Falling and Can’t Get Up

Day pulled his bike onto the sidewalk leading to God’s apartment. He refused to leave his Harley on the street. The complex didn’t have front door parking and sometimes you had to walk a good ways from where you parked. Day took one look at the long row of cars that had broken taillights, cracked windows, and flattened tires and knew he wasn’t leaving his bike out there. Day checked his holster and released the snaps that secured his weapons.

This was a shitty neighborhood with even shittier residents, but God had an arrangement with the dealers in the area. He didn’t bust them and they didn’t fuck with him, his apartment, or his truck. Besides, they were all low-level dealer guppies in a big damn pond, and God and Day only went after the big fish. For the life of him, Day couldn’t figure out why God lived in this part of town. A detective’s pay grade didn’t allow them lifestyles of the rich and famous, but they could afford decent housing.

Day dropped his kickstand down, parking his bike right under God’s kitchen window. He saw five thug-looking men standing a few feet away next door.

“You guys seen God?” Day asked them.

A man with tattoos completely covering his naked chest spoke up first. “Nah, man, he ain’t been out yet. Some little kids knocked on his door about an hour ago wanting to clean his truck, but he didn’t answer,” he paused looking Day up and down. “You can go on in, it ain’t locked.”

Day quirked one eyebrow at the man. “And how would you know that?”

The guy blew out a large billow of smoke from the joint he was smoking before answering, “Because it’s never locked. Besides, ain’t no one going up in there.”

Day snorted. “Oh yeah, why not?”

The thug wore a deadly expression and looked Day in his eyes. “Because he’s God.”

The respect that God demanded and obviously received from these men had Day’s cock getting hard. His man was a badass and a force to be reckoned with. God lived in the slums of Atlanta, smack dab in the middle of the urban jungle… and the man didn’t even have to lock his front door.

“We know you’re his partner. Go on in.” The man nodded his head toward the door. “Don’t worry about your bike, ain’t no one gonna fuck with it.”

“Thanks, man.” Day nodded once and went inside God’s small one-bedroom apartment.

God wasn’t a slob; the tiny place was tidy. His kitchen was to his immediate right. Day closed the door and went right to the mini-coffeemaker, and started a fresh pot. There were no dishes in the sink, only a bowl and spoon in the drying rack on the counter. It didn’t smell like God had cooked anything this morning either. Everything was neat and in its place.

God’s sixty-five-inch television took up over half of his living room. Since he didn’t have a table for eating in the small dining area, God had combined the two spaces to allow room for his futon recliner. The small area rug in front of the TV had a moderately sized gaming chair on it, no doubt where God sat when he played PlayStation 3.

Jeez, how can he play those mindless games?

Day listened to see if he could hear God snoring, or any movement, since the bedroom door was closed. Oh fuck. What if he has a chick in there?

Day’s chest jolted at that thought. “Hell no,” he whispered, shaking his head at the ridiculous thought.

Day made his cup of coffee and took it with him as he walked down the short, narrow hallway. Day tapped lightly on God’s bedroom door and waited impatiently for him to answer.

“Hey, slacker. You slept through a very important meeting this morning, and I covered for you by the way, since I’m such a good partner. You owe me, buddy.” Day waited. He put his ear close to the door, but didn’t hear anything. He got ready to turn the knob when he heard a low groan come from behind the closed bathroom door.

Day hurried into the bathroom, not bothering to knock and dropped his coffee mug to the floor at the sight of God’s huge body sprawled out on the linoleum floor. His face was half-covered with his hair and what Day could see was so pale, he almost appeared transparent.

“Jesus Christ, Cash, what the hell?” Day stepped over God’s long body and brushed the hair back from his face. He yanked his hand back as if he’d been burned… which he had.

“Fuck, Cashel. You’re on fire, man.”

God had to have a one hundred and five degree fever. He jumped up and pulled a small hand towel from the rack and ran some cold water on it while he pulled his cell from his pocket. He squatted down and began wiping the large beads of sweat from God's forehead with the cool towel.

“Cash, can you hear me? Open your eyes!” Day yelled.

He took God’s usually handsome face in his hands and lightly slapped his left cheek.

“Leo,” God whispered softly. Day saw him crack his eyes open just slightly. He was barely moving, but his face was scrunched up, and he was obviously in pain.

“Cash, come on, let’s get you up.” Day tried to hook his arm under God’s massive frame, but God wasn’t budging. “Help me out, babe.”

“Can’t.” God let loose an agonizing moan and his body began to convulse in a coughing fit. Day pulled back as God’s body hacked and dry heaved. It sounded like his body desperately wanted to throw something up, but there was nothing there.

“I’m calling an ambulance. You gotta get to the hospital. You have a really high fever, Cash.” Day pulled out his cell and saw that God was shaking his head back and forth.

“What? Are you saying no?” Day squatted back down.

“No, you can’t,” God groaned. “I don’t have insurance. It’ll cost me thousands for an emergency visit and I—”

Day’s hand stopped wiping his partner’s forehead, and his eyes snapped to God's.

“What the fuck do you mean you don’t have insurance? You’re a goddamn police officer. It’s mandatory. You must be mistaken,” Day argued.

God coughed and hacked for a while, but when he saw Day pull out his cell phone again, he made a hard effort to try to grab it, but ended up yelling out in pain.

“Day, please don’t. I can’t afford that. Besides, no ambulance will come out here anyway. You must’ve forgotten where you’re at.” God panted shallowly.

“God, you’re sick. You need help. Look, we’ll get the insurance thing settled or I’ll pay the bill my damn self.” Day looked into God’s watery eyes.

“I said no. Even if you did manage to get—” God’s body spasmed and hacked some more, cutting his own words off. His eyes were squeezed shut, and Day didn’t know what to do to help. “Even if you get a paramedic out here, I’ll refuse to go.”

Day knew God was serious, but it was obvious the man was very sick, and not like common cold sick, either. Day ran his hands through his hair in frustration as he watched God’s body go very still. His eyes were barely open, staring at him. Day got all the way down on his knees and got very close to God’s ear.

“God, you’re sick. I can’t lift you and your temperature is probably high enough to cause brain damage.”

“Just leave me here. I’ll be fine as soon as it passes,” God moaned.

Day stood back up, wet the towel again, and went back to wiping God’s forehead. Fuck. He’s too damn hot. Shit, shit, shit. Day had to think of something fast. It was probably true. There’s no way an ambulance would risk coming in to this neighborhood. He had to at least get God to his bed. From the smell of things, God had probably made it in here to puke but couldn’t get out.

“Okay. Come on. You need to at least get in the bed.” Day hooked both his arms under Gods armpits and used every bit of his strength to try to lift him, but he was dead weight. Day heard the big man moan and hiss, his body obviously in pain, but he wasn’t helping Day out by supporting any of his own weight.

“Fuck!” Day yelled. He eventually stopped straining and slowly lowered God’s upper body back to the cold bathroom floor.

Day stood and stepped into the narrow hallway, wincing at the pull in his back. Day watched God’s eyes narrow before fully closing. God’s chest rose and fell and to Day's relief his partner was breathing evenly.

What the hell am I supposed to do? I can’t move him by myself. Day’s eyes widened. Oh. His neighbors. Those were some big motherfuckers.

Day made determined strides through the hallway but jerked to a stop when he got to the front door. He thought about what the pot-smoking thug had said to him before he came in. “No one’s going to go in there… because he’s God.”

“But if God is weak and unable to protect himself they won’t be afraid anymore,” Day whispered to himself.

Fuck. I can’t show those punks how weak God is right now.

Day repeatedly ran his hands through his hair. What now, what now. He looked at his cell phone again and was thinking about trying to put some of God’s symptoms into the Google search engine to see what it said when he got an even better idea. Yes, why the hell didn’t I think of that before?

Day punched in the numbers he knew by heart, all while keeping an eye on God.

“Good afternoon, Waldon, Schmidt, and Day, how may I help you?” the bubbly receptionist said in greeting.

“Yes, I need to speak with Dr. Day immediately please, this is a life or death emergency,” Day said back to her.

“Sir, you need to hang up and call 911,” she said back quickly.

“No I don’t. Please go get Dr. Day right now. He’ll take the call trust me. Tell him his brother is on the phone.”

“Hold one moment.”

Day waited impatiently while an annoying woman crooned in his ear about rolling in the deep. After almost an entire damn song, the line was connected.

“Leonidis, what’s going on, have you been hurt?” His brother’s easy voice soaked into his soul and he felt better already.

“No, Jax, I’m fine… but my partner isn’t.” Day took a deep breath and told his brother everything that God had told him about the insurance, the lack of a medical response team in this neighborhood, and all of God’s outward symptoms.

“It sounds like pneumonia, Leo. Try to keep him cool. If he’s as hot as you say, you need to try to get that temperature down. Get some ice trays and dump them into a towel and rub him down with it, mainly his chest and neck. Are you sure you can’t get him into the tub, because an ice bath would be more effective.”

“Fuck no. He’s almost three hundred pounds, man. I’m quick, not strong.” Day huffed.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be there in a half hour. I’ll bring my two assistants, they’re pretty big guys. We should be able to move him,” Jax assured him and Day finally was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Leo. I’m concerned about his temperature. Are you sure you can’t get an ambulance out there?” Jax asked again.

“No. I already said that.” Day huffed. “Besides, he said he’d refuse it anyway and I told you why, so just make sure you don’t mention that. I'll chew his ass out about the insurance when I’m sure he’s not fucking dying.”

“All right, be there soon, bro.”

“Oh, shit. Hold on. Are y’all going to come with doctor’s coats and bags of medical supplies?” Day stopped pacing.

“A white coat is not necessary, but I will have to bring supplies, Leo. Why?”

“No, you can’t. If these hooligans out here see three doctors coming into God’s apartment with medical supplies they’ll know he’s sick,” Day said.

“I can’t very well treat him without supplies, Leonidis. You’re being unreasonable,” his brother said, exasperated. “His neighbors should just mind their own business… or better yet ask how they can help.”

Day barked a humorless laugh at his brother’s ignorance. “This isn’t fuckin’ Mayberry, Jax. It’s the jungle. Look, just tell your assistant to grab a few suitcases from over at the consignment shop next door to your office and then pack all your supplies in there. I’ll take care of the rest.” Day hung up.

Day swiped an empty coffee mug out of the kitchen cabinet, and hurried toward the front door. He took a calming breath before opening it. He strolled easily over to his bike and began digging through the side bags. He pulled out a Guns & Ammo magazine and stepped back up on God’s porch when he heard the lead thug ask, “What’s up with God? Playing hooky from the streets today?”

Day turned toward them as if he hadn’t a care in the world. But his heart was racing a mile a minute, knowing that God was in there on the floor burning up brain cells, and he should be in there trying to cool him off. Day had to handle this first. He took a fake sip of his nonexistent coffee before answering with a shrug.

“I forgot he had relatives coming to town. He told me, but I don’t remember irrelevant shit like that.”

“Oh cool,” the guy said and took another hit of his joint.

Day turned to go inside before backing up a step. “Yo, man, God told me to ask if y’all can make sure no one fucks with them when they get here. God’s on the phone handling business right now.”

“Tell God we got him.”

“Cool.” Day shrugged and strolled back into the apartment. He raced to the small linen closet that was right next to the kitchen and got a clean towel out. In the freezer he only saw two ice trays, but thank goodness they were full. He quickly dumped all the ice in the towel and ran back into the bathroom.

His chest hurt when he saw God panting heavily on the floor. He was drenched with sweat and his body was shaking violently with tremors. His eyes were closed tight as his body tried to fight the sickness coursing through him.

“Oh no.” Day dropped to his knees, not caring about the ache in them and made work of lifting God’s shirt up so he could get to his chest. “Hang on, babe, help is coming.”

He saw God open his eyes slightly, a look of obvious worry on his face. “I didn’t call 911, my brother’s coming. Try to relax.” Day began to rub the ice-filled towel all over God’s massive chest. God groaned, shook, heaved, and coughed over and over as Day tried his best to keep working on cooling God down.

Day was beyond frustrated. God’s temperature wasn’t coming down. He was still hot as an oven set on broil. Day’s eyes watered when God grabbed his hand and clenched his teeth when a coughing fit took control of his large body.

“It’s gonna be okay. My brother will be here any minute.”

God looked into Day’s eyes again. Their usual intense green was now red-rimmed and as dull as dying grass. But Day could still communicate with his partner, and he knew what God was thinking.

“I told your neighbors that you had relatives coming and to look out for them. They think you’re in here handling business.” Day held God’s hand tight while wiping at his brow with the cold rag held in the other. Day bent and kissed God’s forehead, just like he’d done to him before, letting him know how much he cared for him.

Day heard a light tap at the front door, before it opened and his brother’s voice reached his ears.

“So where’s the beer and the girls,” his brother yelled.

Perfect. The Day men were always quick on their feet, smart as whips. He knew Jax would catch on.

Day got to his feet and ran into the front room. He ran into his big brother’s arms. “Thank you for coming so fast. He’s back here.” Day took the small rolling suitcase from his brother and said a quick hello and thanks to his brother’s MAs before showing them back to the small bathroom.

“Damn, he is big,” one of the assistants said letting out a short whistle.

“I told you. Come on, fellas. I need to get him into a bed and get the IVs hooked up. I can already tell he’s severely dehydrated. So first things first,” Jax said to his assistants.

It was ridiculously hard fitting four men into God’s tiny bathroom to try to lift him, but somehow they’d done it. God hollered more than once as they gripped and pulled on him however they could to get him into his bedroom without dropping him. By the time they'd gotten him in the king-size bed that took up ninety percent of the space, everyone was breathing hard.

His brother was panting, but he immediately went about opening the luggage and laying out supplies. His assistants made quick work of removing God's sweaty T-shirt and sweatpants.

Day sat on the side of God’s bed and rubbed his cheeks and forehead gently with a cool rag.

“I’m right here, baby. You’re gonna be all right,” Day whispered, and saw his brother’s head shoot up at hearing his endearment for his long-time partner, but Day kept his eyes on God’s face. He groaned some more and would probably be writhing if he had the energy to move his limbs.

“Cash, can you hear me?” Jax spoke in his stern doctor’s voice. “Cashel, I need to know if you are allergic to any medications.”

It appeared God tried to answer, but as soon as he opened his mouth he coughed violently and was unable to mumble anything intelligible, slowly shaking his head no.

“That will have to do,” Jax said, digging out what he needed.

Day sat quietly, watching his brother and his assistants work quickly and efficiently. God was hooked up to an IV, and several vials of blood were being drawn while Day’s brother used his stethoscope to listen to God’s lungs.

“Get those to the lab and order the results stat,” Jax said to the assistant who looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was average height and build, but he had beautiful blue eyes, and appeared kind.

“I sure will,” he said and left the room. Day heard him close the front door behind him.

Day carefully watched God’s face. He was calm right now, but his eyes were slightly open and fixed on him. Day gave him a small wink and he swore that a flash of love appeared in God’s eyes.

His brother started injecting syringes into God’s IV port. Day looked at the multiple medicine vials. “What are all those, Jax?”

Jax picked up each bottle as he named the medications. “This is an antibiotic to fight any infection; this one’s intravenous Lidocaine to help suppress the coughing, Phenergan for nausea and vomiting, morphine for pain, and ibuprofen to reduce his fever. Jax injected each syringe, put his stethoscope back on and checked God’s chest again.

He pulled back and blew a breath, “It’s going to take a while, and I won’t know the diagnosis until I get the lab results, but I’m fairly positive he has pneumonia brought on by bronchitis.” Jax reached in his bag and readied another IV bag of fluid. “God’s obviously had the bronchitis for a while for it to have brought on this nasty case of pneumonia. It’s unlikely in this day of modern medicine, but people used to die of pneumonia if left untreated.”

“Wouldn’t I be sick too, or people in the office?” Day argued.

“Not really. If an adult does start to cough or get a sore throat, they most likely go to their doctor and get medicine or an antibiotic, and the symptoms go away. I will give you a couple of doses of antibiotics just in case, since you two are obviously,” his brother paused and looked at him, “close.”

“Thanks, Jax,” Day said, ignoring his brother’s insinuation. “So he’s going to be fine?”

“Yes. I’ll show you how to push the antibiotic every four hours and to give the nausea and cough suppressants every six. I’m going to give him a stronger dosage and see if it can help him recover faster. I’ll be back after my morning rounds to check on him. In the meantime, just watch him for any significant changes and if there are any, call and I’ll be right over.”

Day came around the large bed and hugged his brother. “Thanks, man. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you… as usual.” Day grinned sheepishly.

“You would’ve figured something out. You always do.” Jax patted him once on his shoulder.

Day watched him pull a bag and a long tube from out of the second suitcase, and hand the materials to the other assistant, currently struggling to position God fully on his back.

“What are you going to do now?” Day scrunched his brow at the supplies.

“He’s going to insert a catheter. Since God is being pumped full of fluids, he’ll have to urinate frequently. He’ll be drowsy from the pain meds, and too weak to get up and go to the bathroom. Since you obviously can’t carry him, I don’t see any other way,” Jax told him.

“Aren't those uncomfortable though? I don’t want him in any more pain, Jaxson. I can get a pot or something for him to use while he’s in bed.” Day tried to reason an alternative.

At Day’s suggestion, God turned his head toward him and looked into his eyes. The appreciation and care that showed on God’s ruggedly handsome face stole Day’s breath away.

“He’ll be out of it most of the night, Leo. This is best. Joseph is a great nurse; Cashel won’t even feel it being inserted. If he's constantly trying to stay awake to hold it in all night, that’s more uncomfortable than the catheter.” Jax snapped off his rubber gloves and tossed them in the small wastebasket by the bed.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt him. And not trying to brag, but I know my way around a penis.” The cute man’s feminine lisp told Day that the man was telling the truth.

“Okay,” Day said, shocked at finally hearing the young man speak. He watched the nurse slather K-Y Jelly on the long, thin tube and insert it into God’s limp penis. Day monitored his actions closely, all while keeping an eye on God’s face for the first sign of discomfort.

“All done.” The nurse hooked the bag onto the bed frame. “If you’ll get me a large bowl, his body wash, and a towel, I’ll clean him up real good and get him comfortable.”

Day just stared at him with narrow eyes. Keep fucking dreaming, tall and cute.

“Day, get the stuff and knock it off. Joseph’s here as an employee, and he’s one hundred percent professional. Now let him do his job.” His brother pushed at his shoulder.

Day gave the nurse the supplies and closed him in the room with his partner, while he walked his brother to the living room and got him a glass of water. Day listened to all his instructions as God’s caregiver for the next several days and asked the necessary questions.

“I know it seems like a lot, but you are more than capable and a damn good partner. Oh yeah, didn’t God say a while back that he had a mom and a brother that lived in the area? Why don’t you give them a call so they can come and help take care of him?” Jax asked him.

“I’d rather do it myself,” Day said without hesitation.

Day tried to ignore his brother’s questioning glance while he sipped his coffee.

“Are you in love with him, Leonidis?”

“Yes.” Again there wasn’t a moment's hesitation, and even Day had to admit that he was shocked as shit at the confession.

“You never mentioned that Cash was gay,” Jax said.

“I know.”

“Leo, what are you doing? Falling for a straight man, and your partner at that?” His brother tried to make eye contact with him.

Day finally looked into his brother’s eyes, soft hazel ones that matched his own, and told him. “He loves me back. Straight, gay, bi, goddamn tranny… whatever he is. That man loves me too. He just hasn’t said it yet,” Day took another sip, “but he will.”

Day was relieved his brother let that subject go. He walked him and Joseph to their car, again playing the role for the neighbors, and came back in to take care of his partner… his man.