The Shunning - 8. Chapter 8

Walking into the gym Sunday morning, Patrick found Daryl sitting

by himself in the lobby dressed in a white t-shirt and a pair of delectable

blue running shorts. He was going to have to make sure that Daryl took the

treadmill in front of him, not wanting to miss a chance of gazing at Daryl's

cute ass.

 

"Hey...you made it." Patrick greeted.

 

"I’m surprised not to find you dressed in a sport's bra." Daryl

joked.

 

"Exercise is usually beneath royalty but since I can't be a

queen every day I bring my more boring self here three times a week."

Patrick chuckled.

 

"I don't know why... I saw the set up you had back at the

house."

 

"Yes...but it's a little hard to get motivated just by your

lonesome. If you have not noticed there's lot of motivation here." Patrick

said, pointing to a few of the naked men in the locker room.

 

"I noticed." Daryl replied... his dimpled cheeks blushing.

 

"Of course since I have you with me this time you have to let me

show you off to the others."

 

"What?" Daryl asked confused.

 

"I would be amiss if I didn't do my best to spread the good

cheer of envy and jealousy amongst the other men."

 

"You’re terrible," Daryl chuckled.

 

"Just promise me you will play along."

 

"The most I can promise is to keep my mouth shut."

 

"That would be perfect... they'll think you're a total moron

then. Nothing makes a gym bunny more jealous than a queen dating a man who

is not only hotter than they are but also dumber."

 

"Why?" Daryl asked confused.

 

"It’s part of the myth of the gay food chain. All you have to

know is Hot equals Dumb... partly because any person with a real nine to

five job doesn't have the time or the energy it takes to get a perfectly

sculpted body but also because dumb people are automatically assumed to be

easier to get into bed with. It’s sad but in some gay circles being a slut

is seen as a plus."

 

"So...let me see if I understand this. You want me to pretend

to be a dumb slutty jock whose has spent the last several hours having wild

sex with you?"

 

"And you got it on the first try." Patrick laughed, coming to a

sudden halt when he saw a tear run down Daryl's face. "What's wrong?"

 

"Nothing..." Daryl said as he reached over and

touched Patrick’s face.

 

"Something is defiantly up." Patrick pressed.

 

"You remind me so much of my brother Steven. He liked playing

dress up too. David would have loved your dresses."

 

"I’m sure I would have liked his as well."

 

"No you wouldn't have... think Amish but with even blander

colors."

 

"Hey, I would have you know I have a nun's outfit stored away

somewhere." Patrick replied.

 

"I miss him so much Steven. He was more than the last member of

my family. He was my other half... wild and carefree like you are."

 

"If you think I'm wild then I better not let some of my stranger

friends get near you," Patrick laughed.

 

"I think I could handle them... after six years in the ER I've

seen most everything. I'm not as saintly as people think I am."

 

"Hang around me long enough and you will find yourself with a

pair of horns and a tail."

 

"Now that will be interesting," Daryl chuckled.

 

"Come on... take that bland t-shirt of yours off. No point

having a six pack if you let no one see it," Patrick said, quickly having to

correct himself. "Make that an eight pack."

 

After Patrick had his fun showing Daryl off, he spent the next

two hours showing him how to use the different pieces of exercise equipment,

returning to the locker room surprised and a tad jealous of his guest.

 

"I still can't believe you got the body you have without

spending a single day at a real gym."

 

"What can I say... good genes." Daryl laughed.

 

"Some people have all the good luck," Patrick sighed, leading

Daryl to the steam room. "Now this should feel like home to you."

 

"Almost," Daryl nodded. "Sorry about earlier Steven, I should

have cooled the house down before you arrived."

 

"Not a problem," Patrick laughed. He had not been the one who

had to enter that sauna.

 

Leading Daryl to an unoccupied bench, Patrick leaned against the

slick wet walls. His eyes glaring at any of the occupants who dared even

glanced in their direction.

 

"I can’t believe I'm out of the house."

 

"We’re surprised too." Patrick said before he could stop

himself.

 

"We?"

 

"Us at the hospital." Patrick quickly said.

 

"Well, now you can tell them I'm more of a clay figurine then I

am of stone."

 

"Why did you come... it must not have been easy."

 

"It wasn’t, but I missed you."

 

"But it’s only been two days."

 

"I missed being with you." Daryl corrected. "I don't know what

it is about you, Steven, but I feel normal around you."

 

"Normal how?" Patrick asked, hating himself for not being able

to tell Daryl who he really was.

 

"Normal in that I can pretend that my brother never died when I

am with you."

 

"It hurts that much?"

 

"It’s made me the man I am today." Daryl replied. "But maybe I

can become someone else with you."

 

"Are you asked me to go steady?" Patrick asked surprised.

 

"Steady? “Daryl asked confused.

 

"Date...you want to date me?"

 

"Hahahaha...back home they call it courtship and it's

completely arranged by our parents. “Daryl laughed.

 

"Well..." Patrick said in a deep Southern accent." "Are you

courting me kind sir."

 

"I guess I am," Daryl said as if surprised by his own words.

 

"Then I accept your gentle proposal. Now be so kind and kiss

me."

 

Where did you learn how to talk like that?" Daryl asked after

their lips had parted.

 

"Where did you learn how to kiss like that?" Patrick said,

covering his hardening cock with his hands.

 

I guess it's like you said... it's like riding a bicycle. Once

you know how it’s all instincts."

 

"You must have had a good teacher then."

 

"I guess I did... now your turn. Where in the world do people

talk like that?"

 

"I take it you haven't been to Atlanta, or seen `Gone to the

Wind' even?"

 

"What’s that?"

 

"Atlanta or the movie?"

 

"The movie... I've never been to one."

 

"Let me guess... it's against your religious beliefs?"

 

"Yeah..."Daryl said, embarrassed.

 

"What about TV?"

 

"That too."

 

"But surely there's a television in the doctor's lounge."

 

"You know there is... but you'll never see it on. It broke two

years before I started my residency."

 

"Sorry, I must have forgotten," Patrick replied before changing

the subject. "Well, we are going to have to change that. The last Star

Wars movie is coming out next week and I have this fantastic Queen Amidala

costume I've been dying to wear." Patrick said as he stood up to leave for

the showers.

 

"Does anyone at the hospital know about your taste in women’s?

clothing?

 

"No...so don't go about telling anyone," Patrick said,

panicked. If people at the hospital started making cross dressing jokes to

his brother, there would be hell to pay.

 

"Hey...I know how to keep a secret," Daryl said as he turned

the shower on full blast...on cold."

 

"Turn the fucking water off." The man under the next nozzle

cursed.

 

"Sorry." Daryl apologized, quickly excusing himself, leaving

Patrick to shower alone.

 

Leaving the shower, Patrick found Daryl was already dressed,

sitting on the bench looking nervous.

 

"Don’t let that man get to you. He was being a jerk."

 

"No...it was my fault. I'm just used to taking only cold

showers."

 

"Saving money on the gas bill?"

 

"Yeah...pathetic I know," Daryl said, as he waited for his

brother to get dressed.

 

"For an ER doctor I would think you would have more backbone."

Patrick said as they left the gym.

 

"In the ER I really am the Stone King. I’m just not used to

making mistakes."

 

"You’re only human."

 

"I know but after six years of working trauma do you know how

many patients of mine have died under my care?"

 

"Considering the neighborhood I would assume quiet a lot."

 

"Seven." Daryl said flatly.

 

Considering that, until Mr. Stockton, his brother had not lost a

single patient in eight years of practice, that number at first seemed high.

Then Patrick remembered that fatality rate found in a psychiatrist office

was not anywhere near the kind of numbers for in the ER. "Archangel indeed,"

he finally responded.

 

"It’s becoming an annoyance." Daryl grunted. "My record has

become a matter of hospital pride. They took me off the night shift and cut

my number of eighteen hour days. I became a doctor to save lives but

because I did such a good job they're taking that away from me."

 

"You could always go to another hospital."

 

"And abandon Memorial?! Do you have any idea what would happen

to that place if I left?"

 

"Continue to treat patients as usual," Patrick replied.

 

"But..." Daryl protested as he stopped by his car.

 

"Daryl...you are a great doctor but I'm not sure if I believe

that being just a great doctor is enough to make you happy. If you think

that if you save enough lives, you're going to get your brother back... it's

not going to happen."

 

Daryl pounded his fist against his car. "Dang it... why not!

Why can't things work out that way? Why can't huge amount of good wipe out?

an equal amount of evil?"

 

"Because we are human and therefore not perfect, but a mixture

of both good and evil," Patrick said, struggling for the words he was sure

his brother would use. "You're trapped in a black and white world like a

1950's television set. You think people are either all good or all bad.

Your problem is that you are under the misconception that you are evil.

People, hell, entire governments have told you what a good person you are,

but you refuse to believe it because of a single event that happened in your

past."

 

"I'm sorry... I let my temper get away from me."

 

"Good...I wish that would happen more often."

 

"Really?" Daryl asked suspiciously.

 

"You can't really love a person fully if you're not willing to

get angry at them at times."

 

"That's not what I've been taught."

 

"I know... but we have plenty of time to teach you some new

tricks. You're not an old dog yet."