Chapter 1
Jacksonville, FLCHRIS BOTTOMS HAD been in the hospital at the Mayo Clinic for several days, after having the first of two surgeries that would ultimately reverse his ileostomy. When he was discharged from the hospital, his partner Mickey O’Donovan took a long lunch hour and used it to bring Chris home.
“You had a hard time climbing those stairs, babe, I could tell,” Mickey said when they were in the master bedroom of their house.
“What’s your point?”
“My point is this: you are not to come downstairs for anything.”
“What if the house is on fire?”
“Sarcasm noted. If the house is on fire, you can come downstairs. Otherwise, you wait until your brother Ted gets home from school and ask him to get whatever you need that’s downstairs. I’ve put several cans of Coke and Sprite in t
