Twin Ties 2: Twin Affairs (4 page)

“Brennan… is, uh… holding it together, I guess.”

“What can we do? What happened to the assholes that did this?”

Luka tried to remember. “We heard Meryl and his buddies ran ‘em down and brought ‘em in to the station with some ‘mysterious’ injuries no one could explain. My guess is the bikers beat the piss out of those punks before dragging them to the authorities, but now the cops are questioning Meryl and all. I’ll talk to you more later, okay? I need to call some people.”

“Luka, man, how do we help you? Just name it.”

“I don’t know. Well, I think Evan’s car and Alek’s truck are still over there if you guys can get ‘em back?”

“No problem. We’re on it. If there’s anything else, you let us know.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

“And Luka? Tell Brennan and Alek to hang in there, all right?”

“Yeah.”

Luka hung up, cleared his throat and dialed the first number while he knew he was still able to talk.

It was picked up on the fifth ring, right before the panic about what to say on a voicemail message could strangle him senseless. “Oh thank god,” he sighed as Charlie answered with a hello.

“Yes, Mr. Savage? My name is Luka Popovic and I’m currently dating your son. Er, Brennan. I’m not sure if you were already contacted by the hospital or not, but I’m afraid I have some bad news. It’s Evan.”

The whole story tumbled from Luka’s lips. He left out the nature of Evan’s relationship with Alek, but included everything else. There wasn’t a word or sound from the other end of the line the whole time he was talking and Luka worried they’d been cut off due to a bad connection, but plowed on anyway. Once he’d finished, with Charlie caught up to the present and everything Luka knew about Evan’s condition, Luka paused. Then, he asked, “Sir? You still there?”

“I’m here. Just gimme a minute,” the older man said in a strained, gruff, gravelly voice.

“Brennan would have called you himself, but he’s fairly upset right now so he asked me to tell you instead. I’m sure he’ll want to speak with you once things have settled down and he’s feeling more like himself.”

“Tell him I’m coming, will you? I’ll see what I can do, the soonest I can get down there. What do you need? Insurance information? Medical history? Anything?”

“Yeah. Once I get the forms from Brennan, I’ll call you back so you can help me fill them out. We do have the insurance thing covered, I think, and I’ll keep you posted if there’s any change. I’m sure Evan would be very happy to see you if you can be here.”

“Th-thank you for the call, Luka,” he said, sounding overwhelmed, with good reason. “Seems like Brennan is lucky to have you there for him right now. I’m grateful for it. Those damn kids. Gonna send me to an early grave with worry for ‘em. Have Brennan call me.”

“I will.”

“And let me know if there’s any change.”

“I will.”

Once the call was ended, Luka felt drained and thin, like there wasn’t much left he had to give. Thinking of Brennan, though, and what he was dealing with, gave Luka the strength he needed to call the next number.

He put the phone to his ear and squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing over them.

“Hello?”

“Yeah, is this Jimmy?”

“It is. Who is this?”

“It’s Luka Popovic. Brennan’s boyfriend. Brennan told me about your history with the family and all, so let me preface this by assuring you he’s in stable condition right now, but Evan’s been hurt. He was attacked outside a bar, and—”

Jimmy interrupted, cutting Luka off. “Where are you? What hospital? Mercy?”

“Yes, sir. Fourth floor. He’s not allowed visitors yet, he just came out of surgery a few hours ago, and—”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Jimmy said abruptly. The line went dead.

“Jesus Christ,” Luka groaned, sinking down farther into his chair, leaning his head back against the wall. Wanting sleep and some sort of peace of mind, Luka knew it was still very far away.

On Alek’s phone, a new text popped up with Evan’s latest vitals printed out neatly for him, sent from Brennan.

Any change?
he sent back.

The numbers looked good. Evan’s blood pressure was up closer to normal levels again, his heart rate steady and temperature only slightly raised.

He groaned. Might be dreaming
, Brennan replied.

Alek pulled up the camera-phone shot Brennan had sent him only after much prompting and pleading, an image of Evan asleep in his hospital bed. Alek had looked at it a couple hundred times already, touching the tiny screen like Evan could feel him there, watching over him, too. It was a horrible sight. Evan’s nose was bandaged, his eyes and cheekbones bruised dark, swollen and discolored. His lips were also badly swollen and dry, particularly his lower lip which had six stitches in it from where his teeth punctured it. Wearing a hospital gown, Evan’s hands laid at his sides on the bed, a puffy wad of bandage raising the sheet slightly at his middle where the wound was located.

Send me another picture
, Alek typed.

No.
Brennan answered.

Seething, drowning in jealousy of Brennan and how close he was able to be to Evan, how he could hold his hand and wait by his side… it drove Alek insane.

The phone rang. When he answered, Alek’s tone was clipped and angry even though he saw it was only Luka calling. It was too easy to unload on his brother. He was an easy target because he knew Luka would always forgive Alek instantly, unasked. And Luka knew how upset Alek was, so he’d be expecting a sour mood. Even if Alek could pretend to be okay, it would have been a waste of effort with Luka anyway because Luka could
feel
Alek hurting—nothing as crude as words was required. But, no matter how riled Alek was, he couldn’t take it out on Brennan. Luka was a safer target, and possibly the only one.

“What?”

“Can you come up here? We need the keys to Evan’s car. Carter and Presley are gonna go and get it. Jimmy’s here, too.”

“Fine,” he snapped, ending the call.

The waiting room on Evan’s floor was quite full when Alek got there.

For whatever reason, it was usually when Alek was overextended or not really focused on what he was saying his twin connection with Luka became more apparent to everyone else. As soon as Alek was by Luka’s side and had managed a tight-lipped nod of welcome to everyone, the twins began responding to questions in tandem, finishing each other’s thoughts.

“They gave us Evan’s things,” Luka said.

“And I was going to take care of his car,” Alek added.

“But it’s not like there’s a rush to get it out of the lot.”

“I just didn’t want to forget about it. He loves that car.”

“So thank you for getting it.”

“You have the address to Evan and Bren’s?”

Carter raised an eyebrow, glancing at Presley. “Yeah. Luka hooked us up. How are you doin’, man? Hangin’ in there?”

Alek replied, “I just want to see him.”

“They haven’t allowed visitors yet,” Luka said.

“But we’re hoping that’ll change today,” Alek finished.

“The doctor said head injury patients can have a lot of swelling.”

“And can be combative, so since Evan suffered multiple blows to the head….”

“For safety reasons, they medically induced a coma.”

“Until the brain swelling comes down.”

“So Evan’s been given fentanyl for the pain and sedation.” .

“And norcuron, a paralytic agent. Bren texts me all of the names, to keep track of everything.” .

Luka dug in the bag of food and offered Alek a protein shake while Jimmy—sitting with paperwork laid out on his lap, attached to a clipboard—looked up at the twins with some amazement.

“Drink this. You look like shit,” Luka said to his brother under his breath. “Or sit down for a minute. Close your eyes.”

“I’m fine.”

Luka unscrewed the cap and physically put the beverage in Alek’s hand.

“Thank you,” Alek sighed, drinking it down.

“We’re gonna take off, but we’ll come back after,” Carter said.

“If you guys want anything specific for lunch or dinner, call us and we’ll pick it up,” Presley offered.

The pair left after brief, one-armed hugs for Luka and Alek, as well as muttered sentiments of support, encouragement and hope. Then it was only Alek, Luka and Jimmy.

Collecting himself, Alek stepped up to the thirty-something-year-old man who had been Evan’s support system for so long, and extended a hand to him.

“I’m Alek. You must be Jimmy. I’m really glad you could be here for Evan.”

His jaw set and expression stern, Jimmy nodded curtly and took Alek’s hand, pumping it twice, and squeezing hard.

“I must admit,” Jimmy said. “I did not get the best first impression of you, Alek, because of what I heard from Evan about your first couple of dates. But just the fact that you’re here and clearly very concerned about Evan’s well-being is slowly convincing me not to castrate you for having sex with him.”

“…Oh,” Alek managed, taken aback.

Sighing and running a hand over his face, Jimmy appeared to instantly regret what he’d said. “Look, I apologize for my anger. I know you’re dealing with a lot and I, uh, tend to be very frank when stressed. Evan has always confided in me. You could say I’ve been his self-appointed counselor for the past number of years. So yes, I know who you are, and some of what’s happened between you and Evan. He called me in tears some weeks ago with remorse over how quickly and how far things went with you, so I admit that has colored my perception of the whole thing. I feel it’s only fair to be honest about that. I’d like to remind you of his age, and his vulnerability given the many things he’s endured in his childhood and adolescence. Please attempt to show some responsibility in your, uh…
handling
… of him. I’m sorry. I just needed to say that upfront for my own peace of mind, even if it’s a bad time to bring it up.”

Flustered, upset, Jimmy stared in the direction of Evan’s room and appeared to lose his train of thought. Then he apologized again and continued.

“I realize there are other priorities right now, other than my opinions about Evan’s sex life. With Charlie away, it typically falls on me to manage Evan’s care and I feel like I’m playing catch-up right now. Luka has kindly explained everything that has happened since last night and, I must say, I’m not surprised Evan did what he did, trying to stand up for that young man. That’s who he is; Evan does whatever seems right without thinking it through and consequently putting himself in harm’s way. He’s always been reckless like that. I’m just sorry it turned out the way it did for Evan. But it sounds to me like Evan may have saved that person’s life by sticking his neck out. Now, are there any new developments? The doctor hasn’t been in to update Luka since six a.m. but I hear you’ve been in regular communication with Brennan?”

“Yeah. I have,” Alek said, tightly, dealing with his own raging emotions but trying to be diplomatic. “No change. Evan’s blood pressure has improved gradually over the course of the morning and they’re just watching for any sign of infection or complication.”

“Of course,” Jimmy nodded.

Not too long after that, Alek decided the waiting room was once again too stifling to endure.

He excused himself to wander the halls again, thinking of his next course of action, of what all of this meant and what he’d have to do because of it.

Complete consciousness kept slipping from Evan’s grasp. He clawed his way to awareness, hearing beeps and muted voices from all around him. Sometimes he felt someone…

Brennan. It’s Brennan
….

…holding his hand or touching his legs. It got his hopes up. He tried to hold on to that sensation, to let it keep him there, but then the pain came back and he let go, giving up. Tiredness and the drugs weighed him down, clouding everything out. He sank into the blackness of his mind, detaching from his battered body entirely.

It happened again and again until, finally, he had success. Perhaps that was because there were more voices.

Alek
….

Or because Brennan was actually laying next to him, on Evan’s good side—the one that didn’t feel wrong, patched together and screaming.

Evan’s bed was tilted, positioned slightly upright so he wasn’t flat on his back, allowing him to bear the broken ribs more easily. But Brennan was there, curled up on his right, holding his hand and urging him to open his eyes. Evan heard his name called and did open his eyes a few times before he could actually make any sense out of what he was seeing.

“Come on. You can do it. Come on, Evan. Open your eyes. Keep ‘em open. Can you hear me? Evan?”

It sounded to Evan like his own voice, calling to him. It was disorienting, especially coming out of a prolonged, drug-fueled unconsciousness. Nothing seemed quite real. Staring straight ahead of him at a face he knew well, Alek’s face, Evan felt his left hand taken by someone else, someone who wasn’t Brennan. Jimmy was there, too, Evan realized, and standing a few feet away.

Why is Jimmy here? Is it happening again? Did I try to kill myself again? Why does everyone look so upset?