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The emergency room was just like Izzy remembered it from their last visit. Even the grumpy nurse was there. Sometimes, he really hated his life.
‘Hate is such a strong word,’ Duff said and pouted a little. He handed Izzy some forms to fill out and a pen, before sitting down next to him and settling in for what was surely going to be a long wait.
Izzy´s foot was killing him. It was throbbing and, over the last half hour or so, it had swollen to about twice of its normal size. Getting his jeans back on had been a real bitch, but he had refused to move from his spot on the floor until Duff had gone and fetched his clothes for him. Like hell was he going to show up at the hospital wearing only his birthday suit, with little more than a blanket to hide behind.
‘I´m sorry,’ Duff said, not for the first time, and put his hand on Izzy´s knee.
Izzy grimaced from the added pressure but kept still. Duff had chosen to pet the leg that had a possibly broken foot attached to it. He put his own hand over Duff´s, tangled their fingers, and sneakily moved it out of the danger zone. With his hangdog expression, Duff was the picture of misery. Up to the point of no return, they had had a pretty good day, all things considered. As much as Duff was complicit in causing the injury, Izzy didn´t want to ruin the mood more than it already was.
Although Duff was brilliant in so many ways, once in a while he hit upon an idea that really missed the mark. Adopting a puppy while they were still living in downtown LA had been one of them and Izzy had nipped that thought right in the bud. Taking dance lessons together had been another, that had almost cost someone a couple of toes. Izzy hated to be the voice of reason in their relationship, but he also had a talent for anticipating bad outcomes. Unfortunately, he found it incredibly hard to say no to Duff when he was happy and brimming with excitement. They were still in their honeymoon phase and seeing Duff so overjoyed made Izzy´s stomach do little somersaults. What use was there in denying himself the pleasure of indulging the man he loved? Of course, a line had to be drawn somewhere. But it was just so hard.
Izzy was working on it. He really was. It was going well...at least, in theory.
He´d never admit it out loud to any of his friends, even though Axl and Slash knew - and often made fun of - his little predicament. Dick-whipped Axl called it and it was depressingly apt. Sometimes, when Duff was out, Izzy put in some practice hours. His phone came in as a useful little helper. He had tons of pictures saved of Duff´s smiling face. He´d stare at them, imagining Duff asking for just another little thing. One more round of sex – come on Izzy, just a quickie, you know you want to – when he was already running late. And he´d tell them no. Firmly. Relentlessly. Then he´d look at Duff´s face on the screen again and feel himself melt, guilt rising up in his chest.
He was hopeless.
Tonight had been one of those times when Izzy really should have put his foot down. He had known it and he hadn´t been able to act. The need to see Duff´s pleading eyes light up and the inevitable smile spread over his face had been way too strong. But hindsight was 20/20. It was the one-month anniversary of their wedding day and they had decided to have a little adventure to celebrate. Duff had brought the idea up over dinner and while Izzy´s head had immediately filled up with memories of bruised bones and sprained ankles, he hadn´t found it in himself to deny Duff something that he had obviously been keen to try for months.
‘But it´s still broken, right?’ Izzy had asked, hoping to have found a loophole.
‘Nah, I fixed it,’ Duff had said proudly and Izzy had suppressed a sigh. At the end of the day, he trusted Duff and he hadn´t been able to deny that he was curious as well. He had nodded and Duff had pumped his fist in victory, laughing. Izzy had leaned over the table to kiss him and that had been that.
Of course, there had been no way for them to hang the stupid swing from their own ceiling. Their elderly landlord, Mr. Cooper, would kill them if they destroyed the house. The only sensible solution had been to sneak into the studio after hours and put the swing up exactly where it had been that fateful first time. Once the construction had been in place – which had involved much more work than Izzy had been willing to do for the simple purpose of having great sex – Duff had tugged at one of the ropes experimentally.
‘I think this will hold,’ he had said and smiled to himself.
It better did, Izzy had thought.
They had both started to undress in a rather clinical fashion. Izzy hadn´t been able to decide whether to get excited or just will the whole thing to be over with. Then, Duff had started to touch him in very enticing ways and he had forgotten all about his concerns.
When Duff had made motions to get up on the swing, Izzy´s stomach had filled with dread. He just couldn´t get the images from last time out of his head. Sometimes, he still had nightmares about Duff falling and whimpering in pain. He had touched Duff´s shoulder and pulled him back. He had figured he weighed less than him and although it wasn´t much, it would be better to err on the side of precaution.
‘Let me,’ Izzy had said and Duff had stepped back immediately, the corners of his mouth twitching up as if Izzy had just handed him the best anniversary present there was. Duff had eagerly helped him up and Izzy had noticed how affected he had been. Izzy, on his part, had felt awkward once he had gotten settled. Swaying from side to side like a wet towel, hung out to dry.
Luckily, the feelings of unease hadn´t lasted all too long. Being so fully on display, with his legs held open and his feet placed in foot slings, had started to feel arousing more than awkward. Once they had gotten started, Izzy hadn´t looked back. To its credit, the swing had managed to hold him up all the way through, even when Duff´s thrusts had turned more rigorous. After they had both finished and Izzy was left panting and still swinging about a little, he had been ready to count his losses and admit that Duff had been right. Being suspended in mid-air and utterly helpless, while your partner took control, had been kind of hot.
Unfortunately, before Izzy had even been able to voice that thought, a loud crack had alerted him of his impending doom. In the heat of the moment, Duff had slumped forward, partially resting on Izzy´s chest. He was always cuddly after sex and as much as Izzy had wanted to bask in the afterglow, it had simply been too much added weight. A second later, they had both toppled to the floor.
‘Mr. Isbell,’ Nurse McGrumpy called out and, with Duff´s help, began ushering him into the examination room.
She cast a suspicious look in Duff´s direction, when he made no moves to leave.
‘Are you a relative?’ she asked pointedly.
Despite the dire circumstances, Duff´s face lit up. ‘Husband,’ he said proudly and grinned.
The nurse´s demeanor changed abruptly. Her eyes widened and her expression softened oh so slightly. Recognition washed over her face. ‘Oh, I remember you.’ Her eyes flickered between them. ‘Husbands, is it now? Congratulations.’
‘Thanks,’ Duff said and gave her a smile.
‘I´ll have a quick look at your foot,' she said to Izzy. 'The doctor´s still treating another patient. How did you injure yourself?’
‘He fell of a-‘
‘Ladder.’ Izzy shot Duff a warning glance and Duff, looking contrite, clamped his mouth shut.
‘That's what I was going to say,’ Izzy heard him mutter under his breath.
The nurse prodded his foot and Izzy winced.
‘Good news is, it doesn´t seem to be broken.’ She got up and took his patient forms with her. ‘The doctor will be with you in a moment and handle the rest.’ She smirked a bit and turned around on her heel.
Izzy buried his face in his hands. Was it so obvious that he had hurt his foot under less than respectable circumstances? The answer to that question was probably written on his face, but he´d still appreciate some discretion.
‘I´ll do anything you want tonight,’ Duff said a few hours later, once they had made their way back home. Izzy was sitting on the bed, his foot elevated and tightly wrapped up. ‘You don’t even have to move.’
Izzy didn´t have to give it much thought. ‘In that case, please throw out that fucking swing.’
Duff pulled a face - another pout in the making - and Izzy sighed, feeling resigned.
‘Fine,’ he said, not really in the mood for a discussion right now. ‘Come here then. I´m sure, we can work something out.’
Duff crawled onto the bed and right into his lap, careful not to jostle his foot.
The rest of their anniversary was spent in near-silence, making up for the hours they had lost.