Page 25 of Slam Dunk
Jathan thanked the pair of nurses.
They nodded and smiled. “We’re right down the hall. It’ll take time for the fluid to clear from his lungs. Just don’t let him do too much too quickly.”
Jathan walked them to the door. He lingered in the doorway for a moment, talking to a huge guy… German. Quince knew his name. He was Jathan’s new guard. There was something missing. Something lingering just out of sight. After a few instructions and nods, Jathan was back at his side.
“Talk to me.” Quince still didn’t have enough breath to ask the hundreds of questions he had.
Thankfully, Jathan seemed to understand exactly how confused Quince was. “Judging by your level of panic, I’m going to assume you don’t remember anything. You were shot. The bullet bounced around, doing as much damage as possible before lodging in your lung. At first, when they weren’t confident you’d make it, they kept you asleep so you could heal. Then they took away that medication when it looked like you had a shot, and you didn’t wake up.” Jathan’s voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “They wanted to move you to a rehabilitation facility for coma patients, but I refused. I knew you’d get more help with private care, so Tip signed the paperwork to get you transported here to where I hired a team. You have no fucking idea how happy I am to see your beautiful eyes again.”
As insane as it likely was, Quince couldn’t move past one detail. “You’ve been sleeping in a chair for a goddamn month.” While his irritation had given him the strength to bitch, he regretted it immediately when he fell into another coughing fit. Jathan visibly fretted until it passed.
He rubbed Quince’s leg. “There’s no reason to get upset. No, I haven’t slept here every night.”
“That’s a lie,” German said, poking his head inside the door before disappearing again.
Irritation crossed Jathan’s features, but he pressed on. “I didn’t want to leave you tonight. When the doctor checked on youearlier, he said your lungs were starting to fill. I wanted to be here in case you started struggling for air.”
Quince stared at Jathan and emotion swelled inside him until it got too big to hold on to. “I love you. I don’t know why I feel such a huge need to get that off my chest, but I do.” He coughed again. Quince was hyper aware meds held back the worst of the blinding pain. But this was too important, and Quince couldn’t stop. “It’s okay if you’re not ready to hear that. I just need you to know it.”
Jathan kissed his forehead. “I love you too.” He whispered the words like that was as loud as his voice would go. “You can’t leave me.”
While Quince still didn’t have a huge grip on how he ended up in this situation, he knew he couldn’t let Jathan down. “Yeah. I’m not going anywhere. You’ll be trying to peel me off you like industrial strength Velcro.Slllrrp.” Imitating the sound of ripping away Velcro made Jathan laugh, so it was worth how hard he fought not to cough up a lung.
“You have to stop trying to talk, fucking Chatty Cathy. You sleep for a month while I beg you to wake up, then you just pop up with all the words.”
He knew Jathan used humor to cover up how stressed he had likely been. That was one of the many reasons Quince couldn’t stop smiling, despite his guilt. He hated that he had made Jathan worry.
“Cuddle with me and I’ll be quiet.”
Jathan eyed the tiny bed. “Are you sure? You’re supposed to be healing here.”
Quince fought to scoot over a little. He shook from the effort.
Jathan let down the railing. “For fuck’s sake. Stop straining. I’ll squeeze in.”
“You can do it. Everyone has room for a Twizzler.”
He heard a bark of laughter from the hallway. Damn. Apparently, Jathan had let these security guys get comfortable. He wasn’t surprised. Jathan was too fucking nice. That was why he needed security in the first… the memory slammed into him. Quince saw that kid’s face all over again. His chest ached for a different reason. He was so young.
Quince made it until he had Jathan in his arms. “What happened to the kid?” No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t speak that question above a whisper.
Jathan stroked his stomach and stared at nothing, as if only seeing the images inside his head. “Steven shot him in the leg, and then German tackled him. He’s okay. They admitted him into a mental health facility.”
“He couldn’t help it. I saw that in his eyes. When I went down, I saw his face. He didn’t know how to stop.”
He watched Jathan swallow. The pain in his expression was killing Quince. “I thought you said you’d rest if I snuggled with you.”
“I really want to kiss you, but apparently, I really need this full-face oxygen shit.” He smiled. Quince actually felt a little better. Holding Jathan was magic. “Also, I guess I haven’t brushed my teeth in a month.”
A bark of laughter burst from Jathan. “I’d never leave you like that. Your care team has taken care of you in every way.”
“Well, that’s slightly humiliating.”
Jathan pulled Quince’s mask away for half a second to steal a quick peck. He made sure the mask was perfect before he settled down again. “Will you rest if I tell you about my ribs?”
“Oh, fuck. I didn’t ruin the finals, did I? You’d better say you still played.” Getting worked up was the wrong move. He thought he would die before he stopped coughing.
Jathan looked stressed, which made him feel worse.
