Choices - 2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Liam woke to the feeling of someone trying to beat their way out of his skull with an ice pick. Wincing, he reached up to soothe his sore head, but only one arm moved. Damn, he’d forgotten about his broken wrist, which was now in a cast and bound to his torso. The swelling had gone down enough last evening that they’d able to set it. Being fitted for the cast was a particularly painful experience Liam hoped never to repeat. The fact he was ‘lucky’ the breaks were clean meant little to him.

He cracked his eyelids open and was grateful to find the curtains shut, allowing only a sliver of light around the edges. The headaches were very painful, and he didn’t want to risk making this one any worse than it already was. It felt like every part of his body hurt, and he hoped the nurse would be in soon to check on him. Liam was actually surprised he’d woken himself up this morning. The nurse hadn’t been kidding when she said someone would check on him every few hours. They’d roused him at regular intervals throughout the night, making any chance of a restful sleep impossible. It might’ve been necessary, but he would be thankful when he could go home. He missed his bed and Egyptian cotton sheets.

While he was having an internal debate with himself on the wisdom of pressing the call button, the cheerful night nurse poked her head around the door. “Oh, you’re awake. And how did we sleep?” she asked in a voice generally reserved for small children. It was probably an unfair assessment, but he was in pain, and cranky. Cheerful was not what he wanted right now.

“Fine,” he muttered, trying to shift himself higher on the bed.

The helpful young woman hurried over and eased him up a few inches so he could raise the head of the metal slab they called a bed.

“I’m just about to go off shift and wanted to see if you needed anything before I clocked out?”

“Something for the pain?” he asked hopefully. “My head is throbbing like someone is trying to drive railway spikes through my eyes.”

The brunette looked at her watch and bit her lip. “I think it may be a little early for your next dose. Let me check your chart. I’ll be right back.” With a sunny smile, she spun on her heel and left him in the gloom. She wasn’t gone for long before returning empty-handed.

“I guess that’s a no on the painkillers?”

“Dr. Schneider just arrived for his morning rounds,” she responded with a reassuring smile. “It would be better to let him reassess your condition before we give you anything.”

He grimaced, and his face throbbed with the movement. He’d been horrified when saw the damage to his face in the mirror attached to the rolling table. The left side was swollen and covered in deep purple bruises with a large goose egg under the bandages on his forehead. He looked like he’d been on the losing side of a street brawl.

He’d also discovered a long, oddly straight bruise across his shoulder and down his torso. It look him a minute to realize it was from the seatbelt. He’d taken off his heavy winter coat when he got into the car, and didn’t have that extra layer during the impact. His musings were interrupted when the door swung open and the light flicked on. He winced and shut his eyes against the bright industrial light.

“Mr. MacPherson. Good morning.” Apparently everyone in this hospital was a morning person.

“Good morning.”

“How did you sleep last night? Any issues?”

“The cast took some getting used, but it was all right.” He figured there was no point bringing up the inherent difficulty in sleeping when people insisted on waking you up every two hours.

The doctor nodded, and took out his evil flashlight. “Let me just check out these eyes of yours. Look over my shoulder, please.” The man flashed the light a few times, and his smile melted into a slight frown. That couldn’t be good.

“Your pupils are not as dilated as they were yesterday, but they’re still not reacting normally. I’d like to send you for another CT scan, just to be safe. I’ll have them send the results to my office, and we can discuss the results this afternoon.”

“I guess that means you’re not releasing me this morning?”

“I’m afraid not. It could be a few more days yet. You’ve suffered a grade three concussion, Mr. MacPherson, and although I didn’t see any signs of hemorrhage yesterday, that doesn’t mean we can rule it out.” The man patted Liam’s good arm as he stood. “Better safe than sorry.”

Resigning himself to a longer stay, he gave his doctor a tight smile. Liam knew the man was only looking out for his best interests, but he hated hospitals.

“Cathy tells me you were asking about pain medication? I’m reluctant to prescribe anything stronger than Tylenol 3’s if they’re managing your pain. How has your nausea been?”

“It comes and goes. Not as bad as it was yesterday.”

“We’ll continue with the Gravol, as needed,” he said to the nurse, who stood quietly to the side.

With a promise to return in the afternoon, the doctor walked out of the room, leaving the lights on and the door open. Liam debated getting up and closing the damned thing, but was deterred by the arrival of his nurse and an orderly with his breakfast tray. The young woman handed him two large pills and a cup of cool water to wash them down, reminding him to eat his breakfast right away so he would have something in his stomach.

The food wasn’t as bad as people joked about, but it was far from gourmet fare. After eating about half of his breakfast, he pushed the tray away. It should be enough to keep his stomach settled. He debated the merits of taking a nap when he heard buzzing coming from somewhere inside the room. Listening carefully, he realized the sound originated from a bag sitting on a chair across from his bed.

Gingerly, Liam got up and shuffled to the bag. His legs ached as if he’d run a marathon, but at least they kept him upright. The buzzing stopped momentarily before starting up again, and he realized it was his cell phone. Mindful of his broken arm, he opened the drawstring of the sack embossed with the hospital’s logo, which contained his shoes, wallet and phone. Wondering absently what happened to the clothing he’d been wearing, he dug around with one hand until he managed to retrieve the vibrating device.

“Hello?” he greeted breathlessly when he finally got the screen unlocked. Surprisingly, except for a crack near the top of the screen, there didn’t seem to be much damage.

“Li!” His best friend, Marty, sounded distressed. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to call since yesterday.”

Carefully, Liam returned to his bed, and then proceeded to tell his friend about his vehicular misadventures.

“Oh my God,” Marty responded. “Why the hell didn’t you call me right away? Are you sure you’re okay? I know you had that concussion a couple of years ago. Is that going to cause a problem?”

“I know, I’m sorry. The doctor thinks the last knock to the head could make recovering from this one trickier, but as long as I lay off the MMA matches, I should be fine.”

“You’re not funny, Liam,” his friend scolded him.

“You know damn well I am funny. Seriously though… I’ll be okay. Aside from the knock to the head and a broken arm, I got off pretty easy.”

“Shit, I have to go, but I’m going to call you later. We will be discussing this communication block of yours.” The line got quiet for a moment. “I love you, man. Be safe.”

“Love you too.”

Liam held the phone after the line went dead, wondering if he should call Corey and let him know what happened. He didn’t want to ruin his friends’ honeymoon, but if Marty’s reaction was any indication, Corey was going to be furious he’d kept this from them. Deciding to compromise, he sent Corey a text simply saying, ‘Call me when you have a minute.’ Setting the cell aside, he got as comfortable as possible, feeling more exhausted than he should after only walking a few steps. It wasn’t long before he was fast asleep.

One thing Liam would never get used to, was waking up in an unfamiliar room with strangers watching him.

“Mr. MacPherson?” A young man stood uncertainty at the threshold behind a wheelchair. “I’m sorry to disturb you. I’m to bring you to X-ray for a CT scan.”

“Oh, right.” Liam stood and shuffled to the chair. “Do I need to sit in that?”

“It’s procedure.”

With a mental shrug, Liam sat and presented the hospital band on his wrist when asked. There was no point in giving the guy a hard time. He was still a little dizzy so he might as well enjoy the free ride. The technician, a good looking older man, was ready for him as soon as he arrived, and he was in and out within half an hour. As the orderly wheeled him back to the room, Liam noticed a guy in a paramedic’s uniform hovering by the doorway. He had short black hair, and vivid blue eyes. The man looked familiar, but Liam couldn’t place where they might have met.

“Liam?” The stranger sounded pleased to see him, confusing Liam even more. The man’s bright smile dimmed. “You probably don’t remember me. My name is Nathan Moore. I was one of the paramedics on scene at your accident.”

“Oh… I apologize. The whole accident is a little fuzzy.”

“That’s not surprising, especially with the head trauma you suffered. I just stopped by to see how you were doing. You’re looking much better.”

“That wouldn’t be hard,” Liam replied with a laugh. Movement at his back reminded him the orderly was waiting to return him to his room. “Would you like to come in?”

With a nod, Nathan followed them into the room, and even helped Liam stand so the chair could be taken away.

“I just got back from a CT scan,” Liam explained as he sat on the bed with a sigh.

“Just a routine follow-up, I hope?”

“The doctor said my eyes are out of whack because of my concussion. I guess he wants to make sure there isn’t anything more serious going on.”

“I hope the scans come up negative. I think you’ve been through enough.” Liam was surprised to hear concern in the man’s voice.

Liam quietly thanked the paramedic, and gave the handsome man a shy smile, receiving one in return.

Nathan cleared his throat. “Well, I should go. I left my partner in the break room. He must be wondering what’s taking me so long.”

“It was really nice of you to stop by. Thank you.”

“I have to come back to the hospital after my shift; maybe….”

Whatever the other man was going to say was cut off when Alek walked into the room. The tall Russian gave Nathan an assessing look before turning his curious gaze onto Liam. “Good morning Li.”

“I’ll be going now. It was nice to see you again, Liam.”

“You too.”

Giving a quick wave, the other man left the room, leaving Alek and Liam alone.

“Who was that?”

Liam huffed in irritation. “Not that it’s any of your business, but that was one of the paramedics who responded to my accident. He stopped in during a break to see how I was feeling.”

“That was… good of him.”

Liam ignored the slight pause, and looked up at his ex-boyfriend. “I’m surprised you came back.”

“Li….” Without invitation Aleksei sat on the bed and took hold of his uninjured hand. “I had to make sure you were okay. We might have broken up, but I do still love you.”

“You can’t keep saying things like that.”

“Why not? It’s true.”

“It’s not appropriate, Alek. You have a girlfriend. What would your family think?”

Liam knew he’d hit a nerve when the other man winced, even if Alek didn’t relinquish his hand.

“I’m sorry how things ended between us. If I could go back…”

“You’d do what?” Liam pulled away. “Tell your parents about me? About us? You’d stop treating our relationship like something you’re ashamed of?” Fuck, he thought he’d worked the bitterness out of his system... guess not.

Alek leaned close, cupping Liam’s face with a large hand. “I love you, Liam. That hasn’t changed. I fucked up, but I know I can fix this.”

Liam snorted in disbelief. How in the world could Aleksei fix anything? The man refused to come out of the closet for goodness sake. Before Liam could respond Alek kissed his forehead, stood and left the room. Stunned, he watched the empty threshold, wondering what the hell just happened.

His stunned disbelief was interrupted by his phone buzzing on the table. “Hello?”

“Liam! It’s Corey. I just got your message. What’s up?”

He closed his eyes, wishing he didn’t have to disrupt his boss’s honeymoon. “I… I was in an accident.”

After several minutes of trying to convince his friend not to drive home immediately, Liam was finally able to explain his injuries.

“There’s really nothing you could do, even if you were here.” Liam felt a twinge of guilt knowing he wasn’t telling the entire truth. He still didn’t have someone to help him when he was discharged.

“We’re heading home the day after tomorrow. If you need anything, and I mean anything, before then, I want you to call me.” Liam heard Jason reiterating the offer in the background and smiled. They were good men. “We’re already closed until the end of next week, but I want you to take as much time as you need. I don’t want you to worry about a thing. I’ll have a rehabilitation plan ready when your doctor clears you.”

There was the therapist Liam knew and loved. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“I’ll let you go to get some rest. Don’t forget, I can be there within a few hours if you need us.”

“I won’t. Thanks, Cor. And tell Jason thank you too.”

After ending the call Liam couldn’t help but smile. He couldn’t ask for a better boss. If only the rest of his life was as good as his work life… but… it wasn’t. Liam sighed, and laid back down.

Thank you to my wonderful editor, and friend, Gary for all of your hard work and tireless efforts to cure me of my mental block with commas.    Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this story.  Your support is appreciated.