“Is he going to be okay?” His normally robust voice came out hoarse and weak. He remembered the boy and…the horse. Chad couldn’t remember what happened next. Did he hand the child back to anyone? Was he hurt, too? As he struggled to sit up and get his bearings, a searing pain shot through his arm and he collapsed onto the gurney. “The kid?” he choked, hoping someone was listening.
“He’s fine,” a soothing voice came from behind. “He’s with his mom. No harm.”
Chad craned his head, finding a familiar EMT. “Marty?” he said on an exhale.
“Yep, who else would it be? You get hurt in Apple Grove, it’s either going to be me and Doug who come to your rescue, or Pam and Newton. Luckily, I was stationed at the parade headquarters, just a block away.” He patted Chad’s leg. “Stay still. You’ve definitely broken your left arm and you’ve got some road rash on your skin from sliding a few feet.”
Chad tried to shift a little and groaned at the pain.
“Do you remember hitting your head?” Marty asked.
“No. Did I?”
“Nobody on scene remembers seeing your head hit the ground hard or anything, but you’ve been mumblingabout a ‘prince with brown eyes and a button nose.’”
Chad felt the heat flush across his skin. Mortified, he closed his mouth and tried to pull himself together. Marty knew he was gay, as did everyone else, but to have him think Chad was mooning over some guy dressed like a prince as if he was some teenage girl was humiliating.
“That idiot couldn’t control his horse,” Chad grumbled.
Marty chuckled, but didn’t say anything more, allowing Chad to at least keep some of his dignity.
He drifted off again before they arrived at the hospital.
2
Hours later, Chad found himself in a hospital bed, after having been poked, prodded, had his arm set in a cast, and bandages placed on the skinned areas across his side and back. He’d been x-rayed, had an MRI, and more people had seen him naked than in the last five years.
A knock at the door announced the nurse’s arrival, and before he had a chance to even say anything, a petite woman with white-blonde hair swept up into a ponytail practically bounced into the room.
“Well, Officer Charming, how are you doing? Getting settled in?” she asked brightly.
He frowned at her. “I still don’t understand why I needed to be admitted. My ribs aren’t broken, my arm is already in a cast, and other than being sore, I’m fine.”
“I know, Officer, but it’s more about being extra careful. You’re a city employee and you were working a city event. They just want to make sure you’re well taken care of.”
In other words, CYA—the city was “covering its ass.”
She smiled again. “Is there anything I can get you?”
He bit his tongue to keep from ordering her to get him the hell out of here, and shook his head instead. It wasn’t her fault he was here.
“Okay, well, dinner will be served in a couple of hours and Dr. Morrow will be in to check on you soon. Oh, and you have a guest waiting to see you. Are you up for visitors?”
Fuck no, he wasn’t up for visitors. He groaned, but the hopeful smile on her face did him in. Chad hateddisappointing people. So he tucked aside his irritation and nodded. “Sure.”
She rewarded him with a grin. “That’s great! I’ll send him in.” She made her way into the hustle and bustle of the hospital.
Him. That must mean his partner, Grant. They’d been partners since Chad had arrived in town and they’d instantly bonded over their love of classic rock. Grant hadn’t had an issue with Chad’s sexuality and had even threatened to set him up on a date with his cousin on multiple occasions. Chad always found it hilarious that friends automatically wanted to set him up with the one gay man they knew. As if being gay was the only criteria needed for them to be attracted to each other.
Knuckles rapped on his door.
“Come in.” Chad pressed the button to lift the head of his bed until he lay in a more comfortable position, and gritted his teeth when he realized that small motion made his head swim. He brought up hishand and placed his thumb and index finger on the bridge of his nose, waiting for the motion sickness to pass.
A warm hand wrapped around his wrist, and he nearly jumped out of his skin at the jolts of electricity that ran through him.
“Are you okay?”
It surprised Chad to see Puppet-Guy. “Where’s your crown?”
The man pulled away his hand and straightened up, a slight blush pinking his cheeks. “I would have beenhere sooner, but I had to stay with the parade. I couldn’t abandon my students even if the horse had chosen to do so.” Brown-Eyes glanced at his shoes before looking back at Chad.