"What the hell was that all about?" James snarled, as he continued revving the truck down the highway.
"James, could you please not drive my new truck like I can afford a second transmission? Do you have any idea what the repayments are on this truck?" Lisa grumbled, and James did let up on the engine.
"Greg, what did those cops want?" James asked, looking in the rear-view mirror at Greg; but who was off in his own world and just ignored James.
James just shook his head and turned to Lisa, "what did the cops want from you? I know they weren't conducting some bullshit checking a vehicle of three doctors for smuggling weapons in a truck," he grumbled.
Lisa sighed, knowing that if she didn't tell James the truth, that Greg would end up cracking and letting it slip before the day was out, and she had dealt with enough from James and his suspicions without adding that she lied to him to his list of paranoia.
"That woman from the motel who yelled at you James, twice, for being rough, she called the cops. That's why they pulled us over and got you out of the car to check to make sure that Greg and I were okay," Lisa admitted.
"What?" James yelled, and spun the truck around across the highway, kicking up dust, dirt and debris from the highway shoulder as he did so before he swerved back onto the road. Lisa screamed and grabbed onto the door, and Greg yelped and sat up in a panic.
"James, what the hell are you doing?" Lisa screamed.
"I'm going back to the motel, going to give this woman a piece of my mind," he growled.
"No, you're not!" Lisa yelled, "have you lost your mind? You're going to get yourself arrested!"
Several minutes passed in silence and a sense of concern and ambiguity filled the air that both Greg and Lisa felt, and were exuding themselves; before with a deep sigh, James pulled the truck over on the side of the road about a minute later and leant his head against the steering wheel with a deep, shaking sigh. "James, are you okay?" Lisa asked, Greg remained silent in the back seat.
"No… no, I'm not," he mumbled, climbing out of the car out towards the somewhat busy highway; this caught Greg's attention, "James!" he yelled, and before Lisa could say anything to stop him, he opened the back door and leapt out of the truck, moving as fast as he could around to stand next to James, who stood on the edge of the highway watching the cars, trucks and semis rush past him, the passing air flow sucking him closer, and James felt as though it was calling to him. Greg noticed the risks that James seeming to be on the verge of running onto the road, ending it all in an instant.
Lisa wasn't far behind Greg, in a blind panic, she ran around the front of the truck, and just paused, watching. Greg held out his hand gently on James' arm, halting him from rushing into the oncoming traffic, whispering something, and within seconds, James crumpled down, squatting next to the truck as he began to uncontrollably sob. "I'm so sorry," he cried, "I'm so, so sorry for everything wrong that I've done and said to you, Greg,"
"It's okay James, its all okay, just… just step back from the road for me please," he begged, gently leading him away; "please don't do anything stupid to me, James,"
"I've already done everything stupid to you, Greg! I've already destroyed everything that we had built! I not only destroyed it, I set it ablaze!" James cried, and Greg whispered back to him.
"No, you haven't. You haven't done anything unforgiveable to me, James, ever. I promise you. We can sort anything out. But you are about to do something unforgiveable to me, something that I will never recover from, please, just step back," Greg placated, as he gently led James away from the roadside.
Lisa watched, paralysed in fear of what she might be about to witness, and pride in Greg, as he grabbed James by the hand, whispering in his ear, and leading him with his other hand gently placed on his upper arm, just above the elbow, around the front to the car, "step back," he guided, "step back, please, baby," he led him to the backseat and opened up the back door on the side away from the road, and gently nudged him in. With this, Lisa jumped into action, and as soon as James and Greg were both safely in the backseat, Greg chucking the duffel bag over and into the front passenger seat, Lisa leapt into the driver's seat and slowly pulled back onto the road, immediately locking the doors as she did so.
"I'm so sorry for everything I did, Greg," the snotty and sobbing James cried, collapsing into Greg's lap, his body shaking with gasping sobs.
"It's okay," Greg promised, he ran his fingers comfortingly through James' hair, and held his lover's body as he shook and convulsed in his lap in uncontrollable sobs and tears, holding back his own tears and shakes at the trauma of nearly having permanently lost the love of his life in the most awful, traumatising way; "there's nothing that we can't work out. We can get through anything James, we already have,"
"I'm so, so sorry baby," James sobbed uncontrollably, his tears streaming from his eyes and down onto Greg's lap and onto the seat, "I am no better than your father, I'm no better than your uncle… I am unforgivable. I am even worse. You chose me to have as the person in your life forever, and I hurt you,"
"You didn't hurt me," Greg whispered, his fingers still running gently and comfortingly through James' hair, "I promise you, I'm totally fine!"
"I shouldn't have done what I did to you this morning, I forced myself onto you, and that is unforgiveable. It can never be undone. I should have never done that, I can't believe that it happened, I don't know what I was thinking," James sobbed, his voice hitching and sobbing as Greg gently shushed him.
"It's okay, baby, I promise you that everything is going to be okay," Greg whispered, "just rest baby, just rest, I've got you. I understand why it happened, I understand how stressed and scared you were. It wasn't you; I've got you, Jimmy, and I'm not going anywhere, just shush,"
Lisa felt her heart swell in pride at Greg's actions, she couldn't believe how unbelievably and uncharacteristically gentle and loving he was being, she couldn't believe the clear absolute, unconditional love that he clearly held for James. She wanted to give him a hug and a kiss herself. She'd always thought of him almost like the baby on her team of doctors, he was the one who was emotional, unpredictable, acted on instinct, whose behaviour was routinely childish and ridiculous; like an overgrown child, and yet in this moment, she had never felt more pride in anyone, or seen a more mature, loving, unconditional caring approach in anyone; and certainly the last person to do so or actions shown that she had expected such a thing out of Greg, of all people. I guess really anyone can surprise you, she thought to herself as she smiled back into the rear-view mirror, and saw Greg smile weakly back, as she tried to convey her love, care, and appreciation, as well as her pride, to Greg in these moments.
Greg held James' crying body on his lap while he soothed him with quiet whispers and calming words, he made no attempt to shift James from his position, even though Lisa was certain that he must be placing an awful lot of pressure and weight through his pained leg; but instead Greg held him there for at least an hour and a half, muttering words of love, kindness and appreciation, and even gently singing to James under his breath before Lisa looked in the rear view mirror and saw Greg smiling back at her in the rear-view mirror "he's asleep, finally," he mouthed, before smiling lovingly at the man resting on his lap.
By the time they reached their next stop however, Greg's expression had shifted dramatically; while he was still staying quietly for James' sake, Lisa could see that he was now drenched in sweat, beginning to shake from the pain, and she had noticed that he had been popping Vicodin like candies in a way that she hadn't seen for a very long time.
"Do you think that you could carry him in? I don't want to upset him," Greg panted, dripping in sweat and actively gritting his teeth; Lisa looked at the solid, 6'1" man crumpled in the back seat of her truck, across Greg's lap and looked at him, shielding the incredulous, shocked expression on her face. Resisting an eye roll at the ridiculous request, she just shook her head, "no, Greg, I'm not carrying him inside. What do you think I am? Superman?"
"No, I guess not, well go check in and get the key, and I'll wake him up," Greg gritted through his teeth at the pain.
"James," Greg shook his shoulder gently, "James, baby, we're here," and James looked around sleepily, before glancing up to see Greg's sweaty face and realised in an instant that he'd fallen asleep leaning part way on his leg; immediately he felt like crying again. "Come on, stop that," Greg whispered, half soothingly, half with an air of harshness in his voice. "Lisa's gone to get the keys for the room… but James, I hate to ask this of you, but I think that I might need your help in getting to the hotel room, my leg is causing me a bit of trouble,"
"I'm so sorry," James wailed, and Greg resisted the urge to flinch and to hold his temper, given the extreme pain that he was currently enduring.
"Just hop out, baby," Greg whispered, trying to keep the whimper in his voice to a minimum to keep James from feeling any worse than he was already, and to also prevent Greg from needing to comfort James too much when his own social battery and empathy were beginning to wear thin, given his pain levels currently. James immediately jumped out of the backseat of truck, then ran around to the other door, jumping up on the sidestep and reaching over Greg, "James… what are you doing?" Greg couldn't help but keep the warning out of his tone as James reached over and unbuckled his seatbelt.
"I'm carrying you in, because you're my boo," James cooed, and Greg rolled his eyes, a small smile gracing his lips, but mainly concern.
"Please don't lift me, please don't carry me," Greg groaned, James ignored him and asked when Greg had last taken his Vicodin, which he confirmed that he was maxed out.
Lisa walked out of the reception area to see a sight that she never thought would grace her eyes, there was James, staggering across the parking lot with Greg in his arms, who for his part was looking furious and uncomfortable, and yet tolerating it, and Greg's cane being held in James' teeth halfway down the shaft to keep it balanced in his mouth; Lisa reached into her pocket and snapped a couple of photos on her phone; before rushing over to help only for Greg, his eyes wide as saucers pushed her away and stated that he was nervous enough as it was already, as he glanced down at the asphalt underneath him, and told her to just get the door, and to get it quickly.
James staggered in, turning his head to the side to spit out the cane from his mouth, and placed Greg on the bed, before he slumped down, leant against the side of the mattress while he caught his breath. "I love you, boo," James cooed, puffing for breath.
"I love you too," Greg mumbled back, "but I think we have to get you into a strength training regime," to which James just laughed and gently whacked Greg on the arm, before standing up on his own jelly legs and staggering over to the other side of the bed, climbing in and facing his lover, as they smiled and giggled with each other; the chaos of the earlier part of the day not forgotten, but forgiven. James leant forward, kissing Greg tenderly and gazed deeply into his eyes; until they slowly dozed off, facing one another, gentle smiles gracing both of their lips.