Page 18 of Deep Down
“Yes, everything’s fine. But if I work today, I can take off whichever day you will be coming out of here. I’ll be there all day to help you.” Darren tilted his head. “That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
Craig smiled. “Oh, thank you. It will be a long week for you. Are you sure?”
Darren returned the smile. “Yeah, it’s alright.”
He left twenty minutes later, saying he’d ring the hospital for updates and be there later tonight for visiting hours, or to pick him up if he ended up being discharged that night. Craig was under no illusion he was leaving that night. It would be tomorrow for definite.
Craig stared at the square tiles of the ceiling for a long time, not thinking about anything. It wasn’t often he had time to…be. Usually, his time was filled with tasks and routines, and what downtime he did have, was spent sleeping or with Darren. He could feel an itch beneath his skin to keep busy. But there was nothing he could do while relegated to the bed.
Interrupting his musings, Gloria, one of the nurses who’d been in to see him that morning, came in all smiles. “Good morning, Mr Talbot. How are you feeling today?” She stepped around the bed to the chart, which printed out continually, checked it and wrote something on it.
“I’m alright, thank you. And please, call me Craig.” He smiled.
“Craig, it is. Are you feeling any pain?” she asked, wrapping a cuff around his upper arm.
He shook his head. “Dr Wick gave me some tablets not long ago.”
“Well, if you do feel pain at all, press the button and someone will come and check you over and see if you can have some more pain relief, alright?”
He nodded.
“God, I don’t envy you being in this bed. I was in it many a time years ago. But my current husband is a nice man and loves nothing more than spoiling me.” She chuckled. “I do wish he’d quit trying to feed me up.” She gave a put-upon sigh as she patted her stomach.
“Better to feed you than starve you.” Craig chuckled. “How did you end up laid up?”
Gloria sighed and patted his hand as she removed the cuff and wrote on his file. “My ex-boyfriend was not a nice person. Too many times to count over the three years I was with him, I ended up here, broken and bleeding.” She shook her head. “Good riddance, I say.”
Craig didn’t reply. He didn’t know whether she had been put up to saying something about abuse or not, but it wasn’t the same situation. Gloria’s boyfriend was an asshole; Darren loved him and needed Craig to help him calm his anger. That’s all. Nobody seemed to understand their relationship, but that was okay. They understood that was all that mattered.
The nurses were in and out the rest of the day, checking his obs and bringing him food, and on one occasion, a nurse brought him a book and a couple of magazines. He had a TV in the room but didn’t put it on; he wasn’t one for watching it and enjoyed the quiet instead.
He thought about what had happened the past week. Since he’d met Dr Wick, he’d become more aware of Darren’s anger and some of the things Craig did to keep the peace. He didn’t mind doing them, he simply hadn’t understood he did it. He believed himself to be clever, being a website designer, he had to have some smarts to find tiny errors and fix them, but if other people are commenting on his life…was there something to what they were saying?
The situation last week was his own fault. They’d been in the middle of having sex, and beforehand Craig had agreed to what Darren had requested. He’d started feeling uncomfortable with the situation and asked Darren to stop, which he had. But Darren had grown angry because Craig had gone back on his word. Darren said he felt like he couldn’t trust Craig to be truthful to him because he could take it back again later. He could see what Darren was saying. It was why Darren had gotten so upset, and Craig hadn’t been able to calm him as Craig was usually able to.
He wasn’t sure how anyone could say it was a case of abuse? He wasn’t scared of Darren. Craig knew Darren loved him and took care of him; otherwise, Craig wouldn’t be living with him.
Frowning, his thoughts went around and around in vicious circles, and Craig was no better off than when he first started thinking about it all. Because he was cranky, he snapped at the nurse bringing his dinner. But he apologised profusely straight away.
After dinner, Dr Wick came to see him. “Is Mr Corrigan not here?” he asked.
Craig shook his head. “He had to work.”
“Really.” It wasn’t stated as a question, and it rankled.
“Yes. For your information, Dr Wick, Darren went to work today so he could have the day off when I leave here.” His response was brusque.
The doctor had the decency to blush. “I apologise, that was rude of me.”
Craig didn’t reply, simply twisted his head away.
The doctor cleared his throat. “Please call me Alex. Anyway, your tests have come back, and I would like to keep you again overnight. It’s a precaution.”
“No problem.” Craig refused to look at him.
“Going back to my earlier question, do you feel like you will be in danger if you leave the hospital?”
Craig’s head whipped around to meet Alex’s gaze with his own widened version. “What? No! Why would I be in danger?” He paused. “Do you know what, don’t answer. I know I’m not in danger. Darren didn’t hurt me on purpose, it was an accident.”
