––––––––
The orderlies finally managed to get Dawson to suck on the very large, very chocolatey milkshake they brought, and the next time he came to, Angie was beside him, stroking the beard that had grown in the eight hours since last he shaved.
“What the hell happened?” she asked when he looked like his brain was ready to process something. “They took x-rays, patched you up, and the doctor set you up with a bunch of bandages and—no! Stop! Lay down, jackass!”
Dawson groaned heavily and clutched his bandaged side. “That... hurts.”
“You have eight broken ribs and a gash the size of my arm down your side. What the hell happened? The cops that went to Tenner’s told me the whole place was a giant mess, you apparently saved a bunch of people’s lives when some guy went nuts and started chopping at you. You... shifted? And shook him around by the neck?”
Dawson lifted his right arm, and let out a yelp of pain, then switched to the other to rub his head. “How much morphine did they pump into me?”
Angie shot a glance at the drip mechanism. “Well,” she said, doing math in her head and chewing on her lip. “A lot. You were, uh, not very happy with the orderlies and then you got really pissed off about mashed potatoes and Jell-O they were trying to feed you.”
“You can’t blame me,” he said. “I hate gooshy food. I’d rather eat a tin can out of a garbage can than mooshed up beans or potatoes or,” and then he shivered, “Jell-O. What flavor was it?”
“Green. Er, lime, I guess.”
“Green’s more accurate,” Hibby had come in at some point in the past few moments, and had another needle in her hand. “Sorry about this sweetie, but we’ve got to make sure you ain’t gonna end up gangrenous and rotten. That wouldn’t be a good look. And before you ask, we can’t just do it in the IV. Bears have curious veins. For the sake of keeping your lunch down, I’ll stop there.”
“I dunno, green would look pretty good with that gown, I think,” Angie said, considering it. “Although it ends up more black than anything else, right?”
“Necrosis?” Hibby asked. “Yeah, black and generally with a lot of pus. But, you know, even if it gets that far we can generally get rid of the infection. Whatever it’s already gotten to is beyond saving, but what the hell, you know?”
Dawson started gnawing on his straw.
“Can’t have it both ways,” Angie said. “Well, I guess since he’s going to be a big whiny baby about the whole thing, we just have to hope he doesn’t catch anything from being cut open with that dirty bar glass.”
“Tenner washes them a lot,” Dawson said, although obviously not with any sort of confidence. “I’ve had a tetanus shot.” His voice began to waver.
Hibby shrugged and put the cap back on her syringe. “Sure, yeah, those will save you from dying. But then again, if you didn’t have any hands, you wouldn’t be making much music, huh?”
With a yelp of pain, Dawson rolled over onto his good side and threw open his gown.
“Wow,” Angie remarked. “If I’d known it was that easy, I would have just started talking about flesh eating bacteria the first time we met. That’s quite an ass, isn’t it?”
Hibby let out a long whistle. “I see asses all the time. But that one? Yeah, I’d give it top five. Top ten at the least.”
“Come on!” Dawson yelled. “Give me the damn shot and stop talking about my ass! I’m right here!”
“Oh honey, we know it.” Angie said. “Although I feel slightly weird at gawking at you like this after we only had about a half a date. I was expecting it to take at least two times going out.”
“Do you think he knows this goes in his side?” Hibby asked. “I could tell him, but then we’d have to stop looking—”
“God!” Dawson half-grunted, half-laughed as he rolled back onto the bed and lifted his arm. “How do I end up in places like this, dealing with women like you two?” A laugh shook him, and then he winced and closed his eyes tight. “Tell me when it’s over,” he said through gritted teeth.”
“When what is? Oh, the shot? It’s been over since about fifteen seconds ago. You didn’t notice?” Hibby thumped one of the bags hanging off his IV stand. “Antibiotics were in here. I just couldn’t resist seeing what would happen. That stuff about bear veins was a big ol’ crock.”
Dawson’s cheeks burned furious red, but he was smiling despite himself. Angie smoothed the sweat-soaked hair back out of Dawson’s face. “Well,” she said. “This has certainly been an interesting evening. I don’t think I could come up with a better excuse to leave work and come to a hospital.”
“Thank you,” Dawson said, gripping her hand. “I don’t know how I knew you’d come, but—”
“Oh, no, I meant seeing that fine ass of yours.” She broke into a laugh, and Hibby with all her professional composure, allowed herself a brief smile and a chuckle.
“Just doing my job,” she said. “Press that red call button on the thing if you need me. I’ll be around with your drugs in a couple of hours. You want a cot?” she asked Angie. “Technically you’re not supposed to be here, but,” she shrugged to finish her thought.
“I could use one.”
“Wait, wait,” Dawson said. “You can’t stay here. You’ve got a life to live. You’ve got to get back to work. I can’t let you do this.”
“Let me?” Angie asked. “I don’t remember asking permission. Although if you don’t want me to stay I guess I understand. We did just meet after all.”
For a moment, the two of them just stood there staring at one another, her hand in his. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out except a sigh. “It... really doesn’t feel like that, does it?” she asked when she managed enough sense to speak without shaking. “I mean, like we just met?”
“There’s something about you,” Dawson said. “You know that after you left, I played the best I’ve ever played? I might even try to record something. I’ve... never had the nerve to do that. I figured I was just some bar player destined never to leave town and try for anything bigger.”
Hibby wheeled a cot that was more like a trundle bed than a standard, Army-esque cot, into the room and both of them turned to look at her at the same time, realizing they never noticed she left. “I don’t want to interrupt you two, so I’ll just leave all this stuff here. Call if you need anything.”
“Thanks,” Angie said, her voice sounding hollow in her throat. As she looked down at the disheveled, bloody and somehow indescribably beautiful bear. What was going on in her chest? Or better yet? Her brain? Falling for some guy wasn’t exactly an Angie thing to do. After all, she was the unflinching, stoic dispatcher that could get a thousand-yard stare in the worst circumstances that had ever befallen White Creek.
And here she was, holding a guy’s hand and playing nurse to him about six hours after they met. “What the hell am I doing?”
“Holding my hand.”
“Oh God, I said that out loud didn’t I?” she laughed to cover her embarrassment.
“Ow.”
“Did I squeeze too hard?” Angie asked, glad for an excuse not to think about her blabbing.
“Yeah,” Dawson said. “It’s... right here,” he pointed at his elbow.
Angie furrowed her eyebrows. “Need some medicine? Wait, why does your elbow hurt? You’re trying to get me to kiss it, aren’t you?”
“Ow, it hurts,” Dawson said, unable to completely hide his mischievous grin. “Oh it’s so bad.”
She rolled her eyes, but at the same time, she was smiling too. “Here,” she said and bent down to quickly peck his elbow with her lips. “Boo-boo all better?”
“Yeah, but it... oh now my arm hurts,” he said, pointing to his uncovered biceps. “Right here, it’s...”
She stooped over again, brushing her hair back behind her ear, and kissing his muscled arm. This time though, she went a little slower, letting her lips warm his skin before she pulled back. “Better?”
“Yeah, but... shoulder aches,” he said. She felt his fingers flutter against the small of her back and when Angie stepped a little closer, he flattened his hand. Warmth from his palm radiated through her entire body, tickling her from head to toe. “Right,” he faked a groan when she kissed the gown, then moved it aside and pressed her lips again on him. “Yeah, right there.”
Angie watched him, the warmth from his hand turning into an ethereal, almost dream-like comfort that spread from her core outward. “Is there anywhere else? Oh no...”
“What is it? Did you see something else?”
“Yeah,” she whispered, bending over near his ear. “I think I saw a cut right here.”
She sucked a gentle kiss where Dawson’s neck met his shoulder. When he clutched her almost imperceptibly tighter, she kissed him again, letting her lips stay against his skin as her breath warmed him. She finally pulled away, and saw a light dusting of goose bumps left behind. He didn’t need to ask her to kiss him right behind the ear, but the soft groan that met her ears encouraged her to continue.
“I think it hurts right here, too,” he said when she pulled away, pointing at his chin.
Her lips brushed against his throat, then the stubble under his jaw. She ran them along his bristly jaw, to his chin where she sucked softly and gave him a little nibble. “That better?” she whispered.
“Now here,” he lifted an arm, pointing to his own lips. When she got a little closer, close enough so that she could feel the warmth of his breath and the heat radiating off his skin, Dawson let his hand fall on the back of her head and pulled her in. “We still gonna have that date?” he asked before tasting her lips with his tongue, softly, gently. “I promise it’ll be more fun than this.”
Angie crawled up on his bed, careful to not prod his injured side, and cupped his face between her hands. The curtains drew closed without either of them anywhere near enough to touch them. Angie glanced quickly out the window as it closed and noticed Hibby giving her a wave.
“I owe you one,” she whispered.
“Me?” Dawson slid his tongue between her teeth, exploring her every line and curve. She sucked back, biting his bottom lip when they both needed to come up for air.
“No, the nurse that just closed our curtains,” she smiled, breathing out her words before kissing him desperately again. “Tell me if I hurt anything.”
“Right now you could stick a hot poker in my side and I wouldn’t notice,” Dawson stopped for a second, kissing her again, balling up a fist in her fiery red mane, and letting his other hand slide down Angie’s back to where her shirt came up just enough for him to feel the warm smoothness of her back. “Anyway, I’m half healed already. The thing about bear veins might have been a big load of crap, but unless you kill us, we tend to heal real quick.”
She took a breath, and let it out in a quailing sigh as her bear explored her again, sliding his tongue against hers, drinking her breath and holding her close.
“Well I might notice,” he whispered before nibbling her ear and swirling a kiss behind it. “But I wouldn’t care.”
Angie cooed a laugh, nuzzled against Dawson’s stubbly chin and sat up. Straddling him like that, she could feel his length swelling between her legs. It took every shred of effort she could muster to not pull him out of the gown. She dragged her fingernails gently along his jaw. He pulled her down for another kiss, and then, with a shove of his hips, sent a sweet charge snaking up her back.
“Oh my God,” Angie whispered. “I’m really doing this—we’re really doing this, in a hospital.”
“Who said nothing good ever happens in a hospital bed? Hold tight,” he whispered. “You’re doing something crazy to me. I can’t explain it, but...”
She looked down into his eyes and saw them flaring with gold and yellow flecks inside the green sea of his irises. Angie slid up and then down on him, feeling the tingles of his pleasure force her back to arch hard against his body. Before she really knew what was going on, or had any sense of what, exactly, she was doing, she felt wet heat creep slowly from between her legs.
Grabbing ahold of Dawson’s forearms, Angie found them hairier than before. “I guess you’re liking this?” he asked. That’s when she noticed that her own sense of smell was heightened.
“I’m not the only one,” the big bear, slid his hands up Angie’s back, which bristled with soft, red fur. “Open your eyes, let me see them. I want to see what it looks like when you come.”
She gasped a soft breath, as her sex clenched tight. The motion of his hot girth against her clit was just about to send Angie through the roof. She gritted her teeth hard, trying to force herself to hold on just a little longer. “I don’t want this to stop,” she whispered. “But I can’t... you’re making me...”
Dragging her fingernails along Dawson’s muscled chest, she left red tracks on his skin where the gown lay open. She took another breath, gasped again and squeezed her eyes shut.
One of Dawson’s hands left her back and slid between their bodies. He hooked a finger upwards, right against her sweetest place. “God, you’re wet,” he groaned from deep in his throat. “If we weren’t here right now, I’d throw you down and make you mine over and over until neither of us could stand up.”
“And,” she bit her lip, careful to keep her eyes open as best she could, “if your side wasn’t ripped wide open.”
He laughed a breathless, dry laugh. “Like I care about that.”
She pushed down against his hand, and his cock as hard as she could. “I’m... I’m coming, I—”
A deep growl slid out of Angie’s lips. White heat starting at the base of her neck spread through her entire body. Her nipples prickled hard and sweet against the soft cotton of her old He-Man t-shirt, and she bucked against Dawson. A hot red flush crept up her back, and when he pulled her down again, he sucked a hard, desperate kiss that took the last of her breath.
Louder, heavier, her breaths were coming in short, hard bursts. Every single nerve in her body flared, and the cords in her neck stood taut for just a moment.
“I want to see your face,” he curled his finger against her clit again. “And I’m going to want to see it again when I’m in you.”
That was all it took.
Angie let out a whispered scream, and then bit her lip so as not to upset all the patients who were no doubt listening. Relief flooded her system, and she threw back her head, shaking despite herself. Dawson grabbed her hands, squeezing them tight. “Something happen? Your hands are shaking?” He kissed her again before sliding out from under her and propping himself up on an elbow, on the side of his body that wasn’t in agony.
“We really just did that, didn’t we?” Angie giggled. Her neck was still flushed with pleasure, and she could still smell the scent of herself in the air.
“You did it, nurse,” Dawson said. “I’m just a helpless invalid and you took advantage of me.”
With another laugh, he tickled her neck before fluttering a kiss above the collar of her shirt and then wrapping his huge arm around her. “But next time, I’m not gonna be so helpless.”
“Next time, huh?” she asked softly. “What makes you so sure there’s gonna be a next time.”
He kissed her again in the same place. The soft rasp of beard made the sweet tickle even more wonderful than if he’d been smooth. “Oh, I think we both want to see what it’ll be like when there isn’t a hospital gown and a pair of Levi’s between us. Am I wrong?”
“No,” she twisted her neck and smiled. “No, I think you’ve got the right of it, piano bear, I think you have the right of it.”
“Normally I wouldn’t answer to that,” he said as she closed her eyes. “But for you? I’ll do anything.”
As Angie’s eyes fell closed, she felt Dawson’s breathing even out against her neck. A tear ran down her cheek, and slipped between her smiling lips.
*
Morning came with another plate of colorless mush.
Luckily, Dawson and Angie woke up about ten minutes before the orderlies showed up, so the only person who saw them together in the bed was Hibby when she brought more pills for Dawson just after midnight. She’d given them a jocular warning about tearing his stitches out, but Angie didn’t last two minutes before she was unconscious on the trundle bed. It had been so long since she’d slept at night that it felt strange to wake up with the sun.
She blinked a few times and peeked out of the window. “It’s really bright,” she stated with a bald sort of flatness. “I’m not sure I like it.”
Dawson chuckled. “That’s the sun, you know. You probably have some kind of crazy vitamin B deficiency if just seeing it gets you despondent like that.”
As the orderly deposited breakfast on the table, he hesitated before removing the lid.
“What is it?” Dawson asked with just a twist of a growl in his voice. “Not potatoes is it?”
“Er,” the orderly made a motion to take the plate away. “It’s, uh, grits I think.”
“The only thing in the world I hate worse than potatoes? You know what that is?” Dawson’s eyes narrowed to slits. With his hair in a wild halo, and his muscular frame covered in a cotton gown with floral print straight out of 1982 on it, Dawson looked absolutely ridiculous. Angie had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at him.
“I asked a question,” Dawson said. His voice was becoming dangerously low.
“No, uh, sir, I don’t,” the poor orderly quailed. Dawson looked toward Angie and gave her a wink. If it was hard before not to crack up, now it became almost impossible. She squeaked out just a little chuckle and then stared really hard out the window to make sure she didn’t ruin the joke.
“Sorry, I can take it back, I—”
“I. Asked. A. Question.”
The orderly gulped. Angie had the same sort of tension built up inside her that reminded her of really having to pee that one time she’d been on I-20 in the middle of a complete lockdown for eight and a half hours. Except this time, she wouldn’t have to figure out how to use a coke bottle.
“Er... grits?”
“No, son,” Dawson growled the same way he must’ve right before he tore that guy up who attacked Tenner. “Asparagus. I love grits. Thanks! Cheese on ‘em?”
The small-framed orderly let out a rattling laugh, as though he was testing the laughter waters. “I, er, yes I think so. And some ham.”
“Ha! I really got you!” Dawson boomed again, and then let out a pained groan, clutching his side. “I got him, Angie! Did you see him squirming?”
Angie took a couple of steps across the room and put her arms around the poor, still-shaking orderly. She hugged him tight and whispered a thank you in his ear. The young guy smiled, though he wasn’t exactly sure why.
She knew though, somehow, that this massive bear of a man just needed to laugh. She knew that everything in his comfortable little world had come apart at the seams in the past couple of days, and this was as good a nervous prophylactic as anything.
Dawson dug into his grits, happily chomping away at the cheesy mess, and then swallowed four biscuits with one bite apiece. She watched him, slightly amazed at the destruction on the tray. When he was finally done, he let his head flop backward against his pillow and let out a long, pleased moan. “God that was good,” he said, wiping some crumbs off his face. “Better than... er, nah never mind. Nowhere near as good as sex.”
He said that right as Hibby walked in, so Angie had to staunch her own nervous laughter for the third time that morning. “Good news,” the nurse said. “Doctor has cleared you to go home, so you can do your dry humping there tonight. But you’re going to need someone to look after you since you probably won’t be able to get much done on your own until that bear healing kicks in a little more.”
“Yeah,” Dawson said with a smile. “Yeah, that’s gonna be—wait, what? What did you say? Dry humping?”
“Oh honey,” Hibby said with a grandmotherly smile. “If you think there’s anything I haven’t seen in this joint in my thirty some-odd years of service, I’d be amazed to find you right.”
“But she... How did? The curtain, I—”
Angie laughed so hard she started snorting. “She’s the one who closed the curtain,” she said. “So say ‘thank you, Miss Hibby.’”
“Well, yeah, uh,” the poor guy was so red he looked like he shared DNA with a lobster. “I guess I should thank you for preserving my dignity.”
She smiled again. “There’s no dignity in here. You’re wearing an ass-less gown. But you’re welcome, you two make a nice couple. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone so cute together since... well, probably me.” She laughed again. “Either way, you can go ahead and get out of here as soon as the nurses come around and unhook you. You’re a damn lucky bear, you know. A few inches higher and that broken bottle probably would have cut something important. Anyway, sign this please.”
She held out a clipboard with a small pile of paper and a pen attached. “Yeah, all of them,” she said when she saw Dawson’s confusion. “Thanks.”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I guess there’s not much question what’s gonna happen,” he finally said as he took Angie’s hand. “Thanks for everything you did for me. I... I’m gonna get serious here real quick, is that okay?”
She nodded, squeezing his hand.
“I never thought I’d feel like this. It’s nuts, but I feel like I hear people talking about falling for their first love in high school or whatever. I saw you, and my stomach got all fluttery.”
She squeezed harder. “You’re coming home with me.”
“I’m what?”
A tear ran down her cheek. “I’m not letting you go. I can’t take that chance. I feel like you’re just going to vanish as soon as I let you out of my sight. And anyway,” she wiped her cheek and sniffed softly. “Hibby said you’d need someone to take care of you.”
“Oh no, no, I can’t do that,” Dawson said softly, staring into Angie’s eyes. “I can’t take something that’s so good and turn it into some weird nursing home.”
At that, she burst out laughing. “Are you kidding? Why would you being around be like a nursing home? All I have to do is change some band-aids and bring you Gatorade and opiate pain killers. How hard can it be?”
“No, it’s not that, I just don’t want to be a big piece of furniture living in your... House? Apartment? God, I don’t even know what sort of place you live in. I hardly know anything about you, aside from the way you get my heart going in a way that reminds me of when I had acid reflux. I can’t ask you to do something like that.”
“You aren’t asking, I’m telling. And I’m sure you’re going to be repaying me plenty,” she said with a sly grin. “Anyway, I’d do it for any of my friends, and you’re something... very different. I don’t even really know what you are, but I know this is special and I know I’m not taking any chances.”
“All right kids, break up the serious time,” Hibby said as she walked back in. “I’ve drawn unhooking the bear duty. And Dawson? She’s taking care of you. No questions, no complaints. I can’t let you go unless I know you have someone to go to and your boss isn’t in any shape to do much except lay here and be high on painkillers for the foreseeable future. So, yeah, you’re going with her and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
“What about Tenner?” Dawson asked. “Can I see him before we go?”
“Better not,” Hibby said. “He’s real laid up. As bad as you had it, he had it a hundred times worse. He’s gonna be fine, so don’t worry about that, but he’s real messed up. I’ll call you two when he comes out of his post-surgery stupor and is awake enough to talk?”
Angie nodded. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “He’s got the best around taking care of him. I know how much he means to you, but I’ll take your mind off it.”
Dawson grumbled, but he got over it as soon as Angie kissed him and smiled. “We’re gonna have fun! It’ll be like a slumber party except with lots of sex!”
The poor bear blushed heavily and stared straight at his toes. Hibby and Angie laughed loud and hard. “You know,” Hibby finally said, “for someone as big and obviously strong as you are, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone blush so much. You really should work on that. Even if it is kinda cute when your ass turns red. Sorta baboon like.”
“Come on,” Dawson growled, trying to appear angry, to very little avail. “Let’s get out of here before I lose my last, flimsy, paper-thin shred of dignity.”
They looked at each other again for a long moment when they emerged from the hospital, Angie pushing Dawson on his insurance-required wheelchair. Neither of them said anything, but they both knew without a shadow of a doubt that the world, for the two of them, was never going to be the same.