Stripped Bare (34 page)

Dr. Shapiro’s face had been grave when he’d spoken to Matthew earlier. “There are no guarantees, Matthew,” he’d said gently, when Matthew had asked the question about Shane’s prognosis. “He’s not strictly speaking in a coma, he’s just not ready to wake up yet. There is no way of knowing when he will come out of it. His body is healing nicely, and I’m pleased with how he’s doing physically. But his brain is something else.”

He’d clasped the other man’s arm gently. “You’re doing everything you can for him. Just keep doing it. It’s only been a couple of weeks. Give him time.”

Matthew sighed, stood up and stretched. He gazed at his lover’s pale face. His hair was growing back but it still looked lopsided, fuller on one side than the other. Matthew smiled softly. Shane would have a hissy fit if he could see what it looked like. His lips were redder than they had been, the colour coming back to his face.

“It’s Boxing Day, Shay. Your dad said he’d be here before then. He hasn’t come yet. I suppose he is still the tosser you said he was. I thought he’d have made the effort by now.”

“I probably am a tosser, son.” The quiet words spoken behind him made Matthew turn and take a step back. The man who stood in the doorway was an older version of Shane, his silver-blond hair almost the same style, his features definitely proving that Shane was his progeny. “But I’m afraid this tosser had some rather pressing family business to attend to before coming up here.”

The man moved into the room, not taking his eyes off his son. “His mother got ill at hearing the news and we had to make sure she was fit to travel before we came down. “ Matthew was still mute at the sight of this older, more mature Shane suddenly appearing in front of him.

“I’ve been contacting the hospital twice a day to get updates. They tell me you’ve been taking very good care of him. To your own detriment I believe.” He held out a hand to Matthew. “Ray Templar. My wife will be in later. She’s got an appointment with my son’s doctor to find out all about what’s been happening with Shane.”

Matthew shook the man’s hand. “Matthew Langer. It’s good to meet you, sir.” He gestured awkwardly. “I’m sorry about the tosser comment—”

The man shook his head in amusement. “Not to worry, Mr. Langer. I’ve been called worse, I can assure you. Most of them by my son. And most of them deserved.” He smiled sadly as he walked over to the bed and stood quietly contemplating Shane. The smile faded and a hard look entered his eyes.

“The man that did this to my son, this Roy Parsons-–did you know him?”

Matthew wasn’t surprised that Ray Templar would already know everything he needed to about his son’s attack. The man was a multimillionaire and probably had more contacts and influence than Matthew could ever hope to have.

“I do. He works for my ex-boss.”

Ray laughed shortly. “Ah yes, the slimy Walter Debussy.” He reached down and moved a strand of hair off his son’s face. Matthew felt a sudden lurch in his chest at the tender gesture. He didn’t seem like a man who had no feelings whatsoever for his child.

“Do you know Walter?”

“Not personally, thank God. But I make it a point to know what’s going on in my son’s life. So I know about you and ergo, I know about your boss.”

Matthew’s jaw dropped. “You investigated me?”

Christ, this whole interference and nosy parker trait definitely ran in the family.

The older man nodded absently as he sat down next to his son and took his hand, slowly stroking it. Matthew didn’t know what else to say.

“Was it just a homophobic attack? What happened to Shane?” Ray’s voice was soft.

Matthew shook his head. “It was part of it. But Roy and Shane had a bit of a history too. Roy took a real dislike to him and—” he heaved a shuddering sigh, “it led to this.” He waved his hand at the bed.

“Tell me
exactly
why this happened.” Ray Templar commanded.

Matthew took a deep breath and told him everything. David’s attack by his father, the showdown at the hospital, the gay porn planted on Roy’s phone and finally, the video footage, the threat of revealing it to the press and the circumstances leading up to where they were now. He also left out the bit about the breakup. Let the man think they were still together.

Ray Templar listened carefully, nodding occasionally but otherwise letting Matthew tell the story. When he finished the other man looked at him appraisingly. “You’re quite the little action team together, aren’t you?”

Matthew wanted to giggle and tell him they called themselves the Gay Musketeers but he didn’t think was something Shane’s father needed to know.

“Why weren’t you with him when he was attacked? I understand he was out with…another friend?” Ray’s voice was non-committal.

“We’re not melded at the hip.” Matthew winced as he realised how that might sound. “He’s free to go off and see friends.”

The older man nodded thoughtfully. “Ah. I thought it was because you two broke up?”

Matthew looked at him in stupefaction.

Ray grinned and Matthew could see where Shane got his ability to disconcert from. It seemed these two men just loved shocking people.

“I told you I knew a lot about you two. And of course there’s the fact that this Parsons animal told the police it was why he felt he could go after my son. Apparently Debussy warned him off either of you because of the video tape you told me about. He thought you might release it if anything happened to either of you. But once you two were no longer an item, in his twisted little mind he thought that it made Shane ‘fair game’ in his words. I can’t see the logic myself, but who knows how diseased people think.” The disgust in the man’s voice was evident.

All Matthew heard was that the fact he’d broken up with Shane had contributed to the terrible beating he’d taken. His throat dried up and spots whizzed before his eyes.

“He attacked Shane because we’d broken up?” His voice choked. “Christ that means this was my bloody fault. If I hadn’t done that this might never have happened.”

Ray regarded him with soft eyes. “Matthew, the reason Shane is in this hospital is because some sick man took it upon himself to transgress human boundaries and beat the shit out of another man. You were not responsible for this. So don’t even go down that road. I can promise you that self-recrimination and guilt is not a worthwhile past time.”

He looked down at his son’s hand in his. “Believe me, I know.”

Just then a woman’s voice said softly from the door, “Ray, darling, how is he?”

A woman with deep blonde hair and an open, lovely face stood at the entrance, gazing in at the room. She walked in and over to her husband, putting a hand on his shoulder and leaning down to kiss Shane’s forehead tenderly. Her eyes filled with tears.

“God, Ray, look at him. All these years and this is how you get to see him for the first time?”

She turned to Matthew, and he could see where Shane got his vivid blue eyes. “I’m Natalie Templar. Shane’s mother as if you hadn’t already guessed.” She smiled wryly. Matthew thought she was a very beautiful woman. “You must be Matthew.”

He nodded and she came over and gave him a hug, wrapping her arms around him. He was nonplussed at the gesture, but he hugged her back awkwardly.

“Thank you for taking such good care of my son,” she whispered. “The nurses say you have been incredibly good to him.”

She let go of Matthew and sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the bed, and then looked at her husband. “The bottom line is he’s doing as well as can be expected. He just won’t wake up yet. We’ll have to make him.”

Natalie leaned into Shane. “Darling, it’s your mother. You’re father and I are here and we love you. Please wake up soon, sweetheart. We have so much to talk about. Birthday cards and Skype calls just don’t do enough for me, I’m afraid. Please come back to us, Shane. We miss you. And your boyfriend here is really missing you. Matthew needs you, Shane.” She smiled at Matthew “Your man looks exhausted. You need to get back here and be with him.”

Matthew had a lump in his throat at her words. “I’ll leave you two alone with him,” he muttered as he walked out the door.

An hour later, Shane’s mother and father were leaving to check into a nearby hotel.

“We’ll be back later to see him,” Natalie said.

Ray nodded. “Matthew, we need to talk as well. I’m sure there are a lot of questions you might have about why Shane left and what happened.”

“He left because you threw him out for being gay.” Matthew’s voice was harsh, but he was tired and he wanted to be alone with Shane.

Ray’s eyes clouded. “Yes. I can’t deny that’s true. And I regret it every day of my life and have been trying to make amends for it ever since. But my son wanted nothing more to do with me. He’s stubborn and a law unto himself as you probably know. He at least kept in contact with his mother which is a blessing. And of course the money he stole was another thing.” His voice was wry.

Matthew stared at him in amazement. “You knew that was him?”

Ray chuckled. “Of course. He was young and very good, but I had someone who was better. Of course, now the man I knew is calling
him
for advice. He’s become a real force to be reckoned with, apparently.” The man’s voice held a trace of pride. “But I let him think he’d got away with it. It was the least I could do.” He turned to his wife. “Come on, darling. Let’s leave the love birds alone. I’m sure Matthew wants to be alone with our Shane.”

He shook Matthew’s hand again. “Thank you for being there for him,” he said softly. “I’m glad he has someone like you at his side.” The couple walked away.

Matthew stared after them then went back into the room. He sat down and picked up his Kindle. He’d started reading to Shane from one of his favourite books, Peter Straub’s
Shadowlands.
He was already halfway through it.

He’d only been reading for about ten minutes, when he heard Shane make a noise. He stopped and looked at the man in the bed carefully. Shane’s eyelids appeared to be moving more than they had been. As Matthew watched, holding his breath, Shane’s eyes opened.

He shot up, his heart thudding, and leaned over. Shane’s eyes were unfocused, unclear but still bright blue and as Matthew watched, they focused on him.

“Matty?” The hoarse whisper of his name coming from Shane’s mouth was heaven to Matthew’s ears.

Shane recognised him, knew who he was. That had to be a good sign.

“Shay, I’m here, baby.” Matthew leaned over as Shane coughed, his face creasing in pain.

He went to the door and called over to the nurse’s station. “Shane’s awake, call the doctor.”

Then he dashed back in, hoping it hadn’t been an aberration or a hallucination and that Shane would still be awake. His lover was still laying there, his eyes following Matthew’s every move. Matthew’s eyes filled with tears as he leaned over and kissed Shane softly on the lips.

“Thirsty.” Shane’s lips were dry. Matthew had been putting lip balm on them so they weren’t cracked.

“Hang on, babe, I’m not sure if I can give you anything to drink. Just wait for the nurse, honey.”

“I did it, Matty.” Shane’s voice was tired but pleased.

Matthew frowned. “Did what, Shay?”

“I came back to you.” His lover’s words echoed in Matthew’s ears. The tears were falling freely down Matthew’s face now as he leaned over and got as close to Shane as he could given his injuries.

“Yes, you did. You made it, my Gay Musketeer.”

Shane smiled, closed his eyes and drifted back into a normal sleep.

Back together again

Shane woke slowly. He reached out his left hand and gently touched Matthew’s hair. He was snoring softly, and Shane smiled at seeing him so defenceless. He’d always loved watching Matthew sleep. He grimaced as his right arm twinged. Stiff and sore, he could hardly move it. His ribs hurt when he did anything strenuous, like simply breathing.

His body ached, his limbs feeling like dead weight. He had a constant headache too, a dull throb in his head that simply sat there like a suet pudding and refused to budge. He felt bilious.

The sight of Matthew’s wonderful face leaning over him had made him feel that the long battle upward out of the darkness that had hold of him had been worth it. The salty tears in his mouth as Matthew cried in relief over him had tasted like good wine. Everything bad that had happened between them seemed to have dissipated as if it had never been there in the first place.

Matthew stirred but Shane kept hold of his hair. He didn’t want to lose contact even for a moment. But he had to let go when Matthew sat up and looked at him blearily, before his face broke into a wide and joyous smile at the fact Shane had woken up again.

“Hey, you.” Matthew leaned out of his chair and kissed Shane. Shane closed his eyes at the feel of his soft lips against his. He didn’t care that their breath was probably stale and his lips were dry even though he did have a distinct minty taste in his mouth. He wondered whether Matthew had been brushing his teeth for him. The thought made him wince in embarrassment. What else had the man been doing when he was non compos mentis?

“Your hair has got longer. I like it.” Shane’s voice was husky from lack of use.

His boyfriend ran a hand through his dark locks. “Yeah. I was too busy taking care of a certain someone to worry about cutting it.”

They smiled at each other. Matthew took Shane’s hand.

“Let me get you more upright. It’ll do you good to change position.” He grinned wickedly. “The nurses and I have been moving you around, exercising your limbs and rubbing your butt and back to prevent bedsores. It was more of a pleasure for me than it was for them. Although some of them did comment on your tight arse. I told them it was mine.”

Shane laughed tiredly. “I bet you did.”

Well, he now knew what else Matthew had been doing for him. Preventing bloody bedsores by rubbing his arse and whatever else he had to.

Shane cringed at the thought. Matthew helped him sit up and Shane hissed through his teeth as his damaged ribs complained. The stiffness and pain in his right side was excruciating and by the time he was sitting only slightly up, the effort had caused him to break out in a sweat.