Chapter 34

Paul was drunk and getting drunker. This bottle of beer was the ninth he’d had in a few hours. When they’d returned to the B&B, Jake had left with his parents, Cassandra went home with her husband, and Michelle left with her kids. She had been terrified of what had gone on, and she’d broken down again. She’d gathered her kids to her and gone home, leaving Paul unsure of what to say or what to do. He’d tried calling her an hour after she’d departed but the number went to voice mail and he just hung up, the feeling of uncertainty preventing him from leaving a message. He felt terrible; he really missed her, and as he drank, trying to get her anguished face out of his mind, he couldn’t find any peace.

Other than David, who sat nursing his beer on the porch with Paul, everyone had gone to bed. The night was chilly, and they were bundled up pretty good, but Paul was at the point where he didn’t feel the nip of the cold at all. Silence hung between the two of them, and David called up his courage to comfort his friend.

“You know she’ll be back, don’t you?”

Paul looked over at him, wide-eyed, and shook his head. “Are you kidding? I put her in danger and…I couldn’t do anything to defend her.”

David sat back in his chair and stared at him. He had known Paul for quite some time and had never seen him this broken up. A pair of headlights coming down the street, however, distracted him from the next thing he was going to say, and when they pulled into the driveway, he thought to himself, see? There she is. But he was wrong.

The car was an old Cadillac that had honestly seen better days twenty years ago. The headlights blinded David, and he had to put a hand up to shield his eyes until the engine died, rattling, popping, and shuddering to a stop. He turned his head and looked at Paul, who leaned forward.

“Who is that?” he asked.

“I don’t know. You weren’t expecting anyone were you?”

Paul shook his head and stood up, swayed a bit, and decided to sit back down. David chuckled.

With a metallic groan, the door of the dark sedan opened, and a figure with white hair and black clothing stepped out. He slammed the door shut and came around the front of the vehicle, and that’s when David saw the collar for the first time. It was a priest. The man gathered his coat around him and walked to the front steps where David had risen to greet him.

“Good evening, Father. How can I help you?” David asked, outstretching a hand as he went down two steps. The man took it and shook it firmly.

“My name is Father Mark Ambry, I am the minister at St. Joseph’s. Are you the gentlemen researching the lake?”

Paul sat up in his chair. “Yes, we are.”

The priest nodded his head. “Gentlemen, we need to talk. I’ve recently had an interesting conversation with a key component of your investigation. Are you familiar with a man named Jeremiah Ackley?” He looked at the men and gleaned from their expressions that they knew who he was.

“I don’t understand,” Paul said.

“If I hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t believe it either. Jeremiah came to speak to me at St. Joe’s tonight. I think you may want to hear what he has to say. May we go inside?”

David nodded, and he and Paul, who had suddenly sobered up, rushed to get the door for him. As they walked in, the heat from inside the house and the booze clashed and almost took Paul’s legs out from under him. Father Mark caught him and guided him to a chair in the living room. Paul apologized profusely. He’d gone white as a sheet.

“It’s quite all right. I understand you gentlemen have been investigating and dealing with some rather scary stuff. I am here to offer my assistance any way I can,” Father Mark said, taking a seat across from Paul. David sat down on the other side of the couch.

“You said you talked to Jeremiah Ackley, like, his spirit?” Paul asked.

“No. The man was physically there. I touched him. It wasn’t a hoax either. There was a spiritual component to him, and I witnessed the effects of it. The Catholic Church does recognize evil. Even though we have made many advances in medicine and psychology, we still acknowledge that there are cases where devils and demons influence the world around them. Gentleman, I trust you’re familiar with the story of how Maplewood came to be. About the preacher and his daughter who cursed the town?”

“Yes, we’ve been going about our research with that in mind,” David said.

“Then you need to stop. V…she…is not in control here. That’s a lie to throw you off. There is an old Biblical story about King Saul going to a witch to bring back the spirit of Samuel to guide him. What she conjures up looks like Samuel, but it isn’t him. Do you understand what I am saying? This thing, this demon, wants you to believe that the myth is true. Now, I don’t doubt that she had some special abilities, a great deal of human beings do, natural abilities to do with ESP and other phenomenon.” Mark crossed his legs and folded his hands in his lap.

Paul sat forward. “A demon?”

Mark nodded. “Yes, and given what her father said, it’s probably one that predates Christianity by thousands of years. Each culture and every walk of life has their versions of these beings. Some believe they are fallen angels resulting from a war in heaven, others, that they were once gods who roamed the earth and faded into oblivion as the religions of the world changed. And I think they are both right.”

“So, you’re saying this thing looks like her, has the same MO as her, but isn’t her?” David asked.

“When the daughter died, she summoned this devil into being. Now, whether she called it by name is one thing. She may not have known what she was doing. But she was in a state of such grief and anger, and being as clairvoyant as she was, it was like she turned on a beacon for it. So yes, it kills in her name. Her father thinks she is chained to it, as he is chained to her.”

“How does the boyfriend factor into all of this?” Paul asked. “We have reason to believe that he was a druid.”

Mark nodded. “That’s very likely. Jeremiah kept referring to him as a child of nature. So, this thing could have been a part of his culture. Do you know if he was trying to teach her or anything? I guess that doesn’t really matter. The damage has been done.”

“Yes, he was,” Paul confirmed. “The man had unique abilities—at least, according to the journals. Veronica made mention of a few of these feats. You don’t think just because the man was a druid it made him a monster, do you?”

“Certainly not. I don’t think that is any eviler than being a Buddhist or a Taoist is. People worship God in their own way. But this thing may have attached itself to the young man when he came over to the US, similarly to the way our demons try to affect those within our faith. He seems to think that this ‘thing’ may attempt to destroy the entire town.”

“So here is the million-dollar question,” Paul said. “How do we stop it?”

“There is no way to be sure, exactly. This thing was born of rage and anger, but that wasn’t the original sin. The original sin was hatred born of ignorance and intolerance. The deaths recently have involved couples who were romantically connected. Not to appear cliché, but I think the answer to this is a confrontation, an exorcism of sorts, of love. But to eliminate the demon, we’re going to have to identify it, defy it, and send it fleeing.”

“What do we need to do?” Paul asked. He was out of his league now. He’d been ready to accept the possibility of a haunting or a curse of some sort, but with this representative of Rome sitting with them speaking of demons…he had no clue how to maintain control. He worried about Michelle and her kids, The Owen family, and Maplewood at large.

“Keep the research up and running. We need to find out what else we can from those journals. Update everyone of what I told you and remember these things lie. They are pros at it. If we can meet here in the…” His voice trailed off as the room around them began to shake.

Paul jumped up immediately and gathered both David and Father Mark and placed them under the archway. Glass broke, and the house groaned around them.

Upstairs, Amanda came running down the hall, hit the stairs and nearly lost her footing. Her eyes were wide, and she looked terrified. She had a robe loosely wrapped around her, and her hair was disheveled from having been jerked awake.

Behind her, others came running, including the grad students and the Hatches. Tara ran over to the seismograph in the kitchen and came back. “It’s a quake. A minor one, but still a quake…four point one by the looks of it. I’m going to assume the epicenter is still the same place?” She tied her hair back in a knot.

“I’ll do the math anyway to figure that out,” David said.

Paul sent everyone out to do a preliminary check of the house to make sure there was no structural damage. No one bothered to question the presence of the priest during the initial shake-up, but as they came back in and reported all-clears, their eyes all drifted to his collar. It was Mrs. Hatch who acknowledged him first.

“Father Mark! What in heaven’s name brings you out this time of night?”

“Just here offering my help in the investigation is all, my dear. But I must be going now. We’ll all convene over here in the morning?” he asked.

“Actually, there are other people involved as well,” Paul said. “Over at the old Woodbridge place, there is a gay couple who are privy to what is going on. I’d like them to hear what you told me tonight.” As soon as he finished talking, his cell phone rang.

“Jesus Paul what is happening?”

“Michelle—are you and the kids okay?”

“Yeah, they’re scared to death, though. Forget getting them back to sleep tonight.” She sounded afraid and exasperated.

“Why don’t you bring them here, huh? We can make them pallets on the floor for them to sleep on and put on some cartoons to chill them out.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. I miss you, and I’m scared out of my mind,” she admitted.

“Then we’ll leave a light on for you. I miss you too. Get the munchkins together and head this way. If you run into any trouble, ring me.”

“Okay. See you in a minute.”

David walked back in and nodded his head. “The epicenter is the lake again, as we thought.”

Paul raised his head toward the ceiling and muttered, “What are you up to, you son of a bitch?”

* * * * * * * *

It was beautiful where he was. He had never seen a place so lush and green and so full of life. Even the very air itself seemed to be filled with life, each molecule, each speck of dust, whirled around him like sentient beings investigating a curiosity. As his feet touched the ground and the grass gave way to his weight, it seemed to gently sigh as he kicked up the dust. The grass looked so green and thick, and the air was perfumed with the smell of a thousand blooms. The trees swayed gently on the breeze that slid through their leaves like a song so subtle that he felt that if he stood still long enough, he could almost make out the words.

Best of all, he could feel the wind against his face like the warm touch of a lover’s caress. The entire forest was alive, and he felt like he was a part of it. Not like an intruder who clomped through it hunting for game, nor a child who had wandered too far away sending the beasts running for hiding places to stare at him from the thicket. No, the forest was aware of him and accepted him, and as he walked through the trees, the whispers were not words of caution but of innocent curiosity.

He felt the warmth of the sun on his bare skin and felt the leaves crunch under his bare feet. It took him a moment to realize he was unclothed, and as he wandered naked through the flora, he didn’t feel out of place. Everything he needed or desired would be right here, should his belly grow empty or should the sun fade away into night. He was in awe and wonder at everything around him.

As the forest opened into a glen, a gentle creek ran the length of it, splitting the side of the field—and the forest, for that matter—in half. He did notice one thing: on the other side of the tributary, the field wasn’t quite as green, and as the grasses faded into browns and then disappeared altogether, the trees seemed gnarled, malformed, and ominous. Inside the forest, on the other side, it was shadowy and full of pitfalls, and he could swear there were eyes watching him that made him afraid.

He walked over to the creek, staring out over the land and into the oddity where thoughts of roaming beasts and stinging spiders would find him weak and frail and would take advantage of him instead of nursing him, like this side.

“You’re perceptive, Hayden.”

The voice didn’t scare him, because it was coming from this side. It was smooth and accented and very kind. He turned his head to see a man, as naked as he, walking toward him.

“Welcome to Eden. Well, not Eden, exactly. There is no tree of good or evil. I am using the closest word that you would understand to describe what you are seeing. This is paradise,” he said, taking step after step toward him.

“You’re Riley.” Hayden stared at him curiously. He was beautiful and reminded him of a man he once knew…but couldn’t quite name. The man smiled, and he couldn’t help but smile with him. He was right; it was Riley. “Am I dreaming?”

Riley reached out a hand and brushed it down the length of Hayden’s side causing the hairs on his arm to stand up and him to shiver. His touch wasn’t cold; in fact, it was very warm, but it was intimate and thus the shudder.

“Does that answer your question?” Riley asked.

“Then where am I?” Hayden asked.

“You’re in the field of choices. My people referred to it as that when we were the predominant faith in a time long since passed. We were druids, guardians of the earth and all its inhabitants. The side you’re standing on is the side of light, of healing, and of patience, where nature takes its course through gentleness with the natural order of things.

“The other side there is still nature, but a very different part of it. It is the place of turbulence and strife and darker elements to life. Here, you are one with nature, a part of it. It grants you your abilities because you respect it. Those who cross over to that side wish to dominate and master it, and some manage to convince themselves that they do, but they fall for the lie. Nature runs wild in both places.”

“It scares me to even look into it,” Hayden admitted.

“Then you have your senses about you. Some fall to ambition, others to curiosity, and they have walked inside the trees only to disappear within them.”

“Veronica,” Hayden spoke her name slowly. Riley turned his sad eyes towards him and nodded.

“That was my fault. She didn’t go over there on purpose, it was an accident. Within us all exists this place or some version of it. Different people call it different things, but everyone has a sense of it. Eden was never a place—it was the conscience. I had started to teach Veronica about this place. Her ability to grasp complex and abstract ideas was fascinating. She had a gift that I had not witnessed since I was a young one living with my family. You call it clairvoyant—an ability to see with your mind. That is what attracted me to her and her to me.

“I should have known better. I had been taught by the elders never to fall in love with an outsider, but I thought I could handle affairs of the heart and teach her the ways of my people. I was wrong, terribly wrong. The death of my physical body was so traumatic to her that she ran headlong into that side before she possibly knew what was happening. Like nature, her power unleashed itself upon the land and every malignant thing responded to the desperation of it.”

“You mean, everything that is going on isn’t her in control?” Hayden asked.

Riley shook his head. “No. In her grief, she summoned a maelstrom—a being so dark it literally sucks the life out of everything like a dying star. Yet, unlike a star, this being has a mind and a terrible thirst. It answered her call and ultimately destroyed her physical being.”

The clouds overhead darkened, and the wind shifted a little and blew steadier upon them. Riley looked up and frowned. “We have to hurry. It’s been looking for me.”

“The demon,” Hayden said.

Riley nodded. “I have been trying to reach her for almost as long as I’ve been dead in the physical sense. But it keeps her close, chained to it, but only recently has it gathered enough anger and vile feelings to punch through to your world and affect it. The earthquakes and such…are not as natural as your…scientific…friends first guessed. That is such a funny word to me—the search the world and wonder at things but leave the faith out of it. It doesn’t make sense. But I digress.”

“I’m sorry, Riley, for, you know, what happened to you two,” Hayden said apologetically.

Riley looked at him and smiled warmly. “Love is the wind around you, friend. It is the sea that lifts a ship to its highest peak and drops it to its lowest valley on waves that could consume it at any second. I made a terrible mistake in my venture to seek her hand in marriage, but I was lonely, and she seemed to answer my loneliness with love.”

“You can’t help who you fall in love with, Riley. I may not be a druid, but I know that much,” Hayden said sympathetically.

The man raised his head upward and laughed loud and full, clapping his hands in joy. “YES! Yes, you do. And you know what? You’re right! Now you understand that you cannot control love nor its path just like a leaf cannot control where it will end up when the wind ensnares it from a tree limb. It goes where it must,” Riley said, amused.

“These feelings I have for Tommy…this intensity…”

Riley looked a little embarrassed. “Yes, about that…”

“That was you?”

Riley winced, “Yes. However, the inclinations were already there. When that thing arrived, when it was empowered, so was I.”

“So, what do we do with Veronica?” Hayden asked.

Riley’s face fell. “What do you mean?”

“How do we get her out of there? How do we make this stop?”

Riley shook his head.

“There must be a way,” Hayden insisted.

“It’s too dangerous. I can’t ask you to help me.” Riley seemed to have shrunk into himself, the grief he had been carrying showing itself for the first time.

“Letting that thing loose on the earth is too dangerous. Those are my friends, and Tommy, I really like him. Mindless senseless death is awaiting the people who seek out the same things you and Veronica did. I can’t let that continue.”

“And who are you to try and stop these things? Do you think you can just tell it that it should flee and expect it to do so? Do you not think I would have tried that years ago?” Riley said angrily, throwing his hands in the air. His mood change made Hayden jump, and he was reminded of a dry riverbed seconds before the torrential rains sends a flash flood barreling through. But his fear was matched with his anger, which also flared.

“Look, pal, I know you loved your woman, and some really bad shit happened to the both of you, and I am trying to help! But your bad incident is spilling over onto everyone else’s life and destroying everything in its wake! Now, if you want to take responsibility for damning Veronica then you had better be ready to take responsibility for damning everyone else afterward! We will not be made to pay for your sins. That, sir, is who I am!” Hayden advanced upon the man and actually poked him in the chest with his forefinger.

“And that passion is what we need, Hayden. Please forgive me for angering you. I just needed to be sure you were ready for this. You’re right, I cannot let this continue. It throws the nature of things out of alignment. What walks Lake Veronica does not belong there. It belongs on the other side of life, and we have to contain it once more before it ensnares anyone else,” Riley said, the anger completely gone from his face.

Hayden took a step back, equally deflated, and was about to speak again when the floor under his feet began to shake. “Riley, what’s happening?”

“He’s found us. You must go. GO!” Wide-eyed, Riley made one quick motion with his hand and suddenly…

* * *

He was wide awake and being dragged through the house by Tommy. The walls around him shook hard and fast, and picture frames fell and busted on impact. The sound of breaking glass and groaning support beams filled his head.

“I’m awake, Tommy, put me down!” he ordered, but Tommy didn’t hear him, or he wasn’t paying attention. Tommy struggled to maintain footing on the stairs going down and jumped the last few, stumbling onward until he reached an archway. As soon as they got there, the rattling stopped.

“What the hell?” Tommy pinned Hayden between himself and the wall.

“It’s okay, Tommy. I’m awake,” Hayden said, his voice muffled by the proximity of the man.

“I tried to shake you awake, Hayden, and it was like you were in a coma. What’s going on here?” Before Hayden could answer, the radio on the kitchen counter crackled to life. It was Paul calling for them.

Tommy made his way into the kitchen and stopped dead, his hand reaching out for the radio. He sniffed once, twice, and a third time to confirm what he thought he smelled. Gas, and a lot of it. He looked over at the pilot lights on the stove and reached again for the radio.

Grabbing it quickly, and like a football player charges the defensive line, he had Hayden on his shoulders and was out the door before Hayden knew what was going on. They were about twenty yards away when the house went up in a rush of flames and exploding timbers.

The shock wave hit them full force in the back, lifting both men up and tossing them like a child would discard an unwanted toy. Both felt the heat of the blast as it carried them up and away from the inferno. Hayden landed first, flat on his back, and the impact knocked the wind out of him. Tommy careened hard to the right, Hayden’s weight no longer upon him, and his feet were taken out from underneath him as he landed on his right shoulder.

Hayden coughed and tried to sit up, stars swimming in his vision. His neck felt like he’d been standing out in the sun for too long. He looked over at what was left of his house, of his things, as it burned. His mind couldn’t register what he was seeing.

Tommy? Where’s Tommy? He looked over to see the man lying on his side in the gravel, eyes closed, pale and limp. Just a foot away from where he lay, the radio crackled again with the sound of Paul’s voice, but it was the way Tommy looked that sprang him into action.

He tried to stand but couldn’t. His legs were so rubbery they wouldn’t support him, so instead he low-crawled to where Tommy was. His mind was racing, his heartbeat keeping pace with his thoughts, and his mouth as dry as the Sahara. No, no, no, no, no, Tommy, he heard himself say repeatedly in his head.

“Tommy. Come on, baby. Wake up. Tommy!” Hayden shook him. The man groaned once then was silent. The radio crackled again.

“Is everyone all right? Hayden, Tommy? Are guys okay?”

Hayden scrambled to the radio and keyed the mic. “No, Paul we’re not okay. I need an ambulance immediately to my house. The earthquake must have knocked a gas line loose. The house is gone. Tommy’s hurt, Paul. Please send help.”

“All right, Hayden. Amanda is calling now. I’m on my way. Stay right where you are.”

Hayden dropped the radio and reached for Tommy, who was lifeless and limp, and gathered him into his lap. They had both put on pajama pants after making love, and now Hayden was shivering so hard his teeth were chattering. But it wasn’t from the cold; it was from fear. He reached down and felt for a pulse, found one, but the fact that he couldn’t wake Tommy scared him. He rubbed the Tommy’s arms and chest, begging him to wake up as the tears flowed down his face.

“Come on, baby. Come on, Tommy. Wake up. Wake up. Come on. Don’t do this to me,” he sobbed. In the distance, he heard sirens, but they seemed an eternity away.

The adrenaline that filled his body and masked his own injuries was slowly sliding out of his system, and Hayden hurt all over. But it didn’t matter to him. Compounded with what had just happened and the fact that Tommy had saved his life—saved both of their lives—it was a little more than he could handle. The situation looked all too familiar to him.

“GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!” he screamed out into the night. Nothing answered him but the wail of the approaching emergency vehicles and the roar of the fire consuming everything it could eat.

He leaned over and with bruised lips, kissed his lover on the mouth. “Please don’t go, Tommy. Please, stay here with me. Please don’t go where I can’t follow. I love you,” he cried as he held the man.

Before he knew it, he was surrounded with emergency personnel who tried to pry Hayden’s arms from around Tommy. It was like everything had launched into slow motion; he felt the medics lift him up and the two of them parting ways. He was so sore and so tired that he was struggling to hold onto consciousness when he spotted Paul and Michelle come running over to the scene. As the oxygen mask slid over his face and his eyes closed, the two of them split up, and Paul charged into the back of the ambulance to sit with Hayden as Michelle darted for the other one. His last thought was of his lover before he slid headfirst into the void.

* * * * * * * *

Paul stood with bloodshot eyes next to Michelle as they waited in the room where doctors and nurses came to deliver news. The entire crew was here, and it was like they were all a family waiting to hear that Grandma had gone on to be with the Lord. There was that sense about it, about them—the dimly lit space, the comfortable chairs and sofas distributed around the room— all made to look like a parlor from home. On the center coffee table sat a stack of People magazines discussing Christina Aguilera’s choice to let herself gain a few pounds and why Michael Jackson’s death was murder. The end tables had strategically placed boxes of Kleenex for those who lost it when the bad news was delivered. Paul kept his eyes off those boxes for fear that just their mere presence would pull the threatening emotions from him.

He didn’t know what was happening to him. A few weeks ago, he’d been a loner, someone who was married to his work, and now here he was falling in love repeatedly with a group of strangers who had touched him in places he didn’t know he had hidden inside. There were thousands of reasons to pack his bags and leave this place in his rearview mirror, but there were a million more that fervently voiced their objections.

One of the biggest reasons was standing next to him. Her presence had a calming effect. After the earthquake, she and the kids showed up, and the shake-up had done its job on everyone. But when she walked in, suddenly the upheaval stopped and she quieted the chaos for a brief second. That was until the cry for help was sounded on the radio by a shaken Hayden.

The trip over to the hospital had been excruciatingly slow. The authorities contacted Tommy’s mother, who was also in the waiting room being introduced to everyone all at once. Mrs. and Mr. Hatch stayed back to watch the children, but David, Amanda, Robert, and Cassandra were all here. The house was, as Hayden said, a total loss. It had taken the brunt of the quake along with some cabins on the other side of the lake. Other people had been brought in by ambulance from within the community but only for minor injuries sustained in the shake-up.

That didn’t mean the ER wasn’t crowded. On the contrary, it was roaring with life, with people complaining about something or another, and as Paul and Michelle had walked through earlier, they noticed the sallow expressions on the faces of the people around them. Michelle brought it up as they waited to hear word from the doctor about the preliminary examinations of both Hayden and Tommy.

“It looks like there is a black cloud over everyone. Look at them,” she said.

Paul had nodded and was about to speak when the ER doctor walked through. They collectively held their breath as he told them both were stable for the time being, and that Tommy was being rushed upstairs to surgery. Hayden had suffered a few broken ribs and a concussion, but Tommy had taken the brunt of the explosion. They were worried the shock wave had damaged his lungs and had found one on the brink of collapse. His heart and his brain were fine, but the damage to his lung worried them enough to wheel him up to the operating room where they would re-inflate it and treat the other lacerations and burns he sustained in the blast.

Two hours later, Hayden was still asleep. The painkillers they had given him were keeping him subdued, and it would be a little while before he woke up. Now they were waiting to hear word about Tommy. Michelle grabbed Paul’s arm as soon as Dr. Flemish walked in the door and spotted the mother. He walked over to her and smiled.

“The operation went really well. He did well. You have a strong son, Mrs. Law,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. “Who is Hayden?”

Paul spoke up. “Hayden was taken down by Dr. Greene. He’s the other…victim in the explosion. He’s Tommy’s…friend.” He didn’t want to out Tommy to his mother in case she didn’t know. He gave the doctor an exaggerated look, hoping it would click in. Understanding passed his eyes, and he nodded his head.

“Okay. Well, Tommy is awake and asking for him. Mrs. Law, if you want to see your son, follow me. Are you his…?” the doctor asked, letting his voice trail off.

“He’s a family friend. Thank you, Doctor. Can you show us the way?” Tommy’s mother asked, standing up and shouldering her purse.

“Yes, follow me.” Doctor Flemish walked passed them.

Paul kissed Michelle on the cheek and turned to follow the doctor and Mrs. Law down the hall. They passed by room after room before they were led into a private room where the orderly had just wheeled Tommy in. It pained Paul to see him like this. His face was white while his eyes were black and blue, and the skin around his neck was bright red.

He wasn’t intubated and seemed to be breathing fine on his own, but he did have an oxygen tube running down from his nose. As soon as they walked in, he looked over at Paul and tried to sit up. Mrs. Law put a hand on his chest and pushed him back down, gently but firmly.

“Hayden,” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Paul leaned in and took the large man’s hand. “Hayden is fine. I promise, Tommy. He’s in another room. He suffered a concussion and the doctors have him under a little so that the swelling can go down. You’re both very lucky to be alive.”

Mrs. Law walked around the bed and pulled up a chair next to her son. “How are you feeling?”

Paul watched her put a hand over his forehead and smiled to himself. She was the type of woman who never let her feelings show and would later have a good cry about the whole thing, but for the time being, she was large and in charge.

“Hurt. Thirsty,” he said. The nurse walked in and brushed past Paul, who immediately got out of her way. She pulled out a fresh bag of saline and replaced the other one that was almost empty.

“He can have a few sips of water. We need to get him as hydrated as possible to make sure he can pass urine. The meds may make him a little nauseous so take it slow. As soon as he gets the urge to go, come get me and I’ll come in.” With that, she was gone down the hall to check on her other patients.

Tommy’s mother took the Styrofoam cup and walked it down the hall to the ice machine. Once she was gone, Tommy looked at Paul again; he may have been put down a couple of notches, but his eyes were wary and alert.

“Please…tell me the truth. Is he okay?”

“I promise, Tommy. He is just fine. You’ll be able to see each other before too long I—” Paul was interrupted by the sound of commotion coming from outside. He poked his head out and glanced to the left to see Mrs. Law stop dead in her tracks, then to the right where a bunch of nurses were trying to stop Hayden as he marched down the hallway, barefoot, in a gown, towing his IV pole. A look of sheer determination radiated from his eyes, and even though he seemed to be in a considerable amount of pain, hunched over from the broken ribs, he moved down that hallway like a force of nature.

“Either you get the hell away from me or I will sue this hospital from the highest doctor to the lowliest orderly, so help me God. MOVE!” he barked as he charged down.

Seeing Paul, Hayden sped up his gait and barged into the room. The second he laid eyes on Tommy, and it clicked in his brain that he was alive, Hayden slumped backwards with relief so fast that Paul had to catch him on his feet. Mrs. Law was right behind him with the cup of ice in hand.

Hayden took tentative steps forward and sat on the edge of the bed. He was still clad in his pajama bottoms, the doctors probably feeling it was unnecessary to remove them, so he didn’t have to worry about his bare ass hanging out of the gown that he also had on. The two stared at each other for a brief second, and Paul watched Hayden picked up Tommy’s right hand and placed it on the side of his own face.

* * * * * * * *

He hurt, badly, his chest felt caved in, and it was hard to breathe. But the moment his eyes clicked open, everything came rushing back at him so fast he was on his feet and making his way down the hallway before the nurses could figure out what was going on.

Every step he took felt like an eternity, and even though his breath was ragged and it hurt to inhale, he was so afraid that the thoughts about Tommy parading his mind were strangling the life out of him, he risked the exertion.

He’s dead, he’s dying…the thoughts rolled in, one right after the other with each step he took. He had no idea where he was going but was thankful to see Paul when he stuck his head out of the door. Had he been in better condition, he would have bolted for the room, but his legs would only carry him so fast and he didn’t want to fall. His mind reeled with memories of Malcolm’s death; it was going to take a small army to stop him.

The moment he laid eyes on him however, all the steam suddenly evaporated, and he remembered backing up, suddenly grateful to Paul for catching him.

He was afraid to even believe what he was seeing. There was Tommy, bruised up and battered, but very much alive, and on shaky legs, Hayden made his way to the bedside. He picked up Tommy’s hand and placed it on the side of his face, closing his eyes for a second just to confirm he wasn’t dreaming. He wasn’t. He could feel the warmth of it and felt the fingers brush back and forth along his cheek.

He opened his eyes and finally, the reality struck him. Tommy was alive and well, and suddenly his vision was swimming, his throat constricted, and tears rolled down his face.

“Shh, it’s okay. Shh, sweetheart, it’s fine. I’m right here,” Tommy whispered as he stroked his cheek, but that didn’t help the situation. It made him cry harder as he leaned down and rested his head on Tommy’s chest and sobbed. This was not the time for being shy—he couldn’t have cared less about who was in the room. Instead, he wept openly and felt his lover’s arms reach around and hold him.

“I thought you were gone, Tommy,” Hayden sobbed into his shoulder.

The wall that Hayden had started picking apart around Tommy’s heart all came crumbling down at once, and his eyes welled up too. He’d never thought he’d feel this way about anyone, nor that anyone would feel so much about him in return. He’d been terrified Hayden had been lost, and now here they were, broken up and badly bruised, but alive.

As Tommy held his lover in his arms, Paul ducked out of the room, and Tommy’s mother came over to the bedside and sat in the chair. She watched her son weep with the man who was obviously more than just a friend and it took Tommy a moment to even register her presence.

Hayden lifted his head and sat back on the bed, wiping the tears out of his eyes. He turned his head for a brief second and saw the woman sitting there. Tommy’s gaze followed his as he turned his head on his pillow. He chuckled deep and low, the pain in his body making him wince.

“Hayden, this is my mom. Mom, this is Hayden, my boyfriend,” he said, looking her in the eye.

She smiled from ear to ear and leaned over and shook Hayden’s hand. “Pleased to meet you, Hayden.”

“You too, Mrs. Law. Sorry it had to be like this.” Hayden was very embarrassed by the amount of PDA they had just exchanged.

“Please, call me Annette. I’m just happy the both of you are all right,” she said, sitting back in her chair. She was watching Hayden curiously, and Hayden was grateful when everyone came bursting into the room at once. They surrounded the bed immediately, everyone talking at once. Michelle was crying, and Cassandra and David were both grinning, as was Paul.

Tommy laughed, as did Hayden, at the reception they received. Finally, the nurse came in and ordered everyone out of the room; it was time for her patients to rest. The room was a double occupancy, and the other bed was empty, so they arranged for Hayden to stay with Tommy. The nurse, relieved to see Hayden had calmed down, quietly agreed and moved his things from the other room.

Daylight was coming in the window, and as they settled down within arm’s reach of each other, Hayden was finally able to relax. As comfortably as he could, he slid under the blankets of his hospital bed and fell asleep to the murmurs of Tommy and his mother.

* * * * * * * *

Tommy stopped talking to his mother long enough to look over and see Hayden fast asleep. He was snoring loudly, the medication they’d given him working its magic. He winced slightly as he turned back and rested his head back on his pillow.

His mother watched him curiously. “Are you all right?”

He nodded, fighting off the pull of his own drugged-up mind to stay awake. “Yeah, I’m good. Going to be sore for a while, but I’ve been worse.”

“I remember,” she said.

“Mom. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…you know, about Hayden. It was too new, and I wasn’t sure.”

His mother continued to watch him. Her son, the last of his father’s namesake, the rebel, the fighter, the hero, struggling to find words to express his feelings for Hayden. She had reservations about it, but now wasn’t the time. Things had to play out naturally. She’d never seen him so miserable as when he’d been dating the girl from the restaurant. Call it woman’s intuition, but she’d always had a sneaking suspicion that her son was different, and that Suzie was just a way for him to mask who he really was. Annette figured it had just been because he missed the service so much, but no; the hole inside him was far deeper than that.

“I love you, Tommy, and life is life. If Hayden makes you happy then that is the only thing I can ask. I’ve watched you try so hard, go through so many struggles and come out of it more or less intact, but just do me a favor. When you want to introduce someone else to me, it doesn’t have to be this dramatic please? Or do you want to see me in a cigar box covered in licorice?” she asked, quoting their mutual favorite line from Poltergeist.

He smiled at his mother. The years have been kind to her, and she was still as beautiful as ever, but he saw traces of age creeping in. Behind her, the sun was peeking up over the mountains and bathed her in its orange-yellow light. She was the angel she had always been.

“Thank you, Mom. I mean that,” he said as his eyes began to close. He tried to open them back up, but she leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead and smoothed her hand over his face. Her touch was light as a feather.

“Sleep, son. I’ll keep watch over you until you’re awake.”

He smiled a silly smile that reminded her of when he was just a little boy. “And Hayden too?” he asked, just barely hanging on to consciousness.

She chuckled softly. “Yes, Hayden too.”

And with her blessing, he followed Hayden into slumber, hoping to catch him in a dream somewhere safe. Somewhere other than Maplewood and the nightmare that was plaguing them.