Chapter Three #2
He was alone, two million dollars in debt, and hating himself.
Callie was the first person in months he had connected with emotionally, even though he had tried not to.
He had missed his chance with her, and Ryan had moved in.
Now things were even more complicated as they tried to figure out what their feelings for each other meant.
Being a threesome wasn’t wrong. Except Ryan wouldn’t accept it.
He was raised conservatively, and this conflicted with his morals.
Damian would have to step back and give them space if he wanted to keep them as friends.
He sighed and looked at his phone. His week was packed with appointments, including that evening.
He was getting tired, and he was certain the constant use of pills was not good for someone his age.
He sighed again and closed his computer.
He had a few hours before his appointment and decided to get some rest. He had been feeling dizzy and had a headache for a few days.
He was worried he was getting sick. He couldn’t afford to miss work.
Callie’s phone was ringing on her bedside table. It took her a moment to wake up and realize what the noise was. She looked at the number and didn’t recognize it, but she had a bad feeling and answered. Spam calls didn’t come in at two AM.
“Miss Bennett,” the voice on the other end said. “I’m calling from City Hospital. We have Damian Mayer in the emergency room. He has listed you as his contact.”
“What?” Callie said, jolting awake. Her sudden movement woke Ryan beside her. “Why is he in the hospital?"
“He was brought in by ambulance unconscious,” the lady explained. “I don’t have any further information at this time.”
“I’m on my way!” Callie almost yelled into the phone.
She jumped out of bed, trying to explain to Ryan the very limited information she had.
“Marco will be here in a couple of minutes,” Ryan confirmed while dressing.
Marco rushed them to the hospital, and Callie almost didn’t wait for the car to stop before she jumped out and ran into the building.
The nurses' desk was busy. She frantically asked to see Damian, and the nurse looked annoyed.
When Callie repeated the name, the nurse recognized it and quickly told her where to find Damian.
Damian lay in bed, still unconscious, with several monitors hooked up to him.
She gasped, and Ryan quickly took her hand to steady her.
“What happened?” Callie demanded of the first nurse she encountered.
“You’re Callie Bennett?” the nurse asked, and Callie nodded. “We aren’t sure. He was unconscious on arrival. His heart rhythm is irregular, and his blood pressure was very low.”
“What?” Callie couldn’t make sense of what they were saying. Damian was healthy and young. How could he just be unconscious?
“Does he use recreational drugs?” the nurse asked.
“No,” Callie replied, harsher than she meant to.
“What about medication?” the nurse continued. Callie was about to say no when she remembered Damian’s confession to her. The Night Service had provided him with sildenafil citrate to help him achieve erections for appointments expected to be more difficult.
“Sildenafil,” Callie said slowly.
“For real?” the nurse challenged, looking at Damian.
“Yes,” Callie insisted. “Probably often.”
Ryan let out a loud sigh of disapproval beside her. She knew he understood why Damian would be taking the pills. It was yet again the Night Service harming someone.
“That’s definitely helpful information. We’ll start running more tests,” the nurse replied, then excused herself.
“He’s taking Viagra?” Ryan said when they were alone.
“The Night Service gives it to the men,” Callie confirmed.
“Are you kidding me?” Ryan said sadly, though he clearly didn’t expect a response.
Callie sat beside the bed, trying to make sense of the numbers on the monitors.
She couldn’t understand how Damian could be so stupid.
He had medical training; he would have known the risks of prolonged use of the drug.
He was desperately trying to pay off his debts, and now it was putting his life at risk.
Doctors and nurses returned and explained they would administer medications to bring his blood pressure back to normal.
Callie waited as they injected the medications into the IV lines.
Slowly, she saw the BP numbers climb in the next reading. Then Damian started to stir.
“What happened?” Damian asked.
“I don’t know,” Callie confessed. “The hospital called me and said you were brought in unconscious.”
“I was with a client,” Damian said. “That’s all I remember. I blacked out before anything even happened.”
Callie’s phone rang, and she saw it was Madame calling.
She sent the call to voicemail. She hadn’t spoken to Madame since she left the Service, and she had no intention of doing so now.
They could sit and worry about Damian. If they really cared, they would make a proper effort to find him.
Suddenly, her phone rang again, this time from Annie.
She must have been Madame’s next call. Callie sent that to voicemail as well.
“I told the nurse about the Viagra,” Callie said, and Damian looked embarrassed. “I think that was the problem.”
“Yeah, probably,” Damian admitted.
“Why would you keep taking it if you knew it was a problem?” Callie scolded.
“What am I supposed to do?” Damian retorted, still looking uncomfortable.
“You need to stop,” Ryan said.
“Easy for you to say,” Damian snapped.
“Yes, it is,” Ryan replied. “You can take a medical leave from your job, which will pause your payments until the trial begins.”
“I still need to pay the rent and eat,” Damian protested.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ryan said. “I’ll give you a loan,” Ryan added before Damian could object further.
“Can you please just get me out of here?” Damian said. He began disconnecting the monitors and pulled out his IV.
“Stop!” Callie protested.
“I’m fine,” Damian said. “I promise.”
The nurse ran over to protest further what Damian was doing.
He insisted he was leaving and even offered to sign the release stating he was leaving against medical advice.
He assured Callie and Ryan that he felt better and knew what to do if he was in trouble again.
Ryan insisted that Damian couldn’t go home alone.
Damian finally agreed to let them take him back to Callie’s place.
Damian knew he probably shouldn’t leave the hospital, but he didn’t care.
His heart and blood pressure had stabilized, and as long as he didn’t take the pills again, he should be fine.
He pulled off his shirt and jeans and climbed into bed in Callie’s spare bedroom.
Exhausted, he was about to fall asleep when Callie entered the room and lay down beside him.
“Are you really OK?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think so, at least,” Damian replied, rolling over to face her. “The meds are working their way out of my system, so I should be fine.”
“Is there someone I should call?” Callie suggested. “Your parents?”
“No,” Damian said quickly.
Callie knew very little about Damian’s life. She knew about Brittnay, but not much. She had no idea why he was blamed for Brittnay’s death or what had happened. She had no idea whether Damian had parents, siblings, or friends.
“Damian,” Callie said cautiously. “Do you have anyone else?”
She didn’t know how to say it without sounding rude, and she hoped she hadn’t offended him. He looked at her sadly, then rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He was silent for a long time, considering what to say.
“I ran away,” he finally admitted. “I’m from a small community, a couple of hours outside the city. After the verdict, everyone blamed me for Brittnay’s death, even my own family. So I left without telling anyone where I was going. But no one wanted to know anyway.”
He explained that his parents had been friends with Brittnay’s.
Damian and Brittnay met in high school, attended college together, and started dating after graduation.
Although his parents used the death as a reason to turn on Damian, he suspected his life choices were the main factor.
He had come out to his parents as bisexual.
They were confused by this, and when he dated guys, they tried to pretend it wasn’t happening.
They had been pushing Damian to settle down with Brittnay because they were horrified by the alternative.
He told Callie about Blake, who had turned most of their friends against him.
The few who had stayed with Damian deserted him after he lost the trial.
The verdict against him might as well have been a guilty verdict for murder.
No one wanted anything to do with him then.
When he lost his job, he had no reason to stay.
He moved to the city, started working at the hospital as a janitor, and eventually found the Night Service.
“This trial is going to bring out a lot of horrible things,” Damian said. “I have no one in my corner to support me, and as much as I want to clear my name, it terrifies me.”
“I’m with you,” Callie replied. “And so is Ryan. He’s not just your lawyer, you know that.”
“I know,” he said. “Thank you.”
“I’ll let you rest,” Callie said. She leaned in, kissed him softly, then slipped out of bed.
Damian planned to sneak out upon waking.
Although it was midmorning, the apartment was quiet, so he assumed Callie and Ryan were asleep or at work.
He carefully opened the bedroom door and noticed the second bedroom door was shut.
As he moved toward the exit, he heard a loud ‘ah hum’ from the sofa.
He turned to see Ryan there, working on a laptop.
“You think we would just let you leave?” Ryan asked.
“You’re kidnapping me?” Damian laughed.
“Something like that,” Ryan grinned. “Hungry? Let's have breakfast.”
“I just want to leave,” Damian protested.