Sour Patch

15

(Reese pov)

"So what happened at the E.R. ?" I quietly asked hating to disturb Monica and her husbands embrace. I guess they had forgot they had an audience, because they both jumped a little, separating himself from his wife the man let out a laugh and walked towards me.

"Hey, my name is Tyler." He extended his hand towards me ." I am Jason's best friend" lowering his voice to a dramatic whisper. " And the husband of the crazy lady." He laughed again as I shook his hand.

"I'm Reese, and that's Bruce." I nodded towards Bruce. "So what happened, or should I ask how bad is it?"

"Well, they stitched him up pretty quickly but based on the depth they got worried so they sent him to x-ray. X-ray saw some splintered bones beneath the bites so they wanted to cast him, then they decided his arm needed to see a surgeon so they doped him up, cut open the stitches and went in to clean up a bit. so they fixed what they could, cleaned what they could, stitched and set his arm then released him to our care. He needs to rest for about six to twelve weeks, then they will check him again to see if there is any permanent nerve damage. He will need help with some simple tasks until he can use his other arm. and because it was the bicep and forearm he cant drive or get his cast wet."

"Damn" I whispered. "Um, if Jason doesn't mind I could help him. Its mine and Bruce's fault, even though I failed last time I am a nurse so I could be of some use. Plus I can make sure he doesn't get an infection." I began rambling.

"Wonderful! " Tyler said slapping his hand down on my shoulder. "I was hoping you could take charge of this. Come on lets go see to Jason."

Leading me by my shoulder Tyler led me to the front room where Jason was laying down on one of the couches. He had his eyes closed his cast arm across his chest, sling in the other hand letting out soft snores. His shirt was pulled up just enough to get a glimpse of the taught skin just above his jeans, briefly wondering to myself how his skin would feel beneath my fingertips. I was drawn back to what Tyler was doing due to the fact that he rudely slapped Jason's forehead. Jason shot up and grimaced in pain.

"What the hell did you do that for?" It took a second for me to realize that I was the one to ask the question.

"He needed to wake up." Tyler shrugged then turned his attention to Jason. "Hey Mon and I are gonna jet, but I got you a private nurse to heal all your wounds." That sarcastic bastard.

Jason looked up at his friend with a questioning gaze, his eyes still dilated from anesthesia. to which Tyler seemed to respond to by dragging me in front of him and nudging me towards Jason. " Reese here is gonna take some time off and fix what Bruce broke, isn't that right Reese?" Tyler squeezed my arm until I confirmed what he said with a nod. " Before I take off I will Take Reese to go get some clothes and stuff which room do you want him in?"

"Bottom guest." Jason grunted as he lied back on the couch.

Tyler guided me out to the car leaving Bruce in the house and set me in the passenger seat. As he slid into the drivers seat he asked for directions, then we were on our way. To say I was nervous was an understatement, The silence was awkward and stifling. Reaching my apartment complex I quickly scurried in and packed a bag of clothes, while dialing up the hospital to cash in all of my vacation and sick time so that I could take care of Jason. It all seemed a little forced and rushed but who was I to argue, this whole situation was my fault anyway.

After getting work settled and gathering what I needed Tyler drove me back to Jason's house. The ride back was as awkward as the ride to my apartment, the silence was suffocating with the promise of questions unspoken. Fidgeting in my seat I berated myself for being such a timid asshole. This wasn't me, yeah I was nervous around men that were larger than me but I wasn't a shrimp. I had some muscle, no I wasn't bulky by any means but years of moving people around and swimming gave me the ability to hold my own in a fight if need be. You couldn't be a weak male nurse, all the women made you do the heavy shit work, anytime a patient or something needed to be moved it was always 'Reese darling' or 'your a man cant you do it' stupid bitches. Breaking free from my musings that had seriously gotten off track I realized that we had pulled into the driveway.

Tyler led me to a bookcase that was in the den area, looking at him confused he just smirked at me and pulled a book forward. I leapt back in surprise as the bookcase shuddered and swung open revealing a room behind it. Snickering at my reaction Tyler explained that Jason had a small flare for surprising people, and that he loved the concept of hidden rooms and fun houses. Placing my bags down I took in the room in awe it was almost like an underwater adventure, like I had been transported into a storybook. the walls were different shades of blue green and black, symbolizing the different stages of ocean depth with different creatures and plants flowing across the walls. I couldn't help but to reach out to touch one and I was shocked to find it actually stood out from the wall. looking around the furniture either blended into the wall or took on the appearance of shipwrecked wood. the final piece I took in was the full sized bed in the corner, thick aged beams and wooden slates held the mattress in place. The mattress itself was dressed with golden colored fabric with throw pillows covered in different jewel like tones, the top of the beams had slates covering the space above the bed itself, with a chain embellished in the front and a lock on the bottom. The bed was a freaking treasure chest. Gawking at the sights around me I had completely forgot about Tyler being in the room with me.

"The book you pull to get in the room is Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea."

Taking another glance around the room I nodded my head and replied to him in a distracted tone. "OK, thank you. I should probably see if Jason is hungry and cook him something."

Laughing at me he agreed and ruffled my hair leaving me with the reminder of 'jewels lay in the chest and Jules wrote the crest.' whatever the hell that meant. I finally tore myself away from the room and went to find Jason seeing that his friends left, he was probably famished. I found him easily seeing as he hadn't moved yet. he was still sprawled across the couch in a way that pin up girls would be fuming with jealousy. His shirt still playing hide and seek with his abdominals one leg flat the other with his foot on the floor, and his un injured arm splayed across his face. Bruce whom had his gigantic head resting upon Jason's knee perked up as I approached, I stood there nervously trying to figure out if I should disturb Jason or not.