ILY

ILY Do I?

Jethro could not remove the smile on his face. He was smiling the moment he stepped out of Topaz’s room in the hospital now as he took the flight of stairs that led to the main door of his home.

He knew that Clyde was inside. He could hear music coming from the inside of the house. Judging by the sound of the loud bass inside, it was impossible to assume that his parents were at home.

Opening the house with his keys, he was already halfway to opening the door when Clyde came into view.

“Welcome home, lover boy. So how was your day?” Clyde was already starting to tease him.

“Stop that will you?” He suddenly felt tired and sore from sleeping away from his bed. But he was still smiling. Jethro was so happy despite the small inconveniences at the hospital.

“So how was your girl?” Clyde was definitely fishing for information.

“She looks great. She sounds great but I am worried about her.” Jethro’s voice was now serious. “She might never walk again.”

“That's bad, huh?” Clyde said as he followed Jethro to the kitchen.

Jethro grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the refrigerator and poured himself a glass. He raised the bottle towards Clyde, asking if he wanted some. Clyde brushed him off.

“No thanks, I have already had breakfast. Are they certain that she won’t be able to walk?” He was more interested in Topaz than the orange juice.

“They haven’t got a second opinion yet, but that is the current assessment for now,” Jethro said after taking a sip from his glass.

“So how is she feeling?”

Jethro finished his juice before answering. “She is trying to stay positive but she is scared. Anyone would be.”

“I am sorry to hear that,” Clyde said, tapping his shoulder. “I’ll head to work now.” He excused himself and went upstairs.

Jethro took another glass of juice before he headed upstairs to his room.

Clyde had already excused him from school today. He had nothing else to do.

He just laid there looking at his ceiling still painted with the solar system-themed art that he created with his father when he was younger. Those were the days when his parents were still not busy globe-trotting closing deals for their business. He never had the heart to repaint the ceiling. It was one of the best memories that he had with his father.

Jethro wondered what Topaz was doing. He felt the urge to call her or to send her a message, but he did not want her to think that he was too clingy. Besides, she might need to have private time with her mother, to discuss things about her current predicament.

He headed to the bathroom instead, threw his clothes in the laundry basket, and headed straight to the shower.

The water was cold but he felt warm inside. It felt warm just imagining sleeping beside Topaz that night.

Jetro still remembered the first time that he saw Topaz inside the Note Nest. He immediately went inside when he saw that pretty girl with long black hair and a tan complexion. She was browsing books in the aisles of books there. She was smiling as her eyes shifted while reading the cover of the sealed books.

Of course, Jethro knew that it would feel weird to just go and introduce himself to the girl. He did not want to make her think that he was too aggressive or sure of himself.

Instead, he just looked from afar, just close enough to memorize her face and features. He stared at the music section of the store. The thought of bumping into her in the book section and being asked what his favorite book was dreading him. He did not want to sound dumb if he ended up giving him a boring book title.

He spent weeks coming back to The Note Nest knowing that Topaz frequented the place. He was gathering enough courage to finally talk to her.

And he was finally given the chance to do so.

But when things were finally going his way, that's when Topaz met her accident.

His reverie was cut short when he heard his phone ringing from his bed. He knew that it was Topaz. He assigned a specific ring tone only for her.

Still wet from the tub, he grabbed a towel and headed to grab his phone.

"Hey," he quickly said after pressing the green button on his screen.

"Hi, you busy?" It was Topaz on the other side of the phone.

"No, I just got out of the shower", he said as he tried to tie the towel on his waist while balancing the phone on his ear. He walked to the closet to grab another towel to dry his hair. "How are you?" He did not know what to say.

"The usual still stuck in bed," Topaz replied.

He placed the dry towel on his pillow so he could lay there without having to worry about soaking his pillow with his wet hair.

"So how was it?" he said.

"How was what?" Topaz said.

"How did it go with your mom?" He did not know what to talk about, so he started out with that topic.

"Oh. Well, they finally met the man who was driving the car that hit me. Actually, he went to the police to surrender. We ain't filling charges though. He was really helpful, willing to cooperate. His insurance will even cover all my expenses. He just ran because he was scared. He has small kids. He ran away because he thought he had killed me."

Jethro did not know how to respond to that. "I really do not know what to say."

"Me either. It hasn't sunk in really. So why don't we talk about something else instead? Something more cheerful?" Topaz suggested.

Jethro started talking about his favorite music when Clyde opened the room.

"Oh, God, what are you doing, why are you naked?" He shouted, obviously playing with Jethro.

Jethro got up and threw a pillow at him. He was making faces and mumbling that he was on the phone with Topaz and Clyde and should shut up.

"Remember to lock your door when you have phone s*x. Haven't I taught you that already?" Clyde continued teasing Jethro, who was pushing him out the door.

Topaz was giggling on the other side of the line, imagining what Clyde looked like and how Jethro's face would turn all read when faced with such situations.