The Badboy and The Jailbird

Chapter 22 "You faked it?!"

Jonny Weston as Caleb

-------

He has been asleep for 6 hours. So far Taylor and I have watched a season of Schitt's Creek, Die Hard 1 and 2, and played checkers. Heath stopped by for a few minutes but left after he had a breakdown. Then, while watching Die Hard, Baxter father came. For the first time... in 2 days. 

We were all shocked to see him but he explained that he is the chief of the fire department and said some bullshite excuse about not being here for his kid. 

The normally hilarious Schitt's Creek was making both of us sob. Every small thing reminding us of Baxter. 

After our second game of checkers, me losing both times, I break down.

On the floor, I start to hyperventilate. "What... are... we going... to do?!" The thought of me and Taylor and a dying Baxter all in one room gave me the shivers. 

"It's ok..." he rubs my back and kneels with me on the floor. I lean into his chest but then there is a noise from the bed. Sheets rustle and all of a sudden, looking over, we see that Baxter has gone into a seizure. 

I quickly jump up and press the red button that calls the resident nurse as Taylor moves a pillow under his head.

There is foam starting to leak from his mouth and Taylor is yelling at the rushed nurse who just bolted in. The heart rate monitor is going crazy with warning noises and the unsteady beeping of Baxter's heart. There are wires and tubes flinging every which way. She presses a button and 2 more nurses, both male, come in and hold down Baxter. The nurse goes to a fancy, white cabinet and pulls out an IV bag with a cloudy liquid in it and switches it with the current one. 

Taylor comes over and squeezes my hand. Mindlessly grasp him, not being able to move.

After the nurse attaches the new IV, we watch the liquid flow down into Baxter. His previously shaking body is now mindlessly twitching. The lady thanks the two male nurses and they leave. She turns to us and now I get a clear view of her face. 

She had beautiful black hair that peaks out from her nurse's cap and caramel brown eyes. They are tired though as if she hasn't slept in a long time. Her name tag says Jada Smith, Resident Nurse. 

"Can I ask what happened?" Taylor hesitantly steps toward the nurse, his voice quivering. He is becoming vulnerable, comfortable even, around me. Going from confident to acting like a scared child isn't something you do around someone you aren't comfortable with and this makes me happy. 

Jada walks to the monitor with Baxter's heart rate and writes things down on a sheet. Turning back to us she begins to speak.

"A side effect of having a brain tumor is seizures but as long as he is on this-" she taps the clear bag with her pen. "-he will most likely not have another one, nor will he wake up for a few more hours." This makes a hole start to form in me. I might never get to tell him about Brody and me.

This scares the motherfucking shit out of me.

"But he will wake up, right?"

She turns to me with a solemn look. "There is a slight chance he will not. But I would bet that in the next few hours, Baxter will wake. He is drugged so is he needs to move please call me." The hole grows bigger.

I nod and she drops the clipboard and paper in a holder and walks out the door.

Almost as if he knew she was leaving, Baxter groans and sits up in his bed. Shocked, Taylor and I run to him.

He chuckles. "She doesn't know I was awake the entire time after she gave me the drugs." He chuckles again, obviously still very high.

He motions me over and pulls my head down close to his. In my ear, he whispers with fits of giggles, "I... know about... you an-" he is cut off by an unknown woman bursting into the room, and in that moment I could not be more thankful. 

"Baxter, honey!" She runs to him, shoves me out of the way and strangles him in a murderous hug. The room is flooded with the extensive smell of $15 Jovan Musk perfume.

Baxter squeaks out a few words and from what I can tell, the woman is his aunt.

-

They talk for around 30 minutes during which the nurse came back in, surprised to see a functioning Baxter.

After saying goodbye to his aunt Tiza, he fell asleep.

I stand at the end of the bed. Taylor has gone off to find water and food. 

I begin to think about all the things Baxter is missing out on in life. Like skydiving, skiing in Canada, seeing Mt. Everest, flying over the Bermuda Triangle, and seeing the Northern lights. It makes the hole grow bigger. My mood, if possible, turns more depressed.

Taylor breaks my thoughts when he comes back in with 2 bottles of water, a croissant, and a blueberry scone. 

After we eat our snacks in silence, I sit on the chair next to Baxter's bed. "That was intense."

Taylor nods and kneels in front of me. Our eyes lock and he smiles sadly and dips his head, setting it on my knee. I bring his head up and embrace the blonde boy I once hated. 

"Well, what the hell is going on here?"

A familiar voice fills the room. A voice I have dreaded hearing since I got out of jail.

Caleb.