Chapter Fifty-Eight
Three Days Later
"And you're positive?" Sarah questioned as she looked from Aaron, to Torlyn, to Eliot and then back.
"One hundred percent: His loss of appetite and weight, the anemia and vomiting, the headaches and fatigue;
they're all classic symptoms." Torlyn explained as he waited for her to sign the form between him and starting treatment.
"So when he wakes," The when was so clear he could nearly see through it. "He'll be good to go? After he finishes your go around that'll be the end of it?"
"There's no guarantee he won't have to face some after affects but I will say that there's better, brighter days coming in his sights."
He was expecting a response from Aaron but he just sat there clenching Spencer's hand tighter.
Instead the woman, who he had barely learned was Spencer's sister, (And if that hadn't been news to him) responded.
"What kind of after affects are we talking about?"
"There's no telling at the moment what his personal ones will be but some common ones are kidney disease, continued anemia, attention and behavioral changes, mo-"
"What do you mean attention and behavioral changes?" Aaron interrupted as he turned in his chair to get a better look at the doctor.
"I mean concentration might take longer and focus might leave faster. He might become upset or irritable over something you can't quite understand,
be angered by something he wouldn't have given a second thought to before." He hated having to tell the families that they might not get their loved one back in
the exact way they knew and loved them. "He might experience hearing or vision changes. He might have to face infertility."
"Are you saying?" Sarah was barely grasping that thought with the edges of her mind.
Torlyn tried to offer a comfort knowing that was one of the hardest to hear for some but Aaron cut him short. "That's exactly what he's saying Sarah."
Anger was welling deep in his heart as he looked past the body lying there and into the brother locked within.
Given Eliot's current life and outlook on it perhaps it wouldn't matter if such a possibility came true but still it lit him with fury.
What had Eliot done so wrong that he deserved to be denied such a decision?
What made it alright to rob him of the opportunity?
With a little hesitance she let the idea sink in.
Eventually she voiced it somberly. "He might not be able to have kids."
She didn't care what he might think about it; her heart was breaking for him.
With a heavy glance at her big brother she had her mind made.
It was in silence that she signed the form, passing it to Torlyn who was retreating soon after.
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"Where the hell is this man!" He was beyond frustrated having been looking for the past couple hours.
"He did say he'd be gone a few." Parker reminded as she fiddled with the phone Hardison had traced back to Nate's dresser drawer.
"I don't like it!" He'd checked the airport, bus, and train stations with no luck. "Not one bit! What if something happened to him?"
"Maybe he just wanted some time for himself." Why wasn't that understandable?
Couldn't he simply want to be alone?
"Well he's sure as hell stupid if he thought now was the time to take it!"
He couldn't understand how Nate could just walk out of the house so simply with the declaration of being back in a few.
Not when they were in a situation like this.
"Why?" Parker questioned in disagreement as she sat on the tables' corner. "It's not like Eliot really needs someone to hold his hand anyway."
"That's not the point Parker."He admonished as he pushed his keyboard away.
"Than what is?" She never seemed to get the point with these people.
"That it's not alright to take off and leave your loved ones alone in a hospital!" A standard set of morals told you that.
"Even if you come back better off for it?" She was in disbelief of this almost simple sense of right and wrong he had picked up.
"How is disappearing for a few days gonna make anything better for him?" By all means he wanted her to explain.
"Well it's not like it's going to make anything worse either." She'd been looking back to before she'd
known they didn't know about Nate and Eliot; how she wished for that ignorance once more.
It seemed like their knowing had killed in the guys what she had found so entertaining.
Long ago the subtle game of one-uping each other had disappeared.
The glares that said someone would soon be killed; if not kissed had surely vanished.
That little spark of, unbeknownst to her, a secret being held had fizzled and she felt almost partly to blame.
They had intruded on knowledge that hadn't been ready to be shared.
"And if something happens while he's gone?"
She barely managed to suppress a huff of frustration as she stood to leave.
It didn't seem to matter what she said, no one actually listened.
"Parker!" She didn't answer, just turned out of the room. "Parker, where are you going!"
Nothing.
He blew out an angry breath as he leaned back in his chair.
They were always trading pages but he wished just once they could be on the same one.
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His door opening had him taking a quick look away from the television to see who'd entered; but the sight itself had him doing a double take.
"What the hell happened to you?!"
With a bloody smirk and the raising of a split brow Eliot answered, "Sparing session" before closing the door.
"With what?" Nate demanded as he stood from the couch to meet the other halfway. "A wrecking ball!"
With a slight chuckle Eliot affirmed, "Something like that."
"Are you seriously telling me this was all done willingly?" He spotted bruising on his knuckles and what was sure to be defensive marks on his forearms.
"It got a little bit rougher than usual." Eliot shrugged off simply as he moved past Nate with thoughts of cleaning up.
"This is a regular thing?" Nate questioned as he followed him.
He didn't know much about how Eliot spent his free time but surely he didn't go to get his brains scrambled for sport.
Not with what he did for a living.
"New guy started throwin' cheap shots." He wet a washcloth as Nate settled against the doorframe. "I figured somebody needed to teach him a thing or two."
"And that somebody just had to be you?" Work was one thing, but this; to him this was pointless and stupid.
"Look," Eliot reigned in annoyance at Nathan's sarcasm as he tossed the cloth in the sink.
All he had wanted was to clean up and hang out but that idea was clearly coming to its end. "If you don't like the blood I'll leave."
"I don't like the blood," Nate began almost defiantly. "But if you try to leave I can guarantee you haven't seen the last of the cheap shots."
"Is that right." For some reason such a threat from Nate was incredibly amusing at the moment.
With a half shrug Nate smirked, "I never claimed to play fair," Eliot near snorted at that. "and perhaps I want to learn this thing or two you've been teaching."
"It's a hard lesson to learn." Eliot quipped as he got back to mending minor injuries.
For a moment all was silent as he continued to watch Eliot, eventually rinsing out his mouth. "Why do you do it?"
The bath towel was pulled from the rack to wipe his mouth as he answered, "To stay on my toes… to keep in shape, to blow off steam."
And unadmittedly to regain a sense of control when he felt about ready to lose it.
"I'm pretty sure there are easier ways to do that." He could take a drive, go for a run, heck even beating a punching bag was better than letting yourself be used as one.
"Haven't found one yet that works as well." Eliot dismissed as he pulled a sweaty t-shirt over his head.
"Of course you haven't." Nate spoke knowingly.
"By all means share if you have!" He slid past Nate and into the bedroom.
"I don't think it's quite your style." Nate continued to observe as Eliot removed his boots before grabbing his duffel.
"You see I found something that gets rid of all my frustrations."
"Oh really?" He knew that tone of voice.
It was the one that told him Nate was about to say something that would rub him the wrong and right way all at once.
It wasn't hard to tell that Eliot had caught on as he nodded deviously. "Something I can use and abuse to my heart's content."
"Is that so?" If possible there was just enough insult in those words to compliment.
"Works like a charm." He didn't move as Eliot neared.
The game never changed, yet it was never the same which held a big part of its intrigue.
"Every time?" Eliot replied as easily as if it had been scripted.
Though it hadn't been what he wanted to come of the night he'd follow his ques.
After all it was what became of every night they shared; why should he expect different?
"Every time" Nate confirmed, expecting a roughness, almost a gruffness to appear from Eliot like it always had.
"Every time?" Eliot repeated as he used himself to press Nate further into the wall.
"Every Single Time" He leaned in but Eliot pulled back.
For some reason there was none of that machoism between them, none of that
animalistic need Eliot always met him with, nothing but a foreign gaze firmly planted in those icy eyes.
"You keep coming to me…" He knew there was a question coming but he wouldn't allow himself to be hounded for an answer he didn't have.
Instead he offered a kiss that was near slow as molasses; which he would never admit was his doing.
"Eli -" Nate wanted to get a word out but he could barely manage a breath.
Eliot pulled back slightly with a warning in his eye that all but screamed 'Shut Up'! As he moved to Nate's jaw line where he alternated
between kissing and nipping until he reached his ear. "Anywhere…"
Even the hands creeping beneath his shirt seemed foreign.
They almost reminded him of the touch of a, NO…
He wouldn't allow himself to think the words in fear of what they'd bring; yet he felt it.
A sensation so indescribable that it couldn't be pictured with a thousand words, yet it managed to be captured in one. "Eliot"
With a smirk against Nate's neck he dragged his nails down his sides until his fingers reached an unwanted restriction.
"Eliot" Perhaps it was with anticipation that the name came out, possibly contemplation, or at least as close to that as his puddled mind could get.
Vaguely there was some thought about games and the rules to them, but hot breath beside his ear blew it right away. "…Anytime"
"ANYTIME!" The feeling of something connecting with his lower legs had him slowly opening his eyes.
There stood his father wielding a pillow with the shouts of, "Get your ass up! Now's as good as anytime!"
It took a minute to actually process what was going on before he replied, "Don't you think I'm a little too old for wakeup calls."
"Don't you think you're a little too old to be sleeping all damn day?" Jimmy shot back as he tossed the pillow at his son.
A glance at the clock had him rubbing his eyes in disbelief of the numbers displayed. "Tell me you don't really consider this sleeping in."
"The early bird beats the bullet." Jimmy stated calmly as he moved to the door. "Now get moving!"
With a grown he buried his face in the newly gained pillow.
Why couldn't he have had ten more minutes of blissful ignorance?
Just a few more misleading moments?
It was his favorite dream after all; even better than the memory.
The copper tang of Eliot's tongue so strong in his thoughts he'd swear he could almost taste it even now.
The second his hands had stopped touching and started caressing. The moment satisfaction turned to passion.
It was fresh and full of freedom. It was learning without understanding. It was the end of something they had selfishly
started and the beginning of something they had desperately avoided. It was a long ago past and a very distant future.
Yeah… it was definitely more than a memory.
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Spencer Home
"You're staring." Michael spoke with annoyance as he lowered his newspaper.
"Sorry" Caroline diverted her eyes as she took a sip of her orange juice.
With an appraising once over he raised his paper once more.
"Mike?"
"Yes?" He barely acknowledged as he tried to resume his article.
"Sarah called a few days ago." She started carefully as she watched for an adverse reaction.
"And?" His attention was caught as he folded the paper and placed it to his side.
"She had some unpleasant news about our son." It was a topic she only crossed with emotional distance; it was better that way.
"What did that boy do this time?" He'd swear the kid thought he'd been given a 'get out of jail free' card simply for being the youngest.
"No, it's nothing like that. She actually called on behalf of Eliot."
"I don't want to hear it." He spoke firmly as he lifted his paper.
"But Michael"
"Dammit Caroline!" He tossed the paper in anger. "I said I don't want to hear it.
If he has something to say to me than he can bring his ass here and say it himself! Now that's the end of it."
For a moment she watched him as he lifted his fork and began to eat, but it wasn't long before she was finding it hard to stay silent.
"But he can't speak." He looked to be full of fury as she added, "He's in a coma."
The silence that fell seemed to last forever as she watched him intently.
The fury was gone; replaced by something she couldn't name.
Something she hadn't seen in all their 38 years of marriage.
Abruptly he stood, breaking the silence as he declared, "I'm going out."
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All went silent as he shut off the television with a sigh.
Sarah had left over an hour ago and he was absolutely out of his mind with boredom.
There was nothing to do but wait and he was extremely tired of it, yet he knew the second he left he would want nothing more than to return to his brothers side.
Someone needed to be there and at the moment he seemed to be the only one available. Sarah had to put the children first, there was no choice in that, and Nate had to reappear first. Hearing that he'd left without ushering a word of his intentions had been shocking; Nate was always there so there had to be reason. After all the time and dedication he'd seen Nate give his brother there was no convincing him that the man would simply take off without plans of returning; it just wasn't probable.
With another sigh he kicked his feet off of the chair they'd been propped on, swinging his legs around so he could stand.
He entertained the thought of peering out the window but it faced a garden that didn't have much to look at unless you liked watching the grass grow.
"Damn it Eliot," He grumbled as he pulled his finger across a smudge on the nurses dry erase board. "Wake your ass up already."
"Shhhhh"
Though it was the slightest of sounds he jumped as though it had been the biggest of booms. "Eliot?"
"Dad will yell if he hears you saying those words."
"Eliot" He was at his brother's side in a half second flat. "Eliot, you up?"
Sitting in those sleepy blue eyes was a look he swore he'd never again see; he hadn't since they were kids.
"Shh" He barely managed to voice, his words seeming too heavy. "You'll get in trouble."
"Eliot" He watched his brother's eyes droop closed and for a moment had to assure himself that yes, they had indeed been open.
"Wake up!" Aaron shook his arm viciously but it was as if he didn't feel it. "Please"
He was patting and poking anything and everything possible but there wasn't even the slightest hint of discomfort.
"El" He pulled a chair to the very side of the bed, sitting with fresh hope. "El please"
All was quiet; frustratingly so.
He had just heard him talking.
Hadn't he?