“But—”
“No.” Patrick turned his back on Simon. All Simon could do was watch helplessly as Patrick ripped the bedclothes and pillow from the bed. In the end, he offered the only help he could think of. He bundled up the linen and took the pile with him to the laundry room.
Later that week,Simon found himself in the laundry room yet again, this time doing a load of uniforms. It was nearing the end of a busy week and he couldn’t wait for the weekend. One more shift and he’d have a few days off. As he folded T-shirts fresh from the dryer, he smiled at the thought of a couple of days spent doing something of his own choosing. Simon loved his job as a paramedic, but it was nice to have a break from the time spent at the station waiting for the inevitable call to attend an emergency.
He took the neatly folded pile of clothes and headed upstairs to his room. He passed the open door to Patrick’s room and caught a glimpse of the bed. He paused at the doorway. The expanse of navy was unmarked by the presence of white paper, however, Simon’s good mood took a nosedive. Patrick had been down all week, dwelling on the letter and the unsatisfactory response from the police. Simon knew Officer Mallory, at least, had wanted to help, but with no definite threat and very little evidence, his hands were tied. Simon felt a heaviness in his chest at the feeling of helplessness. He wanted someone, anyone, to do something. Someone to take away the burden of worry that was weighing Patrick down.
With one last look at the bed, he sighed and continued on his way, putting away his clean clothes before retrieving an ironed uniform from the closet and changing to be ready for work. Forty-five minutes later, he was punching in for another day at the office.
His “office” was a somewhat busy firehouse where he worked as a paramedic alongside a great bunch of guys. Josh had turned into a really good friend, and Brian—well, Brian was a pain in the ass a lot of the time, but he had a heart of gold. He’d put Simon through hell when Simon had first started on the job, but over time, Simon had learned to give Brian back as good as he got and they now worked together like a well-oiled machine. Sandy was the other paramedic he worked closely with, a friendly older woman who’d transferred to Halls Ridge shortly after Simon. He and Sandy were partnered, something that worked out well, although he still rode with Josh or Brian some of the time.
It turned out to be a quiet morning, something that Simon was unhappy about. It wasn’t that he’d wish anything bad to happen to anyone, requiring a callout, but the shift was dragging. After a briefing with the captain, they’d fallen back on routine tasks to while away the time until a call came in. The result was a long and tedious day that crawled into afternoon, giving Simon way too much time to think. The one ride out to a suspected heart attack had done little to break the monotony.
“A penny for them.” The voice broke through his daydream.
Simon looked up from the doodles he was making in the margins of the men’s health magazine in front of him. “Hey, Josh. Is it that time already? You guys taking over soon?”
“’Fraid so, buddy. Nearly time for you to get your ass out of here.” Josh laughed and dropped into the chair opposite Simon. “How’s the day been?”
Simon shuffled in his seat and folded the magazine closed. “Slow.”
“Good for the general public then.” Josh smiled. “Looked like you were doing some serious thinking when I came in. Is everything okay?”
Simon sat straighter. “Actually, can I ask you something?”
“Sure. No guarantee I’ll answer, but fire away.” Josh chuckled and folded his hands on the table in front of him.
“It’s about Patrick.”
“Yeah?”
Suddenly Simon wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about it.
“C’mon. Spit it out,” Josh encouraged with a smile. He was a good guy, and Simon relaxed. Josh had provided a listening ear in the past, offering Simon advice and support when Simon doubted his own capability to be up to the job of saving lives. When Simon expressed his doubt in his own ability, Josh hadn’t judged. Simon knew Josh was the perfect person to talk to about his fears. Plus, the break room was quiet, so the timing was ideal.
“I don’t really know where to start.”
“How about at the beginning?”
Simon chuckled nervously. “Okay.” He took a deep breath. “I have a crush on Patrick—” Josh’s laugh cut him off. “What?”
“Tell me something I don’t know. You’ve had a crush on Patrick since the day you met him. It was obvious from how you looked at him, and when I suggested he’d make the perfect house mate, you admitted he was cute and funny.”
Simon warmed at the memory of those early feelings. “You’ve got to admit hewascute. All shy and getting into scrapes. Charlie told the funniest stories about him.” Charlie, Josh’s fiancé, was a schoolteacher at the elementary school where Patrick was the administration assistant. He’d shared tales of Patrick’s mishaps—everything that could go wrong, did go wrong where Patrick was concerned.
“He is cute. But don’t tell Charlie I said that,” Josh joked.
“Cross my heart,” Simon chuckled, then grew serious. “But it’s more than that. In the months since he’s been living at the house, I’ve got to know him. He’s funny and smart, despite the crazy mishaps, and he obviously cares about people. You should hear him talk about the kids at school. He worries so much about the underprivileged kids—the ones without books and lunches. Did you know he volunteers at the rec center?”
Josh shook his head. “No. But somehow it doesn’t surprise me. I should look at doing something like that. But I’m having trouble seeing what the problem is. He sounds pretty much perfect.”
Simon laughed at that. “Oh, there’s no way he’s perfect. He’s a slob around the house—dishes left on every surface, and he’d do anything to avoid chores. He has terrible taste in music, unless you like country music, and he’s always late.”
“Hmm… I’m really starting to see the attraction.” Josh grinned.
Simon rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I’m just not sure what to do. I mean, I want to say something to Patrick. I get the feeling he likes me, too, but we share a house and it could get awkward. I don’t know what to do about it."
"It seems pretty clear to me." Josh responded. "How about just telling the truth? I know it's a radical concept, but you could, like, have a conversation, you know? Tell him how you feel." Josh grinned like a Cheshire cat as he teased.
