Post Fractalization

Chapter 5

“The ubiquitous Richard Connolly, thank you for meeting me,” Brian said with a bit of a flourish as he shook the young reporter’s hand.

“Mr. Kinney.”

“Brian.”

“Brian, I was surprised to receive your call.”

“Good, I’m full of surprises. Let’s sit and order lunch,” Brian suggested.

“I’m also surprised at your choice of eating establishments,” Richard said as he looked around the diner.

“What? You don’t like diner food?”

“I love diner food. I guess it surprises me that a man of your stature likes diner food.”

“It’s all right.”

“Isn’t the Village Diner a little out of the way for you? Kinnetik’s on the other side of town.”

“True, but then I would have had to meet you at the Liberty Diner. Considering you barely survived your foray into Fag-land, I didn’t want to shock you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Heteros are in the minority in the land of Liberty,” Brian explained.

“Oh, well, I...” Richard blushed. Brian held up his hand.

“No need to say anything, but I do need to say something. I wanted to thank you for the series of articles you wrote about Justin, and about the two of us. Not only were they well written but they were done with a professionalism that’s rarely seen today. I appreciate the effort you put into them. Although you had me on pins and needles for two months waiting for them to be published.”

“I’m sorry about that. What I learned about you, Justin and your family couldn’t possibly fit into just one article. I had to find a way to publish the series. The magazine seemed to be the way to go.”

“Well, I do thank you. Justin thanks you and the same goes for the rest of the family. Bree insisted on having her own copy of the magazine. I had the whole family running around town buying up whatever copies they could find. You righted some wrongs and I am forever grateful. But enough about me. Let’s have lunch then I want to hear if you managed to weasel out of your wife what sights she witnessed when she visited Babylon as a wee lass,” Brian said with a put up brogue.

Richard laughed and blushed at the same time.

“Uh huh, so she did spill the beans. Justin and I haven’t been dancing for a very long time, but if you want first hand experience of Liberty Avenue at its sexiest, glitziest, and at its gayest, you just say the word. We’ll personally escort you.”

Richard’s blush became deeper as their lunch arrived.

“Eat now, all you want to know about hot man on man sex, later,” Brian whispered, enjoying the varying deep tones of red on Richard’s face.

They ate their lunch in companionable silence.

 

*****
 

“Mr. John Anderson?” the admitting clerk called out into the waiting room on the appointed day for John's surgery. John and Bobby stood up. “This way please. Just Mr. Anderson for now, we’ll call you in a minute,” she addressed Bobby.

John gave Bobby a discreet peck on his temple then turned to follow.

“I’ll see you in a minute, Babe,” John said bravely to Bobby then disappeared through the door. Bobby stood there staring at the door for a second then returned to his seat.

“Mr. Anderson, just follow me, and please put these on. One gown with the opening to the back and you can use this one as a robe. I managed to find an extra large one. You are tall,” the woman exclaimed. John merely nodded as he accepted the hospital gowns with dignity. He appreciated the robe; he wasn’t fond of the thought of his worldly assets on display.

John placed his clothes in a bag that was coded for him, put on the gowns and then the booties on his feet. He waited a few minutes then was escorted to the prep area.

“Please have a seat and could you state your name for me?” a nurse in surgical scrubs asked, verifying her patient.

“John Anderson,” John said as he sat in a hospital chair.

“Mr. Anderson, my name is Nancy. I’ll be your scrub nurse today. What’s the procedure you’re having today?”

John gave her a curious look then answered. “I’m having my gall bladder removed.”

“Very good. In a few minutes your surgeon will be here to go over the procedure with you. You’ll also meet your anesthesiologist and we’ll start your IV. Is someone with you today?”

“Yes, my partner, Bobby Morrison, is in the waiting room,” John replied.

“I’ll go out and get him. He can stay until we take you into the operating suite,” the nurse said then turned to get Bobby.

“Thank you,” John murmured. Knowing he was going to see Bobby eased John’s nerves.

“John, good to see you again,” Dr. Kaplan said as he came into the prep room. “As you know we’ll be doing this procedure laprascopically.” The surgeon then went into detail of how he was going to perform the procedure. “It should be all over in about an hour.”

Just then Bobby walked into the prep room.

“Bobby?” the surgeon asked as Bobby took John’s hand.

“Marc? Marc Kaplan? You always said you wanted to be a doctor and you did it. It’s good to see you,” Bobby said as he shook the doctor’s hand. “John, Marc and I went to high school together. He was a football jock,” Bobby laughed.

“Well, I tried baseball but I kept dropping that stupid little ball. I needed something bigger.” The former classmates laughed. “Wait a minute, Morrison. You’re Dan Morrison’s son? Oh man, I got a call from him this morning. Said something about his son-in-law and that I better do right by him. Your old man still has privileges here and he’s on the advisory board. He’s a good doctor. He left a big hole when he decided to go back into private practice. Well, I have to do those doctor type things before John gets into the OR suite. I’ll take good care of him and see you later. John, I’ll see you in a few minutes.” The surgeon turned then disappeared through the curtains.

Before John or Bobby could say anything, the anesthesiologist came in and began to ask John a whole bunch of questions. He spoke so fast it was making John’s head spin. The nurse who was supervising chuckled then told the man to slow down. The anesthesiologist cleared up any questions John had then he also left the room. The last to come in was the nurse anesthetist. He explained what he was going to do then started the intravenous line in John’s left hand.

“We’re all set,” the scrub nurse said. “I’m going to take you in now. Mr. Morrison, if you would go back to the waiting room, we’ll let you know when the procedure is done.”

“Thank you,” Bobby said softly, gazing into John’s eyes. John took Bobby’s chin in his right hand, tilting up Bobby’s face. John placed a chaste kiss onto Bobby’s forehead.

“I love you,” John whispered.

“I love you, too,” Bobby replied. “See you when it’s all over and don’t give anyone a hard time,” Bobby teased. John smiled then followed the scrub nurse into the OR suite.

“John, I want you to step up here and lay down,” the nurse anesthetist indicated a small stool for John to use to step onto the table. “We’ll make you comfortable then I’ll give you something to make you sleep. It’ll all be over in no time.”

John laid back, watched all the masked faces perform their designated tasks then fell asleep.

 

*****
 

“It’s over, Babe,” John heard Bobby say. He was a little groggy, his throat felt slightly raw and his abdomen felt like he went a few rounds with Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and both Sugar Rays. “You did fine.”

John watched the nurse adjust his IV line and the alternating pressure wraps on his legs then he fell back to sleep.

 

*****
 

“So what room is he in?” Brian asked Justin as he looked around admiring some of the hot young doctors.

“Three forty-one and behave yourself,” Justin replied rolling his eyes, nonplussed at the wandering eye of his spouse. Surviving all the gossip that surrounded the couple before the holidays had only cemented Brian and Justin’s already strong relationship. But Brian being Brian and still the sexiest man on the planet, he had to flirt when the opportunity ‘came up.’

“There.” Justin pointed then slipped into the hospital room. John was scheduled to stay overnight then be discharged after the doctor’s rounds the next morning.

“Very attractive, big bro,” Brian snarked. “I love the blue spots,” Brian teased, referring to the typical blue spots on the hospital gown. “Anything good in here,” Brian went on, gently thumping the IV fluid bag that was pumping fluids into John’s arm.

“You know if I wasn’t stuck in this bed...” John tried to growl but his throat was still sore and the simple act of talking tired him. Brian stopped his teasing, then began to straighten out John’s sheets and blankets which were rather disheveled since being transferred into the bed.

“Thank you,” John whispered. Brian smiled his genuine smile. The one he only showed to his closest family.

“Where’s Bobby?” Justin asked noting the absence of his red-headed brother-in-law.

“I’m allowed clear fluids so he went to get me a cup of tea. I’m feeling a little cold,” John explained. Brian immediately took the extra blanket that was draped at the bottom of the bed and added it to John’s covers. “Thanks,” John said.

“Anytime, can’t have you catching a chill, now can we?”

“Bobby’s also calling Patrick,” John explained. Both Patrick and Bree were nervous about John’s operation so they needed a little reassurance. Bree decided it was her job to look out for Patrick.

“Hey!” Bobby called out as he breezed into the room. He had John’s tea and a can of warm ginger ale.

“Hi,” John said with a smile.

Pushing the right buttons on the bed rails, they helped John to sit up so he could sip his tea.

“What’s for dinner?” Brian asked as an orderly brought in a tray and set it on the bedside table. Brian arched his brow at the silent delivery then began examining the items on the tray.

“Hmm, yummy. Apple juice and look! Two favors of Jello. Um, my mistake, gel-type dessert. We have yellow and red. Oh goody. Better eat it quick before it un-congeals,” Brian said, making a look of disgust on his face. “You made it through your little operation with flying colors only to be killed by some artificial gelatin. Yech!”

Bobby and Justin giggled.

“Making someone who just had abdominal surgery laugh, is NOT good. Justin, take him home before I bust a gut or something,” John groused.

“Fine, I can take a hint. Let’s go home, Sunshine, and leave mister grumpy pants to his hubby,” Brian grumbled good-naturedly. “We’ll be back in the morning to help take you home,” Brian whispered into his brother’s ear as he kissed John’s temple, patted down an unruly bit of hair then readjusted John’s pillow and blanket. “Come along, Sunshine!”

Justin gave John a kiss, hugged Bobby then accompanied his spouse. “See you later, Big Red,” Brian commanded as he and Justin left the room.

“Your brother certainly knows how to make an exit.”

“Yes he does.”

“Drink your tea before it gets too cold.”

“Yes, sir.”

An hour later John was peacefully sleeping as Bobby slipped out of the room.

 

*****
 

“Auntie Rachel, is Unca John going to be okay?” Bree asked. She and Patrick were sitting at Rachel’s kitchen table having cookies and milk.

Patrick looked up with a worried frown. “My daddy will be fine,” he declared.

“Absolutely,” Rachel said in support of her nephew. “Having your gall bladder removed nowadays is pretty routine.”

“But doesn’t he need his gall badder?” Bree asked.

“Bladder, dear,” Rachel chuckled. “And no you don’t need it.”

“Then why do we have it?”

Rachel stared at Bree. She had no idea how to answer that. “Maybe you should ask Dr. Dan that when you see him.”

“’Kay,” Bree agreed. “Should I be a gall badder doctor when I grow up?”

“You want to be a doctor?” Rachel queried. “I haven’t heard you say that before.”

“Ashley wants to be a doctor,” Patrick piped up, “so now Bree does too.”

“I see,” Rachel smiled.

“My Dada said I can be anything I want,” Bree declared, a little miffed that Patrick thought she was copying Ashley.

“And you definitely can be anything you want,” Rachel said trying to mollify the little girl.

“See,” Bree retorted to Patrick.

“When will my dad come home?” Patrick asked changing the subject. “I miss him.”

“He’ll be home tomorrow,” Rachel replied gently. “Don’t worry, Patrick. You heard what your Poppa said. The operation went fine.”

“It’ll be okay, Patrick,” Bree said taking the little boy’s hand into hers. All of her resentment about Patrick thinking she was copying Ashley melted away, as she realized how worried Patrick was.

Patrick squeezed her hand and smiled at his cousin and best friend.

 

*****
 

“Ma, how are you?” Michael asked as he entered the familiar house that his mother and Carl shared.

“I’m fine, sweetheart. How are you and Ben?”

“Is your back giving you any problems?” Michael asked ignoring her attempt to redirect the conversation.

“Just an occasional twinge. Almost as good as new,” Debbie said cheerfully.

“Ma, I want you to take it easy. I’ve been telling you that for years.”

“I know, but I need to feel useful.”

“You said you were going to retire,” Michael jumped in quickly. “I’m not letting you back out of that promise.”

“It wasn’t a promise,” Debbie said screwing up her face with distaste. “I merely said that Carl and I were thinking about it.”

“You said you were going to do it,” Michael insisted.

“I … we … Carl and I … we have to make some decisions.”

“They’re already made. You’re retiring.”

“But the boys of Liberty need me,” Debbie protested.

“And I need you, Ma,” Michael told her gently. “I need you around … and healthy. It’s time to give up working at the diner.”

“I know,” Debbie sighed. “My back aches all the time, and it isn’t just from my fall.”

“It’s from carrying all those heavy trays all those years,” Michael reminded her.

Debbie nodded, knowing he was right. “But what about the street kids and the gay boiz whose parents kick them out? They need someone to look out for them.”

“You can still help them,” Michael said. “I was talking to Hunter, and they could use volunteers at the clinic. You could help them over there.”

Debbie looked thoughtful. “Yeah, I guess I could. And I need to get our PFLAG group mobilized. I want you and Ben to be able to marry … legally, before I die.”

“Don’t talk about dying, Ma. You’ve got a lot of good years ahead of you yet.”

“Yeah, I do,” Debbie replied, suddenly sounding a lot more positive than she had a minute ago. “And I have a lot to do.”

“And you’ll do it … after you and Carl have that long vacation that you’re both entitled to,” Michael said.

Debbie gave her son a big hug and whispered in his ear, “I love you, Michael, and I know you’re right. It’s just hard to let go of everything I’ve done all my fucking life.”

“Just think of it as a new phase of your life, where you can do all the things you want to do without having to work your fingers to the bone to make ends meet.”

Debbie released her son from the hug and looked into his eyes. “I lived so much of my life that way that I don’t really know anything else,” she admitted.

“Then maybe it’s time you did.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “Maybe it is time.”

 

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