ChoosingHisChristmasMiracle (7 page)

The nurses were the only ones who really gave him trouble, glaring and frowning. Sean would ignore them, unless they started making disgruntled noises, then he glared at them. Even humans seemed to understand when a predator had them in their sights because they were quick to finish whatever they were doing and get out.

The first time a nurse came in to give Raul a sponge bath, Sean had nearly lost it. After much yelling and cussing, the nurse threatened to call security. Fortunately, Doctor Carmichael appeared before that happened and gave Sean permission to give his mate the daily sponge baths instead. It sure wasn’t how he’d planned seeing every inch of his mate for the first time, but the thought of someone else doing something so intimate riled him beyond words.

Sean wasn’t certain how it happened, but he actually managed to fall asleep. When he roused, the first thing that registered was the pain shooting up his neck. He was leaning forward in his chair, his head cradled on one arm on the bed and his other hand was stretched out to the side, where, at one time, he’d been holding Raul’s hand.

Blinking, he wanted to purr at the feel of Raul’s fingers running softly through his hair, almost petting him.
Oh!
Sean shifted a bit and peered up at his mate. “Raul,” he mumbled, upon seeing unfocused, murky green eyes staring back at him.

Raul didn’t respond, but that was okay. He’d actually woken!

Sean really didn’t want to dislodge Raul’s touch, but the pain in his neck wouldn’t be ignored. Carefully, he lifted a hand and entwined Raul’s petting fingers with his own as he slowly straightened, trying to hide his grimace of pain.

After popping his neck, Sean leaned forward and murmured softly, “Hey, mate.” He tilted close and pressed a soft kiss to Raul’s pale forehead. “I’ve been worried about you,” he admitted. “A lot of people have been.” He forced a smile. “There’s been quite the parade of people in and out of here. Drives the nurses nuts.”

That finally had a slight smile curving the corners of Raul’s mouth. “Sean,” Raul whispered as he squeezed Sean’s hand lightly, his voice scratchy and hoarse.

That his mate remembered him sent relieved pleasure flooding through Sean’s system. He’d been so worried that Raul would have lost his memory of him. Irrational, maybe, but fear didn’t always make sense.

“I’m going to press the call button,” Sean said. “We need to let everyone know you’ve woken.”

Raul grunted and he pulled weakly on his hand.

Sean leaned closer. “What is it, sexy?”

Suddenly, Raul let go of Sean’s hand.

Sean immediately felt rejection spike through him, but then the human gripped Sean’s hair and tugged lightly. Confused, Sean went with the movement until their faces were only an inch apart.

“Kiss,” Raul breathed the word against Sean’s lips.

Sean whimpered and obeyed. No way he could deny his mate, even if there were so many other things that should have happened first now that Raul had woken. Raul had wanted to kiss him first. Nothing could be sweeter than that knowledge.

He closed the distance between them and brushed their lips together once, twice, keeping it light and gentle. After a third brush of lips, Sean eased back. Raul’s grip tightened just a bit, then loosened, letting him go.

“I’ll be right back,” Sean promised.

* * * *

So asking for a kiss before painkillers from the doctor probably wasn’t his smartest move, but this hadn’t been the first time Raul had been awake. Consciousness had been flitting around the edges of his mind for a while, but he just hadn’t been able to open his eyes. Still, Raul had known Sean had been there every time awareness danced around his head. He’d been able to smell him.

Now, he wanted meds because all he could feel was wave after wave of pulsing pain. Then he planned to go back to sleep. He’d care about how he’d ended up in the hospital with Sean by his side later, much later.

Raul had just started to drift off when footsteps caught his attention so he forced his eyelids back open. “Ailean,” he croaked, the word coming out so hoarse he wasn’t certain how the man understood him.

“Raul, it’s good to see you finally aware. You’ve gone and given us quite a scare with your heroics,” Ailean said.

The light teasing from the surly cat shifter told Raul exactly how worried everyone must have been. “How long?” he rasped.

Ailean handed Sean a cup and pointed toward the bathroom, silently telling the wolf shifter to fill it. Then he crossed to the bed and started checking monitors. Raul stayed quiet, not having the energy to attempt to pry information out of the man, but Ailean didn’t make him wait long.

“You were brought in three days ago, Raul, and I understand you were stabilized at a place in Illinois, so maybe another day and a half for that and transport.” He leaned over and shone a light in first one of Raul’s eyes, then the other. “You’re very lucky.”

After taking a sip of the water Sean offered, Raul murmured, “Where was I hit?” He did vaguely remember getting shot, and from the various aches, it was in more than one place.

Ailean looked him in the eye and said, “Your right shoulder. You’re lucky it missed your collarbone and ended up being a through and through. Your right thigh and the one in your chest weren’t so clean, though. Some unlucky bastard, probably Manon, had to keep you on oxygen all the way to the hospital. One of the bullets shredded the muscle in your thigh. If you complete your mating, you might be able to skip out on physical therapy.” His lips pinched into a thin line as he continued. “It was your chest that almost killed you. I understand you were put on a ventilator for twelve hours before you were deemed stable enough to move.”

“Damn,” he hissed.

“What’s the last thing you remember, Raul?” Ailean asked gently.

After taking a slow breath, Raul whispered, “Charging into the building with Payson. There was gunfire. We got separated. A shitty desk. Pain.” Raul’s brows creased and his eyes slid closed for several seconds as he struggled to sort things out. One thing stood out in his mind above all else, and he turned to look at Sean. “You,” he murmured.

“Me?” Sean seemed taken aback. “But I wasn’t there.”

Raul scoffed, then grunted when it hurt. He shook his head. “I remember wanting to see you again.” He wiggled his fingers where they lay on the mattress, too tired to lift his hand. Sean seemed to get the idea and gently took his hand. “I’m glad I got my wish.”

“All right,” Ailean said, hooking up something to his IV. “Now that I’m able to pass on the good news that you’re awake and talking, you need to get more rest. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of visitors over the next few days, so you should sleep while you can.”

Raul didn’t think Ailean sounded too pleased by the prospect of lots of shifters in and out of his hospital. Too tired even to think up an effective jab, Raul asked, “How long am I stuck here?”

“Good grief, Raul,” Ailean muttered. “You’ve been shot three times and had two surgeries. Enjoy your down time.”

“How long?” he insisted, really wanting to know.

Ailean’s eyes narrowed and Raul could see him working his jaw. “I plan to keep you at least a week, maybe even two, so get used to the idea.”

Before Raul could ask anything else, Ailean turned on his heel and left. Raul could feel the medicine working, dulling not only the pain, but his senses as well. Pretty soon, he’d pass out. “You gonna stay?” he slurred.

Sean sat down in the chair next to the bed and nodded. “I’ll stay.”

Raul patted the bed beside him. “Here. That’s not comfortable.” He swallowed and frowned. What was he trying to ask again? His brain was so foggy.

“When you’re feeling better,” Sean said, pressing a butterfly kiss to his lips.

“Mmm,” Raul hummed.
Oh, I like this man’s kisses. Why am I kissing a man again?
He couldn’t remember. Then Raul couldn’t remember why he cared. “More.”

Sean chuckled softly, and wasn’t that a nice sound?

Then his lips were on Raul’s again.
Even more nice.
He’d complain another time. Right now, his eyes were sliding shut and warm tingles were spreading through his body. When Sean pulled away, Raul really did intend to reach up and pull him back, but the sandman had other ideas.

Raul was ready to slit someone’s throat. He wanted to leave the fucking hospital and there wasn’t anyone here who was going to force him to stay. The fact that he’d convinced—well, blackmailed really—Jared into helping him just proved his desperation.

He’d been there a week and that was enough.

Managing to convince Sean to spend time with Lily at home hadn’t been nearly as difficult as he’d worried it would be. He knew his mate felt guilty leaving her with Lisa so much. Raul had four hours to pull this off.

Raul glanced at the clock on the wall, tapping his fingers impatiently on the bed. He wanted to call Jared, find out where he was, but then his friend might decide not to help. He’d had to assure his friend that he really was feeling fine. He’d even started refusing pain meds. Six days floating on the damn things was enough. It was time to get on with his life.

Besides, there was no way in hell he was going to be in the hospital over Christmas, which was only four days away. He wanted his first holiday with his mate to be at home, together. And the fact that he was tired of having an erection he couldn’t do anything about except in the bathroom didn’t have anything to do with it.

It was fucking miserable.

Admitting that he had permanent blue balls was what finally convinced Jared. His friend’s left brow had risen slowly, then he’d cracked up into huge guffaws. He’d even lost it enough to slap Raul’s calf. Good thing it was on his good leg.

Jared pushing a wheelchair into the room pulled Raul out of his thoughts. “You ready?”

Raul nodded. “How you getting me by the damn nurse’s station?”

His friend gave him a toothy grin. “No worries. She’s prepping your release papers right now. For some reason, she got approval from Doctor Carmichael just ten minutes ago via phone.”

Pausing while disconnecting wires, Raul murmured, “I thought that wasn’t allowed.”

Shrugging innocently, Jared responded, “They must have made an exception.”

Snickering, Raul said, “I don’t even want to know.” He waved his friend over. “Let’s get out of here. Where are my clothes?”

Jared tossed a backpack on the bed next to his hip. “You need help?” he asked, eyeing him dubiously as Raul struggled to tuck his arm into his sleeve.

His glare must have been answer enough, because Jared stepped forward, muttering
jackass
under his breath, and helped him maneuver his arm into his shirt. Sure, Raul would have preferred it was his mate, but then again, his mate wouldn’t have helped him break out of here. That’s what friends were for.

After a couple hisses of pain, they got the t-shirt on. Next came the sweats. Fortunately, they’d seen each other buck-ass naked more times than they could remember over the years. The sweats ended up being easier because once Jared worked them up to above his knees, all he had to do was stand and pull.

Still, by the time they finished, Raul had sweat beading on his upper lip and he struggled to keep his breathing even. Jared got behind the chair and leaned over his shoulder to whisper, “I know this is just killing you, Raul, you stubborn fool. If you end up dead because of this, I will find a witch to raise you from the grave just so I can kick your ass. You got me?”

Raul grinned and looked over his shoulder at his friend. “I love you, too, Jared.”

Jared straightened with a snort and pushed him out the door.

True to his claim, the nurse had his release papers ready. She gave him a commiserating look. “I’m awful sorry to hear about your father’s heart attack, Raul. You give him our best wishes, okay?”

He nodded slowly. “Thanks, Stacey. I appreciate it. It came as quite a shock,” he said, playing along. Evidently, he was getting out early because Jared made everyone think his father was ill or something.
Whatever works!

Raul listened carefully as she explained cleaning procedures. She’d even gone so far as to secure him a prescription for the higher dosage pain relievers. He sure prayed he didn’t need them past tonight because he hated how loopy they made him. But this evening, yeah, he’d need them. Thanking her profusely as Jared rolled him away, Raul grinned at his buddy.

They made it to the elevator without mishap. Waiting inside, leaning against the wall, was Ailean. Jared didn’t even hesitate. He pushed Raul right inside and hit the appropriate button for parking level.

“You weren’t really trying to sneak out of here, were you, Raul?” Ailean asked dryly.

Raul grinned through the throb beginning to permeate his body. “Naw, Doc, I got my release papers. See?” He held up the referenced sheets.

Ailean’s eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. “I’d force you to go back to your room, but I find myself giving you grudging respect for actually getting away with it.” He scowled. “That is, at least, as far as the hospital is concerned.” Sighing, he rolled his eyes and actually smirked. “Damn ballsy of you.”

Jared shrugged. “It’s a hospital, not a prison.”

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Ailean gave them a nod, but stayed in the elevator as Jared pushed Raul out, content to order, “Call me or Lark if you have complications, Raul.”

With a grunt or two of pain, Raul got into Jared’s Porsche. At least, with that, he hadn’t needed help. Sighing, he settled back in the bucket seat and closed his eyes, trying to will the aches and pains away. Raul wasn’t sure, but if he’d been a betting man, he figured he fell asleep before they even got out of the parking garage.

Chapter Eight

Sean tickled Lily, making her squeal and kick where she lay on the blanket spread over the rug. He’d known he’d been a bit distracted recently, what with spending all his time at the hospital, and Sean appreciated Raul’s understanding. He smiled, tickling Lily again, thinking how sweet it was for Raul to encourage him to spend time with his niece.

He glanced at the clock, realizing he probably ought to try to put Lily down before Lisa got there with Abigail. That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about it after he left for the hospital again.