Chapter 31

Joey leaned his back against several of Lynn’s pillows as he sat on her bed. He gazed at the cover of the magazine that he was holding…”National Geographic.” With a shrug he flipped through the pages until he found an interesting article on a man’s bicycle trek across Australia. With curiosity he began reading as he waited for Lance to finish his shower in Lynn’s bathroom.

Lance pulled the shower curtain open and with a deep breath, he stepped into the white porcelain tub, pulling the curtain closed behind him. He turned and backed into the heated spray, letting it wash over his head, his shoulders and back. He turned around and faced the steady stream of warm water. He reached out with his hands, fingers spread wide as he stepped further into the stream letting the warm water wash over him. He basked in the warmth and felt his fears being washed away, until…he felt the water in the bottom of the tub beginning to slightly pool about his feet.

With an almost inaudible gasp, Lance quickly stepped back out of the warm spray, hitting his back against the wall behind him as his growing fear caused his breathing to became harsh and ragged as the memory of his dream flooded his mind. With his stomach twisting in fear, Lance glanced down knowing that he would be seeing the water rising about him, ready to drown him, but, much to his relief, Lance saw that his washcloth had fallen into the tub and was partially blocking the drain, causing the water to back up. He quickly bent over and retrieved the cloth then released a ragged sigh of relief when he saw that the water in the bottom of the tub now flowed unobstructed down the drain. Further relief came as Lance watched the water recede from about his ankles until there was no longer any water standing in the tub.

“Man…that nightmare has you whacked out, Lansten,” he said quietly to himself as he leaned heavily against the shower’s wall. He remained there until he felt that his legs were finally strong enough to support his weight.

“So…this is how Joey felt last year…jeez…how did he deal with it?” Lance silently asked himself, recalling Joey’s recurring nightmares that caused so much turmoil more than a year ago, as he reached for the bar of soap and began to rub it over the cloth. Absent-mindedly, he wiped the cloth over his body, trying to cleanse himself of the memory of his dream.

Once finished with the task of soaping himself and rinsing off, Lance reached for a bottle of shampoo and poured some of the thick, amber colored liquid into the palm of his hand.

As he was about to rub the shampoo into his hair, Dr. Shannon’s words of warning briefly passed through his mind…”Be careful in getting the stitches wet…might cause an infection…if they do get wet, pat them dry immediately…you need to wait at least 3 or 4 days before you wash your hair …”

That last thought caused Lance to slightly frown. Just as he was about to wash the shampoo from his hand, a funny thought occurred to him…he was going to do this anyway. He slowly brought his hand to his head and let his mind wander. An image popped into his mind and with a smile he began to almost inaudibly sing in his low voice his own version of a tune from a late night movie that he had watched with Jan a few nights ago…”South Pacific,” as he purposefully rubbed the shampoo into his hair…throwing the doctors words of warning completely out the window.

‘One time wasn’t going to hurt anything…would it?…nah…’ Lance thought with a shake of his head. ‘This was going to make him feel better…it was going to help and the doctor would just have to understand.’

“I’m gonna wash that nightmare outta my head…I’m gonna wash that nightmare outta my head…mmm…mmm…mmm…mmm,” he repeatedly sang and hummed to himself as he rinsed the soap from his hair with a smile on his face. With a chuckle, he poured another handful of shampoo in his hand and rewashed his hair as he continued to quietly sing his little song, momentarily putting his nightmare and the previous evening behind him.

Meanwhile, Joey was finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open due to the pain pills that he had taken about 20 minutes earlier. The words of the article that he had been reading began to run together and fade in and out as his eyes crossed. He shook his head wanting to stay awake so that he could hear Lance in case he needed him, but the pull of sleep was beginning to become too strong.

As Joey felt himself floating off to sleep, he heard Lance’s low voice quietly drift into the bedroom. Joey wearily slid himself to the end of the bed, slowly stood up then walked to the outside of the bathroom door which Lance had left open after Joey’s suggestion to do so for an added sense of security. Joey instantly recognized the tune that Lance was humming and, on any normal occasion, he would have used what he was hearing to tease his younger friend relentlessly, but he wouldn’t this time. With a sad shake of his head, Joey turned around and returned to Lynn’s bed. Lance’s little twist of words to the familiar Broadway tune caused Joey to feel pangs of sympathy and relief at the same time. Lance was finding a way to deal with his nightmares…and…maybe his way, although comical, would work for him.

With a tired sigh, Joey crawled across the bed’s surface until his head met with the pile of pillows that he had rested against minutes earlier. Wearily, he grabbed 3 pillows then pushed the remaining pile pillows further over so that he could sleep near the middle of the bed.

Joey lay on his stomach and positioned the pillows so that his head would rest on one while his swollen hands would rest upon the others. At any other time, this position would have been entirely too unbearable for Joey to even consider, but with the pain meds dragging him into a mind and body numbing sleep, Joey was absolutely certain that he could sleep on a bed of nails and find it quite comfortable. Besides, Joey was more accustomed to sleeping on his stomach than his back or side. This would work just fine.

Joey wiggled about on the bed, trying to find the bed’s “comfort zone” as he liked to call it. As soon as he had finally settled himself and had rested his head and hands upon their pillows, the pain medication pushed him over the line drawn between wakefulness and deep, dreamless sleep.

When Lance felt the heat of the water spraying upon him begin to diminish, he decided that it was time to end his shower. He quickly turned off the water and stepped out of the tub feeling slightly guilty about using up the hot water, but then he reasoned that by the time they had had a chance to eat their supper, the water heater would have had enough time to refill and anyone else needing a shower would have enough hot water.

With a satisfied grin, Lance grabbed the large, fluffy towel that he had tossed over the shower curtain rod and quickly dried himself off before getting dressed in his boxers, sweatpants and t-shirt. He then stood in front of the mirror and wiped the steamy moisture from its surface with his towel.

“Hmmm…need to shave, but do I want to shave?” he asked himself quietly as he ran his hand over the two-day-old stubble, looking intently at his reflection. The prickly feeling made his decision for him and he began to rummage through his shaving kit, pulling out his razor and a can of shaving gel. He pulled his shirt off over his head not wanting to get it wet then sprayed some shave gel into his hand. With quick motions he rubbed the gel over his face and watched as it became a thick, creamy white foam, effectively covering his features. Then, with sure, slow strokes, Lance pulled his razor across his face with his right hand as his left hand followed, making sure that he had not missed any of the stubble and it wasn’t too long before he had finished the job and was bent over the sink, rinsing his face off. He stood up and dried his face off, turning his head left and right, assuring himself that he was indeed finished and hadn’t missed anything. Lance returned the razor and gel to his shaving kit then looked one more time in the mirror and happened to see in the mirror’s reflection that Joey was no longer seated on Lynn’s bed…he was lying on his stomach with his arms bent at the elbows, his hands supported by pillows.

Lance winced at the position, knowing that Joey would feel it in the morning if he were to remain in that position the entire night. Thankfully, Joey would need to go to his own bed so that Jan could sleep in here, but that wouldn’t be for several more hours. In the meantime, Lance decided to just let Joey get his rest.

Lance looked back at his own reflection in the mirror and lifted his damp bangs from his forehead to gaze at the 7 black stitches that Dr. Shannon had used to close the gash on his forehead. He reached into his shaving kit and grabbed one of the many small bandages that the doctor had given him to cover the gash. Quickly, Lance, peeled back the paper surrounding one of the bandages, then carefully placed it over the gash, being mindful not to let any of the sticky adhesive touch any of the stitches.

‘Hmmm…only 3 more days and these come out…’ Lance thought to himself as he pressed the bandage firmly to his forehead then winced at the pain his movement caused.

He stepped back and lifted his bangs once more to survey his job. “Not bad…not bad at all, Dr. Bass,” Lance said quietly with a grin on his face.

He quickly picked up his trash and threw it in the wastebasket before picking up his t-shirt from the counter where he had earlier laid it.

Quietly, as he pulled his t-shirt over his head, Lance entered the bedroom and turned on the antique bridge lamp that Lynn had in a corner of the room next to a rocker. He then turned off the bedroom lights and in the low light of the lamp Lance crossed the room and picked up a thin afghan that lay on a chest at the end of Lynn’s bed. Lance unfolded the blanket then very carefully lay it over Joey’s sprawled out figure without causing him to stir.

Lance frowned, and then bit his bottom lip. He knew that Joey was a heavy sleeper, but still…with everything that had been happening to the group in the last month, he just wanted to be certain that his older friend was just sleeping. Without leaning too heavily on the bed, Lance bent over it and placed his hand next to Joey’s turned face and smiled when he felt Joey’s warm breath moving beneath his hand.

“Man…I’m a dork…of course he’s breathing…why wouldn’t he be breathing…jeez…get a grip, Bass,’” Lance quietly berated himself as he stood back up and returned to Lynn’s bathroom to get his shaving kit, wet towel and dirty clothes. He turned off the bathroom’s main light and turned on the heat/vent light, closed the door until it was just cracked open a bit then left the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, Jan finished washing dishes and was about to begin drying them, when JC took the dishtowel from her hands.

“Here…let me, Jan,” JC said quietly as he reached for a plate and wrapped one end of the towel about its rim, while wiping it dry with the other. Out of the corner of his eye, JC watched as Jan drained the dishwater from the sink before wiping the countertops with the damp dishrag.

“Are you ready to tell me what happened…what you think you did to upset Justin?” JC asked quietly as he reached for another plate to dry. He knew something was up with the way Jan was moving about…her movements short…almost jerking…as if she was almost angry about something. This was a side of Jan that he had never seen before. JC turned to see that Jan had stopped what she was doing and was gazing at him.

“I tried to give some advice and it wasn’t appreciated…that’s all,” she answered almost inaudibly with a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

JC nodded his head as he tried to figure out what his next should be…he had several, but before he had the chance to speak again, Jan interrupted his thoughts.

“Um…listen…I think I want to go outside and get some fresh air…maybe watch the sunset,” Jan said as she laid the rag on the side of the sink before quickly walking away, not giving JC the chance to question her any further.

In her haste to leave the kitchen, she accidentally bumped into Lance who was entering at the same time.

“Whoa…sorry, Lance,” Jan said quietly before glancing back over her shoulder to look one more time at JC before leaving the room.

“That’s okay, Jan,” Lance replied to her quickly retreating back.

With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Lance walked over to the sink and gave JC a questioning look, which was met with a shrug.

“Don’t ask me, man…I don’t really know what’s wrong,” JC answered. “But I bet Justin does,” he added as he handed Lance the plate that he had finished drying then grabbed another from the sink.

Lance raised his eyebrows at what JC said, and decided not to go any further with it since JC’s tone sounded a little dark.

The pair continued taking care of the dishes in silence until JC spoke.

“Where’s Joey…I would have thought he’d be down here raiding the fridge or something.”

JC watched a slow smile cross Lance’s face.

“He’s upstairs asleep on Lynn’s bed,” Lance answered with an even larger smile on his face.

“Why?” JC asked handing Lance another plate to put away.

Lance cleared his throat as he placed the plate on a shelf in one of the cabinets.

“I was going to take a shower in the hall bathroom…he saw me just standing there…staring at the glass doors.” 

”Oh…” JC replied, understanding immediately that Lance was referring to the previous evening’s nightmare.

“Um…he took me into Lynn’s room and told me to take a shower in her bathroom because it has a curtain instead of glass doors.”

“Humph…Joey never ceases to amaze me,” JC said with a chuckle.

“Yeah,” Lance added.

Minutes later, JC raised his eyebrows as he thought about Lance and his stitches. He glanced over at his friend and saw the small bandage that Lance had covered them with poking out from under his bangs.

“Hey…you didn’t get your stitches wet…did you?” JC asked. When Lance did not answer, JC reached up and ran his hand over Lance’s head.

“Oh…Lance…Dr. Shannon is going to skin you alive,” JC said before grabbing another plate to dry.

The only answer he received was Lance quietly smiling as he continued to put items where they belonged in the cabinets.

JC shrugged his shoulders and the pair continued to work in silence.

Jan made her way out the back patio door and headed off toward the back corner of the yard. She was carrying two blankets that she had grabbed off the back of the living room couch. She wasn’t exactly sure how long she was going to plan on staying outside so one of the blankets was for her. The other one was for the certain young man with curly hair that was sure to come out to see her sooner or later…preferably sooner, since there was a bit of a nip to the night air. She finally stopped at the far corner of the yard and sat under a huge oak tree. She placed one of the blankets on the ground beside her and wrapped the other loosely about her shoulders as she gazed at the sunset before her.

The colors of the sunset splashed across the early evening sky. Each color…red, pink, orange, blue, purple and yellow…seemed to bleed into each other so well that it was hard to tell where one color had its beginnings and the other had its end. The red caused a distant memory to surface in Jan’s mind.

“Hmmm…how does that phrase go?” Jan asked herself quietly as she watched the sun begin its slow descent into the distant horizon. “Let’s see…red skies at morning…sailors take warning. Red skies at night…sailors delight.” Jan smiled, remembering when her deceased husband, Mike, had taught her that phrase. Apparently, Mike’s maternal grandfather had been a chief engineer for gulf oil shipping and had sailed to numerous harbors throughout the world. On occasion, Mike’s mother had been allowed to sail with her father when he made runs up and down the Texas Gulf Coast.

“Mom would tell me all sorts of little ditties that Grandpa taught her…like the red skies at night one…” Jan closed her eyes and could almost hear Mike’s voice reciting the simple verse. The thought caused her to briefly smile until she remembered why she had chosen to come outside in the first place. Her smile turned into a slight frown as she began to contemplate her options…go home…find a hotel room…stay at Lance or Chris’s apartments while they stayed with Justin…all of those options would mean a multitude of things…. one of which was that she wouldn’t be holding up her end of the arrangement that she and her sister Lynn had made months earlier…her staying with Justin when it was Lynn’s turn to fly out to San Diego to help care for their Aunt Dora. She would also be doing the same thing to the parents of each of the boys.

It was funny…all 5 sets of parents realized that their sons were grown men, capable of taking care of themselves. But, after JC’s near drowning and Justin’s shock, the parents had ignored the ages of their grown sons and clung to the fact that those men were their children…their little boys…no matter what their age.

So…Jan knew that, due to those conditions, she couldn’t leave the house to stay elsewhere. That meant she would need to stay and besides that, Jan was not one to run away from her problems. Jan drew one of the blankets tightly around her and leaned back against the tree that she had sat down beside and waited for Justin’s inevitable arrival. And, if she knew her sister’s son as well as she thought she did, it wouldn’t take too long for Justin to feel his guilt eating him up and he would come out to speak with her.

“We’re here, J,” Chris said quietly as he gently shook Justin’s shoulder all the while driving Justin’s car up the driveway, leading to the Harliss home.

Justin stretched in his seat and tried to rub the sleep from his eyes while thinking of what he was going to say to his aunt. It was not going to be easy to repair the damage that his carelessly spoken words had done.

As Chris steered the car through the curves of the driveway, the beams of light from the headlights spread their beams out across the yard. It was during one of these curves that the headlights illuminated Jan’s seated figure at the far back corner of the yard.

Justin caught a glimpse of his aunt and brought his head down to his hands. He felt Chris’s hand on the back of his head.

“Well…if you want, I can stop and let you out here so that you can go back there to talk to Jan without having to see the guys,” Chris said.

“Yeah…that’s probably a good idea,” Justin replied, not wanting to face the possibility that JC may have learned what he had said and was ready to do him bodily harm.

Chris chuckled as he stopped the car to let Justin out. “Don’t worry, J…I bet Jan didn’t say anything to anyone or if she did, she was really vague,” he said in reassuring tones as he patted Justin on the shoulder. “That’s Jan’s style...not to fight back like that. I bet you she’s out there, waiting on you to come talk to her, so don’t disappoint her.”

“Okay,” Justin quietly answered as he pulled at the door handle. He gave Chris a quizzical look when nothing happened.

“Oops…sorry,” Chris said quickly. “I forgot about the child safety locks…my bad.” Chris quickly pushed a button and Justin opened his door and stepped out onto the gravel drive.

“Save me some pizza, Chris,” Justin said before shutting his door.

Chris pushed another button and the passenger side window slowly lowered. “I’ll try,” he replied with a chuckle. “If I can’t there’s always the good old standbys…pbj’s or cereal.”

Justin grimaced at the suggestion and straightened up to watch Chris pull away to drive to the house.

Justin pushed his hands into his pants pockets and with so called determination, he made his way across the darkened yard to where his aunt was seated.

Thirty-Two