Page 54 of Punk Rock Reflection
“Yeah. I’m fine,” Tommy replied. The concern in Angel’s voice cut through him, but the way Jessi clung to him made a lump form in his throat. They had both been worried about him during this catastrophe, and he felt bad for leaving them, but he had no choice.
Angel’s strong arms shrouded Tommy with comfort and reassurance. He needed that feeling of safety right now and relaxed under his husband’s touch.
The strobe from the ambulance lights glinted off the platinum wedding band on Angel’s ring finger as he brought his hand up to stroke Tommy’s hair. Tommy looked at the matching band on his own hand, and the one on Jessi’s, and the day they presented Angel with the ring flashed in his head . . .
Tommy put a small velvet box on the dining room table and pushed it toward Angel.
Angel tentatively picked it up, slowly opened the box and stared at its contents. His mouth twitched and his eyes glistened. “Mi amor, I don’t know what to say.”
Tommy took the plain silver band from the box and put it on Angel’s shaking left hand. Since the three of them couldn’t be legally married, this would have to do. “It’s my commitment to you. I want people to know where you stand, in my heart and in my life.”
“In our life,” Jessi held up her left hand. So did Tommy.
“Now we all have the same wedding band.”
Jessi placed the palm of her hand down in the center of the table first. Tommy put his hand on top of hers, so their rings touched. Tommy looked to Angel, but his eyes were barely visible behind the pool of water that hung on his lower lids. His hand trembled as he slowly added it to the pile, so their rings were in perfect alignment forming a trinity of pure love.
Later that night, as they lay down in bed, they re-created their pyramid of wedded hands. This time it was on Tommy’s chest. The silver of their rings clinked together like exquisite crystal, and Tommy drifted off to sleep with the hands of the two people he loved most in the world, pressed firmly against his beating heart . . .
Happy tears filled Tommy’s eyes at the memory. He let out an exasperated sigh and leaned his head onto Angel’s strong chest as he said a silent prayer of thanks that no one was seriously injured tonight. “Where’s Damien? He’s OK, right? They told me he was OK.”
“Yes,” Jessi replied. “He’s with the EMT’s. Just a bump on the head.”
“Are you sure? Did you see him?”
Jessi nodded. “Alyssa and Jimmy and Audra are with him. Me and Angel left to look for you.”
Relief made Tommy weak, and he leaned his weight into Angel. “Thank God. I don’t know what I would have done if anything happened to him.” Then he remembered the woman he rescued. “I saved someone.”
“You did?” Jessi looked at him with wide eyes.
“Yeah. A lady. One of the women who hand out the awards, I think. She was buried, and I pulled her free. She told me she thought she was going to die and all she could think about was her two young daughters at home.” He hugged Jessi and Angel closer to him. The idea that it could have been him or Angel buried in that pile, worrying if they’d ever see Tessa and Lucas again, slammed into his chest like a sledgehammer. He wouldn’t voice it aloud, though. He wouldn’t put that kind of fear in Jessi.
“I’m so proud of you,” Jessi said, cupping his cheek and placing a light kiss on his lips.
“You’re amazing.” Angel hugged him again. “I can’t believe how brave you were. Running into the wreckage like that and saving someone. Who knows what would have happened to her if you didn’t? You probably saved her life.”
Tommy held his head in his hands and let out a long sigh. The truth of Angel’s statement blew his mind. If he hadn’t reacted so quickly, or chose a different spot to start digging, that woman’s outcome could have been quite different. He wondered why he chose that specific location when everyone else had been working in other areas. He’d been the only one moving debris from that corner. It was almost as if something pulled him in that direction, as if he knew he needed to be in that exact spot. “Let’s go see Damien,” he said.
They started toward the row of ambulances, but a journalist appeared with a camera crew in tow and blocked their path. “Tommy Blade, I was just informed that you single-handedly saved an injured woman from the rubble. Instead of running away from danger, you ran right toward it. What compelled you to take part in the rescue instead of fleeing to safety with your family?”
“My friend,” Tommy quickly answered. “I didn’t stop to think about the danger. I just knew that Damien was on stage when it collapsed, and I reacted. I’m glad I did because I uncovered a woman from under the rubble. She was hurt. I think she broke her leg, and she was having trouble breathing.”
“You’re a hero,” the journalist proclaimed, then turned toward Angel. “I understand you got separated and didn’t know what was happening or where Mr. Blade was. What was going through your mind during that time?”
Angel brought his hand to his forehead, laying on the drama. “I was beside myself with worry. Tommy fell off the chair when the stage collapsed, and I was concerned that he hit his head. Before any of us had a chance to make sure he was OK, he ran toward the stage, and we got ushered out of the ballroom.”
The journalist addressed Tommy again. “It’s common knowledge that you had brain surgery a few years ago. Were there any repercussions? Did you get examined by a doctor?”
“No.” Automatically, his fingers went to the scar on his scalp. “I don’t think I hit my head.”
“That’s enough,” Jessi told the journalist, then pulled Tommy’s hand away from his head. “You’re seeing one of the EMT’s.”
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t even think about arguing,” Angel said, firmly.
They ignored Tommy’s protest and pulled him toward an ambulance, where he was immediately greeted by a paramedic.
