TJ Ch. 09

I jumped out of the bed as fast as I could without hurting Sean while laughing. "I'm out. I'm out. No needle, please."

She chuckled. "Sorry, but you'll have to come back tomorrow. Times up."

I saluted her and said, "Yes, ma'am, warden."

She smiled. "That's right and don't you forget it. I'll let you say goodnight." She turned and stepped out of the room.

I went back over to the bed and stepped in front of Sean. I bent over and looked him straight in the eyes and said, "I love you. I need you to rest and get better. Please. I will see you tomorrow, okay?" He nodded, looking misty-eyed again. "Can I get a kiss this time?" He nodded again. I leaned down and kissed him. "Bye babe. I love you so much. And remember, you may be a dumbass, but you're my dumbass."

Sean rolled over onto his back and when I looked at his face, there was a slight smile. I thought maybe he would be okay. Maybe he would be able to make it through this. He had his dad, his uncle, his new brother Kevin, Robert, Coach Wilson, his friends, and he had me. And I sure as hell wasn't going anywhere.

The next morning, I woke up and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast before heading to the hospital. Kevin and Josh were already there eating cereal. Robert was sitting at the table, eating eggs and toast, and drinking his coffee. I grabbed a bowl, filled it with Froot Loops, and poured the milk. I sat next to Robert and across from Kevin and Josh. They kept looking at each other and grinning stupidly. I sighed and rolled my eyes, but nobody acted like they heard or saw me. Hell, nobody even acknowledged my existence when I walked in the room. I started eating my cereal, getting more and more pissed and annoyed by the second. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Well, good-fucking-morning to you too, assholes."

Nobody said anything. Robert sat his coffee cup down, looked at his watch and said, "Three minutes and fifteen seconds. You suckers owe me ten dollars each."

"What the hell?" I practically yelled.

Josh spoke up. "We had a bet. Dad said you wouldn't last four minutes with us ignoring you. I said you could do five. Kevin had no faith in you and said three."

I glared at Kevin, who mumbled, "Fifteen freaking seconds. Fifteen freaking seconds just cost me ten freaking dollars."

That brought an unwanted smile to my face. I still wanted to be pissed at these assholes. So, instead I smirked and said, "Jeez Kev-o, you know you can freaking say fuck, right?"

He didn't turn his normal shade of red, just a slight pink, and it made me want to be even more mad at the adorable gentle giant. I had to get him to the shade of red I find most adorable, so I pulled out all the stops. "Oh, Josh, you might want to pull your bed away from the wall a little. It's hitting the wall again. I guess when you're driving hard and fast into something the size of him," I pointed my spoon at Kevin, "the momentum moves your whole bedframe."

Mission-fucking-accomplished. This, though, had the trifecta. Kevin turned redder than I've seen for the past few weeks, Josh choked on his bite of cereal, and Robert spit his coffee out. Once Josh stopped choking, he gave me a death-glare.

After Robert recovered and wiped up the coffee from the table, he looked from Josh, to Kevin, then back to Josh, before turning to me and saying, "You're right, a Rottweiler and a Chihuahua. Oh, my God, I can't believe I just said that. You're a bad influence on us Teej."

I put on my best innocent angel face and fluttered my eyelashes. "Why, little ol me? I'm totally innocent. See my halo? It's held up by my horns."

"I'm going to head to the hospital in a bit. I want to be there in case they discharge him today. I'll help Jacob get him settled in. Oh, that reminds me, I need to ask a huge favor. Jacob can't really afford to take this week off from work and Sean has to stay home at least the whole week. He needs someone checking on him periodically. I was wondering if I could leave during my free period, go to Sean's, then stay with him through lunch. I'd be back before lunch gets out. Plus, I can bring him any assignments he needs so he can keep up on his schoolwork. Jacob said it was okay with him as long as it's cool with you."

"Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem, as long as you're back before lunch gets out."

"Thanks. I'm going to change and head out."

I got up, put my bowl in the dishwasher and headed to my room. I was about halfway down the hall when Kevin called out and stopped me. I went back to the kitchen and stuck my head around the corner and asked, "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you could follow me home and then take Josh and me with you to the hospital. That way I can bring Sean's truck home."

"Don't worry about taking the truck home, Jacob said you can use it the whole week. So, y'all can either ride with me or meet me up there in the truck Then you can leave if y'all get bored or something."

"Alright, I think we'll meet you up there."

I left the house ten minutes later. When I walked into Sean's room, Jacob was already there. Sean was looking at the wall dejectedly. He didn't even look my way when I came in. There was a teeny-tiny-small part of myself that thought, "Great, I'm going to have to put up with this shitty attitude again. Yay, what fun." But. I squashed the thought down, smiled, and said, "Hey, babe. What's up?"

When I didn't get an answer, I turned to Jacob and said, "Good morning, Jacob. How are you this morning."

He smiled and sighed. "I'm well. Mr. Grumpy-pants is pouting because the doctor won't release him today. He wants one more day of observation."

Just then, I heard someone walk into the room. I couldn't help but to stare. Sean's Uncle Aaron chuckled and said, "Good morning TJ. How are you today?"

"Umm...yeah. I'm good. How are you? Do you think your uniform would fit Sean?"

Jacob barked out a laugh, Aaron blushed and said, "Wow. You really don't hold back, do you?"

At the same time, Sean moaned and said, "I told you Teej. You're not allowed to fantasize about my uncle while we're umm together."

When I turned to look at him, I saw him smiling. "I knew it would work." I turned back to Aaron and asked, "But, seriously, do you think it would fit him?"

Aaron chuckled and said to Sean, "The guy I'm dating thinks it's sexy too. He wants me to wear it next time we're in bed."

Sean gaped at his uncle and I could tell Jacob was holding back from cracking up. I looked at Aaron and said, "You can't bullshit a bullshitter. If you're gay then I'm the fu-freaking pope."

Jacob burst out laughing again. Aaron slapped me on the shoulder and said, "You're right. I'm not gay. But, I could make an exception for you. Hit me up in a couple of years if this one doesn't treat you right. I'll even wear the uniform." He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I think the word you were looking for was fucking. You would be the fucking pope."

Side note- This is the exchange that began the flirtatious relationship I have with Aaron. Neither of us is serious, but it gets under Sean's skin while making him smile at the same time. He gets really possessive and goes all Alpha-male caveman. I wouldn't be surprised if one day he doesn't club me over the head, drag me to his cave, and ravage me, or piss on me so he marks his territory. The former we could discuss; the latter, I'm not sure I'm into golden showers. Anyways, I digress.

"Okay, Uncle Aaron. You can stop flirting with my boyfriend now. Seriously, why are you even whispering in his ear? And Timothy Jackson Kennedy, you get that dreamy look off your face and remember who you belong to."

I turned and looked at Sean. "Who I belong to?" He raised one eyebrow and threw me a sexy-come-fuck-me-now smirk and I said, "Okay, yeah. You're right, who I belong to." I turned back to Aaron and continued, "But at least I know what I get to look forward to in twelve years. Damn I'm a lucky guy."

Both Aaron and Sean said, "Thank you."

At least I got Sean out of his funk. It shocked me when I realized how much it physically hurt me to see him sad or upset. I know I told him before I was in love with him, but in that moment, the joy and elation I felt from being responsible for turning his mood one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, made me realize the depth of my love. My thoughts were so cliché. I stood there with a perma-grin on my face, making my cheeks hurt, thinking, "He is my forever." Honestly, I would've kicked my own ass if I had said it out loud. Hell, just thinking it made me want to hurl. How can he turn me to mush like he does?

Before Aaron left, he pulled me into a hug and whispered in my ear, "Just go with it. You know I'm not serious, I'm trying to fuck with my nephew. You're good for him. Keep him happy."

I hugged him tighter and said, "Don't worry. I will."

Sean cleared his throat. "That's long enough. I swear if I wasn't in this hospital bed, wearing this gown with nothing on underneath so my ass hangs out when I stand up, and I wasn't comfortable as hell right now, I'd get up and do something about whatever y'all are doing over there. Dad, make them stop hugging."

Aaron chuckled and broke the hug. He walked over to the bed and gave Sean a side-hug and a kiss on the cheek and said, "I love you kiddo. I might check in on you after my shift. If not, I'll see you tomorrow."

As Aaron walked by me, he kissed my cheek too and said, "I'll see you later."

I stared at the doorway and looked at his ass as he left. I turned to Sean and said, "Eh, I think you've got the better ass."

He beamed. "Thanks. I love you too."

Jacob asked, "Are you two like this all the time?"

Sean answered, "You should hear Teej when he gets jealous. He gets really creative with the names he comes up with for the people who flirt with me."

Throughout the day, Sean had a constant stream of visitors. The first to arrive after Aaron were Josh and Kevin. At lunch, Jacob invited us to go out to eat. I declined, saying I wanted to spend time with Sean. So, Jacob told them they had no choice. While they were gone, Coach Wilson showed up, surprisingly with Rachel.

Coach Wilson greeted both Sean and me. The two of them talked for a while. It seems the coach would like Sean to be on the sidelines with him and help him out by suggesting plays and to be a general morale booster for the rest of the team. Sean was so excited by the offer, he didn't stop grinning. Coach said he was going to run to the vending machine and would be right back. Once Coach left, an uncomfortable silence seemed to settle between the three of us.

Finally, Rachel cleared her throat and started talking, but not before a dramatic sigh and a roll of her eyes. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I wish I could tell you for sure Joey and Paul," she must've seen the confused look on my face, because she clarified, "Smith and Rogers do have first names you know. Anyways, I wish I could say they had this planned out, but I can't. All I know is Joey had something he wasn't willing to tell me, and Paul knew about it. That's why I told TJ to tell you to watch out last week. The only reason I was with that douche was because I knew they were going to do something. Despite everything, I still would like to consider you a friend, Sean."

I was about to say something about the fact she only said Sean's name, but she cut me off before I could begin. "I don't like you. You waltzed into the school like you owned it just because of who you were dating and who your dad is."

I did cut her off this time. "Oh, kind of like how you want to threaten football players who don't do what you want with being kicked off the team because of who your dad is?"

She stood up and said in a voice just shy of yelling, "Listen here, you have no right to come to town and start dating Sean and walk around the school like you can get away with anything."

Sean stopped her before she could go any farther. "No, Rachel. You have no right. You don't have the right to threaten me because I wouldn't go out with you, which backfired. You don't have the right to try and come between me and Teej. And you certainly don't have the right to come in here and say the bullshit you're saying to him. Even if I had never met Teej, the answer would've been no when you asked me out, just like it was last year. I'm gay. It's why I broke up with Amber and it's why I told you no when you asked me out. Nothing you do will change that. I don't know if you were trying to get back on my good side by telling me about Smith and Rogers, but it won't work. If you can't accept TJ, you can't be my friend. Now, I'm supposed to be resting and not getting upset. I think you should leave. Goodbye."

She tried to act like she wasn't angry but failed miserably. "Fine. Whatever. I have plenty of friends, I don't need you two anyways." She turned and left the room and must've ran into her dad down the hall because we heard her ask, "Daddy, can we just go now? I'm ready to get home and evidently, Sean needs his rest."

Coach told her to go wait in the car and he would be down in a few minutes. He walked into the room and looked at us. "What did my daughter do now?"

Sean looked like he wanted to tell Coach everything that had been said, but I didn't want to deal with the aftermath, so I spoke first. "I think Sean wants to rest a little, do you mind talking to me while I walk you out?" He shook his head and told Sean to feel better and he would see him later. I told Sean I would be back in a few minutes and he didn't look happy with me but didn't say anything when I left. Once we were near the elevators, I said, "Rachel and I were getting along about as well as we normally do, and I think it was upsetting Sean. He made a comment about needing rest and then rolled over and started ignoring both of us. I told her it was probably best if she left so Sean could rest for a while. It was just as much my fault as hers. I'm sorry."

Coach shook his head. "Don't apologize. I know my daughter has a way of saying things she knows will make people upset. I think she does it just to see their reactions. I don't know. At least she broke up with Smith last night. I don't know what she ever saw in him."

I was silent. If she wanted her dad to know why she was with Smith, she could tell him. I wasn't going to do her any favors by making her look good in any way. I walked Coach to the entrance and told him goodbye.

While I was making my way back to the elevators, I heard a familiar male voice behind me. "I think he's in room 326."

An equally familiar female voice said, "No, he's in room 315, I think. We can always ask the information desk."

"I don't need directions. I know where I'm going. It's room 326."

While Castro and Jenny argued, I tried to keep myself from laughing or turning around. Finally, I heard Amber say, "You're both wrong. It's 316. Anyways, why don't we just follow Teej. He's standing right there in front of the elevators," which made Mike laugh.

When I turned around, I saw Castro push Mike and say, "Don't laugh at me bro. Us guys are supposed to stick together."

Mike said, "Nope. Sorry. I just got this one and I'm not going to argue with her, make her upset, or disagree with anything she tells me." He put his arm around Amber's shoulders and smiled at her.

Jenny punched Castro in the arm. "Why can't you be more like him? He's smart."

By this time, they had joined me at the elevators. I hugged Jenny and Amber and gave Castro and Mike bro-hugs. "Come on up guys. I'm warning you now though, if he starts getting irritable, we all need to leave. He's supposed to be resting anyways."

Amber said, "We understand. We weren't planning on staying long. We're meeting up with Stacey and Jarrod in an hour at the mall. You can come with us if you want."

"I think I'll pass. I'll probably see what Kevin and Josh are doing and hang out with them. I want to stay up here with Sean; but if he gets too irritable, I think it would be best to just leave and let him rest. Hopefully, he'll be okay. He's obviously upset. He knows he can't play football again and baseball's up in the air depending on how long it takes his arm to heal and then strengthen up."

Castro winced. "Hey, umm, do y'all mind if I talk to Sean alone for a bit. I, umm, see...we've talked in the past about if something happened and I think I know what to say. If you don't want me to, that's fine. I just think, maybe, I mean...I know I'd want my best friend to talk to me if this happened to me. I know he'd know what to say. Anyways, I'll shut up now. Okay."

"If you think it will help, yeah it's cool. His mood will shift at a moment's notice. One second, he'll be laughing and smiling, then it's like a switch gets flipped, and he just gets irritable. He won't say anything, but I can tell he wants to be alone when he gets like that. So, if you think you can help, feel free to talk to him. Why don't we all go in first, y'all can say hi, then the four of us will say we're hungry and head down to the cafeteria."

So, that's what we did. At first, Sean looked pleased to see them. Then, when I suggested going to get food, he looked relieved. That look bothered me. When we were out in the hall and he saw Castro was staying behind, I heard him say, "What do you want, Alex? I'm really not in the mood for your jokes or anything. No offense. But if you're here to try to cheer me up, just go with them."

"I'm not here to entertain you, I'm here to remind you of a few things..."

I started walking away to give them some privacy. I was hopeful Castro would be able to pull Sean from the depression he seemed to be slipping into. I honestly didn't know how to do it. I know it might sound selfish, but I had been dealing and not dealing with a lot of my own shit the past few months and didn't know which way was up as far as helping Sean went.

We did go down to the cafeteria, but I didn't feel like eating. We sat down there for about thirty minutes talking about anything and everything. Amber and Jenny could both tell something was on my mind and kept asking me if I was okay. I played it off and told them I was just worried about Sean. It was partially true. My mind kept going back on something Jacob said the night before. He told me, "Don't let him push you away." My mind wouldn't let go of that sentence.

Finally, Jenny looked at her watch and said, "We're supposed to meet Stacey and Jarrod in like fifteen minutes. Let's go get Alex so we can head out."

We went back up to the third floor and walked till we were right outside of Sean's door. We could hear them talking inside, so I motioned for everyone to stop. I wanted to give them time to finish whatever they were saying without interruption. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop. What I heard though, almost broke me completely.

Sean's voice, sounding a little angry and upset, came through the open doorway. "I just can't stand him hovering around all the time. I wish he would leave me alone for a bit. I was so happy when he decided to go get lunch. At least it would give me some escape. I swear he's like a helicopter..."

I didn't let him finish the sentence. I walked through the door and looked at Sean. "You don't have to worry about anyone hovering around you and bothering you. I'm gone. Bye."

I turned and left the room. I didn't stop to explain myself to the rest of the group standing outside the door. I could hear Sean yelling for me to come back, but I didn't care. I didn't wait for the elevator, I took the stairs down to the first floor. I ignored my ringing cell phone and threw it into the passenger seat when I opened the car door. I was just about to get into my car when Castro suddenly yanked me by my shoulder and turned me towards him. He looked like he wanted to punch me. "Jeez, pendejo. Way to jump to conclusions. If you get in that car and drive away, I will kick your gringo ass."