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Charlie raced through the doors of the Emergency Department. “Nick Nelson” he panted at the reception desk. The nurse looked at him, then tapped something into the computer in front of him.
“And you are?”
“Charlie Spring”
“Your relationship to the patient.”
“Uh, Boyfriend.”
“Just a moment.” The nurse picked up a phone and called somewhere. Charlie breathed deeply trying to calm down. His heart had been racing since he got the text from Olly saying ‘A Year 9 said Nick left school in an ambulance, Is he OK? . He knew if he didn’t start to manage his rising anxiety it could take over.
“Charlie!” He turned at Sarah’s voice, opening his arms to her and deriving comfort from her embrace. “How is he?”
“I don’t know yet. I just got here. He’s” Charlie gestured at the nurse on the phone “calling somewhere.”
The nurse covered the mouthpiece on the phone, and looked at Sarah. “Are you here for the same patient?”
“Yes, I’m his mother. Sarah Nelson”
“You can go through. He’s in cubicle seven. Take the corridor to your left.” Sarah and Charlie turned. The nurse pressed a button to unlock the door and turned back to the phone. “Hi, yup I’m still here. It’s fine, Next-of-Kin turned up and is taking him in.” Charlie glanced back at the nurse stomach dropping with realisation. Sarah tugged on his hand as the doors opened.
“Come on. It’s this way.”
Charlie followed in Sarah’s wake as she bustled along the corridor, rounding the curtain into cubicle seven.
“Nicky?”
“Mum. I’m fine. I promise. I was teaching some juniors how to tackle and one of them got the lesson a bit too well.” Nick smiled gently as he returned his mother’s hug from his place on the semi-reclined bed.”I wasn’t prepared and knocked my head on the ground. I blacked out for a few seconds but they’ve checked me out. It's a mild concussion. I had worse when I was in Leeds”
“Marry Me.”
Nick turned to stare at Charlie. He blinked. Repeatedly. “Say that again.”
“Marry Me.” Charlie looked steadfastly back at Nick. “When I arrived they rang down to confirm who I was to you. I guess ‘boyfriend’ wasn’t enough for them to let me through without checking. I was lucky Sarah arrived half a minute later and vouched for me.” Charlie approached the bed, sitting and taking Nick’s hand.
“I don’t ever want to be stuck outside while you are ill or injured. Stuck in the waiting room until you gain consciousness enough to say I can come in. If I’m ill you’re the person I want most, and I want the world to know that.” Charlie kissed the hand he was holding and leaning forward, looked up to meet Nick’s gaze. “Nick Nelson. Will you marry me?”
Nick stared into Charlie’s eyes, slowly the surprise faded from his face to be replaced by joy. “Yes. Oh my god, yes.” He pulled Charlie down for a kiss, one hand behind his neck, before touching foreheads while they caught their breath, each loath to move away from the other.
“A-hem.” Both whipped their heads around at the sound. Sarah had a massive dopey smile on her face and was tipping her head towards the nurse who stood in the doorway. “Let’s get Nicky out of here so you can go celebrate properly.”
The nurse approached the side of the bed and started taking Nick’s vitals. “Congratulations Gents.” Nick and Charlie blushed, still holding tightly to one another’s hands. “One last check then, unless something has drastically changed, you’ll be good to go. Most Rugby coaches these days are familiar with post-concussion care, but in the interest of thoroughness I’ll run through it again. You’ll need someone with you for the next 24 hours, just in case we’ve missed something. Am I right in thinking that will fall to Mr. Fiance?” Nick and Charlie nodded, Nick wincing slightly at the movement, but his smile broadening, despite the induced wooziness at hearing Charlie addressed as his fiance.
The nurse addressed Charlie. “He’ll be tired. Don’t let him fight it. His brain needs sleep to heal. No alcohol for at least a week, ideally a month. Not even celebration champagne.” She joked, but there was a stern undercurrent to her instructions. “Try and reduce time spent on screens for a couple of weeks, no screens at all for the next 24 hours, Above all no contact sports or anything that risks another head knock for six weeks.” She looked down at Nick’s chart, then up at him. “You’re a teacher?” Nick nodded, carefully this time. “I suggest you take a full week off. Classroom noise is likely to be an issue for the first few days at least and I’ve never yet met a teacher who took adequate rest during term-time. I’ll have the doctor add a medical certificate to your discharge papers for you to give to HR.”
—----------
Charlie hovered close to Nick as he entered their apartment. Nick had dozed off on the way home rousing only when Sarah pulled up outside. She dropped them home and, after giving Nick strict instructions to rest and wishing Charlie luck with keeping Nick from being too active, watched them make their way inside before waving and driving away.
“I need a shower. I’m not going to bed like this.” Nick gestured to the P.E. gear he was sporting including mud splatters up his side.
“Leave the bathroom door open so I know you haven’t collapsed.” Charlie said. “Please.” He looked at Nick beseechingly. “For my peace of mind.”
“OK, for your peace of mind.” Nick agreed. “But I want a kiss first."
Charlie stepped close and kissed Nick deeply, then began slowly moving backward, pulling Nick with him down the landing, then rotating around him and giving him a gentle shove, careful not to push him off balance, through the open door into the bathroom. “Go get cleaned up. I’ll make some tea and toast.”
“You’ll pay for that move, Char.” Nick promised.
“Looking forward to it.” Charlie taunted “Go. Get cleaned up.”
Charlie put the kettle on and waited till he heard the rhythm of falling water change, telling him that Nick was under the spray before slipping past the open bathroom door into the bedroom. He rummaged in the bottom of their wardrobe till he found the rainbow converse he wore in Pride month, fishing a plastic bag wrapped around a small box out of the toe of the left shoe.
He paused to listen for the shower, chuckling when he heard Nick singing a gender swapped version of ‘Kiss the Girl’. He’d been on a Disney song kick since they’d been to see Olly in last year’s school production.
By the time Nick was finished in the shower Charlie had a pot of tea steeping, half a loaf of bread toasted, and was setting the table with spreads. Nick came out dressed in clean boxers and a hoodie, rubbing his hair dry with a towel. He stopped short when he saw the table, a soft grin appearing on his face.
Next to the teapot and toast rack was a candle, obviously taken from their emergency blackout stash, jammed into an empty wine bottle Charlie must have fished out of the recycling bin. There were two side plates, each with a paper napkin bearing the name of their local Indian takeaway embossed on it folded neatly into a triangle. One plate, the one in Charlie’s usual place, had a knife holding the napkin down; the other had a small blue box.
Charlie looked at Nick taking in the place setting. “I know it, proposing, seems sudden, but I’ve been thinking seriously about marriage, about marrying you, for ages. Today just…I didn’t know why I was waiting for anymore.” Charlie swallowed. “I never expected the sign I was waiting for would be a desk nurse who’s a stickler for hospital Next Of Kin policy.”
Nick sat down and opened the box. He smiled at what he saw, gently chuckling and looked at Charlie's eyes, seeing them full of love and a little trepidation. He kept his eyes on Charlie while he leaned back in his chair, stretching his arm out to the shelf behind him where he kept a small plastic crate of stationery handy for when he did lesson prep at the dining table. He pulled the crate into his lap and started pushing things around, digging to the bottom, removing a stapler and a block of Post-It Notes, before scrabbling around the bottom of the crate.
Charlie watched confused until Nick stopped fossicking and set the crate aside. He held out an open palm to Charlie. Resting on it was a small box, identical to the one on his plate aside from the colour, this one a dark red.
“You’re not the only one who has been picturing our future, Char.”
Charlie’s eyes darted between the small red box in Nick’s hand and Nick’s face, taking in the adoration and sincerity he saw displayed there.
“You…bought me a ring? You were going to propose.” Charlie asked with a wobble in his voice.
Nick nodded. “And you bought me one?” Charlie nodded and grinned.
“Why are we like this?” Charlie giggled then started to sniffle. After nearly a decade together Nick knew these were happy tears.
Nick pulled Charlie onto his lap wrapping his arms around him tightly, ring box still in his hand. Charlie snuggled into the embrace burying his face into Nick's neck. “It’s just who we are. I love how we are. I love our life together.” He reached a hand to Charlie’s face, tipping it up from his shoulder and pressed a kiss to his lips, putting all his love behind it. “I love you. Fiance.”
Charlie’s heart hitched at hearing Nick’s words and he reached up a hand cupping Nick’s face, tracing down Nick’s forehead and nose with his thumb. “I love you. Fiance.”
Nick held the box up again. “Will you open it? Please.” Charlie reached for the box and popped it open. He started welling up with tears again. It was a simple ring, but Nick had chosen one with a spinner, knowing Charlie fidgeted when anxious.
“I love it.” Charlie exclaimed. Nick took the ring from the box and caught Charlie’s hand in his, wiggling the ring down into place on his fourth finger, and twisting the outer spinning ring so that a small engraving could be seen. Charlie peered closer, “Is that a globe?”
“Mmm-hmm. A reminder that my world revolves around you.” Nick explained bashfully. “I know it’s cheesy, but you are my everything Charlie.” Nick brought the ring to his lips and kissed it before dropping Charlie's hand and reaching for the blue box from his plate, handing it to Charlie.
Charlie opened the box, plucking out the ring he had picked. It had two small gemstones embedded flush with the surface, one yellow and one blue each in one loop of an engraved infinity symbol but was otherwise plain and smooth. He held it up for Nick to see the date engraved on the inside. Nick read the date and Charlie could see the cogs turning in his head. “Fourth of January, Twenty…”Nick’s voice trailed off as he looked up at Charlie “….that’s…the day we met?.”
“....the day Truham switched to vertical form groups nine-ish years ago.” Charlie confirmed. Nick held his hand out for Charlie to slip the ring on, then interlinked the fingers of his left hand over the top of Charlie's left hand so they could see both their rings at once.
“We’re saps.”
“Yeah, But we’re saps together.”