going to have to haul me out of here in handcuffs.”

 “Consider it done, my friend,” Vinnie stated. “You take care of yourself and Reese. Tell Reese I have this hot redhead lined up to dance with at his sunset party. Tell him he has to hurry up and heal so that I don’t do something stupid and marry her.”

“Will do.” A small portion of the heavy weight on Lee’s shoulders lifted. “Thanks, Vinnie.”

“No problem.”

Lee ended the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He took Reese’s hand and held the precious flesh with gentle fingers.

“Vinnie says hi and to get better,” he began. “He’s dating a hot redhead and wants to bring her to one of our sunset dances.” Lee chuckled. “He’s worried he might marry her. Boy, if we had a dime for every time he starts thinking about getting serious about someone, we’d be rich.” Lee listened to the whoosh of the breathing machine. “Don’t worry, when the sun starts to go down, I’ll hum, and we can dance together in our minds. Soon you’ll get out of here and we can dance as always.” Lee blinked back the tears clouding his vision. He longed to hold his sunshine. Instead, he began talking about the weather.

Some time later, the door slid open, and Rita entered the room. “I knew you would be trouble, Mr. Sanchez.”

“I try my best to follow the rules.” Lee smiled. “Unfortunately, Vicki and I couldn’t seem to see eye to eye.”

The woman’s gaze traced over Lee. He tried to sit up straighter, but fatigue sat heavy on his limbs.

“What ever angel you have on your side has ordered a reclining chair to be brought in here.” Rita looked down her nose at him and set a bottle of water on the rollaway table near the foot of Reese’s bed. “Take your meds. If you don’t have any, I’m rolling you down to the ER myself. I won’t have you passing out on my watch.”

Lee hated to let go of Reese’s hand, but he knew when to cut his losses to gain the win. He reached into the sling and grabbed four prescription bottles. With what he hoped was a friendly grin, he leaned forward and set the bottles on the table next to the water.

Rita sighed and reached for one of the medication bottles.

 

* * * *

Styx Randall slung his leg over the arm of the leather double seat of the plane, sprawling further into the deep cushions. His gaze continued to follow his husband’s erratic pacing from one end of the plane to the other. He figured he’d give Flyer a few more minutes to work out some of his frustration and energy before Styx took over. Nailing Flyer to the wall with his cock came to mind.

“It’s not right,” Flyer complained. “We should be at the hospital supporting Jimmy and Reese.”

“If Isaiah wants us to stay on standby, we stay at the airport until he or Roman want us somewhere else.” Styx reached down and grabbed his bottle of water off the floor and took a quick swig to wet his always dry throat. “Honey, come here.”

Flyer changed direction and headed toward Styx. No words had to be said. Flyer curled his six-foot frame into Styx’s bigger body. Taking and trusting in Styx’s support.

Styx reached down and grabbed a handful of cashew and pumpkin seed clusters. He held them out, appeasing his husband’s constant need for sustenance.

Flyer took one and popped it into his mouth. “If we do have to go back to the hacienda and pick up Peggy and James, do you think any of the other husbands are going to want to come along?”

“All of them.”

“Who will watch the children and run Los Héroes if everyone is gone?” Flyer chewed on another cluster. “Garrett will stay, but he and Tolliver are going to need help.”

“The captain will have a plan. All we have to do is follow orders.”

Styx had seen Roman pull the proverbial rabbit out of a hat in many crazy situations. He had no doubts, the team’s leader would handle this set of extreme circumstances.

“Okay, we stay here until we hear otherwise.” Flyer picked up another nut cluster and held it between to fingers. “Want to play find the pumpkin seed?”

Styx chuckled and pulled Flyer closer for a kiss. Their lips brushed together, both in no hurry, enjoying the moment and each other.

The dark beat from a popular shark movie cut through the airplane. Styx looked down. Flyer’s hand already had slid deep inside the front pocket of his faded jeans and pulled out his phone.

Flyer engaged the call. “Hello.”

“Jimmy is out of surgery,” Roman stated. “Go get Peggy and James. Get back as fast as you can. He needs all of us right now.”