Page 68 of The Barn: Frost and Q
Whoa, it was hard to scream when you had smoke damage. Yelling made him cough, and he actually had to sit down for a minute, right there on the floor. Cap was standing over the top of him, wavering in and out of focus, which wasn’t very fair.
“—you fucking die on me, you son of a bitch.”
I’m not gonna die. I need my husband.None of those words were coming out loud, he was afraid. They just seemed to be joggling around in his throat, caught in his lungs.
“Somebody get me the EMTs.”
An oxygen mask went over his mouth, and he was sucking air, trying desperately to get it in.I got to talk to Quentin. Gotta talk to my husband.
A phone was held up to his ear, and Q’s voice rang out, sharp and worried. “Can you hear me? You can hear me. Don’t you fucking die on me. Don’t you even think about it. I love you, and I’m coming, but you gotta hold it together. I’ll be there in just a little bit. Do you hear me?”
How could anybody not hear that? Seriously, there wasn’t a human being in the entire state of Alaska who couldn’t hear that shrill squeak. Were they still in Alaska? Maybe he was in California. He didn’t know. It didn’t matter.
He was okay. He was going to be okay.
Surely, he was gonna be?—
Twenty-Two
Quentin had no question that he was a bully.
He bullied himself into a plane that Carson had provided. He bullied himself from the mainland down to California. Then he pulled himself into the hospital.
Q didn’t have time to worry, to be scared, or to think.
His husband needed him.
Frost was in a private room, hooked up to oxygen. He was scorched a little, sure, but the big thing was the damage to his lungs.
He sat there, just drinking in the sight of his beautiful lover, so tan and dark against the bedsheet.
“Do you want me to stay?” Boone stood at the end of Frost’s bed, looking like he was saying his goodbyes, which didn’t work for him.
Q smiled, or tried to, and shook his head. “I don’t need anything. I’ve got it.”Go away.
He wanted to just be in Frost’s presence. He just needed to see his husband and to be where Frost was.
“Are you sure? I don’t wanna just leave you.”
“I’m fine. I have this. Trust me. I’ve got this. Just go on. Let me… Let me be with him for a bit. And then we’ll—” He had tofind something for Boone to do, Boone needed a job, needed to feel functional and needed. “Can you get us a close hotel? Get us all set up with an accessible car and stuff for the duration? Once he gets out of here, we’ll have to have a place for him to stay for a couple of days. You know, that sort of thing.” That was good, right?
“Oh, I can totally do that. No problem.” Boone turned to search his face. “You got my number, but?—”
“Boone, it’s me. I’ve got your number. Igaveyou your number. I know how to get you. I just need to sit with him, and I need you to be able to deal with some of that other crap.”
Was that fair? Probably not, but it was what it was, right? Right.
Boone hugged him, then he made his way out the door. “Okay, if you need me?—”
“I’ll call you. He’s just going to sleep right now, I bet. You know I’m just gonna sit here and watch him like a big dork.”
“Yeah, I don’t blame you. I’d just sit there and watch with you.”
The door closed, and they were there by themselves.
That was when he could let himself tear up for just half a second.
“Oh, you asshole. Did you really feel it necessary to breathe in every bit of smoke in the entirety of the state of California?”
