Promptings from Valhalla - 2. Prompt 476

“Quick, call an ambulance!”

The voice sounded far away and tinny – like I was listening through a soup can. Which wasn’t too far off the mark, I suppose, considering the helmet I was wearing.

Hot breath blew on my face in steady puffs. I wrinkled my nose. It smelled like hay and apples. I heard the dull thud of hooves walking away from me, then a concerned voice.

“Can you hear me, Soren?”

I blinked and did a mental check of my extremities. I wasn’t in any pain – I just felt a lot of pressure on my right shoulder. I must have fallen on something. “Yeah, I can hear you. I’m ok.” I tried to sit up, but a pair of strong hands refused to let me.

“Stay still. Help is on the way.”

“I’m ok. Really. Just let me up,” I said. The only bruises I felt were to my ego. I was sure that would change. Falling off a horse in full metal armor was going to hurt at some point.

“No! You can’t get up yet! You might make it worse!”

“Is that you, Doug?” I was having a hard time hearing through my helmet. I wondered what he was talking about. Make what worse? I wasn’t feeling any pain. I raised my arms to remove my helmet and the pressure on my shoulder increased to the point where I knew something was very wrong. What the hell happened?

“Soren, you need to stay still. Yeah, it’s me. What the hell were you thinking?”

“Take my helmet off. I can barely understand you.”

“The paramedics are almost here. I can hear the sirens. We can’t do anything without them checking you out first.”

I groaned. Great. Maybe I had dislocated my shoulder when I fell. I was thankful for the lack of pain, although I was sure that was going to change at some point.

“Over here!” Doug yelled.

The wailing of the ambulance siren had ceased, and I felt the vibrations of footsteps as the paramedics presumably rushed towards me.

“Holy shit!” said a voice I didn’t recognize. I assumed it was one of the paramedics. My heart started pounding and my breathing rate increased. Those were words I never wanted to hear uttered by medical personnel. Especially when they were talking about me.

“How the hell are we supposed to transport him with that thing sticking out of him?” a different voice said.

With what thing sticking out of me? “Doug? What’s going on? What happened to me?” I tried to keep the panic out of my voice, but I doubt I succeeded. “Get this damn helmet off of me!”

I felt hands probing my extremities and fingers pressed on my right wrist, taking my pulse. Pressure I recognized as a blood pressure cuff expanded around my left arm, then eased. The fingers then took my pulse on my left wrist.

“Left pulse is 120. Right is 90. BP 180/90. Sir, are you in any pain?”

“No. I feel fine. Can you take my damn helmet off and tell me what the hell is going on?”

“Do you have any pain in your neck?”

“I just told you I feel fine! My shoulder feels funny, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“I bet it does.”

What the hell did that mean? I was afraid to find out. The paramedics finally removed my helmet after making me move my fingers and toes, and my left arm and legs. Why were they avoiding my right arm?

“Don’t move. We’re going to put a neck brace on you as a precaution. They can take x-rays at the hospital to rule out a spinal injury. You need to keep still, though. Any movement may cause more damage to your shoulder.”

With my helmet off, I could finally see what was causing the pressure on my right shoulder. The lance I had been carrying when I fell off the horse had splintered in two. Half of it was sticking straight out of my shoulder and was being held upright by one of the pages.

“What the—“ I said, before the world started spinning and I passed out.

The steady beeping was almost hypnotizing, but since it wasn’t a sound I was used to, I figured I should probably wake up. I felt a weight resting on my right leg, triggering memories of what had happened and where I was.

I opened my eyes, half expecting to see the broken lance still sticking out of my shoulder. Thankfully there was a bandage there instead. The pressure on my leg shifted, and I looked down to see Doug asleep in a chair, using my leg as a pillow.

A nurse walked into the room and smiled. “Good to see you awake. You’ve been quite the topic of conversation around here.”

I grimaced. “I bet.”

“You have quite the devoted boyfriend there,” she said, gesturing towards Doug. “He hasn’t left your side since you got out of surgery.” She checked the numbers on the beeping machine and wrote them down.

I felt my face heat up. I was sure I was bright red. “Um…he’s not my boyfriend,” I muttered. I desperately wished that he was, but he was straight. He dated Rebecca for two years before they broke up about a month ago.

“Oh, well he’s sure crazy about you,” she said. “He was worried sick the whole time you were in surgery. I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake.” She walked out of the room, quietly closing the door.

Doug raised his head and blinked before sitting up and stretching his arms. “Hey, you’re awake!”

I nodded. “Yeah, I just woke up.”

“How do you feel?”

“Sleepy, still. My shoulder is sore, but it doesn’t really hurt.”

“They’ve got you on a ton of painkillers.”

“I’m not surprised.”

Doug frowned. “What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed! You don’t even know how to ride, let alone handle a lance! You aren’t built for jousting, Soren. I can’t believe you even tried it!”

I raised an eyebrow. Not built for jousting? What a diplomatic way of calling me a shrimp. “I’ve been working out, and I started taking riding lessons. I thought I could do it.”

“Why didn’t you ask me to teach you? I would have been more than happy to.”

I shrugged, wincing at the spike of pain it caused. “I wanted to surprise you.”

He snorted. “Well, consider me surprised.” He took my hand in his, running his thumb along the top of it. “I…” his voice hitched, “…couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you. When I saw you laying there with that lance sticking out of you…” he inhaled and looked into my eyes, “I was so scared that I had lost you before---“ A tear ran down his cheek.

I stared at his hand in mine. Doug was holding my hand. The man I had crushed on ever since joining the Ren Faire cast four years ago was not only holding my hand, but stroking it. I swallowed. “Before what?” I whispered.

He held his breath before releasing it in a slow, steady stream. “Before I could tell you how I feel about you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Huh?” Was my eloquent response.

“Soren, you have no idea how adorable you are. You’re the nicest guy I’ve ever met. I look forward to jousting season every year, just because you are going to be here. I’ve had offers from other, larger Faires, but I stay here because of you.”

I stared at him. Doug, the most popular jouster at the Faire, had a crush on me?

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’ll go now.” He gave my hand one last squeeze before rising.

“Wait!” I shouted. He turned to look at me. “Please don’t go.”

He smiled and sat in the chair next to my bed.

“I’ve been crushing on you since the moment we met,” I admitted. “But you dated Rebecca for so long…I thought you were straight.”

“Rebecca was a mistake.” He looked at me hopefully. “So you feel the same way I do?”

I nodded. “I tried jousting because I wanted you to notice me. For once, I wanted to be the knight in shining armor.” I smiled ruefully. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not the most manly man.”

“You didn’t have to impale yourself to get me to notice you. I’ve noticed you for a long time. I didn’t think you noticed me. And for the record, I’m bi.”

I smiled. “I can live with that.”

He took my hand in his again. “Good. Just promise me you’ll never try jousting again.”

I laughed. “Deal.”