by C. E. Wilson
“I promise I won’t say anything like that at all. I want him to know that I accept him for who he is. You made me see that I was stupid, and I can’t believe I did that to my own flesh and blood. I would not do that again.”
“I’ll go talk to the nurse on duty and see if we can get another bed in here. I think it used to have two beds in it so we might get Clayton’s bed in here too. You need to know that I’m in love with Clayton and I will be kissing him. If you can’t handle that, then we might need to put him in another room.”
“I can handle it. As long as you don’t crawl in bed with him.”
John chuckled. “I just might do that too.”
Charlie rolled his eyes but laughed. John walked out of the room and went down to the nurse’s station. “Carole my boyfriend is in surgery right now getting surgery on his arm. His father is Mr. James, and he wants to put Clayton in the same room with him so he can be close while they both recover. Can we do that?”
“He is in the double room, isn’t he? Yeah, I can move the rest of the furniture in there, and we can set him up in there. I thought he didn’t approve of his son being gay.”
“He didn’t but has had a change of heart. I made him see how ignorant he is. So now he wants to be close to Clayton and make it up to him for throwing him out as a teen. As if he can ever make up for that.”
“I don’t want him to upset my patient. If you think he is going to do that, then we aren’t moving him in there.”
“No, I think his mother will put a stop to it if he starts anything. She will be there all the time, and I will be there as much as I can be there and still having my office hours. If he says one wrong word to Clayton, I will move him to a private room.”
“All right let me get an orderly to put the furniture back in. When will he be out of surgery, do you know?”
“Yeah Carson said about three hours. Or maybe more. He won’t know for sure until he gets in there.”
“OK, I’ll be ready for when he gets out. What happened to him?”
“Creeps beat him up because he’s gay. They set him up. I hope the police find these idiots and put them away for a long time.”
John picked up a stethoscope from the desk and went back to Charlie’s room. He told them that they were going to be moving a little furniture into the room for Clayton. Then he walked over to Charlie and listened to his heart. He nodded at Charlie, letting him know that his heart sounded good now.
Chapter 11
It was four hours before Carson called John. “Meet me in the surgical waiting room. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
John told Charlie and Martha that he was going to go talk to the surgeon and see how things went. Martha asked, “Can I go with you?”
John nodded and led her over to the waiting room. It was only a few minutes until Carson came in and sat down. “Your boyfriend is doing good. I had to do a lot of work on that poor man. His arm was shattered, and there weren’t enough big pieces to wire together, so I had to clean it out and put six inches of cadaver bone in there. He should make a full recovery. He’s going to need to have some physical therapy on that arm.”
“I’ll take care of that. I’m going to go back to recovery and see him. How soon will he wake up?”
“We had to put him under pretty deep so it could be a couple of hours. You can go back, but you know his mother can’t go back there.”
“Yes, I know. I will come and let her know how he is doing before they bring him to his room. He will be in room 439. His father is in that room, so we are putting him in there.
“Oh, I stitched up his head and taped up his ribs while we had him out. I didn’t find anything wrong with him from his pelvis down. His legs are fine.”
“Thanks, Carson. I owe you one.”
“You owe me more than one John. I’ll collect one day. Up until then, I’ll send you my bill.” Carson laughed as he walked out of the waiting room.
“Mrs. James go back to your husband’s room. I’m going into recovery to check on him and hold his good hand. I’ll let you know when he is coming to his room.”
“Please call me Martha. Thank you for being here with Clayton. I don’t understand what happened to him, but I am so glad that you’re here with him.”
“I’ll explain it later. Right now, I want to get to Clayton. I need to touch him and make sure he is ok. I hope you understand.”
“Of course, I do. I know how you feel. I felt the same way when Charlie had his surgery.”
John took off down the hall. He went into recovery, and the nurse handed him a mask. “You know better than to come into recovery without a mask. I didn’t know you had a patient here today. Your surgery day is on Tuesday so what are you doing in here?”
“Clayton James. What bed is he in?”
“That one right there. He isn’t your patient.”
“No, he is my boyfriend. I had to come and check on him and sit with him until he wakes up.”
“Oh, I see. Good, you can wake him in a little while and give him some ice chips. Will save my tired feet.”
“I will gladly take care of my man. Go sit down. Do you have any other patients in here?”
“No, just Mr. James. Knock yourself out, John.”
John walked over to Clayton’s bed. He watched the monitors for a few minutes. He reached down and picked up his good hand. Clayton’s pulse sped up a little. John smiled and leaned down towards Clayton’s ear. “You know I’m here don’t you baby. I’m going to stay with you until you wake up. I’ll be right here with you. Sleep off the drugs babe. You will wake up soon.”
Clayton’s pulse slowed back down to normal. John watched him sleep and smiled. He wanted to hold him so bad and kiss him, but he knew that Clayton needed the rest to heal.
Two hours later, Clayton started to moan. John squeezed his hand. Clayton opened one eye and looked at John. He smiled and opened the other eye. “Why do I feel like I got ran over by a truck?”
“You’re just waking up after having surgery on your arm. How do you really feel?”
“That’s how I really feel. Did you operate on me?”
“No babe, that isn’t my field. A friend of mine did the surgery, and he is a good orthopedic surgeon. You will meet him tomorrow. Is your throat dry? You can have some ice chips to suck on if you want them.”
“Yeah, that would be great. My mouth feels like it’s full of cotton.”
“I’ll take you to your room soon. I need to ask you something and if you don’t want it then say so. Your Dad wants to put you into his room so he can see you. Is that something you want, or would you rather not be in his room. I’m going to leave it up to you.”
“My Dad wants me in his room? Why?”
“Well seems someone made him see the error of his ways. I was just standing up for you, but it made him see how stupid he was acting.”
“He really wants me to come to his room?”
“He wants you to stay in his room. He begged me to make it happen, but like I said babe if you don’t want to be in there, I won’t put you in there.”
“No, go ahead and put me in there. I have to see this.”
“Do you feel ready to move? You just woke up. I’m surprised you’re this lucid.”
“I’m a little loopy, but I think I am ok. Is Mom here?”
“Yes, she told your father that she was going to sit with you and if he didn’t like it, she was leaving him. So yeah she is here and waiting in your father’s room for you to get there.”
“Before you take me there, I want to tell you something. I love you, John. I know we wanted to go slow, but I just want you to know that I love you.”
“Do you remember me telling you that I am in love with you too?”
“I remember, but I thought I was dreaming that.”
“No sweetheart, you didn’t dream it. I told you I love you and for you not to leave me. I can’t live without you.”
Clayton smiled. “I feel the same. So, when are we getting
married? I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“As soon as you get healed up. I want to put a ring on that hand.”
“It’s a date.”
John called out to the nurse, “Sarah, I am taking Mr. James to his room.”
“Oh no, you’re not. You wait until I get an orderly to transport him. I’ve seen how you steer these gurneys. He isn’t going until someone that knows how to drive gets here. I’ll call now, and it will only take a few minutes.”
Clayton chuckled. “I trust you, babe.”
John bent down and kissed Clayton on the lips. Sarah scowled at him. “No sucking face with the patients, doctor.”
John rolled his eyes and grinned at Clayton. “I told your Dad that I was going to be kissing you in his room and I didn’t want to hear anything about it. He said as long as I didn’t climb in bed with you, he wouldn’t mind. I told him I might do that too.”
“Bet that got him going.”
“No, he didn’t say anything about it.”
The orderly showed up, and they moved Clayton’s bed out of the room and down to his father’s room. The nurse was there and helped to get him settled in his room and then gave him a shot for the pain. Clayton spoke to his mom and dad, and then he fell asleep. John sat beside the bed in a chair and fell asleep as well. John had some clean clothes in his office and would change before going to his office for appointments.
He would leave the office and go home and get more clean clothes and then stay the night with Clayton in the chair beside the bed. Clayton told John to go home and get a good night’s sleep, but he never listened. He knew he couldn’t sleep unless he were close to Clayton.
Martha told Clayton, “When you're released from the hospital, you will be coming home with me. I’ll take care of you.”
Clayton frowned and looked at John. John said, “No, Martha, he’s coming home with me. I’m capable of taking care of him. He’s going to be my husband, so he will live at home.”
Martha glared at John. “He is my son, and he will come home with his father and me. You are nothing to him. He will stay with us until he’s well.”
Clayton looked at John. “Mom I don’t know where you get off saying that John is nothing to me. He is everything to me. When I’m released from here, I will be going home with John. He’s going to be my husband, and he was there for me when no one else was. Don’t ever say anything like that to him again.” Clayton turned to John, “Babe, can you get me into another room, please. I don’t want to stay in this one any longer.”
John kissed Clayton and then went to the nurse’s station. “Do you have another room available? I want to move Clayton James to a private room.”
“Sure, John, we have one down the other hall. Will that be far enough away?”
John chuckled. “Yes, that will work out just fine. Thank you.”
The nurse went with John, and they got Clayton’s things and moved him to another room. Charlie said, “Doc, please don’t move Clay out of here. I want to talk to him.”
“He asked to be moved, and I’m moving him. If you have a problem with that, then talk to your wife. I am getting tired of this family treating Clayton badly. You’re supposed to support him not say dumb things to him.”
They moved him down the hall and got him settled. John kissed him and asked, “Do you want to ban them from coming to your room? I can put the order in for that.”
“No, I’ll wait and see what they say first. Babe, I want to go home with you. I don’t want to go there. They threw me out of the house and because I got hurt, they decide they are going to take me away from you? I don’t think so.”
“Clayton, nobody is going to take you anywhere you don’t want to go. If I have to, I will get a court order that they have to leave you alone. I wish I could hold you. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Come closer on the bed. I’ll get into your arms, and you can hold me, and I can hold you. Of course, with one arm. Just let me drape myself over you, and I will be fine and not hurt myself.”
John scooted as close to Clayton as he could on the bed. John opened his arms, and Clayton laid over him, and John wrapped his arms around Clayton but didn’t pull him tight. It was enough for him to feel Clayton against him, and it felt like heaven. He knew how close he came to losing Clayton. It would not happen again after John finished with the law firm.
Clayton sighed. “This feels so good. It is almost worth getting hurt for.”
“Clayton James, don’t you ever say that again. I will hold you anytime you want me to, but nothing is worth getting hurt like that for. If you want me to hold you just say so. Don’t go out and get yourself beat up just so I will hold you again.”
“John, I never saw those men before. Why would they do that to me? I don’t even interact with many people. I just don’t understand it.”
“How many men were there?”
“There were three of them. They kept calling me names like faggot, queer, and homo. There were other names I don’t want to repeat. They said all kinds of filthy things to me. Ask me how I liked pain and did the doc give me pain too.”
“So, they knew about us. How is what I want to know. We haven’t been dating that long. It has to be someone that knows both of us. I can’t even think of anyone that knows us that as something against us.”
“Your circle of friends are all gay, so I doubt any of them would do something like this. That would be all kinds of crazy. I don’t know many people, only the ones in the office and I haven’t even told anyone about us. I just don’t have any friends there. I doubt my Dad would do it. I don’t know John.”
John shook his head. “The only one I know that hates me that much is Robert.”
Clayton pulled back from John and stared at him.
Chapter 12
John was confused. “What is it, babe?”
“Does anyone call him Bobby?”
“I don’t know. The family has always called him Robert. Why?”
“Just before I passed out, I remember one of the men asking if it was good enough for Bobby. Then I don’t remember anything more except you telling me that you love me.”
John’s eyes got big. He pulled out his phone and called his Dad. “Dad, do they ever call Robert, Bobby like at work or his friends maybe?”
“I don’t know son. I never heard him being called that before. Susan is here let me ask her.” A few moments, he came back on the line. “Yeah, she said his old redneck buddies call him Bobby. What’s this about, Son?”
“Some men attacked Clayton a few days ago. He was in bad shape when I found him. He had to have surgery on his arm. It was shattered. He is still in the hospital. He remembers hearing one of the men asking if it would be enough for Bobby. Dad if he had this done to Clayton for no reason, I swear I’ll beat him within an inch of his life.”
“You won’t have to son. I’ll get to him first. I have to go. He just walked in the door. He and I are going to go into my office and have a long talk.”
John hung up his phone. He looked at Clayton and got unshed tears in his eyes. “I think I’m to blame for you getting beat up. Susan said that Robert’s redneck buddies all call him Bobby. Dad said he just got there, so he is going to take him into his office and have a long talk with him. Honey, I’m so sorry. I never thought you would be in danger or we would not have gone to the BBQ.”
“Come here, John. Let’s get one thing straight. If Robert is behind it, then it falls on Robert. If not, then it falls on whoever did it and it sure was not you. You have nothing to be sorry for, and if I had not had the chance to meet your mom and dad, then you would have been sorry for that. I love your parents. Going to the BBQ has nothing to do with this. We were there, and you don’t like Robert, but you didn’t get your friends to beat him up.”
“I know baby, but if it weren’t for me, you would not be in this bed all hurt.”
“No, you’re right, I would not be in this bed. If not for you I would have died in that shed. So,
thank you for loving me enough to come and find me. Thank you for knowing me well enough that you knew something was wrong that day.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that. I feel responsible, but I’m not going to let it keep me from you. I love you too much for that.”
“You better not leave me. I’ll die of a broken heart and then come back and haunt you.”
John chuckled. “I’ll never leave you, baby. I can’t wait to get you home and in our bed. I’m going to take a couple of weeks off and spend it with you.”
“You don’t have to do that, Honey. I can take care of myself. You keep working. I’m not going to be working for a little while, but I have some disability insurance at work to cover my salary, so that’s not going to be a problem, but you can’t claim that.”
“I’ve never taken a vacation, and it’s time that I did. I want to and can well afford to take a couple of weeks off. I just have to get my receptionist to either reschedule or send to one of my partners for the two weeks. It’s not a problem babe.”
John held Clayton close to him. He wanted him closer but wouldn’t take the chance of hurting his ribs. They were sitting like that on the bed when Martha walked into the room. She cleared her throat, and John looked over at her. Clayton didn’t move. “Can I help you, Martha?”
“I want to talk to Clay. I want to talk to him alone.”
“Well, see, that’s the problem. He isn’t alone anymore. He’s with me, and he loves me as much as I love him, so what do you want?”
“I just wanted to talk to Clay.”
“Talk he’s listening.”
“Clay, I want you to come home until you’re well. I can take care of you while John works. He can come and stay the night if that’s what you want. I just want you home.”
Clayton chuckled. He sat up and looked at his mother. John started to pull away, but Clayton held him close with his good arm. “I am going home, Mom. I’m going where I belong, and that is with John. He is going to be my husband very soon, and my home is where John is. You and Dad threw me out of that home you want me to come back to because I’m gay. Now that I’m hurt you want me to come back. No, I won’t ever come back to that house, and you need to understand that.”
