The Practice

by Grant C. Holland

“Good to meet you Hadley,” said Derek in a voice that was clearly meant to help usher Hadley out the door. He turned toward Thomas and said, “We can still make our reservation if we hurry.”

  Thomas said, “Have a good weekend Hadley. You just might see me. Maybe we could have brunch together on a weekend sometime. I still need to find out what are the best places to eat in town. Derek and Yale have promised me a good dinner tonight.”

  In a voice barely above a whisper, Hadley said, “That would be nice,” and then he disappeared around the corner.”

  “That’s him?” whispered Derek.

  Thomas nodded. “See what I mean?”

  Derek said, “Yeah, he’s hot, but are you sure he’s gay? If he is, I bet he’s a virgin. I have a sense for these things.”

  “Well, if he’s straight, then I’ll still have some great eye candy around twice a week. He’s signed on to do odd jobs and lawn care here at the practice.”

  Yale grinned. “And if he’s not?”

  Thomas laughed. “Well, we’ll see what happens then. I just might need to turn on the Randall charm.”

  7

  Hadley

  Hadley stared at the factory machine watching it punch out sheet metal forms. The errors were so few and far between, sometimes it seemed a wonder that Hadley was alert enough to catch the mistakes. However, in his three years at the factory he only received accolades for the accuracy of his work.

  It was most difficult to concentrate when there was something else on his mind. That was even harder than feeling sleepy. Thomas was on his mind, and he wasn’t sure exactly what to do.

  Thomas asked him at the clinic if he could come over to the carriage house after work someday and take a look at some of the cabinets in the kitchen. Rollers seemed loose on one of the drawers, and the doors of others had difficulty closing. He said that he could call Dr. Benton, but he didn’t want to bother the kind and elderly doctor, so he offered Hadley a dinner in exchange for the work.

  At the moment, Hadley had no qualms about saying yes. It was exactly the kind of odd job he could nearly do in his sleep, and he loved the smiles of gratitude he received in exchange. Sometimes he even received a hug. That’s exactly what was bothering him.

  Working for Thomas at the animal hospital was one thing. Doing work for him in his actual home seemed a little more…intimate. Thomas remained a gentleman at work, but Hadley noticed him standing closer and smiling more when they crossed each other’s paths at the clinic.

  Hadley knew that he could stop it all if he really wanted to. He could tell Thomas outright that he was straight, or he could make up a relationship with a girlfriend. He could slap Thomas on the back and talk about his past female conquests, but Hadley wasn’t sure that he wanted Thomas to stop.

  Trying to piece together why his attraction to Thomas was so strong, Hadley wondered if his recent dry spell in dates with women was a major cause. It was six months since Hadley’s last date. By the time he made it to the bar recently to hang with his buddies, he was too tired to scout out the local female population. He was perfectly content to down a beer and listen to stories about the exploits of other guys.

  It was only fifteen minutes until the end of Hadley’s shift when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He blocked notifications of calls from anyone but his closest friends and Aunt Mae while he was at work. Hadley pulled the phone from his pocket with worry taking hold in his gut. It was Aunt Mae’s number calling.

  Hadley quickly found his supervisor and exited the factory floor early to return the call. As he was walking across the parking lot to his truck, the phone rang on the other end. Finally, he got an answer, and he was surprised that it wasn’t Aunt Mae at all. It was her best friend Tina Ellis. Hadley was taught through the years to refer to her as Aunt Tina.

  He could hear the frenetic tone in her voice when she said, “Hadley! I hate to call you at work, but I just had to. Mae has fallen, and I can’t get her up. She’s at my place. I don’t think there’s anything critical, but we need your help. I can call 911 if you want me to. She keeps telling me not to. She’s wide awake and talking.”

  Hadley said, “I can be home in less than ten minutes. Is she breathing normally.”

  Aunt Tina said, “She is talking and cursing. I think that means she can breathe fine, Hadley, but she’s in some pain. I don’t know if anything is broken. She tried to get back up, and I think that only made it worse. I’m trying to keep her down until you get here.”

  “Does she need to talk to me?”

  “I can handle that part I think. Unless you really want to hear words that might even make you blush, I don’t think I need to put her on the phone.”

  Hadley suppressed a chuckle as he climbed into the truck. It wasn’t really a funny situation, but he remembered how Aunt Mae could swear like a sailor when she got riled up. Hadley said, “Aunt Tina, I’m hanging up now, but I should be there in less than ten minutes. If I run into bad traffic, I’ll call you back.”

  Hadley thought he heard the “F” word from Aunt Mae in the background as the call disconnected.

  Aunt Tina met him at the door. She said, “She’s calming down a little bit now. She complains that her wrist is the worst, and I got an ice pack for her to hold on that. Come see, and let me know what you think.”

  It was difficult for Hadley to see Aunt Mae lying helpless on the kitchen floor. Her hips were turned to one side, but her back was flat on the floor. She stared upward as Hadley entered holding the ice pack against her left wrist. She said simply, “Hadley, I think I need to see a doctor.”

  She was wearing one of her nicest dresses and her hair was pinned up perfectly. Hadley could even see that she put on lipstick. Aunt Mae still followed the social manners she inherited from her own mother and grandmother.

  Hadley squatted down beside her and asked, “Does anything hurt other than your wrist Aunt Mae?”

  She said, “Not any worse than if I bruised myself.”

  He reached out and ran his hand down the side of her leg. Then he gently gripped her foot and moved the leg forward and back. “Does that hurt?”

  She said, “No.”

  He asked, “Can you roll over on to your back completely?”

  She turned her hips and winced slightly, but the movement itself looked uncomplicated and easy.

  As she stared up into his face, Hadley asked, “Did you hit your head?”

  Aunt Tina piped up. “No, she didn’t. I was right here. She caught herself on that wrist. I’m worried that it’s broken.”

  Aunt Mae clicked her tongue. “It’s sprained at the worst. I’ve not broken a bone in more than fifty years.”

  Hadley said, “Well, we’ll see what they say at the hospital. I’m sure they will want to x-ray that.”

  Hadley positioned himself between Aunt Mae’s legs and checked to make sure her legs were bent and her feet were planted on the floor. While supporting both her back and abdomen, he said, “Let Aunt Tina hold that ice pack to your wrist and wrap your arm around my waist Aunt Mae.”

  He slowly lifted her to her feet and checked to see if she could support herself. Hadley asked again, “Does anything hurt? Are your feet and ankles okay.”

  She said, “No worse than they are every morning when I get out of bed.”

  Hadley asked, “Will you come with us to the hospital Aunt Tina?”

  She said, “Of course, if you want me to.”

  Hadley said, “I’ll drive Aunt Mae’s car. I don’t want either of you to try to climb into the truck.”

  * * *

  At the hospital, Aunt Mae was instantly placed into a wheelchair and taken into the emergency room by a nurse. Hadley gave her a kiss on the cheek before the nurse whisked her away.

  Left standing in the hallway, Hadley’s thoughts flashed back to when he heard about his parents’ accident. Their car was consumed by flames, and Hadley never saw them again after saying goodbye that morning when he headed off down the street on the riding lawnmower t
o work for spending money.

  As they wheeled Aunt Mae away, Hadley’s irrational fears made him worry that he might never see her again. He felt a cold sweat break out across his brow. Aunt Tina gripped his elbow and said, “Let’s go sit, Hadley. There’s nothing else you can do right now. I’m sure she will be fine. Your Aunt Mae is a tough one. You’ve been a perfect nephew.”

  Hadley smiled down at Aunt Tina’s kind face. and followed her as she shuffled along slowly toward the seats in the waiting room. When they sat, he asked, “Was she doing anything in particular when she fell?”

  Aunt Tina shook her head. “She was bending over trying to pick up a cookie crumb that she dropped when we were getting ready to have tea. I told her that I could just sweep it out the door with a broom, but you know your Aunt Mae. When she decides to do something, there is no talking her out of it.”

  Hadley said, “I’ve been a little worried about her lately. She seems to be slowing down a little bit. She’s cutting corners on doing things that she never used to cut.”

  Aunt Tina reached out her hand and placed it on Hadley’s thigh. She turned to face him and said, “We’re all getting older, dear. We all start to slow down.”

  Hadley asked if Aunt Tina wanted a snack or something to drink. She said, “No,” but he stood up to navigate the warren of hospital hallways and find vending machines. It gave him something to do to work off restless energy. He chose a cup of steaming hot coffee and a bag of potato chips. He also grabbed a bottle of water at the last minute for Aunt Tina.

  When he returned, he asked if she heard anything. Aunt Tina said, “Not yet, dear. I was just thinking about a time when your Aunt Mae and I were just young girls. She was climbing a tree in the back yard. Her mother told her many times to not climb the tree because she would fall out and hurt herself, but, like I said, you know your Aunt Mae’s stubborn streak.”

  “She fell?” asked Hadley.

  Aunt Tina said, “Yes, she did, and she broke her ankle. She was in a cast and on crutches for what seemed like months. Maybe that’s what she was talking about when she said she last broke a bone more than fifty years ago.”

  After nearly two hours in the waiting room, a young doctor appeared. He was tall and thin with a shock of blond hair. He fiddled with his stethoscope as he asked Aunt Tina and Hadley to follow him into a conference room. Hadley felt his throat go dry. He wondered if that meant there was bad news on the way.

  As the doctor closed the door, he said, “Please have a seat.” Hadley looked around and noticed an x-ray viewing unit on the wall. It looked like the doctors would have everything at their disposal for a quality show and tell experience.

  “I’m Dr. Pickett,” said the young man. He seated himself just a short distance away. He said, “I mostly have good news to share.”

  Hadley wrinkled his brow, “Mostly?”

  Dr. Pickett nodded. He said, “She has been banged up a bit, and expect her to be sore for several days or even two or three weeks. The bad news is that she broke her right wrist. The good news is it looks like that’s the only part of her body with broken bones.”

  Hadley whispered, “That’s a relief.”

  Continuing his comments, Dr. Pickett said, “I also have a theory about something that might have contributed to the fall. Your Aunt Mae said that she was bending over to pick something up and she felt dizzy. I noticed that her blood pressure medication was changed recently. It could be the culprit for making her dizzy, so I will be in touch with her primary care physician to look into adjusting that medication.”

  Hadley said, “Thank you so much Dr. I really appreciate it.”

  Dr. Pickett leaned forward and said, “There is one more thing I want to mention to both of you. Tina, you are one of Mae’s best friends, correct?”

  Aunt Tina said, “Since my family moved to Catlett’s Cove when we were both in elementary school. Yes, we’ve been the best of friends.”

  He said, “Well, as we begin to enter our later years, and Mae is now eighty, taking care of ourselves and an entire house becomes more and more difficult.” He looked Hadley in the eye and asked, “Have you considered an option like assisted care for your great aunt.”

  Hadley shook his head. He said, “She would have to be dragged kicking and screaming into it. I’ve wondered about seeing if Aunt Mae could rent the upstairs of the house to someone and have them lower their rent payments in exchange for helping take care of her.”

  Dr. Pickett nodded. He said, “Well, I think it’s time to start looking into options where she spends less time alone. If she fell while alone in her own house, we might have bigger problems than we have today.”

  Hadley glanced at Aunt Tina and nodded in agreement. He said, “We will definitely talk about that, and thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us Dr. Pickettt.”

  * * *

  The hospital decided to keep Aunt Mae overnight for observation. Aunt Tina and Hadley joined her in her hospital room until she nodded off to sleep. As he drove Aunt Tina home, Hadley suddenly realized that he forgot all about his planned meeting with Thomas. It was an informal arrangement, but he suspected that Thomas was waiting for him.

  After dropping Aunt Tina off at her house, he dialed Thomas’ number. When the phone picked up, he blurted out, “I’m so sorry. My Aunt Mae had an accident, and I completely forgot about everything else. I’ve been at the hospital checking up on her.”

  Thomas spoke calmly. “Why don’t you just stop by anyway. We can share a drink and then you can relax and not be alone while you’re thinking about your aunt.”

  8

  Thomas

  Thomas had a gut feeling that Hadley would be late even before their planned meeting time of 6:00 p.m. passed by. He paced back and forth in the carriage house living room and periodically peered out of the curtains to check and make sure that Hadley wasn’t at his own house across the street.

  Thomas knew that he could call. They exchanged cell phone numbers at the clinic for emergencies, but he didn’t know Hadley well yet. He worried that a call would be considered an intrusion into Hadley’s personal life. After all, he did remember Hadley saying, “I’ll be there as long as something doesn’t come up.” Thomas realized he should have insisted upon a phone call in that type of circumstance.

  He knew that the “official” reason for the visit was to take a look at the cabinets in the kitchen and perform a few little “fix-it” tasks, but Thomas also knew that he had other motives. He was beginning to make advances that any other gay man would recognize as passes, but Hadley did not respond.

  Hadley didn’t reject any of the brief physical touching and the efforts to move closer whenever they were together, but he also failed to make any moves from his side of the equation. Thomas thought back to Derek’s comments and wondered if they carried some truth.

  Perhaps Hadley was just nervous, and he was a virgin with men. He couldn’t imagine that Hadley was never with anyone. He was far too physically attractive, and there were no signs of a religious or moral reason for saving himself.

  Thomas looked at the clock. It now read 6:30 p.m. Thomas peeked between the curtains one more time and then headed to the refrigerator for a beer. Combined with the TV, the beer would help him relax and ease his frustrations about being stood up by his handyman.

  Two hours later Thomas’ phone rang. He fished it out of the pocket of his jeans and leaned back against the arm of the couch when he saw the call was from Hadley. Before Thomas had the chance to ask what was going on, Hadley began speaking fast and furious about his Aunt Mae and an accident at her friend’s house. He was driving home from the hospital and began to apologize profusely for not making a call.

  The frustration welled up again inside Thomas. He was apparently far enough in the back of Hadley’s mind that he didn’t merit a phone call even though Hadley probably spent at least an hour twiddling his thumbs in a hospital waiting room. He nearly made a comment about it, and then he stopped himself. Thomas decided
to keep his eye on the long-term goal. It was a somewhat vague one, but it had something to do with finding out if Hadley felt a mutual attraction.

  Instead of speaking out of frustration, Thomas said, “Why don’t you just stop by anyway. We can share a drink, and then you won’t be alone across the street worrying about your aunt.”

  There was a long pause over the phone, and finally Hadley said, “Okay. I should be there in about ten minutes.”

  While he waited, Thomas pulled out a bottle of red wine and popped the cork. He set two glasses on the counter and turned off the TV replacing it with soft 70s R&B music instead. He knew that intentions might be obvious with all of his atmospheric preparations, but Thomas thought that perhaps he needed to be blatantly obvious to tease out a reaction from Hadley.

  Exactly ten minutes later, Thomas heard the gravel crunch in the driveway. He put his knee on the sofa and leaned toward the window, pulling open the curtains. Hadley’s truck pulled up to the foot of the wood staircase outside the carriage house.

  Thomas knew that he could be seen peering out with the light of the living room shining out from behind. However, he needed to see Hadley’s figure before he climbed the steps.

  Thomas swallowed hard. Although the light was dim, he could still make out Hadley’s strong, tall silhouette. He stuffed his keys into his pocket and seemed to take hesitant steps toward the wooden staircase. Thomas smiled when he saw Hadley rake his fingers through his hair. He thought, At least he wants to look good for me.

  Pulling back from the window, Thomas tugged the sheer drapes back into place and made his way to the kitchen door. Hadley knocked, and Thomas paused. He didn’t want it to look like he had been waiting just on the other side of the door.

  Finally, he pulled open the door, flashed a toothy grin and said, “Hadley, it’s so good to see you. Come on inside.”

  Hadley sighed heavily and said, “I’m really sorry. It’s been such a long day.”