Dick Dynasty: Porter Part 23

He bent his head to my hand and pressed his lips to my fingers, sprinkling me with the warm tears still falling from his eyes.

"You rescued me, Porter," I freed my hand and placed it on his cheek, "You saved my life."

"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have needed rescuing in the first place."

"Porter," frustration had strengthened my voice, "I love you. I would do it all again for you in a heartbeat. It took the prospect of not being able to tell you for me to accept it, but it's true. I love you."

His mouth hung open and he stared at me like I had just done some kind of magic trick.

The nurse chose that moment to come through the door and smiled at me warmly when she realized I was lucid.

"Is that arm bothering you?" she asked as she checked the bags near my head and adjusted a few unseen k.n.o.bs.

"A little bit but it's tolerable."

"Well, that's the joy of modern medicine. You don't even need to tolerate pain anymore," she flipped through the chart at the foot of my bed and made a quick note, "I've gone ahead and given you another dose of painkillers. Give it a couple of minutes to kick in and just give us a call when you're ready to eat."

"Thanks," I said with a half-a.s.sed smile.

She nodded curtly and smiled before leaving the room to continue her rounds.

The delicate brush of Porter's thumb over my hand drew my attention back to him.

"I love you, too, Holly. I'm sorry it took almost losing you for me to tell you. Even Parker and Preston tried to tell me, but I just couldn't see it. It wasn't until I saw you in that warehouse, bound and broken, that I knew I would do anything to keep you safe. Never in my life have I ever considered myself capable of killing someone but, given the chance, I would have snapped her neck, Holly. I would kill for you. I'd die for you, Holly Nash. Do you understand that?"

I smiled at him as my head began to swim from the drugs pumping into my veins through the IV in my arm.

"I do, Porter. I really do." I had to fight to keep my eyes open, "Don't leave me. I think I'm falling asleep."

"You're stuck with me, Holly. I'm not going anywhere."

I felt the soft press of his lips to the back of my hand once more.

The last thing I heard before I gave into the pull of the medication was a whispered promise; "I'll keep you safe as long as there's breath in my body."

After two more days in the hospital, Holly was finally allowed to go home. Becks and Mitch had packed up all of her stuff and all the get-well flowers and cards that had covered every inch of every flat surface in her room. They were walking behind us, chattering on as usual while I pushed Holly down the hall in the wheelchair the hospital insisted we use.

I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, "You excited to be out of here?"

"You have no idea," she replied dryly, "Mostly, I just want to take a bath and eat a cheeseburger. Being trapped in that bed for four days was almost worse than the four hours in the warehouse."

I laughed quietly and sped up just a touch. She'd feel better with some suns.h.i.+ne on her skin and some fresh air. Being stuck inside had made her surly.

My phone rang in my pocket as I helped Mitch and Becks load the last of the flowers into the back of my Land Rover. It was my mom's ring tone, so I let it go to voicemail. I'd call her back after I got Holly home and settled in.

It started ringing again almost as soon as it had stopped.

"Sorry, guys. I gotta take this. It's my mom."

"I think the gay boy can manage to get some flowers into the backseat, Porter," Mitch joked.

"And I'll get Holly settled into the front seat," Becks a.s.sured me, "as long as that means I get to be the first to sign her cast when we get home!"

I nodded my thanks to both of them as I brought the phone to my ear.

"Who died, Ma? I'm trying to get Holly home."

"It's Parker," she was sobbing into the receiver and my breath caught in my lungs, "He's overdosed. He was partying with some friends early this morning and they all thought he fell asleep. The police won't tell me anything more than that."

I stood in the middle of the parking lot in shock listening to her cry on the other end of the line.

"Is he alive?" I whispered.

"I'm sorry honey," she said through gasping breaths, "I couldn't hear you."

"Is he alive?" I asked again, almost yelling the words into the phone.

"He's in an ambulance right now on the way to L.A. General."

"I'm already in the parking lot," an ambulance came tearing around the corner and up to the entrance to the Emergency Room, "They just pulled in, Ma. I'll see you when you get here."

"Get her home!" I tossed my keys to Becks and ran back toward the hospital.

I had a feeling I was about to witness the downfall of the d.i.c.k Dynasty.

end.