Wednesday Briefs: One Night Part 9

It's that time again! Wednesday Briefs, woo hoo! Now, I'm flying today to go visit family but I made sure I could have these updates ready for you in my absence. This week we had these prompts: "In what universe did you think..." or use: kumquat, canary and vitamin or "He had to chuckle when he saw..." or use: backwards, light, brandy or "The lady is a tramp..." or any other Cher reference.

I chose the prompt: In what universe did you think..." Enjoy!

One Night Part 9

Bear jerked awake. “Wha--”

Kameron was sliding out of bed, holding the phone to his ear. “Hold on,” he said. “Go get dressed Bear.” There was an unspoken urgency in him voice that had me getting up immediately, even though Bear had no idea what was going on. When he grabbed his gun, even before he grabbed pants, Bear ran into his room and scooped up clothes from his suitcase and took them back into his room. He didn’t have any underwear but pulled on his jeans without them anyway.

“We’re coming.”

Bear yanked a t-shirt on inside out, too rushed to worry about it, barely holding in a yelp as he moved his shoulder too far and pain stabbed through the joint.

“Yeah. Meet us in the parking garage.”

Where were they going to go? Who was meeting them? Kameron dropped his phone on the bed next to his gun and then pulled on a shirt. He turned back to the dresser, grabbed his badge, and his holster. Bear’s heart raced as he stared at him, cradling his arm. “Put your sling on, Bear.”

He awkwardly fit the strap around his neck. It felt better with the weight taken off his shoulder. Kameron came around and smoothed the strap around Bear’s neck. He stood close, looking down at him and cupping the back of his neck. “Bear.”

Bear looked up at him, biting at his lip. “What?” He didn’t want to know, but Bear knew he was about to find out what would make Kameron call out like that. His eyes were shiny and his hand was shaking a little on Bear’s neck.

“Bear, he was shot.” Kameron closed his eyes and a tear slipped out. “Jimmy was shot.”

His heart stopped. Bear swore it felt like every atom in his body froze in that moment. He expected to hear that the safe house had been discovered, not that his brother had been shot.

“He’s okay, right?”

Kameron’s face was pale when he shook his head. “John said it was bad.”

Bear swayed and Kameron brought him into his body. Bear’s face rested against his chest; he could hear Kameron’s heart pounding a mile a minute. Bear’s was going now pounding so hard he thought it would explode.

Everything was a little dark around the edges of his vision so he closed his eyes. “He’s all I have left,” Bear whispered. “He can’t … he can’t ….” He couldn’t say he was dead; it just wouldn’t come out. “He can’t leave me.”

Kameron enveloped him in his arms, holding him close. “He won’t if he has a
choice, Bear, you know he won’t. We need to get to the hospital.”

The hospital. Again. He was starting to hate that place. “Is it safe?” Jimmy would kick his ass if Bear left the safe house and put himself in danger.

“No, but I thought that you should go anyway. You need to see him, no matter what happens. We’ll go to another safe house when we’re done. I’ll have someone come get our stuff, okay? For now, let’s just go.”

Bear nodded but didn’t move. “I don’t know if I can,” he said in a shaky voice. “If I move, if we go there, they might say that he’s dead.” Bear broke down and sobbed, fisting his hands in Kameron’s shirt. His body was going to shake apart and the only thing holding him together were those two strong arms wrapped around him. “Don’t let me go.”

He couldn’t have said if he wanted Kameron to stop the hug so they could go to the hospital, or if he meant something else. All Bear knew, right in that moment, was that his world was disintegrating.

“I’m not going to let you go, Bear. Jimmy isn’t the only one that cares about you. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be with you as long as you need.” Bear nodded against Kameron’s chest, trying to stop sobbing. He had to get it together. Jimmy would either need him to tell him to behave and do what the doctors told him to so he could get better or … Bear would want to say good-bye, if he could.

He leaned back and wiped at his face. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Jimmy has always known the risks. He told me when we went after the Zbrane that he knew exactly how dangerous this was. He was glad that I was with you, to keep you safe. He just wanted to make sure you didn’t have to worry about them.”

Kameron was trying to help, he knew he was, but all what his comments really did was make Bear feel guilty. He nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

***

Watching Bear bite his nails all the way to the hospital made Kameron crazy. He tried to comfort the smaller man, but there was no getting through to him. Kameron sucked at that shit anyway. He’d only been on the force for a few years, and giving bad news never got any easier. He always felt like he bungled it up.

He parked at the hospital and followed Bear inside. He kept a hand on Bear’s back, trying to let him know he was there. There were a ton of cops in the waiting room; Loren was standing next to John, his face bone white. Most of the cops knew John and Kameron were gay, and it wasn’t easy, but they hadn’t faced the nastiness he’d heard from other precincts. Even if he did, he wouldn’t hide how he felt for Bear or stop giving him the support he needed.

“Bear!” Loren rushed over and grabbed Bear into a tight hug.

“Do you know anything?” Bear asked in a strangled voice.

“He’s in surgery. They said he coded at least once on the way over. He's touch and go,” John said from behind them.

“We have to stay positive.” Loren squeezed Bear. “He’s strong. He’ll make it.”

TBC

Now don't forget to check out the other great updates by the other briefer's flashing this week!



Nephylim  

MC Houle     

Cia Nordwell     

MA Church    

Tali Spencer   

Victoria Adams      

Elyzabeth VaLey      

Julie Lynn Hayes