Warning: blood

~

The pain in his side felt like getting stabbed with a burning ice pick, but nonetheless, Randy managed to limp his way home without collapsing. He had gone for an afternoon walk by himself to clear his head, but on the way back home, he had tripped and a rock had slashed through his shirt, grazing his flesh and puncturing it. But the open wound wasn't what Randy was worrying about: he knew Keith was going to scold him for not calling him right away.

I've had worse and he knows that, Randy reassured himself. Scary Keith just turns me on, anyway . . . wait, no, that's only when he gets possessive.

At last, Randy made it to the front door. Fishing the key out of the pocket of his jeans, he turned the lock and swung the door open.

"Welcome home, darling!"

Randy sighed as he heard Keith's voice, preparing himself for the onslaught. Sure enough, when Keith entered the living room, Randy saw his pale face turn the color of snow.

"Randy, what the hell!?" Keith cried out. His accent always became more noticeable whenever he raised his voice.

"Babe, I'm fine," Randy insisted. "I just fell down."

"You're literally dripping blood on the floor!" Keith shot back frantically. "Here - just - . . ."

Shamelessly, Randy surrendered as Keith helped him stumble over to the couch and sat him down. It was only when their eyes met that Randy started feeling a little bad.

"Why didn't you call me right away?" Keith asked. He affectionately cupped Randy's cheek in his hand.

"I didn't want you to rush outta the house and worry our kid." Randy answered. "Besides, I couldn't've just sent you my location: we live in the middle of a fucking forest."

"Ari, get me some bandages!" Keith called over his shoulder.

Randy clenched his jaw as Keith examined the wound, trying to ignore the the stinging sensation. He sucked air through his teeth as Keith covered the wound with his hand to stop the blood flow.

"You should've called me," Keith said, his voice almost trembling.

"It's just a flesh wound," Randy reassured him. He was trying his best to be strong for him, but god, it hurt. "It could always be worse, mi amor. Remember when I fell off my skateboard when we were nine and fell into a coma?"

"Baby, I really don't like talking about that." Keith responded. "I seriously thought you were gonna die."

"I got the bandages!"

Randy looked up as his eleven-year-old daughter entered the room, her arms full of gauze pads, Band-Aids, and canvas wrap. Following her was Bowie, yipping and barking almost as if he could understand what exactly was going on. Arielle's eyes widened with fright when she saw Randy's injury.

"Thanks, princess," Randy said, trying to sound chill. He forced himself to smile.

Keith quickly went to go fetch some water. Randy managed to keep himself from wincing as Keith carefully dressed the wound on his abdomen. He tried not to meet the eyes of his family as they looked on in worry, but eventually, Randy managed to smile at Arielle again.

"At least I'll get another cool scar, eh?" he joked.

"Guess so," Arielle murmured.

"He doesn't mean hurt yourself so you'll get girls when you're older." Keith quickly told her.

Arielle nodded.

Finally, Randy was patched up. But just as he was about to get up, Keith gently pushed him back down onto the couch.

"You're not moving for the next hour, okay?" he said firmly.

Randy frowned. He wasn't going to be confined to the couch for a whole hour. He had things he needed to do.

"You're not my fucking nurse, goddamnit," he snapped.

"No, I'm your husband." Keith shot back. He stood up straight and planted his hands on his hips. "So stay put. I'm getting you an ice pack."

Randy rolled his eyes and groaned as Keith left the room, yet relented and lied down on his back.

"Are you gonna be okay, Dad?" Arielle asked meekly.

"I'll be fine, kid," Randy said, and he reached out to pat her arm. "Go occupy yourself, okay? Maybe practice your Spanish."

Arielle nodded obediently and scurried off to her room. But Bowie stayed put, panting as he stood at Randy's bedside. Randy reached out to scratch him behind the ears as Keith returned with an ice pack from the freezer.

"Hold your breath," Keith ordered.

Randy did as he was told as Keith lifted his shirt to place the ice pack on top of his bandages. The sensation was a shock to recieve at first, but as Randy exhaled, he couldn't help but feel a sense of utter relief. It felt nice. As Keith sat down next to the couch and stroked his hair, their eyes met.

"You really scared me," Keith said in a soft voice. His eyes were full of love and concern.

Randy swallowed. He smiled again, truly a reassuring one this time, not just a confident one.

"Next time I get hurt, I'll call you." he promised. "You win, baby."

Keith leaned forward to kiss Randy's cheek and crawled onto the couch next to him. As Randy wrapped his arms around Keith's waist, he nestled his head into his chest. He was already feeling much better.