Page 90 of Liam

"We owe Noah for that."

Jamal laughed. "I'll buy him a gift."

I turned my head and kissed his forehead.

"I honestly never thought someone would see me the way you do," I said.

He stroked my jawline and smiled at me. "I could say the same."

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feel of his fingertips across my stubble. We sat snuggled up against one another, chatting, only broken from our secret realm by someone calling Jamal's name.

In the exam room, there was a reliving of the events and then there was diagnostic imaging. Hearing the whole story from start to finish nearly brought me to my knees.

It struck hard. I could have lost him.

Then we had the police to deal with. The hospital had called then. Standard procedure apparently. Which was fine. Jamal had intended to seek charges.

Jamal told his story again and then signed a statement. Avery's dad would be arrested right away. He'd be seeing a judge tomorrow to answer for what he did. I would call Brody and see if he could swing an assignment to the case. I'd feel better with him as crown prosecutor.

5 am the next morning while it was still dark, I wheeled Jamal to my car and settled him in it for the drive home. According to the doctor, nothing was broken, but he'd be bruised and sore for a while and he needed to wear a sling to support his shoulder for at least a week. That was going to make getting around difficult, but Jamal assured me he could manage. I called him on it.

I pulled up outside his house. "How are you going to wheel around with one arm?"

"Meera can help me."

"Seriously? How is she going to help you transfer onto your bed? Onto your toilet?" I pulled his wheelchair out of the backseat and completed the process of disassembling it in reverse.

"I'll get David or Zahir to help me with that."

Stunningly, I reassembled the chair correctly. "And at work?"

"I can get an attachment for my chair so I can propel it with one arm." Jamal slung his arm around my neck, his upper body tensing, and I lifted him from the passenger seat of my car and deposited him in his wheelchair. He rearranged his legs until they were sitting right.

"You don't need me?" I felt like he was cutting me out.

Jamal put his hand on mine as I wheeled him into the house. "Of course, I need you."

"For what?"

"I need you to hold me. I need to feel your protective arms around me when that brute comes calling for me in my dreams." He tipped his head against my arm. "I need to feel your love."

The foyer was empty and quiet as we wheeled inside.

I was glad. I wanted Jamal to myself for as long as I could have him. After we closed the door to his bedroom, I rolledJamal into the bathroom. We'd been sitting for hours without a break.

He'd made me aware that he didn't have his little bag with him, so he couldn't pee. Once we were in an exam room, the nurse helped him with that, but he needed to go again. Managing that would be impossible with his one arm in a sling. It was down to me to help.

I looked around the room. "What do I need to do?"

"Um." He shuffled backward in his seat. "I need my pants and underwear off."

"Okay." I unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans and gently worked them off his hips until his soft cock was exposed. "Is that good enough?"

"Yup." He looked up at me as if he expected me to run.

"I'm here," I assured him. "What next?"

Jamal grasped one wheel with his hand and scooted forward a little to be closer to the toilet. "Go into the cabinet beside the sink. There are packages of catheters in there. Grab one."

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