Painted On My Heart
“We’re pulling up now. Where are you?”
“In the emergency room waiting room.” Luckily, Arik had gone that way, pulling into a parking space. They both hopped out of the car the instant it was in park. “The sheriff’s here. John’s in surgery. We need to see him, make sure it’s him. No one else in the van made it.”
“Shit, Dad. We’re coming in,” Kellus replied, Arik matching him stride for stride up the walkway. His father and the sheriff met him right outside the entrance. His father came right up to him, no hesitation as he took him in his arms and hugged him tightly.
“We thought it was you. I’m sorry, son. I didn’t intend for things to end up like they did. We were wrong,” his father said quietly in his ear, holding him tighter.
“It’s all right, Dad,” Kellus managed, his voice clogging with emotion as he held his father a second longer.
“It’s not all right, son.” His father’s grip became steel. He could feel his father’s body quiver in his arms. When he finally stopped crying and gathered his composure, he said, “We only wanted what was best for you. We made a terrible mistake. I’m sorry.”
His father finally stepped away, and Kellus nodded. What could he say? There were so many things he wanted to express, but now wasn’t the time. He looked over at Arik. The intensity remained etched on his lover’s face as he quickly made the introduction.
“Dad, this is Arik. He’s my…” His words faltered. Boyfriend seemed too small a word to convey everything Arik meant to him.
“His boyfriend,” Arik supplied, his voice as hard as the look in his eyes as he stuck out a hand in greeting. Kellus’s father, who seemed surprised by the declaration, only hesitated a second before shaking Arik’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Arik. I’m Paul. This is Sheriff Brown.” Kellus’s father introduced the robust man standing next to him.
Arik shook the sheriff’s hand, both men acknowledging the other. After introductions were made, the sheriff turned to Kellus, in investigation mode.
“Do you have any idea what happened tonight?”
He was hoping the sheriff could answer that question. Instead, Arik held all the answers tonight.
“If it’s John in there, he’s been terrorizing Kellus.” The sound of protectiveness in Arik’s voice helped some of his fear recede. “I understand he stole the van that was parked in the driveway and used it to crash into Kellus’s studio in the backyard.”
The sheriff took a pen and pad from his pocket. “How do you know this?”
“I have people watching the house. He wasn’t in there long, but from what I’ve been told, there’s significant damage.”
“Are your people available to speak with us?”
“Yes. They’re waiting at his house. I believe they called in the crime, but had no idea of the accident.”
“We’re dealing with two counties. I need to make a phone call.” The sheriff tucked his notepad back in his pocket while he reached for his phone. He started to step away, but Kellus stopped him.
“So there were others in the van?”
The sheriff nodded at him grimly. The expression said it all, but he still wanted the verbal confirmation.
“They didn’t make it?”
“No, they didn’t.”
Kellus felt dizzy; his stomach roiled. This not only touched his life, but all the other families of the people inside that van.
“So John could be one of them?”
“Technically, yes, but from the description I’ve been given, I have a hunch that it’s John on that operating table, son.”
Kellus nodded at his father, swallowing the lump in his throat. He looked back at the sheriff. “He’s HIV positive and has a serious meth problem.”
“My guess is that the hospital staff has figured that out by now, but you should tell them inside,” the sheriff said, then turned his attention to the phone call.
Kellus ventured a look up at his father who didn’t say a word; he didn’t have to. The devastation was written all over his face. He should go ahead and lay it all out in the open, confirm the fear in his father’s eyes, but he couldn’t, not right then.
“Sir,” a nurse called from the doorway, interrupting the moment, and thankfully drawing the attention away from him.
“Let’s go inside. Take things in steps,” Arik urged, his voice tender as he wrapped a protective arm around Kellus and turned him toward the front doors of the hospital. Kellus moved forward only to hear Arik’s soothing voice. “Sir, let’s go inside. You’ve had a lot to absorb tonight.”
Kellus never looked back as he tucked his hands inside his pockets and followed the nurse.
~?~
Arik sat in the hard plastic chair with his elbows perched on his knees, his phone in his hands, reading the messages coming from his security team. They were astonishingly fast at gathering information and none of it was good. John and his hoodlums were probably en route to Arik’s penthouse when the accident took place. The highway was still shut down from the wreck. John hadn’t taken out just himself and the group in the van, but also two other cars. There were six confirmed fatalities and three more in critical condition, including John. The van, he’d been told, was unrecognizable. Now wasn’t the time to worry about the insurance Kellus carried, but he couldn’t help it. This could potentially destroy his guy.