Page 160 of Untouchable

Parker laughs.

“I don’t need to go to the ER,” he says. “I swear to god, the cut isn’t deep—hell, you can touch it if you really want to, it barely hurts. I don’t even know what it’s from.”

* * *

Harp ignores him.He's so stressed by this whole situation that his emotions are already halfway to shutting down completely—and he doesn't want to argue about this. The more he thinks about what has happened, the more frightened it makes him. Finally, with several great wrenching movements that makes his heart pump even harder, he's able to unwedge the hook from the car's probably-ruined frame. It takes him a moment to square everything away and then he's back in the seat, shifting into gear.

"Where are we going?" Parker asks—and Harp can't tell if he's exasperated or concussed or confused or simply just as stressed as Harp is.

"The ER."

“But—”

“Parker,” Harp snaps. “I’m not arguing about this with you. Put your seatbelt back on.”

Parker frowns at Harp but he buckles his seatbelt with one hand, the other hand still pressing the napkins to his forehead.

“Harp,” he says. “Are you, like, mad at me or something? I’m fine, I swear. I don’t need to go to the hospital and if you have stuff to do, I can just wait for a tow truck—I really think you’re overreacting—”

"Your airbags deployed and whether or not you feel fine, you probably have a concussion," Harp says. "Did you even look at the front of your car? You don't think those sort of forces had an impact on your body?"

* * *

“I know what whiplash is,”Parker says a little crossly. He’s not sure why Harp is acting so upset, as though Parker had hit the deer on purpose. “That’s like, what half of the clients I work on have.”

As soon as he says it, though, he doesn’t feel quite as confident. He had seen the front of his car, and though he feels calm enough now, remembering just how mangled the hood had been sends a fresh, shuddering jolt of panic through him.

“I’m—I’m sorry,” Parker says. He’s not even sure what he’s apologizing for, but Harp is clearly angry about something, and apologizing has long been Parker’s default.

"You don't have to apologize to me," Harp says, putting a hand on Parker's knee. "Please don't. You really scared me. It's my fault you were even coming up."

Harp pauses for a moment.

"I have to make sure you're safe," Harp says, his voice gentle but firm.

Parker feels a little better with Harp’s hand on his leg, and he covers Harp’s hand with his own. Still, though, he finds that what he’s most concerned with right now is not his car or his head, but the worry that he might do something wrong and upset Harp, that he might lose Harp because he’d somehow fucked up. It is the same low, buzzing anxiety that had curled in the base of his skull the entire time he’d dated Cole, and any time he was around his family, and it’s unusual now because he doesn’t feel that way around Harp. He feels safe. Secure. Cherished.

But right now his mind feels as shaken up and slurry as the protein shakes Parker drinks after his workouts.

“I’m okay,” Parker says in a small voice. “Really—I mean, if—if it’ll make you feel better we can go to the ER but—and, I mean, it’s not your fault, I drive out of town for house calls all the time—I was probably going too fast anyway, or something, I mean I know deer are on these roads—”

* * *

"Then it's settled.We're going to the ER. Thank you for trusting me," Harp says, making it clear that this is the end of the end of the conversation for him.

Harp refuses to let the deluge of worst case scenarios flow through his mind.

What if Parker had gone through the railings.

What if Parker had knocked himself out.

What if someone had hit him before he got out of the road.

What if—Stop, Harp. He's here. He's here.

They drive in silence that Harp wouldn't exactly call comfortable for the rest of the way to the nearest emergency room across town.

When they arrive, Parker insists on walking from the parking lot instead of letting Harp get someone to come out with a chair—something Harp only accepts because Parker allows Harp to walk hip-to-hip with him, with a steadying hand on Parker's waist.

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