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Chapter 2


The next morning, Aaron woke to his alarm. He was glad he have a good night's sleep.  Today was the first time he was actually using the skills he learned in vet school and getting paid for it.  Sure he had been helping with the ranch animals but every kid that grew up on a ranch had helped give injections on a farm. The first thing he did was start the water kettle.  He couldn’t wait for a cup of coffee. While the water heated up he pulled on khaki shorts that were the standard uniform for the vets out here. He buttoned up the shirt and then moved out to the kitchen so ready for a good cup of coffee.  He pulled the coffee press off the shelf and as he opened up the cupboard he stopped.

“SHIT!” Aaron said as he turned and headed to the door.  He could go without a lot of things but he needed his coffee in the morning and the coffee he purchased was probably still in the door of the director’s jeep. As he opened the door he nearly ran into Remmie.

“I heard the sound of a desperate neighbor crying out and I had a feeling it had to do with your caffeine fix.” Remmie extended a cup of steaming deep brown liquid.

“Thank you.” He took the cup from Remmie and took a careful sip and sighed. “Mine is in the director’s vehicle.”

“I can’t function without at least two cups of this.” He dropped down on the steps that were in front of Aaron’s door and Aaron dropped down next to him.

“Teddy used to bring it to me in bed every morning.” He took a long sip of the coffee realizing what he had just said and it was because he wasn’t fully awake yet.

Remmie could see by looking at Aaron’s face that whoever Teddy was, he was special and it must have been a really rough breakup. “Let me go get the coffee pot.  I have had my second.  There should be at least one more cup in there for you.” For that moment when he looked at his new friend, he saw raw pain and now was not the time to ask questions. He returned and filled Aaron’s cup and then made an excuse to go back inside.  “When you’re ready, just knock on my door and we’ll go to work. I’ll show you around the office and we can see if either of us have any work first thing this morning.” Remmie patted his shoulder and left him where he sat, not expecting him to respond.


As Aaron and Remmie walked to the clinic Remmie told him about a typical day. “Of course typical days could happen every day for a couple weeks or we could have a couple weeks of total insanity. I’m sure you learned all that during your orientation and I am always willing to come along to your emergencies if I am free and I hope you would do the same.”

“Sure. I can bandage someone or even do stitches if something happens.”

“That’s what I was hoping for.  I helped with anesthesia on a goat once.”

Aaron had to grin at how proud Remmie sounded. For the first time since they got to work Aaron said, “Thanks for the coffee and for not…” he stopped and took a deep breath.

“Hey, if you want to talk sometime, you know where to find me. Hell, we’ve known each other for less than 24 hours. I’m not about to spill my guts about my last girlfriend or about the boyfriend before that.” Aaron’s eyebrows went up. “Did that surprise you?”

“Nothing surprises me when it comes to who people fall in love with. My dads are gay, period, but Gus’ mom is bi but I was raised with love is love. If you find someone who touches your soul…”  Aaron abruptly turned and said, “Show me where the supplies are.”

The remainder of the morning the mood lightened and Remmie and Aaron worked side by side, shelving supplies and talking about cases.

Remmie had a couple patients walk in and when a young boy came in asking for the vet, Remmie locked up the clinic and, with the boy’s directions, Remmie drove the three of them out to a field where a couple men hovered over a cow. The boy had explained that his father and grandfather had delivered hundreds of calves but there was something wrong this time. This was their prize heifer and losing her would be very hard on the family economically.

An hour later, Aaron completed his exam on the second calf. Mother and both babies were strong and healthy, though a little smaller than most. As he packed his case he told the men that he would check on them in a couple days just to make sure both calves were feeding and as he stood with his case in his hand he saw Remmie standing by the jeep. 

“Where’d you disappear to?” Aaron asked.

“Once both calves were out and moving, I thought I would barter with them.  I know I could use some fresh vegetables and this family often sells or barters some of theirs.”

“Did you get what you were looking for?”  Aaron asked as he set his case in the back and then dropped onto the passenger seat.  Immediately he could smell something. 

“I did and then I scored dinner.”

“I knew I smelled something. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I smelled that.”

“It looked really good. You will soon find out that most families out here eat stews most of the time.  They basically throw in anything they have available.  It will be great but better yet, tomorrow night I hope to make you dinner with the beef I got from them.”

Aaron yawned, “That sounds good. Once I get everything cleaned up at the office, I plan to  go home and take a shower.  I don’t care if the water goes cold.”

They arrived back in town and as they pulled the jeep inside the office garage, Remmie said, “You are an impressive vet. It was touch and go, wasn’t it?”

“It was.  I was afraid they weren’t going to make it and it was when I realized there were two calves that I could manipulate them into the right position.”

“I didn’t want to mention this earlier but that family is very well respected in the village and if it had gone wrong…”

“What? Would they have killed me?”

“No,” Remmie touches Aaron’s arm, “but they would probably spread the word that you were a bad vet or even worse, that you had negative spirits around you.” Remmie started cleaning some of the instruments for Aaron 

“Thanks for not telling me that,” Aaron bumped his hip against Remmie’s playfully. “And thanks for helping with this.”

“You would do the same.”

 

The two men got into a rhythm as the days went by. Remmie and Aaron spent most of the daylight hours together, but after dinner, they each went their separate ways.Remmie would have enjoyed spending time really getting to know Aaron.  They had grown up with such different backgrounds and yet he knew they would have so many topics to talk about. So far they talked about medicine or about the village. 

One night after Aaron had been there about two months, Remmie noticed he was getting very quiet. He had left the clinic at noon on Friday afternoon complaining about a headache. Remmie wasn’t surprised that when he got home that night Aaron didn’t respond when he knocked. As he made some dinner he heard noise coming from Aaron’s kitchen so he walked over again and again tapped on the door. After a few moments he called out, “Aaron, open this door.  If you don’t I will let myself in.”

“I’m fine.” Aaron’s words were slurred a bit.

Remmie tried again, “Come on, Aaron.  You had a headache. I am a doctor.  Let me make sure it isn’t anything serious.”

Under his breath Aaron said, “The wrong doctor.” He then spoke louder and said, “It’s nothing serious.” There was a loud crash from inside.

He dug in his pocket and put the spare key he had into the lock. “Aaron, where are you?” He rushed to the kitchen, hoping he was still there. He looked into the galley kitchen and found him sitting on the floor with a  nearly empty bottle of Konyagi in one hand and shattered glass on the other side. At 35% alcohol, he shouldn’t have been drinking it straight. He actually had never seen Aaron drink more than a couple drinks in the evening. 

“Is there an emergency? Do I need to birth a goat?” Aaron put his hand down on the floor and winced in pain as a piece of glass broke his skin but then he started laughing, “Me, birth a goat? I meant do I need to…”

Remmie took Aaron’s hand to see the damage and then helped Aaron to his bare feet after making sure there was no class under them.. “There is no medical crisis unless a fuddled vet is the cause.” He tried removing the bottle from Aaron’s grip but he wouldn’t let go of it. “Fine!” he said defeatedly as he helped Aaron to a chair.

As he looked at the cut in his hand, Remmie heard Aaron’s phone buzzing.  “It’s been doing that all afternoon…not talking,” Aaron commented and then pulled a face as Remmie probed the hand for any more glass. 

He  wrapped a towel around it and said, “You need a stitch or two.  Stay right here and I will be back in a minute.” As Remmie walked toward the door he slid Aaron’s phone off the end table and slipped it in his pocket. Once he was at his place he looked at Aaron’s phone.  He had learned the code long ago and he entered it.  He wanted to know who was calling and maybe he could find out what was going on. 

Once he had unlocked the screen he opened the missed calls.  There was one from his dads and brother but there were several from his sister.  As he was deciding what he should do, it buzzed again.  He saw it was Jess and answered. “Aaron’s phone. This is Julian Remington. Hi, Jessi, remember me?” One other time he had answered Aaron’s phone for him while he was working on a sheep.

“Oh, Remmie, I’m glad you answered! How is Aaron? I knew this was going to be a bad day!” Jessi paused long enough to take a breath.

“What is today?” Remmie asked. “He left work at noon and when I got home he didn’t answer.  I finally let myself in when I heard a crash.”

“Oh, god, is he alright? What happened?”

“He needs a couple stitches.  Good thing he has a doctor at his beck and call.”

“Too bad it isn’t the doctor he is needing right now,” Jessi sighed loudly. “You know about Teddy by now, right?”

“No more than hearing the name. Your brother hasn’t told me anything about his private life, although he has slipped a couple times and mentioned an earlier relationship.” He started moving back to Aaron’s place with his medical bag in hand. “Can you give me the cliff notes version? I need to put in some stitches.”

“Teddy was his best friend and lover since high school and right after he started Med school they found out he had brain cancer.  Aaron postponed a semester of school to be by his side. Four years ago today Teddy died and so did part of Aaron.” 

The phone started to skip and the last thing Remmie heard were the words soul and heal. “Damn, he wished he could have gotten a little more out of that call before it was dropped but he did get some answers. 

As he figured, Aaron was sleeping when he walked in but he was sure he was not out for the night. He washed his hands and put on gloves after laying out what he needed to put in the couple stitches. As he unwrapped the injured hand, Aaron started to stir but he was fully awake once he felt the needle with the lidocaine being injected.

Aaron moaned and took a long swig from the bottle he still had in his hand. He then smiled, “Hey, Remmie, I can’t feel my hand.” He tried to pull his hand away from Remmie but he had a firm grip on it.

“Hold still for a minute. I just need to tie off this suture.” He finished the stitch and wrapped the hand with a gauze bandage. “There, now why don’t I make you something to eat.  I bet you didn’t have any lunch did you?”

Aaron took another swallow from his bottle and shook his head.  “I’m not hungry.” He looked up at Remmie and then raised the bottle again but this time he was stopped.  Remmie took the bottle away from him.

“Aaron, that’s not going to solve whatever is hurting you.”

“Hurting? Oh, ya, the headache.  I do…”

“I’m going to get us something to eat.  I have dinner ready at my place.  I’ll be back.” He glanced back and his heart broke when he saw Aaron’s face. It all made sense now.  It wasn’t just a bad breakup. How could he compete with a dead lover? Now wasn’t the time to think about that.  Right now, he just needed to be there for him.

When he returned with the food he had made, Aaron had somehow managed to get silverware out and a couple plates.  He had also gotten another bottle of Konyagi out but couldn’t get it open with one hand numb. Remmie set the food down on the table and, after grabbing some soda out of the refrigerator, he opened the booze.  He filled the glasses half full of soda before topping them off with the Konyagi. Aaron reached for the glass but, due to the numbness in his fingers, he couldn’t pick it up. He ate a few bites before picking up the glass with his uninjured hand and emptied it. 

“Aaron, you need to slow down with that.  You are just going to feel horrible tomorrow but it isn’t going to change anything.”

“The point is not to feel anything,” Aaron looked over at Remmie and ate a couple more bites of the meal before speaking again. “Can you fill my glass?”

“Of course I will.” He picked up a bottle of water and opened it for him.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know and I’m not cutting you off but you need to get some water in you so you aren’t dehydrated. Then if you want another one, I will get it for you.”  Aaron drained the bottle of water and then handed his glass to Remmie who refilled it.

“What do you know?” Aaron asked, seeming more sober now that he had food and water in him. “And how do you know anything?”

“Are you done eating? I’ll clear the table if you are.”

“I am. Now, Remmie, talk.”

Remmie stuck the leftovers in the fridge and as he rinsed off the plates he began to talk.  “Your family has been trying to get you on the phone most of the day. You weren’t answering it so I did.” He walked back to the table and put a hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “I’m worried about you, my friend, so I spoke to Jessi.”

Aaron stood up too fast and had to grab the table for balance. “She had no right to tell you anything.”

Remmie stood up and guided Aaron to the seating area and they both sat down. “Aaron, your sister loves you so much. She had tried to get you all day and she didn’t tell me much. She didn’t go into any detail.  All I know is that the man you loved died on this day four years ago.”

“I’m not talking about him!” Aaron said decisively and then mumbled, “Fuck, my hand throbs. I want another drink.”

“Is this the way Teddy would want you to remember him,drink yourself stupid until you aren’t thinking straight?”

“Don’t you talk about him! You didn’t know him. You…” For the first time that evening, Aaron began to cry and Remmie put his arms around him gently at first but when Aaron held onto him,  he tightened his arms around him and let him sob.

Aaron pulled himself back together after a few minutes. “Remmie, you can go home.  I’m going to go to bed.” 

“I’ll go get something to help with the pain in your hand while you get in bed.” Remmie left him alone.

Aaron had no more fight in him.  He went to the bedroom. stripped and got in bed. When Remmie returned he grabbed a couple bottles of water on his way through the kitchen, and sat on the edge of the bed. He handed the pain pill to Aaron and took the lid off one of the bottles, handing it to him.  As Aaron took the pill, Remmie loosened the lid on the second bottle. 

“Drink that bottle.” Aaron followed the directive. “Would you like me to stay? I can sleep in the living room.”

“No, go.” As he watched him walk to the door Aaron added, “Thanks,” before giving into the alcohol and pure exhaustion.

Remmie added, “Knock on the wall if you need anything,” but he was fairly sure Aaron was already passed out.

He returned to his apartment and the first thing he did was check his phone.  He hadn’t wanted a distraction. He was surprised but thankful there was a text message from Jessi. It asked him to call her no matter what time it was.  He got a bottle of water and as he called her number he wondered how she had his number.

“I am so glad you called.  How is he?”

“He’s out.  I plan to check on him again before I go to bed but I gave him a pain killer so he should sleep.”

“Pain killer? Is he hurt?”

“He cut his hand. It isn’t serious.  I put in a couple stitches. I’m sure it was throbbing.”

“Thank god you were there. I was going to try to be there today but I had an assignment.”

“Jess, how did you get my phone number?”

“Aaron may not have told you much but he trusts you.  He gave me your number in case I couldn’t get through to him. Does he have any time off? I met someone who has a place at Lake Victoria and I thought if he had free time, I could surprise him and take him there.  I think it is only about an hour from where you are.”

“How soon can you get here? He has next weekend off. Can you be here on Friday? That’s only five days?”

He heard some soft noise on Jessi’s end and then she said, “I can be there. Do you think it would work for you to bring him on Friday morning?

“That should work. I have to be out of my place anyway.  The sub that is coming is staying there while we’re on break.”

“Are you sure it isn’t too much trouble?”

“I think you are exactly what he needs. I like to explore on my weekends off. I had asked him if he wanted to come on my adventure but he never told me yes or no.  Now it makes sense.”

“Plan on Friday morning and I will send the location to you later this week.”

He could hear her excitement. “I will force him to come with me somehow.”

“Julian Remington, I really like you! I’ll be in touch.  I need to go.”


The next morning, Remmie waited until he heard movement next door and then he went over to check on him. He wanted to ensure his hand looked alright and brought supplies to rewrap it. He tapped softly.  “Coming.” Moments later the door opened up and Aaron with only a towel wrapped around his waist, stood in front of him.

“Hey, you look better than I expected.” He was talking about the hangover he expected him to have but he also noticed the lean, muscled body.  He had seen him semi dressed before but today something stirred deep inside of him.

“Thanks for making me drink the water. I think that really helped, plus whatever painkiller you gave me, it really knocked me out.”

“How is the pain today?”

“It is pulsing like a heartbeat.”

Holding up what he had in his hand he said, “Let me rebandage it for you.” They both sat down and Remmie saw no sign of infection so he rewrapped it.  Then he reached in his pocket and offered Aaron another pill.  “This isn’t as strong as last night’s but it will hopefully stop the pounding.”

Aaron swallowed it and then stood to pour himself a cup of coffee. “Do you want a cup? I have plenty.”

“I could use one more.”

As he set the coffee cups on the table he looked at Remmie.  He realized he wasn’t dressed.  “Give me a minute to pull on some clothes. Help yourself to cream and sugar.”

Remmie was amazed at Aaron’s composure this morning. He poured a cup for each of them and by that time, Aaron returned with a pair of exercise shorts and a tank top. “You don’t have plans for next weekend, do you?”

“No, I figured I’d just hang out here.  I know your place is needed for the subs but you could bunk here with me.”

“I have a friend that just offered me a cabin at Lake Victoria.  It is stunning there. I haven’t seen his place but it will be a change for both of us. I think we could both use a different view and a place neither of us have to deliver a baby of some kind.”

“You don’t have to take me with you.  You would probably like a break from me, too. I didn’t mean to drag you into my emotional breakdown yesterday.”

“Aaron, I enjoy your company. I’m really sorry about Teddy. I have never been in love like that. I won’t say I know how you feel but please know I’m always here if you just need to talk about him.” They both drank a little more coffee before Remmie stood up, “I need to check on a little guy I saw yesterday.  His fever was a little higher than I like. Do you want to come along? Just to get out for a while?”

“I think I’ll stay here but thanks, Rem. And, about the weekend, I’d like that.  I came here to see the world, not just a small village. That’s something Teddy would say, would have said.” Aaron flinched as he changed the tense.

Remmie smiled at him, “We can do whatever you want to do once we get there and you are in charge of the topics of conversation.”

“Thanks, Remmie. Maybe I will come along if the offer is still open.  The fresh air might do me good.”

“Can you be ready in 10 minutes? I’ll go get the jeep.”

“10 minutes will be fine.”


The next week Remmie wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking but Aaron seemed to be a little more relaxed.  He felt he had gained a little more trust from Aaron.  The fact that he hadn’t brought up the evening again, except to check his hand. 

As they ate dinner together on Thursday evening at Aaron’s, they were talking about the trip to Lake Victoria. Remmie realized he needed to pack as well. He really wasn’t sure what he was going to do for the weekend but he was glad Aaron would get to spend time with his sister. 

“So you’re sure it is safe to swim in the lake?” Aaron asked.

“As long as you, we follow the directions and pay attention.  There are signs that tell you where it is usually safe.”

“It is really…” Aaron stopped when Remmie’s phone rang.

He looked at his phone and  he saw  Jessi’s name pop up. He quickly stood.  “I need to take this.  I might need to check something at my apartment.” Remmie babbled as he rushed out the door. That wasn’t weird at all. “Jess, I didn’t expect you to call.  Did you make it to the cabin?”

“Remmie, I am so sorry.  You didn’t tell Aaron anything, did you?”

“Of course I didn’t. What’s up? Are you going to be later?”

“I’m going to be MUCH later. I’m not going to make it. I was just about to board the plane when all flights were canceled due to a typhoon.”

“Oh no, Jess. I’m glad you weren’t caught in the storm but now what do I do? Do I tell him? We have to go somewhere.”

“Take him to the cabin.  My friend said it was fine for the two of you to use it. I will try to call tomorrow, if we don’t lose cell service.”

“I’m sorry, Jess.  I know you were looking forward to this weekend, too.”

“I’m just glad he has you, Julian. Thanks for texting and letting me know he is doing ok.”

“He does seem better than he has been in a while.”

“I have to go.  I need to take a bus back to my apartment.” The line went dead.

“Shit,” he said under his breath.  Well, now he knew where he was going to be for the weekend but he felt bad Aaron wasn’t going to see his sister. He took a breath and walked back into Aaron’s apartment.

“Is everything alright? Do you need to go out? I can go with you.”

“No, everything is fine.  They just wanted me to know all was well so I wouldn’t worry. Now, what are we going to take along to eat this weekend?”

“I hope you don’t mind.  On my last appointment today was at the chief’s farm. When I told them what we were doing this weekend, they put together a large basket of food.  I have everything from fresh bread and vegetables to steak and fish. They even gave me some kind of pastries for dessert.”

“Well, it sounds like we have most of what we need. We can stop near the cabin to pick up the remainder of the supplies.”

They finished eating and cleaned up together which had become their habit. When all the leftovers had been put away and the dishes washed and put away. “I think I am going to look at my bag and repack it a couple of times.” Remmie said with a chuckle.  “I always repack about 6 times.

“You’re worse than me. If we were going to be around a lot of other people, I would repack several times but you’ve seen me at my worst and I haven’t scared you away yet.”

“Why don’t you bring one pair of slacks and a decent shirt.  Maybe we will feel like going out to dinner one night.”

“That sounds like a plan.”

“We don’t need to decide tonight.  We don’t need to plan anything this weekend except when we are leaving and when we are coming back.” 

Aaron smiled at Remmie, making Remmie’s heart skip a beat. “I like those plans.”


As Remmie looked through his weekend bag, unpacking and repacking he kept looking at the clothes. He held a shirt up to his bare chest and wondered if Aaron would like the tribal print that had deep, rich colors in it. He wasn’t sure if it was during Aaron’s night of mourning or if it had happened before that, but he was in love with Aaron Taylor-Kinney and he would do anything to make him smile at him again like he had tonight.


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