“Not even any laughing?” Barry cleared his throat with a short cough and closed his eyes. “That’ll be... mighty boring, I’m afraid.”
“For a man in your situation, Barry, boring is good,” the nurse continued, smiling at Barry and then glancing at Sam with a wink. “Believe me, we nurses looooooove boring. I bet your family here might agree with me.”
Sam laughed lightly and finally convinced his feet to move. He stepped into the room, Ollie following right at his side.
“Sam, come on over here, kiddo,” Barry said again, and he slowly opened his eyes and lifted one hand.
Somehow, Sam made it across the room and to Barry’s side, and he let go of Ollie’s hand to take Barry’s, more tears sliding down his cheeks. Barry’s grip was weak—much weaker than it had been that morning, but the sparkle in his uncle’s eyes made Sam smile. He closed his eyes for a moment and let out a shaky breath.
“Now, now, kiddo. The doc... he said everything went well. And now... now I just gotta be—”
“Patient?” Sam cut in, a smile finally growing. “Since when has Barry Reynoldseverbeen patient?”
Barry’s eyes met his, and they were filled with a mixture of emotions. Sam felt his lower lip start to tremble, and he shook his head and then squeezed Barry’s hand again.
“Uncle Barry... this—this is my boyfriend, Ollie,” Sam managed after another moment, and he let Barry’s hand go as he turned just enough that Ollie could step closer to Barry’s side.He watched, his heart filled with love and hope, as Ollie reached out and took Barry’s hand.
“It’s wonderful to finally meet you, sir—I mean, Barry,” Ollie said, his cheeks reddening at his mistake. He released Barry’s hand and straightened up.
“Oh, boy, kiddo, the pleasure is . . . all mine, really. I’ve been . . . waiting to meet you. Ever since . . . that first time Sam . . .”
Barry trailed off and closed his eyes for a moment, taking several deep breaths. When he looked up at both of them again, his expression was warm. Sam slid his arm around Ollie’s shoulders.
“Tell me... all about living in... Seattle,” Barry said, but his voice was weaker now, and he closed his eyes again as Sam and Ollie each pulled chairs up to the side of the bed.
After having checked a few more of the monitors, the nurse gave Sam and Ollie a nod and then left the room. Sam placed his hand softly over Barry’s.
“Seattle is pretty amazing, really. It does rain—a lot. But that’s probably why it’s so beautiful there too. The hiking is incredible, and the forests are... so peaceful and so... You—you would love it.” Sam’s voice cracked with his last words, and he swallowed hard as he glanced at Ollie, who gave him a gentle smile.
Barry made some muffled sound that might have been an acknowledgement, but his eyes stayed closed, and Sam figured he was probably close to falling asleep again. Jaz had warned Sam that Barry wasn’t really staying awake for more than a few minutes at a time, which was also still completely normal given that it had only been a handful of hours since they’d finished his surgery.
Ollie squeezed Sam’s knee and then cleared his throat quietly. “Sam thought moving to the West Coast would mean hewouldn’t have to deal with snow anymore. But this last winter, we got several feet. Shut down the whole region for several days.”
“Reminded me of that one winter, you remember, Barry? The last winter before I left for grad school?” Sam kept talking, even though Barry didn’t respond. He was sure by now that Barry was asleep, and so he lowered his voice more. “It snowed so much that we were stuck at your house for three days, and the power went out, and we had to start a fire in the fireplace to keep warm, and we roasted hot dogs and made s’mores, and camped out together in the living room, just like when I was a kid, and...”
He let the thought trail off finally, and his hand slipped down into his lap as he watched Barry’s chest rise and fall slowly, rhythmically. Ollie’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, and he bit his lower lip, trying not to let more tears fall. Again.
The echo of his father’s voice from that morning stung—cold words telling him not to cry, to pull himself together. But he shook his head, fighting against the shame. He turned to his boyfriend, who quickly pulled him into a hug.
“He’s doing great, Sam,” Ollie reassured, pressing a light kiss into Sam’s hair. “I know it may not seem like it, but...”
Sam nodded into Ollie’s shoulder. “I know. I know. The doctors said the same thing, and the nurses and... and he woke up quickly and they had him breathing on his own right away, and those are all... really, really good signs. I’m just...”
Ollie’s hand rubbed Sam’s back gently, and he closed his eyes as the soothing touch helped calm him. It’d been such a whirlwind of a day—the entire last twenty-four hours, really. And he was exhausted. At most, he’d slept for a couple of hours on the plane. But Ollie... He straightened up and frowned as his eyes met Ollie’s.
“You must be exhausted, love,” Sam said, shaking his head. “I-I’m sorry, I haven’t really been thinking straight. You probably need to—”
Ollie shushed him with a light kiss, and when they parted, Ollie gave him a small smile. “I’m tired, but I’m fine. Don’t be worrying about me. Okay?”
A light laugh escaped him. “I’ll try.”
“I know it’s a favorite pastime of yours, but today, right now, please, Sam, don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll get plenty of sleep tonight, after we check in at the hotel. For now”—Ollie took his hand and squeezed it—“don’t worry about me.”
He nodded, reluctantly though, and let go of Ollie’s hand so he could reach up to grasp his uncle’s again. Barry’s hand felt slightly cold, and Sam wondered briefly whether that was normal. Nervously, he glanced up at all the monitors still beeping away.
“Is that normal? That—the—the blood pressure thing? It looks... wrong?”
“Completely normal,” said a familiar voice from near the doorway.
