“Hello?” I yawned softly as I sat up in bed, my phone in my lap on speaker as I was too tired to hold it, “it’s 5 in the morning!”

“Koa?” Kipton sniffled, the pain in his voice immediately waking me up, “Hey, are you… I’m sorry for waking you up.”

“Kip? You never call me. What happened?”

“Can you come to Christchurch Hospital?”

“Are you hurt?”

“No. Evan is,” he croaked out and I started to panic but fought it down, “I’m sorry for waking you up but we need you.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Jumping out of bed, I grabbed the first jeans and sweater I found, leaving my arm behind as I wanted to get to Evander as soon as I could. We’d been going on dates for three months now, spending 3 days a week together exploring the South Island. I never brought him to my house, Evander found it inappropriate until he was my boyfriend and I respected this, grateful to learn what it meant to date someone. Evander and my aunt Belle had become quick friends and she had given him books on gender that my great-grandparent Hyacinth had written before I was born. Belle had kept these books as a memory of her own transition, finding them insightful, but also because all of my great-grandparents died in a rapid order. I hadn’t met a single one of them but knew that they were good people and it had splintered our family a bit when it happened. My grandparents managed to keep us together, but it was clear that we would lose them soon, Remington was in severely poor health, his heart weaker than anyone realized and Teodoro was exhausted all of the time, his doctors stating that he wasn’t getting enough oxygen to his blood. They were 71 now, it was to be expected, but I knew I would never be prepared for it.

I reached the hospital 10 minutes later and ran to a reception desk, my heart racing, “excuse me? I’m looking for Evander Thorne.”

“Oh! Are you Koa Bennett?” the receptionist smiled at me, fixing her glasses.

“Yes.”

“His brother put your name down as a visitor and we know your dad so we had no problems with this. He’s in the burn unit, room 1456. Here,” she gave me a visitor badge and I nodded, putting it on my sweater, “do you need directions?”

“No. I’ve visited my Matua here enough, I know every wing of this place.”

I rolled my shoulders and found the nearest elevator, going to the second floor of the hospital before finding Evander’s room. Kipton was pacing outside and rushed over when he saw me, crashing into my chest in panic as he hugged me.

“Kip? What happened?” I squeezed him tightly, his head tucked under my chin as he was only three inches taller than Evander.

“We were closing up the pub,” he hiccuped, his tears staining my sweater, “and Evan noticed a weird sound coming from the breaker box in the back so he went to check it. I’m sure you know how good he is with mechanical things so I leave it to him. It uh…something happened to the wiring under it. He was in the middle of shutting the power off when it arced and got his neck. Set his shirt on fire. I could hear Evan screaming and ran back there. Queenie helped me put out the fire as I called for an ambulance. He’s going to be okay. They already told me he’ll have no real lasting damage outside of some scarring on his throat and right arm from the fire. I’m sorry,” he started to cry harder and I shushed him softly, “I did what I could!”

“Kipton,” I leaned back and cradled his face with my hand, “you did the best you could. He’s alive, that’s all that matters. Trust me, he’s not going to be mad at you. Can I go in and see him?”

“Yeah. I need to get back to Queenie, I promised to wait until you got here. She’s having bad morning sickness.”

“Oh! Is she pregnant?” I gasped and Kipton nodded happily, “Congrats, man. Make sure you come to my parents when Evan is released. They’ll want to give you two a gift.”

“Why?”

“I’m dating your brother. Makes us family,” I shrugged and Kipton laughed, wiping his nose, “Go take care of your wife, get some sleep. I’ve got Evan.”

“I know.”

I watched Kipton leave before going into Evander’s hospital room where I found him sitting up in bed, happily eating pudding.

“Koa!” he squealed, “hi!”

“Oh they put you on the good meds didn’t they?” Laughing, I walked over and sat on the left side of his bed.

“Yeah. My skin hurts so they gave me Dilaudid because I can’t sleep until they give me a CT to make sure the electricity didn’t mess up my brain too badly. It did hit my neck but since it went through my whole body, I get to have all kinds of tests done. I feel okay,” he shrugged before hissing, “ow.”

“You look like a mummy,” smiling, I used kissing his forehead to hide how worried I was. Evander’s neck and right arm were entirely wrapped in bandages, plastic wrap over some places where I assumed they were worse or leaking, “do you know how long you’ll be here?”

“Hm,” he licked the spoon before getting more pudding, “a week. I think. As long as I start to heal right. No working until scar tissue forms so I’ll probably lose my apartment and move back in with Kip. No big deal. Just happy I didn’t die. It was really warm before the ambulance got there. Big pretty lights above my head. I wanted to follow them but something told me not to. Then I woke up here,” he smiled at me, “Kip was crying a lot. He blames himself.”

“I know. I talked to him before I came in here. I told him to not blame himself, I know how easy that is. I blamed myself for a bit after the accident because of Beau’s leg. But I didn’t cause it and had to let it go. Neither of you knew that the breaker box was faulty. I’m so glad you’re okay,” I whispered and Evander giggled, the medicine in his system making him act childish, “I was terrified.”

“Silly. I can’t leave you behind. We have a business to start. Kiss me?”

“You have pudding on your face.”

“So?”

I shook my head with a smile before gently pressing my lips to his, making Evander giggle again when I pulled away and licked a bit of chocolate pudding off my lip.

“Is it good?”

“I like pudding,” I nodded, “your hair is in the way, do you want… oh. I can’t put it up, I left my arm at home.”

“Leave it down. I don’t care right now,” he relaxed on the bed and I cleaned up after him, throwing away the pudding cup and spoon, “I’m tired.”

“I know, sweetie. But until they do the scans they need, you have to try your best to stay awake.”

“Don’t you have classes in three hours?”

“I’ll email my professors and let them know there was an emergency. That I need the next week off. They’ll understand. Once they take you for tests, I’ll run back home to get a few things I need and come back. I’ll live here until they feel ready to send you home. I’m not about to sit in my townhouse, wondering if you’re okay, when I can be here at your side. My Matua works here, I guarantee Alexander will come to visit once he finds out from the nursing staff. Can I get you anything right now?”

“Water?”

I found the water bottle he must have been given and brought it over, helping Evander drink as we were both down to one available arm. We laughed about this before the door opened and a familiar face came in, fixing his headband as he always seemed to.

“Hey Koa,” Dr. Miller laughed loudly, “you live here I swear.”

“When I got a call from Evan’s brother, I rushed over. We’re dating after all.”

“He’s my boyfriend,” Evander giggled, making my eyes wide, “oops. Nope we haven’t talked about that. Dr. Miller, you don’t say anything okay?” he whispered conspiratorly, making Dr. Miller laugh loud enough he was gasping for air.

“I promise to not tell Koa, who is currently standing next to you, that you think of him as your boyfriend.”

“Mhm. Thank you,” Evander yawned, “can I sleep yet?”

“We’re prepping the CT right now. Then I promise you can sleep. I’ll give you medication to help with it. One of the specialists will come in to redo your wraps and check for infection, all that fun stuff. Take some blood. And then,” he walked to the door and Alexander came in yawning, “my lovely co-worker will ensure that nothing pops up on your blood tests we need to worry about.”

“Alexi,” Evander squealed, making my dad smile.

“Hey, kid. Boy, you’re real chipper right now. Koa, he’s not mentally able to consent properly to procedures with the medications Dr. Miller put him on for the severe pain he’s in. Kipton said it was fine if we asked you. All I need is your signature to act in Evander’s place when it comes to making medical decisions. Dr. Miller is his primary doctor, Dr. Davis is a dermatologist with training in burn care, and I’m pretty much here to check for signs of infection. We’re his care team. One of the three of us will inform you of everything we need to do, you just give the okay.”

“Absolutely,” I nodded and he handed me a tablet, “shit, hang on,” I set it on the counter and started signing anywhere I needed with my finger before handing it back, “thanks.”

“Alright, Evan,” Alexander walked over and Evander blinked at him, a blank smile on his face, “we’ll get your next CT done and my nurse will come in to take some blood. Do you remember what Dr. Davis told you?”

“If anything feels weird, I need to tell someone,” he nodded, closing his eyes when Alexander patted his head, “you’re so pretty, Dr. Bennett. Will Koa look like you when he’s older?”

“Jesus,” Alexander whispered under his breath as I laughed softly, “probably. Or he’ll be more handsome than me.”

“He can’t get any more handsome or he’ll be too good for me. Keep that a secret, okay? Koa doesn’t need to know how hot I think he is.”

“Evan, sweetie. I’m right here,” I called, going over to kiss his forehead again.

“Oh. You are?” he smiled at me and I laughed softly, “you’re so cute, Koa.”

“So are you. I love the honesty because you’re high.”

“Huh! Drugs are bad!”

“Evander,” Dr. Miller had never stopped laughing, gripping his side, “we’re the ones giving them to you. To help with the pain.”

“Oh! Thank you. I’m so sleepy again.”

“It’ll be okay. Look at that,” he smiled as a nurse I knew named Britt came in, “my wonderful nurse Britt will take you for your CT then I promise you can sleep.”

“Okay. Koa? Will you be here when I get back?”

“Of course. I’ll run home and get what I need now. Matua, am I allowed to camp out here until Evan is released?”

“I already cleared it with the nurses and security. You’ll be free to be here whenever you want. I’m having a maternity ward chair brought up so you can sleep. I’d bring your own pillow and blanket though,” Alexander patted my shoulder and I hugged him tightly, “he’s going to be fine,” he whispered in my ear and I nodded, “I swear we’ll make sure there’s no lasting damage outside of the burn scars we can’t do anything about. Do you still put on that lotion we got you for your inner thighs?”

“Every night,” I whispered back.

“Buy more. For Evan to use when it heals. To help reduce what we can. Don’t forget all your chargers and your arm. He’s going to need a lot of help. He keeps trying to use his right arm, we’re close to just strapping it down. He tore open a few places that we secured already.”

“Thank you. Can you see if Dad will come visit when Evan wakes up? It’ll mean a lot to him. They talk constantly.”

“I already did when Luke called to tell me about Evan being here. I got to share the news of you dating. Luke was thrilled. He’s really protective of Evan.”

“I know. Evander told me about how they met. That doesn’t surprise me.”

“Koa,” Evander whined as they moved his bed, “I’m scared.”

“You’re going to be fine,” I ran over and kissed him deeply, “they’ll take care of you.”

“Promise?”

“I swear, babe.”

He giggled and nodded, “You never call me babe.”

“I’m trying it out. Did you like it?”

“I love it.”