Keep Me As An Apple of Your Eye - 29. December 29

Sunday, December 29

8^th Night of Chanukah

5^th Day of Christmas

“Behold, there will come a time!”

Isaiah 30:26

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me five golden rings.

from “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Five golden rings represent the five books of Moses.

“What time is it?”

“Time to get up!”

Todd threw the covers back, “I am up already. What are you going to do about it?”

“I am going to call the doctor. You have some tremendous swelling in that appendage. It looks nasty and big. They may have to amputate.”

Erick smirked as Todd recoiled.

“They aren’t touching my Sword of Damocles.” Todd smirked. “By the way, what the hell is the Sword of Damocles?”

After Erick told him the parable and its meaning, Todd realized that he was just fine being a big Christian brute for his beloved Jewish boyfriend. He didn’t need some sword hanging over his head.

Erick had gotten up and made coffee. They went to the window wall in their hotel room and looked out at the harbor. Todd stood behind Erick and held him while Erick pointed out different points of interest.

“Let’s come spend some time here next summer and we can tour the big summer cottages on Belmont Avenue. They truly are magnificent. Plus, there is a Cliff Walk where we can get the best ocean view.”

Just as Todd’s hand wandered south into Erick’s underwear the telephone rang. It was Erick’s parents wanting to know if they would come to the house for breakfast.

“Not this morning. We will be there by lunch time. How is Eron?”

After getting an update, Erick smiled at Todd and suggested they had been interrupted by the call. They spent a leisurely morning in bed making love, talking, napping, discussing their commitment ceremony and just holding each other. Finally, Erick allowed as they had to take showers and head over to his parents.

“Do you know if we are spending another night? What is the plan?” Todd was pulling clean underwear from the suitcase and wondered if they were going to need to find a laundromat.

“I have no idea. Let’s go over and figure this out. We need to return to Virginia. We both have school starting soon and we haven’t had any quiet time this holiday. I want to just be at home with you. All of our plans to be lazy and loving have been turned upside down.”

They took a leisurely shower, packed and checked out of the hotel. Erick had let Todd handle the arrangements knowing that it cost a bloody fortune even in the middle of the winter. Todd didn’t say a word about the cost and told Erick that everything was under control.

When they arrived back at the house, Eron was sitting on the sofa looking much better.

“You look good today, brother.”

“I feel much better. Tayloe took care of me last night when I started having bad dreams. He slept in my bed with me and then the dreams stopped and I had a restful night. He was nasty this morning though. He got in the shower with me and ripped off all of those patches. That hurt really bad but he made it better by kissing each place where he pulled off the patch.”

Tayloe looked chagrined that Eron would bring up their sleeping arrangement and his kissing him in the shower. Todd and Erick tried not to look at each other in amazement.

“Well good. Is lunch ready?”

“Almost. Mother is cooking and dad is due home from his office at noon. He just wanted to check up on things since it is the end of the year. A lot of clients have end of the year tax stuff that needs to happen by the 31^st.”

When Mr. Emmanuelson returned, they all sat at the table and Mr. Emmanuelson led them in prayer for Eron’s continued healing and grace for the meal.

“I have a question, my son?”

“Yes, dad?”

“What are the plans? You can stay here as long as you need but have you thought about what happens now? What were the medical directions for follow-up care?”

Eron looked at Tayloe. Tayloe spoke up.

“Eron and I had a conversation this morning. We are planning to leave this afternoon for Richmond. We will stop in D.C. tonight to stay in his apartment. We can pack his clothes. We should be at my apartment in Richmond by tomorrow afternoon. The medical school has world class care and Eron can stay with me while he recovers. He cannot work for the next sixty days. He can get rehab at the hospital and I can look after him.

All eyes turned to Eron.

He smiled and held Tayloe’s hand.

“I don’t want the two of you to have to worry about me every day. The closest appropriate treatment is in Providence. I can’t drive and one of you would have to take off daily to drive me. You can’t take off work for the next sixty days. Tayloe talked with Dr. Hirsch yesterday and all of my medical records are being sent electronically to the medical school in Richmond. Tayloe will drop me off at the clinic each morning and I can take the bus back to his apartment.

“Do you have to leave today? Is it safe for you to ride that far? You just got out of the hospital last night.” Mrs. Emmanuelson was very worried.

“Eron and I talked about that. He doesn’t have much stamina yet and will need to sleep a lot. We decided that Todd and Erick can trade off driving the car. It is Sunday and the traffic won’t be too bad today. It will be miserable tomorrow, especially around New York City. If we leave by two this afternoon, we will get there before bedtime.”

Mr. and Mrs. Emmanuelson knew that the decision had been reached and were not pleased but couldn’t come up with a better solution.

“I must say, that I don’t want you to leave. I am afraid.”

Erick jumped up and held his mother. “Mom, we are all a little afraid for Eron. But I know that Tayloe will take care of him. Besides, you and dad are coming to Virginia this week for the New Year’s Eve party at the Reynold’s home. If Eron stayed here you couldn’t come because he can’t fly yet. You will see him a couple of days.”

“I know, I know. It all makes sense in my brain, but my heart is still worried. I love my boys and I always will.”

“Group huddle.”

Everyone except Todd looked at Tayloe not knowing what he said. Todd gathered them and they formed a circle with Eron in the middle. They were all cuddling and hugging him. Mr. Emmanuelson was between Todd and Erick when he reached his arms across their shoulders and hugged them. He then offered a prayer for safe travels and continued healing for Eron.

Mrs. Emmanuelson insisted on packing food for them to eat on their way. She said she always had food prepared for such emergencies.

“You never know. You never know when you may have to leave in the middle of the night.”

That was a sobering thought to everyone. Just a few days prior they left in the middle of the night because of Eron’s brain injury. Erick became somewhat morose that he was leaving his parent’s house again. He tried to maintain a cheery attitude for the others but pulled Todd upstairs and cried on his shoulder. Todd comforted him and told him that they would come back to visit and that they would see his parents in a few days. After washing his face, Erick was ready to go tell his parents goodbye.

They loaded Tayloe and Eron’s suitcases into the car and Todd got behind the wheel. Tayloe and Eron got in the backseat with the afghan.

“Heading south. Here we come.”

Todd pulled away from the house and drove to I-95 which would take them home to Virginia. Luckily, it was a bright, beautiful day for driving. It was Todd’s first time driving in New England while Erick was his navigator. It was fairly easy staying on I-95. When they crossed the George Washington Bridge, all of the guys except Todd looked down the river toward Manhattan. Todd was so busy driving through the traffic he was afraid to take his eyes off the road. When they were on the New Jersey Turnpike, Todd pulled off at a service area to fill the car with gas and to stretch. Tayloe helped Eron get to the men’s room in the service center. Todd and Erick both watched and realized how weak Eron was from his hospitalization. He had put on a good show for his parents. Tayloe was attentive and caring as he helped Eron negotiate a pathway through the throng of folks. They brought back bags of hot food while Erick took over driving. Tayloe fed Eron while Todd fed Erick. They were both slurping their drinks. Eron was feeling good and the guys had a great conversation until they reached the Delaware Memorial Bridge to head into Delaware.

“I am so glad you are driving. I hate this bridge. Oh my God. I hate this bridge.”

Todd was freaking out. Erick was holding his breath and had both hands glued to the steering wheel. Everyone finally relaxed and laughed as they crossed over to the south side and got in the Ezpass lanes for the tolls.

“I wonder how much we have paid in tolls today?”

“I never know. I have a smart tag and it just deducts it from an account I have with them. With the fast lane they don’t even let you know how much you just paid. I will look it up when I get home.”

“You will let me know and I will pay you back.” Eron felt like he was a burden and didn’t want to be.”

“You are to focus on getting well. Let me worry about the money. No more conversations on that subject.”

Erick started smiling when he heard Tayloe. It was just like his conversations with Todd. Todd knew what Erick was thinking and reached out and held his hand. They both looked at each other and laughed. Tayloe arms reached across the seat and squeezed Todd’s shoulder. They all quieted and Eron fell asleep in Tayloe’s arms.

The traffic increased as they approached the metro DC area. Erick had been to Eron’s apartment many times and knew exactly how to navigate the streets and circles to arrive there and found a loading zone in front of the building.

Tayloe leaned over and kissed Eron on the head. “Wake up Prince Charming. You are home.” Eron opened his eyes and looked disoriented. He lay there for a minute and Tayloe could see the cognitive wheels starting to turn. There seemed to be several misfires before everything was working properly. He thought that perhaps they should not have made the long drive in one day.

“Are you okay, Eron? Do you need to lie here for a minute?”

“I think I am alright. Can you help me? I feel very tired.” Just at that moment, Todd returned from the lobby of the apartment building with a wheel chair. He had asked the concierge for assistance; the man went to a storage closet and pulled it out.

Erick was gathering the luggage to be taken to the apartment. After he made sure that Tayloe had Eron in the wheel chair, Todd had the luggage in the lobby, Erick then went to park the car. After everyone was in the apartment, Eron said he was hungry. The basket of food from Mrs. Emmanuelson was demolished in one sitting.

“I’ll send Todd out to get breakfast food in the morning. There is nothing in the refrigerator.”

“Thanks, brother. I cleaned everything out before leaving for Newport. Tayloe can you take me to bed, please?”

Tayloe blushed and told Eron to give him directions to the master bedroom. Erick led Todd to the guest bedroom.

After unpacking their clothes, showering, and putting on pajamas, Erick and Todd went back to the living room. They were watching television when Tayloe came in. He looked exhausted.

“He is asleep. He barely had his head on the pillow before he conked out. The poor fellow is really tired. Perhaps we should wait until lunch time tomorrow before we drive to Richmond. That will give him more time to rest in the morning.”

“How are you going to do this, Tayloe? You look exhausted.”

“When we get home, we will set up a routine then everything will be fine. Routine will be important in his life. I may need your help when you have some free time. I also think I can get mom to help.”

Tayloe gave a startled look. “Did you hear that?”

There was a faint calling from the master bedroom. Tayloe immediately jumped up and practically ran down the hallway. A couple of minutes later, Tayloe reappeared and said that Eron wanted to know where he was. Tayloe then excused himself and said he was going to bed. He entered the master bedroom and then closed the door.

Todd took Erick’s hand and then leaned into his shoulder. He, too, was exhausted. They turned off the television and went to the guest bedroom.

The four men were safely ensconced in their beds for the evening. Tayloe was holding Eron whose head was firmly planted on his shoulder. He had briefly roused when Tayloe got in bed and pulled him close. Eron had kissed Tayloe’s neck and then started snoring again. Todd kissed Erick’s eye lids and told him of his deep abiding love. Erick then kissed Todd and said they would be together forever. They held each other during the night as if they were clinging to the very essence of life.

Suggested Music:

“River”

Composer: Joni Mitchell; Performer: Ben Platt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCtSAu2paSw