16. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
Cavalari found Bronx still curled up in the fetal position on the bed with a fresh mound of tissues pressed to ear.
Several other discarded wads of bloodied tissues were either tossed on the bed near him or on the floor.
Bronx was moaning quietly and mumbling incoherently to himself when Cavalari approached him.
He sat on the edge of the bed and set a hand onto Bronx’s hip. “I have help coming, Rory,” he said. “You’re going to be okay.”
“Hurts so bad,” Bronx mumbled in elongated syllables.
“Is the pain all over your head or more localized in one spot?” Cavalari asked.
“My whole head feels like it’s going to explode,” Bronx replied.
Cavalari stood from the bed and moved quickly to the bathroom to wet a washcloth then returned to the bed. “I’m going to clean the come off your stomach before anyone gets here.”
“Nooo, just let me lie right here,” Bronx complained. “Please, I don’t want to move. It will only hurt more.”
“You stink like a porn set and your pants are wide open,” Cavalari pointed out. “I’ll wash you off and then get you dressed.”
“I’m in agony, Tony. Let me stay in this position until we get to the hospital or something.”
“You’ll thank me later for cleaning you,” Cavalari said. “Stay just like you are and I’ll use the cloth on you.”
Silence wrapped around them while Cavalari did his task as gently as possible, then in a soft voice Bronx asked, “Am I going to die?”
“Definitely not,” Cavalari said affirmatively, although he had no clue if what he was saying was based in fact or not. But what he did know was that Bronx needed something positive to cling to right now. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you. You have my word.”
“Too late,” Bronx stated. “I’m already hurt.”
“I’m really sorry,” Cavalari said for what felt like the hundredth time and lightly stroked the side of Bronx’s face with the backs of his fingers.
“I’m telling you, none of this was your fault, so stop hanging this on yourself,” Bronx argued.
Cavalari moved his fingers to Bronx’s forehead and softly stroked the creases. “I’ll get you through this and be right by your side the whole time.”
“Promise?”
“Absolutely,” Cavalari confirmed.
“Good because I’m going to need someone strong to lean on and I’d much rather it be you instead of anyone else,” Bronx said with partially slurred words. “I want you to know I’ve always respected you, and truth be told, I like you—a lot. Like seriously a lot .”
Warmth flooded Cavalari and he a couldn’t stop the smile from blooming on his face. It was a real grin, too, bubbling up from the center of his gooey heart that was once a sealed-off cold block of cement before he began working with Bronx.
“Are we back to playing the truth game again?” Cavalari teased. “If so, then I’ll admit I’m quite fond of you, too.”
“Fond? What the fuck is that?” Bronx asked. “It sounds like something you’d say to your grandma.”
Cavalari didn’t miss the small quirk of a grin lifting Bronx’s lips at the corners and leaned down to press a soft kiss to them.
“Would you rather I say how badly I want to be pressed against you naked with both of us hard and sweaty? How much you make me ache with need or how I can barely think of anything other than tasting your mouth, your thick cock, and all the inches of skin in between those two points? Or perhaps you’d rather I keep it simple and just tell you how unbelievably crazy I am for you? ”
“Mmm, I’d love to hear any one of those things,” Bronx almost whispered as if the effort was too great to speak louder.
“Well, everything I said is true,” Cavalari said. He pressed his forehead to Bronx’s and sighed as more silence floated between them.
“I’m so fucking scared,” Bronx said, “and it’s not easy for me to admit that. The what-ifs are terrifying to think about and then I find myself grateful that I can think at all.”
“I completely understand and it’s totally normal to have those thoughts, too, but I’m going to be with you every step of the way,” Cavalari promised again. “You won’t be alone.”
“The pain is so fucking bad,” Bronx said and winced. “I think my head is going to crack open.”
“How’s the bleeding?” Cavalari asked and lifted the tissues from his ear and replaced it with a dry washcloth he’d brought with him from the bathroom. The seepage was still a trickle and that worried him but at least Bronx was awake and talking. That had to be a good sign.
Cavalari’s phone rang and he grabbed it as fast as he could when he saw Fizzbo’s name flash on his screen. He patted Bronx’s shoulder. “I’ve got to take this call but I want you to rest while I’m gone.” Then he answered the call.
“Fizzbo, I hope you’ve got good news for me.”
“Listen, the state police are on the way,” Fizzbo began to explain.
“The troopers and the guards from the second bus will help to set up a perimeter on the highway for the helicopter to land. They’re less than five minutes out.
LifeFlight is en route and should be there in less than seven minutes.
Once we have a confirmed ETA from LifeFlight, the road will be shut down and the helicopter will land.
The paramedics will then get Bronx stabilized for transport but they won’t be on the ground long.
As soon as it is safe to move him they’ll get him loaded onto the chopper and get the bird back in the air. Do you understand?”
“Of course,” Cavalari answered.
“How’s Bronx? Is he conscious?” Fizzbo asked.
“He’s awake but his speech is starting to slur and there’s still a lot of blood coming from his ear.”
“Fuck, I hate the sound of this,” Fizzbo sighed.
“I hope they have room for me on that helicopter because Bronx won’t be making the trip to Houston without me on board,” Cavalari stated.
“I’ll see what kind of strings I can pull to make that happen for you,” Fizzbo said.
“I already have a local team mobilizing in Houston. They’ll help seal off the hospital entrances, once they know which one Bronx will be taken to.
Hopefully this will keep the hospital secure from any reporters or fans until Nacho’s team can get to Houston on that second bus.
This entire transition needs to happen quickly and smoothly. ”
“Roger that,” Cavalari said firmly. “Could you do me a favor and call Dagger for me? He needs to be updated on what’s going on and I’m not sure I can deal with his third degree right now.”
“Sure, I’ll give him a call,” Fizzbo said, “and Tony, I’ll see you at the hospital as soon as I can get a flight out there, but the team has your back.”
“Thank you.”
“Eventually we’re gonna have to talk about you letting things get personal with Bronx.”
“How’d you know?” Cavalari asked.
“It’s fucking obvious to everyone except for the two of you.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t ignore what I feel,” Cavalari said solemnly. “This is big, and if he’s as interested as I think he is, I’d like to see where this takes us.”
Long, heavy moments passed after Cavalari’s admission. He stood up straighter and squared his shoulders as he prepared for whatever comment Fizzbo might come back with.
“I’m not thrilled about this, Tony, but we’ll get it sorted,” Fizzbo finally said. “In the meantime, get Bronx to an ER stat and keep me updated every step of the way. Now get off the phone and make it happen.”
“For as long as I have this job, I’ll perform it to the absolute best of my ability—especially because it’s Bronx,” Cavalari confirmed. “Thank you for helping me.”
“That’s my job,” Fizzbo said. “It’s up to me to keep my teams working as one, very large, well-oiled machine.”
They said goodbye and Cavalari slid his phone back into his pants pocket then leaned against the wall for a minute.
His head was spinning with the long list of things he needed to do to keep Bronx safe.
Between the feelings he had for him and the worry about those what-ifs they’d discussed earlier, he was close to hyperventilating but there was no time for any of that.
He needed to pull his shit together and take care of the man he was falling for.
He took long strides to get back to the bedroom.
Bronx was still in the same position lying on his side but now he was silent and lifeless.
Cavalari’s heart stuttered to a halt. He nearly jumped over the bed to get to the side of the bed where Bronx’s head was resting.
He pressed two fingers to his throat, checked for a pulse on his neck, and then leaned closer to listen to his breathing.
It was shallow and shaky, but he was alive—even if only marginally conscious.
Cavalari pulled a clean shirt out of the dresser at the side of the room and gently adjusted Bronx on the bed to get the garment over his head, smoothing into place to cover his chest. Next, he shoved his hand down the front of Bronx’s jeans to tuck everything back into place before he zipped up but a stern voice stopped his movement.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Nacho asked.
“I’m getting him dressed for the LifeFlight crew,” Cavalari said since his actions were more than obvious.
“Oh, so you’re not groping goods while he’s out of it?” Nacho questioned.
“Hardly the time for jokes, asshole.”
“I had no idea you played for the all-boys team,” Nacho continued to tease.
“Knock it off,” Cavalari said. “We don’t have time for your mindless detective work. How about you help me lift him, so I can finish getting him dressed?”
“Is he completely unconscious?” Nacho asked, suddenly sounding serious. He stepped over to the side of the bed to stand beside Cavalari.
“He was alert until a couple of minutes ago,” Cavalari stated. “Now he seems in and out of it. Lift his hips and I’ll get his pants zipped and buckled.”
“Jesus, he reeks of jizz,” Nacho growled. “What the fuck was he doing in here?”
“How the hell would I know?” Cavalari bit out. “I was sitting at the kitchen table and heard him scream out in pain, ran in here, and found him bleeding from the ear.”