Life is just fine and then a hiccup
Chapter 12
After using the locker room to shower and change they returned to the unit. Lunch was a simple salad, prepared by Brian and tossed by Justin. In addition to the salad, Justin had a turkey club with bacon and tomato. He was "getting some meat on his bones" as Deb pointed out every time she and Carl visited. A large part of that was thanks to her and the rest of the family who consistently arrived with food. While the facility itself did offer a food service, the units all had full kitchens and encouraged the patients to live as they would at home whenever possible.
For Brian and Justin this meant that they prepared parts of their meals together and supplemented with take-out or things family brought in for them. Justin would always be the primary cook for their family, and with his abilities limited at the present time, everyone else took up the slack. The facility was cutting edge, at least that is what Brian said on several occasions. And Justin would follow up with a comment that perhaps he was a little bias, since this was the only unit of its kind in western Pennsylvania.
In many ways this unit was cutting edge. Justin had to admit that he was more relaxed with Brian right here with him through the majority of his therapy and recovery. Since there was room for Brian, there were many institutional things that Justin could do with the help of his partner and not a nurse or therapist. It was Brian that dragged his ass out of bed at night to console Justin when he was restless and could not sleep, Brian who picked up the food when his uncontrolled movements sent it flying off the plate, Brian who helped get him dressed and undressed everyday, as well as countless other tasks.
In fact the day after Justin first woke up here Brian had to go to the office for a few hours. He wanted to cancel the meeting, but Justin assured him that he would be alright for a few hours without him. It turned out to be a little more traumatic than Justin would ever admit later. He was a thirty year old man, but that did nothing to soften the experience of having a catheter removed. It had been attached to him during his entire stay. It was not a painful attachment, more of a bother, in that anytime he tried to move he felt it brush along his leg. It got to be that he really did not think about it at all, other than when they emptied the bag or examined it to make sure everything was still well set. When Amy removed it that afternoon Brian was gone, Justin was surprised at how painful it was. Again he thought, 'I am a grown man, this is not a big deal,' then with her gloved hands she pulled gently but firmly and, 'Ouch!' She gave him some generic words of comfort, asked him if he wanted to try and stand up to use the 'hand held urinal', smiled her generic smile, and left.
Justin stayed in the same position until Brian returned. He was curled up on his side in the bed, both unsteady hands holding on to his penis. His was torn between laughing at himself over how silly he was and crying at how belittled he felt. Brian walked in the room and knew instantly something was not right. He dropped his work at the desk and joined Justin on the bed.
"What's wrong? Why are you curled up like that, why are you...hey, are you jerking off without me? How dare you! I wanted to be here for this momentous point in your recovery." He was smiling up until the point when he saw Justin's face. "What the hell happened?"
Justin barked out a bitter laugh, "It was really nothing, I'm making a big deal out of nothing."
Brian raised his eyebrows, "Keep going."
"Amy took the catheter out while you were gone."
"Shit, did she hurt you? Let me look. Is there a rip on your dick? What is it."
"Brian, it's really nothing my dick is fine, see." Justin tossed down the covers with one hand and slowly removed his hand from his penis.
"Yea, it looks okay to me. Does it hurt now?"
"No, not at all, I just felt, I don't know uncomfortable with her doing it, she was so clinical, like she was here but not really here. The whole time she did it she kept that same persona. I wished you were here, but then I thought I was being an ass, you know?"
"Um, I still don't really get you after more than a dozen years together. I can tie you up, fuck you, shove things in you that were never meant to go into the human body, hell early on we would even do these things with strangers. Never once did you react like you are right now, and all over a cath removal? You are an enigma wrapped in a riddle Justin Taylor, a fucking enigma." Brian laughed at this last part.
And just like that, any weirdness Justin felt was gone. Brian was good for that. He was also good at pointing out the absolute stupidity of the event after the fact many times over, just to drive the point home. They would be eating a meal and Brian would give a little laugh and say, "...just a cath tube." Or while playing Land of the Dead on the x-box he would suddenly pause the game, look over at Justin and say, "Like I haven't done worse things to your dick?" and laugh. The worst was when he let something slip while other people were around. Granted Brian was always discreet, no one knew what he was referring to, except Justin. Emmett was over for breakfast one morning. Brian was holding a glass of juice with a straw for Justin to drink from when he said to no one in particular, "Yea, just something this size, not a big deal, this was about the right size." Justin knew immediately what Brian was talking about and kicked him under the table. Emmett questioned Brian about his statement, but Brian quickly covered up by telling Emmett he was referring to the amount of food each had eaten for breakfast.
Brian did a great job taking what could be a depression building moment and turning it into the latest running joke. Justin loved him for it. Having him this close and doing just this type of thing for him was the best motivation for recovery that Justin could have.
Another boost to the recovering victim was how intimate the two were becoming again. In any other unit, in any other part of the state, in any other hospital they never would be able to be this close. Today, after his fall in the pool, Brian held Justin so tightly. It was a grip he had not used since Justin had woken up in the hospital. It came close to the passionate grips he used when they made love at home. It was also the same grip he used when they fucked fast and furious at home or anywhere else. The hug immediately made Justin's dick twitch and his skin prickle. He was eager to get home and eat lunch so he could have some time to reacquaint himself with his partner. After lunch, it was their routine to let Brian work while Justin napped. Today after lunch, Justin called Brain to the bed.
"Come and lay with me awhile."
"What's wrong?" Brian's smile turned down at the ends when he heard Justin's request.
"Christ, here we go again, nothing is wrong. Okay Brian, nothing new is wrong. I just wanted to lay with you for awhile."
"Okay" and with that Brian took off his shoes and joined Justin under the covers.
"This is nice, we haven't done this in awhile." Brian pushed himself closer to Justin with a sense of urgency. He smiled at his partner and groaned in his ear.
"Yea, I like that. I've missed you too." Justin put his arm behind him and grabbed Brian. His hand had a slight tremor, but was in control enough to rub up and down Brian's lower back.
"That's what I'm talking about, you feel... your touch feels so good. God I've missed it." Brian groaned again.
Neither one could miss the physical changes of their intimate embrace. "Brian, I think you have something I could take care of if you just rolled over a bit." Justin's head was turned back at Brian's, placing small kisses wherever he could reach.
With a devilish smile and silence, Brian repositioned himself so that he was facing Justin, no longer spooned behind him. "How's that?"
"It would be better if you didn't have any clothes on." Justin smiled as he continued to kiss his partner.
"Okay, but the same goes for you." Brian sat up abruptly and took off his shirt. Standing he took off the rest of his clothes. He walked to the bathroom to retrieve a towel and washcloth. Then he returned and helped Justin disrobe.
"You know we have the whole afternoon to ourselves, this could go on for hours."
"I know, or at least until we tire each other out, whichever comes first."
Both men smiled again and picked up where they had left off. Brian's touch was more tender than usual. He still felt the need to treat Justin as if he were glass. This feeling was confirmed when he felt Justin's touch on him. His partner's touch was unsteady and shaky. There was nothing controlled about it.
"Justin?"
"I'm okay, let's not ruin this with reminders of my physical limitations. Ignore them Brian. I don't want to stop. You feel so good. I can actually feel you with all my fingers. They may be jumpy, but they have great sensation today." Justin closed his eyes and hummed with a lust filled voice.
"You got it. I can do this all day." As soon as the words were out of his mouth he felt the almost painful jerk on his back. Justin's hand had hit him right around his kidney. He looked at Justin with a surprised look, but Justin's eye's were closed and he was still humming. He did not even realize he had done it. Brian chose to ignore it.
Neither man had much to say, more was said with low hums, grunts, and moans than could ever be said with words. That was the benefit of a long term partnership, you could communicate in ways that did not involve words. They held each other, touched each other, and thoroughly aroused each other for over an hour. Justin was the first to climax. Brian never revealed this to anyone, but Justin was always the first to climax. Brian came shortly after. They held hands together encasing his dick stroking it as one. Brian's hand tempered Justin's. His hand was really jumping now. Both men ignored it, knowing that their intimacy was near its end, and they did not want to bring reality into this blissful unreality.
They kissed after Brian caught his breath and released his hold on Justin's ever strengthening frame. Then Brian looked at Justin face with different eyes and realized that what he saw as passion earlier was really an expression of pain.
"Justin? What is it? I'm sorry, I thought this felt good to you, shit, I'm so ignorant."
"Brian, don't, I wanted this to happen. I wanted to be this close to you. I could have told you to stop, but I wanted us both to finish. Thanks, and for God's sake don't be sorry."
"Tell me now Justin, what do you need?" Brian was quickly cleaning them up. Justin's hands continued to jump, maybe more than he noticed before. He tossed the towels in the bathroom and got dressed. He pulled the covers up over Justin's torso, after he put on his underwear. He leaned over into Justin's face, "Now is not the time to be so fucking brave. What do you need?"
"Call Amy, I need some pain meds. My hands are killing me."
"Killing you how? What do they feel like, she'll want to know, so she knows what to bring you. Is it pins and needles or burning?" Brian's questions were short and fast, his tell tale signal to Justin that he was panicked.
"Brian, don't." Justin took a ragged breath. "Go and tell her their burning. All of my fingers, both hands. They feel like they are on fire. And Brian, don't say a fucking word. Just go."
Brian sprinted out of the room calling for Amy. Justin was having his second pain induced seizure.