Page 26 of Evil Beautiful

All the while I spoke to him softly but he didn’t hear me. He was unconscious.

At the hospital he was rushed into surgery and we were sent to wait in the waiting room. I was informed a Dr Murphy and Dr Cohen would be performing the surgeries. I couldn’t sit down. Instead I paced up and down, up and down. The room had quickly filled up with his friends and co-workers and I could see he was a popular guy by the looks of worry on their faces. Pixie was crying softly while Dom held her in his arms, whispering to her.

And I paced.

Finally the door opened and the doctors walked in. Everyone stood.

“Family of Kellen Paxton?” One asked.

I stepped forward. “I’m his partner, Gideon Acheson. His family are on their way and will be here later. How is he?”

The looks on their faces didn’t change and I didn’t know if that was good or bad.

“Mr Paxton lost a lot of blood and we had to transfuse him on the table. His facial injuries consist of a broken nose and swelling. He has two broken ribs as well as severe bruising to the upper chest and lower back. On closer examination we found that the right testicle wasn’t severed as we had feared. We repaired the damage and after recovery we are cautiously hopeful it will function as normal. The cuts to his penis were shallow and didn’t damage the urethra and he will regain full functionality. The slashes to his inner thighs missed the femoral artery and only required stitching. The knife wounds to his lower abdomen didn’t penetrate the abdominal cavity and he didn’t sustain any damage to his internal organs. Infection is what we will be guarding against and Mr Paxton will remain in ICU overnight before being transferred to a high care unit.”

“Can I see him?”

One of them nodded. “Yes, a nurse will fetch you once he’s been settled in. His recovery is going to take some time but all in all he’s doing very well.”

I had to ask the question that had been bouncing around in my head. My prisoner had said he had raped him. The doctors never mentioned it, so I had to ask.

“Was…was he raped?”

The shorter of the two quickly shook his head. “No, he wasn’t.”

I sigh of relief gusted out because I knew it was something Kell would have had a hard time with. As would anyone who was raped.

“Thank you for what you did for him. I won’t ever forget it.” I promised them.

From now until they died they would always have me looking out for them and their families.

They saved my Kellen.

The man I loved.

It had sneaked up on me, this love thing.

He had sneaked up on me.

And now I couldn’t imagine life without him in it.

Hours later I sat next to his bed and held his hand in both of mine. I had pulled some strings to be with him, it was going to cost me but I didn’t care. Kellen Paxton was worth every cent we would be donating to the surgical wing.

He was breathing easily, in no pain because he was pumped full of morphine.

“I love you, baby. When you wake up I’ll tell you again and I won’t stop telling you, ever. I almost lost you and I don’t want to go through that ever again.”

My head jerked up from where it was resting on our joined hands when I received a soft groan and a mumble in response

“Kell?” I asked softly.

He mumbled again and I had to bend over him to hear what he was saying.

“Fuck…cut…balls…off.” He mumbled on a groan.

I rushed to reassure him.

“No, no, baby, he didn’t. I stopped him in time. Once you get better you will be as good as new, I promise.”

---