I left the building, got into the rental, and drove to the hospital. Spike was still in the emergency room when I found him. He was wearing a johnny gown and socks with the rubber grippers on the sole.
“I told them to get rid of my clothes,” he said. “I couldn’t stand to have them against my skin again.”
I’d have to drive back to their apartment and get some clean clothes for him when he was ready to go home, but that was no big deal.
“Y’know, this is getting old. I hope next year we don’t have Theo in the ER.”
“God forbid!” Paul looked exhausted, and I rested a hand on his shoulder. “Vince. I left my wallet home.”
“So? I’ll spot you if you need any cash.”
“No, it’s….”
A woman with a clipboard walked into the bay, and I had an even stronger sense of déjà vu, remembering the self-important little man at George Washington Hospital who wasn’t happy that I’d been making phone calls within the hallowed walls of his ED.
“I’m sorry, we have a bit of a problem.”
“Yeah?”
“We don’t have any insurance information on this young man.”
So that was why Paul said there was a problem. I reached for my wallet, took out my insurance card, and gave it to her.
Her gaze went from me to Spike, back to me and then to Paul.
“These are my boys,” I told her.
She gave me an owlish look. “Well, you must have started very young!”
“What can I tell you? I was precocious.”
She was quiet for a moment, then gave a brisk nod. “Yes. Well, I’ll just make a copy of this card and get it right back to you.”
“Thanks.”
“Vince, are you gonna get in trouble over that?”
I hunched a shoulder. “If they get pissy I’ll throw a bunch of cash at them. What did the doctor have to say?”
“I’m okay.” Spike corrected himself when Paul gave him a grim look. “I’ll be okay. Giles didn’t really hurt me.”
“No, he just humiliated you and fractured your cheekbone.”
“Goddammit!” I’d been unaware of that. I could see the palm print starting to darken, and the area was starting to swell up.
“All we have to do is ice it,” Spike said to me. He narrowed his eyes and stared from me to Paul. “You guys are both dressed in black. You’re twins!”
“Are you high? Did they give you something?”
“Never mind.” He started to shake his head, thought better of it, and reached across for Paul’s hand instead. “Do I still have my job?”
“At Falling Water? I don’t know, but the manager sounded sympathetic when I called to ask if anyone had seen you.”
“I’ll look into it.” With Quinn in London and The Boss covering things at the WBIS, there was no reason for me to hurry back to DC.
“Thanks, Vince.” Spike leaned back against the pillow and closed his eyes. “I could kick myself. Giles is my best friend’s brother. When Dane and I were younger, he always picked on us. Well, we’d get back at him by calling him Giles Piles. I thought when he turned up at the studio, things would be different.” He shrugged. “They seemed different. He told me he and Ellie—she’s my older sister—were engaged, and they were having a small wedding and wanted me there. I asked how my parents were taking that, because… well, y’know… they didn’t like me being gay, and he said ‘Fuck ’em.’ You can understand why I’d think he changed, can’t you, Paul?”
“Yes.” Paul slid an arm around Spike’s shoulders. “Yes, I can, baby.”
“Anyway, I invited him to Falling Water for lunch and said I’d drive. We were heading out to the parking lot, when all of a sudden there was a pain in my neck…” He pointed to another bruise I hadn’t realized was there. Jesus, I was losing it. “… and the next thing I knew, I woke up handcuffed to a bed on one of the soundstages I didn’t even know was there.”
“Did he… did he hurt you, baby?” Paul’s complexion was gray.
Spike’s brow furrowed. “You know what he… Oh. You mean did he fuck me. No, he didn’t.”
Paul wrapped his other arm around Spike and leaned against him.
I met Spike’s eyes. There was something he wasn’t saying.
“How the fuck could he do that without anyone challenging him?” I planned to look into this.
“I don’t know. Except this is Hollywood. Maybe whoever saw us thought we were rehearsing for a show. All you have to do is look like you’re supposed to be there.”
That was true. It was also how I managed to slip into places I wasn’t supposed to be, so I guessed I shouldn’t piss and moan about it. But it was one thing when I did it and another when some asshole whose only aim was to hurt a friend tried it.
“Did you call Theo?” I asked Paul.
“No. I didn’t want to leave Spike alone. Now that you’re here, I’ll just go outside.”
Spike stared after him as he walked out.
“Okay, Paul’s not here, so I want the God’s honest truth. Did Stapleton rape you?”
“No. But I had the feeling he was working himself up to that.”
I was going to have my contact in prison find the biggest, baddest con to be Stapleton’s cellmate.
“Please don’t tell Paul. I don’t want him worrying that every time I leave the apartment, some bastard is going to jump me.”
“I’ll teach you some self-defense moves.”
“Thanks. That’ll help. I really love him, you know.”
“I know, kiddo. You make a good pair.”
“It would kill me if anything happened to him. I just never thought something could happen to me.”
Yeah. He wasn’t even nineteen yet. He was still going on the assumption he’d live forever.
“Theo read our fortunes last year, when Paul was in the hospital.” Spike shivered, and it was clear he was remembering that time. “I’m glad you killed that guy.”
I didn’t bother to correct him. What was the point? He wouldn’t believe me anyway.
And of course that was the moment a young nurse came into the bay. She stared at me, horrified.
“He’s an actor.” I grinned and nodded toward Spike. “I’m running lines with him.”
“Sorry.” She laughed and shook her head. “That’s Hollywood for you. Here’s the icepack the doctor ordered for you. Twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off.”
“Thank you.” Spike took it and rested it carefully against his cheek. “My head really hurts. May I have an aspirin or something?”
She went to the chart clipped to the end of the bed and flipped through the pages. “I don’t see any orders for that. I’ll ask the doctor on call, though.”
“Has the tox screen come back for him yet?”
“Not yet, but I’ll call the lab. I’ll be back as soon as I hear anything.”
“Thank you.”
She smiled and hurried off.
“So, what did Theo predict for you?”
“Huh? Oh, Paul would live to be ninety-five, and mine would be the last face he saw.” He stared into my eyes. “His would be the last face I saw too, because if he dies before I do, I’ll slit my wrists.” He narrowed his eyes. “Are you gonna try to talk me out of it?”
“Nope.” I wouldn’t want to live past Quinn’s dying myself, so I had no intention of giving him grief over it. “You’ll do whatever you feel you have to.”
Paul strolled in, holding two cups of coffee. “Sorry, babe, nothing for you yet. Vince, you take it black, right?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” I took it and raised it to my lips. It wasn’t half bad.
“What does Spike have to do?”
Shit. I’d hoped Paul hadn’t heard our conversation.
Spike shook his head frantically, then winced and swallowed a couple of times.
“He’s not sure if he should stay with Falling Water or jump into acting with both feet.”
Spike stared at me in awe. What, didn’t he think I could lie?
“Don’t burn your bridges, babe.”
“You’re right, Paul.” He rested a hand in his lap while the other one held the icepack to his cheek. “Well, it was just a thought. I’ll be a waiter with aspirations. Although I have to say, since I let my hair go back to its natural color, I’ve been getting good tips.”
Just then the doctor arrived with the nurse at his side. “Mr. Wells—”
“It’s just Spike.”
“All right. Spike. I’m Doctor Cassem. The lab results have come back. There are traces of scopolamine in your blood, and we’d like to keep you here in the ER overnight for observation. Nancy says you’re still complaining of a headache, so I’m going to write you an order for ibuprofen PRN.”
“Huh?”
“As needed.”
“How long do I have to wait?”
“I have it right here.” He held up the little paper cup. “Nancy?”
She went through the routine of checking to make sure Spike was who he was supposed to be, gave him the paper cup with the tablet in it, and poured him a glass of water from the bedside pitcher.
He swallowed the tablet and washed it down. “Thank you.”
“It’s a busy night. I’ll be back later to check on you,” Dr. Cassem said, and as he left, the woman from earlier came in and held out something to me.
“What… Oh, thanks.” It was my insurance card. That explained why the doctor called Spike “Wells.” That was the name on it.
“You have excellent insurance.”
“I work for an excellent company.”
“I’ll need you to fill out this young man’s paperwork.”
Almost twenty-seven hundred miles from DC, and I was still doing paperwork. “Okay, let me have it, and I’ll get it to you as soon as I’m done.”
“My office is just down the hall. I have to get back. Dr. Cassem is right. We are busy.” She bustled off.
I placed the Styrofoam coffee cup and the clipboard on the bedside table and put the card back in my wallet, but I couldn’t get started filling out the forms. “Dammit.” I snapped my fingers. “No pen.”
Nurse Nancy winked at me and handed me one.
“Thanks so much,” I muttered.
“My pleasure.”
I braced a foot on the lower bed rail, leaned the clipboard on my knee, and started filling in blanks.
“Is there anything else I can get you?” she asked Spike.
“No, thank you.”
“If you do need anything, just let us know.” And she left as well.
“Alone at last.” I stared down at the line that wanted to know his closest relative. I shrugged and wrote my name. They could think I was his dad or his uncle, fuck if I cared.
Paul dragged a chair over. “Take a load off, Vince.” He climbed onto the bed and stretched out beside Spike.
Spike nestled against him and sighed. “That’s better.”
“It is. Vince, can you stay a few days? I don’t think I’ll be comfortable leaving Spike alone when I go back to work.”
“I can stay.” Human Resources would be overjoyed I was taking more time off.
“Cool! I can take you to the beach and the zoo, and we can go down to Disneyland again—”
“Spike, I don’t think you’re up to playing tour guide.”
“Uh… Maybe not.” The short burst of enthusiasm seemed to have worn him out, and he looked like he was about to fall asleep. I rose and put the clipboard down on the chair, then took the icepack from him. It was about twenty minutes anyway.
Paul ran his palm up and down Spike’s arm, careful to avoid the ugly bruise, and kissed his temple. “Love you, babe.”
“Me too, you,” he mumbled.
“Did you reach Theo?”
“Yeah. He was making breakfast, and I think I scared him. It sounded like he dropped the dishes.” He yawned. “There was a huge crash, and they probably broke. But as soon as he realized I was cry—I mean I was just relieved that Spike was okay, he was relieved too. I’m glad this is all over with.”
“So am I.”
“Vince, I can’t thank you enough…”
“It’s not necessary.”
“I couldn’t have gotten through this without you.”
“Paul, that’s what friends are for. Now try to get some sleep. I’m here, and I’ll keep watch.” I could have saved my breath. He was already asleep.
I untied his running shoes, and once I removed them, I set them on the floor under the bed, pulled the blanket up over them, and raised the side rails. Then I found the bed’s controls and lowered it as well. The last thing we needed was for one of them to roll over and fall out of bed.
I stepped back and studied them. Paul’s black hair didn’t contrast as much with Spike’s auburn hair as it had when he’d been a platinum blond, but they still made a cute couple. And with the stress wiped from his face, he didn’t look much older than Spike.
Well, they were all tucked up for the time being. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a little after 3:00 a.m., which made it just past 11:00 a.m.in London. If I called now, I should be able to reach Quinn.
I picked up the clipboard and the icepack and went to the nurses’ station. “This was for the kid in bay eleven. It needs to be replaced in about twenty minutes.”
“I’ll see his nurse is aware.”
“Thanks. Also, he and the guy with him are asleep. I’m just stepping out to make a phone call, so if they wake up before I get back, could you have someone come get me?”
“You bet.”
“Thanks very much. Now I just need to drop this off.” I held up the clipboard.
“Oh, you can leave it with me.”
“Thank you.” I peered at her nametag. “Betty. I appreciate it.”
“Enough to maybe have coffee with me? I get off in a few minutes.”
“Thank you for asking, but…” I cleared my throat. “I’ve got to make that phone call. I promised my guy I’d keep him in the loop.”
“Oh? Oh!” She smiled ruefully and shrugged. “Well, it was worth a try. Have a good day.”
“You too.”
I walked out into the night. Sunrise wouldn’t be for another couple of hours, and the air was still cool. I was glad I’d worn my jacket.
I took out my phone and pressed one on speed dial.
Quinn picked up on the first ring. “Good morning, Mark.” I knew he had to be alone.
“Hey, babe. Do you have time to talk?”
“For you? Always.”
This wasn’t the place for phone sex, but hearing his voice was almost as good.
“First tell me you’re all right.” He’d worried? I was touched.
“I’m fine.”
“In that case, proceed.”
“Okay, so here’s what happened…”