The Geek and His Artist (22 page)

“Oh!” Jimmy said, smacking his forehead. He grinned. “Mom and Dad will pay for it. They’ll help us rent tuxes and stuff. I do work for them sometimes—grade papers for Dad, help Mom with simple things. I bet they’d give you work, too. We can earn it.”

Simon knew his eyes were bugging out of his head. He’d never had a job. The Bastard would never have allowed that much freedom. And this wasn’t exactly going out and getting a paycheck, but it was money he could earn. “Really?”

Jimmy’s grin widened. “Oh yeah.”

“Wow, I… I don’t know what to say.”

Jimmy leaned in and kissed his forehead. “Don’t worry about it now. Let’s just get this leg healed right so you can go to prom, okay?”

Simon nodded, a little overwhelmed. “Okay.”

“I know it’s a lot right now, baby, but it’ll be okay.” He pulled the chair over and sat just as Doug came back in the room.

“I can’t give you much more, but the doctor authorized this.” He handed Simon a pill and small cup of water, which Simon took. “We’ll send a prescription for a painkiller with you. You’ll have to see another doctor in a few days, once the swelling has gone down, and get a real cast. Your break needs something more solid.”

Simon nodded. “Thank you. Uh… how long do I have to stay here yet?” He still couldn’t believe The Bastard wouldn’t show up and take him back or cause a fight.

“Mrs. Andrews is making a few calls and filling out some paperwork. As soon as she’s got that taken care of, we can discharge you.” He glanced over at Jimmy, then back. “At the very
least
until the cast is on, be careful what you do. Nothing too strenuous, including sex—” Simon knew his face turned bright red at that, but he managed to nod. “—and keep it elevated. The sooner the swelling goes down, the sooner you can get a permanent cast on it and be up and around.”

Doug looked over at Jimmy next. “No shower until then, he’ll have to clean up with a sponge bath and he’ll need help, and I somehow doubt he’s going to want your mom or dad helping him with it.”

Simon saw Jimmy nod, but he wanted to bury his face in his hands. Correction, he wanted to sink through the bed, through the floor, and down into the center of the earth.

“I’ll take care of him,” Jimmy said, and the earnestness in his voice had Simon looking up. Jimmy smiled at him, and Simon squeezed his hand, feeling a little better.

“Anything else?” Simon asked.

“You’ll want painkillers. Stick with the prescription if at all possible, and if not, then Tylenol. Anti-inflammatory meds will kill the pain, but they can also actually slow the healing process. If you’re still in a lot of pain, talk to the orthopedic doc when you get there.”

Simon nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

Doug smiled. “You’ll be fine, I’m sure of it. Let me get the paperwork and check in with Mrs. Andrews.”

Simon watched him go and blew out a breath when the door closed. “I think I’d like to just… die now.”

Jimmy chuckled. “That’s how I felt earlier at dinner.”

“Shit, that was earlier today, wasn’t it?” Simon stared at him.

Jimmy nodded. “Yeah. I know it feels like a lot longer ago.” He brushed some of Simon’s hair out of his face. “I called Mom and they’ve set the bed up in her office—that used to be Amy’s room before she moved out. There’s space in my closet for your clothes, and she cleared out a couple of drawers in my dresser.”

Simon frowned. “I don’t have much, I don’t need that much space.”

“You will,” Jimmy said, firmly. “Mom wants to take you shopping when you can get around again.”

“Oh no, they don’t have—”

“Stop. They don’t have to, no. They want to. They’re excited about having another son.”

Simon swallowed. “I… they really want me.”

Jimmy’s smile was brilliant. “Oh yeah.”

Simon had no idea what to say to that, so he let the silence sit, trying to absorb what was happening. Jimmy seemed content to leave him to think and simply held his hand, brushing a thumb over the back of it.

“I—I wonder if she’d let you go along. To get my stuff, I mean. I have some things in my wardrobe—old sketchbooks, a box of ornaments, and pictures—I have a sketchbook under my mattress, my books…. My skateboard is under the front porch behind the lattice. There’s… oh God.” He stopped and stared wide-eyed at Jimmy. His face was turning red again, but there was nothing for it. “There’s, uh, stuff in my bedside table. Lotion and, uh….”

“I’ll take care of it.” Jimmy smiled. “Don’t worry. She won’t see anything.”

“Thank you.” Simon nodded, closing his eyes. The rest of the painkiller Doug had given him seemed to be kicking in.

Mrs. Andrews came back a short while later and stopped next to Simon’s bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Fuzzy,” Simon said honestly, making her laugh.

“That’s good. It means the pain is gone. You can’t put your jeans over the boot, but I’m afraid they’re trash anyway, since they had to cut them off. Doug said he’ll dig up a pair of scrubs for you to put on with your T-shirt. You should stick to shorts around the house for a while.”

Simon swallowed, sending a quick glance at Jimmy. “I, uh, I don’t have any.”

“That’s quite all right. I had a lovely conversation with Mrs. Bennet. She says she has a few things of Jimmy’s left from before he—her words, not mine—’turned into a giant.’” Jimmy laughed, making Simon smile. “And she thinks they’ll fit.”

Simon felt better about the hand-me-downs. He didn’t want to end up a burden on Jimmy’s parents. It was enough he was getting away from The Bastard. He looked up at Mrs. Andrews again. “Can Jimmy go along to get my stuff?”

She nodded. “I don’t see why not. Does he know what’s yours?”

Jimmy was the one to nod. “I do. I know what he needs to keep.”

“When, uh, when will you go?”

“Well, once I get you to the Bennets’ house, you should be fine for tonight. Tomorrow I will be back. I have to do a home inspection with them, and Jimmy and I can retrieve your things then. Is that okay?”

Simon frowned. “I hope The Ba—uh, my father doesn’t destroy them before then.”

“The police have actually been by the house. It’s dark and doesn’t look like anyone’s been there. Your landlady said she’d call if she heard anything.”

Simon didn’t want to give his opinion of his landlady. She was nice enough—he used to help her with her garbage—but The Bastard had made sure she was frightened of him. With any luck, though, with the police involved, she’d feel okay calling. She’d certainly made enough noise about wanting the police for other things.

He shook the thought away. “Okay. Thank you.”

Simon closed his eyes then, feeling just completely
drained
. He was exhausted, and he guessed the painkiller he’d taken had something to do with that, but he couldn’t seem to care. He let himself drift while Mrs. Andrews talked to Doug, comforted by the fact that Jimmy would listen for him. He couldn’t concentrate, anyway.

Eventually, with Doug and Jimmy’s help, he got into the scrubs—which felt like he was tying a ship’s sail around himself, they were so big—and his T-shirt. Doug took care of the IV, Mrs. Andrews signed the paper and accepted the prescriptions, and they were ready to leave. Jimmy stood with him by the door while the valet went for Mrs. Andrews’s car.

Once Simon was settled inside, his crutches on the seat behind him, Jimmy gave him a soft kiss. “I’ll be right behind you, okay?”

Simon nodded. “Thank you.”

“Of course. If I could drive you home, I would, but she has to be sure.”

“I understand.” Simon smiled and touched his hand. “I’ll see you soon. And Jimmy….” Jimmy waited, and Simon was sure his boyfriend could hear his heart pounding, but he took a deep breath and said it anyway. “I love you.”

The smile bloomed brightly and Jimmy kissed him, quick and hard. “I love you too, baby. See you in a few.” With another kiss, Jimmy closed the door and jogged back to his own car.

Simon had a smile on his face as Mrs. Andrews pulled out onto the street.

T
HE
DRIVE
was shorter than he’d expected it to be. She asked him a million questions—distracting him, he was sure—about school, his art, skating, his friends, and a bunch of other things. He was glad for it because it kept his mind off his sweaty palms and the way his heart pounded harder the closer they got to Jimmy’s.

She went out of her way to go to the Rite Aid by Nobels Lane just so they could use the drive-through. Simon shouldn’t be trying to walk with his ankle any more than absolutely necessary and really didn’t want to be left alone in the car—still too afraid The Bastard would somehow find him. She seemed to anticipate that one, and Simon was grateful he didn’t have to explain.

She offered him something to eat before they went to the Bennets’, but Simon shook his head.

“Thank you, but… I’m really just tired.”

“I would be surprised if you weren’t. You’ve been through a lot today.” She glanced over when they stopped at a light. “They sound like very nice people, and Jimmy seems well cared for and happy.”

“He is. They’re awesome,” Simon said and blushed at the enthusiasm in his voice.

“Sounds like you like them.”

“I do. His mom… his mom says she already thinks of me as her son,” he said, quietly.

“Good. You need a mom again. I mean—”

He held up a hand. “It’s okay. No one will replace her, but… I don’t mind having another mother figure. I’ve….” He paused to swallow the lump in his throat. “I’ve missed having one. Just….”

“I understand.”

Simon frowned. He didn’t think she did, except peripherally, in that she saw it a lot. She surprised him, though.

“I lost my mother when I was thirteen. She didn’t die, she decided she didn’t want me anymore.” Her voice was very matter-of-fact, but buried under it, Simon could still hear old pain. He looked over at her, surprised. She nodded. “Yeah. I lived with a friend of hers for a while, then some of mine, before I landed in a decent foster home. I completely rejected my foster mothers for a long time. In fact, it wasn’t until I was almost out of school that I warmed up to one. She refused to let me fight her, it was… funny, actually.” She chuckled, and Simon found himself chuckling with her. “I still go home to her on holidays.”

“Really?” Simon asked, eyebrows going up.

She nodded. “Yes. Listen… I’ve seen the way Jimmy looks at you, but you both are very young. It could hurt if things go bad between you. His parents—understandably so—would side with him. If anything happens, you call me, okay?”

Simon swallowed, not wanting to think about something like that, but he supposed now he had to. He nodded but realized she was focused on the street. “Okay. I… I hope not. His parents have been married since high school.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“They really love each other. I was there for dinner today—it’s part of what caused The Bas—uh, my father to react the way he did.”

“Why do you keep saying that?” she asked, and Simon thought he heard a note of amusement in her voice.

He cleared his throat, blushing. He was almost a grown man, but the thought of cussing around an authority figure still made him squirm. “I call him The Bastard. That’s my name for him. He stopped being my father years ago, when I realized what he was doing to my mom.”

“Well, I can certainly understand that,” she said, nodding.

“Uh, yeah. So… his parents have been together a really long time and his mom thinks Jimmy and I will be too.”

“It’s definitely possible! I don’t want you to think I don’t believe it could happen.” She smiled at him before turning the car. They were almost at Jimmy’s house—his house, now. “And I do hope it turns out that way. I can tell he loves you very much.”

“He just told me today. I kind of made him mad.”

She laughed. “You’ll do that a lot over the years, I promise.”

“Really?” he asked, frowning.

She nodded. “Oh yeah. A lot. But let me tell you a secret. I’ve been married to my Steve for many years. And I make him mad all the time. But if we talk about it, we get over it. It’s all about talking.”

Simon digested that. It would be something he’d have to work on. He’d been keeping secrets for so long, he wasn’t sure he knew how to talk. He did to Jimmy, but that wasn’t really hard stuff, and he didn’t know what might happen if things got difficult. He sighed. “I… I will try to remember that.”

“Good.”

Silence reigned for the last few blocks until Simon pointed to the correct house. She pulled up and parked on the street, and Simon saw Jimmy swing into the driveway behind them. He must have waited with them at the pharmacy, and the knowledge warmed Simon.

Jimmy came to the car door, opened it, and reached in to help him out. Once Simon was standing, though, he got a surprise. Jimmy lifted him up and started carrying him up the stairs!

“Jimmy! Put me down, you’ll hurt yourself.”

“Hush, I will not. You barely weigh anything,” he said, shaking his head. “Mom’s going to want to feed you. A lot.”

Simon rolled his eyes, but gave in and put his arms around Jimmy’s neck. He glanced over Jimmy’s shoulder to see Mrs. Andrews behind him, amusement glinting in her eyes. She held the bag from the pharmacy, his crutches, and her briefcase.

As soon as Jimmy got to the door, it swung open and Mrs. Bennet was right there. “Simon! Oh, Simon, I’m so glad to see you. Jimmy, put him on the couch for now. Hello, Mrs. Andrews.”

“Call me Beth,” Mrs. Andrews said.

“Of course. Wendy,” Mrs. Bennet said, holding her hand out.

Simon lost them as Jimmy carried him into the living room and set him on the couch.

Mr. Bennet stood with a cushion, and when Jimmy lifted Simon’s left leg, he set it under the brace. “Good to see you again, Simon. Welcome home.”

Simon blushed. “Uh, thank you, M—Dad.”

Mr. Bennet’s smile was huge. He reached out and ruffled Simon’s hair. “We’ll get you settled more in a few, after we talk to the caseworker, okay?”

Simon nodded and turned to Jimmy, who sat on the floor next to him. “They’re amazing,” Simon murmured.