“I’m sorry,” Drake said to me.
“He’s really sorry,” Ken said, his own words slurred. “He had a fight with Maureen and she threatened him with a restraining order.”
I helped Drake to the sofa and then went back to the door where Ken was leaning against the doorjamb.
“Thanks for bringing him home. I hope you two took a taxi.”
“We did,” Ken said and smiled crookedly. “Take it easy, buddy,” he said to Drake, who was leaning back on the sofa, his eyes closed, his jacket still on. Drake didn’t say anything, just waved his hand in response.
Ken left and I closed the door behind him, turning back to a very quiet Drake. Had he fallen asleep? How drunk was he?
I knelt down in front of him and removed his shoes, one after the other. He cracked his eyes open and watched me.
“That’s what I like to see – you on your knees before me.” He grinned.
I smiled in return, glad that he still had his sense of humor. “Any time,” I said wryly, “oh, Lord and Master.”
“Master sounds good,” he replied and closed his eyes once more. “Not much of one tonight. Sorry but I needed a drink and didn’t want to bother you so I went to O’Riley’s. I know you’re working on your paper.”
“It’s okay.”
Then, I removed his gloves and pulled his arms out of his coat sleeves before nestling next to him.
“What happened?”
He shrugged and slipped his arm around my shoulders. “Nothing really to tell except I snuck in to see Liam and Maureen threatened me with a restraining order. Can you believe it?”
I shook my head. “No, I can’t. The boy is yours, Drake. You saved his life. The least she could do is let you see him.”
“My thoughts exactly. I had a little help from Jim Kerrigan, one of the oncologists who treated Liam. He let me sneak in while Maureen was down in the cafeteria getting something to eat but she came back sooner than we thought.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “She’s going to do her best to keep you from him. Maybe when he’s more grown up and is ready to understand things, she’ll let you two meet.”
“I’ll miss his entire life,” Drake said, his voice cracking with emotion.
“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry. Let me get you a drink of water and some Tylenol. You should go to bed.”
I helped him up and he walked with me to our bedroom. Once there, I sat him on the side of the bed and began to undress him. He watched me closely, but whereas he would usually get a gleam in his eyes when I undressed him, the gleam promising me a great deal of pleasure, he didn’t have any kind of gleam that night.
“You’re so good to me,” he said.
“I am,” I said and smiled, wanting to lighten the mood. “It’s only because I love you.”
He pulled me into his arms at that. “I love you.”
We kissed, but it didn’t dev
elop into anything more. Once he was naked, I rolled him into bed and under the covers. He sighed heavily and snuggled down into the thick coverlet.
“Don’t fall asleep yet,” I said and leaned down and kissed his cheek. “I have to get your Tylenol and water.”
I left him and got a glass of water and the pills, and then returned. He sat up briefly, took the pills and drank down the entire glass.
“When’s your next surgery?” I said, feeling bad that he had to work in the morning.
“None tomorrow. Just a class and office hours.”
“That’s good,” I said and took the empty glass away. “Go to sleep.”