I run down the corridor, the thoughts of holding Ryan again, even if it's only a shell of his former self, give me the energy to continue. Sharpay is right on my heels, directing me through the labyrinth of hallways. We suddenly appear in front of Ryan's door and I see Eddie just outside.
"Well, the prodigal son returns!" His greeting is warm and joyful, even though his face shows the effects of at least one overnight vigil for his bedridden compatriot. I smile and return the bear hug that he offers and I feel him melt a little in my arms.
"I'll see you later, Ed. I have to see Ryan now. Is he any better?" Sharpay interrupts our embrace and Eddie steps back to respond.
"Just a little. Nothing substantial, but he's not getting worse, at least." Eddie has lost his smile but only to portray seriousness, his words still dripping with kindness. I cannot believe that I'm feeling as he feels, the sensation is still too new to be comfortable.
Sharpay enters Ryan's room and closes the door behind her. At this point, I see Wyatt and Chris rounding the corner from which I came. They were both winded. "Now that Shar can't hear us, how is he really?" I query.
"Honestly, he's better physically. I don't think that he's going to even try to get better mentally until he sees you, though." I nod to Eddie's words. "Listen, I've been here for 16 hours now, I really need to sleep. Call me is anything happens. Promise?" Again, I nod.
I open the door, but I cannot see Ryan due to the drawn curtain betwixt us. I can barely hear Shar talking to Ryan. "I'm going to school, but I'll be back as soon as drama is over. I love you Ducky." She leans over and kisses his forehead and walks away.
I walk around the curtain only to see him unconscious on the bed. He's so pale and thin, I weep at the sight of him. I hear Shar close the door and make my way to the seat beside his hospital bed. I close my eyes in an attempt to pray, and I fall asleep considering that I drove all night so that Sharpay could be rested for class.
I wake to find the curtain drawn between my chair and the bed. I get up to check on Ryan, only to see a male nurse by the bathroom door. "He's in here." The nurse comments.
"Cool. Don't tell him I'm here." I respond. He smiles knowingly. I here the two of them scuffle to the bed and the curtain is drawn revealing Ryan lying on his side facing me. His eyes are closed, attempting to fall back to sleep. I began to half whisper, "Don't let me wake up. I can hold him in my dreams! I will not leave my dreams!" He opens his eyes and jumps in shock. He sits up, wanting to run into my arms, but I beat him to the punch.
Fifteen minutes later, he's lying on his back and I'm sitting on the bed leaning to his mouth. No words have been said but that's only because our lips and tongues have found better things to do at the moment. I can feel his exhaustion empathically. Completely filled with reluctance, I pull away from him and tell him to rest.
"Not without you, I won't." He's almost defiant. Go figure that I'd agree with my little angel. He scoots to the far side of the bed and I lay with him. We quickly fall into slumber together.
I am woken by Wyatt nudging my shoulder. "Dude, Troy!" After I respond, I notice that Chris is next to him and Ryan is awake as well. "We promised Mom that we'd be home three hours ago. We need to hit the road." I can feel the difficulty within my new foster brothers. They both wanted to let me stay, but it wasn't possible.
"Ry, I have to go. I want to fill you in on everything, but I can't right now." I grab a pen from my pocket as my lover begins to cry. I grab his palm and write a 10 digit number on it. "This is my new cell number, but you can't give it to anybody else." He nods enthusiastically. "I promise that I'll be here when you get discharged. We can talk then." With one final peck, Wyatt, Chris, and I leave.
We went to Wyatt's Hummer and climbed inside. After about ten minutes on the highway, Wyatt turns onto a county road. "Are you ready, Chris?" The brunet nods. "Cool" the elder brother expresses monotonously.
"Troy, I need you to do me a favor." Chris half-asked. "I need you to feel Wy's and my desire to be home right now." I nod, letting him know that I can and do feel it. That's when Chris continues, "I need you to want that more than anything now. Close your eyes and concentrate." I did so, and the next thing I know, were driving on Prescott Street, about a block and a half away from their ancestral manor house.
"Hey, I just thought of something." Wyatt says as we walk up the driveway. "Let me run it by Mom, though." I hate it when he does that, but, whatever, right?? I turn to see Chris close the front door behind us, but he isn't using his hands. I think I'll like being a witch, but if I have to choose, I'll pick Ryan over any power.