Rocked To The Core - 3. Starting Over?

Tuesday June 6 - Jenny's mind

After leaving William's body, Jenny Perch made it out to her car before breaking down. He was taken off life support and passed away quietly. What am I going to do now? How do I tell the kids? Sure, they're grown, but getting a phone call telling you your father's dead has to be just as bad, if not worse, than being there when he actually dies, like she had. It wasn't much, but at least she had a couple hours warning between knowing he was going to die and it actually happening. William made enough money as an electrician to allow her to stay home and raise the kids. It'd been just William and her for less than a year since Ryan moved out. Can she handle being all alone? It was twenty minutes before the tears dried up enough for her to even start the car. Agenda once she got home: Wine, phone calls to the kids, more wine, phone calls to William's father and siblings, still more wine, check the account balances, once again more wine, if the accounts won't last more than a couple months, start a new bottle, wake up tomorrow and think about a job.

Wednesday June 7 - Back with Derek

As promised, Derek showed up at the hospital. Earlier than Jeremy expected, shortly after breakfast. He knew it wasn't visiting hours yet, so he wore his uniform. Since it was an off day, they didn't need a replacement for him. The timing worked well, Jeremy was the only thing he was really concerned with for the moment. No questions from the staff when he walked in and stopped at the information desk to see what room Jeremy was in. He walked into room 213 smiling, thinking it was a good omen, February 13th being his own birthday. Jeremy also seemed happy to see him. I guess it's lonely being in the hospital where almost nobody knows you.

"Good morning Jeremy. Or should I use Bry?"

"Jeremy is OK. I kind of like that. Bryce and Bryson have always seemed a little too pretentious to me. Makes sense since my father has five parts to his name. Aloysius Byrson Pelman Burlington IV."

I had to chuckle.

"Sorry for laughing I bet you're glad you're not the fifth."

"Yeah, but my older brother got saddled with that one.

"Have a younger brother named Pelman?"

"Not quite. That's some other ancestor's name, Winslow Pelman. My younger brother is Winslow."

This time it was a bit more than a chuckle.

"Funny. But, it's cool you'll stick with Jeremy. How are you feeling today?"

"Physically, I'm OK, still a little muddled up in the head. Pain is there but mostly bearable. I'm not on any high octane painkillers, anyway. So that's good. I spent last night tossing and turning wondering what else I've lost, not being able to remember anything from 2-plus years."

"What have the doctors said about your memory returning?"

"They're hopeful it will, but they can't know for sure."

"Have you remembered anythig?"

"Actually, I think so. I think I remember getting on a bus after my dad kicked me out. A bus? Oh, shit. I don't even know if I have a car."

"Where are your personal items? We can see if there's a car key amongst them."

"There isn't much. Most of my clothes were trashed because they were all bloody, so really all I have are a cell phone, wallet, keys, slightly used underpants, socks, and shoes. Socks and shoes are in the bottom of the closet. Unless someone took them overnight, everything else is on the top shelf in there."

"Yep, they're still here. Might be safer to keep the phone, wallet and keys in the drawer next to your bed. Apparently you own a Toyota. When you get released, we'll go by the job site and see if there's a Toyota there."

"I won't have any clothes."

"I can go to your apartment later and grab you something to wear home."

"You've been there, I take it?"

"Yeah, um, a few times."

I'll have to make sure the stuff I have there for the rare time I spend a night goes back home. Hopefully temporarily. Operative phrase there is 'make sure.' We'll get back to that.

"OK. I guess if I trusted you enough to have you visit, I can trust you not to rob me blind."

"I hate to tell you Jeremy, but you were never one for accumulating things. Which is probably a good thing right now. Unless you can remember the electrical stuff you learned from Mr. Perch, you probably won't be able to stay there without a decent job."

"No, I don't remember any of that right now. So I lost two years and I'll be losing my job and my home. Great. What else can happen to me?"

"Only good things, I'm sure. I can pay a month's rent for you if your memory doesn't come back right away, which will give us a little time to figure where you can go next."

"I don't know if I can ask that of you."

"I didn't hear you ask. I offered. Anyway, I can think of two possible places right off the top of my head."

"Where?"

"Mrs. Perch, or my house."

"Do you think she would?"

"Almost definitely. She may enjoy the company."

"Well, I guess if you're willing to let me move in with you, I really don't have to worry about you robbing me."

"That's definitely not a worry. Besides, you wouldn't know if anything was missing anyway. Hehe."

"Yeah, duh. I guess I'm going to have to trust somebody. Aside from doctors and nurses, you and Mrs. Perch are the only people I know. I doubt anybody from my old life is around."

"As far as I know, no. We can check the contacts in your phone, though."

"Good idea."

Or, maybe not. Aside from places of business, including a doctor and dentist, the only entries were 'DA' with my cell number, and 'Boss' with two numbers, I assumed cell and his business line. Unfortunately, mine was the only number with a graphic on the contact. That's going to need explaining. I'm sure he saw it, but he didn't ask about it right away. I wonder if he was embarrassed, thinking he did that because he had a crush on me, never expecting me to see it.

"Can I ask you a personal question? I suspect the answer is no because you're here."

"Yeah, shoot. Like I said yesterday, I don't think it's a good idea to tell you a lot about yourself, hoping you'll remember it."

"More about you than me. I'm guessing you don't have a problem with gay people. Like I said, you're sticking with me."

Is it safe to tell him I'm gay? He may feel more attached to me because of that other than real feelings. Better not, just yet.

"No. I don't have a problem with gays. Nothing to fear there."

"Um. I don't know how to ask this, without it sounding bad for one of us. I'll just come right out with it. Do you have any idea why your contact has two linked hearts with our initials in them?"

"Um, yeah. I can explain that. I was kind of trying to give you a chance to remember this on your own, but I guess it needs to be said now. We're boyfriends. Or, we were until yesterday."

"So you're gay too?"

"Yep. But there are only six other people who know that, so if you can keep it quiet..."

"I will. When I first saw you, I thought you were hot. Well, still do; but had no real hope that you may have been gay. Oh, shit. I just remembered something else!"

"Good, or bad?"

"Good, for sure. I don't recognize the place, but we were on porch on the side of a house kissing."

"Your apartment. You rent from an older couple who has too much space and a small apartment over their detached garage. That was our first kiss."

"You sure it was the first, and not just any?"

"Yeah, the rest of our kisses happened behind that door, with a couple exceptions."

I didn't tell him most of those exceptions were at a hotel during a shared vacation. Others were at an amusement park. Nor did I mention any of them went way beyond more than kisses. Hopefully, he'll start remembering more. Fortunately, he let it drop.

I hung with Jeremy pretty much the whole day, and talked about a bunch of things that weren't US related. I even grabbed a slice of pizza and a soda from the cafeteria and brought it back to eat lunch with him. Whenever a new doctor came into the room, Jeremy told them they can discuss anything in front of me. He did avoid the 'b' word and mostly said good friend. After another barrage of tests, his main doctor said he'll be able to go home tomorrow, most likely early afternoon. Albeit with a long list of do's and don'ts. I left when they brought his dinner, taking his keys with me. On my way home, I stopped at his place and got him a fresh set of clothes, and my stuff. It wasn't much for me, a couple changes of clothes, toothbrush, hairbrush and assorted other toiletries. Actually the only things that would have given him a clue they weren't his were two pairs of pants that would be too long for him, and the brown hairs in my hairbrush. He's a ginger, so the dark hairs could definitely raise questions I didn't think he was ready to have answered yet. Just because we are/were boyfriends and he remembered a kiss, doesn't mean he's ready to know everything about US.

I got home after mom and before dad.

"How is Jeremy?"

"Doing good. They're letting him go tomorrow."

"His memory coming back?"

"I think so, slowly. He remembered taking a bus when he left home, and um, there was a graphic attached to my contact that implied we were more than friends. I had to tell him we were boyfriends, and then he remembered the occasion of our first kiss. God, that was embarrassing to say."

"It's OK. You know your dad and I accept you as you are. I'd be more surprised if you considered him a boyfriend and hadn't kissed yet."

"OK, time to change the subject, sort of. I told him if he didn't remember job details, I could cover a month's rent for him. But after that..."

"That was nice if you. I guess if he doesn't remember soon enough he'll need a place to live."

"Yeah, about that..."

"It's fine, honey. If he needs to stay here until he gets back on his feet, we can make it work. But there would have to be rules."

"I get it. Mrs. Perch is/was kind of like a local mother to him, so that may be a possibility too. With her husband just dying, she may love the company."

Tomorrow and Friday were also off days for me, so I can spend the time with Jeremy and get him re-acclimated to the area. If he had to get hurt, doing so on the last day of my work cycle was ideal. Jeremy called and said the doctor said he'd be released around noon. I guess they wanted to save the cost of a lunch. Who knows, maybe insurance pays for the meals.

Thursday June 8

Since I didn't have to be at the hospital until a little before noon, I decided to sleep in. I really needed it. The stress of the past two days had caught up with me and I was completely wiped out when I went to bed. I got up at 10 - hey, 10:00 IS sleeping in when you wake up at 6:00 on work days, especially if you crashed around 9. I went to the kitchen, made myself a cup of tea, had a few frozen pancakes with strawberry syrup, and went to take a shower before heading to the hospital. Realizing I was going to spend most of the next two days with Jeremy, with really no hope of any sexual contact, I made sure I wouldn't have a boner all day by rubbing one out in the shower. Obviously, the fact that I'm around 19 1/2 didn't enter my mind. The one wank didn't prevent later boners.

I got to the hospital around 11:15, it wasn't that far from my house. I helped Jeremy out of the bed, he was a little unsteady after lying down for most of two straight days.

"Do you need help getting to the bathroom to get dressed?"

"I don't need to go in the bathroom. I can change out here, the other bed is empty. I'm guessing you've already seen me naked. So it's no big deal."

Apparently the strawberry syrup I'd used somehow moved up to my face. It's the only explanation I was willing to accept why my face was red. I know this is Jeremy, but it's not exactly the Jeremy I've known for almost a year and a half.

"Hehe. You're blushing. That has to mean my guess was right."

"Um. Yeah. It's just that you're different now. Not exactly the same Jeremy that I know and lo... Oh, shit."

"It's OK. I may be different because of my memory problems. You can still love me. Either we'll spend so much time together and I'll grow to love you; or my memory will come back and I'll remember that I do. Or, whatever I felt before. In the meantime; lust works."

"Um. Yeah. OK. Well, let's get you dressed and we'll be able to head out as soon as they release the shackles."

I helped Jeremy take off the hospital gown, and couldn't help but notice he was hard. I started to chub up myself seeing him naked.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but like I said yesterday, I think you're hot, so little Bryce decided to stand up to be greeted."

"It's OK. If I'm totally honest, 'little Derek' isn't so far behind."

Jeremy looks down toward my crotch.

"I'd have to say it's medium Derek."

"Enough. Get your clothes on. We can compare later if you really want to."

Jeremy just smiled. Yep. Same old horndog, regardless of his name. We sat on his bed and started to plan out the day.

"So, anywhere you want to go first?"

"Not remembering anything about the area, I guess the obvious places are my apartment and the job to get my car."

"Let's have you out and about for a while before we worry about your car. Plus, they may tell you not to drive for x weeks."

"That would suck."

"We'll figure something out if that's the case. So, yeah, your apartment would be a good starting place. After a short stop there, I'm guessing you're going to want real food?"

"Sure. What's around?"

"We're pretty much in the middle of restaurant alley here."

"I should check my wallet, see how much money I have."

Jeremy opens his wallet.

"Oh, shit."

"I can cover lunch, no biggie."

"Yeah, but do you know the PIN for my MAC card?"

"We shared a lot, but not that much. Hehe."

"Well, whatever, I have some cash. A good burger might be worthwhile. Wendy's maybe?"

"Sure. It's just up the road. We'll have to poke around your apartment, see if you wrote any of that stuff down; like PINs and passwords, etc. The MAC card, we can go to a branch of your bank and get it changed."

"OK. But, what if as my memory comes back, I forget what I did after I woke up?"

"We'll write stuff down, just in case. But I think your old memories will just be added to the current ones."

We got that much of the afternoon planned when a nurse came in with all his release paperwork. A quick glance, yep, no driving for two weeks. Maybe I can bribe my brother into being a chauffer half of the days for the next two weeks. It was time to say goodbye to the only home Bryson Jeremiah Burlington knew in Davie.

Next Up - "Making Adjustments Suck and Damn, How'd THAT Happen?"