When the nurse escorted him into Daksha’s room, he shoved his hands into his pockets and clenched his fists. You never knew what you’d find in an ICU room, and he wanted to brace himself for the worst. But when the nurse moved to the side and he saw Daksha sitting partway up in bed, with his big brown eyes wide open, Gage took a quick breath and sighed.
Daksha glanced at him and smiled.
The nurse said, “You finally have a visitor.” She turned to Gage and said, “We were afraid he didn’t have anyone. He’s been unconscious since he arrived and he couldn’t tell us a thing. He just opened his eyes a few minutes ago.”
“Can he speak?” Gage asked the nurse, as if Daksha wasn’t in the room.
“I think I can,” Daksha said. “I’m still not sure why I’m here. But I can talk.”
The nurse smiled. While she checked a few of the machines he was hooked up to, she said, “You just try to rest. I’ll give you two some privacy and I’ll be right outside if you need anything.”
“Thank you,” Gage said, crossing to the left side of Daksha’s hospital bed, This hospital bed was one of those modern affairs with, thick plastic sides and all kinds of buttons and gadgets so it could be lifted and tilted fifty different ways, and looked far more expensive than the hospital beds Gage had seen in Tennessee.
When she was gone, Daksha tilted his head to the side and said, “I’m not sure what happened. And how did you find out I was here?”
Gage reached down to hold his large, warm hand. “You were run over by a hit-and-run driver last night. That’s all I know right now. I just happened to see it on the news this morning.”
Daksha’s eyebrows went down and he sent him a cautious glance.
Gage said, “I know it sounds unlikely, but that’s what happened.”
“And you came?”
Gage nodded. He would have been just as surprised if he’d been in Daksha’s position. In Gage’s experience, this wasn’t the sort of thing two gay guys did after tricking in the backseat of a taxi cab.
“But you don’t even know me.”
“I know,” Gage said. “But I couldn’t stop thinking about you all weekend.” He pulled the piece of paper on which Daksha had written his contact information, and showed it to him. “I’ve had this in my pocket since Thursday night. I was going to call you anyway.”
“You were?”
Gage nodded and smiled. Even though he was standing in a hospital, with all the sounds that usually gave him nightmares, a warm pleasant feeling passed through his body.
“What did they say on TV?”
Gage squeezed his hand. “They only said you were run over and in critical condition. Then they flashed your picture on the screen and asked that if anyone knew you to contact the police. So I just came right down here. If I have to talk to the police later, I will. I don’t mind. But I wanted to see how you were first.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to get to know you better,” Gage said. It was too soon to say love. But it was what he wanted to say. “Because I couldn’t stop thinking about you.” He didn’t realize it until now, in the hospital room with Daksha, he was telling the truth. “But don’t tell the nurses we just met on Thursday. They think we’re partners and have no idea we only met last Thursday. That’s why they let me back here.”
Daksha laughed. “Of all the things I could have predicted, I have to say this is the last. Actually, I wasn’t even sure you’d call me back. I thought about you, too, this weekend. But I had a feeling you were a little mixed up.”
“You did think about me?” He thought Daksha’s accent was adorable.
Daksha smiled. “I’d like to get to know you better.”
A pleasant sensation passed through Gage’s chest. “How are you feeling? Are you in pain?”
Daksha removed his hand from Gage’s. He moved his arms, then his legs. “I feel like I have a hangover, but I think I’m going to be okay. Everything seems to be working.”
“I’ll talk to the nurse and see what she says,” Gage said. “I haven’t had a chance yet.” He knew, thanks to his mother’s illness, how all hospital patients need someone to watch what’s going on while they’re incapacitated. And he wasn’t afraid to do this for Daksha.
Daksha smiled. “I’m glad you came. I don’t have any family in this country. I have a lot of acquaintances and people I know from The Actor’s Studio. But no one who is close.”
Gage reached out for his hand again. He squeezed it and asked, “Is there anything I can get for you? Anything at all. Just tell me.”
Daksha smiled. “Nothing. Just sit with me for a while. I’m getting a little tired and I’d like to close my eyes. It’s even hard to talk right now. I just feel so tired.”
Gage released his hand and crossed the room to get a red vinyl chair in the corner. He pulled the chair up to the side of the bed and said down. “You rest now. I’ll be here for a while. I have to leave this afternoon. But I’ll stay as long as I can.”
When Daksha went back to sleep, the nurse came in to check his machines. Gage asked if Daksha was going to be okay, and she said he had a few internal injuries but that he’d been very lucky. They’d scanned him from head to toe and he didn’t seem to have any serious life-threatening problems, not even a broken bone. Considering the accident, he was lucky to be alive. She also said the police had no idea who the driver was, and there was a strong chance they might never know. The nurse frowned and looked down at her soft running shoes and told Gage she saw this sort of thing often and could never understand how someone could just run someone else over and leave them lying in the road.
At noon, Daksha opened his eyes and reached out for Gage’s hand. Gage was still sitting in the red vinyl chair, gazing down at his lap and wondering what he was going to do about Luis, who was still locked up in the third-floor Brooklyn apartment. He felt silly now; he wished he hadn’t kidnapped his brother. But then again, if he hadn’t kidnapped Luis, he never would have met Daksha.
Daksha squeezed his hand and said, “You’re still here. I was afraid I was dreaming you came here today.”
Gage stood up and leaned forward. He looked back to see if any of the nurses were watching. When he saw the coast was clear, he pressed his lips against Daksha’s warm full lips and kissed him. At first he’d only planned to kiss him on the lips. But when he felt Daksha’s tongue enter his mouth, and he felt Daksha’s warm hand caresses his cheek, he closed his eyes and returned the gesture.