Death & Tequila [mxm]

33. Sunshine Stout

Everyone expected Jaiden to have suffered significant injuries because of the accident.  He had some lacerations on his head, but he somehow only dislocated his arm, cracked his humerus, and suffered from some road rash.  He was moved into a sling but told to rest his arm as much as possible.

His first official day awake was busy.  Jaiden never expected so much traffic in his hospital room. Honestly, he only had himself and his few close friends for the longest time. But suddenly, Valeria and her family were there, and Toni's family insisted on coming as well.

The doctors had a hard time keeping the large families from entering the room altogether. They had to come back multiple times to kick people out. But the people who would always remain were Toni, Valeria, and Gloria.

Jaiden would look helplessly toward Toni as the two older women fussed about Jaiden. 

Toni coughed a little. "Mamá, tia, how about you two go get something to eat with everyone else. Take a break." He suggested.

Gloria wanted to protest, but Toni raised his hand to stop her. "Jaiden needs some rest too."

The older women agreed reluctantly, leaving with the large group.

Jaiden let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank you, Toni."

"Mi sol, you should try to get some more rest."

Jaiden laughed. "I was out for three days. I think I can stay up longer and be with you."

Toni sighed and sat down next to him, brushing his hair back with his fingers.

"How are you feeling? Honestly." Toni asked quietly. Jaiden had been trying to make light of the situation with family visiting. He was smiling and cracking jokes the entire time, but Toni could see through the facade.

Jaiden sunk down and leaned against Toni. "Like shit. The pain isn't bad, but I'm pissed off about my bike and jacket."

Toni raised an eyebrow. "Not that someone was trying to run you down?"

Jaiden huffed a little. "Fuck that person too...that bike was everything. It was the first piece of freedom I could buy when I graduated. It allowed me to get away from the suffocating town I was in. And Carlos was there to help me fix it when it kept breaking down. Most of it had been rebuilt by the two of us."

He clenched his fist a little. "That leather jacket was his too... and I tore it to shreds. That fucking accident is stealing the small pieces of him that I have left."

Toni kissed him on the temple. "I hope you don't mind, but my brother, Alex, has a shop downtown. He took the bike and salvaged what he could. I figured we can rebuild a new bike with some remaining functioning pieces."

He seemed a little worried that he overstepped, especially when Jaiden looked at him with a stunned expression.

"Was that ok?" He asked with some trepidation in his voice.

Jaiden released a breathy laugh and leaned into Toni, trying to hide his expression. He was so grateful for this man, especially when he said that 'we' could rebuild it.  "More than ok.  Thank you."

"Mamá and Valeria are figuring out what to do with the jacket, but no one will get rid of it." Toni explained, hoping to ease Jaiden's, troubled heart.

Jaiden shuddered a little. "You are amazing; you know that, right?"

Toni flushed a little. "I'm not sure about that... some of the guys from the precinct may have caught me sleeping in your hospital bed." He was nervous. "I should have known that they would visit, and I wasn't prepared. I didn't mean—"