The guys all spent Friday night at my house, but everyone except John and Drew left the next day to go home and face their families. I knew John was staying for two reasons: one, he wanted to be there for Drew, and two, he was afraid of what was waiting for him when he got home. We spent most of Saturday in my bedroom watching television.
"You guys hungry?" I asked them from my spot on the floor.
"Sure," said John.
"I'm not too hungry," Drew said.
"You need to eat something," John told him.
"It'll hurt too much."
"You can eat some oatmeal or something." John looked at me. "I'll get him to eat."
"Okay." I got up and went to get some food. I walked in my kitchen and fixed some oatmeal for Drew and grabbed a box of Frosted Flakes, a half a gallon of milk, and two big bowls for me and John. It was technically lunch time, but it was only breakfast for us. I put the food on a tray, and by the time I got upstairs, Drew was sitting up on the side of the bed. His face was red and he looked like he was in severe pain. "Is he okay?" I asked John.
"I think he needs to go to the hospital, but you know how he is."
"Yeah, I know." John helped Drew sit back on the bed so I could put the tray in front of him. We watched as Drew attempted to take the spoon and get some oatmeal. His hand was shaking, so John stopped him.
"I got it." John told him.
"I don't need your help!" Drew protested.
"That cut on your head must be deeper than it looks, because you must be crazy. Who turns down an offer to be fed breakfast in bed by the man they love?" John smiled at Drew.
"People who know that the man they love doesn't love them," Drew responded.
John was quiet for a moment. He grabbed the spoon and put some oatmeal on it, before he moved the spoon to Drew's mouth. "Shut up and eat." He grinned at Drew, and Drew grinned back. I sat down on the floor in front of them and fixed my cereal. I was about to take my first spoonful, when John interrupted, "How long can Drew stay here?"
"As long as he wants."
"When are your parents coming home?"
I looked up at him. "I don't know if they're ever coming back," I confessed.
He laughed. "Stop playing Pat, when are they coming back? They always come back."
"They may come back to visit, but I don't think they'll ever stay here again. My father told me they got a place in Florida. He didn't say exactly where. I don't know. I just get the feeling that this isn't their home anymore. I'd be surprised if they showed up for my graduation."
"What happened that made this time so different?" he asked as he put another spoonful in Drew's mouth.
"The last time they came home, my father realized that I could take care of myself." I looked down at my cereal. "I think it's too painful for them to see me," I said, more to myself than to him. I sat my spoon down, not feeling hungry anymore.
"I don't even remember when they left. How long have they been gone this time?"
"Since the beginning of summer. It's the longest they've ever been gone."
"When were you going to tell us?"
"I don't know."
"You know we're all here for you. Does Chris know?"
"Of course."
"Why wouldn't you tell the rest of us?"
"I don't know. What was I supposed to say? My parents hate me because I'm gay and I killed my little brother?"
"You didn't make your mother lose her baby," John said.
I had heard my friends say those words a million times, but I never believed them. My mother blamed me and I knew my father blamed me too. I also knew that it really was my fault. If I hadn't been gay, we never would have had that argument and she would have been more careful when she was walking down the stairs that day. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes and I didn't want to cry. "I don't want to talk about this! They've been in and out of my life for the past couple of years! At least now they've picked one and are sticking to it. I don't need them!" I wiped my eyes to keep the tears from falling. "I think I should take a shower," I told him as I stood up.
"It's okay to be scared," said Drew, which shocked both of us. I looked at Drew and I saw tears falling down his face. "I think I need to go to the hospital," he whispered. John and I both jumped up and started throwing on clothes. We helped Drew get on a t-shirt and some jogging pants and we took him to John's car. John sped to the hospital. I knew we were both petrified because Drew wouldn't ask to go to the hospital unless he was in a lot of pain. We reached the emergency room and Drew bitched at me when I suggested we get someone to bring out a wheelchair. "I can walk!" he told me.
"Okay," I said.
"And don't you two call anybody either!"
We waited for about two hours in the emergency room waiting area, while Drew was being examined. Neither of us said a word. I spent the time going over all the worst case scenarios in my mind and praying that none of them came true. A woman came out and told us Drew was waiting to see us. We went to see Drew in his emergency room. He looked strange in the hospital gown, like maybe he wasn't as invincible as I always thought he was.
John grabbed his hand, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I got a few broken ribs though."
"What? A few broken ribs? The pain must have been killing you!" John told him. "I remember I had one last summer and it hurt like hell. I don't know how you went that long in all that pain, you dumb jock." I couldn't see John's face, but I knew he was smiling at Drew.
"It wasn't that bad until I sat up today, you smart ass. I could really feel it then."
"So what did the doctor say?"
"I'm free to go home after he gives me a prescription for pain pills."
"He didn't ask you what happened?" John asked.
"I told him some kids from a rival school jumped me."
"And he believed you?"
"I guess so."
"He didn't tell you to file charges?"
"He suggested that I did, but I told him it was okay."
"Well I'm just happy that you're okay," John told him as he leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "You scared the shit out of me! Don't you ever do that again."
"Okay, the next time my father has his foot up my ass, I'll tell him you said be gentle." Drew laughed a little and John laughed with him. I hated being outside their little loop. "Ouch," Drew said.
"Are you okay?" John asked, his voice filled with concern.
"It hurts to laugh."
"Sorry," John said.
I had somehow moved to a corner in the room. I was probably turning white, but I didn't have a mirror. "Why are you all the way over there?" asked Drew as he looked over at me.
I hate hospitals,' I thought, bad things happen at hospitals.' "I was waiting for my turn to speak to you." The truth was I was scared because he looked so vulnerable. I stepped forward. "Do you need anything? You know I have your bills covered, so just tell them to send the bills to me."
"You know I don't want your charity," Drew told me.
"It's not charity. You're doing me a favor by taking it because it's not my money, it's their money. Now I don't want to hear another word about it." Drew opened his mouth to say something. "Shut it," I told him.
"You shouldn't talk to sick people like that," he said with a smile on his face.
"Well when I meet a sick person, I'll be sure to remember that."
The doctor came back in the room and asked Drew how he was feeling with the medicine. "It seems to be working okay, Doc. I just have a little pain, but you know I play football, so I'm used to pain."
The doctor smiled and told him, "Well don't over do it. I want you to take it easy for the next two months while your ribs heal."
"Can he still go to school?" asked John.
"Sure, he could probably go back on Monday, but I think he would be in too much pain. I recommend that he rest up for about a week before he goes back to school. Other than that, I suggest you guys keep a close eye on him and make sure he takes it easy. I wish there was more I could do to help, but ribs have to heal by themselves." The doctor said a few more words and then left the room.
"I'm sorry you're going to miss the rest of the football season," John told him.
A defeated look entered Drew's eyes and he said, "It's probably for the best." The look went away almost as quickly as it appeared, but his look reminded me of how depressed he was when we talked before the whole Laurie mess.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
He looked at me with a fake smile on his face and said, "Yeah, I'm great." He flashed a quick cheesy grin. "I should be asking you that. You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I hate hospitals." They both looked at me and I knew they understood because they knew some of my worst memories happened in hospitals.
"Are you sure, you're okay Pat?" asked John.
"Yes, I'm fine! I'm not the one with a few broken ribs here. Speaking of which, exactly how many ribs are broken?"
"Three, but I'll live." He didn't sound too happy about the latter part. John looked at Drew and then made a face at me, but I just shrugged my shoulders. "Ahh!"
John and I looked over and saw Drew trying to sit up in the bed. "Relax Drew, we can give you hand. Don't hurt yourself trying to be Mr. Macho Man."
The comment brought a smile to Drew's face and he laughed. "Ouch! Stop making me laugh."
I didn't think John's comment was funny, but it was obviously one of their inside jokes. I couldn't begrudge them that though because Chris and I had plenty of our own. "So what are we waiting on?" I asked.
"Weren't you listening? The nurse is going to bring in the prescription and some paperwork for Drew to fill out."
"Oh." John looked over at me and started laughing. "What?"
"You look like you got dressed in the dark."
"Thanks," I told him as I flipped him the finger.
"Hey, don't give me the finger. I just thought you might like to know that not only is your shirt on inside out, but you also have it on backwards." John looked at Drew. "I guess it's some new style we don't know about." Drew laughed a little and grabbed his side.
"Serves you right for laughing," I said. Then I looked at John, "Why didn't you say anything earlier? We were sitting in the lobby for two freaking hours!"
"I didn't notice it until now."
"Oh." I took off my shirt and was in the process of putting it back on when a nurse walked in the room. It was funny because I heard a few footsteps and then I heard the person take a deep gasp. My body can do that to people,' I thought. I pulled my shirt down and looked at the nurse. Our eyes met and she blushed before turning away. I grinned to myself. Yeah, she wants me,' I said inside my head. She was a beautiful woman. If I was straight I would hit on her, but her beauty did nothing for me.
She went over a lot of information with Drew and had him sign some forms. I stopped her as she was leaving and asked her about his bills. She said something about his father's insurance and checking that before any bills were sent out. "You're putting this on your father's insurance?" I asked Drew after the nurse had left the room.
"Why not? He always puts it on his insurance."
"Where did they get his insurance information from? I know you don't have a card with you."
"This isn't my first time here. The information was still on file from my last visit."
"And when was that?" I had no idea Drew had been in the hospital recently.
"About two months ago." Drew looked guilty.
"What happened?"
"I was defending you."
"What?"
"My father said some not so nice things about homosexuals, and we got in to a debate. You know how it is with him, one minute we're just talking, the next he's pissed off."
"But why did you end up in the hospital?"
"We were talking and then he told me to come here, so I stood up and walked around the table. He took a swing at me with his steak knife. I jumped back, but he still got the side of my thigh. I grabbed my leg and got a paper towel off the counter." Drew smirked. "He went right back to cutting his steak with that knife like my blood wasn't on it." He looked away. "I took myself to the hospital because I couldn't get it to stop bleeding. They gave me a few stitches and sent me on my way."
"Wow, what did you tell them happened?"
"I cut myself on a huge nail sticking out of the wall in our basement."
"These people here are pretty dumb if they believed that."
"As long as they get paid, I don't think they care too much. Besides, I'm old enough to take care of myself." His eyes seemed to fade away to some other thought.
"I know," I told him.
He glanced over at me. "Pass me my clothes so we can get out of here." I grabbed his jogging pants and started trying to help him put them on. "What are you doing? I can do that by myself!"
"You let us help you earlier," I reminded him.
"That was different."
"Why?"
"It was just us."
"It's still just us," I told him as I looked around the room.
"It's not the same! Now let me do this myself!" His tone told me to back off, so I did.
John walked over to me and put his arm around my shoulder. He stared Drew in his eyes as he said, "Yep, Pat, that's our boy, stubborn as a rock and dumb as a doorknob. You know he would rather do more damage by moving his body a lot, than have one of us help." Drew rolled his eyes.
I wasn't sure what was going on in John's head so I just stood there in silence and watched Drew struggle to put on his clothes. He was able to get the jogging pants on fairly easy. He got the hospital gown off and then he was trying to put on his shirt. I noticed that he was making an effort not to move his left arm, so the task of putting on the shirt was difficult. John started laughing at him. "Stop laughing and help me!" Drew finally said. John winked at me and then helped Drew put his shirt on.
Drew leaned against John as we walked out the hospital after listening to Drew spend ten minutes arguing with the hospital workers that he was not going to sit in a wheelchair and be wheeled to the door. Part of me wondered if Drew secretly liked the pain.
We picked up his prescription and we were headed back to my place when Drew said, "I think I'll go to school on Monday."
Copyright Lustyville 2006 Please send comments to lustyville@yahoo.com and check out my yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lustyville.