Mr. Anonymous - 8. Bananas

Chapter 8

The drizzle turned into a downpour, but Percy didn’t care. The icy droplets cooled his fevered skin, which was suddenly too hot for his own body. Walking along the cold empty sidewalk was refreshing. Everyone with any sense in their heads had already gone inside, seeking shelter from the storm, but not Percy. He was alone, walking down the street, without a soul around.

It wasn’t too late to hail a cab; there was still a long line of them a few blocks back, outside the club, but he was already soaked through and through, so he might as well just continue walking.

City lights sparkled off the water-slicked metal and glass of the surrounding buildings, creating a rainbow of colors shimmering in the night.

Percy shoved his icy cold fingers into his pockets. Shoulders hunched, facing the ground, and scuffing the toes of his shoes along the pavement as he walked, he felt utterly alone.

The man he wanted to be with was nowhere around and it was Percy’s fault. He was the reason Max had easily cancelled their date. It was because it wasn’t real. None of it was real. Who was he kidding? An online romance? What hot-blooded man would be satisfied with a cyber-relationship or virtual sex?

Somewhere in this big city, Max was at work.

“That’s it, when I get home I’m sending Max a message. No more being scared. I’m tired of hiding and it has to end. I want to meet him.” Percy’s declaration was interrupted by squealing tires and crushing metal.

Shocked at the sound, Percy’s looked up from the sidewalk. His cold wet legs were numb and unable to move. It was useless. He was frozen in place as he stood in the beams of oncoming headlights. The horrific sight was followed by busting glass.

The last thing Percy heard before everything went black was the shattering of broken bones.

* * * *

“Sir, can you hear me?” The voice echoed from inside the bright light. It was a low tenor, smooth and husky. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“Sir? Are you having any pain?” He continued to ask questions with no response.

“The hospital wants to know our ETA.” This new voice was thick and gravelly, like a chain-smoker’s.

“Mister,” Like everyone else, there was that awkward pause when they realized they couldn’t pronounce someone’s name. “Hey, Percy, can you hear me?” The voice was calm and sexy and in control, which was good because Percy had no idea what was going on.

Percy grinned. “I want to hear you sing…” His own voice was muffled by something over his nose and mouth. He shook his head and reached for whatever was covering his face, but warm fingers grabbed his wrist, stopping him before he pulled the oxygen mask off his face.

“Jim, he’s back! Percy, can you open your eyes for me?” He asked, and Percy complied, opening his blurry eyes, and suddenly gasping at the sight.

It was him! Mr. Too-Close was just inches away, staring into Percy’s eyes. The bright lights behind his head made the guy’s auburn hair glow like a halo.

Reaching up, Percy slid his fingers through the silky locks, bringing a chuckle from the man. “You’re going to be okay. Now, do you remember anything about what happened?” The gorgeous man asked him again.

“Green.” Percy said before his eyes fluttered closed.

“No, it’s not time for your favorite color, Percy. I need you to tell me where you’re hurt.” His hands were incredibly warm. Percy could feel the heat coming through the latex gloves pressing against his face and neck. He liked hearing his own name in that deliciously rich voice.

“You were gone. I went back to tell you…butyouwere—” Slurring in an incoherent jumble as his eyes rolled back, Percy felt his body start to convulse.

“Percy? C’mon, stay with me, man! Jim, you need to step on it!” Mr. Too-Close shouted to the driver.

The piercing sirens wailed as the ambulance rocked back and forth, rushing to the nearest hospital.

* * * *

That endless beeping was annoying. Percy tried to focus. He tried to figure out where it was coming from, but he couldn’t place the irritating sound. It wasn’t his alarm clock, so maybe it was something on the television. Reaching for the remote control, to shut it off, brought an intense wave of excruciating pain.

“Oh my God,” Percy cried as his eyes open and he glanced at unfamiliar surroundings.

His left arm was in a sling secured to his chest along with bandages wrapping around his entire ribcage.

“Where am I?” he muttered.

The harsh smell of disinfectant hung in the air. It was clean, but it made his nose burn. At first glance, Percy noticed the bed was surrounded by all sorts of medical equipment. He was in the hospital. There was no doubt about where he was, yet his blurry mind couldn’t remember how he had gotten here or why.

“Well, Mr. Giannopoulos, I’m glad you decided to join us again.” The woman’s attention was focused on the beeping machine beside his bed. Her fingers adjusted the knobs until the irritating sound stopped.

“Who are you? What’s going on? Where am I?” Percy rattled off questions without pausing a second to let her answer.

When the nurse smiled her eyes disappeared into deep creases. “You’re at Mercy General, Mr. Giannopoulos. Do you remember the three words I told you earlier?”

Percy frowned. His confused mind was positive he’d never seen this woman before in his life. She was a robust woman in her fifties. Before he could rub his aching forehead, she caught his wrist, bringing his free hand back down to his lap.

“No, no, no,” she patted the back of his hand like he was a child, “you promised me you were going to be a good patient and leave those stitches alone.”

“Stitches?” Percy muttered. “I have stitches in my head?”

She nodded. “And in your chin, too.”

Bits of images bounced around his foggy mind. Rain, music, lights. “Oh my God, that car hit me.” Percy suddenly understood why he was in such terrible pain. “The paramedic was Too-Close!”

Trying to conceal his sudden smile, the movement pulled at the stitches that started at his bottom lip and continued down his chin. Percy couldn’t help it. It was painful, but he couldn’t remove the silly grin that spread over his bruised and battered face.

“I’m sure the paramedic was just tending to your injuries and not trying to invade your personal space—”

“Banana!” Percy abruptly shouted, interrupting the nurse’s explanation. “Apples and bananas, that’s what you said, earlier, you told me those pills were going to make me very sleepy and you wanted me to remember some words to help evaluate my concussion when I woke up.”

“Yes, dear, that’s very good. Do you remember the last word?”

Percy struggled to think. His body ached. The pain medicine was already starting to wear off. His mind kept drifting to the warm touch of Mr. Too-Close instead of concentrating on some silly memory game. Those brilliant green eyes, his silky auburn hair, it was Mr. Too-Close.

“Mr. Giannopoulos?” She gently touched Percy’s leg.

“Excuse me?”

“You looked like you went away for a second.”

Percy glanced down at the bed. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment at being caught daydreaming about the gorgeous paramedic. Thank goodness the rush of memories didn’t also send a flood of fresh blood right to his cock.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I can’t remember the last word.”

“It’s okay. I’m surprised you remembered two of them. We always have to take precautions when dealing with head injuries.” Checking his vitals one last time, the nurse turned to leave. “I’ll tell Dr. McNamara that you’re awake. We’ll have a room ready for you really soon and then we can get you admitted to the hospital and moved upstairs—”

“Do I have to stay?” Percy didn’t like hospitals and the thought of spending the night in one wasn’t very appealing at all.

The nurse stopped before she pulled back the thin blue curtain separating Percy from the other patients in the emergency room.

“You really need to be monitored through the night due to your concussion,” she told him.

“So, if I had someone to watch over me then I’d be able to go home?” Percy asked.

She shrugged her round shoulders. “I don’t see why not. Your broken collarbone and ribs have already been wrapped and secured, but you’ll still have to make a follow-up appointment with the orthopedic doctors no later than Monday. Those stitches in your forehead and chin will have to stay in place for another week or so, but broken bones need a lot longer to heal.”

Percy nodded his head, taking it all in. He’d almost been killed tonight. The car had hit him, doing a lot of damage, but he was alive. Reaching for his phone, he remembered his pants were still missing. “Where are my things?”

The nurse came back and reached under the bed and pulled out a plastic bag containing his bloody and tattered belongings. If he just needed someone to babysit him so he could go home, then that was exactly what he would do.

* * * *

“Oh my goodness.” Those green eyes were amazing.

Inching closer, fluttering closed at the last second as his full pink lips parted on a soft sigh before brushing across mine. What was he doing? It wasn’t like I didn’t want him to kiss me, I just didn’t expect it, not yet.

His fingers were searing, scorching my skin wherever he touched. My cheek, my jaw, tipping my chin up to meet him. I was on fire.

“Percy.” My name hung on his lips still pressed against mine. I wanted him. He was gorgeous. Who wouldn’t want him? I shook my head, trying to find my senses.

No, I didn’t want him…I craved him.

I could feel the minty heat from his breath. “Don’t stop kissing me!” I wanted to scream at him. The desire was too strong. Burying my fingers into those loose auburn locks, I pressed our lips together in a fiery explosion of teeth, lips, jaws, and tongues. Who was I kidding? I had to have him.

Every cell in my body responded to him.

I needed Mr. Too-Close…

* * * *

Percy awoke with a jolt, his mind still whirling with images from his dream. He was home, in his own bed, with the lingering effects of that very erotic dream about a particularly sexy paramedic, who came to his aid just a few hours ago.

Guilt suddenly hit him. He should be dreaming about Max. Percy had never felt such strong desires for another person before, but he couldn’t stop his mind from drifting to someone else.

With Max’s ban on self-gratification, a few more seconds of sleep and Percy would have been waking up from a wet dream instead of trying to control an aching hard-on. If nothing really happened, then why the hell did he feel as if he had just cheated on Max by dreaming about Too-Close? Worse yet, why did he want to do it again?

The smell of food brought a groggy croak from Percy. He opened one eye and gazed at the tray of food and juice sitting on the other side of the still neatly-made bed. Steam rose off the piping hot eggs, toast, and baked cinnamon apples.

Confused, Percy sighed, pushing thoughts of both men out of his head. He had bread in the refrigerator, but he didn’t have any of these other items in his kitchen. Someone must have gone to the store while he was sleeping. He tried to sit up, which brought an intense wave of pain shooting through his chest like a lightning bolt.

“Arrggh,” he moaned between sudden gasps for air that wouldn’t come.

“Just what are you trying to do?” Rocket snapped at him, appearing out of nowhere. Her perfect black eyebrows pulled into a frown. She looked like a completely different person than when she arrived at the hospital last night. The thick layers of sparkly eye shadow and neon lipstick were gone, so was her leather miniskirt and lace bustier. All of the nurses at the hospital had turned green with envy at Rocket’s sexy body and outrageous style.

Now, with her hair pulled back from her fresh clean face and donning the sweatpants and yoga T-shirt he’d seen her wearing when rushing off to yoga class after work so many times before, she looked almost wholesome. If he wasn’t in so much pain, he would have grinned at the thought.

Percy stopped struggling when she scooped her hands under his back and helped him into a sitting position. The pain subsided as his breathing slowly returned to normal. Thankfully, the sudden wave of pain had also affected his erection, sparing him any further embarrassment.

“I’m not used to being so freaking helpless,” Percy grumbled.

“You’re not helpless. You just need to learn how to adjust how you’re doing things.”

Grabbing the pharmacy bag from the bedside table, Rocket pulled out a prescription bottle, popped out a pill and handed it to him. “Take this,” she said as she picked up the tall glass of orange juice from the tray.

He scrunched up his nose. Rocket was always trying to get him to eat healthier. Glancing around, he noticed a cup of coffee on the table, lusting for the dark rich caffeine he loved; he gave her his most pathetic whimper. “How about you hand me that coffee instead?”

She shook her head at him. He was incorrigible and he knew it.

“I read your discharge papers and you’re supposed to get up by rolling onto the uninjured side, in one motion. It says twisting or bending will cause more pain.” She smiled as she relayed what she had learned.

“Thanks, but I think I just figured out bending is a big no-no.” Percy tried to keep the pain out of his voice, since he didn’t want to worry her any more than he already had.

It takes a true friend to drop everything at two o’clock in the morning to come break you out of the hospital.

One pain pill would only take the edge off, but Percy didn’t want to spend the afternoon in a drug induced haze. One would have to do until later. It was already after eleven and he was dying to check his computer to see if Max had sent him any messages.

While he was contemplating the best approach to get a little privacy, Rocket slid the tray of food closer to him and sat down on the end of his bed.

It wasn’t until Percy got a whiff of the fresh cinnamon that his stomach let out a loud growl, protesting at the long wait. With his free hand he set the plate on his lap before digging in.

“Is Max your boyfriend?” Rocket asked.

Percy was blindsided by her question. He gasped, inhaling crumbs from the toast he was still chewing. Choking on his breakfast, his face reddened. “W-w-what?” He coughed between wracking fits.

Rocket jumped up and ran to the kitchen as his desperate gasps filled the apartment. Fetching a bottle of water, she rushed it back to Percy so he could wash down the rest of his food and clear his aching throat. The red flush in his face slowly subsided, but his hands still shook, showing his fear.

“Come on, Percy.” Her piercing eyes narrowed in on him. “I know you’ve been seeing someone. You’ve had that dreamy, love-struck look. You know, kind of giddy and distracted, so come on, is his name Max?”

Suddenly nervous, Percy tried to remember how he had behaved over the last few weeks. He’d thought he was being so careful, watching every step, so what could have given him away?

“How did you know his name is Max?” Percy blurted out, essentially confirming all of her suspicions. He hadn’t left his computer on and his cell phone was password protected. Then it hit him, the Naughty Revelations box!

Oh no! His eyes widened in fear. He had no idea what was inside.

“You opened it? You opened the box?” The trembling made his voice almost a whisper.

“No, silly! I would never invade your privacy like that.” For a second, Rocket looked offended, but typical for her, that beautiful smile returned without fail. “But oh soooo tempting,” she teased him.

“I saw the names on the outside of the package, but it wasn’t until you started talking about Max in your sleep. I figured out you must be Binx and whomever the box was from is Max. Am I right?” she pressed.

What could he say? Rocket didn’t appear to be judging him. His mind raced. Could he lie to her? Could he actually tell her the truth?

“Yes, his name is Max.” Percy slowly nodded his head as he finally admitted, for the first time in his life, he was gay.