Page 70 of Saving You

“Yeah. That would be the bruised ribs.” He glanced down. “Wiggle your feet for me.”

Oz did.

“Bend your knees slightly.”

Oz obeyed again.

Ridge leaned in very close, then signed, ‘Good boy.’

Oz didn’t feel the familiar, lust-filled flush he would have in bed, but something similar coursed through him—a sort of all-encompassing heat. He was more than grateful for the momentary distraction. “Not here,” he whispered.

Ridge laughed. “I was only making sure you could move. You couldn’t stand up when Carl tried to get you on your feet, but that was also probably the shock.” He stroked a touch over Oz’s wrist. “You scared the shit out of me.”

Oz choked back another laugh. “I scared me too. And Rex…fuck. I shouldn’t have let him go. He saw a dog, and?—”

“We know. He was telling everyone what happened,” Ridge said, cutting him off. “He cried so hard he threw up.”

Oz felt a pang in his chest. “That poor baby.”

“I don’t think he’ll ever do that again.” Ridge reached for Oz’s left hand and kissed his palm. “Cat might be out of the bag, by the way.”

“About you two?” came another voice, and Oz suddenly remembered they weren’t alone. “You were not subtle at all, man.”

Ridge flipped him off. “Fuck off.”

Oz snorted, then winced. “I don’t care. I’m glad you’re here. I don’t want to be alone when it hurts this much.”

Ridge kissed his hand again. “You’re not. I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here.”

It was those words alone that allowed Oz to relax back into the stretcher and believe that things were going to be okay.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

OZ

He’d lostthe concept of time after letting himself relax. The ambulance ride might have been five minutes, but it might have been five hours. He was vaguely aware of Ridge getting into a fight with the attending over whether or not Oz could have an MRI, and he was beyond grateful that Ridge held his ground. The last thing Oz needed was to get violently thrown into a giant magnet.

Eventually, he was given an IV, an X-ray, some pain medication, and a cup of ice to chew on in case it was determined he needed some kind of surgery.

Another vague forever passed, Oz dozing in and out of sleep from whatever glorious burning drugs filled his veins, and then the curtain opened in his triage space. He was expecting Ridge or maybe Frey. Hell, even Renato would have been a welcome sight.

Instead, it was a face he hadn’t wanted to see again.

“Oh, babe. The hospital called.” Darcy walked up to his bed and took his right hand, which immediately pissed him off because he couldn’t pull away from her. He was no longer restrained though, so he sat up a little and glanced around for Ridge.

He was nowhere to be found.

Feeling along the side of the bed with his left hand, he found the call button and smashed it as he kept his eye on the curtain for any shadow that might be someone to save him.

“Are you okay? Can you hear me?” she asked loudly.

Oz groaned and then used his functional arm to shove her hand off his. “Why are you here?”

“The hospital called me,” she repeated.

“Mm, but why?” Fuck, he was too floaty and high for this conversation. She said it like it was obvious, but it wasn’t obvious at all. Why would the hospital call her? He was already there with his boyfriend. Who was…

Somewhere.

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