He’d leaned against Liam a little harder.“Same thing we’re doing now,” he said softly.“We’re all in Europe.I-I mean, I didn’t stop doing this when I was sick last year.I kept on until I couldn’t, and then I kept on when I could.”
She nodded, her eyes shiny.“And that’s what we’ll do this time,” she whispered.“But this time….”
And her eyes had flitted none-too-subtly toward Liam.
Josh had glanced at him, seeing his tightened jaw, his expectation to be hurt again, and couldn’t do it.
“This time Liam’s in for the haul,” he said, not breaking contact with those dark blue eyes.God, he couldn’t send him away again.Shouldneverhave sent him away, no matter how hard the emotions were.
But certainly wouldn’t do it now that he knew what happiness looked like in Liam Craig’s arms.
“Damned right I am, boy-o,” Liam said, some of the fear in his eyes fading.Josh got it then, that Liam understood about circumstances.Cancer, death, even human weakness were sometimes beyond our control.But being there for another human being—particularly one you loved—was one of the few things a truly human being really had mastery over.“As long as we both shall live” was a heart-beating promise, and Liam had made it.
And now so had Josh.
So when the doctor made her white-coated presence known at the door, seven heads swiveled toward her, a handsome woman with tawny skin and crisp movements, her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun.
When she spoke, her English rang distinctly with a Slavic accent.
“There is quite a crowd outside,” she said bemusedly.“These people are here with your consent?”She peered at Josh.
“Extended family,” he said sheepishly.“Moral support.”
“Well, they must have supported you quite well,” she told him, “because while your iron is low, and your ironandglucose levels were dangerously low when you came in, your aggressive leukemia does not appear to have returned.”
“I’m clear?”Josh asked, almost afraid he’d heard her wrong.
“For now, yes,” she said, giving a severe glare around the room.“However,” she added, “your iron and vitamin deficiencies are cause for concern.Did your doctors not give you guidelines about recovery, one of them being to not push yourself beyond your limits?”
Josh felt the flat gaze of all the people he loved most in the world piercing him with the scare he’d given them.
“I didn’t know it was beyond my limits at the time,” he said with his most charming grin.And yes—he’d learned to charm and to disarm with that smile, practically from the cradle.Danny had once warned him not to use his charm like a weapon, because odds were it would end up hurting the innocent, so Josh had tried not to abuse that smile—but he knew he had it.
This doctor, it seemed, was impervious.
“Mr.Salinger,” she said severely, “what are you doing here?”
“My boyfriend put me on an ambulance, and this is where we ended up?”he asked, feeling like he was missing something.
There was a stunned silence.Liam thunked his forehead against Josh’s shoulder, and the parents—all four of them—covered their eyes.
Grace shot up in bed next to him and said, “Oh my God you’re stupid.”
“I am not!”Josh retorted, stung.
“So stupid,” Grace muttered.“Liam—it’s your job now.Tell him why he’s stupid.”
Liam glared at Grace, who glared back, but it was Danny who intervened.
“Doctor, is there anything else?”
She nodded.“Yes—he can leave the hospital this afternoon, but he needs to be here every morning for the next week to have his levels checked and to get plasma and electrolyte infusions—along with antibiotics, because he is just primed for infection right now.”And now she was glaring at Josh.“And this means that whatever you were doing kiting around Europe, you can very well put a kibosh on until you’ve recovered for at least a year.After you get the all clear to go back to the States, I don’t want youneara plane for another six months at the very least.For God’s sake,rest, young Mr.Salinger.Your records indicate you came very close to death less than a year ago.Give your body time to recover.”
Josh nodded, feeling the tightness in his chest that indicated his iron was so low hestillwasn’t getting enough oxygen, and conceded.
“Honeymooning,” he said faintly, leaning into Liam’s arms.“We were honeymooning.”
She gave him a slightly less exasperated glance.“Well, do it from home.I understand you have some accommodations in the city?”
