Chapter Six
~ Wright ~
One doctor’s visit turned into three, spread throughout the day.
Doctor Pillar, the family friend of Patrick and Xander, took X-rays and did an overall evaluation on him. After confirming that he had two cracked ribs and prescribed some pain medication, she sent them to the other side of the hospital to see a Nephrologist. That appointment was a bit awkward because Wright didn’t want Xander to leave his side, but he also had to answer questions about how it felt to use the bathroom and if anything hurt. The specialist suggested that he report any pain in his lower back that wasn’t from the other injuries or if he started urinating blood.
The third doctor was for his eye. The bone around his eye socket was swollen and he had a cut on his eyelid that they hadn’t seen from the bruising and swelling. The first doctor had already put three stitches in the cut on his forehead. He had a follow up in a month with each of the doctors but was to have Patrick call them on their direct lines if anything happened before then.
It was after five when they made it back to Patrick’s truck. Xander stayed with him the entire time, but Patrick left for aboutan hour or so to get them lunch earlier. He stayed in the truck during the last visit, a business call or something he needed to take care of. Xander wrapped his arm around Wright’s good side and helped him up into the truck. Even with the extra step attachment, he moved slowly and tried not to stretch his body too much. He’d been instructed not to take any other meds until he finished seeing all the doctors and to say his body was hurting was an understatement. He just wanted to lay down and not move.
“Everything good?” Patrick asked once they were settled. The truck was a newer model and had a second row to it where Wright was sitting. Xander was sitting up front, but had his upper body turned so he could see Wright sitting in the middle of the backseat.
“Just what we suspected,” Xander said. Wright wasn’t in the mood to talk. He didn’t want to be rude, but after the poking and prodding, he was ready to sleep. “He’s going to need all the rest he can get for a few weeks. They’re worried about possible kidney trauma too, so he has to watch that. I went ahead and filled his prescriptions so we’re good to go home.”
“Um.” Wright didn’t want to be a bother after they spent the entire day at the hospital with him.
“What is it?” Xander asked. All day, shuffling from one department to the other, Xander was right there with him. He walked slowly next to him when he wasn’t using the wheelchair. He sat in the chair through the awkward questions and grabbed them both a snack from the vending machine before Patrick had gotten them lunch. He’d made sure to keep a tissue on hand to wipe against his bad eye from time to time. He wouldn’t let Wright look in a mirror, not that it stopped him from doing so when he was in the bathroom himself. It was a deep purple all around, red splotches mixed in. The cut was bandaged and his eye was re-covered at the end of the visit, but he was sure thestitches only added to the gruesome look. Despite all of that, Xander looked at him with a soft smile and no hint of irritation.
“I need clothes. And things.” Wright’s voice was nearly a whisper. “I know William said he would bring some clothes by, but um, other things I still need.”
“We can stop by the store on the way home,” Patrick said. “We’ll go to the one on Forrest, so we aren’t close to your neighborhood. I’ll let the two of you go in and get what you need.”
“I don’t want to be a bother,” Wright said quickly. “You’ve already done enough for me today.”
“It’s okay, Wright.” Patrick started the truck and headed out of the parking lot. “If you just want to grab the basics today, Tracy does her big shopping on Saturday mornings so she can pick up whatever else you need. And we can always order things online. Paxton is great at that.” The comment about his daughter was sarcastic and if Wright wasn’t more than aware of the pain from his injuries he would have at least chuckled at it. He’d never been able to order anything online.
“Thank you.” Wright sat back against the seat and watched as they started driving down the road. Everything was too familiar for him. He knew if he took a left up ahead and went down a few side streets he would end up at his house.
His dad’s house. He didn’t want to think of it as his place anymore.
“Are you okay, Wright?” Patrick broke the silence and pulled him from his stare into nothingness.
“Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking.” He knew if he thought about it too long, he’d start crying again. He wanted more than anything to have the memories of his dad erased from his mind.
“I’ll be right beside you,” Xander said, seeming to understand what he was thinking without him saying it. “We’ll drive throughthe parking lot to see if your dad’s truck is there before we even go in, okay?”
Wright hadn’t thought of that. It was a smart idea. His dad either had Wright order groceries or he’d go and grab whatever he wanted cooked for dinner that night. Wright was never allowed to go on his own to buy them, even though he did ninety percent of the cooking. He wasn’t sure what store his dad used most frequently, but as they drove slowly up and down the rows of parked cars. He didn’t see the beat-up black truck and he finally sighed. “I think we’re good.”
“I’m going to let you out and I’ll circle back around and park over toward those trees.” Patrick lifted a finger to a single row of trees set to the right of the store. It offered very little shade to the cars parked under it. “Tracy’s just about got supper ready.”
Wright held Xander’s hand tightly when he helped him down from the truck. He could already see people looking at them, expressions ranging from pity to concern. They barely made it into the store before Xander said something. He leaned down and whispered in Wright’s ear. “I feel like I should be carrying a sign saying I didn’t do this.”
“If anyone has a problem with it, I’ll gladly tell them who really did it.” Wright looked up at Xander and smiled. He’d only known him for a day, but never in his life- even before his mom left- had he been given so much attention or been cared for the way Xander had. Wright had to be careful or he was going to get used to it.
“You’ve already gone through it enough,” Xander said softly. It was true. Between explaining what happened to the doctors and then to the officer between the first and second appointment, Wright had relived yesterday at least three times. It played a constant loop in his head each time his body hurt. Which was a lot. The trauma doctor noted that he had fractures that had healed improperly from years prior too. Wright wasn’teven aware of that. He knew that sometimes his dad’s hits or the way he gripped his arm a little tighter would hurt for a while after, but a whole fracture he didn’t know about. It wasn’t like he was seeing a doctor on the regular to begin with.
Wright hadn’t been to the store in a while so he let Xander steer him toward the men’s section of clothing. “Doc is going to email your records to Officer Ryland and we’ll get the justice you deserve.”
“Thank you.” Wright glanced back up at Xander once more with the words. He meant them too. Yesterday he thought he was going to die because of a video on his phone, thought he would be strapped down or tortured to beat the gay out of him. But now, only twenty-four hours later, he was being cared for by a family that he hoped would be around for a long while. In whatever capacity, he was forever grateful for them.
“How about we just focus on getting the things you need and we’ll go back to the ranch and get you set up in the guest house with me.”
“Patrick said he had a guest bedroom,” Wright said quickly. He didn’t want to impose on Xander any more than he already had. “I can just use-”
“The guest room is up the stairs and it’s noisy in his house. You need rest. No stairs if you can avoid them and the meds you got will probably make you sleepy or dizzy and I don’t want you on your own.”
“If you’re that obsessed with me, just tell me now.”
