Forgotten

Jonathan half-stood half-sat awkwardly in mid-air as Doctor Williams told him he could stay. Caden eyed Jon nervously as the doctor told him to undress. Jon bit his lip and stood.

“I-I um, I’ll... I’m just gonna wait over here,” Jonathan said, blushing furiously as he pulled the dividing curtain across the room and took a seat on the other hospital bed.

He heard Caden whimper. He turned to look at the curtain where the silhouettes of Dr. Williams and Caden were visible.

“That hurts?” the doctor asked quietly. Jonathan saw Caden nod. “You took quite a beating. We’re going to have to take you upstairs for X-rays. I’m not sure but it looks like one of your ribs may be fractured. A nurse will be in to take you upstairs shortly,” Dr. Williams said as he pushed the curtain back a bit so he could exit the room. Jonathan caught a glimpse of Caden’s swollen, bruised chest as he put his pants and shirt back on. Jonathan’s eyes lingered for a moment but he tore them away and stared down at his sneakers.

“Y-You can come in now,” Cadey murmured to Jonathan. Jon stood and pulled the curtain back all the way. He gave a small wave.

“Hey. Um, thanks for coming,” Cadey said.

“Yeah. Of course,” Jon said with a shrug.

“W-Why ‘of course’? Why are you different from all those guys? Why’d you stop them? Aren’t they your friends? I see you hang out with them all the time. I-I just assumed you’d join in…” Cadey admitted quietly.

“Yeah, they’re my friends but they had no right to do that,” Jon said.

“No, they didn’t. But still, it took guts to stand up to them like that,” Cadey whispered as he looked up into Jon’s eyes. Jonathan bit his lip but didn’t break the gaze.

“Thank, I guess,” he said awkwardly. He studied the curious expression on Caden’s face. “What?” he asked, knowing there was a question on Cadey’s mind.

“N-Not that I mind b-but… but why do you care?”

“I-I-I,” it was Jonathan’s turn to stutter. He could feel himself begin to blush in embarrassment. He took a deep breath and tried again. “I don’t know… m-maybe it had something to do with that drawing. I was curious…” he trailed off awkwardly. It was true, he was curious about the artist who drawn him with such care, but that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to get to know Caden.

Jonathan had always known that he was never interested in girls, though enough of them were interested in him. He tried never to read too much into it; to ignore the fact that he was uncomfortable with the attention he received from half the girls at the school or the fact that he never wanted to discuss the ‘hot chicks’ that his friends obsessed over.

Somewhere inside of him Jonathan knew he was gay but he had never said it aloud or even fully admitted it to himself. He had never even really had a crush on any boy -- he had never allowed himself to. But with Caden… he couldn’t help it.

“Y-You were curious about…?” Caden prompted him after a moment. Before he could speak a nurse walked in.

“Hi, Caden. Let’s get you upstairs for those X-rays,” she said kindly, helping him into his wheelchair and walking him out of the room.

“Wait,” Caden told the nurse. She stopped and turned him back around to face Jonathan. “D-Don’t go. Please,” Cadey said imploringly.

“I’ll wait right here,” Jonathan promised.

* * *

Liv knocked gently on the open door. Jonathan looked around, giving her a small smile and gesturing for her to enter. She walked in and took a seat on the bed Caden had occupied a little while ago.

“Where’s Cadey?” Liv asked.

“X-rays,” Jonathan answered simply. She nodded and took a bite of the donut she had in her hand.

“You want some?” she asked, starting to break a piece off. Jon shook his head. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” Jon assured her. “Thanks though.”

“You like him, don’t you?”

“W-What?!” Jon asked, completely startled by the question.

“Well, you do, right?” Liv pressed on. Jonathan could feel his heartbeat grow faster as the seconds of silence passed and Liv just watched him. He did like Caden. And he wanted to tell someone but his friends weren’t an option and it wasn’t as if his family was either. He nodded slowly.

“Yeah. I thought so,” Liv said with a satisfied smile.

“Why do people do that -- ask questions they already know the answers to?” Jon asked, slightly annoyed that she had practically forced a confession out of him. She just shrugged and smirked.

“So… gay or just bi?” she asked.

“Jesus. Can we stop with the personal questions?” Jonathan asked, flustered and beginning to get angry.

“Sorry,” Liv said, holding her hands above her head as though she were going to be arrested. “Look, you know he likes you, right? I mean, you saw the picture he drew… I just wanna say: before you do anything stupid you should know that I will beat you to death with a blunt instrument if you dare hurt him.”

Jonathan stared at her, shocked again by how frankly she was speaking.

“Did you hear me?” she asked threateningly, sitting up straight in the hospital bed and displaying her considerable height. She was barely an inch shorter than Jon was and even though she was fairly thin he could definitely picture her getting revenge on anybody who hurt her best friend.

“Yeah, I heard you,” Jonathan said.

“Good,” Liv said. It was as if a switch had been flipped: she was no longer imposing but sweet and docile. And a moment later Caden was wheeled into the room.

“What’d they say?” Liv asked, standing at once and walking over to Cadey.

“I have two cracked ribs but the doctor says that it’s not that bad. He said I should heal within a month or two but that I should be on a regimen of pain meds so it doesn’t lead to breathing complications or pneumonia.”

“Shit. Well I guess it could’ve been worse but still… I can’t believe those dicks actually cracked your ribs. They should all be suspended,” Liv said vehemently, looking and sounding more like a mother than a friend.

“Down girl,” Cadey said jokingly. She rolled her eyes but fell silent nonetheless. A woman who had a striking resemblance to Liv (minus all the eyeliner) walked in.

“Alright, Cadey, I filled your prescription at the hospital pharmacy downstairs so let’s get you out of here,” she said kindly.

“Mom, this is Jonathan. You know, the kid that saved Caden?” Liv’s mother turned and saw Jon. She walked over to him in silence and grabbed him in a surprisingly strong hug.

“Thank you,” she murmured in Jonathan’s ear. He nodded and hesitantly returned the hug.

“Well, I should probably go too,” Jon said when Mrs. Gibbons had finally released him.

“’Kay. Bye,” Liv said with a small wave as she linked arms with her mother’s and walked out of the room, giving Caden a chance to say goodbye in private. Jonathan and Caden stared at each other for a moment.

“W-Well, uh, thanks again. F-For everything,” Caden said quietly.

“Yeah. No problem,” Jon said with a nod. There eyes locked for a minute then Caden turned around and began to wheel himself out of the room. “Liv gave you my number, right?” Caden stopped in his tracks, nodding. “Good. Um, call me sometime.” Caden nodded again then disappeared from view.

Jon slumped into a chair, trying to process everything that had happened in the past two days.