66. Ryan Fairview
I t took a few hours, but even with limited resources, Dr. Callahan was able to get Cal stable.
I replaced Vox and took on the position of nurse, freeing him to go make sure the house was secure. Though I had no idea what had happened to Cal, I knew there would likely be consequences, so I was extremely glad Vox was here to make sure we were protected.
Cass and Theo went to get Naomi and bring her back, so it was just me and Dr. Callahan in the embalming room when he finally announced that he had done all he could.
“He lost more blood than I would have liked, but as long as you let him rest, he should be okay. I’m more worried about the brand on his chest. It’s infected. I don’t think it’s to the point where he needs an IV, but start him on these antibiotics for now.”
Dr. Callahan reached into a black leather bag he had brought with him and fished out a bottle of pills.
“Sorry, did you say… brand?” I rasped, and the doctor met my eyes, his lips pursing.
“Yes. That’s what it looks like.”
The world felt like it was literally tilting beneath my feet. I glanced at Cal, who was now completely unconscious on the table, and my lip trembled.
He had passed out during the doctor’s inspection of the bullet wound. Tom informed me it was difficult to say for sure that there was no internal bleeding, considering we weren’t in a proper OR and he didn’t have access to a scope.
But he was ninety-nine percent sure. Cal had gotten really lucky, and he was relatively confident he would make a full recovery.
He just needed to rest.
My mouth opened because I felt like I needed to say something about the fact that the man I was pretty sure I was in love with had been branded like he was a piece of fucking livestock.
But I couldn’t speak. No words came out.
I felt like if I uttered a word, I would just start screaming, and I might never stop.
Dr. Callahan rested a sympathetic hand on my shoulder, gesturing to the bottle of pills he had given me.
“Those should help, but make sure you also clean both wounds regularly and give him fresh bandages daily. Also, please call me immediately if he starts complaining about any excessive abdominal pain or tenderness. It might be a sign that I’m wrong, and there’s an internal bleed I missed. Here’s my card.”
He handed me a business card, and I stuffed it in my pocket, unable to look away from my sleeping angel.
“Would you like help getting him up into a bed?”
I glanced at the doctor, feeling like I was going into shock myself. It felt strange to ask a doctor to help me carry Cal up several flights of stairs, but I found myself nodding.
“Alright. I’ll take his left side,” he said, and together, we slung Cal’s arms over our shoulders and began the long, arduous trip up to my room.
Once we were inside, Dr. Callahan helped me lie him down on my bed, and I winced at how filthy he was.
“I need to clean him up,” I whispered. “Is it ok to wake him up for that? Should I let him rest and do it later?”
“He absolutely needs to rest, but we don’t want to risk further infection. It would be better to clean him as much as you can now and let him sleep for as long as possible afterward,” the doctor informed me, and I nodded.
“Worse comes to worse; you can try and sponge him off in bed, but honestly, the cleaner you can get him, the better.”
“Okay. Thank you, doctor. For everything,” I whispered, and he gave me a gentle smile.
“No worries. I owed Cass a favor anyway, and I’m glad she called me in for something like this. I can tell he’s really loved, and I’m happy I was able to help save his life. Just…”
Dr. Callahan turned to face me, his blue eyes turning serious. “He was really lucky his wounds weren’t more serious, and honestly, if he hadn’t gotten that burn looked at, he would have been risking a blood infection as early as tomorrow. If he carries on like this, he’s not going to make it past thirty.”
I swallowed at the doctor’s words and cleared my throat roughly.
“I understand.”
Dr. Callahan patted me on the shoulder and gave me a curt head bob. “Anyway. You have my card. Call me if you need me. Have a good night, Mr. Fairview.”
“You too, Doctor.”
“Tom, please.” He smiled, and I grinned back.
“Ryan, then.”
“Goodnight, Ryan.”
Then, he was gone, and I was left alone with my broken, dark angel.
“Cal, baby, wake up,” I whispered, doing my best to try to gently rouse Cal. He groaned, and his eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks.
“Ginger snap?”
“Yeah. It’s me. We need to get you cleaned up, then you can rest. Can you try to stand for me?”
“It hurts.” He complained, and I shut my eyes, resting my head against his forehead, wishing with all my heart I could take his pain away.
“I know, angel. But I need you to try for me.”
He nodded and groaned again, doing his best to push himself up. I positioned myself back under his arm so I could help him stand, and together, we made our way into the ensuite.
I flicked on the light and was about to guide him toward the large, black, claw-footed tub when he suddenly jerked away from me.
“Cal, what?— ?”
“No…” he moaned, stumbling back out of the bathroom, his eyes wide with panic. “I can’t go back in the tub. Please. No.” A tear slid down his face, and I rushed to catch him as he nearly collapsed in his rush to get away from the bathtub.
“Okay!” I blurted, wrapping my arms around him as best I could without touching his injuries. “No tub. We won’t use the bathtub. Let’s get in the shower. Is that better?”
He turned panicked eyes onto me, and I reached up to brush a tear away, frowning.
For a moment, he didn’t answer, but I just held his gaze and kept him as steady on his feet as I could, which was no easy task considering how much larger he was than me.
Finally, he swallowed and nodded. My heart swelled with warmth at the level of trust he seemed to be giving me, and I placed a gentle kiss on his clavicle.
“Let’s get these off,” I whispered, guiding him toward the wall so he had something to lean on while I helped him get out of his jeans. He still had his little velvet pouch that my mother had given him in his pocket, and I smiled at that.
Even when he was pushing me away, he’d kept it on him.
Slowly, I helped him undress and got him settled in the shower. Thankfully, it was large enough that I could fit three Cals in here, and there was a spacious tile outcropping built into the wall. I used it for shampoo and soaps normally, but it was a perfect seat for my injured man.
I got him settled and gently used the detachable shower head to rinse him off. He bulked at that too, but I let him hold it and control the temperature and pressure of the water, which seemed to calm him down.
It was taking everything in me not to pepper him with questions. Why had he seemed so triggered by the bathtub? Why did he wince every time I sprayed him with the shower head? What the fuck had that piece of shit done to him to fuck him up this bad?
But I didn’t want to put him through any more stress than absolutely necessary. I could tell he wasn’t one hundred percent present. He was in a sort of dazed, half-conscious state, and I just wanted to get him clean and back into bed as quickly as possible.
I got to work gently washing the blood from his skin. I left gentle kisses across his cheeks as I worked, making sure he knew he was with me and he was safe.
As the tacky blood melted off his beautiful, tanned skin, the feathery back piece I had glimpsed earlier became clearer and clearer.
My throat closed up, and I swallowed hard as I realized he had black angel wings tattooed on his back, with the words ‘expelled from heaven, raised in hell’ scrawled across his shoulders.
Running my fingers gently over the words, I peppered his wings with more kisses, blinking back tears.
‘You dark angel is coming, dear.’
My mother’s words rang through my mind, and it took everything in me not to break down into tears.
Cal was the dark angel I’d been waiting my whole life for.
He was here, and he was broken.
I resolved at that moment that even if it took the rest of my life, I would make sure he would one day be able to spread his wings and fly again.
No matter the cost.
Once I was satisfied that he was clean, I dried him off and dressed both his wounds with fresh bandages.
After giving him one of the pills the doctor had left me and a glass of water, I finally was able to get him tucked in my bed.
“Ryan…?” He whimpered as I stepped away to slip out of my own clothes, which were now wet from the shower.
“Yeah, angel? What do you need?”
“Stay with me.”
My heart cracked, and I swallowed past the impossibly large lump that formed in my throat at how vulnerable he sounded.
“I’m not going anywhere, baby. I’m just getting changed, and then we’re going to rest,” I reassured him, leaning over the bed and pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“I’m sorry… for what I said… before.” His eyes were closed, and his words were barely audible.
I slipped into a clean pair of boxers and crawled into bed with him, pulling him toward me as gently as possible. He melted into me like it was the most natural thing in the world, and I instinctively brushed back his damp hair, dropping a kiss on top of his head.
“It’s already forgotten, angel. Rest now. We’ll talk more in the morning.”
“Ryan?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for saving me.”
My eyes burned, and I did my best not to choke on my unshed tears.
“Of course, angel. I’ll always be here to save you.”