Wild Child

Chapter 17

"Justin, this is Brian Kinney," Brian said into his cell phone as he stood outside the hospital.

"Brian? It's been a long time," Justin said grasping for something to say to his former fiancé.

"Yeah," Brian said letting out a long breath. At least Justin hadn't hung up. "Gus has had an accident and he's calling for you," Brian said, getting right to the point. "I know it's late, but do you think you could come and see him?"

"Of course," Justin said without hesitation. "Is he all right?"

"He has a concussion, and it could be serious."

"I'll come right away. What hospital are you at?"

"Um … I'm in Colchester in West Virginia," Brian said knowing what that would tell Justin. "There's only one hospital. He's in Room 321."

"I'll be there within an hour," Justin said.

"Thanks." Brian was happy that Justin was coming for Gus and he was happy that Justin hadn't said anything about Britin. He knew Justin knew that Colchester was the closest town to the mansion and that would speak volumes to Justin. No matter, it had to be done.

Justin stared at his phone for a moment before he put it in his pocket. He grabbed the keys to his rental car off the dresser in his mother's house. Quietly he made his way downstairs and took off, heading for West Virginia. He knew the route to Britin even though it had been years since he had used it. After Justin had gone to New York following the ill-advised attempt at marriage, he and Brian had spent several weekends at Britin, fucking and laughing and starting to decorate the place.

And then everything had fallen apart. Brian had got busy at Kinnetik. Justin had been part of a four man show at a good art gallery in Soho. They never seemed able to connect for weeks that gradually stretched into months. Brian had come to Justin's opening, but things had been rather strained when Justin was busy schmoozing the right people at all hours of the day and night. Brian had finally gone back to Pittsburgh frustrated and angry that Justin had so little time for him. There had been some phone calls, but Justin had felt Brian drawing farther away from him and setting up some of his old walls.

Brian Kinney took a helluva lot of maintenance. Quite frankly Justin didn't have the stamina to give Brian the time and effort needed to maintain their relationship, especially when it was a long distance relationship. Justin had worked so hard to establish himself in New York. He had even gotten sick with pneumonia that second spring he had spent in the Big Apple. He didn't tell Brian because he didn't want Brian to worry and he knew that Brian was very busy at Kinnetik.

But that had been the beginning of the end for them. Brian resented Justin's refusals to come to Pittsburgh, even though his reason was that he didn't want Brian to see him sick. But even more, Brian resented being told not to go to New York. There had been some arguments on the phone and then a long period of silence when neither of them called.

Just after Justin finally got well he had the opportunity to go to Europe to study and paint. It was a trip he couldn't refuse. He had called Brian to tell him he was going. He could hear the coldness in Brian's voice as the man wished him well and repeated his mantra about becoming a big, fat, fucking success. That was the last time they had talked until tonight.

Justin turned off the main road looking for the signs that indicated a hospital. It wasn't hard to find his way there. He felt funny walking into a hospital so late at night. There was hardly anybody around, but Brian had said Gus was on the third floor, so he rode the elevator up. He wondered what Brian would look like after all this time. He was nervous about seeing his ex, and in a hospital of all places. That did not bode well.

As Justin stepped off the elevator, he saw a sign with arrows pointing the direction to groups of numbered rooms. He followed the directions to Room 321. The door was closed but he took a deep breath and pushed it open.

Gus lay pale and sleeping in the bed. Brian was seated in a chair beside the bed, his head resting on his forearms which lay beside Gus. One of Brian's hands rested gently on the boy's arm.

Justin smiled and tried to shut the door quietly. When he turned around, Brian was staring at him. He wondered what the man was thinking, unable to read what was on his still beautiful face.

Brian felt his heart clutch in his throat. Justin looked more beautiful than ever. He was all grown up and sexy as hell. He wore a loose shirt over cargo pants. Some things never changed, and apparently cargo pants refused to go the way of the dodo. "Hey," Brian said gently.

"How is he?" Justin asked cocking his head towards Gus.

"He's been sleeping for a while. He threw up a couple of times. I think he's exhausted."

"What happened?"

"He drove my car into a tree."

Justin's eyes got very large. "What the fuck was he doing driving your car?"

"He was on his way to see you," Brian said and couldn't help but have his mouth curl into an ironic smile.

"Me? Fuck. Is this because I said I wouldn't help him?" Justin frowned. "Oops, you probably weren't supposed to know that."

"Mrs. Hadley told me, and thanks for trying to stay out of it."

"I didn't think it was any of my business … as long as you're happy," Justin added.

"Happy?" Brian asked.

"You and your new boyfriend."

"You … you know about Greg?"

"That's his name? No, I only know that Gus doesn't seem to like him very much, and that feeling may be mutual."

"Fuck! Mrs. Hadley told you all that?"

"Don't blame her, Brian. I was just trying to figure out what I was getting into."

"Yeah, right."

"Look, I came because you said Gus wanted to see me. When will he be awake? He's not in a coma, is he?" That thought had just occurred to Justin and his face went pale as he said the words.

Brian saw the color drain from Justin's face. He placed an arm around the smaller man, touching his back reassuringly. "No, he's sleeping. That's all." Brian looked at his watch. "They should be in any minute now to wake him up."

"Oh."

"Apparently he bruised his brain when his head hit the steering wheel," Brian explained.

"I guess he wasn't wearing a seat belt," Justin observed.

Brian smiled slightly remembering the public service announcements that Justin was so good at reciting. "When you're stealing a car, I don't think seat belts are something you worry about."

Justin nodded seeing the irony of what he had said.

"Excuse me," a nurse said coming into the room and finding the men standing so close together. "Visiting hours are long over."

"Barbara," Brian said to Gus' nurse. "This is the Justin that Gus has been calling for. He came all the way from Pittsburgh."

"Oh, hello," she said looking at Justin. "I need to wake Gus again. He'll be pleased to see you." She made her way over to the bed where she called Gus' name and gently shook his shoulder.

"Justin," Gus moaned. "Justin."

Barbara looked knowingly at the two men.

"Gus, buddy, I'm here," Justin said taking Gus' hand.

"Justin?" Gus asked opening his eyes and looking at Justin. "Is it really you? Am I dreaming?"

"I'm here," Justin smiled.

"How?"

"Your dad called me."

Gus looked over at his father who stood on the other side of the bed. Brian nodded. "Thanks," Gus said.

"How's your head?" Barbara asked. "Still have a headache?"

"It's better now that Justin's here," Gus said trying to smile.

"Glad to hear that," Barbara said. "Justin has had the right effect on you."

"So, buddy, what do you want to talk to me about?" Justin asked.

Brian looked at Gus and then he asked Barbara if he could talk to her outside, thus leaving Gus and Justin alone. He figured his son better get all this out of his system. As Brian walked out with Barbara, he couldn't help but think about Greg and why the man hadn't called or come to see him or Gus. Justin had been there in a flash. Brian frowned.

"Mr. Kinney," Barbara said, "if you're wondering about what Gus said about his head being better?" Brian nodded. "It helps if he is calm and not restless when he sleeps. This may be a very good thing."

"Will he be able to go home tomorrow?"

Barbara frowned. "I doubt it. I think he'll be here for at least one more night. Tomorrow the doctor wants an MRI which should tell us more."

"Okay," Brian said slowly. "He is going to be all right, isn't he?"

"Concussions take a long time to get over, but he's young and resilient. I think he'll be fine, but he's going to have to take it easy for quite a while."

"Thanks," Brian said.

He glanced back at the room knowing that Gus didn't really want him there while he talked with Justin. He decided to go outside, have a cigarette and maybe a make a phone call.

Justin sat down beside Gus' bed still holding onto the boy's hand. He wasn't sure what he could say to Gus. If Gus wanted his help to get rid of Brian's boyfriend, there was nothing that he could do … nor would he want to.

"Justin," Gus said. "I was trying to come to Pittsburgh to see you."

"I know. Your father told me."

"It's about Greg, Dad's new boyfriend."

"I don't want to get involved, Gus," Justin said gently. "Your dad has his own life to live and I'm not part of it anymore."

"But you came," Gus protested.

"Brian said you needed me."

"I do."

Justin sighed. "Maybe in time you and Greg will be able to get along."

Gus closed his eyes fighting back tears. "No," he said.

"Gus…"

"He hates me. He wants Dad all to himself."

"How do you know that?"

"He says things to me when Dad can't hear."

Justin's eyebrows went up. "He does?"

"Awful things … like he's gloating about getting his way … like how I won't be around for much longer."

"You'll always be Brian's son."

"Not if he can find a way to get rid of me."

"Okay, Gus," Justin said rubbing the boy's arm. "That's enough for now. You need to rest."

"Justin," Gus said closing his eyes. "Thanks for coming."

"You're welcome," Justin replied as he tried to figure out how he was going to get himself out of this mess that he now seemed to be caught in the middle of. Justin rubbed Gus' arm and realized he was already asleep.

Meanwhile Brian was smoking a cigarette at the front of the hospital and wondering why Justin's presence had affected him so deeply. He knew everything was over between him and his former lover, but when Justin had walked into Gus' room it was like flashing back to the past. All their previous history had washed over Brian almost smothering him. Justin had looked so good, hardly any different than the last time Brian had seen him. But he had also looked more mature and confident. Brian appreciated the change. Justin had come to his full manhood and he was quite a man.

But something more was bothering Brian. It had taken him a while to figure it out. When Justin had mentioned Brian's boyfriend, it had all started to come together. Brian had called Justin in the middle of the night and he had come instantly, all the way from Pittsburgh, without hardly a question, to see Gus and make sure he was all right. Greg, on the other hand, who was supposed to be his boyfriend, who was supposed to be moving in permanently, couldn't even travel the ten minutes it would have taken him to get to the hospital. Brian frowned thinking about Greg being afraid of hospitals. If anyone was afraid of hospitals, it was Justin. He had almost lost his life in one. He had spent all those agonizing weeks in rehab in the hospital. But still he had come because Gus had needed him.

Brian felt his anger growing. He pulled out his cell phone and hit Greg's number. It rang and rang. His asshole boyfriend must be asleep, Brian decided as it went to voicemail. "Greg, this is Brian. Either get your ass to the hospital or get the fuck out of my house." Brian slammed his phone shut. He knew which of those choices he hoped Greg would make but it wasn't likely that he would be that lucky.

Brian stomped out the remainder of his cigarette and headed back inside. He needed to find out if Gus had convinced Justin to get involved in their lives once again.

"Hey," Brian said as he entered the hospital room. "How's he doing?" He watched Justin's hand running gently along Gus' arm. It was a gesture of affection and caring and support. And that is what he never got from Greg. He got hot sex whenever he wanted it, but none of the really important things. How could he have missed that?

"We talked for a couple of minutes and then he fell back asleep."

"He's been doing that ever since I brought him in."

"How much longer will he be here?"

"Barbara said she thinks he will have to stay tomorrow. They're going to do an MRI."

"Oh."

"What did he say to you?"

Justin had been dreading this moment, but he had already decided that he was going to tell the truth and the whole truth. There was no point in beating around the bush about this. "He thinks your boyfriend hates him and is trying to get him out of your life."

Brian snorted. "Greg hardly knows Gus."

"Gus has had Greg say some things to him when you couldn't hear. He's very worried."

"Is that all he said?" Brian asked not at all pleased to have this laid out in front of Justin.

"Just about. He fell asleep."

Brian sighed. How the fuck had he got into this mess?

"Where's Lindsay?" Justin asked.

"Huh?"

"You know, tall blonde woman, Gus' mother."

"Oh, you mean there's something about our lives that you don't know!" Brian knew he was being a bitch but this whole situation was really pissing him off.

"Look, you asked me here. If you want me to go, I will," Justin said staring Brian straight in the face.

"No," Brian retracted. "I don't want you to go. Gus needs you."

"I can't help him, Brian. You're the only one who can."

"There's a coffee machine in the lobby. Let's go get some and talk a bit."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"What about Gus?"

"He'll likely sleep until the next time they wake him. That's forty minutes from now. I'll tell Barbara where I'm going."

"Okay," Justin agreed. Brian went and kissed Gus on the top of his head before they left the room.

Some minutes later, they were seated in the lobby waiting room sipping the less than excellent hospital coffee machine coffee.

"So what about Lindsay?" Justin asked. "Are they still in Toronto?"

Brian nodded. "And they're still together."

"So why do you have Gus?"

Brian let out a long breath. He hated to admit all this to Justin. "My son was out of control. I just got him back with me a few weeks ago."

"Out of control? Gus?"

"I … I haven't seen Gus for almost five years," Brian admitted. He couldn't look into Justin's eyes when he said that. "Gus had a really bad time at school in Toronto. The Munchers asked me to stay away, to give them time to get Gus settled in. One year led to another, and you know how Melanie can be. So I stayed away."

"What happened?"

"Apparently Gus flunked last year and was about to be expelled for carrying a knife to school."

"Holy fuck!"

"My sentiments exactly. Lindsay called and asked me to come to Toronto. Gus was belligerent and defiant. I can see why they wanted help."

"It couldn't have been that bad," Justin said.

"Gus … he had pushed Lindsay around. There were bruises on her arms from where he grabbed her. There were other bruises that I didn't see."

"Gus?" Justin asked in disbelief.

"JR is afraid of Gus. The girls wanted to get Gus away from her, so I agreed to take him."

"And he came with you … just like that?"

Brian snorted. "He refused to leave Toronto. He was the master of the house and he wasn't about to give that up. He cried and threatened and promised. Melanie, for once in her fucking life, held the trump card. Gus could have been arrested when he had that knife at school. She had a police officer friend who was willing to take Gus into custody if he didn't go with me."

"I … I can't believe things were so bad. He looks so normal lying up there."

"He's been moving in the right direction until…"

"Until what?"

"I guess until Greg came into the picture," Brian admitted thinking about when things had started to go downhill.

"So maybe Gus is right and Greg needs to get out of the picture."

Brian looked at Justin wondering how he could have been so stupid. And just earlier, he had told Greg that he could quit his job and move into the mansion permanently. Brian felt tears well up at his own stupidity and selfishness. He was as guilty as Greg was for what had happened to Gus. He should have known better, even if his lover didn't.

Brian wiped at his eyes and looked at his watch. "We better get back upstairs. It's almost time to wake Gus again."