"Sandy…" Ed said. "I have your discharge papers ready… I just need you to sign them…"
"Really?" Sandy asked, looking up at him. "I can leave?"
"Yes…" Ed said. "Just sign these…"
Sandy looked over the forms. "Do you have a pen?" he asked.
"Here…" Ed said, handing it to him. "Are you… Are you going home with your mother or with Jeffrey O'Neill?"
Sandy looked insulted. "I live by myself…" he said.
"I know…" Ed said. "But it would be better if you had some help these next few days…"
"Jeffrey is taking me home…" Sandy said. "But I'm not staying with him. He's just driving me…"
"I can't stop you, Sandy… But I recommend that you reconsider… And stay with someone… I'm sure your mother will take you in if Jeffrey doesn't want…"
"I never said Jeffrey wouldn't!" Sandy said. "But I can take care of myself!"
"Sandy…" Ed said. "Listen to me…"
"I'm not a child!" Sandy said. "I don't need my mother to baby-sit me!" He didn't want to stay with Reva, she would be much too overbearing, and besides, he still felt bad about the way he had gone off on her the other day. She hadn't been back to see him since, and he couldn't blame her for that. Not after the way he'd been acting… "And I certainly don't need to be putting that responsibility onto Jeffrey! I love him too much to do that to him… He has a job to do, Ed! He… He has a life…" He knew that he had already caused Jeffrey a lot of strife. Yes, he probably would feel safer… Still not safe, just safer… With Jeffrey's arms around him… But he didn't want to cause Jeffrey any more trouble. He'd already cost him getting to prosecute one of the biggest cases of his career. No… He wasn't going to burden him like that…
"Sandy…" Jeffrey said, standing in the doorway. "You are my life…"
When had he gotten here? How much had he heard? Sandy looked up him. "Jeffrey…" he said. He didn't need to be hearing him saying those things right now. If only because he knew they were true. "Jeffrey… You don't… You don't have to…"
Ed slipped out of the room unnoticed. He knew that these two needed some time alone.
"Sandy…" Jeffrey said, walking over to sit at his bedside. "I know… I know I don't have to… But… I want to…"
"I… I can take care of myself…" Sandy said.
"I'm not saying that you can't…" Jeffrey said. "But I want to take care of you… Sandy… I… I want to help you get better… I want to be there for you… I want to put my arms around you and hold you close to me… I want to be there to hold you… If… God forbid you're having nightmares… I want to be the one to wipe away your tears… I want to be there for you, Sandy… I just… I want to love you, Sandy… Could you please… Just… Let me do that?"
Sandy almost had tears in his eyes again. But they weren't tears of sadness. If he had told anyone that Jeffrey O'Neill said things like that… And meant them… No one would ever believe him. Sometimes it was even hard for him to believe. That he could love somebody so much… "Jeffrey…" he whispered, not quite sure what else to say to him.
Jeffrey moved closer to him, softly stroking the side of his face. "Sandy…" he whispered. "Will you please come home with me… Or, at least, let me come home with you?"
Sandy looked into Jeffrey's eyes. He needed to feel closer to him in that moment. He brought his lips up to meet Jeffrey's and kissed him softly.
Jeffrey instantly sank into the kiss, before forcing himself to pull away. "I… I love you Sandy…" he whispered.
"I know…" Sandy said, before pulling Jeffrey back into the kiss, which quickly escalated into one much deeper than either one of them had intended.
Ed walked back into the room to pick up the papers, immediately taken aback by what he saw. "Jeffrey!" he barked. "I need to see you outside for a minute…"
Jeffrey pulled back from Sandy. "Why?" he asked.
"Outside!" Ed barked. "Now!"
Jeffrey followed Ed outside of the room, shutting the door behind him. "What?" he asked. "What is it?"
"You don't even have him home yet… And you're already… He has broken ribs, Jeffrey! And internal tearing! You can't be… He can't be…"
"Do you really think that I am that much of an insensitive jerk?" Jeffrey growled. "It was a kiss, Ed! It was just a kiss! A kiss which, by the way, he initiated! I know that he is hurt! I know what he can and can't do! I'm not stupid, Ed! I know…"
"If you are unable to control yourself… Even for his sake…"
"I can control myself just fine!"
"He is going to need a few months, Jeffrey! And that is just to heal physically! There's no telling how long he is going to take to be ready again mentally, because it is different for every person. Jeffrey, if you are unable to handle that…"
"I love him! I can handle it just fine!"
"You're sure?"
"Yes… I'm sure!"
Ed sighed, maybe he'd overreacted. "All right…" he said. "What are you waiting for then… Go take him home…"
They both walked back into Sandy's room.
"What was that whole thing about?" Sandy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing…" Jeffrey said. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah…" Sandy said, handing Ed the signed papers.
Ed looked over the papers. "Here's a prescription for painkillers…" Ed said. "You can get it filled at the pharmacy two buildings down…"
"Thanks, Ed…" Sandy said. "For everything…"
"I'm just doing my job…" Ed said, before leaving the room.
"Help me up?" Sandy asked.
Jeffrey took Sandy by the hand and helped him out of the hospital bed.
Sandy stumbled slightly, wincing as he did so.
"Just… Lean against me…" Jeffrey said.
Sandy leaned against him, wrapping an arm around him.
Jeffrey mirrored his move, wrapping an arm around him as well. "All right…" he said. "Is it easier to walk like that?"
"Yeah…" Sandy said. "My sides don't hurt as much…"
"Good…" Jeffrey said. "Keep walking like that, then…"
"Jeffrey?" Sandy said.
"What?" Jeffrey asked.
"I love you…" Sandy replied.
"I love you too Sandy." Jeffrey answered. "I love you too…"
THE END
