Page 52 of Splintered
Evan stared.
“You’re happy,” Donna declared. She patted his cheek. “You’re happy with him.”
Evan made a choking sound, like he forgot how to breathe. “I am. I really am.”
William cleared his throat. He hovered in the center of the living room, watching his wife and son. “You found yourself a good man, son. Ben, he’s—” William nodded to Ben. “He’s a good man.”
Evan beamed. “He is, Dad. He’s the best.”
William’s face wavered, his control slipping. He swallowed hard, his hands flapping in his trouser pockets. Finally he moved, sitting beside Evan. Donna pulled away, freeing Evan, and then it was William’s turn to wrap Evan up in a bear hug, drag him close and surround him, envelop him in his arms. William whispered something in Evan’s ear, something that had Evan close his eyes and bury his face in his dad’s shoulder. Squeeze his dad back as hard as he could.
They stayed locked together for several minutes, William whispering in his son’s ear. Tears began to leak from Evan’s eyes, and he nodded every now and then. When they pulled back, William cupped his son’s face and smiled. Evan smiled back, and for that moment, they were mirrors of each other, a reflection through time. The same planes of their face, the same gleam to their eyes. Ben smiled as he imagined his future, a future with Evan as old as William.
William kissed the center of Evan’s forehead and sat back, rubbing his eyes with a handkerchief as the fire crackled.
Ben faded away, drifting to the kitchen to make more coffee for everyone. He heard them talking, asking Evan a thousand questions about how he was doing, how the hospital had been, and about them. About their relationship. He let them have time together before he came back with four mugs of coffee for everyone.
“It’s a beautiful house,” Donna said, taking her coffee with a smile. “Very stately.”
“It’s my family’s house. I grew up here. It was one of the original houses in this town, actually. It was old when my parents bought it. And when they passed, I inherited it and decided to make it my home.”
“Sometimes it’s creepy.” Evan winked at Ben. They’d used to joke about the groans and creaks, the way the house seemed alive sometimes. “I’m sure it’s seen its fair share of ghosts and hauntings.”
The joke went over like a lead balloon. Evan’s parents didn’t laugh. Donna made the sign of the cross again, praying her Hail Marys, and William cleared his throat loudly.
“Will you tell us how you met?” Donna said, changing the subject. She smiled brightly and held Evan’s hand.
He and Evan traded stories with his parents, edging around the naughtier parts of how they met, how they’d hit it off. To hear their sanitized version, they’d connected intellectually and spent the week discussing novels and history and political theory, and kissed once or twice, not fucked each other’s brains out and found they were practically soul mates as they were recovering and waiting to fuck again. Donna seemed enthralled though, and she smiled wide as their stories continued. Dates they’d gone on, adventures around the Bay Area. The first time Evan had told Ben he loved him. Moving day, and Evan’s decision to trek out to the suburbs in the East Bay, move out of the city.
William was pleased at that. “Been wanting you out of the city for a while,” he said. “This is much safer.”
Safe enough for a possession. Ben swallowed.Mental illness knows no boundaries. It doesn’t care where you are.
Neither do demons.
The morning bled into the afternoon, Donna and William asking them all about their life together. Evan chatted happily with his parents, holding his mom’s hand, at least for the first hour or two. He started to fade, exhaustion settling in, and he let Ben talk more and more as the hours passed. His eyes drifted shut more than once.
And sometimes Evan would glance over his shoulder, or shake his head, or shift as if he was trying to shake something off, or find something. Like he was hearing or seeing something just out of range. Something only he could sense.
Donna and William offered to make lunch, and they disappeared to the kitchen to see what they could throw together. Ben sat beside Evan and let Evan rest against his chest. “How are you?”
“Drained.”
“Are you hearing things again?”
A pause. “Yeah.”
“Do you want your earbuds?”
“No.” Evan shook his head. “Not yet. I’m telling myself it’s all fake. The hospital wanted me to try a different coping method. I’m trying to face it and ignore it.”
Ben kissed his head. “Let me know what you need, okay?”
“Just you. I just need you.”
Donna and William came back with sandwiches, and they sat in the chairs across from the couch, not saying a word about Evan snuggled into Ben’s arms.
Father Mathew and Dr. Kao arrived mid afternoon. Evan had fallen asleep on Ben’s chest, and Donna, William, and Ben were softly talking about Evan’s symptoms, how they had progressed to today, and what they were about to do.
