Page 162 of Untouchable

“Car accident,” Parker mumbles, averting his eyes. “Hit a deer.”

“Oh, Parker,” Cole says, tutting softly. “You’ve got to be more careful.” He steps forward putting a hand under Parker’s chin and tilting Parker’s face up towards his. Parker can’t help looking up at him, and when their eyes lock, an unpleasant shiver rolls down his back. He wants to swat Cole’s hand away, hates the feeling of Cole touching him, but Cole is apparently examining the cut on Parker’s forehead.

* * *

When Harp approachesParker’s hospital room, he's happy to see movement through the big glass panel. It means Parker is back. But as he gets closer, another man steps into view and takes Parker by the chin.

Parker recoils and something ignites in Harp's chest. In two strides, he's there knocking on the doorframe and practically stomping to announce his presence. It's easy for him to block the entire exit and he does so with his body.

"Everything okay?" Harp says in a voice like a warning, looking past the man to Parker.

* * *

Cole jerks back,clearly startled, though he regains his composure almost instantly. Parker feels a rush of relief when he sees Harp, glad he’s no longer trapped alone with Cole. He’s shaking, though—Cole’s proximity alone is enough to make his stomach turn over and over and over.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Cole asks coolly.

"Morton Harper," Harp says, extending a hand. "Are you an imaging tech?"

Cole shakes his hand but doesn’t bother introducing himself.

“I’m a doctor, not a tech,” Cole says, and Parker wants to laugh—Harp doesn’t know it, but nothing could be more of an insult to Cole, who had always viewed technicians and nurses—and massage therapists—as a lesser class, even though he wasn’t even officially a doctor yet. “If you need to get checked in, you can do so at the front desk.”

“He’s with me,” Parker squeaks, and Cole’s head snaps to him, frowning. An ominous light dawns in Cole’s eyes, and he looks back at Harp, his eyes raking over Harp’s paint-splattered clothing slowly. Parker knows what it felt like to be at the other end of that gaze, as though he can hear Cole mentally cataloguing his flaws, storing away weaknesses like ammunition for future use.

“Interesting,” Cole says slowly.

Harp takes a step forward.

"I'm sorry, do you need something, or do you have the results from Parker's MRI?" Harp asks.

“I’m working,” Cole says. “This is what doctors do. We examine people.”

“Please—” Parker says weakly. He doesn’t like the way the two men are sizing each other up, eying each other like a snake and a mongoose, one sleek and poisonous, the other fierce and brave and, well, furry.

* * *

Harp isboth genuinely confused about why the man is there and why Parker seems upset. Do they know each other? Has he just given Parker bad news?

"Oh," Harp says, making the connection finally and smiling. "Are you one of Parker's patients?"

“Excuse me?” the doctor says. “One of—”

He laughs, a cold, sharp sound. Parker’s cheeks turn bright red.

“Now,” the man says, turning back towards Parker as he draws out a little flashlight. “If you’ll excuse me—”

He tilts Parker’s head back and Parker squeezes his eyes shut. Harp watches Parker's entire body flinch, the polar opposite of the way he responds when he's under Harp's hands, his mouth, helpless with pleasure. What clenches through Parker’s body now is disgust—or maybe fear.

Who the hell is this asshole?

Harp's hand is already yanking the stranger by the shoulder a little harder than he should.

"No, excuse me. He's already been through this," Harp says. "He already has a physician."

The doctor jerks away, looking outraged.

“Do I need to call security?” he asks in a voice saturated with fake calm, struggling to be cold. Harp can tell he’s getting to the guy in one way or another and his mind is going a million miles a minute, trying to figure out what the fuck he’s missing here.

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