Wren

Part 14

Early morning sunlight drifted softly through the open curtains of the infirmary. Leo was making coffee in the corner and Dace had left a few minutes earlier to go shower in their room. Matteo sat on the edge of Wren's bed, watching the sleeping boy. He looked so soft and cute.

"You want coffee?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, please. Should we take out that tube today and try to get him to eat some real food? It's bothering him anyway."

"I guess we can," Leo said as he handed Matteo a cup and plopped down in his chair. "I was worried that the smoke had hurt his throat, but now that it's been a few days I think its okay to take it out."

Matteo nodded, sipping his coffee and thinking. He stood, setting the empty cup on the counter across the room. "I'm gonna go see how the room's coming along. You can take the tube out while I'm gone, right? It might be easier on him if I'm not here." He headed out when Leo agreed.

Since there was only minor damage to Matteo's room, they were just fixing it. New carpet needed to be placed in the entire room because most of it was burned and what wasn't smelled like smoke, and half of the curtains needed to be replaced.

Matteo walked in to find the repairs done. There was a man standing in the middle of the room, a toolbelt around his waist. He was doing a last look-over of his work. He went to shake Matteo's hand when he saw him.

"Well, I believe my work here is done!" He said cheerily.

"Thanks, man. It looks great." But Matteo's eye caught something, and his face fell. "Could you do one more thing?" He asked.

The man seemed surprised, but happy to oblige. "Sure! What's do you have in mind?"

Matteo pointed to Wren's corner, where the ring was bolted to the wall, the burnt chain hanging from it and flopped on the floor. "I want that whole contraption gone. I want the wall to look like it was never there."

"Okay," the man said, a little confused. It was weird to him that a chain was there in the first place, but he was being paid good money for this job and didn't want to pry. He assumed it was for pet dog. "I can have it out of here in an hour."

"Perfect, thank you."

"Yup! You got a hyper dog or somethin'?" He asked, just making friendly conversation.

"A puppy." Matteo said sadly, and took his leave.

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Wren was just waking up. Leo sat on the edge of the bed, waiting to talk to him.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as Wren opened his eyes.

"Mmm. My legs hurt," Wren coughed, having a hard time talking around the tube. He reached up and scratched at the claw marks around his mouth.

"Okay. I'm gonna give you something for the pain, but it won't make you loopy this time. And if you're ready, I think it's a good time to get that tube out of your mouth, okay?"

Wren nodded enthusiastically, more than ready to get that thing out of his throat. But he was scared. "Isn't it gonna feel horrible? Am I gonna choke?" his voice was hoarse.

Leo helped him drink a syrupy medicine for the pain in his legs. "It'll feel uncomfortable for just a moment, but then it'll be over with and out. Then it won't bother you anymore. I'm ready when you are."

Wren nodded, watching as Leo slipped on gloves and prepared a bag to put the tube in. He gently unfastened some things here and there, and then positioned his hands.

"Ready? It'll only be a second, and then it'll be over with."

Wren nodded.

Leo gently but quickly began to pull out the tube. Wren gagged, panicking and reaching out to grab Leo's shoulders, and then it was over. He sucked in a big breath and coughed as Leo discarded the tube.

"Good job, Wren. It's over." Leo comforted as Wren caught his breath.

Dace walked in, concerned when he saw Wren's red face and Leo sitting by his side. "Is everything okay? What happened?"

"We just took out the feeding tube. He's okay, just gagged a little and it freaked him out."

"Geez. You okay, kid?" Dace asked, coming closer and leaning over from behind Leo. His red and black hair still dripping from his shower.

"I'm okay," Wren finally settled down. "I just panicked when I choked." He looked around, seeming to be relieved after scanning the room.

"You lookin' for Matteo? He's out checking on the repairs to his room. He'll be back soon." Dace said.

"Oh, okay." Wren's shoulders drooped slightly. "I'm gonna lay down for a little."

"But you just woke up--" Dace started, but Leo cut him off.

"Okay, Wren. Hope you feel better after a rest." He pulled Dace into the far corner of the room.

He began to scold him. "You know he's still scared of Matteo! The only reason they got along the past few days is because Wren was on strong medication, so he probably doesn't even remember most of it. I was trying to avoid mentioning Matteo to him!"

Dace held up his hands in innocence. "Sorry! I didn't think about it. But he is going to be back soon, so if you're concerned about that, then what're you gonna do?"

Leo bit his thumbnail. "I don't know. We'll just have to see how it plays out. Hopefully Wren remembers at least a little of the past few days so that he realizes Matteo's been here helping. Like acclimation, you know?"

Dace nodded. They both went to sit in the chairs, waiting until Matteo came back to see what would happen. Dace sipped coffee from earlier and Leo scanned the news on his phone. Wren napped peacefully, sleeping on his side with his back to them.

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About ten minutes later, Matteo quietly creaked the door open. He tiptoed inside and over to the chairs. He didn't take his eyes from Wren as he settled into the empty one in between the other two men. "How's he doing?" He whispered to Leo.

"Okay. We got the tube out, and that shook him up a little because he choked, but he's okay. He said his legs hurt, but I've already given him meds for that. It's not as strong as before, so he's lucid. He said he wanted to lay down, then fell asleep."

Matteo listened to the report, his eyes glued to Wren's small back. "Have you. . . Does he know I've been here?" He asked anxiously.

"Mmm. I didn't say anything, but Dace mentioned that you'd be back soon from looking at your room. So even if he didn't remember that you've been here, he knew that you were coming."

"Okay," Matteo said dejectedly. He didn't want Wren to hate him. He'd given him every reason to, but his heart still hurt at the thought.

"So now we just wait for him to wake up? What if he panics and doesn't want me anywhere near him?" He whispered.

Leo sighed. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens, Matteo, and then handle it the best we can. There's no telling what he'll do."

                                         Part Fifteen Coming Soon