The Return of Amanda (sequel to For the Last Time)

Chapter 5

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Third Person POV

Saint felt so relieved that Amanda had left of her own accord. He no longer needed to ask Perth to send Amanda away.

Actually Perth's comment to the nurse that Saint was not just his visitor but his spouse was Perth's way of making Amanda leave without actually telling her to do so.

There was a brief knock at the door before an orderly came in wheeling a metal cart containing Perth's dinner tray.

Saint adjusted Perth's hospital bed so that Perth was in a sitting position and then pushed the bedside table to him.

Saint was surprised to see that the hospital dinner didn't look bad at all. There was a large piece of breaded pork chop on one side of the dinner plate and a pile of buttered cut up vegetables on another side and some large sized mojo potatoes on the side.

Saint took the fork and knife and started cutting up the pork chop into bite size pieces.

Perth looked on with a loving smile, enjoying the sight of Saint taking care of him. He wanted so much to grab Saint and give him a big kiss but his mom was in the room also looking at Saint appreciatively.

Saint pierced one piece of the pork chop with the fork and brought it close to Perth's mouth.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to do this. I can do it myself," Perth said, taking the fork from Saint's hand, "but, really, thank you for your loving care. I hope I can quickly recover and get back on my feet so that it's me who's taking care of you."

"You will recover quickly," Saint said with conviction. "You are strong and young and healthy."

Perth was taking his last bite when there was a knock on the door and the nurse who had given Perth his pain medication earlier, came in.

"Hi, Perth," said the nurse, stealing a glance at Saint, "how is your knee feeling now?"

"The pain has mostly gone away," Perth replied, "There is only a very vague dull pain that remains but it's tolerable."

"That's great," said the nurse. "I will be back in an hour to give you your second dose of antibiotic via your IV line."

"Okay, thank you, nurse," said Perth before taking a sip from his carton of orange juice which accompanied his dinner tray.

"If it's alright with you, we will be going now, Perth," Perth's mom announced. "Saint will also be needing to have his dinner and I'm sure your pain medication will make you drowsy very soon."

"Of course, mom," Perth replied. "We can't let Saint go hungry now, can we?"

"I'm not hungry yet," Saint remarked, not wanting to leave Perth's side.

"Sweetheart, you need to nourish yourself," Perth insisted. "I will be okay here. Just be sure to call me or text me when you get home."

"I will wait outside the door so that both of you can give each other a proper goodbye," said Perth's mom, already making her way out of the room.

Saint bent to give Perth a kiss on his forehead but Perth took hold of the back of Saint's neck and placed his lips full on Saint's.

Saint lifted his head and said, "Perth, I have to go. I will text you once I get home."

Perth grabbed Saint's hand and looked at his face intently.

"Saint, I wish to apologize for my stupid and childish behavior outside the gym. That guy who came out of the gym with you was just someone you met while you were doing your workout, right?"

"No, I met him inside the shower room." Saint replied, and instantly regretted telling the truth, knowing that it was not going to sit well with Perth.

"While you were naked?" Perth asked, his face growing red with suppressed anger.

Saint gave him a gentle flick on the forehead.

"No, you nitwit," said Saint, "we were already both fully dressed and we were just fixing our hair in front of the mirror."

Saint did not want to upset Perth by telling him that he and Joss were actually conversing in front of the mirror with just a towel draped around their waists and that Saint was actually admiring Joss' impressive six-pack abs.

"I love you, Saint," Perth said, still holding on to Saint's hand, "please don't ever cheat on me."

"I won't, my love," said Saint, "for as long as you tell Amanda to stay out of our lives."

"That won't be hard to do," Perth said with conviction. "Please let me give you another kiss before you leave me."

Saint dutifully bent to kiss Perth and Perth was about to deepen the kiss when there was a short knock on the door and the orderly came in to take away Perth's dinner tray.

"Talk to you later, Perth," Saint said, squeezing Perth's hand before leaving the room.

Perth felt lonely and empty after Saint left. He turned on the television set in his room and kept changing channels, not really interested in any of the shows that came up on the screen.

Perth's mind kept going back to the scene at the gym.

The guy whom Saint was with had his arm draped around Saint's shoulder and they had been talking animatedly as they were stepping out of the lobby. Saint had been all smiles as he accepted something that the guy had handed to him. He could not see clearly from where he stood what it was.

Was Saint telling him the truth that the guy was just someone he met at the gym or was he in fact someone whom Saint had known for a much longer time.

Perth shook his thoughts away. He did not want to torture himself with thoughts of Saint being unfaithful to him. It would only retard his recovery. He needed to focus on getting better so that he could leave the hospital very soon. He needed to be with Saint, at all times, if possible.

Perth was starting to doze off when his phone started to ring. The ringtone was Saint's. Perth quickly swiped his phone screen.

"Sweetheart, I just got home," Saint said.

"What are you going to fix for dinner?" Perth asked.

"Oh, I'm just going to heat the leftover pasta," said Saint, "I'm not all that hungry."

When Perth did not say anything, Saint continued, "Your mom said to tell you goodnight and that she might drop in again tomorrow to visit you."

"That would be nice," Perth said.

"She said she would be giving Amanda a ride to the hospital tomorrow," said Saint.

"Don't, Saint, please, don't bring Amanda into our conversation," said Perth, "I don't believe that mom is gonna do that to me."

"Okay, I'm sorry, Perth, I was just making up that thing about your mom bringing Amanda with her to the hospital," said Saint, starting to feel guilty, "I just wanted to see what your reaction would be."

"How about if I were to ask you to bring your gym boyfriend along with you when you come to see me?" Perth countered.

"Let's not end our conversation with a fight," Saint said, "I'm gonna say good night now. I love you, Perth."

"I love you, too," said Perth, his eyes smarting with unshed tears. Saint had not denied that the guy at the gym was his boyfriend.