Kevin, Howie and Nick crowded quickly around the bed, all of them wanting to get a chance to at least speak to AJ before they had to leave. AJ opened his eyes slightly and gave them a weak smile. “Hey, fellas. Fancy seeing you here.” He rasped.
Smiles split all their faces. Howie reached out and rested his hand on AJ’s good one. “I hear they had to put some pins and shit in you. We always knew you had a few screws loose, J. Just didn’t know it was in your shoulder.”
“Shove it, fucker.” But he was smiling as he said it. Rolling his head toward Kevin, and wincing at the flash of pain it sent over his shoulder, AJ gave his older friend a grin. “When you guys leave you keep an eye on Brian for me, ok? Don’t let him go do anything stupid.”
Kevin reached out and brushed a hand over AJ”s hair. “No problem, kid. I know how his temper works. I’ll watch him.” He promised. There was a strong brotherly love in his face right then. The kid remark might have bothered AJ on any other day, but he was too rummy to really worry about it then.
Just to keep AJ smiling, Brian put his hands on his hips again. “Excuse me?” He said indignantly. “I am an adult and am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Need I remind you that I’m the older of us in the relationship, Mr. Mclean?”
“Hell, you’re a bigger kid than I am.”
From the foot of the bed Nick started to laugh. “You’re both a pair of kids and that’s all there is to it.” He remarked happily. Everyone joined in his laughter; even AJ chuckled weakly. But they all knew their time was short, so they moved to say their goodbyes. Kevin carefully bent down and hugged him, making sure not to touch his bad shoulder. Next was Howie, who bent and kissed the top of his head, whispering “Take it easy, ok? You were shot. That’ll take a little healing. An don’t you go scaring me like that again or I’ll kick your ass.”
“I’ll work on that, D.” He joked with him.
Nick was last, all nerves. He didn’t want to hug AJ for fear of hitting his shoulder so he just kind of stood awkwardly beside the bed. It was AJ who reached out and took his hand, squeezing it. “I’m ok, Nick. It’s just healing time now. I’ll be fine.”
“You scared me.”
“I know. Scared me too. But I’ll get better. Bri will make sure I take it easy. In the meantime, you’re on Howie prank detail for me since I’m not there to do it.”
That had Nick smiling again. The three men left the room joking with one another, and Nick promising AJ that he’d play plenty of jokes on Howie while he was gone, much to Howie’s protests. Watching them leave, Brian shook his head. “You know Howie’s going to kill you for giving Nick that idea, right?”
“He won’t kill me. I was shot.”
Even as the words tore at his insides like razors Brian couldn’t resist a chuckle. “You intend to use that to your full advantage, don’t you?”
AJ’s eyes were full of humor and love as they locked on to Brian. “Pretty much. It’ll come in handy. Plus, maybe if I say it enough you won’t wince every time I do. Eventually you’ll adjust to the fact.” He said. The words surprised Brian. He realized that they shouldn’t have. Sometimes AJ was way more perceptive than he liked to let on. He saw things that others didn’t simply because he looked. Add on that he knew Brian better than anyone and it was really hard to hide things from him.
Carefully Brian lowered the bed rail so he could sit on the side of the bed, against AJ’s uninjured side. They clasped hands as they smiled at one another. “It’s going to take me a while to just get past it, Alex. My dad…”
“Ah, ah, ah. No.” AJ told him firmly. “I don’t want to hear you having a guilt trip. That’s the other reason I wanted you to come back here. I just knew you’d be out there beating yourself up over this. Let me say one thing and you better be listening to me. This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. Your dad did this, not you.”
“I took you in there, though, knowing that he could get angry. You were so nervous and you were right to be. I should have trusted you and let you take a walk or something or wait at a hotel.”
“Brian Littrell, are you going to tell me that you could have predicted that he’d shoot me?” AJ demanded sternly.
“No, but…”
AJ cut him off. “No but’s is right. You had no idea he’d go a little unhinged. When he did start to threaten me, you didn’t let him. You or Kevin. You shielded me out the door and when we thought it was safe we ran. Hell, with as good a shot as I’ve heard you say your dad is, I’m still not convinced that he meant to hit me. I think if he had he would have aimed a little better.”
His words had a sobering effect on Brian. He thought back to what his dad had said when he’d showed up at the hospital earlier. “Dad and Mom stopped by to find out how you were.” He spoke slowly and softly, his eyes on their hands. “You were still in the OR so we didn’t know. Dad said that Mom was trying to take the gun from him and it just went off, not that he meant to shoot you.”
“Well, there you go.”
Brian looked up at AJ’s eyes and was amazed at what he saw there. It was plain to see that AJ believed the explanation and accepted it. “You forgive him, don’t you? How do you take that in such stride?” Brian whispered.
“Well, first things first, I don’t see your dad as the type to really stand there and shoot someone for being different. Threaten, yes, so that I would leave. But to actually do it? That’s another matter entirely. Two, this really hot religious dude I know always preached to his friends that forgiveness is divine. Third, your family are not liars, so if that’s what he said then that’s what happened. Now, would you stop feeling so damn guilty? There’s no reason.”
“I can’t make it go away just because you say so, Alex.” But Brian did feel slightly better. There was something about AJ’s no nonsense way of saying it all that had started to ease that tight knot in Brian’s chest.
Before he realized what he was doing, AJ started to shrug. What color he had gained back drained from his face and he snapped his mouth shut to hold in the scream that wanted to build. Instead of letting that scream free, he laid his head back against his pillow and stared up at the ceiling, cursing steadily inside his head until the pain started to fade. It was only then that he realized that he was squeezing Brian’s hand as well. Apologetically he looked at his fiancée and loosened his grip.
About that time the next doctor walked into the room, wheeling a cart with him. This fellow was wearing a wide smile that AJ instantly liked. He looked close to his mid to late thirties and with a build a lot like Kevin’s. Same height, almost same weight and frame. But his hair was the same blond as Brian’s and flat as a board back to his ponytail. Cornflower blue eyes held the light of someone who led a happy life and didn’t let things get them down.
The doctor walked right over and stuck a hand out to Brian first, then AJ. “Well hello guys. My names Mark, please feel free to call me that. No need to add the Dr. to the beginning of it, either. Just Mark will do.” He said in a cheerful voice.
AJ liked this guy already. “Nice to meet you, Mark.”
“Same goes here, though I wish it was under better circumstances.” Mark turned to the cart he brought and grabbed a bag, switching it with the one that was already hooked to AJ’s IV. “This is tramadol, which is a nice substitute for morphine and, if we monitor it closely, will not become addictive to you.” He explained as he made the adjustments. “It’s what I had when I had my surgery, and I don’t take narcotics either. Before I was your age I made friends with heroin. Twenty years clean now, but I’m still cautious.”
Once he was done, Mark turned to grin at the surprised looks on their faces. He was a bubbly person, they could easily see that, and apparently wasn’t shy in the least bit. AJ was already enjoying him. Brian was going between surprised and amusement.
Mark grabbed a stool and rolled it to the bedside. He set his chart on his knees and made a few notes before smiling at them again. “I’ll be blunt, because I feel you guys deserve it. Our administrator picked me as your doctor not just for my astonishingly wonderful medical skills, though they are quite exemplary.”
AJ flashed a wide grin at Brian. “Oh, I like him.” He teased.
“It’s not just because I’m a fan, either, though I’ve enjoyed your music for a while. It’s also because I have the experience of being an ex-addict, so I know how that part works for you from personal experience. An he was worried about how others might treat you two for being a homosexual couple and he didn’t want the bad press you threatened James with. He doesn’t have to worry about us clashing there, because I’ve been with my life partner for eleven years now. It would be silly if I was rude to you for being gay when I’m on the fruity side, myself.”
Mark grinned at them as the two laughed. When they calmed a little he nodded. “I think we’ll get along perfectly. I may shamelessly ask you for an autograph before you leave, but otherwise you’ll be treated normally here. Your surgery went well, but the healing will take a little while. Seven to ten days here, I think, and then you’re to take it easy. Keep in that sling for a while. A few months down the road we’ll start your PT. We want to give things a chance to heal first. Once you’re home we’ll give you small mobility exercises to do to keep you from getting too stiff.”
“All in all how long am I going to be out of commission?” AJ asked him worriedly. He looked at Mark and decided to be as honest as he had been. “We’re on break from tour for two and a half weeks. Will I be able to get back on stage then?”
“So long as it doesn’t require you doing much of anything with your left arm than I don’t see why not. But you’ll have to take it easy and you’ll have to stay up on yours medication and exercises.”
AJ’s eyes started to drift shut almost against his will. Seeing that, Mark smiled at them. “I’ll be back in to visit later on. Why don’t you rest a little now? It’s been a rough day.”
Rest sounded like a good idea. Before Mark was even out the door, AJ was asleep.