Cut and Run 7 - Touch and Geaux

“We can’t go home. One, you’re in the hospital with a kidney stone. Two, there is a murderer out there and we have possible evidence in the case, and I don’t think any of us could just walk away with a clear conscience. And three, you really believe in that gris-gris stuff, so there’s no point in trying to run. Every little paper cut and stubbed toe you get will be the bag’s fault until we fix this.” Zane dropped the gloves onto the table and then pushed it out from between them and away, keeping Ty’s hand in his.
    Ty relaxed back into the bed, holding Zane’s hand. He watched him in open admiration. Not many people would so easily accept that he was cursed after one little trip to the ER and because he said so. He was, but not many people would believe him. Or pretend to believe him. Except Digger, but fuck, Digger was certifiable so that didn’t make Ty feel better.
    “Thanks, Zane,” he whispered.
    Zane pulled Ty’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles.
    “Ugh, gross,” Digger said with a laugh.
    “And we’re leaving,” Nick added. They headed for the door, but Ty knew they wouldn’t go far. They could smell trouble just like he could. The door closed and Ty returned his gaze to Zane.
    “I hate seeing you like this,” Zane whispered.
    Ty laughed. Hard. He was folded up in a rolling hospital bed with an IV in his arm and a catheter in a less pleasant place, wearing hospital-issue socks with little rubber paws on the bottoms and a gown that didn’t close all the way in the back. And Zane hated seeing him like this?
    “I hope so!” he said. He covered his mouth to stop the snickering, but his eyes watered as he watched Zane. His partner did offer him a weak smile, but he wasn’t hiding the worry in his eyes.
    “Oh come on, Zane!” Ty said as he squeezed his hand. “Enjoy it while my meds last.”
    “I’m not enjoying anything until you’re healthy and out of here.”
    Ty sobered and looked at him apologetically. He patted his hand. “Last time it only took a few hours from start to finish. I just didn’t have any drugs, so I was begging O and Eli to kill me the whole time. This time is much more fun so far.”
    Zane moved his other hand so both of them closed around Ty’s. “Maybe some of it will be lingering when I get to take you out of here. You can be a lot of fun when you’re so open to suggestion,” he drawled, making a visible effort to relax.
    That got another round of laughter out of Ty, and he had to be careful not to move his legs or roll as he cackled at his lover. “Because nothing says sexy like a catheter.”
    Zane finally laughed with him. “Not my kink, but okay.”
    Ty was still laughing when a nurse poked her head into the room to check on them. “I see he’s feeling better.”
    “Don’t let it fool you,” Zane said, turning his head to look at her. He didn’t let go of Ty’s hand. “He’s got the good drugs.”
    “Oh I know it, honey, I gave them to him.”
    Ty was still laughing. The nurse came into the room and changed his saline bag, telling him the more he got in him, the easier the stone would pass. She checked his vitals, then moved on, leaving them alone again.
    “I almost think I’d rather be gut shot than have to pass a kidney stone, from the sound of it,” Zane said once she disappeared.
    “Same here,” Ty muttered. Suddenly, nothing was all that funny anymore.

    Nick and the others were in the waiting room, sprawled among the sick and injured, when Zane joined them. Zane had no idea how to proceed. He didn’t want to be around Ty’s Recon team without Ty there as a buffer, and he certainly didn’t want to go to the New Orleans PD and tell them his lover had been cursed by voodoo and wanted them to investigate. He wished Ty had never answered that phone call in Baltimore right now.
    “How’s he doing?” Kelly asked.
    Zane winced and shrugged. “He’ll be fine. They’ve got him drugged up. Now he just has to wait it out, I guess.”
    “The one thing Ty hates doing most,” Digger mused. “Waiting. So poetic.”
    “You’re a sick man, D.”
    “He ruins every trip,” Nick muttered. He smiled at Zane. “What do we do about the hoodoo thing?”
    “What hoodoo thing?” Owen asked.
    Digger poked at him. “That voodoo you do, baby!”
    Owen batted Digger’s hands away. “Stop it, what is wrong with you?”
    “Ty found one of those gris-gris bag things under his pillow this morning,” Nick explained.
    “Like