We stayed until Liam started to stir restlessly, clearly in pain. Mom gave him a push of pain medication, and we waited until he fell asleep before we left. Jeremy sat at my brother’s piano, playing a quiet melody.
I squeezed onto the bench beside him and rested my head on his shoulder. He smiled and kissed the top of my head before putting his arm around me. “How is Liam?” he asked.
“He’s in a lot of pain. Mostly his ribs.” I sighed. “It’s so hard to see him like that.”
Jeremy tightened his arm around me. “Cracked ribs are rough. I had just one after my accident, and recovery from that was brutal. I can’t imagine what three would be like.”
“My mom said something about breathing exercises to prevent pneumonia.”
Jeremy nodded. “That’s what makes the recovery so hard. You have to force yourself to deep breathe. It sucks.”
The doorbell rang, and I went to answer it, but Mom beat me to it. I heard voices, one of which I recognized as Mom’s friend, Kelly. The other was a man’s voice I didn’t know. Mom brought them into the living room, and I stood to greet them.
“Sean, you know Kelly.” She put her hand on the man’s arm. “This is Dr. Robert Martin. He’s come by to take a look at Liam and see what he needs.” She gestured to Jeremy and me. “This is my son, Sean, and his boyfriend, Jeremy.”
I shook the other man’s hand. He looked to be older than Mom. He was a tall man with thick white hair and a pleasant smile that reached his eyes.
“Nice to meet you, Doc. Thanks for coming to see Liam.”
“It’s my pleasure. Your mother has been a dear friend to me for many years. I’m happy to help.”
Mom took Dr. Martin’s arm. “I’ll show you to Liam’s room. I just gave him a dose of pain medication, so he’ll be drowsy.”
She took Kelly and Dr. Martin to Liam’s room. I stayed next to Jeremy and listened to him play. Just being with him soothed my soul. I couldn’t imagine going through this without him by my side. I felt a hand fall lightly on my shoulder. I looked up to see Mom standing next to me. My stress level shot up. “What’s wrong?”
Mom’s mouth turned down and sadness filled her eyes. “Nothing’s wrong. Liam is as good as he can be. Dr. Martin is happy with the care he got. He looked over the sutures from the surgery and checked his ribs. He gave me a list of exercises Liam needs to do. But he said not to start anything until tomorrow. Liam needs to sleep after all the travel.”
“That’s good then, right?” I asked. She nodded. “Then why do you look so sad?”
She ran her hand over my hair like she used to do when I was little. “I hate seeing you like this. So tense. So worried.”
“He’s my baby brother, Mom. Of course I’m worried.”
“I know you are, dear.” She squeezed my shoulder. “Liam is fine. Go out. Take your man out to dinner. Go sleep in your own bed.” I opened my mouth to object, but she shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Kelly is staying the night. If I need help, she’ll be here.”
I looked over at Jeremy, who had been a rock for me the past week. “Yeah, okay.” I stood and held my hand out to my man. “Let’s go out.”
THIRTY-NINE
JEREMY
Early September—Spring Lake, NJ
I watched Tony load my suitcases into the trunk of the car with burning eyes. Sean stood beside me, holding my hand until Tony slammed the lid down and got into the driver’s seat. Sean turned to face me and rested his forehead against mine. His weary eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “I’m so sorry, baby,” he said hoarsely, “This wasn’t how I wanted it to be.”
I cupped his cheek with my free hand. “I know, love. I wish it could be different, but you have to take care of your brother. We’ll still talk and text and video chat.”
He pulled me into his arms. “I’m going to miss you.”
I hugged him back as hard as I could. “I’ll miss you too. But it’s not forever. I’ll be back in November.” I pulled back and kissed him, long and deep. “I love you.”
“I love you so much,” he said. “Take care of yourself out there.”
“Same goes for you,” I retorted. “You need to take better care of yourself.”
“I know. I will.”
Tony stuck his head out of the car window. “We gotta go, Piano Man.”
