Page 29 of Finding Isaac (Foggy Basin Season Two)

Isaac

I slid my hand across the bed expecting to find Tig sleeping next to me.

We’d been staying together so often it felt odd when he wasn’t there.

Like now. But something was different. I cracked an eye open and didn’t recognize anything around me.

The room looked like a hospital room and was far too bright for my sensitive eyes.

“Oh, you’re awake,” a nurse said when she peeked around the curtain that surrounded my bed.

“Wha—what happened,” I croaked and tried to ignore the way my throat felt like coarse grit sandpaper had been scrubbed over it.

“The doctor will be right here to speak to you,” she said and hurried out of the room. My hand was bandaged, but I didn’t feel any pain. My head was foggy, and I thought maybe they’d given me pain meds. Was I hurt that bad? I tried to sit up but wasn’t able to do it, so I settled back to wait.

“Mister Grant, I’m happy to see you’re awake. I’m Doctor Walen. Do you remember what happened?”

I tried to focus but the pain meds or whatever they’d given me, was proving it could knock me on my ass. “Where’s Tig?” I asked.

“He’s right here,” Dad said as he walked into the room followed by Tig. I also noticed two of my brothers behind him. “How are you doing, son? I’m his father Ivan Grant and this is Tig Sawyer, his partner.”

“I’m Doctor Walen,” he said again and looked around the room then back to me. “Well, as I was saying, do you remember what happened?”

Tig took my uninjured hand and when my eyes met his I knew it had been serious. “I don’t. I know I was at work, and Roger and I were working on one of the dryers.”

“The wrench you were using dropped onto a live wire and when you touched it . . .” Tig said and left it hanging.

I lifted my bandaged hand to look at it. It was wrapped very thick with bandages making me worry it was worse than they were saying. “Is my hand okay?” I asked but was afraid to know. Everything I did at work involved my hands, and my mind raced with how I’d deal with it if that had changed.

“Your hand should heal completely. You had some very serious burns on the palm and your fingers. But luckily for you we’ve been testing tilapia skin on burns, it’s really quite amazing. With that treatment you’ll barely have any visible scarring.”

“The fish?” Tig asked, and I looked at my hand again and was tempted to smell it but forced myself not to.

“It doesn’t smell,” the doctor said. “You’ll need a few more treatments then to give it time to completely heal. You got very lucky.”

“When can he go home?” Tig asked.

“As long as he’s not in too much pain he can go today. Will you have help at home?”

“Yes!” Tig said before anyone else could.

“How long was I out?” I asked.

“Two days. It really knocked you for a loop. We were all worried about you. You were in and out of consciousness, but mostly out,” Dad said.

“Two days, did you tell Roger I’m okay?” I asked because I knew he’d worry.

“Yes, he came to see you yesterday, but you were out when he was here,” Tig said.

“I’m ready to go,” I said and tried to sit up before Tig pressed me back onto the bed.

“I’ll go start the paperwork,” the doctor told us as he left the room.

“You need to take it easy, which means not trying to stand up after you’ve been out of it for two days,” Tig said, and I caught the way his voice wavered as he spoke.

“We’ll wait outside. I’m glad to see you’re okay, son.” Dad squeezed my hand before walking out with my brothers.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Tig said, as a tear ran down his cheek.

“I want to tease you, but if it were you lying in this bed it would almost kill me. I’m sorry, Tig.”

“Shh, none of it was your fault, it was a stupid accident. When I saw you there on the floor, I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered.

“Oh, Tig.” I didn’t know what to say and I never wanted to see him the way he’d seen me.

“You know when we were first seeing each other, I thought it was a bad idea that we were working at the same place, but I loved spending lunch with you. When I think of not being there when you were hurt—well I don’t want to think about that. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“It’ll all be okay, Tig,” I said, not just for him but for me too. He’d been there for me when I needed him the most and I couldn’t imagine anyone else I’d want holding my hand and looking at me like I was the most precious thing in his world, just like he was for me.