“DUDE. YOU look like shit.” Micah stood there, looking at him. “You sure you can come home?”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure. I just need some help getting out of here and home.” Bonner was done. He could get one of the guys to take out the stitches.
“Well, I dunno.” Micah shifted from boot to boot. “They said you’d have to go without the doc’s blessing.”
“Don’t be like that, now. No one will know you did it.”
“They will too. That doctor fellow? He ain’t scary at all, is he?”
“Shut up. You’ll be over there at Miz Jerilyn’s, and we both know it. I just need you to help with the IV and a shirt.” Maybe his boots. He might need help with his boots.
“I guess.” Micah started toward him.
“If you touch that IV, I will shoot you.”
Micah’s eyes shot open wide as they both looked toward the door, where Gianni stood. Fuck.
“No, sir.” Micah edged away from Bonner.
“Traitor. He wouldn’t do it. He’s a cop.”
“No, he’s an agent. He’d bust a cap right in me.” Micah actually sounded worried.
Gianni burst out laughing. “What the fuck is that?”
“I have no idea.” Bonner glared at Micah. Dipshit. “Too much rap music?”
“They say it on all the cop shows.” Micah was at the door. “I’ll get you a shake.”
“Thanks, coward.” He winked at Micah, then sighed at Gianni. “That was shit timing.”
“No, it was great timing. They’re going to fit you with a brace this afternoon. If you do your therapy training tomorrow, they’ll send you home tomorrow evening.”
“I could have been home in twenty minutes.”
“Uh-huh. In that filthy fucking truck? I don’t think so, caro.”
“What? Micah would clean it for me.”
“If he had ten hours to spare.”
“I’ll be okay.” He was getting tired already.
Gianni came to him, gently eased him back down on the bed. “You need to rest.”
“I want to come home.” Even if it wasn’t his home.
“Oh God, caro. Me too. I want you where I can help.”
“I want to be able to have coffee at will. Sleep in the sun.” With you.
“Tomorrow. If you do what they say. Mason called me down to help with the brace. Said you’d need me.” Gianni’s grimace said a lot.
“That good, huh?” Oh man. “We could go now.”
“No, caro.” Now Gianni smiled at him, that expression pure devil. “I want you on the fast-healing track. I want you.”
“Still?” Wait, that was whiny.
“More than. You’re my hero, Bonner. I’m not kidding.” Gianni pressed a warm hand to his thigh.
“I just….” Oh, that felt lovely. Solid and warm.
“I know, but we do this right.” That smooth voice was full of concern. And a teeny bit of command.
“You’re damn used to getting what you want, honey.”
“I am.” Gianni waggled his eyebrows. “I have an Italian count for a father and a ranch princess for a mamma. I had to learn to stand up.”
“I have a crazy meth-head momma. I just try to do right.”
“I see that.” Gianni moved to sit next to him on the bed. One hand pressed down harder on his leg, which Bonner realized was twitching madly. “Your surgeon said your legs might do that as you healed.”
“Oh. I thought you just wanted to touch me.” It was surprisingly disappointing.
“I do. I want to because I can. You’re not flat on your back, so I can do this.” Gianni leaned around to kiss him, the touch not gentle or tentative at all. Just a real, needy kiss.
Gianni was careful not to put pressure on his neck, though, and pulled away way too soon. “I thought I’d stay with you today.”
Uh-huh…. “Who warned you?”
“Mason. He says you’re chomping at the bit.”
“You’re losing your Italian again, you know.”
“Am I? Potrei farti delle brutte cose in italiano.”
“Mmm.” He had no idea what Gianni had said, but it always sounded so pretty.
Gianni chuckled. “I knew you wanted me to do terrible things to your body.”
“I do. I want to do… well, you know what I want.”
“Sì.” Gianni touched his leg much higher up. “Soon. I promise.”
A knock sounded before the nurse came in. “Hey, look at you sitting up.”
“I want to go home.” If he kept saying it, someone would listen.
“Well, did Mr. Cesare here tell you what the doctor said? Fitting for the brace today. Out of here tomorrow night if your therapy sessions go well.”
“Not fair. Y’all said I had to poop. That was all.”
“The brace is absolutely necessary, man. Hey, I’m Kevin, your new best friend and PT guy.”
Bonner hated him already.
Gianni grinned. “We met in the hall. I have a physician on duty at the ranch who will be working with him. Will you have written instructions in the release information?”
“I will, and I’ll be there three times a week.”
Goodie. “How bad’s the brace? What’s it going to do? How long do I have to do this?”
“I wish I had those answers. The brace is probably not as bad as the one you had to wear when you cracked your neck. I saw that in your records. It will be hot more than anything else. It keeps everything in alignment and keeps things from compressing. The length all depends on how you heal.” Kevin shrugged. “Today will suck, because you’ve been kept in basically one place, and I’m going to move things that don’t want to be moved. So, let’s start with some muscle relaxants, hmm?”
“Yeah.” He hated that, but he knew they would help. Gianni moved out of the way, leaving him with Kevin for far too long. The drugs got a few minutes to do their thing, and then the torture started. The brace was unyielding and stiff, and he felt like a robot. A really sore robot that wanted to scream.
“I want it off.”
“Okay. We’ll have to do another round after you rest. I’ll be back in about two hours.” Kevin sounded sympathetic.
“Yeah. Y’all just go, huh?” He didn’t want to see anyone. He thought he might just break down.
“Sure. Here, let’s get this off.” Kevin helped him out of the brace before slipping out of the room.
Gianni moved back to his side. “You want a sponge bath?”
“I want to go home.” He was covered in sweat, shaking, and the only reason he wasn’t screaming were the meds.
“Tomorrow. All we have to do is get through tomorrow.” Gianni reached out to touch his cheek.
“Can you get Micah to get that shake?”
Gianni carefully wiped his belly down, texting as he did. “We’ve got one on the way. Let me help you, caro. Let me make it better.”
“I just hate being weak.”
“Trust me, caro. I understand.”
Bonner looked up into those dark, dark eyes, and he saw a shit-ton of truth there. “I could use your help.”
“What do you need?” Gianni bent to kiss his cheek.
“I’m hot. Sticky.” Miserable. Broken.
“Okay. Let me cool off this cloth. I’ll wash you down, and Micah will bring a shake. I’ll get you a clean gown too.”
“I’m sorry, honey.”
“I’m only sorry you’re hurting. I want you to get well.” Gianni moved around, getting the tech to get him clean linens and a new gown.
“He can have a shower as long as he uses the seat and lets one of the male techs help,” she said.
“I don’t need help.” He wanted Gianni’s help. He knew he couldn’t ask for it, but that was what he wanted, dammit.
“We can do this.” Gianni smiled at her, and the young lady kinda… wiggled.
“Well, okay, but if you need help, call us.”
“You have my word, bella.” Oh Lord, the Italian voice.
“I’ll get you some shampoo and towels.” She swayed out of the room.
“It’s a shame you’re queer as a three-dollar bill. You could have anything you wanted.”
“Caro, I do get what I want.” Gianni winked and dared to reach up and cup his balls. “And I wouldn’t go after her even if she was a boy. Her dad was my biology teacher.”
“Oh, that’s not weird at all.”
“Right?” Gianni got him up slowly, holding his hands but not letting him bend. “To the shower!”
“You sound awful cheery.” He followed along, his eyes caught by Gianni’s.
“Why wouldn’t I be, caro? I get to wash my lover, touch him.”
Sometimes Gianni said things that made him blush.
His lover. Even if it was only make-believe, it sounded awfully good. He didn’t even notice the water coming on, but it was warm when Gianni eased him down on the shower seat. “Sit tight. Just going to get the towels and soap.”
He already felt better. A little light-headed, but better. The hot water eased all sorts of stuff in his body, and he had to fight not to slump.
“Here we go.” Gianni padded in, boots gone, and the shirt came off as soon as Gianni closed the bathroom door.
“Mmm. You’re fine as frog hair.” Bonner reached for him, and damn near fell off the seat.
“Hey, now. Easy. Gentle movements. Your body is like Jell-O right now.” Gianni moved right up into his space, and he rested his cheek on that sweet fuzzy belly.
That was so much better.
Gianni washed his hair, singing something soft and familiar, and Bonner laughed when he realized it was “Strawberry Roan.”
“My cowboy.” He was in so much wonderful trouble.
“Oh, I can sing Italian lullabies too, caro.” Gianni was so gentle, those callused hands moving on him like he was made of glass.
“God, that feels good. I could let you touch me forever.”
“I would do it.” Gianni hummed. “I love how you react to my touch.”
He breathed deep, his eyes falling closed. This was magic. Pure magic. Bonner felt better now than he had since he got whacked with a rubber bullet. Soon he was floating, easing back to the bed, and he didn’t know how he got there.
“That’s it, caro. Rest, and then we’ll have some food.” That low voice helped him relax into sleep.
“Love.” He sighed and floated off.
He thought maybe he heard Gianni say something about amore, but that was it. Boom.