Chapter 7

I wiped my mouth again and looked at my hand. The way Sissy had looked at me made me wonder if there was some of Bubba's cum still there.

I put the bag on the bed and opened it up. There was a practice shirt for football, one of those T-shirts with absolutely no arms. I held up a pair of blue shorts with the GHS logo on the lower part of the right leg. A couple of pairs each of briefs and socks plus a pair of scuffed up sneakers completed the assortment.

Bubba had a smile on his face as he said, "I think the shorts will be fine."

He showed no modesty now; he lifted up the blanket as much as he could, exposing down to the top half of his legs.

I flipped the rest of the blanket to the side, took out the shorts, closed up the bag and put it on the other bed. Taking the shorts in one hand, I lifted first one foot then the other, easing the shorts onto both legs.

It's not easy putting a pair of shorts on someone who's lying on a bed with his broken collarbone in a brace. I have a pair of blue jeans that are really tight. The only way I can get them on is to lie on the bed and ease them up. A lot of the stress is on that part of my body, especially when I have to lift my butt off the bed. Even lifting my legs enough to slide them up puts pressure on my whole back, including the shoulders.

The point is, I was on my own. I had to manhandle Anthony's body to get those stupid gym shorts on. I was beginning to realize the advantages of the hospital gown the patients all hate.

I got them up to just below his butt by lifting up part of one leg at a time, then sliding up that leg of the shorts as best I could. When I got up to the top of his legs, I knew there was no way we were going to make it.

"How badly do you want these shorts on, Anthony?"

"I hate that thing," he said, pointing to the gown on the other bed. "And I want to have something on."

"OK. I'm going to need some help. There's no way I'm going to let you lift your butt off the bed by yourself. So, it's up to you. I can get the nurse, Sue, Sissy, or I can get a male nurse in here."

He thought about it for a bit, then said, "I guess Sue. She's married and she's pregnant, so I don't think it will be a big deal."

"No, it won't. She'll just be in here to help get your pants on."

I went out into the hallway. Sue and Sissy were sitting on the couch in the hall, talking as if they'd known each other for years. That's one thing about Sue. She can make you feel comfortable, willing to tell her anything, almost as soon as you meet her. She looked up at me as I walked up, a smile on her face.

"Sue, could you give me a hand in the room?"

Sissy looked up. "I can help."

"I know you can, Sissy. But I'm afraid it would embarrass your brother."

"He's OK, isn't he?"

"He's fine. We're just having a little problem getting his butt off the bed."

She brought her hand up to her mouth and giggled. I liked this girl.

Sue held out a hand for me to help her get out of the couch. I pulled her up and she put her arm around me as we walked to the room.

"Why me?"

"He says because you're married and pregnant. I think that the fact you're a mother may have something to do with it, too."

"I see. In other words, I'm safe. I guess I can live with that. How did the bath go this morning?"

"It was a struggle, but it got easier as it went on."

"I imagine. Did anything interesting come up?"

It just took one look at her face for me to realize exactly what she meant.

"Yeah, there was one development that kinda grew out of hand."

"Were you able to take care of it?"

"I got it under control. Let's just say I didn't really need the eggs I had for breakfast to get my protein for the day."

"Well, good for you."

I pushed the door open and locked it after we were both in the room. I saw Anthony tense up.

Sue just went over to him and brushed some hair back from his forehead, something I'd seen her do with Wes countless times. "How are you feeling, Anthony?"

"Pretty good, I guess."

"A little nervous, too, I bet."

"Yeah."

"You know my son, Wes, don't you?"

"Yeah. Well, not real well, but I know he got hurt real bad."

"Yes, he did. My husband tells me he's going to be OK so I'm not as concerned about him as I was. But he's been home for a couple of months and I've had to do everything for him. You aren't as helpless as he is, but you do need some help. That's all this is."

"Thanks. I guess."

"That's the spirit. So, how do we do this, Nancy?"

"I thought I could hold him up while you lower the bed. Then I can slide in behind him, in the middle of his back. He should be able to push against my body to lift his butt enough for you to slide the shorts up without straining the injury too much."

"That sounds sensible. How do you feel about that, Anthony?"

"It sounds OK to me."

I got next to him and reached behind his back to hold him. "Raise the bed so he's sitting up before you lower it. That way he can help a little."

We got him into a sitting position and I worked an arm behind him. Sue let the bed down and I moved my body behind him. Once I got there, Sue said, "I'm going to lower a bit more so he has a better angle."

I couldn't see what was happening since I was stuck between Bubba and the bed. I felt Sue move to the other side of me, then heard her say, "Oh, my. Is that for me?"

The only response from Bubba was a tightening of the muscles in his back.

Sue went on, "Don't worry about it, Dear. It's perfectly normal for a teenage boy. I've had to take care of my son several times, even though he's in a coma."

The muscles tensed up again and I heard her laugh. "Don't worry, Anthony. I'm sure if you talk to Nancy real nice, she'll help you out. After all, it's her job to make sure you're comfortable. OK, now. Let's see if we can get that butt of yours off the bed. On three. 1... 2... 3."

I felt him tense up and push against me as his lower back moved up a bit. I could just make out Sue's hand pulling up the shorts on the far side of him out of the corner of my eye.

I saw the hand pull away and then the blanket was put back in place. Then I heard Sue say, "Well, I guess that's finished. You take care, Anthony."

He sputtered something and then I heard the click of the door being unlocked, followed by the swish of it opening and closing. I couldn't believe that she'd left me stuck behind Anthony. I couldn't move if there was a fire.

It seemed like hours until I heard the swish of the door, then "Let's see, Bubba. Just the shorts?"

"I'm not going anywhere, so I don't need shoes yet. And I can't lift my arms over my head to get that shirt on."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think."

"Hey, it's alright. It's not like I need a lot of clothes. I really appreciate the shorts."

I heard her say, "Nancy, is there some reason you don't want to come out and join us?"

"I'm kind of stuck back here, Sissy."

I heard that giggle of hers, then felt her move behind me and the bed start to rise. It got up far enough for the two of us to hold him up as I got out from behind him. We lowered him back to the bed, then Sissy lowered it until he told her he was comfortable.

Anthony said, "Sue put you up to this, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she's a funny lady."

"If you weren't my favorite sister, I'd..."

"I'm your only sister, Bubba."

"Yeah, I know. With a sister as great as you, I don't need any more."

She lit up like the Fourth of July. It was evident she cared a lot for her brother.

She moved forward, hesitated a second, looking at the sling around his shoulders, then buried her face in his chest, hugging him, her arms barely reaching the bed around his sides. He wrapped her up in his. His biceps were almost as big around as her head. He could have crushed her without thinking twice, and I'm sure he would have loved it. I could see her practically melt as he held her in his arms. Truly a gentle giant.

She stood up and I moved a chair next to him so she could sit down and hold his hand.

"I'll get out of here so you two can talk."

Bubba looked up at me. "Please don't."

She looked back and forth at us. "Are you two... "

Anthony said "Yes," and I said "I hope so" at the same time.

She put her other hand with the one holding his and squeezed, then stood up and came over to me. She looked me in the eye, I guess to see if it was all right, then she hugged me. I hugged back.

She backed up, still holding me. "I'm so happy. He needs somebody. He's been so lonely."

I said, "It sounds like you're talking about me."

"Then the two of you will be perfect." She squealed and hugged me again.

I sat on the bed holding one hand while she sat in the chair, holding the other. Anthony looked... content.

Sissy had been at the movies with several friends when Bubba got hurt. She'd come home and had no idea anything was wrong until Sue called the house this morning. Jeff had asked her to make sure someone in his family knew that Bubba was in the hospital. When Sue found that their mother was at work, she offered to bring Sissy in to the hospital. The bag of clothes was Sue's idea and Sissy felt bad that she'd brought the wrong kind of shirt. She had no idea what having a broken collarbone meant, and the shirt she threw in the bag was one he wore most of the time. He told her it was no big deal. I told her I liked looking at his chest, which got another of her giggles.

She had a hard time getting him to talk about the accident. It seems that Anthony doesn't like to talk about himself much so I had to fill in a lot. Once we'd gone through the accident and that part of the hospital stay that was OK to talk about, he wanted to hear all about her night out with her friends. The family was really hurting for money, and he'd treated her to a night out. I could see the excitement in her eyes as she talked about her outing and the trip to Dairy Queen after the movie.

It was wonderful to see the two of them together. It was obvious there was a lot of love between them and I could tell that either one of them would go to the ends of the earth for the other. What was even more wonderful is that both of them made an effort to include me in that love. Once Sissy found out how Anthony felt about me, she accepted me without reservation. It was like Jeff and his family, yet different. I realized how much I'd missed out on for the first 18 years of my life. I felt like a sponge or a person lost in the desert who comes across an oasis, sucking up all the love I could get, my thirst satisfied for the first time in my life. A thirst I hadn't even realized I had.

We talked and talked. Most of the time Anthony just lay there, listening and smiling. I even talked about myself. Both of them were fascinated by my stories about taking care of Wes. Somehow I slipped and hinted at the day in the back yard with Leslie. I found out that the story was pretty much over the whole school when Sissy told me she'd heard that the two of us had a special relationship. And she took my hand and squeezed it and told me that after knowing me, she could tell I deserved a special relationship. What surprised me even more is the way Anthony squeezed my hand and smiled when she said it.

We even talked about his bath. By that time it was no big deal when she asked me a few questions and I told her of how I took him in my mouth and brought him off. She was more interested than shocked. She had lots of questions about the taste, feel, volume, choking and anything else she could think of. Anthony blushed most of the time, but he had a smile on his face, too. I surprised him when I told of the night before and my explorations of his body. I think Sissy surprised him even more when she said, "Good. Now maybe I won't have to see him walking around the house with a hard-on all the time."

I was surprised when an orderly showed up with a tray of soup and Jello, then realized it was almost 12:30. We took turns feeding Anthony, much to his chagrin. Sissy talked of all the ways she was going to get back at him for years of teasing now that he was trapped.