Page 95 of Stick By Me
Jada strolled into the waiting area. “Okay, Sam’s stable and in his room. You can go see him if you like.” As we rose up and threw our trash into a bin in the corner, she held up her hand. “He’s still sedated and has a lot of equipment on him, so don’t expect much.”
“We just want him to know he’s not alone.” Uncle Tad hitched up his jeans, then grabbed his coat from the arm of the couch. “I know he needs to rest.”
“Okay, good.” With a soft grin, Jada pivoted and left.
My heart pounded in my throat. It was hard enough seeing Dad with all the equipment on him earlier. It would probably be worse now. A warm arm wrapped around my waist, and I turned my head.
“I’m right here, babe.” Leo kissed my cheek.
“Thank you.” I patted his hand at my hip, then followed Uncle Tad through the hallway and into Dad’s room with Leo at my side.
The soft whoosh and click of the ventilator filled the room and much of Dad’s face was covered by the ventilator mask, but underneath it his skin was pale and more swollen than before. Blankets and sheets wrapped his body. The room was darker, with only a single lamp on behind the bed.
I stepped to him and fumbled under the edge of the blankets for his hand. “Dad, I’m here with Uncle Tad and Leo, my boyfriend.” As an ache wound through me, I glanced at Leo, watching me with wrinkled brows.
Dad’s cold fingers wrapped around my hand in a faint grip and his eyelids fluttered.
“You rest and get better and when you wake up, we’ll have Christmas.” I bent over the bed and kissed his clammy forehead. I’d never forget this Christmas. It would always be when my whole world changed. As I straightened, I looked at my dad’s face, the part I could see around the mask. I’d always thought I’dseen pieces of him in me. But now I knew it wasn’t the case. At least not the physical pieces. It was weird, but now I had to take a closer look at Coach Dupont. I wanted to see what Leo saw that day.
“Come on, let’s sit down.” Leo gently guided me to one of two reclining chairs in the corner.
Uncle Tad looked Dad over from the other side of the bed. “He looks peaceful, don’t you think?”
“Yeah.” I sank into the chair. “Hey, want to go spend some time with your family? We can stay here and wait with him.” Maybe then, we could take turns.
Uncle Tad gave a stuttered chuckle, his gaze affixed to his brother. “Yeah, that would be nice.” He turned his gaze on me. “I’ll be back in a few hours to let you both have some dinner. How’s that?”
“Great.” I glanced at Leo, sliding his arms out of the parka, and crawling into the recliner. “What are you making? Or do you want to order in?” He had to be as tired as I was.
“I bought us some steaks and potatoes. Isn’t that what you all eat up here?” He smirked at me.
With a quick point at Leo, Uncle Tad said, “You forgot the corn.” He smiled. “We’re all corn-fed up here.”
Leo winced. “Oh, I can go?—”
Reaching across the arm rests of the chairs, I squeezed Leo’s forearm. “It’s fine, Leo. You don’t need to go and get corn. He’s kidding. Sort of.” I offered a grin. God damn, he was a keeper.
“Anyways, see you in a few hours. Try and rest, will ya?” With a wave, Uncle Tad walked out.
Leo pushed his recliner back and looked at me. “How are you doing?” He wrapped his hand around mine.
“I’m…okay. It was nice to sit with Uncle Tad for a little while and shoot the shit.” Warmth crept into my chest. “I told him about you and how we met. He said I had a great uncle who was gay.” I nodded.
“Yeah?” Leo’s attention drew to the ceiling. “It runs infamilies, you know. I read a study once. They haven’t pinpointed the exact genetics, but there’s some evidence to say it’s genetic.”
“Oh?” I studied him. “Did you look that up while you were figuring yourself out, knowing your brother is gay?” It didn’t surprise me in the least he’d be looking up studies, my hot and nerdy boyfriend.
“Yes. I wanted to know what the odds were that two sons in one family would be queer.” He met my gaze. “Did you know the majority of the queer community is made up of bisexuals like us?” He lifted his brows.
“You are a wealth of information.” I rolled my eyes and let a grin sweep across my lips. “And I love you for it.” Bringing his hand to my lips, I kissed his knuckles. “I don’t know how I’d have gotten through this day without you, babe.”
He shimmied in his chair. “I would never have let you go through it alone. Never.” He squeezed my fingers. “Let’s chill for a bit.”
“Yeah, I hear ya.” I settled into the chair and closed my eyes, letting the sounds of the machines lull me into a dozing nap.
Last night,Leo had made me the most delicious steak with baked potatoes and all the fixings and had even thrown in a walnut and feta salad. We’d been so tired, we went to bed early, so we’d be prepared to go back to the hospital fully rested. It was Christmas morning and we’d had another round of snowfall overnight. I was letting Uncle Tad spend most of the day with his family. I figured me and Leo could handle everything and if we needed Unc, he was on call.
I parked Dad’s Mazda SUV in the lot at the hospital and Leo grabbed the card he’d bought yesterday for my father before stepping out of the truck.
