Another Lifetime - 2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kyle Omara’s life had turned to shit in the blink of an eye.

The eight weeks since the attack on the boy he loved, his best friend Leo, had taken its toll on the boy. He had been emotionally tested in more ways than he thought were humanly possible. He’d spent every moment he possibly could at Leo’s bedside, not being able to bear the thought of losing him. It couldn’t happen, he told himself. But as the days stretched into weeks, and the weeks into months, there was little to no hope of Leo ever waking up again.

And that pissed Kyle off royally. What he wouldn’t do to get five minutes alone with Ethan Hartman.

He was glad that Leo’s supposed boyfriend hadn't come to visit him in the hospital. Kyle didn’t want to get arrested, and that would be the likely result of a meeting between the two. Kyle knew it had been Ethan that hurt him, but there was no way he could prove it. He’d covered his tracks too well.

Leo had been found naked on the side of the road, broken and bloody, by a woman who was out for a morning jog. When she found him she was convinced that he must have been dead, because there was so much blood. She bent over him to check for a pulse, and feared the worst when she touched his skin. It was cold from the chilly morning air. She was so surprised when she found a pulse that she dropped her cell phone three times while trying to call an ambulance.

Leo was rushed to the nearest hospital and made it there in ten minutes. The next forty-eight hours were a struggle for his life, as the doctors had to do three surgeries on him before there was any chance of him pulling through. He’d been in a coma ever since.

Kyle got a call from Leo’s father at three o’clock in the morning on the fourth day. Kyle went into hysterics, and fainted while on the phone with Leo’s father.

Kyle arrived at the hospital after coming to and running the whole way there. His parents were just waking up after hearing Kyle’s yelling, and he didn’t want to waste any time waiting for them to get ready.

Kyle met up with Leo’s father in the lobby. Leo’s father’s eyes were red from crying, but when he looked at Kyle’s face, there was no mistaking what he saw. He didn’t even try to blame it on a trick from the tears in his eyes. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Kyle loved Leo, and was worried sick about him.

And not in the way normal friends love each other, this was more. It was deeper, more pure. It showed all over his face, like an open book.

Kyle walked over to him, and said with his voice trembling, “Mr Scott, can you take me to see Leo?”

Leo’s father smiled at him. “It’s Stephen,” he said, “and I think he needs you right about now.”

Kyle’s face looked confused, and a little scared. He hoped that he wasn’t too obvious, but when Leo’s father winked at him, he knew he’d been found out. His face burned for the whole walk to Leo’s room.

They walked in, and Kyle’s waterworks started anew. Leo looked so small, wrapped up in bandages and surrounded by so many large machines. The parts of his face that were uncovered were puffy and bruised, and if Kyle hadn't already known that it was Leo in the bed he wouldn’t have recognized him.

Finally, Kyle entered the room, and walked to Leo’s bedside. He knelt down, and took his hand.

“I’m here, Leo,” he whispered to him. “I’m not going to leave you.”

And for the next eight months, as much as he possibly could, he fulfilled that tear soaked promise. He only left his side when he absolutely had to.

“Come on Kyle, you have school in the morning,” Kyle’s mother said from behind him. Kyle’s parents had been very understanding through the entire ordeal. They thought it was sweet that Kyle was so worried about his best friend. And that’s all they thought it was.

Kyle sighed. He couldn’t have cared less about school. His usually impeccable grades were faltering, his social life was all but nonexistent, although that wasn’t really unusual, and his parents were worried about him.

“Just a little longer,” he said to his mother. He’d been reading Leo’s favorite books to him every night, and he wanted to finish the chapter he was on before leaving.

“No, honey, we’re leaving now,” she said firmly, but not harshly.

Kyle sighed again, and placed his bookmark in the book so he wouldn’t lose his place.

“Mom says we have to go,” Kyle whispered to Leo. “But I’ll be back tomorrow, and we’ll finish this one off.” Kyle looked back at his mother, who was digging in her purse for her car keys.

Seeing that she was sufficiently distracted, he leaned in and gave Leo a quick peck on the lips. “Bye,” he said to Leo.

Kyle looked back over at his mother and found her just pulling her keys out. It looked as if she hadn't seen anything.

But she had. She looked up at Kyle just as he’d turned away from her, and her eyes widened in shock as she watched her own son kiss Leo on the lips. Another boy. She diverted her eyes as soon as he was finished, and pretended as if she hadn't seen anything. But she was confused. She’d had no idea that Kyle was gay, let alone that he’d had a boyfriend.

She wasn’t angry about it though. One of her best friends in high school had been gay, and they still saw each other, and were still very great friends. She knew all too well the dangers that Kyle would likely have to face as he grew into a man. She’d seen it all with her friend. She knew what was coming, and she was scared for him, absolutely terrified.

She made the decision right then that she would never tell her husband, Kyle’s father, about it. She knew Kyle’s father was homophobic, as she had to listen to him bad mouth her friend when he wasn’t around. It got to the point where she had to lie about where she was when she went to visit him. Kyle’s father thought they’d lost touch years ago.

A tear slid out of the corner of her eye, and she noticed that Kyle was giving her a funny look. She realized she’d been staring, and wiped her eye with the back of her hand.

“You ready?” she asked.

“Umm…Y-yeah,” he responded. Fear flooded into his heart as he worried that his mom had indeed seen him kiss Leo. Why had she looked at him like that? He wondered to himself.

“Well then,” his mom said. “Let’s go.”

She turned, and walked down the hall toward the front door. Kyle stood there, staring after her with his mouth open slightly. He had absolutely no idea what he should do. His mother wasn’t even acting strange, but there was something in the way she’d looked at him that just didn’t sit right with him.

He finally began following her, and by the time he reached the blue SUV, she was already waiting patiently in the car for him.

The drive home was done in near total silence. The radio was on, but the volume was too low for Kyle to make out any words. His mom had always done that. Even as a little kid, he remembered driving in the car with his mom had been boring. She never liked to listen to music when she drove, so Kyle just learned to deal with it.

How he wanted to be able to have a distraction now. His mind was on overdrive, going over possibility after possibility about what he should do.

Should I come out to her? He asked himself. That’s ridiculous, I’m not ready for that yet, he decided. The only person who he’d ever come out to was Leo, and Kyle couldn’t exactly ask him his advice. Leo’s father had figured it out, but Kyle felt weird about talking to him about it. Leo hadn't loved Kyle, as Leo’s father undoubtedly thought. At least not in the way Kyle had wanted him to for so very long.

Finally his mom pulled the SUV into their driveway. Kyle climbed out, and glanced over at his mom. She smiled awkwardly, then turned and strolled to the front door. She unlocked it, and walked in without looking back at Kyle. Reluctantly Kyle followed her into the house.

As he entered, he could hear his mom talking with his father from the den. He couldn’t make out what she was saying to him, but he could hear the occasional slurred word from his father. Something about “That goddamn football team” was all he heard.

A panic like he’d never felt before hit him and he began to shake like a leaf. What if she tells him? He thought. He knew as well as his mother did that his father couldn’t find out. For his own safety as much as anything else. His father already hit him when he was drunk, so he could only imagine how much worse it could get.

Kyle hurried up to the room he shared with his younger brother Justin. He walked in to find the boy hurriedly covering himself and working hard to close the video that was playing on the screen of their computer. It wouldn’t shut down in time, so his brother tried to stand and block the view of the computer monitor. He desperately didn’t want anyone to see what he’d been watching, even though Kyle saw it as soon as he walked in.

His unbuckled pants fell down to his ankles.

Kyle was roaring with laughter.

Finally, Justin was able to close the video, and quickly he pulled his pants up covering his beet red skin. When Kyle or Justin blushed, their whole skin turned red, not just their faces. Justin turned around and glared at Kyle.

“Don’t you knock?” he asked in an angry, exasperated voice.

“Dude, it’s my room too,” Kyle said between fits of laughter.

“You scared the hell out of me,” Justin said. “Why were you being so quiet? I didn’t even hear you come up the stairs!”

As Kyle finally got his laughing under control, he looked his brother in the eyes. Justin was terrified that Kyle had seen him watching gay porn.

“Just be more careful,” Kyle said, and Justin breathed a sigh of relief.

“Especially when you’re looking at that kind of porn.”

Justin turned as white as a ghost, and sat down heavily on his bed.

“You saw that?” he asked nervously.

Kyle nodded. Then he smiled at Justin.

“I’m not gay,” Justin stated emphatically.

Kyle simply looked at him, his doubt clearly written on his face.

“I’m not!” he said, and glared at Kyle again while clenching his fist. “If you say anything, I’ll fucking kill you.”

Kyle backed up, putting his hands up in a non-threatening way. “I’m not saying anything.”

Justin visibly relaxed, and Kyle let his guard down. He walked over to his bed, and pulled the covers back on his bed. He sat down, pulled off his shoes and socks, and then took off his shirt.

He looked back over at Justin and said, “I’m okay with it though.”

Justin turned, and punched him in the mouth, splitting open his lip. Kyle staggered, and fell to the floor.

“I fucking told you not to say anything!” Justin yelled at him. “Just go to sleep and forget about it!” Justin then climbed into his bed, pulled the covers up over himself, and turned toward the wall.

Kyle was still on the floor, bleeding from the mouth. He couldn’t say he was shocked at his brother’s reaction. He’d always been hot headed, and he’d hit Kyle enough times after an argument over the years that you’d think he’d have expected it. But a punch to the face is something you never get used to.

Kyle stood, tears streaming down his face, and walked sniffling to the bathroom to clean himself up. He looked in the mirror, sighed, and used some toilet paper to wipe away the blood. He looked back up and saw that the left side of his mouth had already started to bruise. He looked into his red, tear soaked eyes, he wondered what bad luck tomorrow would bring.

He quietly walked back into his room, and climbed into his bed. His bedside lamp was still on, but Justin’s was dark.

“Turn that fucking light off,” Justin demanded.

Kyle sighed, and clicked it off. He lay down on his back, staring at his dark ceiling.

“Pussy,” he heard his brother mutter with disgust.

He closed his eyes, but sleep didn’t come quickly on this night. He had way too many things on his mind. From his mother possibly knowing his secret, to his being worried about Leo, to how weird his brother acted tonight. He desperately needed someone to talk to, and wished in vain that Leo hadn't been put in the hospital.

The only one he could talk to was Leo’s father. As weird as it was, that was something he would just have to get over if he wanted to keep his sanity. He decided that after school, he would go over to the hospital and see if he could talk to him.

* * * * *

For the most part, school was uneventful for Kyle. A few teachers had asked about his bruised lip, so he told the truth. He’d gotten into an argument with his brother. They had all smiled at him, and went about their business, no doubt thinking it was just sibling rivalry.

As the last bell sounded, signaling the end of his math class, he rushed out the door before the teacher could finish assigning their homework. He nearly ran to his locker, and pulled out his coat and the books he would need for the night.

He shut the door, and turned around. Across the hall, he could see Ethan Hartman, with his tongue so far down Renée Borden’s throat he imagined he could see it poking out of her too-short skirt. She was like putty in his arms, the way she seemed to have melted into him. She was raised up on tip-toes in order to reach him, and he only bent down a little bit. You could just read it in everything he did, he was an asshole. It made Kyle want to be sick.

Ethan and Renée broke apart, and Renée’s eyes were still closed, as if she were in ecstasy. Ethan looked over at Kyle, and as their eyes met, a cold feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. Ethan knew Kyle was watching. He was showing off. He was telling Kyle that Leo had never meant anything to him.

Kyle gave him a look of complete and utter contempt, to which Ethan just smirked at. Kyle walked away, hoping for the roof to collapse in on Ethan. Hoping for him to have a sudden heart attack. Hell, hoping for an escaped tiger to rush into the building and tear him apart, limb from limb, in a terribly painful and vicious attack. Anything to take that goddamn smirk off his disgustingly handsome face.

None of these things happened, so Kyle simply walked on. He walked a block and a half down Main Street, and then down another three blocks down Wallace Boulevard, to the brand new Mother Teresa Memorial Hospital, where Leo was staying.

He entered the hospital, and waved to Nurse Patty Robins at the front desk. He continued down the corridor, past a few rooms with various sick people in them, and proceeded to the elevators. He took the elevator to the fourth floor, and nearly ran head first into Dr. Richardson.

The first time Kyle met Dr. Richardson was the day Kyle got the news of Leo’s attack. Dr. Richardson had been the one who informed Kyle of Leo’s condition. Leo had suffered three broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a broken wrist, broken ankle, broken nose, and a broken collarbone. He’d also been raped multiple times, but no sperm had been recovered. He’d been hit in the head multiple times, and likely suffered from brain damage, but the extent wouldn’t be known until he woke up. If that ever happened.

Kyle shook his head, shaking out that memory. That had been a rough night. Kyle had to be restrained, as he completely lost control when he found out.

Kyle looked back up at Dr. Richardson, who was looking at him strangely.

“Are you alright Kyle?” he asked. “What happened to your lip?” He had gotten on first name basis with many of the staff at the hospital. He’d been there so often, it was hard not to.

“Yea, I’m okay. Just an argument with my brother,” he answered. Dr. Richardson smiled and nodded. “Heading over to see Leo.”

“Hang in there,” Dr. Richardson said. “I just left his room, and his father Stephen is in there now.

“Thanks Doc,” Kyle said, and the doctor smiled at him and entered the elevator.

Kyle walked to the door to Leo’s room, took a deep breath, knocked, and entered. Leo’s dad, with a tear streaked face, smiled at him.

“Hey there, Kyle,” he said with a goofy smile. “Just holding down the fort.”

Kyle laughed. He’d been so stressed lately that the sound was foreign to his ears.

“I’ll get out of your hair,” Leo’s dad said.

“Actually, I was kind of hoping I could talk to you,” Kyle said.

“Me? What can an old guy like me do for you?” he asked in confusion.

“Well,” Kyle started. He took a deep breath, and looked Leo’s dad in the eye. “You know I’m gay, right?”

Leo smiled, and nodded. “I had an idea.”

“Well, I need some advice,” Kyle said.