Page 138 of Sapphire Spring

After the sun rose, they left one by one, and after herefused to leave with them, he curled up in the chair again and drifted off.

Hours later, someone whispered his name. He opened his eyesand saw the room was empty. Pete was outside, in quiet conversation with one ofthe nurses.

“Nas.”

He spun to the bed and saw Mason’s blue eyes staring back athis. There was recognition in them.

“I thought we said no broken bones,” Mason whispered.

Weeping, Naser brought their lips together.

When Mason managed to gently return the kiss, he cried evenharder.

37

Four days after his surgery, Masonwas surrounded by a garden.

Orchids were lined up like spindly soldiers along thewindowsill, and each corner of his room sported several potted ferns. Among theexpectedGet Wellballoons and basicflower arrangements, Naser had worked with Mason’s friends at Green Mountain tofill the room with plantings, heavy and moist. When he gazed at them, he couldbriefly forget that he was trapped in a hospital and would be for another weekor so.

Every day they reduced his pain meds a little bit more. Thispleased him.

He’d insisted Shirley come in to talk over the medicationprotocol with the doctors. She wasn’t a medical professional, but pills hadbeen more of her poison, and she had a good grasp of which prescriptions were themost addictive.

So far, so good.

The hospital controlled the dosages, and after the two ofthem made Mason’s addiction issues clear, the doctors promised to employ moreanti-inflammatories than narcotics, so long as Mason’s stomach could tolerateit.

There’d been plenty of visitors since he’d been moved to hisprivate room. The hardest had been Tony at Pine Rise, who blamed himself forthe theft and assured Mason they were formulating a new commitment ritual thatdidn’t involve leaving resident’s phones unsecured for most of the day. Tony’sguilt was so palpable, his sense that he’d betrayed Mason so great, it hadtaken Mason an hour to calm the man down.

His surprise visit from his mother paled in comparison. Hehadn’t seen her since he was a teenager, and even then, it had been a one-daydrop in following years of absence. She looked so different now as to be almostunrecognizable, and when she’d first entered his room, he’d thought she was aconsulting doctor he’d yet to meet. As always, she was gentle and sweet. Butshe talked to him like they were both passengers on a long plane flight who’djust met. There was no sign of her man of the moment. When she left, she didn’tsay when she’d be back. And he knew better than to ask.

Above all, there was one visitor who commanded his fullattention. She’d been a regular. But as Mason’s condition had improved, she’dgrown progressively more distant—Naser’s mother.

She was, no doubt, the parent from which Naser had inheritedhis crisp, businesslike manner, his focus on efficiency. Mahin did not leave aroom without straightening at least three or four things in it first. In herworld, everything seemed to have its perfect place, and if her increasingcoldness was any indicator, she wasn’t quite sure where Mason belonged in hers.

Every day, he and Naser tried to figure out a way for Naserto crawl up into bed with him, but they still hadn’t come up with a method thatdidn’t involve knocking the wind out of Mason or injuring his crotch. SometimesConnor helped. But today they were on their own. Naser had slid under one ofMason’s plaster-encased arms like a limbo player before gently rolling over,ending up face down on Mason’s chest as if he’d dropped down from the center ofthe ceiling.

“Is this working?” Naser asked into Mason’s hospital gown.“I mean, are wesnugglingor do you feel attacked?”

“You’re lucky I got bathed earlier.”

Naser lifted his head up from Mason’s chest. “I’m sorry,who’s bathing you?”

“Relax. It was Nancy.”

“How’s that supposed to make me relax? You’re bisexual.”

“Nancy’s not, and she’s been married to her wife Glynis forsix years.”

“Okay. I feel better. But my arm’s asleep.”

“Mine are both broken, so you’re not going to get anysympathy from me.”

Naser brought his lips inches from Mason’s, and Mason felt afrustrated, ravenous hunger for the man rise in him, a hunger held down bycasts and persistent aches throughout his body and the general inconvenience ofbeing hospitalized on a long-term basis.

“Ten bucks says if we start making out right now, my momwill walk in.”

“Safe bet. Isn’t this when she gets off work?”

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