Skyy leaned against the counter with his hands lightly
wrapped around a coffee cup. He watched as his thumbs slowly traced the raised
motif, steadily becoming more mesmerized by the repetitive movements. He wished
he could figure out what was bothering him and maybe even the reasons why. The
last three weeks had found him getting progressively more uptight and cranky,
which normally was not his nature to be.
He closed his eyes and clutched the mug rigidly
when what was wrong finally hit him. He was more than just upset, more than
just confused; he was damn-well pissed off. And most troubling was the fact
that he was royally pissed off at Dennis!
He thought back to almost a month ago as he
became convinced that was when his anxieties first raised their ugly heads. He
was pretty sure things began a downward turn during the time he was hospitalized.
He methodically reviewed all that had gone on back then and since, hoping he’d
remember everything accurately. It seemed to play out like a story unfolding in
his mind.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Approximately one month ago:
Skyy had patiently put up with all the
questions and his vital signs being taken yet again. This was the third time
since his arrival at the hospital. Once at Admission, next during orientation,
and now after being assign a room. He wished Dennis and Dusty hadn’t had to
leave when they brought him upstairs, but at least they’d be back for visiting
hours. He just had to get through lunch and a rest period before their return.
His surgery had originally scheduled for this
afternoon, but they’d learn upon arrival that it was now postponed until the
morning. They were not given an explanation.
He sat back once the nurse had finished with
him and glanced over at the patient in the next bed. The other man, who looked
close to Skyy’s age, was lucky enough to be next to the window. That was where
Skyy would have preferred to be.
‘Maybe he will be leaving before I do,’ Skyy
thought, ‘and they’ll let me change beds.’ He blinked and smiled bashfully when
he realized his roommate was also giving him the once over.
He slid off his bed and reached over to extend
his hand. “Hi, my name is Skyy; Skyy MacKay. I’m here to get my bummed-up
shoulder fixed. What’s your name and what are you in for?”
“Name’s Jude Caldwell and I’m in for hip
surgery.”
‘Nope, he won’t be leaving before me,’ Skyy
mused with a touch of disappointment as they shook hands. “What’s all wrong
with your hips?” he inquired as he climbed back onto his bed. He pulled the
rectangular table around from the foot of the bed so he could lean against it.
Jude
shrugged. Knowing he’d be asking a similar question of his roommate, he was
more than willing to provide the information requested. “I’ve recently been diagnosed
with hip dysplasia. It’s a birth defect where the hip sockets don’t go deep
enough for the hips to function properly. I was told that without surgery there
was a strong possibility of me developing arthritis and maybe even needing hip
replacements at a younger age than the doctors would ordinarily recommend.
Apparently there’s this program focusing on providing care for patients usually
much younger than I am. I guess the problem would have surfaced sooner had I
been active in sports. I can remember though of actually hearing my hips pop
during times of extreme physical activity. My surgeon going to perform something
called a periacetabular osteotomy to reposition my deformed hip sockets. It’s a
unique procedure usually only done at a few hospitals. Fortunately, it has
proven very effective in relieving pain, improving function and can actually save
the original bone and cartilage of the hip. All of which will make a big
difference in my life.”
“So
you’ll be in here for a few days, right?”
“I’ll
be out by the weekend if all goes well.”
“Yeah,
me too.”
“What’s
wrong with your shoulder that needs to be repaired?”
“Oh,
it’s just a past injury that has worsened over time.” Skyy deliberately played
down the damage done to his shoulder during his childhood. “The rotator cuff
got injured and some tendon were torn. But the operation should repair all
that. The doctor says it will be somewhat invasive and that my recovery will depend
on how well I follow his instructions after I go home. I was meant to be
operated on today but that’s not going to happen now.”
“My surgery was also moved until the morning
due to a bad accident involving a lot of unfortunate people. All OR’s had to be
freed up for them. I had myself psyched up for this afternoon, now I’ll have to
re-psych myself up all over again.”
Skyy
merely smiled his understanding. Jude had unmistakably verbalized how Skyy felt
himself. “I wonder what we’re supposed to do with our free time. It’s going to
get kind of boring.”
Those
words rapidly led to an afternoon of fun.
Jude was an employee of the hospital. He worked
part-time as an assistant pharmacist while he attended the nearby university
where he was studying to become a full-fledged pharmacist. He not only was very
familiar with the hospital, but also knew his way around the big city of
Toronto.
Under Jude’s leadership, they had left their
room under the guise of going for a smoke. Once downstairs, Jude had taken Skyy
into a small storage room where they had both changed into scrubs and then left
the building.
They spent most the next couple of hours
wandering around, talking and getting to know about each other. But it was on
the way back that the real excitement began.
“Let’s grab a bite to eat, Skyy and then we’ll
hail a taxi, okay?” Jude’s companion was more than happy to go along with
anything his tour guide suggested. After all, Skyy was the stranger in town and
therefore a rather devoted follower.
They had no sooner shut the doors of the taxi
than lights started flashing.
“What the hell?” Jude exclaimed, glancing
around.
“We’re in the cash-cab,” Skyy excitedly
declared, literally bouncing in his seat. “It’s a TV show and the driver is
also the host. He’ll ask us questions and we’ll get a chance to win money,” he
went on to explain.
Twenty minutes later they were walking into the
hospital six hundred dollars richer.
“Here’s your half, Jude.” Skyy offered several
bills to his new friend.
“Nay, you keep it all, kid. You’re the one who
answered all the questions. I just sat there and played the part of a dummy. It
wasn’t hard because after the first one, I didn’t know any of the correct
answers.”
Skyy looked at the money in his hands. He
didn’t feel right about keeping it all. “Tell you what, Jude. How about we just
donate it all to the fund for new equipment for the children’s ward?”
“Works for me. Now we have to get changed back
into our gowns and somehow return to our room without being spotted.”
“Hmm, like that’s gonna happen,” Skyy smirked.
As Skyy had already surmised, they were caught
and severely scolded by the head nurse. Jude got the worse of it for being the
instigator. Skyy secretly worried about how his partners were going to take it
and what the fallout would be then.
There wasn’t any. At least there wasn’t
anything that Skyy could have been prepared for.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Skyy’s fingers were beginning to hurt. He
looked down at them, saw the whitening knuckles and slowly loosened his grip on
the mug.
A thought sprang into his mind and before he
could control himself, he drew his arm back and threw the mug against the wall.
He was surprised at just how good that felt. Taking the second mug off the
rack, he threw it too. The first time had been spontaneous, now it was simply
to get that momentary sense of relief. So he threw the third one.
He was drawing back his arm with the fourth mug
in hand when he heard a deep voice stern with a mixture of astonishment and annoyance.
“Don’t you dare!” Dennis commanded, shutting
the porch door and setting down his briefcase.
Skyy looked at his older partner, then at the
mug in his hand. Sheer stubbornness took over and he once again hurled an
object across the room. It crashed against the wall, shattered into pieces and
joined the pile of debris on the floor.
Dennis immediately grabbed his youngest Brat by
the shirt collar and marched him down the hall to the study. One there, he
quickly divested Skyy of his sweatpants and briefs, pulled the struggling man
over his knee and proceeded to land a barrage of painful swats on the
unprotected bottom, turning it a deep shade of red.
Skyy kicked and hollered until finally giving
in and going limp over his chastiser’s lap. Within seconds of the punishment
ending, he found himself being lifted, turned and settled back on Dennis’ lap,
this time face up. He threw his arms around his Top’s neck and clung to him
while soaking the front of the bigger man’s suit jacket with his tears.
For several long minutes neither man said a
word. Dennis was trying to come to grips with Skyy’s uncharacteristic
behaviour. He waited patiently for the crying to subside, all the while
murmuring words of love and reassurance.
When all that could be heard in the room was
Dennis’ calming mantra and Skyy deep breathing, the older man asked, “What was
that all about, Sport? Temper tantrums are not usually a part of your
acting-out repertoire.”
“I-I was mad,” Skyy softly hitched. “Mad at
you.”
“Do you know why? Because I don’t.” Dennis was
definitely perplexed.
“I don’t really know either. I just kind of
felt you didn’t want me anymore.” Skyy sadly whispered.
“And when did these feeling first manifest
themselves, baby?” Dennis gently began the process of dragging information from
his precious Brat who was obviously hurting, and not only from the spanking
he’d received only moments earlier.
Skyy shrugged, not quite certain how to explain
something he barely understood himself. “You remember back when I was in the
hospital?” At Dennis’ nod, he haltingly continued. “Well, when I woke up from
my surgery you weren’t there. Only Dusty was. I was hungry and really groggy,
so he fed me Jello.”
“He also told you why I wasn’t able to get
there as soon as I wanted to. However, I did arrive an hour or so after you woke up, but you'd already fallen back to sleep. I’d had to finish up my meeting with my publisher that
had been interrupted the day before when you went missing. You do recall the
adventure you had with your roommate Jude, right?”
“Yeah. I thought I’d be in trouble; only I
wasn’t. I mean you never said much about it, but you left that night without
kissing me goodbye. In fact, you never kissed me once the whole time I was in
there. Then after we got home, you made me move into my old room.”
Dennis sighed deeply, tightened his arms around
the slender form on his lap and kissed the still-damp curls on Skyy’s head. “Oh
baby, I thought we’d gone over this. But we’ll do it again. I think the meds
have made it difficult for you to grasp a lot that went on the first week or so
after your operation.”
“I think I may be able to pay better attention
now, don’t you?”
“You’re probably right. Okay, first we’ll deal
with your hospital stay. Every time Dusty and I visited, members of Jude’s
family were also visiting. Like Jude explained to you, his parents are rather orthodox
and believe homosexuality if unacceptable. I am sure they would have been even
more ill at ease had there been any public display of affection between us and
totally thrown about our being a threesome. Not everyone is capable of
gracefully letting folks live their own lives and in accepting their
differences. You have yet to learn that people can be cruel and that the world
is not always a peaceful and happy place to be.”
“I know it can get pretty rough out there, Den.
I guess I tend to ignore nastiness and look only for the best in human nature.”
“Well I kinda like you that way. It may make my
job a little harder, but it’s worth it,” Dennis teased in an attempt to lighten
the mood. Let’s move on. Secondly, here at home I decided it would be safer not
to have you sleeping with us until your shoulder had healed some. Whether or
not my concerns were justified, I was worried about you injuring yourself when
rolling on top of me like you have a tendency to do. Both Dusty and I have
missed you being in bed with us. We really have, little one.”
“So even though the doctor told us this morning
that my shoulder isn’t quite coming along as fast as he’d like, I can still
move back with you?”
“Yes,” Dennis nodded after giving it some
thought. “I think we can be careful enough to guarantee your safety. After all,
although your recovery hasn’t been as fast as we’d hoped, it has been steady.
In all it is going to take the better part of a year for your shoulder to
completely return to normal.
“I was really afraid you’d make me stay away. I
thought maybe you didn’t want a defective partner.”
“You are not in any way defective, Skyy. Get that
thought out of your head right now. Even if you were to have a problem, I’ll
always love you and want you. We’re a family and we’re going to stay that way
as long as I have anything to say about it. You understand?”
Skyy only nodded. Dennis was not someone to
argue with when taking this firm a stance.
For several moments, Skyy
gently patted the older man’s cheek while gazing into his darkened brown eyes.
“I’ll replace the mugs I broke,” Skyy murmured,
thinking of the mess he still had to clean up.
“Yes.”
“They really were ugly, you know.”
“I agree.”
“I’ll get nicer looking ones.”
“I’m sure you will.” Dennis smiled.
Dennis could almost see the wheels turning in
his Brat’s head, so he waited patiently for what he instinctively knew would be
an unexpected but meaningful observation.
“I think we’ve had a complete breakdown in
communication, Den. That is so not good. It is easier to keep things running
smoothly than to repair what gets broken. We can’t let it happen again, can
we?”
“No, we can’t!” Dennis categorically agreed.
“So how do you plan to see that it’s never
repeated, Den?” Skyy’s trust in his older partner was absolute. He fully
expected the man to keep them on track.
“I think I’ll start by repairing an error in
judgement I made a few weeks ago when I let your wandering out of the hospital
and needlessly worrying a great number of people, pass without consequences.
You are going to have lots of lines to write, my boy.”
“But Den….” Skyy’s protest was cut off by a
waving finger.
“Ah, ah, ah, I’m in charge, remember?” Getting
a reluctant nod of compliance, Dennis continued. “From now on it is going to be
a punishable offense to let worrying thoughts fester instead of talking them
out. Got it?”
“Got it!” Skyy gave Dennis’ cheek a final pat
and sent the man a dazzling smile. He tried to stand up but was waylaid.
“Are we good?”
“Yeah, I‘ll be good.”
“I’m not questioning your behaviour; I’m
checking on our relationship status.”
“Oh yeah, we’re good,” Skyy enthusiastically
assured him. “Weird how a sore bum can increase the safety factor for me, huh?
But that’s what works for us, right?”
“Do you know why?”
“Because that’s how I know I never have to be
afraid of things getting so bad they can’t be repaired.”
The End
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