Brown Bear Coffee House - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

'Hurry up and wait' is the mantra of nearly all ER's, at least as far as family and friends are concerned. And, wait they did. Moose and Rusty alternately dozed in the uncomfortable chairs, one of them awake at all times. Both felt a deep concern for the young man they had both come to care for over the past months. Finally, a nurse poked her head through the swinging door and called out, “Anyone here for a Brian?” Moose nudged Rusty, and the two got up and followed the nurse through the door and into a room on the other side.

“Your friend is going to be fine, just some smoke inhalation and some very minor burns on his back and a bit more serious ones on his hand and arm. They should be fine though. He's had pain meds and there's a ‘script here for more and some antibiotics.”

“How are the others from the fire?” Rusty asked.

The nurse shook her head. "Two died on the way here, another about an hour ago. I don't know about any others at the scene. The other one your friend arrived with will be OK, but he'll be here for a few days. Your friend is very lucky, nothing major except on his left arm.” The nurse looked down at her clipboard. “There was a note here from the ambulance crew, to 'have a look at the big galoot'... I assume that's you?”

Moose looked a bit embarrassed and blushed slightly, though it was hard to tell through the grime on his face.

“Well, let's have a look at you.” Moose stood up, “Damn! Did you know that your sweater is half burned off your back?” Moose shook his head. “Are you in pain?” Again Moose shook his head. “I'm sorry but I'll have to cut that away, there's bound to be tissue damage under there. You should have been brought in with the others.” She reached for scissors on a nearby tray.

“No, I'm fine, really. It's just that there were so many sparks flying around. Nothing hurts, really. I guess the guy I was carrying over my shoulder shielded me from...” The nurse was having none of it, and began clipping. The sweater fell off as she clipped. “Oh, my!” she breathed softly to herself, “and here I though Freddy was hairy,’ thinking of her husband's chest and belly. 'This guy's back is twice as hairy as Freddy's front.'

“What?” Moose said, suddenly nervous. “What do you see?”

“Oh, um, well, really nothing much. Some of your hair is singed a bit, and there are a couple of places that are sort of pinkish, but nothing bad at all. I'm really surprised. Judging by that sweater...” She paused, putting the scissors down. “It appears that you were very lucky as well, Mr... Uh... “

“Masterson. Norman Masterson.” Moose supplied.

Rusty breathed a sigh of relief. “So he's OK?”

“Yes, it looks like he is.” The nurse's pager went off. “Damn, I've got to go. Listen, your friend Brian can go home now if you like, but someone has to be with him for the next 12 hours or so. He's going to be woozy from the pain meds. If that's not possible, he can stay here and you can pick him up tomorrow. Let the girls at the front desk know what you'd like to do; pleasure meeting you both. Sorry to rush.” The nurse hustled out of the room and down the hall.

“Whew. Bullet dodged.” Moose smiled. “Shall we get Brian? He can stay upstairs with us for a bit.”

“Um… you are half naked, in case you hadn't noticed. That nurse sure did, and much as I love looking at your thick furry body, it just might cause some comment out in the waiting room.” Rusty was smiling, but serious. “How about we both head out to the car and then I come back in a make arrangements? “

Moose grinned. “What? You think I'll give the girls at the desk a heart attack?”

“More likely they'll throw themselves at you.” Rusty looked around. “Here, drape this around you.” handing Moose a thin, small blanket from a shelf over the examining table.

Moose tried and failed to cover much of his upper body with the small scrap of fabric. The two walked out of the room and back through the door into the waiting room. Two older women looked up from their whispered conversation and stared openly, their mouths slightly open. A worried looking young couple glanced at Rusty and Moose, looked back at each other, and then again at Moose, the young man now staring openly.

The bearmen left the waiting room and went out to the parking lot. Moose climbed in on the driver’s side and waited while Rusty went back inside to make arrangements to pick up Brian.

At the nurses’ station Rusty began filling out the insurance paperwork, signing the necessary documents to have Brian released to him. This nurse seemed more relaxed than the one they had dealt with earlier. He was also male, not one of the 'girls' he'd been expecting. He smiled at Rusty. “It’s a very kind thing you’re doing for that young man, Mr. Zimmermann. Not many would,” the brawny bearish nurse with the thick black beard and shaved head said, looking appreciatively at Rusty.

“Brian’s been through a lot, he doesn’t need to complicate his life any more than it already is and he’s a good kid. He deserves to have someone looking out for him, God knows there aren’t many who are.” Rusty said and handed back the paperwork.

“I asked him about people we could contact, family, you know. He was kind of quiet and just said his family couldn’t care less. I thought that was kind of harsh on their part, if it’s true.” the big man said.

“I can assure you, it’s true. They kicked him out of their home.” Rusty said and sighed.

The nurse nodded and it looked as if he understood something he hadn’t before.

“Anyway, his burns aren't that bad, really; just the ones on his arm and hand that bear watching. I'm afraid the paramedics gave him a lot of Demerol, based on the state of his clothes. He looked worse than he actually was. He'll be out of it for a while. He's really lucky, hardly any burns on his back at all. We were about to give him a bath and get him out of those sooty clothes, but I’m guessing your husband could take care of that.” The nurse looked for a reaction from Rusty, and the shorter bear smiled.

“How’d you know?” he asked.

“It’s a small town Mr. Zimmermann; and when two fine bears like yourselves move in and set up shop, word gets around. The Bear community here is small, which means we’re all hungry and on the prowl.” he grinned as he continued, “That construction crew that remodeled your building when you first moved here was a nice bit of eye candy on my way to work, I even took the scenic route just so I could catch a peek. Also, one of my friends is a patient of your husband's, I’ve dropped her off at his office when her car was in the shop; she speaks very highly of the both of you; likes your coffee too.”

Rusty beamed, “Come by the shop when you get a chance nurse…?” Rusty looked for a nametag or something on the man’s chest.

“Oh, sorry, my ID’s on the desk over there; it’s Andrews, Jeff Andrews and I’ll see what I can do about getting a night off to go to Jazz and Java sometime. Friday nights, right?” He said, offering his hand to Rusty.

Rusty shook it firmly, released and smiled, “Yes, Friday nights. Would love to have you over, Jeff; and if I might ask, do you have a partner?”

“Husband, yes, Alden Rossi; he snagged me over a decade ago and I’ve been a very happy cub since. Says he had to move quickly before some other bear pounced on me, but that wouldn’t have happened. I knew he was mine the first time we met.” Jeff’s eyes showed the joy and pride he felt thinking of his husband.

“Well, bring him along; bears are always welcome in our shop!” Rusty said and patted Jeff on his beefy shoulder.

“OK, I definitely will, Mr. Zimmermann,”

“Please, call me Rusty. We’re bears, we can dispense with formality.” Rusty felt comfortable with this young man already.

Jeff chuckled, “OK, Rusty, Brian’ll be out in just a few minutes, we’ll have an orderly take him out to your car; you’re parked out back in the east-side lot, right?” He said and smiled and winked.

“Yes, I’ll meet him when he comes out.” said Rusty, returning the smile. It had been awhile since he and Moose had anyone to play with in their home, perhaps this was the beginning of a new friendship?

He returned to the SUV to wait with Moose.

“You just got some competition, Norman!” Rusty said smugly as he got into the car.

“Oh?” Moose kept his head forward, looking for Brian but gave Rusty a sidelong glance.

“Yes, Jeff Andrews, the nurse that was handling the paperwork at the desk was hitting on me… I think he’s very cute… wonder if he and his hubby would like to play with us?” Rusty mused.

“Rusty!” Moose gave him a shocked look. “You say I'm incorrigible!”

Rusty patted Moose’s cheek and gave him a kiss. “He’s a hot young man with a papa bear. I think you’d like him and probably his papa too. The papa's named Alden, by the way; an interesting and unusual name, that.”

“Well maybe. We used to play with others before changing and we haven’t played with human bears since… might be kinda fun given the increased stamina we have, now. Thoroughly wear them out… give ‘em marathon fucks to remember.” he mused quietly for a few seconds, then became serious, “Changing the subject but, what do we do?”

“About?” Rusty asked.

“I mean, what do we do about, well, if Brian asks me about what he saw?”

Rusty reached over and patted Moose's paw with his own. “I think the best thing would be to try to pass it off as something he thought he saw in the smoke... or a kind of hallucination from breathing all that smoke. I'm sure we can convince him.”

“I hope so, Rusty, I hope so.” Moose looked towards the door. “Look, there he is.” Both turned towards the Emergency Room entrance.

Rusty got out and went to the door and helped Brian out of the wheelchair and thanked the orderly. “Come on, Brian we're out here.” The two walked slowly to the SUV, where Moose held the door open. Both bears resisted the urge to engulf Brian in bear-hugs. Rusty helped Brian into the vehicle then climbed in beside him. “You OK?”

Brian nodded and said, “Thanks guys... I didn't know what to said…” there was a pause while Brian looked around in a dazed way, his command of English somewhat impaired, “I own you my life, I hear.” He was looking at Moose. “Wha hoppened?” His speech was also becoming slightly slurred, but he seemed to be focusing.

Moose and Rusty filled Brian in on the details of the evening. They kept things simple, partly because of Brian's fuzzy-headedness with the pain killers and partly to avoid too many uncomfortable questions.

As they got closer to the Brown Bear, Rusty carefully questioned Brian, “Do you remember anything about the fire?”

Brian struggled to focus on the question and recall the recent events. “I ‘member… I re… member… waaas going for some blankets, they were out. In the front... And in back there were blankets. But OK I finished surfing so I said, ‘OK I’ll got some.’ And then I was in the hall.” Brian paused and stared out the window, the meds were really affecting his cognition.

“You were in the hall getting blankets, what happened then?” Rusty asked.

“I smell something... gas or some… thing. I heard, like, someone outside. Not at the door, under... windows.” Brian paused, shook his head a bit trying to clear it and then continued. “Then... no, then I heard 'whoomp' and seen flames. I look for a estingisher, but there wasn't one, so I ran to… in the hall and banged into the rolly table. I fell. Hit my head on the floors or blanket...no, that's not right. Wall, hit the wall. I felt woozy and kinda fuzzy after that. I was coughing from all the smoke. I tried to crawl. I don’t find exit and I passed out again. I saw a big animal or something... was gonna eat me…”

Moose quickly interrupted Brian. “Yes, that must have been what I tripped on in the hall... the rolling table. I found another guy in the hall and took him out and then went back for you. You were in a room, not sure which one, the smoke was thick; but I picked you up and carried you out. I had to break the door down to do it.” Moose grinned, rubbing his shoulder and secretly hoping that his rush of words would shift Brian away from trying to recall just exactly what it was he had seen when he was rescued. “Brian?” The young man had drifted back to a drug-induced sleep, and both Rusty and Moose sighed with relief.

Moose pulled up to the back door of the Brown Bear. Together, they got Brian out of the SUV and inside.

Brian woke enough to ask, “Wha... where we going?” having noticed that they weren't headed for his room.

“You're going to sleep upstairs tonight. It's OK, we'll sleep out in the main room and check in on you every once in a while.” They mounted the stairs and entered their home above the shops.

Moose quickly shucked the small hospital blanket and his sooty, destroyed pants while Rusty helped a clumsy Brian shed his clothes. He made no objection until his briefs were gently pulled off.

“Wha … wha’s oing gon?” Asked Brian in a muddled voice, his weariness and the painkillers making him slur his words even more.

“The nurse said you’d need a shower, no point in smelling of smoke and irritating everything after being treated for smoke inhalation,” explained Rusty gently. “Besides, you aren’t getting in my bed that grimy, I’d have to toss my 800 thread count, custom made, Egyptian cotton sheets.” he added to lighten things up a bit.

“I… OK, go shower.” said Brain, trying to get out of Rusty’s grip, and gasped a bit when he found himself in Moose’s arms instead.

“Now hold on there, boy, there ain’t no way with all you’ve been through you are showering yourself. Not to mention the drugs. You’ll fall and hurt yourself.” Moose declared.

Brian noticed that Moose was just as naked as he was, and felt his cock start to twitch. “But, uh… well…”

“Look, Brian, bein’ buck together, it’s fine. We’ve both seen other guys’ junk in the gym. So, just relax and let me take care of you. Nothin's gonna happen.”

Brian wasn’t sure if he was disappointed that nothing was going to happen, or relieved… he was also not sure what day or time it was. Holding his arm out away from the shower spray was awkward, but Moose was careful and made sure the dressings stayed dry. Being naked in a shower with Moose was something Brian would have enjoyed much more had he been clear-headed. This didn’t stop him from becoming erect, however. He kept staring at Moose’s crotch, then looking up and smiling at Moose. Finally he said, unabashedly, “You have a nice cock!”

“Thank you Brian, so do you!” Moose said with a slight smile, “Now keep that arm up high while I soap your chest.”

All thoughts quickly faded under the warm pulsing water in the oversized shower, as the soot and smoke washed away from the two furry bodies, feeling Moose’s hands gently support and lather him, then help him sit down on the built-in bench as Moose cleaned himself. He was so groggy he didn’t notice when he had the chance that Moose’s singed back was now totally unblemished. All he knew was that he felt safe and cared for, and could relax with these men.

Moose kept the shower as brief as he could while still getting both of them totally clean, as he was having trouble with the same issue Brian had been – a cock which seemed to have a mind of its’ own.

Rusty had flipped the covers back on the bed and then came into the bathroom just as Moose turned off the water. He grabbed a couple of towels, helped Brian out of the shower and began to softly dry him. Tossing Moose the other towel, he also tossed Moose a raised eyebrow when he noticed his semi hard-on, only to get a shrug in return.

Soon, Rusty eased the now nearly asleep Brian down onto the bed. Moose handed the covers over to Rusty.

“Damn me, but he's a good lookin' cub!”

Rusty shot Moose another look. “Don't, Norman... just don't. We promised him. ”

“Oh, relax. He's great eye candy but I 'm not gonna jump his bones; especially not now.” Moose tucked the ends of the blanket in while Rusty draped the sheet over Brian.  Moose then leaned over and gently kissed Brian on the forehead. Rusty smiled to himself, it was a sweet gesture. Then grabbing a couple of pillows and a sheet, he and Moose headed out into the living area.

“Floor or couch?” Rusty asked.

“Floor, that way you can snug up against me.” Moose replied. They both lay down and were almost instantly asleep.

As the night lightened into day, they took turns going in to check on Brian. The young man slept on, barely shifting position in the large bed. During the morning, Moose ducked upstairs between patients to check on him, taking his hand in his big paw occasionally. On one such brief visit as he held Brian's hand he thought how close the young man had come to perishing in the fire; and it made tears well up. He wiped them away with his free hand and patted Brian’s gently and went back down for his next appointment.

Rusty visited off and on after the morning rush was over at the Brown Bear, reaching over occasionally to tuck the covers around the young man to make sure he stayed warm.

Brian finally awoke around noon and said he was hungry. Rusty fixed him an ample lunch; Brian took his medication but only ate about half of the meal before falling back asleep. He awoke again in the late afternoon and devoured what remained of his lunch, left for him on a tray by the bed, and then drifted back to sleep. The following morning he took his final pain pill at breakfast. Instead of falling back to sleep after lunch, he got up and wandered around for a bit before heading back into the bedroom. He was restless; somehow he was both horny and unsettled. He sniffed the bed sheets; then inhaled deeply. The scent of bears and sex was heady and caused an instant erection. Not caring that he was starting to leak precum, he lay back down on the sheets and rolled into them, inhaling deeply as he did so. Under a pillow he found a large t-shirt, dirty and torn. He put his nose to it, and got the same scent as the sheets, but it was more… something… he didn’t know what; he couldn’t put it into thought. He scrunched it and, without thinking about it and without knowing why, buried his face in it, deeply inhaling through his nose.

He was becoming more excited by the minute; he was also becoming a bit dazed, but not in the hazy, almost drunk way the medication had made him. He set the shirt aside and reached down to take his rigid cock in hand. He stopped, realizing that if he did what was on his mind, he would leave a sizable mess on his host’s sheets. He got up and hurried into the bathroom, his stiff cock jerking from side to side as he strode.

Once in the bathroom, he closed the door behind him and began stroking himself. Normally a hard cum, Brian found himself becoming hyper excited, very fast. He felt the load in his balls churning. Flashes of furry, naked, bear-like Moose picking him up, throwing him over his shoulder, flinging him into bed and taking him as he pleased flew rapidly through his mind and electrified his body. Before he knew it, he was shooting thick gobs of jizz all over the toilet and the wall behind it. As the final shots arced out and splatted against the floor, he sagged against the counter, his right arm supporting himself.

“Fuck me,” he breathed, “I've never cum like that!” He felt utterly drained and had to wait a minute for his breathing to return to something like normal. He grabbed some Kleenex and began mopping up the sticky mess he'd made. He flushed the toilet and washed his hands and then turned to go back into the bedroom when he heard a noise. Someone was out there. He gulped, but remembered that he was here at Moose and Rusty's invitation and that it was OK for him to use the bathroom. He opened the door and stepped out, forgetting for a moment that he was still more than half hard.

Moose, who’d been sniffing the air before he heard the door begin to open, leveled his gaze and looked at the young man. ‘No longer looks half-starved and more than a little hairy’ Moose thought appreciatively, not for the first time. His eyes dropped to the very respectable cock hanging at half-staff with a small blob of cum ready to drop.

“Looks like someone's been having fun!” Moose grinned broadly, feeling a tingle in his loins as his nose caught a stronger scent of cum from the bathroom.

Brian blushed a deep crimson. “I, uh, I.... I'm, uh...” He didn't know whether he should speak, turn around, pull clothes on, or get back into bed. “I...”

“Oh, take it easy, man. No worries. You think I haven't seen cock and cum before?” He smiled at Brian, who relaxed a little. “But here,” Moose said as he tossed a box of Kleenex from the bedside table at Brian, “you're dripping all over the floor.”

“Oh, man, I am SO sorry, I...”

“Relax. It's not a problem. I've seen that before, too!” Moose chuckled.

“I don't know what came over me. I woke up and was hungry, and then I really thought I had to pee, but that wasn't it. I got back in bed and everything smelled so good. Then there was a shirt left in the bed under a pillow and it smelled like the bed but better, but then I realized I really needed to jack, I mean I was so hard and it had been… well, awhile and I thought I'd bust if I, ah...” Brian suddenly realized he was babbling, just letting the words tumble out, telling this man stuff that he's never shared with someone else, ever.

Moose was thoughtful for a moment, slightly worried by the comment of ‘everything smelling good’, especially the shirt.

He started to say something, but changed his thought and said instead, “You were likely just letting all that tenseness go... you've had a rough night, but it's over and your body needed to release that tension. You're fine.” He looked at Brian's now-fully relaxed meat. “We don't mind... honestly, it’s not the first time another guy has slept in our bed and jacked… remembered, we’re gay: been there, done that, got the t-shirt.” He smiled at Brian who was visibly much more at ease now. “Come on out to the kitchen when you're ready, there's food!” Moose walked out, leaving Brian to mop up the drips.