Fall From Grace

Chapter 20

By: Danielle

Kevin and Brian went back to getting lunch together when Nick went out to fetch Max. They were slicing up bagels for mini pizzas and doing up the toppings so everyone could pick and choose.

As the sounds of life came from the kitchen, everyone started coming in and some helped, others just sat around and talked.

Nick came back in with Max on his heels. "We have a great dog."

Howie was rubbing Taco’s head, "What makes you say that?"

Nick, Kevin and Brian filled everyone in on the visit from Ann and had them laughing at what Max did to her. After hearing all the vile things that came out of her mouth, they smothered Max with pats and scratches behind the ears in praise and he was eating it up!

Kevin was laughing at Max’s tongue lolling out of his mouth in puppy ecstasy and slicing bagels, trying not to fall out laughing when Max did the leg shaking thing in response to someone’s scratching on his back.

He brought his attention back to what he was doing a second too late. "Sssssst!" The exclamation was out of his mouth before he could stop it. The stinging across his palm told him he’d sliced too far when cutting the bagel and he’d caught his hand.

Nick was right there before the whole sound was out of his mouth, "What is it, Hon?" He looked down and saw the bagel and knife in his hand, noticing how still Kevin was keeping it.

Kevin looked up at him, "Just let me take care of it. Don’t touch me ok? Don’t let anyone touch me."

Nick shook his head, "You can’t take care of it, to fix it up you are going to need two hands and you’ve only got one and that one is holding the knife." Nick quietly walked across the aisle and pulled a pair of latex gloves from a drawer along with a first aid kit and went back over to Kevin.

All of the activity in the kitchen had stopped. Nick looked up at them, "Keep getting lunch ready. I’ve got this."

He took the halves of the bagel from Kevin’s hand and threw them in a trash bag beside him, then looked at the knife that was still lying in Kevin’s palm. Blood had started seeping over the blade and down between a few of his fingers. Nick carefully pulled the garbage pail below Kevin’s hand and pulled the knife away. He laid it on the cutting board that already had some blood dripped on it and took some gauze, holding it to the cut.

No one had moved since Kevin had cut his hand. They were all transfixed on Nick calmly doctoring Kevin’s wound like he did it every day. Like he was always around potentially lethal blood and it wasn’t any big thing.

Kevin was standing there, still somewhat in shock, when he pulled his hand away from Nick, "Please! Don’t touch me! I’m poison! Just don’t touch me!" He was whimpering, his eyes filled with tears, and it nearly broke Nick’s heart.

"Hon, we have to get that cleaned up. Give me your hand."

Kevin shook his head and kept the hand held to his chest, the t-shirt blotting up the blood.

Nick looked up at Kevin, "B, do you love me?"

Kevin looked at Nick, shocked. "Yes! You know I do!"

Nick put his hand on Kevin’s, "Then give me your hand. Let me fix it. Trust in me."

Kevin knew there was no possible way he could argue with that. None at all. He slowly lowered his hand from his chest and held it out for Nick.

Nick smiled and leaned close to Kevin, whispering in his ear, "Thank you, Bumpkin." He kissed Kevin’s ear and then kissed a trail to his lips, where he brushed them lightly. "Thank you."

He pulled away again, pulling Kevin’s hand away from his own t-shirt, were it had landed when they kissed. Nick now had a matching bloodstain on his shirt to mirror Kevin’s. Kevin’s eyes widened at the blood on Nick’s shirt, but Nick paid it no mind as he set to work on cleaning the cut on Kevin’s palm. He worked tenderly and quickly, cleaning the blood up with some gauze that immediately went into the garbage bag and finding a paper picnic bowl to put below Kevin’s hand before unscrewing the cap on the peroxide and giving Kevin a sympathetic look, "Sorry, B. I gotta do it."

Kevin nodded and clenched his other hand in a fist, "Go for it."

Nick poured the liquid over the cut, hearing Kevin softly curse. He put the bottle down and dabbed the liquid off of Kevin’s hand and started to gently blow on the fizzing cut, holding Kevin’s hand in his.

Nick stopped blowing on the cut long enough look up at Kevin, his eyes shining, "This remind you of anything?"

Kevin closed his eyes and saw the moment clearly in his head. The cabin in Georgia, the first kiss in the boat and their second in the bedroom as Nick cleaned Kevin’s stitches after the dump in the lake. Their second kiss. It seemed so long ago and like yesterday all at once. When Kevin’s eyes opened, his eyes too were shining, "Our second kiss. You were blowing on my hand just like this…"

Like a magnetic force was controlling them, they both leaned forward and tenderly kissed. Nick’s fingers caressed the raised scar on Kevin’s wrist as his tongue traced Kevin’s lower lip. It was only a simple kiss, but the memories behind it made it special in the minds of Kevin and Nick.

Everyone else in the kitchen watched the scene unfolding between them with even more awe. It never failed to inspire them how Kevin and Nick found moments of love in the most unusual and everyday things.

Nick and Kevin were both smiling when they pulled away and Nick went back to bandaging Kevin’s cut. Within a minute, he had the gauze wrapped around Kevin’s palm and taped in place. He then took another latex glove and cut the fingers off, and slipped it on Kevin’s hand, taping the wrist down and around the fingers to stop anything from getting in or out while the cut clotted.

He kissed Kevin’s fingers one by one and smiled, "All done. Now take off your shirt and give it to me.

While Kevin took off his shirt, Nick grabbed the knife and cutting board, placing them in the dishwasher and put the soap in it, setting it to the hottest setting and letting it start. He then took the garbage bag with all the used first aid stuff in it and chucked his gloves inside and tied it up tightly. He then took his shirt off and grabbed Kevin’s, throwing them in the washer on the hot cycle with bleach.

He threw Kevin and new t-shirt from the laundry that was sitting folded on the dryer. He slipped a new one on himself and grabbed the garbage bag in one hand, Kevin’s hand in the other. "Brian, would you mind slicing the bagels? We’ll be back in a minute. I just have to bring this out to the medical supply container that Sullivan brought us."

Brian nodded, "Yeah, I’ll see if I can do a little better at it than Ginzu Boy."

That broke the silence in the room as everyone laughed and Brian’s crack and they laughed even harder when Kevin shot Brian the finger.

Dylan ran over to Kevin and wrapped his arms around Kevin’s leg, "I come too!"

Both Kevin and Nick smiled down at the little boy and nodded, "Ok. Come on, Jellybean!" Kevin hauled the little boy into his arms, determined to carry him as far as he could before he got too tired and had to put him down.

The three of them walked to the garage at the side of the house and went inside while Kevin and Dylan stayed outside. Nick threw the garbage bag in the red pail that Dr. Sullivan had brought over for medical supplies that were used on Kevin. Sooner or later it would be brought to hospital to be incinerated.

Inside the kitchen, once the three of them had left, AJ whistled. "A show of hands. How many are having a whole new respect for Nick. The way the handled that was amazing. Like he had no panic at all. I would have been freaking!"

Everyone raised their hands.

Brian shook his head, "He’s always amazing me lately. If it was me and Leigh this was happening too, I would be in a ball in the corner completely catatonic."

Sam shook her head with a sigh, "I told Nick he was the strongest man I knew and he blew it off, saying he’s only doing what he has to do. That if he freaks, it gives him less time to be with Kevin. I don’t care what he says, he’s the bravest, strongest person I know. The both of them are."

Everyone nodded and went back to slicing and getting the stuff ready for lunch.

Nick came out of the garage and grinned at seeing his husband and son lying in the grass staring up at the sky. Dylan was laying with his head pillowed by Kevin’s arm and he was tucked up close to his side. Nick walked over and stood looking down at them, so he was in their field of vision. "What’s up?"

Kevin grinned, "We’re just talking. You go on in and we’ll be in when lunch is ready."

Nick nodded and kissed his fingers and reached down to be met with Kevin’s fingers touching his. Kevin took his fingers and rubbed them on his lips and smiled up at Nick. Nick smiled back and walked back towards the house.

Kevin watched the clouds floating above them and turned his head so he could see Dylan looking up too, "Thank you for that picture, Jellybean. It’s my most favorite picture in the whole world."

Dylan smiled up at Kevin, "Welcome, Daddy!"

They both laid quietly for a few minutes until Dylan turned his head to look up at Kevin, "Daddy? How far away is Heaven?"