Page 22 of Stay with Me
“Hey, hey, you need to calm down,” a voice said from his side. Drew turned his head and in the dim light he saw Brody. Was his dream a reality?
“Brody? When did you get here?” Drew asked, searching his memory and coming up blank. The last clear thought he had was getting ready at the unit to go observe traffic stops. Wait… a vague scene played out in his mind. Kali sniffing and then signaling; Lucas shifting the dog to the side so he could get a clearer look in the vehicle after having the occupants step out; the guy reaching for his hip; the sun glinting off something shiny; Drew moving without thinking and then being on the ground.
“Is your memory coming back to you? You know, if you wanted to see me, you could’ve emailed or called. Coming into my ER bleeding is a little overkill,” Brody teased.
Drew looked down at his left side. He was bandaged from the middle of his forearm up to his shoulder and his ribs were killing him. He must have made a noise because Brody reached over Drew’s head and hit the call bell because a disembodied voice came through the speaker, “Can I help you?”
“Please let Lieutenant Nolan’s nurse know that he’s awake and seems to be in pain,” Brody answered.
“I'll let him know,” she said before disconnecting.
“How long have I been out? Wasn’t Uncle Mike here? When can I go home?” Drew was ready to leave now. He didn’t need to stay longer in a hospital bed to have his family worry more.
Brody tapped Drew’s hand and then shifted to sit back down before he answered Drew. “Yes, your uncle and aunt were here. They called your parents—”
“Shit. Did Mom go off on the doctor? They’re not coming here, are they?” Christ, could this be more fucked up?
“If I understood the conversation while you were in surgery, your parents are holding off. They were trying for a flight but weather is nasty in North Carolina currently. Mike and Trish’s phones were going off nonstop. Your brother and sister called as did all your uncles and cousins. I thought they were a bit overwhelming at the pinning but trying to follow all the calls today? Yeah, nothing in comparison.”
“They all mean well. They just… since I’m the one that’s always screwing up… they’re used to—”
Brody cut Drew off. “Screwing up? Ummm, you stopped a valuable asset from being lost. Stopped your MWD from being hurt. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t qualify as a screw up.”
A guy in scrubs came into the room. “Nice to see your baby blues, Lieutenant. I’m Evan, your nurse for the night. Doctor Gable left orders for some pain meds if you need them. Scale of one to ten, you know the drill,” Evan said as he checked over the monitors.
“Pain? Um,” Drew didn’t want to answer that question. He had a feeling the longer he was on pain meds, the longer they’d keep him.
“Drew? I will wake up your uncle, which I’m sure would result in your phone blowing up, if you do not answer Evan honestly,” Brody said quietly.
“But I don’t want to stay any longer,” Drew whined. Yes, he wasn’t above a bit of whining.
“I promise taking pain meds right now is not going to keep you here any longer. It’ll actually make it quicker for you to get out.”
Drew frowned at Brody, trying to decide if he was telling him the truth. Brody smiled at him. Okay, he’d be honest.
“Pain is seven, maybe eight. I’m thirsty, too.” Look at him being a good boy. Oooh maybe he’d get a reward from Brody. A guy could hope right?
Chapter Fourteen
Pain woke Drew from the best dream. He was working on a search and rescue team with a Belgian Malinois as his partner. He was living with Brody, who was training to be a flight nurse. They were trying to figure out where to settle down.
“Son of a fucking bitch,” Drew exclaimed as his eyes popped open.
“Hey, you need to calm down,” Brody said from next to Drew. When he looked over, Brody was stretched out in the visitor chair with his feet up and an iPad on his lap. He was in winter PT gear and it looked like he had earbuds in.
“Didn’t we do this before? And you know, if you wanted to watch me sleep, we could’ve made different arrangements.” Drew slammed his mouth shut. What. The. Fuck. It had to be the pain meds hijacking his mouth. Um, that was his story and he was sticking to it. “Sorry?”
“I do believe that could be arranged at a later date. However, I took the night shift for two reasons: one, to keep your family from fighting with the visiting hours policy and the staff, and two, I needed to stay awake so I could sleep today for my shift tonight. Win-win. They got sleep and I…” Brody paused and chewed on his bottom lip. Something that Drew really,reallywanted to do himself. He watched as Brody pulled in a deep breath then blew it out before he finished his sentence. “And I wasn’t home staring at the blank walls of my apartment.”
Drew knew that feeling intimately. Maybe he and Brody had more in common than just having gone through the same ROTC program. He held out his hand to Brody, wondering if he would leave Drew hanging. He didn’t have to wait long for his answer as Brody dropped his feet and put his hand in Drew’s.
“What’s your pain level?” Brody asked as he shifted his fingers to rest against Drew’s wrist. It looked like Brody was silently counting. Hmmm, taking Drew’s pulse maybe?
“Did they put something in my IV because I’m a little fuzzy?” It felt like there was cotton surrounding Drew. Like there was a buffer between his thoughts and his body.
“Evan gave you a dose of morphine in your IV around zero-four-hundred. You were groaning in your sleep and were restless,” Brody told him. “Mike and Trish said they’d be back this afternoon. I’ve got shift tonight so I’m going to go grab some sleep. You’re awake, and someone sho—” Brody’s sentence was cut off as Nova pushed into the hospital room with Nicole on her hip. She wasn’t even five steps in when she thrust Nicole at Brody, trusting that he would catch her child.
“Oh. My. God! Drew! You need to not scare us like this again,” Nova demanded as she got next to the bed.
