Silent Awakening

Part 2

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Several hours later Brian sat holding Justin’s hand, silently praying that he would be ok. The surgery had lasted three and a half hours and Justin was as pale as a ghost as he lay motionless in the bed. Blood seeped through the gauze that covered his head, and Brian worried that Justin might not wake up from this.

Jennifer stood just outside of her son’s room and watched the man that loved him as much as she did. She worried what Justin’s death would do to Brian. She honestly didn’t think that he would survive if Justin didn’t make it.

Pushing those thoughts from her mind, she let herself into Justin’s room and sat across from Brian. Neither spoke, but both knew that one was drawing strength from the other. They stood united in their support of Justin, if nothing else.

The next few weeks consisted of Brian and Jennifer sitting with Justin in shifts, though neither was far from his side. During that time they learned that each of them wanted what was best for the young man lying in that hospital bed.

It was three weeks since Justin’s surgery and everyone was getting worried that he might not wake up. Brian’s head was lying on the side of the bed when he felt Justin’s hand move. Lifting his head slowly, he looked up into confused blue eyes.

“Where am I?” Justin asked groggily.

“Welcome back Sunshine.”

“Sunshine? Who are you?”

“You’re in the hospital, Justin. You scared the hell out of me, too. Don’t you ever do that shit again.”

“Do I know you?” Justin looked around the room for something familiar.

“Very funny, Sunshine, quit the bullshit. Now lay back down while I get the nurse.”

Justin lay back in the bed as a sudden wave of dizziness overcame him. His eyes never left Brian. After several minutes he drifted off to sleep wondering who the man sitting next to his bed was.

When he awoke an hour later his mother was by his side. Looking around the room, he noticed that the man from earlier was nowhere to be found.

“It’s okay honey, he just went home to get you some pajamas. He’ll be back soon.”

“Who?”

“Brian, honey.” Jennifer eyed her son cautiously as she straightened the blankets on his bed.

“Who’s Brian? And where’s Dad?”

“Well your Dad decided it was best that he not come by. He didn’t want to upset you, honey.”

”Why would I be upset if Dad came by?” Justin rubbed his temple as a wave of nausea took hold. Closing his eyes, he waited until the feeling passed before continuing. “What happened?”

It was slowly dawning on Jennifer that Justin might not remember what had happened. “Justin, honey, what is the last thing you remember?”

“Getting dressed for school this morning.”

Holding back a sob, Jennifer asked, “And what school were you heading off to, sweetie?”

“St. James, Mom. Where else would I go?” He watched his mother closely for any sign that what he remembered had really happened.

Running a hand over his, Jennifer pressed a light kiss to her son’s forehead. “Honey, you rest a minute, I’m going to go out to talk to the doctor. I’ll be back in just a minute I promise.”

After seeing her son was settled, Jennifer quietly left the room and sought out Dr. Johns. Once she found the older doctor she patiently waited until he had a minute to speak with her in private. After accepting a cup of coffee, Jennifer collected her thoughts and anxiously began.

“Dr. Johns, I’m concerned that Justin doesn’t remember what happened.”

“Well that is quite normal with his type of injury, Mrs. Taylor.”

“Not only that, but he thinks that he is still in high school. Is that normal as well?”

“I’ll take a look at him, but I wouldn’t worry too much. He’s suffered a severe trauma to his head and on top of that, it occurred on an old injury site. I expected there to be some memory loss, but I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t regain his memory within a few days.”

“And how will we know for sure that it is only a temporary thing?”

“We’ll just have to wait and see, Mrs. Taylor. With this kind of injury there is really nothing more that we can do.”

Justin was sleeping when Brian entered the room. Placing the small duffel bag on a chair, he sat gently on the edge of the bed and took his lover’s hand. Pressing it to his lips, Brian silently thanked God that Justin was going to be alright.

He was still lost in thought when Justin’s eyes opened and focused on the older man holding his hand. Pulling away, Justin tried to recall who he was.

“Who are you?” Justin felt an old familiar tightening in his chest at the sight of the man, but nothing came to him as he stared at him.

“Well, well, look who decided to join the land of the living again.”

“Who are you?” Justin was growing agitated and wondered again why this man insisted on holding his hand. Just as he was about to ask again his mother walked into the room with the doctor.

“Brian, can I speak to you outside for a moment while Dr. Johns examines Justin?”

“Sure,” Brian hesitantly dropped Justin’s hand and let Jennifer lead him out to the hall. “What’s going on, Mrs. Taylor?”

“Brian, Justin doesn’t remember you. He thinks he’s still in high school.” Watching the emotions that crossed his face, she quickly tried to reassure him. “The doctor says it is normal with the severity of his injury. He doesn’t think that the memory loss will last more than a few days.”

They were interrupted by the doctor before Brian could say anything.

“Mrs. Taylor, Mr. Kinney, if you have a minute, I’d like to talk to you about Justin’s condition.” Exchanging looks they followed the doctor down the hall to his office. Once both were seated Dr. Johns began. “At this point I think it would be in Justin’s best interest to not upset him or try to fill him in on what has happened to him. His memory needs to return on its own. I think that if we try to jog his memory in any way we will be harming him more.”

“And what if it doesn’t come back on its own?”

The doctor and Jennifer both looked up at Brian’s obvious concern. “Well, Mr. Kinney, I’m not sure that I can answer that. The best I can do is offer suggestions for what I think would be best for Justin’s condition.”

”Do you think it will return on its own?” Jennifer wasn’t sure if she wanted her son’s memory to return or not.

“It is my opinion that it will, given time. I can’t give you a definite date, unfortunately little is known about the human memory function. All I can suggest is that we take a wait and see approach. Take him places he’s been before that could trigger a memory. But please make sure it is something that he would want to remember. Nothing traumatic or sad for the time being.”

“And how do you suggest we tell him exactly who I am. Right now he doesn’t even know he’s come out. Right now he still thinks that he is a gay boy all alone.”

An hour later Brian sat outside of Justin’s room watching him in silence once again. He couldn’t help but be reminded of the last time he’d sat on the outside looking in at the man he loved. Only this time he was being kept out intentionally.

His mind failed to grasp the notion that Justin could forget him. It wasn’t that long ago that Brian had been the only one who could get him to feel anything after the bashing. He’d done so reluctantly, but he’d never regretted one single moment he’d spent having Justin in his life.

As the hour grew late, Brian leaned his head back against the wall and drifted off to sleep watching Justin. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been out when he heard the other man’s breathing and jerked awake as if someone had pinched him. Trying not to let on that he was watching, Brian spotted Cody standing with his nose pressed against the glass, watching Justin sleep.

Without hesitation he knew that the younger man wasn’t there out of some sort of misguided sympathy. Brian didn’t like this kid and he wasn’t usually wrong about people. Cody was trouble and Brian was determined to find out exactly why he’d shown his face here.

Watching through half open eyes Brian spotted the grin that crossed his face. If he hadn’t been looking so closely he would’ve missed it. A moment of clarity hit him full force and he knew that it wasn’t Hobbs that put Justin in that bed.

Restraining himself, Brian began to form a plan to make the son of a bitch pay for all of the pain he’d caused Justin.

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