Chase the Stars (Lang Downs 2 ) (2 page)

T
HE
emergency room in Yass was about as crowded and busy as the rest of the town, which was to say not at all. The doctor looked surprised to see anyone, much less someone in the young man’s condition.

“What happened?”

“We found five guys trying to kick the shite out of him,” Macklin said. “His brother’s on his way here with our boss. The brother can give you medical background, I hope, but we didn’t want to wait to bring him in.”

“No, of course not,” the doctor said. “Put him on the gurney. I’ll need to do an X-ray and….”

Macklin tuned out the mumbling as the doctor rolled the gurney deeper into the emergency room. The man would do what he could and they’d go from there. He was more concerned with Caine. He didn’t really think the thugs he’d run off would stumble across Caine and realize he was the grazier from Lang Downs, much less that they’d do anything after Macklin had kicked their arses once, but he would still be happier once he could see Caine again to be sure. More than that, though, he knew his lover’s tender heart and could easily guess how this entire situation would bother Caine. Macklin didn’t know the whole story, although he’d bet Caine had gotten it out of the kid’s brother by now, but he knew it couldn’t be good, and that would tear at Caine. As far as Macklin was concerned, nothing was allowed to upset his lover, which meant finding a solution.

Now.

Caine arrived a few minutes later, the younger brother in tow. Macklin saw the way Caine’s eyes raked over him checking for scuffs or injuries. He squeezed Caine’s shoulder as the younger brother rushed past him into the hospital. It was a subtle gesture, all Macklin would let pass between them in public, especially here in Yass, but it would reassure Caine for the moment. His lover could strip him bare and check every centimeter of him later.

“Where’s Chris?”

“The doctor took him for an X-ray,” Macklin said, turning to face the boy who had skidded to a halt in the middle of the lobby when he didn’t see the object of his search, “and I don’t know what else. He was unconscious but alive when we brought him in. He’ll be sore for a while, but he didn’t look hurt bad enough to worry about him getting well.”

“Macklin, this is Seth,” Caine said. “Seth, this is Mr.

Armstrong.”
“Thank you for saving my brother, Mr. Armstrong,”
the kid said. “You didn’t have to get involved.” The kid might see it that way, but Macklin hadn’t had
a choice, not from the moment he’d understood that
homophobia had motivated the attack.
The doctor came back out before Macklin could reply. “Has the brother got here yet? I need some medical
background.”
“I’m Chris’s brother,” Seth said.
Macklin caught Caine’s arm when he would have
followed Seth and the doctor. “Let him do this. I need to
talk to you.”
“They’re coming to Lang Downs,” Caine said
immediately, “as soon as Chris can travel safely.” “Of course they are,” Macklin said. “What did the kid
tell you?”
“They’re orphans; their stepfather kicked them out
after their mom died. They have a room here in Yass, but
I’m guessing it’s temporary. They need a chance.” “And we’ll give them one,” Macklin agreed.
“Michael would approve.”
Caine beamed the way he did any time Macklin
brought up his great-uncle, making Macklin resolve, once
again, to mention the old man more often.
“H
E
’
S
still unconscious,” the doctor told Seth, “but we expect him to come to any minute. He has three cracked ribs, bruised kidneys, multiple lacerations and contusions, and a broken arm. None of that is good, but it’ll all heal in
time.”
“How much time?”
“The bruises and scrapes will heal in a few days. His
arm, which will take the longest, will need to be in a cast
for six to eight weeks,” the doctor said.
“Which arm is it?”
“His right.”
Seth cursed silently. If it had been his left arm, Chris
might have been able to keep working, but he was
worthless with his left hand. He’d lose his job, they’d lose
their room, and they’d be back to living in the car, trying to
stay presentable enough that someone would give them a
chance at another job and another room.
Unless they took the offer to go to the station…. “Can I see him? I want to be there when he wakes
up.”
“Of course.”
The doctor led Seth into a small hospital room where
Chris lay on the bed, various machines monitoring his
vitals. “Don’t let the wires bother you,” the doctor said.
“They’re keeping tabs on his systems, but he’s doing
everything himself. As soon as he’s awake, we’ll start
taking them off, and once we know he doesn’t have a
concussion, we can send him home. Do you have
somewhere to go?”
“Yes, of course,” Seth lied. He had no idea where
they’d go. Their landlord let them pay by the week since
that’s how Chris got paid, but they’d owe rent again in
three days, and Seth didn’t know if they’d have enough to
cover it. Even if they did, that would only delay the
inevitable by a week, because Chris wouldn’t be able to
work for some time, based on what the doctor said. “Wake
up, Chris,” Seth begged. “We have to figure this out, and I
can’t do it by myself.”
They had the offer from the grazier, but Seth didn’t
trust it. He didn’t trust anyone but Chris these days. Too
many people had betrayed their trust for Seth to believe
that anyone but Chris cared about what happened to them.
Looking around the room to make sure he was alone, not
that he expected anyone to come in, he put his hand on
Chris’s. “Come on, Chris. Don’t do this to me.” He could feel the tears threatening, but he had too
much pride to snivel like a little kid. Chris needed him to
be strong. He wondered what would happen if he showed
up at the restaurant where Chris worked tomorrow to take
Chris’s shift. It wasn’t like he’d be doing anything but
washing dishes anyway. Surely he could do that well
enough to keep a roof over their heads for a couple of
weeks until Chris could work again.
The fingers beneath his twitched slightly, drawing
Seth’s attention from his spiraling thoughts back to his
brother. Chris’s eyes were still closed, but Seth thought he
saw more movement beneath the lids, like maybe Chris
was waking up. “Can you hear me, Chris? Come on. Help me get this sorted here, okay? You’ve got to wake up and tell me how to fix all of this because I can’t do it on my
own.”
Chris’s fingers twitched again, but his eyes didn’t
open. “What are we going to do?” Seth asked, hoping the
sound of his voice would help rouse his brother. “Even if
they let me work your job, they’re going to bitch about
school and the number of hours I can work. I’m not sure I
can make enough in the hours they’re likely to give me to
make the rent. I need you to wake up and give me the
solution. You always have the answers, Chris. Now would
be a good time.”
Noise in the hallway interrupted him. He jerked his
hand back, as if whoever was out there would think him
unmanly for holding his brother’s hand. He watched the
door for several seconds, but no one came in so he turned
back to Chris again. “The men who helped you offered us
a job, but I don’t know if they really meant it, or if they’ll
still mean it when they realize you broke your arm. The
doc says you’ll be in a cast for six to eight weeks. I don’t know much about sheep, but I don’t think there’s much you could do with your arm busted up like that. I guess we tell them thanks but no thanks and hope Mr. Harrell will let us miss a rent payment or two until you’re back on your feet. Just when I thought we were getting ahead a little bit, this had to go and happen.”

“W
E HAVE
to do something.”
“We will,” Macklin said, his hand back on Caine’s
arm again, keeping him from going into the hospital room,
“but that kid in there doesn’t know us and doesn’t trust us,
and as much as you’d like him to, there’s no reason why
he should. We have to be patient and let his brother wake
up first. Then you’re going to stay out here with Neil and
I’m going to talk to Chris man to man.”
“And I’m not a man?” Caine asked.
“You’re an amazing man, but right now your mother
hen instincts have kicked in, and those kids have no idea
how to deal with that,” Macklin said. “You want to
comfort them. That might make you feel better, but it isn’t
going to help them.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I was those two kids when I ended up on
Lang Downs,” Macklin said. “I’d run away from home
because I was tired of taking blows meant for my mother,
going down, and watching her take them anyway. I was
tired of homophobic rants and living in fear. I figured even
the streets were better than that. I was wrong, of course,
until Michael kicked me in the arse and set me straight. He
didn’t do it by comforting me, pup. He did it by telling me
if this was my choice, then I had to grow up and act like a
man, and then he taught me how to do it. That’s what
those boys in there are going to respond to, and because
I’ve been where they are, I can do for them what Michael
did for me. You can comfort them later, when they know
us well enough to trust it.”
Caine’s heart ached hearing those words. He’d
guessed some of it from things Macklin had and hadn’t
said, but hearing it laid out that bluntly made him want to
pull Macklin into his arms and heal all the old hurts. He chuckled. Macklin was right about his protective side. “Okay, fine. We’ll do it your way.”

Two

 

N
EEDLES
. Someone was driving needles into his arm. Chris struggled against the pain, aware only of the need to escape it. Then memory returned with a flash and he bolted upright in bed. “Seth!”

“You’re awake!”

Chris slumped back against the hard mattress, the flat pillows doing nothing to cushion his back, and he gasped as pain lanced outward from his ribs. “Where am I?”

“In hospital,” Seth said, looking small and scared under the fluorescent lights. “I got help. This big guy named Macklin and his boss, I guess, a Yank named Caine something unpronounceable. The Yank owns a sheep station, he said, and he said we should come work for him.”

“Back up,” Chris said. “You aren’t making sense. What happened when you ran?”

“I went to the hotel. It was close and I figured there would be people there. I was right. I begged for help, and almost before I’d finished, Macklin asked me where you were. I told him, and he and three others went to help.”

Macklin must be the man Chris saw before he lost consciousness. “How’d you get from asking for help to a job?”

“Caine, the Yank, wouldn’t let me go back with Macklin and the others. He asked a bunch of questions about where we lived and stuff, and when I was done, he said we should come work at Lang Downs, the station he owns.”

“You didn’t tell him the truth, did you?” They’d been over this. If people knew where they were living and why, they could end up with the Department of Community Services and separated, and that was Chris’s greatest fear. He didn’t have much in his life, but he wouldn’t let anyone take the one thing he did have: his brother.

“I know I wasn’t supposed to, but I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to say. I was too upset and….”

“No worries, Seth,” Chris said with a sigh. “He offered us a job, not to call the cops. Not that I can do much work at the moment.”

“I could probably work your shifts at the restaurant,” Seth offered.

 

“You need to be in school.”

 

“I’m not going to be in school on a sheep station either,” Seth pointed out. “At least here we’ll be in town.”

In town where people now knew he was gay. Seth talked about doing Chris’s job, but he wasn’t sure he’d have a job after the confrontation that had led to him being bashed. Even if he didn’t lose his job and Seth worked the shifts until he was well, he could run into those guys again at any time, and Seth might not be around next time to find help.

“Let’s think about it before we make a decision,” Chris said. “I’m too tired to sort it out now.”
A cough in the doorway drew Chris’s attention.
“Oh, Mr. Armstrong,” Seth said, jumping to his feet. “I didn’t see you come in.”

Chris might have chuckled at the awe in Seth’s voice, usually reserved for visiting heads of state or local demigods, but the situation was too serious for laughter.

“Good to see you awake,” the man said, addressing Chris. “Seth, could you maybe find some tea for me while I talk with your brother?”

Seth scampered out of the room like an eager puppy. “You’ve certainly impressed my brother.”
“He’s just grateful I took him seriously when he

asked for help.”
“You saved my life.”
“Probably. Macklin Armstrong.”
“Chris Simms.” Chris held out his left hand. The

gesture was awkward, but it was the best he could manage with his right arm in a cast. “Thank you.”

 

“Glad I could help. So Caine tells me you’ve had a bit of a rough time recently.”

 

“Nothing we can’t handle,” Chris said defensively. “I’ve got a job.”

“You can cut the bullshit, Chris,” Macklin said. “You have a dead-end job, a flat you can barely afford to keep, and no way to get anything better because you’re trying to take care of your brother. You’re not eating well, even if you’re eating regularly, because you’re both way too skinny. You’re doing your best, and you should be proud of that, but it’s not enough.”