Christian (The Beck Brothers Series) (5 page)

“
You
sure can,
”
Christian
said, feeling like he was talking to Ethan instead of Shea.

Shea
nodded, but he was still looking up at him as if he wasn
’
t
sure if Christian was telling the truth or not. The nurse showed up a few
minutes later with Shea
’
s discharge
papers and a list of instructions for his care. Christian kept a firm hold of
Shea
’
s left arm as they walked out
to the car.
 
He was still a bit
loopy and Christian was terrified that he was going to bump into something and
hurt himself even more.

Shea
fell asleep almost as soon as Christian pulled out of the parking lot. Christian
pulled into his driveway an hour later. He got out, went around to the
passenger side, and opened the door. Shea was still out cold.

“
Shea?
Hey, bud, wake up,
”
Christian
said, patting his thigh.

Shea
dragged his eyes open, blinking a few times before looking up at Christian.
“
Did
you get my ice cream?
”
was the
first this he asked.

“
Not
yet,
”
Christian murmured and helped
him get out of the car.

“
Fucker,
I want my Frosty.
”
Shea
grunted as he straightened up.

“
Relax,
I
’
ll get you your Frosty, don
’
t
worry,
”
Christian
soothed.

“
I
think you
’
re a
mothafuckin
’
liar, Christian
Beck,
”
he muttered as he started for
the front door.

Christian
sighed and rolled his eyes. Shea was not a pleasant person when he was on pain
medication
…
actually,
he was a massive pain in the ass. The last time he was on pain meds was a few
years ago when he threw his back out. Christian found him laid out, flat on his
back, on the floor in his living room because he was unable to get up.
Apparently, he bent over to pick up a magazine off his coffee table and when he
straightened back up, out went his back. It was spasming so hard that he was
having trouble pulling in a deep breath, and Christian had to call an
ambulance. He also took care of him then for about a week, and he was a vicious
asshole because of the pain medication. Christian had sworn that he
’
d
never do that again, but really, what choice did he have? Shea had no family to
take care of him.
 
Plus, now he was
his boyfriend. There was definitely some obligation there.

“
Open
the damn door!
”
Shea
shouted and kicked the front door.

“
Hey!
Knock that shit off before you hurt yourself even more!
”
Christian snapped and rushed over to unlock the front door.

“
Fuck
off,
”
Shea muttered in return as he
brushed past Christian to walk into the house.

Gritting
his teeth, Christian followed, shutting the door behind him. He tossed his keys
on the table next to the door and went to find out where Shea went. He found
him in the kitchen trying to open a bottle of beer with his teeth.

“
Dammit,
Shea, you can
’
t have
that!
”
Christian growled in
irritation as he snatched the bottle out of his hand and put it back in the
fridge.

Shea
mumbled a string of curses as he shuffled out of the kitchen and into the
living room. Christian
’
s house
wasn
’
t overly big; it was a small
three bedroom single family home with a two-car garage that he used as his
personal painting studio and for storage. He had gotten the place cheap about
six years ago because it needed a lot of work. Shea had helped with that.

Christian
followed Shea out into the living room, where Shea carefully sat down on the
couch and grabbed the remote. After turning on the fifty-two inch flat screen
TV that hung on the wall above the fireplace, he settled back into the couch,
wincing a few times as he shifted to get comfortable.

Within
minutes, he passed out again, his chin resting on his chest. Christian shook
his head, went back into the kitchen, and picked up his cordless phone from
where it sat on the counter. He punched in Quinn
’
s
number and waited.

“
Hello?
”
Quinn answered, his familiar low gravelly tone easing some of Christian
’
s
angst.

“
Hey,
Quinn,
”
he replied
with a sigh.

“
Feeling
any better since last night?
”
Quinn
asked.

Christian
had left his parents
’
house
early last night after have a gigantic panic attack that he just couldn
’
t
get under control. After throwing up twice and then dry heaving, he just had to
get out of there.

“
I
was until I had to go pick up Shea from Abington Hospital,
”
he replied.

“
What
happened? Is he alright?
”
Quinn
asked in concern.

“
Yeah,
he fell off a roof and broke his collar bone.
”

“
Aw
hell, I
’
m guessing
he
’
s on pain medication then?
”

Christian
just grunted. All of his brothers knew how Shea acted on pain meds. They have
known Shea so long that he was considered part of the family, another brother
even. Christian couldn
’
t imagine
what his brothers will think once they found out that the two of them were
together. Would they be disgusted? Disappointed?
 

“
That
sucks,
”
Quinn said
sympathetically.

“
Yeah,
it does, but I was calling to ask you a favor.
 
Could you possibly run to Wendy
’
s
and get Shea a chocolate Frosty? He won
’
t
stop bugging me about it and I don
’
t
want to leave him here alone,
”
Christian
said.

Quinn
chuckled.
“
A chocolate
Frosty?
”

“
For
his boo-boo he said.
”
Christian
snorted.

Quinn
barked out a laugh.
“
I am so
telling Sebastian about that.
”

Christian
chuckled.
“
Yeah, go
right ahead, maybe Sebastian can come up with some witty retorts for Shea
’
s
off the wall comments.
”

“
Oh
man...yeah, I
’
ll get the
Frosty. See you in about twenty minutes.
”
Quinn laughed then said goodbye before hanging up. In twenty minutes, Christian
was sure that all three of his brothers were going to be at his house.

Shea
awoke to something cold pressed against his cheek. His eyes fluttered open and
he couldn
’
t stop the
groan that came out.
 
Standing
around him were Christian
’
s brothers,
each one of them with a shit-eatin
’
grin on his face.

“
Aw,
the wittle baby is awake. Here baby, here
’
s
your ice cweam,
”
Sebastian
said in a mocking tone that made Shea want to punch him in his fucking face.

Shea
snatched the Frosty cup out of his hand and snarled at him.
“
Fuck
you, asshole.
”

Shea
shifted to try to sit up higher so that he could eat the damn Frosty, but the
pain that radiated from his collarbone was almost unbearable. He gasped and
held out the cup for someone to take it. He didn
’
t
see who grabbed it and he really didn
’
t
care. Shea squeezed his eyes shut and bared his teeth as he tried to breathe
through the excruciating pain; obviously the medication he got in the ER has
worn off.

“
Chris!
”
He choked.

“
Coming!
”
Christian called from what sounded like the direction of the kitchen.

“
Dude,
for real? Are you seriously in that much pain or are you just being a pussy?
”
Sebastian asked skeptically.

“
Watch
out!
”
Christian
’
s
voice snapped.
“
Here, Shea.
”

Shea
then felt Christian press a pill into his left hand, which he immediately
tossed into his mouth, and then Christian put a glass of water in his hand.
Shea downed that, swallowing the pill with it. He prayed that it worked fast
because he was ready to throw the hell up.

“
Chris,
is he for real?
”
Sebastian
asked again.

“
Yes,
he is actually in a lot of pain. They can
’
t
set the bone like they would your leg or arm, so moving is going to hurt if the
medicine wears off.
”

“
That
sucks,
”
Quinn
said.

“
Yeah,
it does,
”
Henry
drawled.

Shea
cracked an eye open to see what everyone was doing when Sebastian flopped down
onto the couch next to him, on his right side of course, and jostled the hell
out of him. Shea screamed in agony and used his left hand to help cradle his
right arm.

“
AAAGGGHHHHH!!!
YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!! I HATE YOU! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!
”
Shea screamed, as he kicked at Sebastian as best he could.

“
Ow!
Shit, I
’
m
sorry...ow! Stop kicking me! I didn
’
t
mean to do that!
”
Sebastian
cried as he scrambled to get away from Shea
’
s
kicks.

“
What
the hell is wrong with you?
”
Henry
snapped. Shea heard a
“
thwap
”
sound, which was most likely Henry slapping Sebastian upside the head.

“
Dammit!
I didn
’
t mean to
hurt him! You don
’
t have to
hit me!
”

“
You
’
re
a fucking idiot,
”
Quinn
muttered.

Another
“
thwap.
”
 
“
Sonofabitch!
Will you knock that shit off?
”

“
That
was Quinn that time.
”
Henry
chuckled.

“
Alright,
you know what? Why don
’
t you guys
just go. Obviously, you can
’
t be
trusted around an injured person,
”
Christian said calmly, but Shea could hear the edge to his voice, he was
freaking fuming.

“
I
’
m
sorry!
”
Sebastian
whined.

“
It
’
s
fine, just go,
”
Christian
replied.

A
few minutes later, after they all said goodbye to each other, Shea heard the
door shut. He was still trying not to throw up on Christian
’
s
floor when he heard Christian walk back into the living room.

“
God,
Shea, I
’
m so sorry,
”
he rushed to say when he returned.

“
Mmm
hmm,
”
was all he could get out
through his clenched teeth.