He took a quick shower, made some coffee, then sat out back for a second to soak up a few minutes of sun, catch up on email and text Carter.
Hey man, if you have a second can you call me today? Everything is fine just want to chat.
He sipped his coffee. He’d come home last night after Troy had fallen asleep just to make sure the house was in order and to get just a breath or two of air before the real work started. Troy was much better, but he was going to need a lot of help, and if he knew his boy at all, a lot of reassurance. It was going to be a full-time job—on top of his full-time job.
He dreaded it a little, but he liked the idea a hell of a lot better than not having Troy at all.
Sure, bud. Now? Carter was on it—partially because he was training new cooks, partially because Saul thought Carter and Geoff were ready to be away from the hospital.
Works for me. He waited for the phone to ring. “Hey. Thanks for calling me so fast.”
“No worries. Everything good with the plan to get him home today?”
“As far as I know. I’m at the condo right now, I’m going to head back to the hospital in a few.” He took another sip of his coffee. “That’s kind of what I’m calling about.”
“I think Geoff can come help.”
He nodded. “That’s great if he can, but I’m thinking more about what happens on Wednesday when I go back to work. He really shouldn’t be alone for a while. I had an idea.”
“Of course. What do you need? I’m on it.” God, that felt good, that immediate willingness to help, to be on it.
“Well, I was thinking maybe some of the subs in your Sunday group might be willing to work out a schedule? I mean, anyone really, but I think he’d be less… I think he’d accept help from the subs more readily, you know?”
“Sure. Sure, man. Troy has a lot of friends. Do you need meals too?”
“Some. Yeah, some would be great. I think he wants to cook some too, so I’m hoping he can do that.” He wasn’t hoping, he was going to make it happen. That, and his boy’s yoga. He and Troy needed some normal.
“Well, I do know a decent diner…” Carter laughed for him. “Are you sure you don’t want me to get him a hospital bed?”
“We’ll be sure to come eat at it.” There was no telling when Troy might be ready to pull even a partial shift again. All that time on his feet… it would be a while yet.
And to hell with staying out of Troy’s work life. Carter wasn’t going to be the one who decided when his boy came into work anymore.
“I think Troy would set a hospital bed on fire and possibly me with it if he walked in and saw that. But thank you.” Saul laughed. “One thing I know, he wants his own bed. I don’t think he cares if it takes him half the day to get out of it and the other half to get back in.”
Carter chuckled softly. “Well, then, his own bed he’ll have. Do you need help with the first day home things, or do you prefer privacy?”
“Today I think we’ll be just us. Can I call you tomorrow? I’ll have a better idea of what Troy really needs then. I really appreciate your help, and your experience. I hadn’t even thought about food yet.” There were probably a lot of things he should have thought about by now and hadn’t. He had a feeling he was going to learn some things the hard way.
“Don’t worry about dinner. I’ll have a runner bring by soup and rolls tonight. That will be easy and gentle.”
This was one of those moments when he didn’t know if he was young and dumb or just overwhelmed and normal. Maybe it didn’t matter, he needed the help either way.
“Thanks, Carter. I really appreciate it. I’ll call you tomorrow and give you guys an update.”
“Can you text Geoff tonight? He’s having troubles sleeping from stress.”
“Yeah, of course. Is it about Troy? Tell him I’ll text him tonight, and he can come by tomorrow. I just think Troy will want quiet tonight, you know?” However he felt about the whole tattoo thing, Geoff had been really helpful and he was Troy’s best friend.
“I think Geoff will need me tonight, but I’ll set him to making a plan, okay?”
“Sounds good. I’m gonna go over to the hospital. Have a good one.” He hung up and sighed, taking the last sip if his coffee before heading out the door.
This time he did stop first for good coffee, and for a couple of egg sandwiches for him and Troy, and he ducked through the door into Troy’s hospital room smiling, and carrying gifts like it was Christmas. “Good morning, handsome. Happy release day!”
Troy was sitting up in bed, fiddling with the heart monitor he had to wear for the next thirty days. “Hey, stranger. I’m more than ready. Let’s go.”
“I brought breakfast. We have to get you checked out. Did they bring paperwork already? I don’t even know how this works.” He went to Troy, gave him a kiss and sat a sandwich in his lap. “Eat. Also, coffee.” He set Troy’s cup on the table by the bed.
“Coffee. Thank you. They want to send me a nurse twice a week for a month, and they say I can’t drive or go back to work for six weeks.”
He’d spoken to the doctors. It was six weeks at least just to pick up ten pounds. It was going to be a while before Troy got back to cooking full-time.
“That’s a lot of puzzles.” He winked at his boy. “And porn.”
“I’m thinking about painting the guest room.”
“Yeah? Like a mural?” He was teasing, trying to get Troy’s spirits up. Six weeks at minimum sucked. Especially for someone that had never even called in sick.
“Like a nice deep blue.” Troy rolled his shoulders, wincing. “Maybe not today.”
Okay, so cheering up might be a stretch. Maybe he should shoot for no breakdowns and getting home in one piece. “We can do it together if you want. Eat.”
“Yeah. Eat.” Troy unwrapped the sandwich, and those pretty eyes lit up. “Oh. Avocado. My favorite. Thank you!”
“You’re welcome.” The way to a man’s heart… his mom said that all the time. You’d think he’d have been a better cook. He sat on the end of the bed and took a bite of his sandwich. “Beats hospital food, huh? Have to start a big day off right.”
“It does. I’ll cook for you tomorrow morning.” Troy slipped out a piece of avocado and ate it, moaning as he did.
“French toast. I haven’t forgotten.” He grinned. Watching Troy enjoy the breakfast kind of made his day. He wouldn’t push Troy on cooking at all tomorrow, he had a feeling a lot of normally easy things were going to be hard for the next week or two at least. But he wasn’t going discourage anything Troy said he wanted to do.
He bit into his sandwich again and hummed as the salty bacon made his mouth water. “I was hungry, man.”
“You can have half of mine, if you want.”
“No, thank you. You want to get your strength back, you need to eat, boy.” He raised an eyebrow at Troy, though he wasn’t all that surprised his boy didn’t feel like eating. “Have the egg at least if you can’t manage the biscuit.”
Troy blinked at him, and that little buzz of electricity felt good in the pit of his belly. “I—”