Silent Heartbeats 16: Twisting the Knife
By Maureen
See disclaimers at the beginning and in other random chapters.
"Spoken words"
*Signed words*
/written words/
"*Signed and spoken words*"
***
Life settled into a lazy summer routine. Jamie worked five eight-hour shifts at the station, usually the same hours as Alex. Catie was also working so they rarely saw each other, treasuring the time they were able to make.
Catie had enrolled in an intermediate sign language class so she could keep up with Jamie, who was attending summer classes at the Bradford Academy so he would be ready to enter regular classes in August. To both Jamie and Catie's surprise, Brooke also signed up for two sign language classes, a six-week beginners class and a six-week intermediate class.
"Brooke!" Alex called from inside his office.
Brooke appeared with her omnipresent armload of files. "Yes sir?" she asked, wondering who the kid in the office with him was.
"I want the squad and Jamie to meet in the common area in ten minutes. I have an announcement."
"Sure," she told him, wondering if that was Jamie's replacement. They had asked for a new gofer several months ago, but no one was willing to transfer from another unit and the recruitment program was not getting them EMTs, only support staff. No one had said anything, but Brooke knew, they wanted Jamie back. And Jamie wanted to be back.
***
Ten minutes later everyone was lounging on the old couches. It had been a slow day at best, no heat related injuries, no one getting hurt diving off the platform dive, nothing.
Alex joined them, signing and speaking. "*I know that working without a gofer can sometimes be difficult and that everyone wants Jamie back on the squad, none more so than Jamie himself. But, that isn't possible and we all know it. I wish this could be under better circumstances, but I'd like to introduce Misha Rasputin, the newest person here at the station.*"
Upon hearing his name, Misha stepped into the room, smiling. "Um, hi," he said, nervously. Alex had briefed him that his welcome would not be as warm as it probably could be because of the circumstances surrounding Jamie's parting from the team.
Everybody stared at him, not speaking, not moving. Finally Val smiled a little, more her lips turning upwards at the ends as opposed to the 100mega watt smile she usually gives people. "Hi, I'm Val."
Slowly the others introduced themselves, reserved towards the 'new guy'. Except for Jamie. He just left to get back to his never ending inventory. Let the others 'welcome' him, they would be working with this Misha, not him.
And what kind of name was 'Misha' anyways? Jamie wondered. No self-respecting guy would willingly be called that!
***
"So, Val, is Jamie going to pretend I don't exist forever?" Misha asked, wondering if they would ever warm up to him. It had been nearly two weeks and Jamie still had not spoken to Misha despite them working the inventory together.
"It seems like it," Val told him, putting the magazine she was reading down. "It's not you personally. He just can't handle being replaced even though he hasn't been the gofer for months now. No offense to you, but I don't really blame him. He put everything into the squad." She didn't continue.
"And in the end, he was forced to the sidelines." Misha finished softly. He knew all this, between what he had found out about the younger man and what he observed, this was all obvious. It didn't make things easier though. "Sucks to be him."
"Careful, frosh," Hank said from where he had been listening. As the most senior EMT he had the responsibility of making sure everyone at least could tolerate each other, making sure the invisible lines were never crossed.
Life at the station was going to get worse before it got better since in less than a month, Hank too would be leaving for college. He was going to be a premed major at George Washington University in Washington D.C. Everyone was excited for him, but it would mean one less person once again and one more change.
Tyler had just completed his training to take over as EMT-1 and once he had his 18th birthday he would officially take over Hank's job. It was bittersweet, on one hand it was the job he wanted, on the other, his boyfriend would be leaving him for school. Needless to say, the tension in the station between Hank/Tyler/Jamie/Misha was reaching an all-time high.
***
"Stop lurking!" Jamie commanded in the storeroom to Misha. "Come out."
Looking almost guilty, Misha delurked from behind some boxes, an envelope in hand. He quickly handed it to Jamie and then left, his shift over.
Jamie sat down on the cement floor and popped the unsealed envelope open, reading the letter inside.
Dear Jamie,
I know you don't want to even try to get to know me, and I know why. I respect that, even understand it, but, your behavior is beginning to affect everyone around here. They care so much for you, I don't know if you realize how much. Alex loves you, Brooke is your little sister, and Catie would move heaven and earth for you if she could. They all would. And as long as you continue to hate me, they will too. This will, eventually, affect our job. I really would be very guilty if that happened, especially if I could prevent it. You are an EMT, I have never disputed that, but I am too. If nothing else, respect that. You don't have to respect or even like me, just don't hate me. I wish I had joined the squad under different circumstances, but I can't change anything. I would if I could.
Misha Rasputin.
PS: yeah, I know my name is stupid. I'm going to change it when I am 18.
Jamie reread the letter, making sure he understood it, before crumpling it up in his pocket. He checked his watch, seeing that he only had 30minutes left of his shift. He picked up his clipboard and finished the inventory of the box.
***
The next day, Misha was off duty, but stopped by the station for his paycheck. Jamie flagged him down, heading outside with the Russian-American. "I read your letter," Jamie said, "You're right. I don't like it, but you are right. Truce?"
Jamie stuck out his hand, the buckle on the leather cuff on his right wrist glinted in the sunlight. Misha stuck his hand out as well, shaking Jamie's, "Truce," he replied.
***
Jamie sat outside on the patio at Tyler's house, still not used to the size of his house. He had grown up in a rundown 2-bedroom/ 1-bathroom house without enough room in the living room/kitchen to have 2 people walk next to each other. Even now living in an apartment, it was not spacious. It was larger than his house, which had shocked him at first, but it was still not large. To Jamie, Tyler practically lived in a mansion! When he had first showed up, everyone was in the 'game room' hanging out. Jamie sat gingerly on the floor, not really sure if he was clean enough or if he could touch anything. No one else it seemed, felt so awkward.
The party was a combination of "Goodbye Hank, Congrats Tyler", and everyone was invited, the jocks, the preps, and of course, Jamie and Catie.
*I feel like I'm going to break something,* Jamie signed to Catie, who was sitting next to him.
*Yeah, I know. I think I saw tennis courts around the corner. But, you look nice in your shorts.*
Jamie blushed scarlet, resembling a tomato with spiky hair. When the invitation came it said that it was a swimming party and since Jamie was saving his money for college, he had cut his oldest jeans into shorts. Everyone else wore 'swimming trunks' with designer logos. He felt like a fish out of water. A poor fish.
*You look pretty too,* Jamie told her, taking her hand in his. Money had never been an issue between then, they both preferred to either make their own clothes or to frequent the thrift stores. And since Jamie was almost never at her house it had never made a difference. Now she was clad in a black bikini with maroon piping. She had added the maroon herself. He had seen the tag on accident though. She was not wearing a cheap bathing suit. *Want to swim?*
*Sure,* she replied.
They headed over to the pool where a water-volleyball game was in full swing. They joined the team with the fewest people and were instantly splashed, poked and involved. Jamie surprised the girl in front of him, whose name he couldn't remember, when he served, scoring their team a point. She was on the volleyball team and had not expected a bleacher junkie to have any hand-eye coordination.
They continued to play until it began to get dark. When it had William, Tyler's stepfather, had lit the grill and the smell of hamburgers were soon enticing everyone back to the patio.
It was very relaxing, and, Jamie had to admit, between Catie and the other girls, great eye candy.
"So, Catie," one jock asked as the night wore on, "why do you date him?" she stressed 'him' to obviously mean 'Jamie'. The unasked question being 'why do you date someone who is disabled?'.
"I love him. And he loves me," Catie replied simply. The jock looked at her uncomprehendingly.
"Okay, I know you two are both freaks, but he like can't hear a word I'm saying right now. That doesn't exactly lead to...meaningful conversation. Besides, I heard his mind is all screwed up."
"Ever hear of sign language?" Catie asked sarcastically, ignoring what was an obvious attempt to extract something to be mutated into harmful gossip.
"That's weird though. And why would you learn another language just to talk to one of your friends? It isn't worth it."
Catie shook her head, pitying the other girl and her friends who were nodding in agreement. "I love him which makes it worth it. Jamie didn't ask to become deaf, the least I could do is learn sigh to speak with him. Tyler and Val are learning sign too. It's not just me."
"Yeah, but they're like, EMTs."
"So?" Catie replied blithely. She quickly glanced over at the clock on the wall. "See ya."
She had no intention of ever speaking to those girls again.
***
Meanwhile, Jamie was hanging with the guys, playing basketball. He was on the losing team, consisting of him, Hank and a couple of jocks he didn't know.
"Hah!" Tyler said as the finished the game, "We won!" his team began the customary macho hand and back slapping and prancing around.
"Yeah, yeah, don't think Val won't kick your ass in b-ball at the station though!" Jamie told him. No matter how much anyone denied it, Val was still better in basketball than anyone else at the station.
*Good game* Hank signed, finger spelling out 'game' slowly. "Good game," he repeated.
"We would have won if it weren't for the dummy here." One of the guys on Jamie's team replied, cocking his head towards Jamie.
"You say something about me?" Jamie asked, noticing his body language. "Don't blame our losing on me."
"Damn right it was your fault, I'd call a ball and you wouldn't be there!" the jock was much bigger than Jamie, both in height and shoulders. He played on the football team.
Hank stepped between the jock and Jamie, "Hey man, it wasn't his fault. They were better, that's all. It's not a big deal."
"Why are you defending this junkie?" the other jock growled.
"He's an EMT and my friend." Tyler replied for Hank, stepping alongside Hank. "You have a problem with him, you have a problem with me."
"Wait!" Jamie cried, "I don't need anyone to fight for me! I can fight my own battles."
The jock gave him a look that clearly said 'yeah, right'. He then punched Hank squarely in the nose.
Jamie attempted to tackle him, but the linebacker had a lot of practice withstanding people tackling him and barely budged. He pushed Jamie down and kicked him in the gut, before Tyler could stop him. Within seconds most of the party had gathered around to watch the crap be kicked out of Jamie.
Jamie lay on the ground in a fetal position, praying for the pain to end, not even caring that he obviously looked like an idiot and a wimp. This was too similar to his father. All he saw, despite his eyes being squeezed shut, was his fathers face looming up at him, as his boots connected with the soft flesh of his body.
The fight was over in seconds, three people restraining the jock and Catie and Val helping Jamie get to the bathroom.
Catie held him in a sitting position against the wall while Val made sure no permanent damage had been done and wiped his face with a wet cloth. *You'll live.* she pronounced. "But you're going to be a fantastic array of colors."
"But is living worth this pain?" Jamie asked, not understanding, or caring, about what Val said aloud.
***
Jamie lay in bed the next morning, the covers pulled over his head. Alex had come it at eleven to wake his, opening the curtains as he usually did before leaving to run errands. Jamie did not have the energy or desire to get up to close them, choosing instead to bury himself.
About noon, he awoke because he was cold. He shouldn't be cold, he was buried under blankets. After a minute or two he became annoyed and sat up to find out the source of his added misery. Catie was sitting on the foot of his bed ice cubes in a glass. *About time you woke up. How do you feel?*
*Like a linebacker tackled me. Did you get the license plate of the truck that hit me?*
*Yeah,* Catie replied, moving to snuggle up to her boyfriend and give him a good morning kiss, being careful not to cause him more pain, *One Tommy Jones. You look wonderful, by the way.*
*Black and blue?*
*And green and yellow and purple. I've already talked to Hank and Tyler and they've spoken with Tommy's parents and Alex. It wasn't your fault, nobody is mad at you.*
"I didn't do anything!" Jamie complained out loud. Stupid jocks.
*I know, love, I know.* Catie kissed him again on the head, *I'll go get you some pain meds, okay? Tommy and his parents are coming over tonight about 7:00. They want to apologize.*
***
At 6:50 Jamie stood in front of Alex while the doctor made sure he would survive the fight. *You look like hell, but you'll be okay.* Alex pronounced after a minute, letting Jamie put his t-shirt back on. His face was cut up although not too bad, it was his chest that had been the worst. Catie and Val had hauled Alex out of bed when they brought Jamie home in Val's car to make sure he didn't need to go to the hospital. Alex had given Jamie medicine for pain and to make him sleep, knowing that the nightmares, if not the night terrors would more than likely be back.
Promptly at 7:00 the doorbell rang, the light next to the door flashing incessantly. Jamie headed to the door, opening it slowly. "Come in." he told them, not really wanting Tommy anywhere near him. Catie leaned against the wall, her body language basically saying 'don't even think it'.
"Thank you," Tommy's mother twittered, her hands fluttering about in nervousness. Behind her a large, barrel chested man followed, scowling, and behind him came Tommy.
Alex came out of the kitchen then, ushering the family to the living room. *Jamie, go get water for the Jones'.*
While Jamie was gone, Catie went and sat down across from the love seat Alex had sat on. "I'm translating," she explained simply.
45 minutes later the Jones' left, and Jamie felt at least somewhat better. There were enough witnesses to blame Tommy and not Jamie that nothing had happened. Since Jamie had not needed to go to the hospital and he wasn't wearing his hearing aids, which subsequently meant that they were not broken, Tommy apologized and Jamie had accepted. However, there was no lost love between the two.
With only two weeks left of summer, Jamie was going to try to make the best of it, bruised or not.
A/n: Misha is a Russian guys name.
By Maureen
See disclaimers at the beginning and in other random chapters.
"Spoken words"
*Signed words*
/written words/
"*Signed and spoken words*"
***
Life settled into a lazy summer routine. Jamie worked five eight-hour shifts at the station, usually the same hours as Alex. Catie was also working so they rarely saw each other, treasuring the time they were able to make.
Catie had enrolled in an intermediate sign language class so she could keep up with Jamie, who was attending summer classes at the Bradford Academy so he would be ready to enter regular classes in August. To both Jamie and Catie's surprise, Brooke also signed up for two sign language classes, a six-week beginners class and a six-week intermediate class.
"Brooke!" Alex called from inside his office.
Brooke appeared with her omnipresent armload of files. "Yes sir?" she asked, wondering who the kid in the office with him was.
"I want the squad and Jamie to meet in the common area in ten minutes. I have an announcement."
"Sure," she told him, wondering if that was Jamie's replacement. They had asked for a new gofer several months ago, but no one was willing to transfer from another unit and the recruitment program was not getting them EMTs, only support staff. No one had said anything, but Brooke knew, they wanted Jamie back. And Jamie wanted to be back.
***
Ten minutes later everyone was lounging on the old couches. It had been a slow day at best, no heat related injuries, no one getting hurt diving off the platform dive, nothing.
Alex joined them, signing and speaking. "*I know that working without a gofer can sometimes be difficult and that everyone wants Jamie back on the squad, none more so than Jamie himself. But, that isn't possible and we all know it. I wish this could be under better circumstances, but I'd like to introduce Misha Rasputin, the newest person here at the station.*"
Upon hearing his name, Misha stepped into the room, smiling. "Um, hi," he said, nervously. Alex had briefed him that his welcome would not be as warm as it probably could be because of the circumstances surrounding Jamie's parting from the team.
Everybody stared at him, not speaking, not moving. Finally Val smiled a little, more her lips turning upwards at the ends as opposed to the 100mega watt smile she usually gives people. "Hi, I'm Val."
Slowly the others introduced themselves, reserved towards the 'new guy'. Except for Jamie. He just left to get back to his never ending inventory. Let the others 'welcome' him, they would be working with this Misha, not him.
And what kind of name was 'Misha' anyways? Jamie wondered. No self-respecting guy would willingly be called that!
***
"So, Val, is Jamie going to pretend I don't exist forever?" Misha asked, wondering if they would ever warm up to him. It had been nearly two weeks and Jamie still had not spoken to Misha despite them working the inventory together.
"It seems like it," Val told him, putting the magazine she was reading down. "It's not you personally. He just can't handle being replaced even though he hasn't been the gofer for months now. No offense to you, but I don't really blame him. He put everything into the squad." She didn't continue.
"And in the end, he was forced to the sidelines." Misha finished softly. He knew all this, between what he had found out about the younger man and what he observed, this was all obvious. It didn't make things easier though. "Sucks to be him."
"Careful, frosh," Hank said from where he had been listening. As the most senior EMT he had the responsibility of making sure everyone at least could tolerate each other, making sure the invisible lines were never crossed.
Life at the station was going to get worse before it got better since in less than a month, Hank too would be leaving for college. He was going to be a premed major at George Washington University in Washington D.C. Everyone was excited for him, but it would mean one less person once again and one more change.
Tyler had just completed his training to take over as EMT-1 and once he had his 18th birthday he would officially take over Hank's job. It was bittersweet, on one hand it was the job he wanted, on the other, his boyfriend would be leaving him for school. Needless to say, the tension in the station between Hank/Tyler/Jamie/Misha was reaching an all-time high.
***
"Stop lurking!" Jamie commanded in the storeroom to Misha. "Come out."
Looking almost guilty, Misha delurked from behind some boxes, an envelope in hand. He quickly handed it to Jamie and then left, his shift over.
Jamie sat down on the cement floor and popped the unsealed envelope open, reading the letter inside.
Dear Jamie,
I know you don't want to even try to get to know me, and I know why. I respect that, even understand it, but, your behavior is beginning to affect everyone around here. They care so much for you, I don't know if you realize how much. Alex loves you, Brooke is your little sister, and Catie would move heaven and earth for you if she could. They all would. And as long as you continue to hate me, they will too. This will, eventually, affect our job. I really would be very guilty if that happened, especially if I could prevent it. You are an EMT, I have never disputed that, but I am too. If nothing else, respect that. You don't have to respect or even like me, just don't hate me. I wish I had joined the squad under different circumstances, but I can't change anything. I would if I could.
Misha Rasputin.
PS: yeah, I know my name is stupid. I'm going to change it when I am 18.
Jamie reread the letter, making sure he understood it, before crumpling it up in his pocket. He checked his watch, seeing that he only had 30minutes left of his shift. He picked up his clipboard and finished the inventory of the box.
***
The next day, Misha was off duty, but stopped by the station for his paycheck. Jamie flagged him down, heading outside with the Russian-American. "I read your letter," Jamie said, "You're right. I don't like it, but you are right. Truce?"
Jamie stuck out his hand, the buckle on the leather cuff on his right wrist glinted in the sunlight. Misha stuck his hand out as well, shaking Jamie's, "Truce," he replied.
***
Jamie sat outside on the patio at Tyler's house, still not used to the size of his house. He had grown up in a rundown 2-bedroom/ 1-bathroom house without enough room in the living room/kitchen to have 2 people walk next to each other. Even now living in an apartment, it was not spacious. It was larger than his house, which had shocked him at first, but it was still not large. To Jamie, Tyler practically lived in a mansion! When he had first showed up, everyone was in the 'game room' hanging out. Jamie sat gingerly on the floor, not really sure if he was clean enough or if he could touch anything. No one else it seemed, felt so awkward.
The party was a combination of "Goodbye Hank, Congrats Tyler", and everyone was invited, the jocks, the preps, and of course, Jamie and Catie.
*I feel like I'm going to break something,* Jamie signed to Catie, who was sitting next to him.
*Yeah, I know. I think I saw tennis courts around the corner. But, you look nice in your shorts.*
Jamie blushed scarlet, resembling a tomato with spiky hair. When the invitation came it said that it was a swimming party and since Jamie was saving his money for college, he had cut his oldest jeans into shorts. Everyone else wore 'swimming trunks' with designer logos. He felt like a fish out of water. A poor fish.
*You look pretty too,* Jamie told her, taking her hand in his. Money had never been an issue between then, they both preferred to either make their own clothes or to frequent the thrift stores. And since Jamie was almost never at her house it had never made a difference. Now she was clad in a black bikini with maroon piping. She had added the maroon herself. He had seen the tag on accident though. She was not wearing a cheap bathing suit. *Want to swim?*
*Sure,* she replied.
They headed over to the pool where a water-volleyball game was in full swing. They joined the team with the fewest people and were instantly splashed, poked and involved. Jamie surprised the girl in front of him, whose name he couldn't remember, when he served, scoring their team a point. She was on the volleyball team and had not expected a bleacher junkie to have any hand-eye coordination.
They continued to play until it began to get dark. When it had William, Tyler's stepfather, had lit the grill and the smell of hamburgers were soon enticing everyone back to the patio.
It was very relaxing, and, Jamie had to admit, between Catie and the other girls, great eye candy.
"So, Catie," one jock asked as the night wore on, "why do you date him?" she stressed 'him' to obviously mean 'Jamie'. The unasked question being 'why do you date someone who is disabled?'.
"I love him. And he loves me," Catie replied simply. The jock looked at her uncomprehendingly.
"Okay, I know you two are both freaks, but he like can't hear a word I'm saying right now. That doesn't exactly lead to...meaningful conversation. Besides, I heard his mind is all screwed up."
"Ever hear of sign language?" Catie asked sarcastically, ignoring what was an obvious attempt to extract something to be mutated into harmful gossip.
"That's weird though. And why would you learn another language just to talk to one of your friends? It isn't worth it."
Catie shook her head, pitying the other girl and her friends who were nodding in agreement. "I love him which makes it worth it. Jamie didn't ask to become deaf, the least I could do is learn sigh to speak with him. Tyler and Val are learning sign too. It's not just me."
"Yeah, but they're like, EMTs."
"So?" Catie replied blithely. She quickly glanced over at the clock on the wall. "See ya."
She had no intention of ever speaking to those girls again.
***
Meanwhile, Jamie was hanging with the guys, playing basketball. He was on the losing team, consisting of him, Hank and a couple of jocks he didn't know.
"Hah!" Tyler said as the finished the game, "We won!" his team began the customary macho hand and back slapping and prancing around.
"Yeah, yeah, don't think Val won't kick your ass in b-ball at the station though!" Jamie told him. No matter how much anyone denied it, Val was still better in basketball than anyone else at the station.
*Good game* Hank signed, finger spelling out 'game' slowly. "Good game," he repeated.
"We would have won if it weren't for the dummy here." One of the guys on Jamie's team replied, cocking his head towards Jamie.
"You say something about me?" Jamie asked, noticing his body language. "Don't blame our losing on me."
"Damn right it was your fault, I'd call a ball and you wouldn't be there!" the jock was much bigger than Jamie, both in height and shoulders. He played on the football team.
Hank stepped between the jock and Jamie, "Hey man, it wasn't his fault. They were better, that's all. It's not a big deal."
"Why are you defending this junkie?" the other jock growled.
"He's an EMT and my friend." Tyler replied for Hank, stepping alongside Hank. "You have a problem with him, you have a problem with me."
"Wait!" Jamie cried, "I don't need anyone to fight for me! I can fight my own battles."
The jock gave him a look that clearly said 'yeah, right'. He then punched Hank squarely in the nose.
Jamie attempted to tackle him, but the linebacker had a lot of practice withstanding people tackling him and barely budged. He pushed Jamie down and kicked him in the gut, before Tyler could stop him. Within seconds most of the party had gathered around to watch the crap be kicked out of Jamie.
Jamie lay on the ground in a fetal position, praying for the pain to end, not even caring that he obviously looked like an idiot and a wimp. This was too similar to his father. All he saw, despite his eyes being squeezed shut, was his fathers face looming up at him, as his boots connected with the soft flesh of his body.
The fight was over in seconds, three people restraining the jock and Catie and Val helping Jamie get to the bathroom.
Catie held him in a sitting position against the wall while Val made sure no permanent damage had been done and wiped his face with a wet cloth. *You'll live.* she pronounced. "But you're going to be a fantastic array of colors."
"But is living worth this pain?" Jamie asked, not understanding, or caring, about what Val said aloud.
***
Jamie lay in bed the next morning, the covers pulled over his head. Alex had come it at eleven to wake his, opening the curtains as he usually did before leaving to run errands. Jamie did not have the energy or desire to get up to close them, choosing instead to bury himself.
About noon, he awoke because he was cold. He shouldn't be cold, he was buried under blankets. After a minute or two he became annoyed and sat up to find out the source of his added misery. Catie was sitting on the foot of his bed ice cubes in a glass. *About time you woke up. How do you feel?*
*Like a linebacker tackled me. Did you get the license plate of the truck that hit me?*
*Yeah,* Catie replied, moving to snuggle up to her boyfriend and give him a good morning kiss, being careful not to cause him more pain, *One Tommy Jones. You look wonderful, by the way.*
*Black and blue?*
*And green and yellow and purple. I've already talked to Hank and Tyler and they've spoken with Tommy's parents and Alex. It wasn't your fault, nobody is mad at you.*
"I didn't do anything!" Jamie complained out loud. Stupid jocks.
*I know, love, I know.* Catie kissed him again on the head, *I'll go get you some pain meds, okay? Tommy and his parents are coming over tonight about 7:00. They want to apologize.*
***
At 6:50 Jamie stood in front of Alex while the doctor made sure he would survive the fight. *You look like hell, but you'll be okay.* Alex pronounced after a minute, letting Jamie put his t-shirt back on. His face was cut up although not too bad, it was his chest that had been the worst. Catie and Val had hauled Alex out of bed when they brought Jamie home in Val's car to make sure he didn't need to go to the hospital. Alex had given Jamie medicine for pain and to make him sleep, knowing that the nightmares, if not the night terrors would more than likely be back.
Promptly at 7:00 the doorbell rang, the light next to the door flashing incessantly. Jamie headed to the door, opening it slowly. "Come in." he told them, not really wanting Tommy anywhere near him. Catie leaned against the wall, her body language basically saying 'don't even think it'.
"Thank you," Tommy's mother twittered, her hands fluttering about in nervousness. Behind her a large, barrel chested man followed, scowling, and behind him came Tommy.
Alex came out of the kitchen then, ushering the family to the living room. *Jamie, go get water for the Jones'.*
While Jamie was gone, Catie went and sat down across from the love seat Alex had sat on. "I'm translating," she explained simply.
45 minutes later the Jones' left, and Jamie felt at least somewhat better. There were enough witnesses to blame Tommy and not Jamie that nothing had happened. Since Jamie had not needed to go to the hospital and he wasn't wearing his hearing aids, which subsequently meant that they were not broken, Tommy apologized and Jamie had accepted. However, there was no lost love between the two.
With only two weeks left of summer, Jamie was going to try to make the best of it, bruised or not.
A/n: Misha is a Russian guys name.