They both stepped outside into the hospital garden where sick people were basking in the sun everywhere.
It was a beautiful garden even with all the sickly, zombie-like patients roaming or lying around.
Austin led them to an empty bench and they sat beside each other.
"So...what do you wanna know?" Michael began.
"Everything!" Austin said.
"Can't I just give you the cliff notes version!" Michael complained, "it's a really long story and I don't wanna miss Nicky. I wanna talk to her before she leaves."
"You know....I'm not usually in the habit of socializing with jackasses who break my sister's heart and probably want to go for round two so they can make her cry again!"
"But ...I was her first boyfriend." Michael justified as if that was the real issue here.
"Not her first boyfriend..per se...but you were her first real boyfriend and that means something!" Austin scolded, "You basically just screwed up her future relationships because you couldn't keep it in your pants. She can never trust anyone fully again ...and that is all your fault. And, not to mention, you have a girlfriend who you're shacking up with at the moment. Man, are you trying to lose your teeth or what!"
"I'm sorry, truly...and Lira and I aren't together anymore."
"Wow, cheated on her too?" Austin asked unamusedly.
"I realized what I had done and broke up with her...then she almost burned down the whole house, literally."
"What?!"
"I brought her here because I thought her parents were negligent and didn't want her. She had told me that they claimed she was crazy so they had sent her to a mental asylum just to get rid of her because they never really wanted her.
"They are rich, so I thought they could do that easily. Besides, from seeing what my parents achieve just by simply waving wads of cash around, it's not such a far fetched idea...I know someone else whose parents didn't want and they put her through hell just to get her out of their lives.
"She begged me to let her come back with me to America and I took pity on her. We hired some amateur actors to play her parents and got them to convince my parents that they just wanted her to spend her junior and senior years abroad.
"She was a really sweet girl and she had looked really shaken so it did not take much convincing for them to agree.
"However, I've been noticing a few traits about her these few weeks that got me thinking: what if she really is crazy? One time, I found her hanging with some hobos in town and she was eating out of a dumpster. She later told me that she just likes to make them feel like she is one of them.
"But then, when she sent me to her room to pick up a sweater for her, I opened her closet and she had these really creepy puppets and dolls nailed to the walls, along with cutout pictures of human and animal eyes.
"There were pictures of Nicky and all her friends' pictures and they were of all of them sleeping, with toothpicks pierced to their throats.
"I'm trying to reach her real parents so they can come take her away before she does something I can't undo. God....I'm such an idiot!"
"Wait, you're telling me that your psycho girlfriend is gunning for my sister?!"
"She is dangerous and I have no idea what to do."
"Where is she now?" Austin asked, suddenly ticked off. He could not bear having someone else he loved being stalked but some lunatic. He pulled out his phone and panickingly dialed.
"She went home with another older guy from the party. Knowing her sexual prowess, she is probably still with him, humping him until she drains him of all bodily fluids." Michael said.
Austin looked at him with a disgusted face as he put his phone to his ear,"What the hell were you dating?!" He shook his head at Michael, "-hey, Nicky, are you still around? ....good don't go anywhere, just hang around or come here to the garden.....I'll tell you why when you get here...yes, it is important! ....alright, I'm waiting." He hung up.
"I'm sorry about all this." Michael apologized.
"Tell me ..what about Noah ...what's his story?"
Michael cleared his throat and took a deep breath, "Well...Noah and I are not exactly related."
"What? I thought the two of you are cousins."
"I call him that because he was brought up by aunt(my dad's sister) and her husband. We actually thought that we were real cousins until almost recently when he found out that he was adopted when he was an infant..."
"-what happened to his parents?" Austin asked attentively.
"...his parents were young, peasant farmers living in Nebraska. My aunt and uncle met them when they were traveling for some business around the area. They got a flat tire and got stranded but, luckily, Noah's parents found them and took good care of them. They were a really nice people and despite their poverty, they were very selfless.
"At the time, Noah had not been born yet, they were still childless. Their kindness moved my aunt and uncle so much, they decided to invest in their farm. A few months later, Noah's father joined the army in order to serve his country and went off two war. His mom was four months pregnant when he left....he wanted to be a hero for his son when he was born.
"But things did not go according to plan and he was killed in action a few weeks later before Noah was born. It really broke up Noah's mother -she was a pregnant widow who was struggling to keep a growing business on its feet. My aunt and uncle had to get her more help for the farm and they were there for her, even when she really didn't wanna ask for help.
"She managed to keep the growing baby in her womb alive and healthy but when she was giving birth, she suffered some complications on the operation table. My aunt was there because Noah's parents had no immediate family.
"She was asked to make a call, Noah's life or his mother's...because the doctors couldn't manage to keep the both of them alive. It was difficult for her, but she chose Noah." Michael licked his lips to wet them, then continued, "His mother died and the Byrnes adopted Noah shortly after.
"My aunt had tried to have a child of her own for very long but she had not been fertile enough, so Noah was like a treasure for them.
"They loved him with everything they had but did not know how to tell him that he was adopted and since Noah never suspected anything, he grew up as a normal rich kid, partying and everything, although he was not that reckless ...he loved and respected them.
"Two years ago, my aunt found out she was pregnant with twins out of the blue...it was this huge miracle that nobody could explain. Noah was so excited to have a little sister and brother...it gets lonely being the only child.
"He kept telling his mom about how he was going to teach them all these cool things and show them off to everyone..and all that jazz.
"And then my aunt let it slip by accident by saying that she didn't know that pregnancy could feel that amazing, that it was all she ever wanted. Noah, being the smart ass he is, caught onto it immediately. He pushed until they eventually revealed to him how they got him.
"Of course, he fell off the rails. Started thinking that, now that they were having kids of their own, they were going to discard him or throw him out.
"He lost it completely and started skipping school, sleeping around, drinking and doing drugs.....in short, he did the whole ritual for every cliché of a lost, insecure, rich boy. They kept trying to show him how much they loved him but he thought they were warming him up before they could deliver the final blow.
"Until, one day, he was alone at home with his mom when she started feeling some pains in her stomach. She asked him to drive her to the hospital, not knowing that he was high. With a heavy heart, Noah agreed.
"He was speeding and it had been raining. Before any of them knew it, the car was flying off the road. My aunt died instantly.....together with the babies she was carrying. Noah survived, weirdly, without a scratch.
"When my uncle heard the news about the death of his wife and unborn babies, he suffered a heart attack and a stroke simultaneously ...died before they could get him to the hospital."
Austin, by now, was completely captured by the tale. He made no movements or sounds. He was seeing Noah in a whole new light and he was intent on seeing the whole picture. The story was giving him goosebumps all over his arms.
"Noah became a million times worse. He fell off the grid completely. He never even attended the funeral. He met Jesse along the way. They got tight almost immediately and Noah thought he was in love.
"Jesse was this kid from the wrong side of the tracks who had gotten involved in illegal activity at a very young age in order to earn money and live luxuriously. He offered to show Noah the ropes of dealing with loss, which, apparently, meant hurting everyone else.
"That was how Noah joined a gang....which led to him joining the mob. He had inherited everything from his parents, which meant he had the money to do almost anything he felt like.
"Eventually, he found out that all the illegal stuff was not really helping him deal with the thought of having killed his parents. That was when he joined illegal underground fighting. He wanted to die. So, whenever he was in the ring, he did not do much fighting. He could have taken poison and gotten it over with quickly, but he wanted to suffer...he felt like he deserved it all. He wanted to suffer until he begged for death.
"Anyway, things went on like that until my parents, after searching for months on end, received a phone call telling them that Noah had been arrested and they had found like every kind of substance in his system. He was taken to rehab for a few months and his inheritance was placed under my parents' custody until he is done with high school.
"He is still a little screwed up and he still blames himself for everything....including the death of his parents. I don't know what will make him stop. Nobody else blames him."
A tear rolled from one eye down Austin's face ..and then another ...and another. He wiped his cheek with the back of his hand then stared up ahead, "Wow." He whispered.
"Yea...." Michael agreed.
"I had no idea that is what goes through his head sometimes."
"He has gotten pretty good at hiding his feelings," Michael said. "I had no idea he could love anything again until he met you. He was a completely different person when my parents called him yesterday morning to check on him. He is the one supposed to tell you this....but they wanted to meet you when they came back home next week," Austin's eyes went wide with surprise. "Yea, act surprised when he asks you to dinner to meet the parents."
"I'll try my best." Austin said with a lopsided smile, "I just wish I could see him right now....I want him to know that I'm here and I'm not going anywhere...ever!"
"I already texted my parents, they said they'll take care of it."
Michael was a nice guy, Austin was only now noticing it. He could be a douchebag and he had broken his sister's heart, but he had his moments when Austin didn't feel the need to stick the business end of a sharp pencil into his eye -this one was one of those.
"What's up, loser!" Nicky addressed Austin as she approached, "why did you call me?"
"Ummm, I.....didn't..." Austin said unsurely.
"What are you talking about? Sure, you did...right here!" She showed him the log on her phone.
"Actually...he did," he pointed his thumb to Michael.
"Huh?!" She looked suspiciously between them.
"Okay, kids, have fun!" He got up from the bench and ran very fast before Nicky could stop him. He knew, though, that if she did not like what Michael had to say, he would have to pay for it somehow.
******
"I'm going to need you to sign here and here first." The nurse said as he handed Austin the clipboard with the permission papers to stay overnight in the hospital. He signed quickly then the nurse told him, "Follow me this way, please."
Austin followed her to the elevators and they got up to the fifth floor. It was where the high-end rooms were situated. The floor was much cleaner, too, and it did not reek of chemicals and sickness.
They got to a door in the middle of the corridor and the nurse stopped, "So, we put in a bed next to the patient's bed. Do not tamper with any of the machines in there or disturb the patient. If anything happens out of the ordinary, press the button next to his bed and a nurse will be right there. Until then, maintain silence at all times, am I clear?" She instructed sternly.
"Yes, ma'am!" Austin responded immediately. His heart was pounding uncontrollably as he waited in anticipation for her to open the door so that he could finally see Noah.
Nicky and the others had gone home. Since only one person could be allowed to stay in with the patient, they had all agreed that Austin should be the one.
"Your brother will be just fine, you don't need to look so worried." The nurse assured him and, clearly, she had not gotten the memo.
"Ummmnnmm...actually, he is my boyfriend." He corrected her shyly.
"Oh, that is wonderful...you must love him very much!" She said with a sweet, cheerful smile.
"He is my entire world!" Austin said certainly.
"Awww..you make me wanna be your boyfriend! He is very lucky to have someone who loves him so much, all the others we are left with are total dogs!" She had gone from scary nurse lady to blushing fag hag in three seconds flat.
"I'm the lucky one."
"Let's get you settled in before you make me cry!" She turned the handle and pushed the white door open.
The room was huge and spacious, with an entire glass wall. The heart monitor was beeping incessantly and there were tubes running into Noah's left arm. The right one was in a big cast.
Austin stared at the image of a deeply sleeping Noah in front of him. It was just so sad and Austin felt his chest getting heavy. He was feeling a mixture of pure sadness and pure happiness at finally laying his eyes on Noah.
He wanted to run and jump on him and kiss him silly but those were the kind of things that would get him kicked out of the hospital faster than the heart monitor could make another beep.
So, if not touching him would guarantee getting to stay and watch over him all night and longer, it was a price he was willing to pay. Noah was worth it...he was worth everything Austin could offer, and more.
His lips curled into a sad smile. One good thing was that there were no tubes going into Noah's throat. That meant he could breathe and eat just fine, although he had a huge, dark bruise on the left side of his face. It stung just to see it.
If he could get his hands on one of the scoundrels that had done this, he would beat his ass to next year and make him sorry he had ever breathed the same air as Noah.
The nurse motioned for him to get to the other bed that was next to Noah's. It was not so wide but it looked comfortable enough, with clean sheets, a single blanket and two pillows.
"He is going to make it, you know. He is really strong and very lucky. All he has to worry about are the broken bones, which will heal in a matter of time then he will be well and kicking. He already has love in his life...sometimes, it's the most important element of recovery. Do you believe in love, Austin?" She asked him.
"I believe he is love itself...and I believe in him more than anything. ...He is my life."
The nurse took a moment taking in the words he had just said then smiled warmly, "Then, he is the luckiest patient in this entire hospital." She said, "Go to bed now, we don't want to turn this into an after school special."
"C-can I kiss him goodnight?"
"Sure...he is sedated so much, it wouldn't wake him up."
Austin went over and leaned down, then gently placed his lips onto Noah's. That feeling from that little action was like the rush you get after firing a gun. So exhilarating and liberating and it made him feel like he was flying ...like he could do anything, "Goodnight, my love....I'll be right here when you wake up." He whispered in Noah's ear then pulled back.
"Alright, sleep tight." The nurse told him, "there is pay per view on the tv..you can watch if you can't sleep. Just make sure it's low...goodnight." She turned off the overhead lighting and closed the door as she left.
Austin remained laying there, staring at Noah's beautiful, peacefully sleeping face. It was a million times better than watching a stupid movie.
He wished Noah would slowly open his eyes and stare back. He wanted to stare into those eyes that were his new favorite color.
"I wish you would be awake right now," he started speaking. "Then I would kiss you and you would be able to kiss me back.....Michael told me everything...the whole time, I was just thinking about how lonely you must have felt ...while I was all the way here, just living a normal, boring life......I'm sure you must have needed me there,..and I just didn't know about it......you are my favorite person...and I'm angry at the world for the things it threw at you....you deserve the best of everything..because you give me the best of everything....you are a part of me and I'm walking around as a half of a person if I don't have you by my side..." He sniffed and wiped his face, then smiled and continued to speak to an unconscious Noah, "...you know, when you disappeared..everybody thought that I was overreacting, but I knew in my heart that something was wrong and I tried to push those negative thoughts out of my head.... believe me, I tried...
"...and then, when I saw you in that tub,..with those holes in your back, I swear I died inside...an-and then, when y-you didn't move...I thought you were gone....I'm sure when I passed out....my body actually wanted to die but my heart sensed that you were still h-here...I love you, Noah...I ..I love you more than you will ever comprehend...and I need you to know that...I'm gonna remind you every day...until forever..
"..remember when you said you wanted to marry me? ...what you don't know is..that is the greatest gift you could ever give me....making me your life partner...I know, for sure, that we are going to get married some day...and I'm gonna love you even more than is possible for any human being...so..you better heal fast, because I'm gonna need you to dance with me when that day comes, my love...I love you..."
He kept talking until he fell asleep, still facing Noah. Even in his dreams that night, all he saw was Noah, and it was the most beautiful dream he had ever dreamt.
*Two Weeks Later*
"You know you don't have to buy the entire flower shop just to show Noah how much you think about him, you can just show up empty handed and he will be grinning like a Cheshire Cat!" Nicky complained.
"I promised him I would buy every type of flower there is, a different one everyday, until he gets out of the hospital...I'm not breaking my promise."
"Unless they do the same damage those lilies did!" Nicky scoffed.
"He was surprised as I was to find out that he is allergic to them!" He said as he handed the cash to the shop owner and walked out with a bouquet of white chrysanthemums.
"We're just lucky he was already in a hospital when it happened."
"Yea...I just wish he would come home already." Austin said and pulled his car out of the parking lot.
"Me too, I miss gossiping with him."
"You usually gossip with Noah?!"
"Yea, he gives me advice about everything. He is my go to guy."
"Hey... But I have always been your go to guy!"
"But that was before you brought Noah into my life! I never thanked you for that!"
"What kind of advice has he given you lately?" Austin asked.
"About whether I should give Michael a second chance..." She blushed and looked out the window.
"Wait, you are considering it?"
"I don't know. He has been hanging around me, acting all desperate and practically kissing my feet. I like that in a man."
"Which part, the reeking of desperation?"
"No, the kissing my feet part."
"So, you're just going to give him a second chance just like that?!" Austin did not sound pleased by that idea.
"No! Are you insane? He has a long way to go...he has not even started pining!"
"Good, I thought I was gonna have to kick some sense into you."
"So, does that mean I should kick some sense into you?"
"Why?"
"You forgave Sam without making him work for it!"
"Yea, because it's different."
"Really?" Nicky asked, folding her arms, "How?!"
"I'm not gonna date Sam....ever."
The flower shop wasn't that far from the hospital and they got there in a matter of minutes. They took the elevator up to Noah's floor and Austin walked ahead excitedly, eager to see Noah again.
He had visited the hospital every single day. It was his destination every day after school. Sometimes, he would just go over during lunch hour to hang out with Noah and then got back to school.
The nurses liked him and Noah, so they let him spend a night every once in a while. It was a pretty sweet deal now that Noah did not need to be hooked up on sedatives to help with the pain. Painkillers did just fine.
He opened the door and found Noah awake. Nicky ran to him immediately and gave him a gentle bear hug.
"Hey, easy there ...we don't want to keep me here longer than necessary now, do we?" He jested.
"I missed you, look, we got you more flowers!"
"There are so many flowers and cards in here already...this place looks like a shrine!...Oh no, am I dying?" He joked and gasped.
"That is not the least bit funny!" Austin said as he set the flowers on the bedside table.
"I'm sorry babe." Noah got the point, "Does that mean I don't get my kiss?" He batted his lashes like a cartoon bunny.
"Well, if you were the only one dying for a kiss, I would have let you drown in your own misery...you're lucky I've thinking about your lips all day." Austin said and sat on the bed beside Noah.
Noah used his free hand and placed it on the back of Austin's neck, pulling him down slowly. Austin lay his palm on Noah's chest cautiously and lowered his lips. When he got close, he closed his eyes and let his lips find their way. They were drawn together like steel onto a magnet.
Their lips danced together in a familiar rhythm as they savored every feel of the other's lips. Noah dived his silky soft tongue into Austin's mouth and Austin captured it with his teeth softly.
Noah kept combing his fingers thought Austin's long hair and it had a hypnotic effect on Austin because he was suddenly climbing onto the bed and placing his knees on either side of Noah.
They continued to devour each other hungrily, groping, biting and moaning like they had not done this in a hundred years. Austin could feel Noah's manhood growing and poking at his sensitive inner thigh.
Noah pulled his lips away from Austin's for a moment and said softly, "You know, the back of this gown is completely open." He licked and bit his lip suggestively.
"Really, then whoever designed it was a genius!" Austin responded affirmatively.
"Agh!" Nicky snorted from right next to the bed. They had momentarily forgotten that she was there, "You two make me sick!" She turned around and headed for the door.
"Finally alone." Noah said and Austin wasted no time.
**************
This was the final chapter...thanks to everyone who has read, voted or commented. You guys are the best! I appreciate it a lot and it means the world to me. ❤️😘
Maybe we'll meet in my next works.
XOXO!