Backdoor Boy

17

Mikey navigated to Ray's hospital room, using both instructions provided by Sophia and his memory. He opened the door and found that there was no one inside. He sighed and pulled a chair to Ray's bedside. He set the bag he had brought down on the floor and reached over to run his thumb along Ray's cheek. Ray was even more banged up than Mikey had realized yesterday. He was still bleeding through a few of his bandages, and his bruises were darkening. Both of his eyes were dark, and his nose was slightly swollen. His lips were cut in several places.

Mikey sighed again. "I hope you're doing okay in there," he said. "I-I hope it doesn't... hurt too bad."

Mikey leaned forward and gently kissed Ray's forehead. "I'm so sorry this happened to you, baby," he whispered. "But I'm going to be here. I'm going to be here until you get better."

-

Mikey stirred in his chair. He found himself extremely uncomfortable. His hands were folded in his lap, his back was bent at an awful angle, and his chin was hanging lazily in front of his right shoulder. He sat up and twisted, trying to straighten his back out a bit. He had come to the hospital as soon as visiting hours had started at eight that morning, skipping his regular coffee. It was taking a toll on him. He yawned and looked over at Ray. Nothing had changed. He was still lying there, stone-faced, breathing mechanically.

Mikey leaned forward on the arm of Ray's bed. He carefully linked his fingers with Ray's and sighed. "I'm not really sure how comas work," he said softly. "I'm... I'm not really sure if you can hear me in there. But everyone misses you. Fuck, I miss you. I miss you so much. If-No... When you come back to me, I'm gonna show you how much I care about you. You might be the best thing that ever happened to me, Ray. And I... I think I-"

The door behind him opened, and he jumped roughly a foot out of his chair. He scrambled up, away from Ray and spun around, only to find a woman he hadn't seen before standing there. "Oh, sorry," she said. "I-I didn't realize someone was in here."

"No, no, it's alright," Mikey said. "Um, are you, uh, here to see Ray?"

The woman looked confused and shook her head. "No," she said. "I'm here to see my son. He's in the other bed."

Mikey's cheeks went red. He hadn't realized that there had been someone else in the room the entire time. The curtain on the other side of Ray's bed blocked almost the entire far side of the room. "O-Oh, sorry," Mikey stammered.

The woman smiled. "It's okay," she said sweetly. "Simple mistake." She walked over to the other side of the room, pushing back the curtain about halfway. "Are you here often?" she asked. "I haven't seen you, but I know he's new." She gestured to Ray before pulling her own chair to the foot of her son's bed.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Mikey said. "All day, every day. Well, for as long as they'll let me stay. His family works, so..."

"Well, that's very sweet of you," the woman said. "I'm here as much as I can be. Unfortunately, my work schedule is crazy, so I can only really visit on my lunch breaks." For the first time, Mikey noticed the small purple bag she carried with her. "My name is Louise, by the way," she said. "If we're going to be seeing a lot of each other."

"Mikey. Nice to meet you."

Louise crossed her legs and opened her bag, pulling out a sandwich. She began to eat, leaving them in silence. After she finished, she turned back to Mikey. "What's in your bag?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, right," Mikey said. "Uh, just a book, some food. Nothing too crazy. Just some things to help pass the time. He may be my best friend, but, uh, he's pretty quiet."

Louise put a hand over her mouth, holding back a smile. "I don't want to laugh at that," she said.

Mikey smiled a little. He and Louise made small talk for the next twenty minutes or so before she had to go back to work. "It was lovely meeting you, Mikey," she said as she slung her purse over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow?"