Finding love - 7. Chapter 7

Why is Jonah here? My head started to hurt and I remembered the night Noah died.

Jonah and Noah left the party at Alice’s house on the old Fairwood Turf Farm. Jonah had a few too many drinks that night and since it was dark he was confused and turned right coming on to Church Rd instead of going left. He made it down past Tall Oaks Vocational School into the curvy section of the road. They were traveling at a high rate of speed and Jonah missed a curve and the car went up part of the hill, flipped over and spun. A pickup truck didn’t see them until it was too late and collided with the car. The doctor said Noah was killed instantly. Jonah only had to go to rehab and serve community service since his family was wealthy and knew how to game the system.

When I opened my eyes I glared at Jonah.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing. I heard you were awake.”

“I’m done with you Jonah. You killed my brother and it should have been you.”

“I understand you’re angry but Noah chose to get in the car with me.”

“How dare you blame him?”

“What the fuck are you doing here Jonah,” boomed a deep voice I recognized instantly. “You need to make like a tree and leave.”

“I don’t take orders from you Asher,” Jonah said being defiant.

“I’m going to squish you like a bug,” Asher growled.

Jonah’s eyes went wide and he got up and ran out of the room.

“What a fucktard. Are you ok Matt? You’re shaking.”

“I’m fine,” I’m not sure why my voice was shaking too.

“Breath little man, in through the nose and out of through your mouth. Should I go get the nurse?”

“Nooo,” I stuttered. “Sit, please.”

“Brody told me you were awake,” Asher said as he moved the chair closer and sat. “I caught the first flight I could to get here that didn’t have a ton of layovers.”

“How do you like living in Iowa?”

“Well the weather isn’t much but living in Ames has been ok. I’m about 3 ½ hours from Minneapolis and around 4 hours from Kansas City. I’ve been trying to visit as many places as I can as I’ve never really been to the Midwest.”

“How are you doing with Football?”

Asher laughed before responding.

“You sound just like my father. I’m doing well and trying to lay low as when people figure out my father is the Head Coach of the Washington Commanders they tend to try and kiss up.”

“I still can’t believe he took that job. He was so successful with the 49ers.”

“He wanted to be closer to the family. He chose not to uproot us as Mom had such a successful career here and Brody, Chase and I were doing well in school.”

“I haven’t seen Chase yet.”

“He’s a bit scared to come over here. He doesn’t like hospitals.”

“Evidentially Brody does; he’s been here every day. Not sure why.”

“Matt I love you like a brother but are you dumb?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you think Brody would be here EVERY day?”

“I don’t know Asher.”

“Jeez, Noah picked up on it,” Asher said with a sigh.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, my little brother is in love.”

“With who?”

“Are you dense?”

“No. One of the nurses?”

“You; You idiot.”

“Me? What do you mean me? He can’t be gay, he’s a jock and has all the cheerleaders after him.”

“So jocks can’t be gay? Seriously? Are you forgetting I’m bisexual?”

“I know you are but you’ve always been with girls.”

“That you know of. Look my brother may be the fantasy of many people but he’s had his eye on you for a while. Like way before you came out. He came home one night after staying at your house and he was upset. I landed up talking with him where he confided in me that he was in love with you.”

“Wow. Why would he want me? He could have anyone he wants.”

“He wants you and only you. Have you heard what happened yet?”

“To me? No, I don’t remember anything and nobody has said anything.”

“Well, I’m going to tell you and it might help explain things. You must have used the three rapid clicks on your apple watch like Noah taught you and you dialed 911. The dispatcher heard Hastings threatening you and she initiated a trace to locate you as she didn’t want to speak and alert Hastings. When she located you she reached out to Paul about an attack somewhere at the school. As soon as Brody over heard it he ran down the hall and found the bathroom door locked. He pounded on the door and eventually his brain kicked in and kicked the hell out of the door breaking it. When he entered the bathroom he found Hastings standing over you and you were slumped against the wall. Brody punched Hastings and got into a full-fledged battle with him. During the fight Brody somehow broke both hands and wrists. It required surgery and he can’t use his hands as well as he used to. Anyhow, Paul and four other cops had to pull him off of Hastings. Your dad gave Hastings a cashew blast.”

“Cashew blast? What on earth is that?”

“When Hastings was standings there your dad kicked him right in the nuts, so hard it ruptured both of his testicles.”

“Two points to dad,” I giggled.

“Yeah he made Hastings double over in pain. They dragged him out of the bathroom and the EMT’s went to work on you. Your skull was fractured and you had to have some reconstructive surgery and you healed but remained in a coma. Everyone was so worried you’d not come out of it. Brody took it the hardest and was sneaking out every night to come here. He called me every night after he left the house and told me where he was. Mom and Dad were so angry that he was sneaking out and using Uber and Lyft. Mom said she would have gladly driven him to save money.”

“What happened to Hastings?”

“The man is in jail for life. With the 911 call being recorded Hastings couldn’t dispute anything. He tried to counter sue your dad for damages but all the officers who were there testified that your dad didn’t lay a finger on him. Brody dodged assault charges since he had a great lawyer.”

“I had no idea Brody loves me. How did Noah figure it out?”

“He would catch Brody starring a bit too long or how Brody’s face would light up when you came into the room. He wondered how long Brody would take to act on it.”

“So what do I do now?”

“Well first, you work on getting better. Secondly, do you love Brody?”

“Yeah I do. He’s always treated me great and I’ve had a crush on him for a while.”

“Well you need to say something Mr. Clueless.”

“Say something about what?” Brody said entering the room.