Page 41 of Stay with Me
“While I am not opposed to holding you all night, it might be a bit hard for you to take care of patients,” Drew pointed out. Fucking logic.
“Fine, but I don’t know how happy I’m going to be about being there.” Brody rolled onto his back and spread out his arms, smacking Drew on the head.
“Hey! Watch the merchandise,” he groused. “I’m breakable, didn’t you know?”
Brody arched his back, stretching his muscles after being in one position for so long. He had no doubt that he’d been wrapped around Drew for most of the night. His last memory from this morning was laying his head on Drew’s chest and that’s where he woke up, so…
“Calling bullshit on that. I’ve met your family and there is no way that you haven’t taken harder hits horsing around with them,” Brody laughed before climbing out of bed. He looked back at Drew, sheets pooling at his hips, chest bare. He shook his head and wagged a finger at Drew. “No tempting me to call off. We’re short-handed, as is every floor in the hospital. Can you start some coffee for me? I’m going to need all the caffeine I can get tonight.”
Brody turned on the shower, setting it to the temperature of Satan’s bath water. As he was climbing in, he heard the doorbell ring. He wasn’t expecting anyone and the only person he wanted in his condo was already there.
“Drew? Can you see who’s there?”
The water felt amazing running down his back. His muscles were releasing their tension and the heat was finishing his wake up.
“Brode? You might want to cut your shower short,” Drew called out from the hall. Brody frowned as he rinsed off. Drew didn’t sound right.
“Drew? You okay?” Brody asked as he turned off the water and grabbed a towel. After a quick wipe, he fastened the terrycloth around his waist and stepped into the hall, bumping into Drew. Brody saw tears in his eyes. “What’s going on?” he whispered.
Drew placed a kiss on Brody’s forehead before answering, “I’m okay. Faced another perceived failing. I promise, I’m fine; and not going anywhere.”
Taking Drew at his word, Brody nodded. “Give me a minute to pull on some sweats.” It didn’t take him more than thirty seconds to grab some pants and pull on a T-shirt. He padded out to the living room to find Jared on the couch. He certainly looked better than when he was brought to the ER, but still had multi-colored bruises on all the visible skin Brody could see.
“Jared? It’s only been ten days. You shouldn’t be up and around.”
“Brody,” Jared said as he slowly got up from the couch. “I wanted to come and thank you personally. You were there for me. Gave me the courage to speak up before he hurt someone else.”
“Um, obviously not. You ended up in the ER barely recognizable,” Brody corrected as he guided Jared back to the couch and helped him sit. “Why are… how are you moving around?”
“I’m on medical leave for a few weeks. My parents are outside waiting for me. He— Frank Provo didn’t do this to me directly.Is he responsible for the beating I received? Maybe, maybe not. I’m sure the police will figure it out. Two of his buddies decided to teach me a lesson. It’s being treated as a hate crime and might end up with them being prosecuted with some federal charges, too. Guess they didn’t care if their friend was gay, but when the guy he was fucking had him put in jail for intimate partner violence? They had issue with me being gay,” Jared finished with a careful shrug.
Brody opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to figure out how to respond to that. Drew took the decision out of his hands and said exactly what Brody was thinking.
“That’s fucked up,” Drew said harshly. “They didn’t care that Provo was gay but had a problem with you being gay?”
Jared nodded his head. “According to the prosecutor, when they were arrested, they ignored their Miranda rights. Didn’t keep their mouths shut and ranted all about how ‘the gay deserved it’ and how ‘if he’d sucked cock better then he wouldn’t have needed to be disciplined’. I guess Frank complained about my technique?” Jared’s attempt at humor fell flat.
“That’s beyond fucked up,” Brody said, agreeing one-hundred percent with Drew’s viewpoint. “Are you going to be okay?” Brody looked between Drew and Jared, honestly not sure who he was asking but they both answered.
“I’m going to counseling. They didn’t do any permanent physical damage, so I’ll be able to work with no restrictions once I’m healed,” Jared said as Drew started to talk.
“I’m so glad you’re going to be okay, Jared. I was so upset at first that I might have missed something, but I know that everything was done by the book. Nothing I did or didn’t do caused Provo’s buddies to attack you,” Drew said with finality.
Jared reached out a hand to Drew, who took it. “I’m glad you’re here with Brody. Thank you for listening to me and taking me seriously when Provo assaulted me. Your handling of me and my statement helped me to have the strength to speak out.”
Brody watched the emotions cross Drew’s face. Fear, that he’d missed something. Acceptance, that he’d done everything. And finally, peace.
“I was doing my job as an MP and an officer. It’s our duty to protect everyone under our command. Soldiers go through enough with what they’ve signed up for. They should have all the support we can give them for everything that involves,” Drew said. Steel ran through his words.
“You and Brody definitely learned and internalized that tenet during your officer training. Thank you,” Jared said again before standing and walking to the door. “The Army is lucky to have you both.”
Brody watched as Jared stepped out and closed the door. He met Drew’s gaze, waiting to see what his boyfriend was going to do. He didn’t have to wait long. Drew moved to sit next to Brody and placed his hands on Brody’s face.
“I’m lucky to have you, now and maybe forever?” Drew offered.
Brody knew this was their moment. Taking a leap of faith, he said, “I love you.” Again, he watched as emotions ran across Drew’s face. Joy. Peace. Love.
Drew leaned in and kissed Brody before pulling back and saying, “I love you, too.”
