CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
By the end of the day I was completely exhausted. Everything had happened all at once and my mind was a muddle, my head aching. The nurses made everyone leave so that I could sleep and I remained that way for twelve hours before I opened my eyes to find Leah and Sarah sitting beside the bed. Leah was studying while Sarah sat quietly reading. I recognised a book I had bought for her and I vaguely remembered hearing her voice for some long time while I'd been unconscious; I wondered if she'd been reading that book.
"What are you reading?" I asked and she jerked her head up quickly, a bright smile on her face.
"You're awake! It's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' by..."
"Lemony Snicket," I finished. "Did you read that to me, Sarah?"
"Yes."
"I could hear."
Leah looked up and smiled. "That's what I told her. How are you feeling?"
"Better." I glanced at the door. "What time is it?"
"Eleven."
"Any news?"
"Edward called to say Mike Newton gave his statement to the cops and he's also spoken to Paul's lawyer. He seems to think it won't get to court, unless you're all testifying against the guys who attacked you. The three of them are still saying the same thing, but what Mike said has changed everything. Plus...another guy came forward."
"Another? What do you mean?"
"Just this morning an older guy in his forties responded to what's been in the press about it. Apparently he was hurt by the man who hurt you, maybe a month ago. Same place, same time of night. He left the Stonewall, was confronted and tried to walk away, but he was chased and threatened that if he went to the cops, he'd bring more trouble on himself. It seems like those..." Her lip curled and I imagined she would have spat something unrepeatable if Sarah hadn't been there. "...jerks make a habit of this. Anyway, sounds like they'll be getting locked up for quite a while."
"So Paul's off the hook?" I asked.
"Yes. There's red tape of course, but he won't be charged."
"Thank God. This all happened pretty quick," I mused.
"Most of it was yesterday, but I only heard about it from Edward this morning after he saw Paul."
"Where is..?"
"Your place, I think. He hasn't been here yet; I guess he's been tied up with the cops and the lawyer."
"When am I going to meet Paul?" Sarah asked suddenly and Leah raised an eyebrow.
"Well...um..." I stopped and let Leah answer.
"Maybe you can meet him later today," she said. "I think we should go home so I can study properly and you can spend some time with your Grandpa; then we'll come back in the afternoon."
"You sure?" I murmured.
"Yes; might as well be sooner rather than later if he's going to stick around."
"I...uh...I asked him to move in," I told her. "He lost his job so there's nothing for him in Boston..."
I noticed a hint of hurt flash across her face before it was replaced by a determined smile. "Fine; I wondered if he'd stay here." She closed her books and put them into her bag. "Come on, Sarah; let's get home. Jeannie's coming over, remember?"
I was tempted to ask if she'd seen much of Jasper, but I kept my mouth shut, deciding there was a time for that and this wasn't it. Sarah left Lemony Snicket on the table beside my bed, telling me she would only read it with me while I was in hospital, even if she wasn't actually reading it to me. Then she planted kisses all over my face and hugged me before the pair of them left.
I was left alone for a while, my only company being a nurse who came to check everything, including the damned catheter I was having to use which wasn't the most comfortable thing I'd ever experienced.
"Can't you get rid of it?" I asked. "I can use one of those...um...bottles."
"We'll see what Doctor says. He'll be here in a few minutes; we want to see how you manage standing up. If that goes ok, we should be able to unhook you from everything now."
"Any idea when they're going to let me go home?"
"I don't think it'll be long; if all goes well, probably a day or two."
"Awesome!"
"Don't get too excited, Jacob, we have to get you on your feet yet."
"I feel fine," I said firmly.
"You might feel fine lying down. You've been on your back for two and a half weeks."
The doctor came in moments later, accompanied by a junior doctor and after checking how I was doing with the nurse, I was instructed to try sitting up slowly and turning so that my legs hung off of the side of the bed. Convinced I would have no problem, I pushed myself up and turned, then found my head aching and spinning at the same time.
"Slow - ly," the doctor repeated firmly. "You've suffered a serious head injury, Jacob. You might think you feel well enough while you're in bed, but you're not used to movement. You're going to feel off-balance for a while if you don't take it easy."
"Mmm." I hung my head and closed my eyes, feeling as if I'd had one too many beers. Gradually things stopped spinning and I looked up again. "Ok; better now."
"Shuffle forward until your feet are on the floor; then we'll help you up."
This time I did as I was told, an inch at a time until the two doctors took an arm each to support me as I took my weight on my legs. The limbs felt as if they didn't quite belong to me, trembling in their efforts to support my weight, but at least I didn't feel dizzy. I was assisted in walking a few steps along the length of the bed and back and as much as I felt like I might fall flat on my face at any moment, I stayed upright with assistance until I was helped back into bed, heart hammering as if I'd spent an hour in the gym.
"This isn't unusual at all," the doctor said.
"Are you sure I'll be up to going home in a couple of days?"
"I believe so. We'll have you on your feet properly in no time. It will of course depend on whether you have someone to help you. Your wife...?"
"Uh...no, we're not together. But my partner will be there. He moved in, so..."
"That's good. So long as you won't be alone then there shouldn't be a problem."
The doctors left and much to my relief, the nurse then removed the catheter and also the drip which was still attached to my arm. When she left, another one came in with some rather unappealing looking sandwiches, but hunger made me devour them eagerly. I remained sitting upright, resting against the pillows and an hour later, just as I was about to pick up my phone and call Paul, he walked in, carrying a paper sack in one hand and a rucksack in the other.
"Hey, I was about to call you," I said. "What have you got there?"
"Decent food," he grinned, dropping into the chair next to me and passing me the paper sack. "I know how shit hospital food is."
"They just gave me sandwiches made of wood shavings about an hour ago," I grimaced, peering into the sack. Inside was an enormous sub stuffed with pastrami and cheese salad, a chocolate muffin and a bottle of soda. "I love you," I sighed, digging out the sub.
Paul grinned. "So, they disconnected you from a few things. That has to be good, right?"
"Yeah, got rid of the damned catheter so at least I can piss on my own," I grunted, cramming a large bite of food into my mouth and groaning with pleasure.
"Are they gonna let you out soon?"
"Uh huh. Couple more days."
"Sorry, I won't keep asking you things. Eat." Paul sat back in the chair and waited while I finished the delicious lunch, telling me about Mike Newton's statement and the other guy who had come forward; his lawyer's advices and that he expected the charges against him to dropped later that day.
At last I finished the soda and put the empty paper sack aside, beckoning to Paul to come closer. "I didn't get to say hello properly yet."
"Thought you'd rather have food than me," he smirked, getting up to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Got that right. I'd starve in here if it wasn't for you and Leah bringing me proper food."
He leaned closer and brushed his lips over mine. "I can't wait until you get home; even though we're probably not gonna be able to do much of anything for a while. You sure you want me to move in?"
"Yeah, you have to really; the doc says I can't be on my own right away," I teased.
"That's all you want me for? To make sure you don't pass out alone or something?"
"Jerk." I slid my hands up to his neck and drew him closer. "I missed you."
"I'm sorry I wasn't here the last couple of weeks."
"I know; it doesn't matter." I brought our lips together again and for the first time in weeks we kissed properly. Paul seemed reluctant to deepen it at first and I gripped him tighter, thrusting my tongue into his mouth, crushing his lips against his teeth until he responded heatedly, sliding his arms around me, his hands slipping into the open back of the hospital gown and stroking over my skin. The unattractive garment was useful for one thing at least, I thought, shivering under the feel of his fingers tracing circles at the bottom of my spine, then dipping into the crack of my ass. I moaned into his mouth as my cock responded eagerly, tenting the front of the gown and the single sheet which covered my lap. Paul's lips left mine and nibbled at my ear and I removed my hands from his neck, for a moment forgetting where we were as I unbuttoned the top half of his shirt and slid a hand inside, finding his nipple ring and giving it a gentle tug. He growled softly and pulled back, his face flushed with arousal as his eyes met mine.
"Fuck, we can't do this here."
"Damnit," I muttered, pressing the heel of my hand against my cock, feeling it pulse against my belly. "I'm so fucking hard."
"Good thing they unhooked the heart monitor," he grinned. "How risky is it? Do they come in and check on you very often?"
"Not really." I glanced at the door. "I'm not sure if I'm up to returning the favour quite yet though."
"Don't worry about that; I'll just go home later and think about what we're gonna do when you're well enough; imagine what it's gonna feel like with my cock in your ass without a fucking rubber and jerk off in your...our bed."
"Jesus," I groaned, stilling my hand as I found myself rubbing my erection through the gown. Paul chuckled and glanced at the door too.
"Want me to?"
"Yes."
"Lie back."
I leaned back against the pillows again and in seconds, he had pulled the sheet down, my gown up and his head was in my lap, my cock encased in the wet heat of his mouth.
"Holy shit," I breathed. "You know I'm gonna come in about thirty seconds."
"Mmm." He laughed softly, his mouth vibrating around me and I groaned, closing my eyes as he continued sucking on me, using both hands to caress my balls and the base of my cock. Predictably it was over embarrassingly fast with me grinding my teeth together in an effort not to cry out, while Paul swallowed my load, drawing out every drop before he sat up with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Good?"
"Fuck, you know it was." I lowered the gown to cover myself, my eyes drifting to his lap and noticing the uncomfortable looking bulge in his jeans. "I wish I could..."
"I can wait." He got up, adjusting himself before sitting back down in the chair. "How are you feeling?"
"Drained."
"You know what I mean."
"Fine; as you would expect after I had my cock sucked."
"Good; I'd hate to have to call the doc and explain why you're suddenly worse again."
I laughed softly. "You'd love it; you'd probably gloat."
We changed the subject then, Paul clearly keen to talk about something else in order to forget his frustration. He talked about work and the fact that he had already been looking around to see what was available in New York. There was nothing which related to fitness in any way and at that point I opened my mouth to suggest he work at my gym, but he pre-empted me.
"Even if there was a position going with you, I wouldn't take it," he said.
"Why?"
"Living together and working together? In each other's pockets twenty-four seven? It mightn't work out. You hear about couples who go into business together and they break up because it becomes too much. Personal fights affect the business or disagreements in the work place carry on at home or it's just because of them never getting a break from each other. I don't want us to fail because of something like that."
"I had actually thought that myself," I admitted. "But you need work; it could just be temporary."
"Jake; thank you, but no," he said firmly. "I have enough money to pay the bills for maybe six months before I have to start worrying..."
"The bills are virtually nothing," I interrupted. "There's no rent because my landlord has always charged me for the whole building. It's only utilities and phone and stuff like that; it's a tiny amount."
"Ok, well that's good. I have another idea anyway. I've been thinking about starting up on my own. I haven't had much time to look into it yet, but I plan to over the next few weeks. I couldn't go into something as big as fitness equipment with only some cash and no collateral, but I thought about some kind of fitness products - I don't know, maybe supplements or sports clothing or something like that. It'd be a place to start, so long as I could make enough of a profit to live off of."
"That sounds great," I said at once. "If it's any help, I don't think there's enough choice as regards the vitamins and supplements I sell; and protein powders, all that type of stuff. There are two major companies - you probably know that - and they charge the earth for their products and mainly sell in bulk to gyms and spas and health shops. You can't buy them by mail and although they're cheaper if you're getting them from a gym, you have to be a member to access them. On the high street they cost more."
"Hmm...maybe I'll look into that first then," Paul nodded. "I've plenty of time to do it anyway. My lawyer's bill isn't going to be that big after all; I thought this might go on for weeks or even months, but it looks like it's almost over so I won't have to be begging in the subway stations just yet." He grinned and winked.
Paul stayed with me for most of the afternoon. A nurse looked in once, but otherwise we were left alone until Leah and Sarah returned at four-thirty, bringing with them a container of home-cooked meat pie and a separate one of fruit cobbler.
"I'll...um...I should get out of your way," Paul said, getting to his feet quickly.
"Wait. Uh...let me introduce you properly." I sat up straighter as Sarah came to my side, Leah remaining by the door. "Leah, I know you already met Paul at the gym that day..."
She nodded. "Hello."
"Leah." He nodded back, looking surprisingly nervous.
"Sarah, this is my friend, Paul; remember me telling you about him?"
"Yes." She gazed up at Paul's face and then stuck her hand out. "Pleased to meet you."
"It's very nice to meet you, Sarah," he responded and shook the offered hand.
"You're awfully tall," she went on. "Like my Dad. Do you work in a gym too?"
"No, I used to sell gym equipment. Now I'm hoping to start my own business."
"Ok. Where do you live?"
"I'm from Boston, but..." He stopped and glanced at me.
"Paul's living at my apartment now."
"Oh." Sarah frowned for a moment. "I hope you take good care of my Dad when he gets out of the hospital; the doc says he's going to need some help."
"I will, I promise," Paul said at once.
"Look, I'm gonna go down to the cafeteria and get some coffee," Leah said. "Leave you to it for a while. Ok, Sarah?"
"Sure." She climbed up onto my bed and sat by my knees and I heaved a sigh of relief. After the way she had reacted when Leah and I told her about Paul, I'd been fairly sure she wouldn't have a problem when she met him, but I'd still worried that maybe she wouldn't actually like him. So far things seemed to be going well enough.
"Sit down, Paul," I told him and he lowered himself back into the chair.
Sarah did most of the talking as the three of us sat together, telling me that her friend Jeannie had spent the afternoon with them and Jeannie's Dad had stayed too, rather than go home and then come back to pick the girl up.
"I think he likes Mom," she confided. "He keeps smiling at her all the time and looking at her when he thinks nobody can see."
"Do you like Jeannie's Dad?" I asked.
"Oh, yes, he's nice. He took us both to the movies on the weekend and we had popcorn and icecream. Don't tell Mom, she'd say it'll rot my teeth. I think he spoils Jeannie because she doesn't have a Mom. He works here too; is he one of your doctors?"
"Um..." I coughed slightly as I remembered the embarrassment of the test Jasper had given me. "No, he works in a different part of the hospital."
"Ok. Well, he's on vacation this week. He said he'd take us all to Coney Island tomorrow if Mom didn't mind, but she hasn't made her mind up. She said I can go if I want to. Do you mind if I go without you, Dad?"
"Of course I don't mind. It'll be a little while before I'll be able to go for days out, but I promise I'll take you, and Jeannie as well if you want, for a day somewhere when I'm better."
"Oh, cool! Will Paul come too?" She turned to look at Paul.
"I'd like to come if I'm invited," he said.
She stared at him solemnly for a moment and then nodded. "You're invited."
"Well, thank you. Then I'd be glad to come, wherever you and your Dad decide you want to go."
It was almost an hour before Leah returned and at that point Paul excused himself and went to get coffee as Leah had done. She took the seat he had vacated and placed a paper cup of coffee she had brought for me on the bed table.
"Paul's really nice, Mom; he and Dad are gonna take me and Jeannie for a day out when Dad's all better," Sarah beamed.
Leah raised an eyebrow. "That's nice."
"Sarah's been telling me you might be going to Coney Island tomorrow," I said.
"Uh...well...Sarah's going; I haven't decided yet. I need to study."
"You're always studying, Mom, you can take a day off. Maybe Grandpa can come too."
"I don't think he'd want to do that." Leah grimaced slightly and avoided my eyes.
"Maybe you can go and enjoy the day out and tell him to get over here and have it out with me if he has anything to say," I suggested. "There's no reason why you shouldn't enjoy a day with...the girls."
"Giving me permission, Jacob?" Leah asked a little sharply.
Sarah glanced from her to me and back again and I quickly picked up my coffee and sipped it. "Sarah, could you go and put some sugar in this, please? I think Mom forgot."
"Mom never forgets the sugar." Sarah got to her feet. "You just want to have grown up talk, don't you? You can just tell me to go outside, you know, Dad." She picked up Lemony Snicket and quietly left the room.
"I'm sorry," Leah said.
"What for?"
"Snapping."
"I didn't mean it to sound like that, you know," I told her. "I just meant...if you like the guy, I think you should go. I'm not saying that because of my situation or what I did, or because I feel guilty or anything. I just think you deserve to enjoy yourself. Do you like him, Leah?"
"Yes, I like him."
"He spends time with you already anyway, doesn't he?"
"Yes, but a day out is more like a...a date, even with the kids."
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"Jake..." Leah flushed vividly. "This isn't really something I should be talking about to my ex-husband."
"Why not? Look, aren't we friends? Before we started dating, we were friends and our friendship has always been there, through our marriage and everything. You can talk to me about anything you want, even if it's another guy."
She sighed heavily. "I just don't want to rush things. I like Jasper and I guess I have hopes that maybe we could be together, but...you know what? I've never dated anybody except you and that was...eleven, twelve years ago?"
"Are you telling me that you...Leah Black...is having a confidence crisis?" I teased gently.
"I guess I am a bit."
"You've no reason to. Listen to me...you're smart, you're beautiful, independent, you know what you want and you're not afraid to say so. The fact that it's a day out with the kids makes it easy, right? Presumably you can talk to the guy...Jasper...about stuff?"
"Yes, we talk a lot; at least in the last few days we have."
"Well, then. Be upfront with him; tell him you're into him, but you want to take it one step at a time. He'll wait; he's lucky to have you."
She nodded slowly. "I can do that. It still feels weird talking to you about this, but thanks."
"Any time."
"So...Paul's gonna be living with you from now on."
"Are you ok with that?" I asked.
"I expected it would happen sooner or later if you stayed together. I got used to it some time ago now. You need somebody there when you get home and I know how you feel about him. It's pretty obvious he feels the same."
"You think?"
"Hell, Jake, he looks at you like the sun shines out of your ass. I'm glad to see you happy; I'm glad we can be friends again too. I wanted to hate you, you know, but I was never going to be able to do that." She gave me a sudden grin. "I guess I better get Sarah home. Your Dad will be wanting dinner soon and I should probably...uh...call Jasper and let him know about Coney Island."
"Enjoy," I said. "Get a photo of Sarah for me."
"I promise. Thanks, Jacob."
She left and a moment later Sarah came back in to say goodbye. "Mom's coming to Coney Island," she whispered conspiratorily.
"I know," I whispered back. "You and Jeannie make sure she has a good time, ok?"
"Ok." She leaned over and kissed me on the forehead, then on each cheek. "See you the day after tomorrow."
Paul returned after they had gone and shared the enormous portion of pie with me, both of us refusing the hospital meal. Emmett came in to visit for a while in the evening and when I began to yawn, Paul left with him, leaving me to get some sleep. I was glad for Leah, I realised. I knew Jasper was a decent guy and after what I'd put her through, she deserved to be happy. Sarah seemed happy about it and she had accepted Paul too, so my greatest fear was unfounded. Now all I needed to do was get out of the hospital and move forward with my life with him.