By Any Other Name (4 page)

Dru nodded. “No… it doesn’t.” He sighed, running his fingers through his short hair in a frustrated manner.

“Or we could have him here. Which is not ideal either. We don’t know him even if you did know him once. But we could get him to go to therapy in the city and keep an eye on him and all that. You’re at home almost all the time even when you work, so he wouldn’t be alone. We could show him the real world out there and really be sure that when he finally goes out into it on his own, he can do it.” Thom spoke quietly, looking out of the window instead of at Dru.

“What… what do you really think we should do?” Dru asked hesitantly. He didn’t want to make this decision.

“I don’t know. He meant the world to you, babe. He did, and I know you loved him. If he was worthy of your love, then he’s worthy of surviving the hell he’s been in for the last seven years,” Thom said and turned to look at Dru finally. There were tears in the older man’s eyes, and Dru moved quickly to sit on his lap to get as close as possible.

The real possibilities were sparse. He needed to do something, if for nothing else than the fact that once upon a time Skye had been Dru’s everything, his best friend and the help he had needed to get through his teenage years in a cold, loveless home.

After a long while of cuddling and just drawing strength from Thom, Dru made a decision.

“I think we need to call the doc. Tell him we’ll be e-mailing Skye the flight information to get to Oregon and the city from Boston. I can’t let him drift away with no one there to help him.” He looked at Thom, who nodded back.

“Okay, babe. I would have chosen the same thing. No matter who it was, a person who has gone through what he has deserves a chance. The fact that he was your best friend once means everything. So we’ll give the doc a call.” Thom kissed Dru’s cheek and picked up the paper with Dr. Albert King’s phone number. “You should do it,” he said, and Dru took the paper.

Walking to the kitchen and to the phone took enough steps to make him stronger in his resolve. He could and would do this. No matter the past, he still felt responsible for the kid Skye had once been.

Skye

Very
early on Monday morning, Skye made sure he had packed the few belongings he had. The clothes he had now were all new, bought by his very infrequent visitors, like the cop who had found him and the first EMT on the scene, as well as the ER doctor who had taken care of him for the first few days before it became clear he needed to get out of the psych ward and into somewhere more permanent. Surprisingly, there were people who cared about him, sort of. They were concerned, but they weren’t friends, just acquaintances. They felt sorry for him and helped him out as much as they could, but that was it. Now it was time for Skye to get out of Haven and out into the world. Sort of.

Funny thing, how life turned out. He had never really thought about the whole cycle of things, but it was there. He had left Rowan Falls and Dru, and now he was going back to some fifty miles from Rowan Falls and to Dru. He hadn’t been sure about going back at all. Hell, who knew what Dru would think about him and how he had just vanished? Maybe he had been torn and hated Skye for leaving like that? Maybe he had felt betrayed?

The train of thought led Skye to berate himself; who knew if Dru even cared after the initial disappointment? Or maybe he had been happy to get rid of the poor kid who always hung around him? Why would he do this, except out of charity? He wouldn’t, not when he had a new life and all. Skye had gone online too, to do some research of his own on Doctor Al’s computer. Dru had a business that seemed to be doing well, or so Al had said after gathering information online. He also had a boyfriend. Or a partner—that was probably the right word for what that Thomas person was. Not only would Skye be living with Dru but with this Thomas, whom he had never met. The thought made his heart skip a beat and his breath catch in his throat.

“Skye, you ready?” one of the nurses, Tim, asked from the doorway of Skye’s room.

“Yeah, I am,” Skye said, clearing his throat as he glanced around and grabbed his duffle bag from the bed.

“They want you in the cafeteria.” Tim grinned, and Skye rolled his eyes. Whenever someone was released from Haven because they were doing well and going home or wherever, there was a little party. The other nutjobs would say nice things about the one leaving, and there would be cake. No balloons, though, not after Mr. Skittles had gone nuts and run into a wall the year before, when Melinda was released. Damn, that man was crazy—and apparently had a fear of balloons. Reminded him of clowns. Coulrophobia was something not to laugh at. Even the thought of that made Skye snort.

When Tim looked at him inquisitively, he mouthed “clowns” and made the nurse chuckle too. They had had this conversation before. It wasn’t clowns or balloons Skye was afraid of. His fears had to do with darkness, basements, small spaces, being confined, and anything overly religious in the Christian way. It made him want to puke, run, and faint in no particular order.

“Skye!” an enthusiastic voice called out to him, and one of the girls of his ward, Lindy, ran to him and dragged him to the others in the middle of the cafeteria, which had sort of mint green walls and a checkered floor. It wasn’t soothing at all.

“Okay, get on with it, I have a plane to catch, people,” Skye said in his usual tone, making some of the other patients chuckle. They knew him by now. He wasn’t one of those who had been there longest, but he was in the middle of the pack; two years was still a long time here.

“All right, as we all know, our dear Skye Walker is dancing out the doors of this joint today.” Benny, a very skinny man with very serious issues but a knack for public speaking, stepped up and stood on one of the chairs. “There’s cake and all that, but if anyone wants to say something to Skye before Tim takes him to the sweet freedom, go ahead.” And with that, Benny jumped down from the chair, and there was a slight whispering among the little crowd before they began to take turns.

Lindy thanked him for the CD she’d received from him for Christmas the year before and the friendship and for teaching her that not all guys a foot taller than her were scary. Benny said something about making him eat ice cream when he didn’t want to, which apparently was a blessing and a curse or something like that. Others took turns too, and suddenly Skye realized it was family he was leaving here. A dysfunctional, sick as hell family, but a family nonetheless. It was almost more than his childhood family had been—or even Dru’s family, for that matter.

The clock saved him from most of the mandatory weeping from the females of the ward (and some of the guys too).

“We gotta get going, Skye,” Tim said, and Skye nodded, shoveling the rest of the chocolate cake into his mouth and hugging the people who wanted hugs as a goodbye. It wasn’t easy for him, not at all, and he couldn’t really hug any of the males, but the girls got hugs, especially Lindy, who cried enough to make Skye feel a bit teary himself.

He escaped as fast as he could and stopped at the last set of locked doors near the Institute’s lobby.

“Skye!” Al’s deep voice called from the side, and the larger-than-life doctor jogged to them. Tim went quickly through the checkpoint and gave Skye and his doctor some privacy.

“Was wondering where you were, Doc.” Skye smiled a little and got one of the old man’s grins in return.

“I just wanted to give you this, not much but we figured you needed something just in case,” Al said, thrusting an envelope into his hands.

“Thank you…. Well, I have a plane to catch,” Skye said, suddenly feeling a bit awkward. He got half of a man-hug from the doc, making it more of a pat on his shoulder, and then he was out of the doors as the orderly opened it for him.

“Call me anytime, Skye!” Albert King called after him, and he waved a hand over his shoulder in acknowledgment.

“Run, Forrest, run.” Tim smirked from the door and made Skye swing the bag at him playfully. That was something new too, feeling playful occasionally with the people he knew. Not that that would continue any longer; he knew no one outside these doors. Not in the city or Rowan Falls or the suburb between the two places where he would be living.

The drive to the airport wasn’t too long, and Tim had the car stereo on.

“Ever been in a plane before?” Tim asked as the first signs for the airport appeared.

“Yeah, once, when I was about six years old.” Skye snorted a bit. He had no real recollection of it.

“It’s, what, three hours or so and then some hours’ wait in the middle before the connecting flight that’s four hours, right?” Tim asked, even though Skye knew he was just quizzing him and they both knew the schedule by heart by now.

“Yeah, I have the papers here, don’t worry.” Skye rolled his eyes a bit. That reminded him…. He took the envelope and opened it. “Damn,” he whispered. There was easily five hundred bucks in there.

“They don’t do that for just anyone. You’re special,” Tim said in a good-natured way.

There was nothing Skye could say to that, so he didn’t say anything, just stayed quiet for the time being.

Tim parked the car in the temporary parking lot and walked with Skye to the mass of people. Monday morning. No wonder.

“Hi, I have this code for my ticket,” Skye said, standing in front of the desk for the correct airline, and the smiling woman took the paper from him and tapped the code into her computer.

“Oh, yes, Mr. Walker?” she asked, and Skye took that as a cue to produce his ID. The woman looked at it and compared it with the information, then handed the paper and the ID back to Skye. She gave the proper gate number to him and some advice on how to get there, probably because she could tell Skye was getting anxious, and then it was time for Skye to get to the gate and wait.

“So here we are, man,” Tim said as they got to the security gates, which would limit Tim’s access to the rest of the airport.

“Yeah….” Skye rubbed his neck and looked anywhere but at the nurse who had become his friend over the last two years. His confidant, in some ways. Tim was the one to talk him down when nobody else could do it.

“E-mail me, okay? I’ll worry. You’re a mate, don’t go forgetting that, you hear?” Tim said, mixing his British words into the American ones in the way that was so familiar to Skye that it made it harder for him to go. But he had to.

“Yeah, I will, and you have their number. When I get my own number, if I get a phone, I’ll call you with it and all that. Keep an eye on Lindy for me, Skittles freaks her out still.” Skye smiled a little and this time didn’t hesitate to hug Tim goodbye. He wasn’t intimidated by the smaller man; Tim had proven to be worth his trust over and over again.

“Okay. Call me anytime,” Tim said, and Skye could tell he was holding back tears.

Skye stepped back, got his bag, and walked away. He couldn’t say he would be okay because he just didn’t know, but he’d survive somehow, probably.

The rest of the way was easier than he had thought. The second airport was easier to navigate, and the one time when he wasn’t sure where to go, he even asked for directions from a lady at the information desk. It felt good, having courage to do that with nobody else he knew as backup. There were people around him, but he concentrated on ignoring them. As long as they didn’t come too close to him, it would be just fine, or so he kept telling himself.