Earth and Sky

so he sniffed and quickly wiped his face.

    “When I saw you lying there in the dirt, I thought I’d lost you.”

    “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”

    When Grant’s words sank in, Hunter felt the warmth return to his body. He lifted Grant’s hand and squeezed it, kissing Grant’s bruised knuckles.

    Their intimate moment was interrupted by a nurse coming in to check on Grant. Hunter didn’t let go of Grant’s hand until the nurse walked around the bed to shine a light into Grant’s eyes, but she didn’t seem to be bothered by the two men holding hands.

    “I’ll get you a more comfortable chair to sit in,” she said before leaving them alone again.

    “We could both use some sleep,” Grant said after she was gone.

    “Are you tired?” Hunter asked.

    “Aren’t you?”

    Hunter nodded. “We missed a night.”

    After the nurse returned with the chair and Hunter made himself comfortable, he took Grant’s hand again.

    “What happened, Cowboy?” Grant suddenly asked.

    “You don’t remember?”

    Grant slowly shook his head. “I was riding west, and the next thing I remember was when I woke up and my whole body was sore.”

    Hunter swallowed. Grant not remembering anything meant Hunter had to think of what version of the truth he was going to give him. Should he reveal that he had been stalking him? Should he tell Grant that he’d been the cause of the accident?

    “I followed you when you left,” Hunter started. “I wanted to know where you went when you disappeared for days.” He waited to see Grant’s expression, but he could make nothing out. “I saw your bike parked outside a bar, and I followed you there.”

    “I remember that bar. There was a woman in there who wouldn’t take no for an answer. I would have stayed longer if it hadn’t been for her.”

    Hunter looked at Grant’s face, but it was so swollen there was no way to read any sort of expression.

    “You were there?” Grant asked. “Then you saw what a nuisance she was. I bet she was a working girl. Or a very bored housewife. Her husband, or her date, who knows, was asleep in the corner booth.”

    Hunter smiled. So Grant hadn’t gone to the bar to pick up women. At least that was a relief. It sounded like Grant didn’t remember the actual accident, though, so maybe it paid to stay a little vague.

    “Well, I watched you walk out of there and speed off. I followed you again and saw how you got swept off by that immense truck. It catapulted you right off your motorcycle and into the ditch. That’s when I thought I’d lost you.”

    Grant smiled as much as he could with his bruised face. “Those monster trucks are lethal.” He exhaled deeply and went still, which worried Hunter until he realized the machine was still beeping at about the same rate as his own heart rate, so he figured Grant had drifted off to sleep.

    Hunter realized he, too, must have fallen asleep when he startled a while later, sore from sitting in the chair. Grant was still asleep, and a different nurse from the one before was standing on the other side of the bed, checking on Grant.

    “Everything okay?”

    She nodded. “He’s resting, which is what he needs right now. If you want, you can get something to eat and walk around for a bit. If he wakes, I’ll tell him you’ll be back in a few hours. With the painkillers we’re giving him, he’s going to be asleep for most of them anyway.”

    Hunter nodded and stretched some of his muscles to iron out the kinks. Her suggestion made sense. He was hungry, and a bit of fresh air would do him a lot of good. He was reluctant to leave Grant’s side, but like she said, they were taking good care of him, and since he was determined to bring Grant home with him after his discharge, he knew he had to be rested so he could take care of Grant.

    Hunter squeezed Grant’s hand. “I’ll be back later.”

    He left the ICU without looking back and tried to navigate his way through the hospital. He found a cafeteria that sold sandwiches and coffee and then walked outside to feel the afternoon sun on his face. He was an outdoors sort of guy anyway. Sitting outside, eating his sandwich, he realized he had to call home and tell the girls he was okay. He’d run out the day before without telling anyone where he was going, and it suddenly dawned on him that they would have realized he was missing by now.

    His safest bet to call was Izzie. At least he could tell her the truth.

    “Fucking