‘FUCK, what did I do now?’

‘Brian you never change, I saw’

‘Saw what you little twat’

‘You took it’

‘Took what?’

‘Like you don’t know, I’m outta here’

‘Don’t you fuckin’ walk out on me, we’re not done talking’

‘I’m tired of talking’

‘Fuckin’ little shit, get back here’

NO, we always do this, fight and you take me to bed, NO’

‘SHIT, WHAT DID I DO?’

‘I’m gone Brian’

‘Shit, FUCK’---bang

‘Oh shit---aauughhhh!!!

thud---groan---blackness

‘Brian?…BRIAN?’

sirens

‘Mom, Mom’

‘Yes honey?’

‘Mom I’m at the hospital, can you come please?’

‘Justin are you al…’

‘Mom it’s not me, I’m fine, it’s Brian he’s…sniffle…he’s hurt’

‘Sweetie I’ll be right there’

sniffle---‘thank you’

‘Honey? Justin?’

‘They wont tell me anything, I’m not family, FUCK’

‘Honey, language, I’ll find out’

sniffle

‘Excuse me nurse?’

‘Yes’

‘My name if Jennifer Taylor, Brian Kinney is my younger brother, that’s his nephew over there, can you please tell us how Mr. Kinney is doing?’

‘You’re family?’

‘Yes’

‘ If you sit over there I’ll have the doctor come and speak with you, they’re still working on Mr. Kinney’

‘Can you at least tell me if it’s serious?’

‘No I, look I really can’t but it’s not bad’

‘Thank you we’ll wait’

‘I’ll send him as soon as he’s free’

smile

‘Justin let’s sit here, the nurse said he’s not hurt that bad and she’ll send the doctor when they’re done working on Brian’

sniffle---‘ok’---sniffle

‘Allergies honey?’

‘Yeah’

‘Okay, what’s that bag?’

‘His clothes and stuff’

‘Oh’

‘Mom I’m scared’

‘I know honey, can you tell me what happened?’

‘I don’t know, we had a fight’

‘Honey you two always fight and you always make up’---grin

‘Mom’---blush

‘I’m sorry Justin, why don’t you start at the beginning’

‘Ok, well it was Friday night, you know Friday at Deb’s, the whole family was there, you shoulda been there’

‘I know sweetie, but I had to show a house, it’s was the client’s only free time; next time I promise’

sniffle

‘They’ll be a next time, next to you he’s the strongest person I know; did you call them?’

‘No not yet’

‘Just as well, we’ll call them after we speak with the doctor; now go on, dinner at Deb’s’

‘Yeah, well, it was fine, ya know, we all goofed around, picked on Michael, ya know the usual’

‘Uh huh’

‘Then we went to Babylon, we had lots of fun’

‘Did Brian, you know, um, what do you call it?’

‘Trick’

‘Ugh, I hate that word now, I cringe at Halloween’

‘No, Mom that’s just it, he stopped, he hasn’t had a trick in a long time’

‘So why the argument?’

‘I don’t…sniffle’

‘It’s ok, continue’

‘We were dancing like always, the guys were there, it was great, we all had fun, even Mikey, then we decided to go get something to eat’

‘Did you go to the diner?’

‘No Em heard about this new place, kinda like the diner only nicer, we wanted to check it out; it was real nice but not too fancy, so our clothes were ok’

‘Like an after clubbing kind of place’

‘Yeah exactly’… pause, sniffle

‘Honey, Justin?’

‘Sorry I wish I could be in there’

‘I know honey, soon, go on with your story’

‘K, well we had a nice time, the other customers seemed friendly, the wait staff polite’

‘You would notice that’

‘Working with Deb all this time, anyway Brian must have been in a very good mood cause he picked up the check for all of us’

‘Honey are you sure you can afford…?’

‘We’re fine, more than fine’

‘I didn’t mean to pry’

‘I know, let’s just say it’s the luck of the Irish and he’s Brian Kinney’

‘Yes I’ve noticed, go on’

‘Well like I said he picked up the check, paid it and the waiter returned with the change’

‘Sounds pretty tame too me so far’

‘Yeah but I saw, I saw the waiter’

‘You saw what honey’

‘The waiter before he brought back the change he wrote something on a slip of paper and stuck with the change and gave it to Brian’

‘And Brian took it’

‘Yes, right in front of me, why?’

‘Did anyone else see?’

‘No, no I don’t think so I was sitting right across from him, I almost think that maybe he didn’t—oh god’

‘What honey?’

‘Maybe Brian didn’t see it he just grabbed the money, put down the tip and stuffed the rest in his wallet; no he had to see it, it was right there…why he’d do it?’

‘Honey don’t jump to conclusions’

‘Mom you know him almost as well as I do, wouldn’t you jump to conclusions?’

‘Yes, I might, but I’m not the one who’s in love with him, you are, aren’t you?’

sniffle…’yes I am’

‘Ok then, when he gets better you two will talk, not shout, not, ugh, fuck; talk; and in the mean time you’re going to work on controlling your temper and jealousy; you’re going to learn to think before speaking; do you understand?’

‘Yes Mom’…sniffle

‘Come here honey’

‘Oh Mom’

hugs

‘Ms. Kinney?’

‘Mrs. Taylor,

Jennifer, this is my son Justin, Brian’s nephew, you can say anything in front of him, he’s over 20 even though he doesn’t look it, and we’re a close family’

‘Sure, ok, well Mr. Kinney has a mild concussion and a small laceration to the back of his head, it required a couple of stitches’

‘Oh no, you didn’t have to shave his head; Mom you know him and his hair’

‘No just a small spot about the size of a quarter, it’ll grow back nicely, one of our finest plastic surgeon did it, no scars’

‘Good, he’s very vain’

‘Honey be nice; uh any drugs or alcohol?’

‘No we tested, he was under the limit, why do you ask?’

‘Well, well my brother had…’

‘What she’s trying to say is that Bri, I mean Uncle Brian had sort of a rough past’

‘Well nothing in his system now, all his labs came back fine, he’s rather healthy’

‘Good, that’s good to know’

‘Well that’s about it, he’s sleeping, we had to give him a mild sedative so we could work on him, he’s feisty’

‘Yeah he doesn’t like strangers touching him when he’s not prepared’

‘Shhh Justin’

‘Oh he also has a couple of broken toes on his right foot and a sprained ankle; we taped up the toes and he’s in a soft cast; he’ll be using crutches for a while’

‘Oh boy he’s not going to like that, I don’t think crutches go well with Armani’

‘Justin behave, anything else doctor?’

‘Just this, it was on his wrist, I didn’t want it to get broken or lost’

‘Honey that’s his…’

‘Bracelet, he never takes it off’

‘Well with the IV and all, I didn’t want it to get lost’

‘Thank you very much doctor, may we see him?’

‘Sure not too long he needs to rest, he can go home in a few days’

‘Thank you again’

‘Oh by the way admitting called can you stop by with his insurance card, later after your visit’

‘Sure thanks; honey go on, go see him’

‘Mom I can’t, what if he hates me’

‘Now who’s a drama queen’

‘Mom!’

‘Well you pick up things, he’s going to be fine, angry, but fine, now go; I’ll search for his wallet and go clear up things in admitting; your attire doesn’t, well I know you but’

‘Yeah I know, I do it for him, he likes it when I turn on other guys cause he knows I only want him’

‘Too much information Justin’

‘Sorry Mom, ok here I go’

‘Good, I’ll be back soon’

‘Thanks and Mom?’

‘Yes sweetie’

‘I love you, thank you for being here’

‘I love you too Justin and this is what Moms do’

‘I know but thanks just the same’

‘Go now’

‘Bri? Brian can you hear me?’

groan

‘Brian it’s me Justin’

‘Hi Sunshine, my head, what the fuck happened?’

‘You fell backwards and hit your head, you have a mild concussion and a cut that they stitched’

‘Ugh my…’

‘sigh…your hair is fine, they shaved a small patch, it’ll grow fast; god you’re such a queen sometimes’

‘Aren’t you nancy nurse’

‘Oh you also broke some toes and sprained your ankle’

‘Is that why my foot feels like a brick?’

‘Yeah, it’s crutches for you’

‘Oh yuck’

‘Maybe we can borrow a wheelchair, it’ll go better with your suits’

‘Very funny brat’

‘Brian I’m sorry’

‘Sorry is bull…,I’m sorry too but I don’t know what I did to upset you’

‘It doesn’t matter I love you’

‘I, me too baby, oh I hurt all over’

‘My poor baby I promise when you come home I’ll make it all better’

‘Promise?’

‘Promise’

‘Good’

‘Bri, how did you hurt your foot?’

‘I uh, kicked the wall’

‘What?’

‘I was angry, you were walking out so I kicked the wall; I guess my boot got stuck, when I yanked it out I fell; that’s the last thing I remember, till I saw your beautiful face’

‘Oh Brian’

‘I’ll be alright, now you go home, get some sleep, you look like shit’

‘Look who’s talking’

‘Baby, I’m real sleepy, whatever they gave is good shit’

‘I’ll bet, ok I’ll be back soon’

‘yawn---good’

‘Bri-‘

‘ummm’

kiss

‘I love you’

‘I know, sleeping now’

‘Yeah, baby, sleep’

‘Justin is he okay?’

‘Yes he’s sleeping’

‘Come on you’re tired I’ll take you home then you can come back later’

‘Yeah, it sounds like a plan’

‘Justin honey we’re here’

‘Hmmm I must have fallen asleep’

‘You’ll be okay alone?’

‘Yeah I’m a big boy’

‘So it seems, but listen big boy I think you need to see this’

‘What?’

‘When I was looking for Brian’s insurance card I found this, it’s the note’

‘Mom’

‘Read it’

‘No’

‘Read it Justin’

‘sigh---it’s a phone number, see’

‘Turn it over’

‘Give this to the little blond he’s so hot; shit FUCK’

‘Honey’

‘Sorry, I’m a real idiot’

‘No just a little possessive’

‘A little?’

‘Justin you both are, look you two have survived so much in the last 4 years than most people have in a life time; you’re both very possessive and protective of each other; I see it all the time; the way you’re always ready to defend him if some makes a crack about him or your relationship, you’d fight someone ten times bigger for him; and the way he holds you, he wont let anyone near you that he doesn’t trust, I see that look in his eye when a stranger gets too close, he can be very intimidating’

sniffle, sniffle

‘Honey it will all work out, now go to sleep, I’ll come back later and we’ll go together; don’t forget to call the rest of the family’

‘Yes Mom, thanks again’

‘Anytime honey’

a few days later

‘Home sweet home’

‘Yeah I’m glad the building is wheelchair friendly’

‘Just what I thought when I moved here’

‘Brian’

‘Anyway Sunshine it’s good to be home’

‘Me too, Brian?’

‘What baby?’

‘I’m sorry; this is all my fault, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt if it weren’t for me; how come I fuck up and you get hurt; I’m really sorry’

‘Come here Sunshine help me to bed you have some promises to keep’

‘Brian, I’m serious, weren’t you listening?’

‘Justin your mother told me what set this all off and how bad you feel, look I was annoyed at first but I understand; I know you and I know me but next time just ask me, I really didn’t see the note, which if you think about it was probably a good thing, cuz I would have decked the guy’

‘Brian’

‘Now Sunshine your promise’

‘Shower first, you smell like the hospital’

‘Ok, join me?’

‘Don’t I always?’

‘Brat’

‘Come on hop-a-long’

‘Nice, pick on an invalid’

giggle

‘Listen baby, I’ve been thinking I’m going to talk to Mel and Ted, we need to get documents so we can be a bit more official, for emergency purposes, okay?’

‘Ok, Bri, whatever you say, but shower now’

‘Oh shit’

‘Huh?’

‘That’s where I kicked the wall, I guess I have to get that fixed’

‘No don’t Brian, not yet’

‘Why?’

‘I need it to remind me not to jump to conclusions, not to be an idiot’

‘Baby you’re not an idiot, but ok if you need to see it we’ll leave it for a while; ugh, how am I supposed to shower, I can’t stand’

‘Don’t worry I got you a little chair and a special wrap for the cast’

‘You think of everything my little nancy nurse’

‘Stop it, let’s wash off that hospital smell; I love you Brian and I’m still sorry’

‘Me too Sunshine and I know; come on I really need you to keep those promises-grin’

‘You never change’

‘You want me too?’

‘No I want you just as you are’

‘That’s my Sunshine’

‘Oh Brian’

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