Christmas Delights 3 (44 page)

Terrified his weakened condition would reduce him to tears
over the long-buried memory, Lane took a deep breath, expanding his lungs and
stretching his wounded ribs. The sharp instant pain brought him back from the
morass of family recollections. He blinked his eyes open. The light was turned
down low, and he found it bearable in his slightly improved condition. He lay
staring at the ceiling without moving. He listened to the commotion on the
other side of the curtain wall that told him things were buzzing in the ER. He heard
Jax’s voice over the hum and clatter, and his heart welcomed the now-familiar
sound with an acceptance that startled him. Lane caught his breath despite a
twinge of protest from his ribs.

Holy fuck
.
I am not falling for my doctor on
Christmas Eve
. There was no way he was that desperate or pitiful. Despite
his resistance, listening for Jax’s voice soothed him and his eyes fluttered
shut. He heard the doctor order a blood workup on a patient STAT before
demanding to know why there wasn’t a suture kit in the room as he drifted back
to sleep, and a smile curled Lane’s mouth. He thought Dr. Jackson sounded like
the kind of man who could hold his own, like a guy who would hold on tight to
what he wanted—no matter how hard what he wanted tried to push him away.

* * * * *

The next time Lane opened his eyes, they fixed on the sight
of an exhausted-looking Jax sitting in the chair beside the bed. Head back and
eyes closed apparently dozing, he sat upright as soon as Lane stirred. Their
eyes met and held. Lane felt the familiar jolt of attraction as he gazed into
the rich blue eyes of his doctor.

“Am I that sick?” His tone teased but he couldn’t help
wonder why he had a doctor watching over him instead of a nurse or a CNA.  He
held out little hope that he’d actually seen the glimmer of returned interest
he imagined. His memory of the night was hazy at best and nonexistent at worst.
He was a beat-to-hell redneck and couldn’t imagine what the fuck someone like
Jax would find attractive about him.

“Not at all,” Jax reassured him with a quiet smile that made
Lane tingle all the way to his toes. “Your CAT scan came back clear. Your neck
is fine, and I took the liberty of repairing your shoulder dislocation. You’ve
got plenty of bruising to get over and the ribs, of course, but you’ll heal
given time and some PT for that shoulder.”

Lane winced when he smiled and Jax frowned in concern. He
touched the lump under his jaw with careful fingers. “I’ll get you some ice for
that…” Amusement flashed in his eyes. “And for your shoulder and your head and
your ribs…maybe I should put you into an ice bath.”

The thought of Jax stripping him for any reason woke
interest in another part that would need to be iced if the doctor kept flirting
with him so blatantly.  “Congratulations on making a tub of ice cubes seem
attractive,” he quipped and tried not to laugh. If he did, his jaw and ribs
would pay the price. Come to think of it, his head probably wasn’t ready for
that much activity, much less any of the things that came to mind as Lane
inspected Jax’s square jaw shadowed with stubble, strong neck, and broad
shoulders. Damn, given half a chance—and the ability to move—he’d be all up on
that.

“One of my many attributes.” Jax settled back in his chair.
“I’m hiding, if you want to know the truth. We had results of a few car
accidents come through while you were reenacting Sleeping Beauty. Nothing
life-threatening, thank goodness, but they kept us hopping. Most of the staff
is using the lull for our Christmas party.”

“Not you?” Lane’s stomach rumbled at the thought of
something to eat reminding him how long it had been his last meal.

“Crap, you haven’t eaten in hours, I’ll get you something.”
Jax started to get up, but Lane stopped him with a gesture, though the movement
cost him. He took a moment to catch his breath.

“No, stay. I can wait.”

Jax studied him for a long moment and then reached for the
phone. He quietly ordered a tray from the hospital cafeteria to be sent to the
emergency department for Lane. Lane couldn’t help wondering what it meant that
Jax had been so easy to keep at his side.

“You’re a big spender with my money,” he teased and watched
with pleasure the hint of a smile that played at the corner of his mouth in
response.

“Other people’s money is always more fun to spend,” he joked
back and an easy silence settled between them.

Lane dozed off again until Jax woke him when the tray of
food arrived. A choice sampling of party-style appetizers had been added to the
simple fare of chicken soup and peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Seeing the
doctor had plate of his own piled with Christmas treats, Lane grinned his
thanks and reached for the carton of milk.

“Man cannot live by soup alone,” Jax advised him as he
sampled a tasty-looking sausage ball. Lane thought his doctor was right until
he spooned the still-hot soup into his mouth. He stared at the bowl in
surprise.

“Homemade?”

“The hospital prides itself on the food they serve to
patients for a good reason. On the other hand, I’d steer clear of the public
cafeteria at all costs.” Jax shuddered and continued to eat, leaving Lane free
to finish his late dinner in peace. He felt like a kid again, unable to
remember the last time he’d had soup and sandwich for lunch. Most of the time
he didn’t eat lunch, busy with working on the stills, and at his bar there
wasn’t much free time for anything else. He ate breakfast before he left home
and dinner whatever time he dragged back there. The limited menu he offered at
Moonlit had stopped tempting him a long time ago.

He ate a few appetizers. The sausage balls had plenty of
cheese and were as good as they looked. He indulged in the few bits of
cheesecake Jax had put on his plate and laughed when he reached for a bright
blue cookie.

“Is someone Jewish?” He turned the cookie around until the
eyes were on top of the wide open circle and laughed again. “Or a Cookie
Monster fan?”

“In this case, Cookie Monster.” Jax seemed to weigh
something mentally before he launched into a story about the cookies. The boys
in the tale sounded adorable and the gay couple like the sort of fairytale Lane
had never believed. The story woke an unexpected ache of longing, one he’d
thought long dead, killed off in his youth by the harsh truth of reality.

He laughed at the story despite how it made his ribs hurt.
He wondered what it’d be like to have the privilege of being around such a
relationship, not daring to stretch his stunted imagination to encompass having
it for himself.

“They sound like a great family.” He let the sincerity of
his voice speak for itself, scared that saying anything else would reveal naked
longing in his heart to the young doctor with the beautiful eyes.

“The best…” Whatever else he had to say was cute off by a
sudden uproar outside the curtain.

“It’s snowing! It’s snowing!” The excited cry carried
through the department accompanied by the sound of rushing feet as everyone
able hurried to see the almost-unheard-of phenomenon. Lane smiled. There were
parts of the country that took such things for granted, but it rarely snowed in
North Carolina and those few times it did were usually in the dead of winter,
January or early February. Lane didn’t remember ever seeing snow on Christmas.

“Do you think it is?” He couldn’t repress a longing look at
the closed curtain composing the cubicle.

“A few flakes at least,” Jax acknowledged. That was more
common, flurries of ice or snow that amounted to nothing but were still pretty
to see while they lasted. His thoughts must have showed on his face because Jax
got to his feet. “Would you like to go see?”

“Yes!” Realizing how much like a kid he sounded, Lane winced
and tempered his excitement. “Yeah, is it okay?”

“Sure. It’s time to get you up and walking anyhow. You’ll
never get out of here lying in a bed.” As he spoke Jax got up and retrieved
Lane’s boots and socks from the corner. He felt a flash of relief that he’d
kept some of the more useful habits learned at his mother’s knee. Like wearing
clean socks and underwear every day because you might be in an accident and all
the world would see your two-day-old skid marks. The memory hurt, as all
recollections of his mother did, but Lane hardly noticed as he put it aside without
lingering over it.   

He swallowed his pride and let Jax help him sit up and get
his boots on, meaning he let Jax put his socks and boots on for him since he
couldn’t bend over. That was going to be a pretty pickle when he was home
alone. Once on his feet, he slid into a second hospital gown that Jax held out
for him. He wore it backwards to cover his ass. He assumed they’d wrestled him
into the first one while he was unconscious. Lane looked down at himself. The
gray-blue of the gown was covered with some sort of tiny darker blue star
shape. He wondered why they bothered since it didn’t help make the hideous
things more attractive. His hairy calves stuck out under the hem to where they
disappeared into his worn steel-toed boots. He imagined his hair stuck up in
every direction all over his head as it always did when he’d been in bed. Add
the swelling and the bruises…

“I must look like something the cat dragged in.” His cheeks
flushed with color. He wasn’t vain about his looks, but under normal circumstances
he didn’t have trouble pulling a hookup if he wanted one. Tonight, when he had
edged into thinking of something more than a hookup, he was at his worst.

“Through the knothole backwards,” Jax agreed with a grin,
and then to Lane’s shocked surprise, the doc’s eyes raked over him head to toe.
When their gazes met, his were alight with interest. “I don’t mind.” Jax didn’t
wait for a reaction, indicating with a wave for Lane to proceed him and using a
hand in the small of his back to steady him when Lane found his legs a bit
shaky the first few steps.

“I think you need to be admitted more than I do.” He rolled
his eyes. The idea this gorgeous man found him attractive in his current state
was unbelievable.

“They don’t have a mental ward here, so they’d have to
transfer me. Too much trouble,” Jax informed him, his tone dry, as they made
their way through the empty ER towards the glass fronted waiting room. The
sight that met his eyes distracted Lane from their teasing conversation.
Everyone was there, patients and medical personnel alike, all with their noses
pressed against the windows, soft sounds of wonder filling the room. Outside
the sky poured snow.

“That’s not a flurry.” Injuries forgotten in his excitement,
Lane started eagerly for the automatic doors only to be pulled up short by a
hand gripping the back of his gown. He turned to find Jax watching him in
amusement.

“Where do you think you are going?” One brow raised as he
looked between Lane and the door.

“Outside.” He frowned. Obviously Jax had no intention of
letting him out into the snow. “You said it first, ice bath.” He tried to grin
but the pull of his jaw reminded him to take it easy. The pain meds had made it
possible to forget for a while but the ache was slowly making a comeback.
“Please.”

Jax sighed and the resignation on his face made Lane want to
squeal like a little girl. “Let me get you a coat or something and we’ll go
out, but only for a minute.”

Lane nodded enthusiastic acceptance to the restrictions
placed on him. He shifted from one foot to the other with impatience while he
waited, ignoring the discomfort in his ribs and shoulder. His eyes fixed with
delight on the huge fluffy white flakes drifting to the ground.

* * * * *

Jax got back to where Lane waited, coat and hat in hand. He
didn’t think a few minutes in the weather would cause any harm. The way Lane
had looked when he’d seen the snow, the opposite might even be true. He
couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the snowfall on the other side of the
glass as Jax helped him into the coat, being mindful of both shoulder and ribs.
He pulled the beanie on low over his forehead. Lane glowered at him a bit but
didn’t protest, in fact he snuggled down into the coat, burying his nose in it
with a grunt of pleasure that made Jax’s heart stutter. It was his coat, his
scent Lane seemed so happy to breathe.

Walking cautiously, mindful of the ice, they headed outside.
Jax led Lane along a path still visible through the snow that was slowly
accumulating. With a trace already on the ground and the stuff still falling
steadily, it looked like it might linger around for the kids to wake up to
Christmas morning. He smiled, thinking about the Harris-Foster farm and the
reaction of all four boys to a white Christmas. He might wish he’d accepted
their invitation to spend the day if he didn’t have hopeful expectations in a
different direction.

Noticing where they were, he slowed to a stop. The small
arrangement of tables and benches were decorated with new fallen snow, giving
the small patio a sense of fairyland it didn’t normally possess. Light from a
window behind them kept the area from complete darkness as it reflected off the
snow, setting the scene alight with a soft glow.

“I love the snow.” Lane lifted his face to the sky and
flakes settled to melt on his face. He turned his gaze towards Jax and blinked
away the snow caught in his lashes. “Don’t you?”

Jax smiled. “I do now.” Snow had never excited him. A true
southern boy, he liked the earth beneath his feet ice free, but he couldn’t
deny the beauty of the night. Everything seemed quieter, as if there were magic
at work beyond their understanding. As they stood there shoulder to shoulder
staring into the snowy night, a flash of lightning filled the sky, followed
closely by the sound of rolling thunder.

“Oh my God, did you see that?” Once more Lane sounded as
excited as a child, and Jax laughed, basking in his pure enjoyment of life
around him. “They say if there’s lightning in winter it’ll snow ten days
later.”