Hide the Truth From My Eyes

"It's a miracle" the doctor repeated for the third time that day. "You're sure you did nothing else than holding his hand and talking to him?"

Jamie sat there next to me, a stupid smild on his lips. 

"I... No. I talked to him in Welsh, if it can help you." he shrugged.

"What did you say him?"

"Dwi'n--" 

"Not in Welsh, I don't understand it..."

"Oh... Well... I said him I loved him, and that if he died I'd join him no matter what, and... I repeated him what he said me when we... When we got engaged a year ago." 

He extended his palm to show off the ring Lee had given him, that silver ring engraved with "Never alone again". 

"Back then he said me he'd love me forever. To death and back." Jamie murmured. "And that's what I said him. To death and back. And he woke up."

The doctor frowned. 

"Well... I call that a miracle. Or maybe these words were an emotional switch that triggered a dash of adrenaline? But it doesn't explain why he's almost not sick anymore now..." 

He muttered a bit to himself and I glanced towards Jamie who was looking at his ring with a smile. 
It made me think that maybe it was time I got one for Mike too. 
And that's when it hit me. We had been together for ten fucking years and I hadn't proposed yet. Oh my god. What kind of a dick was I? I made a reminder for myself to check my economies and buy him a ring. 
Jamie tugged on my shirt. We had to go out. So we walked out of the doctor's office, and we crossed the hall towards the exit.

We climbed back into the car and Jamie slumped into the passenger seat, sighing.

"Stu?"

"Yes?"

"I think I should go see Lee's parents and say them he's okay."

"Do they even know he fell ill in the first place? Cause Mike's parents didn't call or visit him or anything. Even if the hospital called them, I'm pretty sure they hung up as soon as the guy mentioned Mike."

"Yes but... Well... I know Lee's parents love him. It's not like Mike's parents, they didn't disown him or anything, they just... Don't talk to him anymore."

I let a silence pass.

"You want me to drive you there?" I asked.

"If you want."

"Let's go, shall we?"

And I started the car.

--

Three years I hadn't been in Pontypridd. Three whole years.
We parked the car near the old precinct where Ian, Jamie and I used to skate before Ian started to date Sean and everything started to go to shit. 
Lee's parents house was just a street away. I remember how Jamie used to sit outside the house and wait for Lee to appear at the window. And when he did, he would half melt and squeal about how he was beautiful and perfect and kill our ears with love-sick drivel. Then when he started dating him and Lee was grounded, he would throw little pieces of rock at the panes to make him open the window, and recite him poetry and shit, Romeo and Juliet style. It's not like Lee was the "girl" in their relationship or any of that shit, Lee was the one that proposed. But it was so cheesy it was cute. And Lee, so skeptical usually, loved it. 

So we silently crossed the precinct, getting a drunken 'fags' screamed at us by a teenager. Jamie shrugged it off and we crossed the street, to find ourselves in front of Lee's house.

Jamie's eyes darted over the building, and he sighed, before walking over to the stairs that lead to the door. 
He looked at the door for a second. And then chuckled.

"I wonder if they will recognize me" he murmured with a smile.

I grinned. Last time they had seen Jamie, he had long hair, piercings, a cap and no future plans. Now he had cut off the hair, pulled out the piercing -- he still put it when we were on holiday or alone or when he wanted to seduce Lee, or at least I think-- and wore suitable clothes for a teacher. 

He rose his hand towards the bell, and pressed it. 
We waited for a moment. And then, a man whom I recognized to be Lee's father opened the door.

"What? Who are you?"

"Mr Gaze." Jamie kicked in.

"Who are you?" the man repeated.

"It's about Lee." Jamie said.

The expression on the man's face changed radically.

"What? How do you know? How is he doing? Is he...?"

"He's okay. And, Mr Gaze, I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Jamie Oliver. Your son's fiancé. And I have important things to say you about him.

The man looked lost. Then he grunt.

"Come in. And you? Who are you?" he barked at me.

"Stuart Richardson. I'm one of Lee's best friends."

"Oh I remember now. A fag too" he mumbled, but I let it slip and stepped in. 

The house was clean, it smelled a little of cold soup but oh well. The man sat on his couch and didn't ask us to sit down. So we stayed standing. 

"What's up with Lee? You came all the way up here to say me he's okay?"

"He almost died. They called me last evening and said me he was merely dying." Jamie said softly. I had never seen him that sure of himself.

Lee's father's eyes widened.

"A-and why didn't they call us? Why did they call only you?"

"He put it on his hospitalization formulary back when we brought him there when he got his arm broken in a fight at the pub where he works. So we went at the hospital this morning and... Well..."

"I think the word dying is pretty self-explanatory" I said.

Lee's father stayed silent for a minute.

"But he's not dead."

"No. He's out of the hospital this week actually."

"So what happened."

Jamie sighed, and walked up to Lee's father. 

"Mr Gaze... When your son asked me to be his husband... As soon as we were allowed to get married... He... He gave me this ring." he showed the man his hand, "And he said me he'd love me to death" he paused and took a breath in. "To death and back."

Lee's father looked at him for a second, a strange expression on his face.

"Mr Gaze, I came here to tell you Lee is okay, but also... To make you understand what's going on between he and I." he looked down at the ring. "When we got brought to him this morning so we could... Say goodbye to him... I repeated him what he said when he gave me this. And he woke up."

The man looked properly supefied.

"I don't think that's a coincidence." Jamie murmured. "I do really love your son, Mr Gaze. More than myself. It's not different because we're two men or... The kind of sex we have or shit. It's the same thing and I really love him of my whole heart. And I know that as your son he loves you. Sometimes at night he asks me 'Do you think that my parents still love me' or 'Do you think they will ever accept me for what I am' or 'Do you think they'll ever talk to me again'. And all I can do is take him in my arms and say him, I don't know. And most of the time he starts to cry."

Jamie's words were stirring my insides. I knew Lee loved his parents very much and the fact they rejected him gave him insecurities.
Lee's father was looking at Jamie, looking like he was going to burst into tears. Jamie straightened up, and cleared his throat.

"Well we're going to go. It's dark already. You coming, Stu?"

"Yup."

And we walked out. 

We climbed back into the little red car, and Jamie burst out crying. 

--

Today was the day I could go get Mike out of the damn hospital. I had token my afternoon off and drove cheerily through the traffic jams. The hell of not having Mike near me was finished. I parked the car and almost forgot to lock it when I went. 
I got brought to Mike's room, the bag with clothes for him under my arm. I opened the door, a large smile on my face. He was sitting on the bed, reading some magazine. He rose his eyes. 

"Stu!" he squealed.

Aww, he was so cute. I walked towards the bed and bent to kiss his lips, him meeting me midway through. 

"Hey, I brought you some clothes, so you don't go around in underwear!" I grinned, dropping my bag on the bed. His hands reached to open it and he pulled out his favorite jeans, a pair of boxers and a tight striped shirt that made very sexy on him. As well, a big scarf, his trainers and socks. 
He smirked and gave me the boxers, slipping out of the covers to reveal he had nothing under the hospital pyjamas.

"Mind dressing me up?"

Uh.