Jae and Toby

*Jake*

I left for work this morning it was Saturday, I left Toby in his bed, he looked so peaceful sleeping. When I drove in, of course Janice was pulling up at the same time. "You know Janice, I am glad we are generally on the same shift, you are one of the greatest nurses we have here." I told her as I was getting out of my car.

"One of? I thought I was the best." She said smiling. "Toby going to come up to see you for lunch?"

"Don't know, didn't ask him this morning, he was sleeping and he looked so cute that I didn't want to disturb him." She smiled at me.

"Jake, I am glad you finally found someone."

"Thanks, I am glad we met, too." I had a silly grin on my face. I was happy that Toby pulled up beside me over four months ago, I wished I had the balls to ask him out earlier than waiting until the retreat to start talking, we would have been together a month earlier. All in all, I am still glad we finally were able to talk and start dating.

The day went fast, we had one emergency case after the next come into the ER, so when Janice walked up and told me it was quitting time, I smiled and said "thank god." We both had to be back in in the morning so when I got to the changing room, I rushed to change and to walk out to my car. Janice must had the same idea because she came up on me fast and laughed when we both almost ran for the elevator.

"Wanting to get home to Toby, Jake?"

"Yeah, he didn't text or call me today, I wonder what it up. Maybe he got busy with things."

"Jake you are too funny, he is probably waiting at home right now with dinner made for you."

"That would be nice, I didn't get much lunch, with all the accidents coming in."

"See you tomorrow." She got in her car and I did mine.

I drove home and parked, I went into my place to feed Merlin and then I took a quick shower and headed over to Toby's. When I keyed myself in, I was expecting to find him in the living room, but he wasn't there. It looked like he hadn't been downstairs at all today, because the coffee cup that I left on the sink was still there and the coffee pot was still full of cold coffee.

I walked upstairs and looked in the bedroom and there he laid in a fetal position asleep. I walked over to the bed and sat down and could tell right away that something was wrong. "Toby, Babe?" I put my hand on his forehead and he was hot. I called him again and he started to stir. "Honey, wake up Babe." I then noticed the garbage can beside the bed with vomit in it. "Toby, Honey, please wake up." He opened his eyes and I could tell he was in pain. "Toby where do you hurt?"

"Abdomen, it's nothing Doc, just a virus or something, been throwing up."

"I will be right back Toby." I left and ran over to my place and grabbed my bag. It is funny I never thought I would ever need a medical bag, I just keep it together because I can laugh when someone asked if I have a bag. It just has the essentials in it, stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, thermometer and a few other things, basically an unscaled first aid kit.

I came back and still found him in a fetal position but lending over the side, he was throwing up again. "Doc, just leave me before you get sick. I can't even keep water down."

"Well you are obviously throwing up, are you going to the bathroom?"

"Yeah, diarrhea."

I checked his temperature, it was one hundred and three, his body was fighting off something. "You said your abdomen hurts? How bad?"

"Bad."

"Can you lay on your back for me a second, Hon."

He rolled over slowly, he uncurled himself from the fetal position slowly, I could tell that he didn't like to be straight. I wanted to check one thing and if I am correct we will be off to the hospital. I touched around his navel. "Does this hurt?"

"A little not too bad." I moved to his lower right and pushed. "Shit, don't do that." He screamed.

"I take it, that it hurts there?"

"No wonder why you are an ER Doc, patients would never come back to see you, if you were their normal Doc. Yes it hurts there, bad. Please don't touch it again." Boy, he is just a sarcastic little bitch right now, I was trying hard not to laugh or smile at him.

"Get up Hon, I am going to have to take you to the hospital."

"Why, I am just sick with a bug."

"No, I think you have appendicitis, I don't see an appendix scar, so I am assuming you have never had it out." He was looking at me and shook his head. "Unless you want me to take you there in your birthday suit, I need you to get dressed."

I helped him sit up on the edge of the bed, and I grabbed some clothes for him, helping him get everything on was fun, I have put socks on a baby before, but a grown man, every time he went to bend over he was in pain, so I helped with all his clothes. I took him down to his car.

When we made it to the hospital, I drove up to the ER doors, helped him into a wheelchair then I went and parked the car. One of his guards rolled him into the ER before I got back to the doors. "Hey Doc, he's in triage."

I said thanks and headed over there, they were finishing up taking his blood pressure and temperature. "Hey Doctor Thomas, didn't you just get off shift?"

"Yes, I brought Toby in."

"Oh, so we're not asking him the same questions over, what do you think is the problem?"

"Appendix, would like them to do a couple of test, but I believe it is his appendix."

"Ok, well there is a bed for him. Do you want to check off any of this answers for him, since he is kind of doubled over in the wheelchair?"

I quickly looked through history questions that they wanted, and for certain ones, I asked, but I was sure on most of the questions. Then they rolled him back into ER and I followed. I helped get him out of his clothes and into the gown, when Alan walked in. "Hey Jake, what do we have here?"

"Possible appendicitis."

The nurse comes in behind the doctor and starts hooking Toby up to all the machines and an IV. She wasn't too happy that the doctor came in first but because Alan knew I was here, he came right in.

"Ok, will order blood test and a CT that will be the fastest way of knowing." Alan looked at me. "I take it you touched his abdomen?"

"Yup." I smiled at him. "But you can do your tests to confirm."

"No, he looks like he bitched like a motherfucker."

"Yeah he did, he told me he knows why I am not a regular physician that no one would want to come back and see me." We both laughed, Toby just looked at me.

"I am right here."

"Ah he finally speaks." Alan was being very sarcastic.

"Well you didn't talk to me, so I didn't want to interrupt." Toby responded as bitchy as he did to me earlier.

"How do you two know one another?" Alan asked.

I looked at Toby and he just stared at me, so I spoke up. "Well he is head of security here and my boyfriend." I saw Toby smile, he liked that.

"Head of security, so you are the one getting these changes."

"Yes, are they good or bad?" Toby asked.

"Oh good, very good. Thank you, we all appreciate the extra security here in the ER, and we hear that there will be metal detectors coming?"

"Yes I have them on order. Hoping they will be here before Christmas, really they should be here soon, just haven't had a confirm shipment date yet." He looked at Alan. "Can you get me something for this pain?"

"Yeah, sorry, let me order the tests and get you something to help the pain and the fever." Alan left out and I looked at Toby.

"Hey Babe." Toby looked up at me. "As soon as he orders the pain med the nurse will come the meds will help almost immediately."

"Thanks, sorry about the remark earlier."

"About that no one would come back and see me, remark?" I smiled at him.

"Yeah, it just hurts like nothing I have experienced before, especially if you press on my abdomen."

"I know, but I had to, I wanted to rule it out, but it sort of confirmed it when you reacted so badly to me pressing there."

"Doc?" I looked at him. "Thanks, for saying you are my boyfriend. I didn't know if you wanted it out there."

"I was just hoping that you didn't mind getting outed there, I don't know if you told anyone in your department, but now they will know. Word travels fast around this hospital, I hope that you don't mind."

"Nope never told anyone, and I don't mind, because you are my boyfriend. Mmmm, I like the sound of that."

"You knew I was your boyfriend months ago."

"Yeah, but other than Janice I don't think anyone else knows."

The nurse came back in with a syringe of a pain killer and she told us that they will be coming shortly to take him to CT. While she was there, she drew his blood. I could tell that the pain killers were working because Toby was straightening out instead of being curled up.

"Is there anyone you would like me to call for you?"

"I probably should call my mother, she will call everyone else, but let's make sure it is my appendix first."

They came for Toby a few minutes later, I told him that I would wait here. A while later Alan came back into the room and sat down. "Not busy tonight?"

"Actually for a Saturday night, no, but I am sure we will once the bars close."

"Yeah I bet, I am so glad I don't do the midnight shift anymore. The drunks are the worst."

"Yeah but they can be funnier than hell though."

I laughed. "Yeah they can be."

"I didn't know you were dating again. I thought after Rick you said you were through with men and you would die alone."

"Yeah I did say that didn't I?" Alan looked at me. "Well he caught my eye, we started talking and one thing lead to another, you know how it is?"

"Yeah I know. You look happy Jake and at least you got a younger one this time." He laughed.

"He isn't that much younger, I'm only a little over six years older."

"Well that is closer than the ten that Rick was older than you. I really wish you would have left him and asked me out but I knew that was never going to happen." He looked at me again. "But I see I am late to the game again because you have a great looking one this time."

"Thanks, he is, isn't he? I did luck out on that one." They rolled Toby back in he looked spaced now. "Why does he looked like he has been drugged?"

"A doctor down there ordered him some pain killers." The orderly responded.

"What do you mean someone else ordered him some pain killers?" Alan asked.

"Well, the technician was walking towards the patient, she tripped and stumbled right into the patient, pushing down hard on his right side." The orderly could tell that Alan was mad.

"Do you have the scan with you? And they better have logged the pain killer into the system. What doctor was it?"

"Yes Sir, it is already loaded into the computer system. Don't know about logging, it was Doctor Pierce."

"Thank you."

Toby was looking around the room, he was spaced out of his mind. "Doc?"

Both men responded at the same time. "Yes?" But once they both looked at Toby they realized that it was Jake that Toby was talking to.

"Doc, I love you." He had a silly grin on his face.

"Toby you don't even know what you are saying right now."

"Yeah I do Doc." Toby was waving Jake closer, and he whispered to him. "Doc, I don't want you to leave me, I see how he looks at you."

"Who is he Toby? Toby?" Jake looked down and realized that Toby was asleep.

"What did he say?" Alan asked.

"I think he clued in on the fact that you like me. He said he see how you look at me and he doesn't want me to leave him."

"He doesn't know you too well does he?"

"What do you mean?"

"Jake, as much as you weren't happy with Rick, you stayed with him. I can see you are extremely happy with Toby; you have a glow about you."

"We haven't talked much about Rick, I told him how he left me, but not much about my relationship with him."

"Well you need to tell him one of these days, he should know."

"Yeah I know, one of these days."

Alan left out of the room to look at the scan and a few minutes later he came back in to tell me that indeed he did have appendicitis, that they can take him as an emergency case and do the surgery now or can send him up to a room and do it tomorrow. I told him, that we should ask Toby but for my opinion might as well get it done and over with.

Alan left out for a while to let the drugs leave his system, which we both knew that in a bit he would wake because of the pain. A little over an hour later, Toby woke up. "Doc?"

I had turned the lights out in the room and shut the door. "Yeah Toby?"

"I am in pain, Doc."

"Let me go and talk with Alan, you have a decision to make." I went out to see Alan and we walked back in.

"Nice to see you are wake again, Toby. We need to know if you want surgery now or tomorrow, I recommend now, then you will be out of this pain."

"So it is my appendix?" Alan nodded. "Then as soon as possible than."

"Ok, I will check to see who is on call and get back with you as soon as possible."

Alan step out of the room and I sat down next to Toby. "Would you like me to call someone for you?"

"I will call Doc, did you happen to grab my cell phone?"

"No, do you know the number?"

"Yeah I know it." I hand my cell to him and stepped out of the room while he dialed a number. When I came back in a few minutes later, he was just lying on the gurney. "I programed my mother number into your cell phone, she would like you to call her when I get out of surgery."

"Ok, no problem, what is her name?"

"It is under my name and mom, her name is, Betty."

*******

*Toby*

I woke several hours later in a different pain, it wasn't as severe as what I had before, but it still hurt. When I woke I found Jake asleep in the chair next to my bed and tons of wires and tubes coming from me, that is the moment I realized I had a catheter in me. Ouch, not really an ouch, but it is a little uncomfortable knowing there is a tube running out of your dick. Thank god I was out when they inserted it, I hear that is the worse for a guy is the initial entry of it.

I looked around and found the nurses call light and pressed it, a voice came over the intercom and asked what was needed and I told them I was in pain, they said that the nurse will be with me in a moment. The Doc never woke, he must be extremely tired, I feel bad because I know he needs to be back at work Sunday morning and if I am reading the clock correctly it was three in the morning.

The nurse came in. "Was beginning to wonder if you were going to wake before morning, Mr. Smith. What can I help you with?"

"I am in some pain, was wondering if I could have something for it."

"You sure can." She stepped to my IV pole and unwind a cord from a machine that was attached to it. "This is a self-medicate pump, all you have to do is push this button and it will give you pain relief, you can push it once every ten minutes if you like. We had to wait until you were awake to give it to you, so you can press the button yourself." She handed me the button and I pushed it, I didn't have to wait long before the medicine was making the pain go away.

"Thank you." I smiled at her as she walked back out of the room after checking all of my vitals. I finally looked over at the Doc and he was awake and looking at me. "Hi." I smiled at him.

"Hello Toby, how are you feeling?"

"Excellent, this is a bad ass drug in here, I was feeling pain a minute ago and now, nothing." I think I smiled at him again because he laughed at me.

"Toby, you are cute when you are drugged."

"I am not cute all the time?" I think I made puppy dog eyes at him, he just started laughing up a storm.

He stood up next to my bed and bent down and kissed my forehead. "Toby try to sleep some, I will be right here when you wake."

I started to feel a little bit of pain and pushed the button and it sent me into la la land, I rolled over onto my left side, so I could stare at the Doc and I don't remember anything for a while. I woke to Jake kissing my forehead. "I have to go to work, I will stop by to see you on my lunch hour ok, Babe?"

I nodded, pushed the button, closed my eyes and was out again. I didn't wake again until the nurse came in for vitals and ask how I was doing. How I was doing was just fine if they wouldn't have woke me, I don't know how they expect anyone to get some rest in a hospital when there is someone coming to check on you every few hours. When she left out, I pushed the button and went back to sleep.

I was woken a few more times that morning, one of the times was by the surgeon, he wanted to know how I was doing and to tell me that everything went fine. Jake came in a little after eleven, they had taken my pain pump away from me by then and I had a tray of food in front of me. Jake brought a tray from the cafeteria in for himself.

"How are you doing Toby?"

"Good, I am sorry, Doc."

"What for?"

"Because you didn't get any sleep before you shift today."

"I had a few hours, Hon. I hear they are going to release you today?"

"Yeah sometime this afternoon, since I don't need the pain drugs anymore. You don't mind taking me home do you?" I smiled at him.

"Not at all, considering I have your car. I will come back up when my shift is over to check on you, hopefully it won't take too long to for you to get discharged."

"It is a hospital, of course it will take forever."

"Well, I think I have a little pull." Jake said while laughing at me.

We ate our lunch together; he ended up sharing most of his with me, because mine truly sucked, but he had planned on that. When he had to go back to the ER, he kissed me goodbye and said he would see me when his shift ended.

I did feel bad because he didn't get any sleep and was wearing the same clothes, but at least he changes into scrubs during his shift, maybe he was able to grab a shower. After he left, I just laid back and relaxed, there was nothing else to do, and I wasn't interested in the TV, the nurses kept coming in and waking me when they needed vitals or other things. When the Doc showed back up they had my discharge papers and were ready for me to sign. The only thing that I hated about all the instructions was that I couldn't have sex for four to six weeks.

The Doc left a little before they were to wheel me out the door, so he could bring the car up. Once I was seated in the car, he looked over at me. "You didn't like the no sex instruction."

"No, that is going to suck. Why is that a rule I don't understand."

"Flex your abdomen."

"What?"

"Flex your muscles in your abdomen."

I tried and hollered out. "Oh shit."

"That is why you can't have sex for four to six weeks. Sorry Babe."

"Wow, ok, I think I'm a dumb ass." He laughed at me.

"No, you haven't had surgery before, and I am sure you haven't tried flexing your muscles before I asked you to do that." I shook my head. "And you know when you cum, you tighten a lot of muscles, so I would hate for you to be fucking me or vice versa and you say ouch."

"Yeah that would kind of kill the mood, more so on my end."

He got me home, and after a while I called my Mom to let her know everything went well. Jake had called her but was sent to voicemail, he left a message but she had never called back. He left me while I did this to check in out his cat Merlin and to take a shower and get into some comfortable clothes. He came back after a few hours, he found me napping.

*******

*Jake*

He looked so cute lying on the bed sleeping, I had to laugh quietly to myself for him thinking he was going to have sex right away after having his appendix out. I knew he hadn't thought that through, and he just flexing his muscles just a little reminded him that he just had surgery, yes it was laparoscopic but it was still surgery.

I left him sleeping, I didn't want to wake him up, I went down and cleaned up the coffee from the other day and wanted to make him some real food. I know the food for the patients suck, which is why when I went to the cafeteria I got extra food, it isn't much better than the patients but it does have a little more flavor to it.