Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 316(@200wpm)___ 253(@250wpm)___ 211(@300wpm)
“I’m Kit, and this is Devon.”
“Don’t you worry, Kit. My wife Stacey and I are going to get you to the hospital in no time at all.”
She laughed when I whispered, “Thank god. Lesbians.”
On the drive, I stroked Devon’s hair and talked to him reassuringly. It seemed like he was drifting in and out of consciousness. I was terrified, but I didn’t let him know that. Instead, I kept telling him I loved him and promising him everything was going to be okay.
Stacey called ahead and told them what was happening, so when we pulled into the hospital parking lot sometime later, several nurses and doctors were waiting with a stretcher. I followed them inside and tried to go with him when they wheeled Devon down the hall, but a nurse told me, “You need to wait here. We can’t help him if you’re in the way.”
I felt utterly lost as I watched the man I loved disappear through a pair of double doors. But then, my new friends appeared. Marlene draped a puffy red coat over my shoulders, and Stacey said, “You did all you could for him, kid. The doctors can take it from here.”
I turned to her with tears in my eyes. “Thank you so much for everything. Two cars drove right by me, and I can see why, because I must have seemed unhinged. I know you had to stop because I was in the middle of the road and you didn’t want to squish me, but you didn’t have to help.”
“Of course we did,” Marlene said, as she guided me to the waiting room. “As soon as Stacey told me there was a soggy little gay boy out in the road, I knew we were going to do whatever it took to help you.”
“Did you know I was gay just by looking at me?”
Stacey grinned at that. “I knew you were gay because you told me your boyfriend was sick.” She gestured at a row of chairs and said, “Have a seat while I go find you some hot coffee. You look like you’re frozen half to death.”
I hadn’t even noticed I was shivering, or that my T-shirt and jeans were soaking wet. I stuck my arms into the ski jacket’s sleeves, zipped it up, and tucked my numb hands into the pockets. Then I made myself sit down, and Marlene took a seat beside me.
I was full of nervous energy though, and my knee kept bouncing. After a minute, I asked, “Would appendicitis or a ruptured appendix happen that fast? He started feeling sick yesterday.”
“There’s no one size fits all with medical stuff,” she said. “With me, I thought I had the stomach flu for three days before the pain got really intense and I realized it was my appendix. It had already ruptured by the time I went to the hospital. A friend of mine had almost no warning. She thought she was fine in the morning, and she was having an emergency appendectomy that night. We probably won’t know what’s happening with your boyfriend or just how bad it is until they get him into surgery.”
After a while, I whispered, “I’m so scared. I should have gotten him here sooner, but I didn’t know what was wrong at first. What if I waited too long? What if—”
“No, don’t say it. You need to think positive.”
“You’re right.”
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath as I tried to make sense of what had happened. It really seemed like Devon had been right about a curse. He’d definitely think that now, although the timing of this could have just been a weird coincidence. That was the far more likely explanation.
Ultimately though, only one thing mattered. I needed him to be okay.
17
Devon
It was disorienting to wake up in a hospital. I tried to remember what had happened, but everything was a blur.
I started to panic, until I turned my head and saw Kit. He was curled up in a chair right beside me. Instantly, I was flooded with a sense of relief.
It looked like he’d nodded off, but as soon as I whispered his name, his eyes flew open and he leapt to his feet. “Hi, sweetheart,” he said, as he gently caressed my cheek. “How do you feel?”
“Groggy. What happened?”
“Your appendix ruptured, so you were rushed into emergency surgery. The doctor said you could have died. Another few hours—” His voice wavered. He took a breath and said, “But we got you here in time, and you’re going to be fine.”
“How did we get here? I don’t remember much, but I know we were snowed in…”
He told me how he’d tried to drive us out after he realized I needed medical help, and about how the van ended up in a ditch, so we’d had to walk the last part to reach the highway. He also told me about the kind couple in a truck who he’d managed to flag down. When he finished his story, I murmured, “You’re amazing.” He grinned as he gently brushed my hair off my forehead.