Edd Interrupted
Chapter 15 - Junior Year: April
In April, Kevin was greeted by a buzz-kill. The Thursday before he was
to leave for Double D’s school, he got a phone call. The title “Dork”
was illuminated on his cell phone and he answered it with a grin.
“Hey, dorky. What’s up?”
“Hello, Kevin. I’m afraid you won’t be able to come this weekend.”
It was surprising when a sharp stab of disappointment hit Kevin and
lodged itself against his sternum. Best not to let it show. “Oh yeah?
How come?”
“I’m very ill and I would be terrible company.”
He frowned. “Sick with what?”
“I’m not altogether sure. My attempts at self-diagnosis came to naught
and the campus doctors are less than helpful. They gave me Vitamin C
supplements and told me to drink a lot of fluid. I don’t see how that
helps when the moment anything touches my tummy, it exits my system
almost immediately.”
“You’re puking?”
“Vomiting is a more correct term, though still crude.”
“Shit, babe, how long have you been sick?”
“Since last Tuesday.”
“Dammit, dork! That’s a long fucking time!”
“Your language will not help the situation, sir. Now, I really should
go lay down. My head is spinning and I fear being ill on my floor yet
again. I am very sorry to cut our plans with so little notice. No one
regrets it more than I do.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
There was silence for a few heart beats before he spoke again,
hesitantly. “Please don’t be angry with me, Kevin.”
“I’m not. Just rest, dork. And feel better.”
“Thank you. Good bye, Kevin.”
“Later.”
XXX
Despite his warning call, Double D found Kevin at his door on Friday
afternoon anyway. He was sure he looked terrible, in rumpled clothes,
his hat askew, shoe laces untied, his room in shambles, his complexion
probably very green. All the same, Kevin was standing there, grinning
at him.
“Thought you needed a little pampering.”
He cried out and backed away, both hands over his mouth. “Absolutely
not! You march right back to your car, mister, and go home! I will
infect you!”
“You will not. I’ve got the immune system of a Roman god.” He came
into the room and looked around. “You must be in pretty bad shape for
things to look like this.”
“Oh, Kevin, please! Please just go. I will feel miserable and guilty
to find you sick within a week.”
“Naw, I’m all right.” In spite of his protests, he wrapped his arms
around the smaller boy and held him, but not too tightly. “I’ll take
you back to the hotel. It’ll be more comfortable than here.”
“No, Kevin. I couldn’t possibly. I would just be spreading the
infection.”
“Just let me have my heroic moment, huh? Lemme see if I can’t cure what
ails you.”
“Sex is certainly not--”
He laughed. “Sex isn’t all I think about. Give me some credit.”
One half-hour argument later, Kevin was bundling Double D into his car
and whisking him away.
XXX
Double D had to admit that being cared for by Kevin was one of the most
intimate things he’d ever experienced. He was soft spoken, moved
slowly, and smiled lazily as they lay in bed and watched Animal Planet.
Kevin was resting on pillows propped against the headboard and had an
arm draped around Double D’s shoulders who was curled against his side,
head tucked comfortably against his chest. The faint scent of Kevin’s
cologne was comforting rather than nauseating. Every few minutes, Kevin
would take the glass of lukewarm ginger ale on the nightstand and offer
him a few sips from the straw. Amazingly, it stayed down better than
water did.
That was their entire Friday evening, and Double D felt bad, keeping
them confined to the room. When he voiced his concern, Kevin snorted
and said, “Even a stud likes to relax in the stalls for a few days.”
Double D laughed at that, and then that all too sick familiar feeling
returned. He eased himself off the bed and shuffled into the bathroom.
He didn’t have time to close the door before he bent over the
meticulously cleaned porcelain toilet and lost the glass of ginger ale
he’d managed to keep down. Then, Kevin was there, standing over him,
stroking down his spine slowly since he didn’t have any hair to hold
back. Double D would have been moved yet again by his gentility had he
not been retching. It continued until he was dry heaving and it finally
stopped.
Silently, Kevin wet a rag with cool water and draped it over the back of
his neck and then offered him a small plastic cup of mouthwash. He
rinsed gratefully and spat into the toilet before Kevin flushed for him
and then lifted him and took him back to bed. He put him down before
climbing back onto his side of the bed and assumed their previous
position.
An hour later, Kevin happened to brush his fingers against Double D’s
forehead and frowned. “You’re burning up.”
“It’s all right,” Double D managed weakly.
“The hell, that’s not all right. Shit.” He went digging through his
overnight bag and produced a digital thermometer. “Here.”
“Kevin, don’t be silly.”
“Indulge me, dork. Open.” When he read the results, he frowned deeper.
“One hundred one? That’s total bull shit. I’m taking you to a
hospital.”
“Kevin, honestly! I don’t need a hospital. They can do nothing for me
there that we can’t do here.”
“Well, what should we do here?” he asked, voice rising with hints of
panic.
“Rest. Perhaps turn up the air conditioning. Another cool compress
would be nice.”
“Yeah. Yeah, okay. Great.” With as much frenzy as an expecting
father, Kevin raced through their room, turned the thermostat to a
chilly 65, soaked another rag in ice water, and turned the TV volume
down. When Double D was resting again, Kevin laid beside him, vigilant
as a hawk. “Better?”
“Yes. Fine, thank you.”
“Good.” Kevin settled down a little lower in his pillows and pulled him
against his chest, stroking his back again, almost as though it were a
nervous habit of his own.
“Thank you, Kevin, for being here with me.”
“You don’t gotta thank me, babe. Just get better.”
XXX
After a long and interrupted sleep, the first he’d had in days, Double D
felt well enough the following morning to eat some dry toast and more
ginger ale. Kevin took a quick shower around nine and Double D lingered
in a hot bath until noon. He managed to eat a few crackers and drank
an entire can of ginger ale, and then they settled back into bed, but
now the TV was just background noise. They lay on their sides, facing
each other.
“When we were kids, we didn’t hate you,” Kevin said. “We just hated
Eddy.”
Double D had to giggle just a little. “I suppose I can understand why.”
“You were just kinda clumped into the group. Unfair, but we were kids,
so whatever.”
“I never resented you for it. I know that Eddy can be difficult to get
along with.”
“I’d see you by yourself and think ‘He’s not so bad.’ But then Eddy
showed up.”
“Eddy merely tried too hard. That sort of desperation is unattractive.”
“He was ugly enough.” Kevin smiled. “You look kinda the same as you
did when you were a kid. You haven’t changed a whole lot.”
Double D blushed and looked away. “Oh?”
“Yeah. You’re still real small, still have the same voice.”
“Ah, yes. I . . . that never did change. Mother and Father had me
tested.”
“It suits you. It’s cute.”
He blushed harder. “Kevin, please.”
“You’re such a girl.”
“Indeed, Kevin.”
He chuckled and picked up his hand to kiss his palm. “Maybe you better
take a nap.”
“Yes. Perhaps. The bath did make me feel lethargic. The warm water
and all.”
“Sure, babe. Just sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“Thank you, Kevin.”
“No problem.”
And Double D fell asleep with Kevin still watching him.
