His (BxB)

Part 19

"I think it's almost daybreak. I'll open the curtains." William makes his way to my right side and open all the curtains.

As the morning lights come in, I can now see the whole room. There are a set of dining table, cupboard and sofa set on the other part of this room. It even has a small pantry at the corner where I can see a water dispenser, coffee maker, microwave, small fridge and some snack selections. Near the pantry, there's a door to what I guess is a bathroom.

"This room is so big." I comment.

"Yeah, there are only four rooms in one floor. That's why it's big." I think he means that it's because this one is a suite room. William walks over to the sofa set while taking off his blazer from last night. He's now wearing only a black T-shirt.

"Why didn't you just sleep on the sofa? It must have been uncomfortable to sleep in a sitting position all night."

There's a black leather duffel bag branded with a familiar family crest logo on the sofa and William currently is browsing into it. "I'm not comfortable sleeping way too far from you."

"You bring change?" I ask him as he pulls out a towel, a pair of jeans, new black T-shirt and some toiletries from the bag.

"I asked one of the maids to prepare them and bring it over last night." William walks closer to my bed. "I'm going to go take a quick shower, Lou. I look like $hit right now."

I chuckle at that. "No, you're still as blindingly handsome as ever."

He smiles and gives me a small peck. "I put two guards outside the door. Call them if you need anything, okay? I'll just be quick."

"Guards?" I'm surprised at the information. "What for?"

"To keep you safe. What else?" He answers before heading to the connected bathroom.

A few minutes later, the door to my room is open. A young male nurse comes in while pushing a tray of medical tools. I glance shortly at the clock. It's only a few minutes past six.

"Good morning, Mr. Nye." He smiles brightly at me. "You woke up already."

"Good morning. Please just call me, Louis." I smile back.

"I'm going to check your vitals, Louis. How are you feeling now?" He starts to set up the blood pressure device on my arm and then continue to measure my heart rate and oxygen level.

"I'm feeling better, I guess."

"I heard you're being shot." He tries to make conversation while taking notes of my vital measurements. "Are you going to report to the police?"

"Uh... I don't know yet."

"These are your morning medicines. Please take them after you have breakfast." He shows me a small clear pocket containing three kinds of pills before putting it on the side table. "I'll leave for now. You can press that button if you need my assistance." He points his finger to the nurse call button near the bed.

I nod at that. "Thank you."

He then scans the whole room before he's back to facing me. "Is there no one accompanying you? Why don't you ask your guards to wait inside?"

I smile at him. "Actually, my boyfriend is here. He's currently in the bathroom taking shower."

He nods at that. "Alright. I'll leave for now. See you, Louis."

I watch him push the tray again out of the room and at the same time William is exiting the bathroom. He puts his dirty clothes in the provided laundry bag and put it on the sofa.

"Was that a nurse?" William asks while brushing his dripping wet hair with a towel. I guess my previous conversation could be heard from the bathroom.

"Yes."

"Is this hospital running out of female nurses?" I know that question doesn't really need an answer. He simply wants to sulk because he generally doesn't like the idea of me being touched by another guy.

"He's just doing his job, William." Smiling, I state the most obvious explanation.

Finished with his hair, he inserts the towel into the laundry bag. He combs his hair a bit so that it doesn't look too messy. Once he's done with his appearance, he walks closer to my bed.

"Did you just mix your dirty clothes and a wet towel into one laundry bag?" I ask, half wondering.

"Don't worry. I ask the maid to come every day with clean clothes and to bring back the dirty ones." He smiles at me as he reaches my side. "You want me to raise your head's position?" He offers me to adjust my bed.

"Yes please."

I see some buttons on the side of my bed, but I don't know what they are for. I'm not familiar with electronic hospital bed. It's good that William cares enough about my reclining position. As he presses one of the buttons, the head area of the bed is starting to raise in slow motion, bringing up my upper body along. Once it reaches 45 degrees position, the movement stops.

"Enough?" William asks.

I nod. "Thank you."

Then the door opens to reveal a female bringing a tray of food. She reads the sticky label on the corner of that tray.

"Mr. Louis Nye?" She asks.

"That's me." I confirm.

"This is your breakfast. And please don't forget to take your medicines after the meal." She says while putting the food tray on the side table.

I thank her immediately and she replies me with a smile before leaving the room.

"You better eat now, Baby." William takes the tray and puts it on my lap before helping me to sit straight. He also opens the cling wrap plastic that covers the food. "I think your parents will be here soon."

I listen to him and do exactly what he says. I drink a gulp of water before starting to eat. My breakfast is chicken pot pie, some broccoli and an apple. Thank God the hospital serves them together with a glass of water instead of coffee like most hospitals that I've been at before. I don't like coffee.

William claims a chair beside my bed, where he was sleeping on last night. He's observing me in silence while folding his both hands on his chest. "Does it taste good? If not, I can ask the maid to prepare your meals from home every day so you don't have to eat hospital food."

"No, thank you. It's quite alright actually." I politely decline his offer. I like him the most when he's so attentive like this. "What about your breakfast?"

"I'm alright. I'll order something later."

I just nod and continue to eat. I can feel my left shoulder doesn't feel as painful anymore. I don't know if it's normal. Or probably some anesthetic agent is still working inside the wound.

"Baby," William starts a conversation, "are you going to tell me how that happened?"

He means how the shooting happened. "I think you knew already. Mikey just showed up with a g*n in his hand and decided to shoot me. I guess he wasn't there for the party. And luckily to him, I was right there in the parking area so that he didn't need to roam inside the party to find me."

William still has his hands folded on his chest. "I should've realized it sooner that he's obviously revengeful. I'm sorry, Baby."

I smile at him. How come he blames himself? It's solely Mikey's doing. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

"And how did Ethan get mixed up in this mess?"

The question gives me an instant chill. My hand freezes in its track for a split second before it is back to bringing the last spoonful of pie into my mouth. And I'm a hundred percent sure that William notices that sudden awkwardness.

I give myself a moment to chew and to swallow the pie in order to calm myself down. "When I walked outside, after seeing you... Uh, I think Ethan was already there first. He saw me crying."

William looks upset at my description. "That sick as$hole. He saw you crying and he hit you?"

"No, he hit me because I was asking if he's gay."

"What? Why did you ask him that?"

God, I guess I really can't escape this, right? I'll eventually have to tell William what exactly happened between me and Ethan last night.

"Because... Ethan hugged me... and he said he wanted me." I lower my gaze to the almost empty food tray on my lap. I don't have the courage to look at my boyfriend's prying eyes. I'm worried that he will find out about me leaving the kissing part go unmentioned.

"Baby," he drags his chair closer and reach his hand out to lift my chin. He positions my face to allow him a better observation. Now that we're this close and face to face, I know I can't look away anymore. I have to reply that gazing from his cold silvery blue eyes. "So, what if he's gay? Will you be back to loving him again?"

"That's not what I meant, William. And I never loved Ethan." I try to answer as calmly as I can so that he won't notice that I hide something from him.

"F*cking stop mentioning his name." William spits out his disgust. "I hate hearing it with your voice."

"Sorry."

He then let go of my chin and fold his hands back to his chest. "You could've just rejected him right away, Baby, instead of asking non sense." He is sulking again.

"Sorry. It was a bad reflex, I know." This is one of few little things that I learn from having to interact with William all this time. Try not to argue first before offering him any explanation. This is not easy, but it's doable when I'm not nervous. "But please be at ease. I wasn't affected at all by his doing. I no longer have any feelings for him. You're the only one I love."

William takes a short moment to stare at me before averting his gaze. Is he blushing? I can't confirm it since he decides to stand up quickly and go to the side table. "Time for your medicines, Lou. I see you're finished with your breakfast already."

I take in every features of his face when he turns around and hands me my medicines. But there's no trace of pinkish shade on his cheeks. Is it gone already? Or I probably have mistaken. I quickly take the medicines and let William puts away the food tray afterwards. "Thank you." I state my gratefulness right away and he simply replies it with a smile. I wait for about ten minutes before I rest my back against the previously lifted bed.

William is in the middle of holding my hand when the door is being opened again. My mom is entering the room, and my dad soon follows. I see an obvious worry coloring my mom's face. And my dad looks tired for he hasn't been able to get a sleep. He has to pick my mom up and bring her here after working his shift all night. William lets go of my hand and moves a little backwards to make space for my parents.

"Louis!" My mom rushes to my side while dropping the bag that she carries on a chair. "My baby, are you okay? How did this happen?"

"I'm alright, Mom. Don't worry. William has been taking great care of me." William then goes around to stand on my right side, opposing my parents.

My mom starts fondling my hair. "How did this happen? Who did this?"

"He's a kid from school." William jumps into the conversation. "I heard his mother is a lawyer. He probably stole the firearm from his mother."

"Where were you, William? I thought you'd be with him all the time. Why didn't you protect my son?" Seeing my mom gets a little emotional, my dad strokes her shoulder to calm her down.

"It's not William's fault, Mom. I was the one who's splitting up because I wanted to mingle and to have fun with my best friends." I try to stop my mom from blaming my boyfriend. She's so wrong.

"Sarah," William's voice still sounds very confident and composed as usual, "he just wanted some time to enjoy the party with his best friends." He starts his explanation. "You can't possibly ask me to restrict him from socializing with anyone else but me, can you? Because if that's what you want, I'd be more than willing to do that. You're not the only one who's being constantly worried about his safety."

"But still you're supposed to do something." My mom still refuses to lift the blame off him.

"Alright, I guess this time you'll listen to me when I say I really have to bring Louis with me to New York." William brings back the moving issue all of a sudden. "Because things like this isn't the first time and it will absolutely be happening again if he's not with me."

"What do you mean?" My dad asks. My parents seem confused by his sudden proposal.

"Mr. Nye, Sarah," William addresses both of them, "I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier. But I think you both should know that Louis had been bullied for years just because he's gay and no one came around to stop it until I did."

My eyes widen at his words. What is he doing? I've been keeping it secret because I don't want to make my parents worry. My parents seem to be as shocked as I am right now. Their eyes are shot directly at me.

"Louis, is that true?" My dad asks.

I watch my mom is trying hard to hold herself from crying. "What did they do to you, Baby?"

"They've done many awful things that you can't even imagine, Sarah." William answers.

"Son, why didn't you tell us? We're your parents." My dad asks me sadly.

"I'm sorry, Dad, Mom. I really don't want you guys to worry about me." I know I'm wrong for keeping them in the dark about my well-being. "But those times have already passed. I am alright now. Ever since I've got William, no one dares to bully me again."

"But they shot you last night." My mom reminds me of the latest event.

"That was when they found Louis being on his own. They wouldn't have the gut to do it if I was around." William explains. "Please understand my intention. I'm not being egoistic here. I just can't imagine what they could do to my baby if I don't bring him to move out with me. Please."

My mom and dad are exchanging gazes. I know they're confused. But at the same time, they're also worried sick about me. If I can get shot in a random party occasion, what can happen to me in a regular school day every day? Moreover, William won't be here next year and their son isn't the fighting back type.

"Let me ease your worry and help me to send him away from this homophobic environment. It's not safe for Louis." William adds his proposal.

"You promise you're going to protect him always?" My mom asks in a serious expression. She has stopped crying by now but my dad's still stroking her shoulder slowly.

"I have my word, Sarah. There's nothing I won't do to keep him safe." William answers confidently. "No one will be able to touch him as long as he's with me. Not even that Ethan guy."

"Ethan?" My mom asks. "I thought Ethan was your friend, Louis."

"On the contrary, he apparently is the biggest bully in school." William answers for me. "Do you see that bruises on Louis' cheek? That's Ethan's doing. And that's just a small thing compared to what he's been doing to Louis this whole time before I moved here."

My mom covers her gaping mouth with her hand. It's probably difficult for her to believe since Ethan is actually one of her friend's son.

"I'm going to teach that boy a lesson." My dad makes an unsettling comment.

"Dad, please don't. You're going to make it worse." I plead him to change his mind because it's only going to escalate the mess. "I'm alright. And things like that will never happen again. I'm just going to stick myself with William from now on. I'll be fine. Please."

Both my mom and dad fall silent. They're exchanging gazes again for quite some time before they finally nod. My mom is back to fondling my hair again. I can see the warmth of love in her eyes. "Are you sure you want to leave this town and follow him to New York?"

I glance at my boyfriend before answering. William doesn't show any expression but I know he is also waiting for my answer. The answer will decide whether or not he's able to bring me with him when he moves out after graduation. And of course, he knows already that I will never let him down.

"I love him, Mom." I answer her with no doubt.

My mom lets out a small sigh before pulling me into her hug. I see my dad steps closer and puts his hand on my uninjured shoulder. We stay like that for around half minute. And by the time we all part, I come to understand that my parents have eventually granted me their permission.

I can finally go and live together with William.

***