The Mistletoe Experiment (12 page)

morning, maybe later, just wouldn"t do. He would soon see

about that! “Can I speak to him now?”

“I was waiting for you to ask that. I"m sorry, but he"s

asleep. He was exhausted, and he needs his rest. But we"ve

got his laptop set up so that he can call you as soon as he

wakes up, if he feels up to it.” Wiktor laughed. “Knowing him

and how much he has missed you and Jakob, it"ll probably

be the first thing he does.”

Yeah, Lance thought so too.

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91

After saying their good-byes, he hung up and turned to

Ragnor so he could explain the missing parts of the

conversation to him. Lance was relieved to finally know what

had happened, and that Magnus was apparently okay. But

having to wait to see Magnus once he was in the country just

wouldn"t work. Ragnor agreed.

“We"ll work on the details tomorrow. I"m sure we"ll find a

way to sneak you into the hospital.” Ragnor smiled as he

pressed Lance"s shoulder. “He"ll be fine.”

“Yeah, I"ve got to believe that.” Lance sighed. “Now I

have to figure out how to tell Jakob and Magnus"s parents.”

“You should do that first thing tomorrow morning. I"ll

take care of Jakob, of course, unless he wants to stay with

his grandparents. That"s totally up to him. Either way you"ll

be able to focus on Magnus first, and as soon as you know

what"s what, I can bring Jakob by for a visit.” Ragnor smiled.

“I"m pretty sure that Magnus is almost as impatient to see

the boy as he is to have you in his arms again.”

“Thanks for all your help.” Lance hugged Ragnor in

gratitude. “I don"t think I could have gotten through last

night without you. It really means a lot to me that you

dropped everything and came over here to be with me.”

“Anytime, Lance. Ragnor hugged him back. “What are

friends for, after all?”

LANCE had been deeply asleep when the phone rang.

Shocked awake for the second time that night, it took him a

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few seconds to realize where he was and why the phone

might be ringing at seven in the morning.

Magnus!

He picked up, a little breathless from the shock.

“Is that you, baby?” He could have kicked himself the

next second. What if this was Wiktor again or someone else

altogether?

“God, Lance, it"s so good to hear your voice.” Magnus

sounded hoarse and very exhausted.

“Magnus!” Lance swallowed, trying hard not to cry with

the relief of at last hearing his lover"s voice. “You"re okay?”

“Yeah, I"ll be fine. Sorry for upsetting you,
älskling
.”

Magnus sniffled. “I swear, it"ll never happen again.”

“It was an accident, baby. It"s okay. I mean, Wiktor told

me they"ll fly you back here and get your leg taken care of.

So everything will be fine, right?” He didn"t even know if any

of that had made sense. He just wanted to have Magnus

back in his arms, where he belonged.

“No, what I meant is that I"ll never again leave you and

Jakob to go on an expedition. It was a stupid thing to do, I

hated every second of it and now look what it got me.”

Magnus laughed quietly. “I can"t believe I fell into that

crevasse, it was such an idiotic mistake to make. But it

certainly helped me realize that my decision of quitting this

university job was the right one.”

“You decided to quit?” But what was Magnus going to

do?

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“Yeah, if all they do is send me on some assignment in

the middle of nowhere and if that means being separated

from you and Jakob, what"s the point of having that job?”

Magnus snorted. “I only took it so I could get back into

teaching and for the intellectual stimulation of being around

fellow scientists. But if I can"t get that, why bother?”

“I"m sorry that job didn"t work out the way you thought

it would.” Lance sighed. “But I"m so happy to hear you won"t

be going on any expeditions. I know it"s selfish of me, but I

don"t think I could bear to be separated from you like this

again either.”

“What sort of a marriage would that be anyway?”

Magnus laughed. “Do you realize it"s only twenty-four days

to our wedding now?”

“Of course! I"m counting the days just like you are.”

Back to the immediate priorities. “Wiktor told me you"ll be

landing at Arlanda tonight and that they"d get you straight to

the hospital from there. Do you think there is any chance I

could see you straight away? I don"t know how to do it, but I

don"t want to wait until tomorrow and run the risk of you

being whisked away to get your leg fixed before I can even

see you.”

“I have no idea how it"ll all work.” Magnus yawned. “The

only thing I know is that I don"t want to spend a single night

away from you anymore. Not even the night before the

wedding. Not that we had planned that, but I thought I"d

bring it up just in case.”

“Got it. No more sleeping apart.” Lance was going to find

a way to spend the night at the hospital if it killed him.

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MAGNUS normally wasn"t fazed by long trips. But travelling

back to Stockholm this time, accompanied by a nurse, got to

him on a very basic level. Part of his discomfort was to be

expected. His head still hurt from the hit it had taken, and

his leg was aching despite the painkillers they"d given him

before he boarded the commercial flight to Oslo. Oh, and it

had also been bandaged to make it twice its normal size and

impossible to wear his pants without cutting open the part

covering his thigh. They"d left the rest for protection against

the cold.

What was worse than the physical discomfort, though,

was the mental agony he was in. Being away from Lance and

Jakob had been bad. Not being able to have them with him,

now that something was wrong and he needed them more

than ever, was worse. It was yet another aspect of a physical

separation that he decided was intolerable. How did other

people with long distance relationships manage it?

He was just not cut out for that sort of thing. Once he"d

found Lance and had made him part of his family, he had

thrown himself into it with as much enthusiasm as he"d had

for his job in previous years. He chuckled. He just wasn"t

someone who could do things by halves. It was either

everything or nothing with him.

“Are you all right, sir?” The nurse was a pretty enough

woman in her late twenties, but she was fussing over him as

if he was about to die.

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“Sure, I"m fine.” He wanted to shake his head at her

overprotective attitude, but stopped himself just in time.

Since she was responsible for getting him safely to the

Karolinska University Hospital he figured he should treat her

nicely. Walking was annoyingly difficult right now, and he

definitely needed her help. God, he hoped he didn"t end up

having to limp toward the gazebo on the day of the wedding.

How embarrassing would that be? He had a little over three

weeks to recover, so he"d just have to make sure any

residual problems were dealt with before then.

As soon as they"d emerged from the plane, Magnus

opened his now-functional cell phone and called Lance.

“Hey, Magnus.” Lance sounded so much better than this

morning.

“
Hallå älskling
!” Magnus leaned back in his wheelchair

and closed his eyes so he could focus on Lance"s voice.

“Almost there, just one more flight to go.”

“I can"t wait to see you again.” Lance cleared his throat.

“Thanks for calling me. At least now I know you made the

flight.”

“Not being on the flight wasn"t an option.” He"d almost

missed it thanks to some issue with the paperwork, but

there was no point in telling Lance. “How is Jakob?”

“He was devastated when I told him, but he"s okay now.

He told me to tell you he loves you very much and wants you

home with us as soon as possible.” Lance paused. “We both

do.”

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“I know. Me too.” Magnus swallowed the lump in his

throat. Only a few more hours and he"d be able to hold them

in his arms again.

“Ragnor offered to take care of him today while I

organized everything, and Jakob agreed.” Lance laughed. “He

said it was better than staying with his grandparents

because he likes the stories Ragnor makes up for him.”

“It"s good to have your own neighborhood children"s

writer around the corner, isn"t it?” Magnus grinned.

All the initial jealousy Magnus had felt about Lance

getting along so well with their neighbor had vanished once

said neighbor had understood the parameters of their

relationship. Magnus had grown to like him a lot, and was

grateful the man had been around to help Lance through

this situation.

“It"s wonderful.” Lance took a deep breath. “I may have

annoyed your boss today.”

“He"s only my soon-to-be-ex-boss, so don"t worry about

it.” Magnus was intrigued. “What did you do to annoy him?”

“I pestered him about the university"s alliance with the

hospital you"re going to go to.” Lance sighed. “I checked with

them to make sure I"d be able to stay in the same room with

you tonight, and even after I explained the somewhat

unusual circumstances, they told me that they couldn"t

confirm you"d be there, and that it wasn"t policy to let

unrelated people stay beyond visiting hours.”

“What?” Which century did these administrators live in?

“We"re going to be married in three weeks, doesn"t that

count?”

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“Apparently not.” Lance chuckled. “Not that this stopped

me. I talked to your boss, and told him what a disgrace it

was in the first place, especially after you got hurt doing

your job for them. Then I asked if there was anything he

could do.”

“Was there?” If not, he"d take matters into his own

hands once he arrived, and would sue the university for

inhumane treatment of employees and family.

“There was. He called me back half an hour later, telling

me that everything had been arranged. Reception has been

informed, and the director of patient relations is on standby

in case there are any issues.” Lance"s triumphant grin was

clear even through the phone line.

“Well done, Lance.” His
älskling
had come a long way

since they"d met a year and a half ago.

They chatted a little more, then ended the call with

promises to see each other soon. It couldn"t be soon enough

as far as he was concerned.

The rest of the two-hour layover in Oslo felt much longer

than it actually was. Being pushed around in a wheelchair

was no fun, but walking wasn"t really an alternative if he

didn"t want to make his leg worse. At least they were able to

have some semi-decent food, better than the soggy

sandwiches the airline had offered. Lance"s cooking it wasn"t,

but it was hot and looked somewhat nutritious.

When the plane finally landed at Arlanda airport in

Stockholm he was exhausted. He no longer minded sitting in

a wheelchair, there was no way he could have gotten up to

walk. It was as if the accident had finally caught up with

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him. He left the organization of the baggage transport back

to the house to the nurse and dozed in his corner until she

was done.

Once she"d wheeled him out of the secure baggage

reclaim area he perked up a little. Lance hadn"t said

anything, but secretly Magnus was hoping he"d be here at

the airport. Even if it might make transportation to the

hospital tricky, because he wasn"t sure they"d let him ride in

the ambulance he"d been told he needed.

“Magnus!” Lance"s voice wasn"t loud, but he was so

attuned to it, he would have noticed it anywhere.

“Lance.” He had tears in his eyes when Lance walked

toward him.

His fiancé wore tight jeans and a light sweater matching

the brown of his eyes. He had never looked better. He held