Chapter 36
MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Burn Unit
Ten days later Jem rolled his head on his pillow. "I said I wouldn't leave you." He said.
Spencer looked up from his book, surprised. "Hey."
"Hey. Now get up." Jem said. "You're going to get bedsores on your ass if you sit there."
Now it was Spencer's turn for his eyes to well up as he smiled.
To: Jem
From: Stella
How did your boy's knee replacement go?
...
To: SD (SF)
From: JT
He's not my boy, he's my husband. It went great; he's already walking on it. And don't talk to me, I'm still mad at you.
...
To: Jem
From: Stella
Husband, fine. Still mad? Why still mad?
...
To: SD (SF)
From: JT
You dragged Spencer into our family business. You put him through this. You didn't have to do that.
...
To: Jem
From: Stella
Yes I did. You know I did. Now Johnny is dead, you're safe from both the family and your unit, the kids are safe, hell even the country is safer, you're getting more kids out and that husband of yours is healthy again. Why are you still mad?
...
To: SD (SF)
From: JT
I haven't fixed it all yet. When I do we'll talk. And since when do you call me Jem?
...
To: Jem
From: Stella
What the hell is left to fix? And isn't that the name Mama gave you?
Private home
Savai'I, Samoa
One year later
It still kind of shocked Spencer that he could walk. His knee hurt sometimes, would likely ache in cold weather, but it worked. He could walk again.
Dressed only in shorts and a t-shirt, barefoot, he crossed the well-worn wooden floor to the screened doors and then out to the porch. The porch looked out over the water and the harbor, an amazing view of the island.
It was paradise.
He smiled and nodded to the men who were setting up their tools on a tray on the floor. "You don't need to do this." He said.
"Yes I do." Jem stepped out behind him, clad only in a loose cloth draped about his hips. He nodded and spoke briefly to the men in Samoan.
God of the sea, Spencer thought. He resisted the urge to push Jem back into the bedroom. "You've already proven your endurance, twice."
"This isn't about that." Jem replied. He pulled off the cloth, set it down on the porch and stretched out on it.
Spencer couldn't help but admire the view. His husband was even more magnificent naked. But there was nothing but smooth, pale skin traced with the faintest of lines where the laser hadn't removed all of the ink. It didn't look like Jem at all. "I know. I was just trying to spare you." He sat on the floor in front of Jem as the men gathered around on both sides, talking quietly and contemplating the body stretched out in front of them as they wiped him down with disinfectant. "So what am I supposed to do here?"
"Distract me." Jem rested his head on his crossed arms and started calming his breathing. "Know any good stories? Any cases you haven't told me about?"
"A few." Spencer winced as the men made their first strike, a tool with a fine row of teeth biting into Jem's skin and leaving dark blue behind. Jem grunted a little but didn't say a word. "Did I ever tell you about the time..."
.
And that ends that. Many thanks to P, who kept me on track through this and to the wonderful REIDFANATIC who beta read the first half for me.