SquidgeWorld Archive

Gone for the Weekend
by Pohlinda
Pohlinda@yahoo.com

The rain outside only emphasized the gray mood he was undergoing. His partner was on his way to Seattle, gone for the weekend, without him. Ellison was driving to meet his father and brother who had just finished a business meeting that day. They had agreed that this weekend would be an 'Ellison men' bonding weekend. Jim jokingly said they went to Seattle to drink coffee, like they couldn't do that here, Blair grumbled silently. Ok, they were also going to look at the Tall Ships in port that weekend, he reminded himself. Plus, Jim did ask Blair to come along but, as he looked back, he stupidly declined. What an idiot I am! Blair chastised himself. I could have been riding with Jim and enjoying his company instead of here, alone.

He originally believed he would have work from his classes to keep him busy this weekend, but yesterday he was assigned an assistant. The new assistant wanted desperately to help Blair become caught up with all the grading. Therefore, he offered to take the test key and papers home and work on them this weekend. Blair gratefully accepted, loaded up and sent the new assistant on his way before he realized he now had a free weekend and no one to enjoy it with!

Blair walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He thought about cleaning the loft while Jim was gone, but didn't want his partner to die of shock when he returned to a clean apartment. He decided the dust would be spared this weekend and he would simply watch totally mindless television or sports on the television. If his partner had stayed home they could have had some fun on the couch instead-

His train of thought was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. Blair picked up the cordless receiver from the coffee table. "Hellooo," he greeted the caller.

"Mr. Sandburg?" the voice inquired. "This is William Ellison, Jimmy's father? I was wondering if I could speak with my son."

Blair mumbled to himself. He'd known Jim's father for over a year, even before they were lovers. Still the man thought it necessary to identify himself to Blair, plus he refused to call Blair by his first name. Blair believed that William Ellison was reluctant to have his son in a relationship with his very male roommate. Shaking off the negative vibes Blair could feel through the phone, he replied, "Yes, Mr. Ellison, I'd be happy to let you speak with your son, Jim, but he left a few hours ago. In fact...oh, one moment, I have another call coming in."

He deftly put the first call on hold and before checking the caller ID, he answered the other call with his usual aplomb, "Hellooo." He waited for the caller to speak but all he could hear was traffic noise. Blair repeated the greeting, but still no response. Just as he was going to hit the off button, he heard a soft whisper through the phone. "S-s-sorry... l-love."

"Jim?" No response. "JIM!" Blair wanted to reach through the phone and hold his partner. He knew something was wrong. He picked up his cell phone and prayed he had charged it recently. It powered up flawlessly and immediately he hit the speed dial button for...

"Banks. It's Friday night Sandburg on my first weekend off in..."

"Shut up, Simon!" Blair pleaded while listening to the startled man gasp at the unusual tone of his department's observer. "It's Jim..."

"Sandburg. Let the man have his weekend to be with his brother and Dad," he complained. "He just left a few hours ago and..."

"Simon, you're wasting time here. I just got a call from him and he - he's hurt. I know it. He was so soft on the phone and I could hear traffic noise. C'mon Simon. Call the Highway Patrol or something."

"I'll call you as soon as I hear something, Blair. Why don't you call his father and..."

"...he's on the phone now. He was calling to see where Jim was. Call me, Simon, please, just..."

"Yes, Blair. Now go talk to Mr. Ellison. I'll be in touch." Blair heard the click of Simon's phone.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he picked up the phone. He clicked the release button and was back in contact with Jim's father. "Mr. Ellison. I, ah, have information about Jim."

"Young man. Leaving me to wait on the phone just now was extremely-"

"Listen, Mr. Ellison, I have every reason to believe that Jim has been involved in an accident on his way to see you. That was the call I broke off our conversation for. Then I contacted Captain Banks. He has better resources to find out more about Jim and-" he paused, "-well, just find him."

Subdued, William asked, "Is there something I can do, Mr. Sandburg?"

"Thanks, but I think Simon can do the most for us now. I'll let you know when I hear something. Will you let me know if you get contacted?"

"Of course," William assured the distraught man. "Yes, Steven or I will keep in contact with you. Good-bye for now."

"Right, thanks, ah, good-bye."

Blair released the receiver, letting it fall to the couch. He tried to call Jim's cell again, but it went directly to voicemail. Where are you, love? he wondered silently.

The phone rang and Blair picked it up before it finished the first ring. "Hello?"

"Sandburg. It's Simon. The State Police said there was an accident on the freeway to Seattle. The details are sketchy until they can put an officer on the scene. What they believe to have happened..."

"Simon, do they know if Jim was involved with this accident?"

"Like I said Blair, they won't know names until they get there. Anyway, seems a motorist was on the shoulder with car problems, another person stopped to help. A third motorist hit the second car. They don't know how badly people are hurt or if anyone-"

"-died," Blair whispered. "He sounded so weak when he called, Simon. He said, 'Sorry', that's all. If he's gone Simon, I -"

"-Don't ask for trouble Blair. He called you, that's a good sign he's still around. Just hang in there," Simon consoled.

Blair's cell phone started to ring. Out of habit he checked caller ID, Steven Ellison. "I have to go Simon, Steven's calling my cell."

"Go, keep in touch."

Blair ended the call on the cordless phone and opened his cell phone to start his conversation with Steven.

"Hello, Steven?"

"Hi Blair. We have news. Dad and I were contacted by the State Police. There was an accident. They called Dad because they found Dad's business card in Jim's pocket. There wasn't any other ID on him. The wallet was found in the car. Blair," Steven gasped, "they say he's ... he's in a coma, they don't expect him to live." Blair could hear Steven break into tears. Blair pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, partially biting it so he could remain focused.

"Steven, are they, you know, sure it's Jim? You said they only found your Dad's business card on him. I mean, other people know your Dad, it could have been..."

Ignoring Blair's attempt at denial, Steven persisted. "Blair, the accident was almost midway between here and Cascade. They decided since Jim was-"catching himself, he continued, "-is from Cascade they're taking him to Cascade General. We're headed there now. Dad is lining up a helicopter for us. We should be there in less than an hour. Go see him Blair. Tell him," Steven paused, "tell him we love him. Okay?"

"Yeah, I'll tell him. See ya soon."

Quickly hitting speed dial again, he waited to hear Simon answer then told him everything Steven had relayed. Simon told him that the information matched with the details the State Police had just finished giving him. Simon told Blair he would meet him at the hospital. Blair stood dazed, staring at the phone. How am I supposed to go on? If-if Jim... Blair wondered.

Blair didn't remember driving to the hospital. Didn't remember talking to the receptionist asking where his lover was being treated. Didn't remember Simon holding him up as they approached the cubicle where his lover rested. Simon pulled the curtain back. Blair couldn't move. Couldn't think straight. Couldn't believe the person laying in that bed...was not his lover. Was not Jim Ellison. Was not the Sentinel of the Great City!

"S-simon," Blair stuttered, "who is this? It's not Jim. Where's Jim?"

"This is who the police thought was Jim. Had the business card in his pocket, matched the description, but-" Simon was both relieved and disappointed that his friend was not in this bed. "-but where is Jim. That's a good question, one that I'm going to get resolved right now!"

Simon guided Blair to the hard, orange chair in the waiting area in search of an answer. Blair let his head rest against the wall. Where was his lover, the other half of his own soul? As he let his heart and mind wander he thought he heard a soft gasp. He looked around the waiting area in case someone was in need of assistance. He was the only one there yet he heard it again. He rose to follow the sound. It grew louder as he thought he approached the source. At first the soft whispered pants were just wordless sounds, but the closer he came to the source, the sounds became words. Realization hit as he approached the last cubicle.

"Jim," Blair breathed out, as if a prayer, simple and complete.

He pushed back the curtain and there he lay, awake. Softly spoken words emanated from the injured man. The same words, again and again. "Blair, love you. Need you. Blair, love you. Need you......"

Blair forced his legs to move and in just two strides he was holding Jim's hand close to his own heart. "I'm here, I'm here, love. Rest easy. Love you, love you so much," Blair repeated tenderly. "Always and forever, love."

Jim turned his head to his love, a smile gracing his face. "You're real, right? I dreamed you, but couldn't feel you. I feel you now, Chief. Need you, love you. Sorry, so sorry."

Blair cupped his partner's cheek with his free hand. "You have nothing to be sorry about, Jim. It was an accident. Not your fault."

"Blair, I heard the car coming. I - I couldn't move the other guy out of the way. He was so happy to have a chance to work for Dad, I gave him Dad's card. I knew Dad needed someone like him in sales, but..." Jim turned his head away from Blair.

"Please, love, please. The other driver, the one that hit you both, had a heart attack, lost control and, well, you know what happened."

Simon entered the cubicle. "I see you found our errant detective, Sandburg. Doctors say he'll need to have his leg set, but after a day in the hospital, he can leave on crutches. Great news, right?" Simon noticed the strained appearance of Blair's face.

Jim questioned Simon without looking at him. "How is Ted Kingsly, the guy I was helping with his flat tire? Is he going to be leaving the hospital tomorrow too?" he spat out. "He would have been back on the road before this all happened if I had not come along to help. He had it under control when I stopped to help and we started to talk. If - if..."

Simon shrugged his shoulders at Sandburg, unseen by Ellison. There was commotion in the hallway then two more bodies squeezed into the small cubicle.

"Jimmy, I am so happy to see you. They told us - well, that doesn't matter now. What matters now is your getting better. If you need any special home care..."

Steven could practically touch the tension in the room. Blair was looking at the back of Jim's head. Jim continued to lay on the bed silently while Simon tried to leave the room.

"Hey brother, good to see you. Had us worried. But then as we approached the room we originally thought was yours, the nurse told us your condition had been upgraded. They expected you, well, now the other guy, to recover. Well, Dad and I..."

"Recover?" Jim asked as he turned his head to look at his brother. "Ted, the other guy, is going to recover, they're sure?" he asked, tightly holding Blair's hand.

"Yeah, he is. He'll need some physical therapy, might be a few months before he can get back to work..."

"That's - that's great, Stevie. Thanks for letting me know."

"You blamed yourself, right?"

Blair nodded as his partner frowned. "He did. Nothing I said could change his mind."

"He's an Ellison all right! Stubborn!" Steven exclaimed. "Listen, we better let you relax before they put the cast on you." Changing his attention to Blair, he continued. "Next Ellison bonding weekend, you're coming along, right?"

Blair's grin lit the whole room. He held Jim's right hand with both of his own against his heart, "Wild horses couldn't keep me away, thanks!"

Steven walked up to Jim, messed up his hair, then said his good-bye. William Ellison, shocked that his youngest son had just invited the younger man on their next trip merely extended his well wishes to his son and left the room.

"Your Dad does not like me, man," Blair complained. "That will not be a fun 'bonding' time when it happens, but I am going to go with you next time."

"Good, no place I'd rather be than with you, Chief. Doesn't matter if he likes you or not. I love you and hope that's enough."

"Oh yeah, that's enough, totally." Blair gently drew circles with his thumb on Jim's cheek happy to be with his love once again.

end