Page 76 of Light Up
He could see the incredulous looks on their faces but he kept going. “We even entered a talent contest. I sang and played my guitar. Tal did number tricks, working out people’s birthdays.”
Benjamin elbowed Louis. “Tal can do that.”
“Yes, but can you see him doing any of the rest? There was no hotel. They were found in his car. They probably talked as they waited for help. The other stuff, he’s making up.”
“That’s what I remember happening.” Corey wasn’t going to say anything about sex and what he and Tal discussed and…
“You need to leave,” Louis said. “He doesn’t need his head filling with nonsense.”
Corey sighed and pushed to his feet, steeling himself against the pain. He wanted Tal to have his phone number but he didn’t trust these guys to give it to him. He’d come back after they’d gone.
He slowly made his way back to the ward. He was dizzy, and his head, foot and side ached. No one seemed to have noticed that he’d left. Wasn’t that the story of his life! Exhausted by the effort that little excursion had taken, the moment his head hit the pillow, he fell fast asleep.
When he woke, it was night again. Corey waited until he was sure there was no one around, then climbed out of bed. He had to sit for a moment when a wave of dizziness swept over him, then he headed back to intensive care. He could always claim he was lost or confused if anyone challenged him. But no one stopped him or even looked at him as he made his way to Tal’s side, except it wasn’t Tal in the bed. Corey freaked out. It was only sheer force of will that stopped him screaming.
He had no choice but to go to the nurse’s station and ask where Tal was. He felt sick as he waited to be noticed.
“Hi.” A nurse finally spotted him. “Can I help you?”
“Tal Whittaker?”Please, please, please!If they told him Tal was dead… He didn’t know what he’d do.
“He’s been moved. Ward Four. What are you doing out of bed?”
“I was worried about him. We were in the same car crash.”
“It’s too late to be wandering around. Go back to bed. See him in the morning.”
Corey nodded. He was in Ward Three. Four was across the corridor. Just a quick look was all he wanted.
He found Tal in a bed at the far end of the ward. Corey sat out of sight of the nurses’ station, next to the window. Tal didn’t look any different. Ghostly pale and still. Corey wished he could talk to him, but he didn’t want to disturb him. He was nervous about opening the bedside cabinet. The last thing he needed was to be accused of being a thief, but he pushed a piece of paper with his name and phone number into the pocket of Tal’s suit jacket. No one spotted him, and he heaved a quiet sigh of relief.
Corey talked to Tal quietly. Not about Solas Suas, but about his mum and dad, and Jim, things he hadn’t told him before. “My dad died of a heart attack. He’d given me breakfast, Coco Pops and a banana, then walked me to school. He’d talked about a holiday in the summer, said we’d go to Norfolk to the seaside. He gave me a hug, said, “Be good,” and that was the last time I saw him. I was sent to see the head just before lunch and he was the one who told me my dad was dead. Social services came to get me. Mum had fallen apart and been admitted to hospital.”
He’d fallen apart too but not enough to need a hospital. “I was looked after by a foster family for several weeks until my mum was able to look after me. Not that she really ever did after that. Not like she had before. I think my mum was the sort of person who needed someone looking after her, doing stuff for her, taking care of her, telling her what to do. Dad used to do almost everything.”
Now he wondered if his dad had done too much, made his mum needy and dependent. But she’d still been a good mum and Corey had loved her.
“She got addicted to painkillers and overdosed. It was an accident. She loved me. She said I was all she had, that my green eyes reminded her so much of my dad. She wouldn’t have left me. I know she wouldn’t. I went to live with my uncle, her brother. Jim didn’t really want me around. Especially after I came out as gay.”
He gave a little sigh. “Jim said—I’m not homophobic but…I don’t thinkbutshould ever follow those words because it’s obvious what followswillbe anti-gay. Just likeI’m not racist but…Yeah, if you say that, then you probably are. I don’t think Jim meant to be unkind but he was. Still is.”
Corey wondered if there was enough room for him to lie on the bed next to Tal. Probably not. But he wished he could.
“I need you to wake up and remember everything. Then I’ll know I’m not crazy. Except they’ll think you’re crazy too.” He bit his lip. “I miss you. I miss talking to you.”I miss touching you. I miss lining up your cutlery. I miss your smile.“I want you to ask me to hug you again. Remember doing that?”
Corey found himself crying and the next moment, a nurse was looming over him.
“What are you doing here? Which ward are you from?”
“Three.”
“Then get back to bed. Now! It’s the middle of the night.”
She followed Corey to the door. Corey turned before he left. “Is Tal getting better? Has he woken?”
“What relationship are you to him?”
“His boyfriend.”Oh God. I’m not, am I?Tal wouldn’t say that about him.
