The last time Joshua himself had been in the hospital, he’d been in for tests determining whether or not he’d be a good candidate for a new, experimental nanite technology. The doctors had promised that the advanced cellular-repair capabilities could extend his life exponentially, and as it turned out, he’d been accepted into the trial. A few weeks later, nanites had been fed into his bloodstream during another overnight stay, and the microscopic robots had set to work on repairing wear and tear, bolstering his immune system, and even eking some additional functionality out of his already healthy pair of lungs. For several months afterward, he’d felt superhuman.
Joshua thought Neil would be pleased at the advancements his work had made. After recovering from the worst of his grief, Joshua had always taken good care of himself—for Lee’s sake, and his own, but also because he knew that Neil would have wanted him to live a long life. The nanite technology basically ensured that when death finally came his way, hopefully many years from now, it wouldn’t, at least, be due to his failure to take every opportunity to stay healthy.
Though Joshua was grateful to live a longer, healthier life than he’d ever imagined, he didn’t feel entirely comfortable with some of the new changes at the hospital itself.
“Why?” Lee had asked when Joshua mentioned it, looking up from the novel he was reading on his tablet.
Joshua had shrugged, rubbing a hand over his wrist loosely, remembering the plastic bracelet he’d worn in the hospital before. “I don’t know. It’s just when I was a kid and was in the hospital for my appendix, wearing a bracelet made me feel safe, I guess. Like they were going to take care of me.”
“You’re such a sub, babe. It kills me.” Lee’s lips had twisted in amusement, and he’d winked at him. “Don’t worry. When we get upstairs tonight, I’ll make you feel safe. That should make up for it.”
Joshua had rolled his eyes. Trusting Leedidmake him feel safe, but that wasn’t the point. He’d sighed, amused but also feeling like Lee hadn’t taken him seriously.
“What? You don’t think I can make you feel safe? You don’t know that I’ll always take care of you?” Lee had put aside the tablet and flashed a heated glance Joshua’s way.
Joshua had grinned. “Oh, you always do,” he’d whispered. “It’s one reason why I love you.”
“I’m glad there’s more than one,” Lee had said, laughing softly.
In general, Joshua didn’t have a problem with technological advances that led to medical miracles, and nanites were definitely among those. He did have his doubts, though, about the wisdom of some of what the scientists were doing. It seemed to be verging on a world too removed from the ‘home’ of his youth for his liking. And, if there was anything Joshua needed to stay the same, it was Scottsville. People came and went. Romances started and died. Children were born and grew up. Everything was always in flux, true. But the thing that kept Joshua sane was knowing every nook and cranny of his little corner of the earth.
Scottsville.
The town he’d run to when he’d lost it all. The town that brought him Lee, and love, and a way to live again.
But Scottsville was changing. And it was disconcerting, to say the least.
Still, today he soldiered on cheerfully, getting his coffee at Earl G. Dumplin’s, nodding at fellow locals and grinning when he ran into Chris in the parking lot outside. He hadn’t seen his old friend in awhile, but he was happy to see him now. Chris held his and Dale’s youngest, a baby they were fostering from a neighboring county.
“Hey, Chris. Hey, Beth,” Joshua said, kissing the baby’s cheek. He ran his hand over her downy head.
“I’m going to be late,” Chris said, shoving his long hair behind his ear, distracted. “Gotta get her to day care and then dash to Barren River to work.”
“Sure,” Joshua said. “I’ll just let you go.”
“Okay, but…” Chris grabbed his arm and smiled softly. His teeth glinted in the morning sun. “You okay? You’ve got that vibe like the world’s gonna tumble down if you don’t hold it up with your own two shoulders.”
Joshua smiled. “I’m fine. Had a weird dream.”
“Oh.” Chris tilted his head, an uncanny perception in his dark brown eyes. He pushed another tendril of hair behind his ear. Beth chewed on her fist. “Well, if you need to talk, you know where to find me.”
“I do.”
It still amazed Joshua that Chris had made his home in Scottsville of all places. He’d never quite understood how it was possible that the man he’d met in Neil’s apartment, the former drag queen, had come to be the stepfather to farm boys and foster kids. But he had, and he loved it. Not to mention, he’d found a good job at the state park’s hotel and settled into being the town’s most obvious queer with a kind of grace Joshua envied.
“How’s Dale?” he asked before Chris could get away from him. “I know you’ve both been dealing with a lot since his accident.” Dale’s leg had gotten crushed by his tractor the summer before, and the damage done had been extensive. While he’d healed, he still had nerve pain that caused him a lot of trouble.
Joshua had been instrumental in making sure that Dale got signed up for an upcoming medical trial of newly developed, experimental nerve-repairing nanites. It still amazed Joshua how nanite technology had progressed from skin repair, like Lee had received, to the mending of internal organs and vascular trauma.
He sometimes thought about Neil’s extensive injuries after the accident, and it blew his mind to think that had nanite technology been developed to the extent it was now, maybe Neil’s own work could have saved him. At least nanites had saved thousands of other people lucky enough to reap the benefits of the technology Neil had devoted his life to. Well, if they had enough money to access the treatment anyway. The inequity in the availability of the nanite medical treatments was something Joshua was working to correct with quite a few grants. Including the one funding the trial Dale would be taking part in.
The trial was to be held out of Emory in Atlanta, Georgia. Apparently, developing nanites for nerve trauma had an exceptionally high degree of difficulty. Joshua remembered Neil going on about the whys of it back in the day, but he’d tuned out the particulars, mainly taken with the shapes Neil’s mouth made when he talked. But an idea dreamed up by some young kid—a genius, apparently, who’d submitted plans to the researchers at Emory—had made neurological nanite medicine more feasible. Despite the age of the kid—only fifteen—the theory was sound, and Emory was working out the kinks to get a trial up and running. After some string-pulling and a nice donation, Dale was number one on the list of candidates.
“Dale’s looking forward to the treatments,” Chris said. “We both are.”
Joshua knew Dale was a trooper and rarely complained, but he also knew from the look on Chris’s face that he was still in too much pain.
They talked about that for a moment, and Joshua reassured Chris that the trial would start soon.
