Insomnia

Chapter 39

Cal was in Rory's room everyday. If he could have slept there, he would have. It was already May, and there was no longer snow on the ground.

Laura and Noah came to visit every once and a while. It made Cal uncomfortable, and he knew it made Laura uncomfortable as well. Bill only ever came once, and Cal thinks it was Laura made him. Cal had no idea how their relationship was working out now. He wondered if they were splitting up, or if Bill was accepting Rory.

It's been about two months since Cal found out Rory was in a coma. For two months, he's barely slept. He eats, just like Nick told him too, but there was nothing they could do to keep Cal asleep. They had given him medication, but he demanded to be off of it after the first try. Cal felt trapped inside his own nightmares, but with the medication there was no way to escape.

Cal could see Rory get progressively worse everyday. Everyday, the doctor would come in and tell Cal about Rory's slim chance of surviving. Each day, Cal felt like screaming at the old man. Cal felt like the old man had no care whatsoever if his boyfriend lived or died. He was still getting paid.

Today, Cal was in Rory's room when the door opened. He was expecting it to be one of the same people: Nick, Trinity, or the nurse. He didn't even bother to turn.

"Look who it is." Cal jumped in surprised and turned at the unfamiliar voice. He was surprised to see a redheaded lady next to Rory's Grandmother. His eyes widened. The redhead looked him up and down and smiled. "Rory chose a good one." Rory's Grandmother scowled at the lady and slightly hit her arm. "Ouch, Mother."

"Not the time or place," Rory's Grandmother said to the redhead. "Hello, Cal." Rory's Grandmother gave Cal a soft hug and gave a sympathetic look to Cal. "Sorry about the leg, dear." Rory's Grandmother then looked over to Rory. Cal could see her eyes start to water a bit. She put an old hand over her mouth. She was distraught to see the boy she had raised for 18 years lying to what looked to be his deathbed. Rory's Grandmother sat on the edge of Rory's bed. Cal decided to give them sometime and wheeled himself awkwardly out of the room. He was surprised to see the redhead follow him.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" The lady gave a small smile.

"Amanda Rose, Rory's aunt." Cal's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. He was expecting her to look like this. For one, she looked a lot younger than she probably was. Then two, her head was a bright, artificial red. "Yeah, I know, not very adult-like. Having no kids is amazing."

"Sorry, it's just-I didn't know." Cal held out his hand, but Amanda gave him a hug instead. She held on a bit longer than he expected, so he wrapped his arms around him. It was then that he felt how truly heartbroken this woman was. Only to have just met her nephew, he might be taken away from her.

"It's fine. I've been wanting to meet Rory's boyfriend. You're cute. Bet you're tall if you could stand." They both chuckled a bit. "You look a bit rough though. You should really shave." Cal ran his fingers over his chin. He hadn't shaved for a couple of weeks, so he knew he probably looked rough.

"Sorry, it's been rough." Amanda forced a smile onto her face and rested a hand on Cal's shoulder.

"How much longer you got on the wheelchair?" Cal let out a sigh in frustration. It was true, Cal had definitely made his leg a lot worse by falling on it. It was his femur that was damaged. The doctor looked a bit annoyed and told him that it could take up to six months for him to heal. Cal was angry to know he had also gotten himself into physical therapy so he could actually walk on it again.

"I don't even know. Last time I checked, he said it might be just two more months. After that, there's months of physical therapy to go through." Amanda clicked her tongue and looked at Cal sympathetically.