He followed her instructions and let the cool water fill his mouth, small quantities at a time. He was parched, but instinctively he knew it wouldn’t be a good thing to flood his stomach. He laid his head back when he was finished. He tried to open both eyes, but one wasn’t cooperating. He reached up to his face. “What happened?”
“Do you remember anything?”
His day at school came back to him, up until the scene at his locker. He couldn’t remember anything after that. “I went to school, had lunch with Matt.” He was having a hard time articulating.
“It’s okay. I’m glad Matt was there for you.”
“My locker. Someone—”
“I know. The school secretary told me.”
A nurse walked in carrying a tray. “You’re awake. That’s good. I have to administer some antibiotics. Might sting a little going in.”
Liam shrank back. “Do I have a choice?”
Sarah got up to allow the nurse access.
“’Fraid not.” She took the protective cap off the syringe. “But at least it’s through the IV and not in your gluteus maximus.”
The little feeling of warmth and slight sting was nothing compared to the pain shooting through his chest. He tried to take a deep breath and ended up having spasms. “Breathe, Liam. Slow, shallow. You’ve got a couple of broken ribs there.” She double-checked the IV connections. “If you can stay awake for a few hours, we’ll see about getting you something to eat.” She patted his shoulder. “I’ll be back later to check on you.” She picked up her tray and left the room.
“I can’t see well.”
Sarah sat back down next to Liam. “Your eye is swollen. It looks worse than it is. The doctor said your eye was fine. It’s just going to take a few days for the swelling to go down.”
Liam nodded. “Who?”
Sarah sighed. “We don’t know. The police are investigating.”
“Probably not very hard.” He gestured to the plastic glass. “More?”
Sarah stood up to put the straw to his lips again. “I’m certain they will do their job.”
Liam took a couple of sips. “I’m not so sure about that.”
Sarah put the glass back on the tray table. She looked down at her hands for a moment, then sat back down. Liam noticed she looked like she’d aged a decade since he saw her last.
“It’s okay, Mom.”
“No, it’s not. For the first time in my life, I don’t feel safe in my own town.”
“No one’s going to bother you, you’re like everyone else. I’m the odd queer out.”
“Liam, don’t talk like that!” She lowered her voice. “Sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s okay.” Liam looked down at the pain medication plunger next to his right hand. “I’m going to take some more pain meds and sleep.”
“The nurse wants you to try to stay awake.”
“Yeah, right, okay.” He slowly turned his head to the side to see the trees blowing in the wind outside his window. “How long do I have to stay here?”
“They’re going to do another CT scan this afternoon, check your brain. After that, they can make a determination.”
“Can I get my laptop?”
“You want to talk to Cody?”
“Yeah.”
“Let me see what I can do.” Sarah got up and handed the remote to the TV to Liam. “Why don’t you watch some TV, take your mind off things. I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Liam turned the TV on as his mom left the room. He found an NCIS marathon and settled in on watching Leroy Jethro Gibbs doing his thing.
He was two episodes in when he realized he hadn’t been to the bathroom. He looked under the blankets to realize he had a catheter inserted in his penis. He felt a little embarrassed that someone saw his junk, but hell, this was a hospital, they’d all probably seen worse, right?
It was another episode later when the nurse came back into the room, carrying another tray with a full IV bag. He turned the volume down. “Another shot?”
“Nope, just checking in on you. Ready to try some chicken broth?”
Liam’s stomach rumbled at the thought of food. “Steak sounds better.”
“I’m afraid steak would make a quick return after all the meds you’ve been on. Let’s start with chicken broth and Jell-O.” She changed out the IV. “I’ll be right back.”
She popped out of the room for a couple of minutes, this time returning with a metal tray with his food. “Don’t chug it down, sip it slowly. If you think your chest hurts now, it’s ten times worse if you have to vomit.”
Liam nodded and pulled the plastic wrap off the broth. Damn, it smelled good. “I will. Thanks.”
“I’ll be back in about thirty minutes to get the tray. Remember to call if you need anything.”
Liam resumed his marathon while he ate his meager lunch. The pain was increasing and he wondered if it was okay to take some pain meds now. He was about to hit the call button when the nurse came back in.
“Everything go down okay?” The nurse put the tray to the side.
“Yeah, but the pain’s getting worse. Is it too soon after eating to take more?”
“No, you’re good.” She looked through his chart, then adjusted the machine that gave him the fuzziness juice. “The doctor wants to decrease just a smidge, try to wean you off this stuff and then try something a little less addictive. Go ahead, plunge away.”
“Thanks.” Liam pushed down on the plunger, the fuzziness taking hold almost immediately. He closed his eyes and was out before the nurse left the room, sleeping as Gibbs got the bad guy once more.
THE ROOM was dark when Liam woke again. He could make out a figure sitting in the chair at the far end of the bed. “Mom?”
The figure rose and came into his line of sight.
“Cody!” Liam’s voice croaked as he struggled with his emotions. He’d never thought he’d see Cody so soon.
“Hey there.” Cody sat on the bed next to Liam.
“What’re you doing here?”
“Where else would I be?”
“Uh, home?”
Cody shook his head. “Not with you here.”
“My mom called you?”
“Of course.” Cody grasped Liam’s hand. “Sorry about all this.”
“Not your fault.”
“You know who did this?”
“I don’t remember anything.” Liam squeezed Cody’s hand. “Kiss me?”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Mouth is fine. Please.”
Cody leaned in and gave Liam a soft, lingering kiss. Liam’s stomach rumbling again made them both laugh.
“I think someone’s hungry.”
“You try living on a bowl of broth and a Jell-O cup.”
“Want me to go get the nurse?”
“Please.”
Cody gave Liam’s hand one last squeeze before heading out. He came back a few minutes later. “Cute nurse out there will be bringing in some food.”
“Cute? She’s like my mom’s age!”
“Dude, you’ve been asleep for hours. Shift change. And he’s adorable and just out of nursing school.”
Liam snorted. “Please don’t tell me you were hitting on him.”
“A little slight flirt. You know it’s my second nature. But I swear, I only have eyes for you.”
Indeed, a very cute male nurse came in. “Hey, Liam, I’m Levi.”
“Hi.”
“Before I can give you some food, we need to get the CT scan completed.” He came around to the head of the bed and unhooked the machines from the wall. “Ready to go?”
Cody stepped out of the way. “Can I go with you?”
Levi gave him a smile. “Sure. There’s a waiting area just outside the CT room.”
It was nice to have Cody next to him as they traversed the hallways of the hospital.
“While you’re in there, I’ll call your mom and give her an update. She went home to cl
ean up and make sure your dad was doing okay.”
“Dad’s probably mad at me.”
“Why on earth would you think that?”
“He’s been accepting, to a point, but jeez, to get beat up like this?”
“Your dad’s been at the police station and the school, demanding they take this attack seriously. Your mom is determined to keep him calm before he lashes out.”
“Really?”
“Oh you have no idea.”
They made it to the CT scan area, and Liam went in, leaving Cody sitting in one of those hard, plastic chairs. He was transferred onto a hard platform and the CT tech took over, scanning his noggin for any more swelling. It wasn’t long before he was back on his bed and being wheeled back to his room.
“That was quick.” Cody took Liam’s hand.
“I’m glad. I’m starving.”
Levi spoke up. “You do realize it’s more broth and Jell-O, right?”
“I was afraid of that.”
Levi got him back to his room and the machines hooked back up. There was a tray of broth and Jell-O waiting on Liam.
Once Levi left, Cody sat back down on the bed. “Need any help?”
Liam peeled the wrap off his food again. “I got it. Got to eat slow.”
Cody pointed to his left arm. “You know how long that’ll be on?”
“I broke my radius when I was a kid. That one I had on for six weeks, so thinking the same thing.”
“At least it’s not summer. Would suck to have that thing on and sweat.”
“You ain’t kidding. I broke my arm in August before. Miserable. It itched like a motherfucker.”
“How you feeling otherwise?”
Liam slurped some of his Jell-O. “Chest hurts, can’t breathe real deep. Eye throbs and the headache comes and goes. I guess it could’ve been worse.”
Cody leaned over and kissed Liam on the forehead. “I wish I could do something.”
“Just being here helps a lot. I had asked Mom to get my laptop so I could talk to you.” He sipped his chicken broth. “How long can you stay? Have to head back soon?”
“I’m here as long as you want.”
“What about school?”
“Don’t worry about school. Missing a few days isn’t going to matter, especially now so soon after winter break. All the teachers are trying to teach what was unlearned over the past month.”
Liam toyed with what was left of his Jell-O. “I can’t go back.”
“Go back?”
“To school. No way in hell I’m going back there.”
Cody placed his hand on Liam’s arm. “I know.”
“Do ya know how old you have to be to sit for a GED?”
“I think it’s seventeen, provided you get some sort of document from your school. But don’t quote me on that.” Cody ran his thumb back and forth over the back of Liam’s hand. “I know we talked about it. Come live with me. After this, I don’t think my parents will have any problem with it.”
“I can’t leave my parents.”
“Not like you’re going to a different planet. We could make a schedule where you come home a couple of times a month.”
“I don’t know.”
“What else you gonna do?”
“Was going to ask my mom about homeschooling. She only works part-time.” Liam finished off his Jell-O.
“Well, you’ve got some options.”
“I want out of here, first.”
“I hear that. Eat up, get your strength up. We’ll figure everything else out.”
Cody stayed with Liam until Liam needed his pain meds again and passed out.
THE PAIN was intense, a sharp ache that ran from his dick all the way up his spine. He’d believed his chest hurt when he tried to take a deep breath, but damn, that had nothing on the pain of the catheter removal. But at least the pain was brief and the removal meant he could get up and go to the bathroom himself. Once the nurse left with the used equipment, he swung his feet over the side of the bed. Cody offered his arm.
“Thanks. Not sure how steady I can be.”
Cody took on most of Liam’s weight. “No worries. Let’s get you to the bathroom.” Cody grabbed the IV pole, keeping it in time with their steps.
Once Liam took a few steps and got oriented, he felt more steady on his feet. “Feels good to be out of that bed.”
They made it to the bathroom. “I think I can take it from here. I really need to wash off a little of this stink.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Doc said I’m going to be here at least another day. I can’t live with myself.”
Cody set the IV pole next to the sink. “Looks like they have everything here you need. You want me to stay? Just in case?”
“Only if you want. Not lookin’ very sexy right now.” Liam looked in the mirror. The swelling around his eye had gone down. He could open it a little, the vision out of it a bit blurry, but functional. He’d got a little sparse beard growth going that needed to be taken care of. His hair was sticking out in all different directions. He reached for a washcloth and soap.
“You look beautiful to me.”
Liam snorted. “Come on, beautiful?”
“What, guys can’t be beautiful?”
Liam shrugged. “How about I call you cute?”
Cody grinned. “I like being cute.”
Liam soaped up the washcloth and washed his face, taking care not to press on his injured eye. Cody helped him maneuver out of his hospital gown to give the rest of his body a spit shine, then back into a clean gown and bed.
Cody plumped up the pillows behind Liam’s head, then pulled the blanket up over Liam.
“Thanks. Appreciate it.” Liam settled back into the pillows, feeling a bit more human.
“Anytime.” Cody sat on the edge of the bed. “You want to talk about those scars on your inner thigh? I couldn’t help but notice… that hospital gown leaves nothing to the imagination.”
Liam couldn’t meet Cody’s eye. He started to play with the edge of his blanket. “It was a way… to cope. To reconcile my feelings for you amid the messages I was getting from the church and family. It helped me, you know, I guess feel better.”
Cody placed his hand over Liam’s. “I’m sorry you had to go through that alone. That you couldn’t tell me. But I get it, I do. It’s like… yeah, like being able to control at least one thing in your life.”
“That’s what I’ve discovered. But I haven’t cut in quite a few weeks.”
“That’s good.”
Liam pointed to the water pitcher. “Can you pour me some water?”
“No problem.”
A few minutes later, Liam’s parents came into the room.
“Mom, Dad.”
“How are you feeling, sweetie?” Sarah squeezed Liam’s right hand.
“Better. Cody helped me with a sponge bath.”
“We just saw the doctor. Barring any issues with the latest round of tests, you can go home tomorrow.”
“Not a day too soon.” Liam looked over to his dad. “Any news?”
Steven cleared his throat. “It seems it was a couple of boys from the football team.”
Liam felt the blood drain from his face. “From the team? Who?”
“Evan and Jerry.”
Liam couldn’t catch his breath. He couldn’t believe his so-called friends would do this to him. Vandalize his locker, sure, maybe even throw some verbal insults, heck, he wouldn’t put cyberbullying past them, but actual physical assault? “I’m not going back there.”
Sarah patted his foot. “I know. Don’t worry, you don’t have to set foot in that school ever again.”
“No, not just the school. The whole entire town.”
“What?”
“I’ll go home, but I’m not going to school, church, the grocery store, or even the gas station. Not going to do it.”
“Son, we can talk about this when we get home.”
“No, Dad, we won’t. I’m making
a stand right now. I’m not going to deal with any more homophobic assholes any longer.”
“Liam!”
“I’m sorry, Mom, but that’s how I feel about this town. It’s going to be a cold day in hell before they accept people like me. I don’t want to hide like Bill and John or any other of the same-sex ‘roommates’ that live in fear of being found out.”
“You can’t hide until you go to college.”
Liam looked over to Cody. “Mom, Dad, I know I asked about it before. If you’d agree, I’d like to finish high school with Cody.”
Sarah looked over to Steven. “I don’t know about this. I can’t let my only child go off to a strange city.”
Steven touched Sarah’s shoulder. “He’d be safer there.”
“But he’s our son!” Sarah started to cry.
Cody took Liam’s hand, the first time he’d held Liam’s hand in front of Liam’s parents. “We live in a gay-friendly area and there’s even an LGBT club at my school. And I promise he’ll come home to visit. I talked to my parents. They’re agreeable; they love him like a son as well.”
“Mom, I can’t live in this town any longer. Even if they prosecute Evan and Jerry and they go to jail, that won’t deter anyone. There’ll be others who feel the same way and may act on it.”
Sarah dabbed her eyes and nodded. “I knew I’d have to let you go eventually, but not so soon and not under these circumstances.”
“I love you, Mom.”
Cody got up to let Sarah sit by Liam. She leaned down and gave him a hug. “I love you too, Liam.”
Steven came over for a family hug. Liam looked around his father’s shoulders and motioned to Cody to come and join them. His family had a new member.
Chapter Sixteen
“ARE YOU sure you have everything?”
“It’s not like I’m not coming back. If I forget something, I’ll get it in two weeks when I come home to visit.”
Sarah put her hands on Liam’s shoulders. “I know. I just don’t want you to need something you left behind.”
“I’m not going on safari. They have stores in Chicago.”
“But still—”
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