Brothers by Bond (5 page)

"You think Boom ever managed to take that trip to Australia? I bet it's hot as hell down there. Doubt they have any native Latinos either. Knowing Boom, he probably found him an Aussie chick and is populating the country by now." Mike rattled on as he looked at the photo of him and Johnny in their uniforms. Their black MP bands stood out in stark contrast against the Army green.

"What about Smithers? I bet he climbed right up the ranks. I think he stored the Army manuals up his ass." On and on Mike rambled about the guys that they served with, about what those guys might be doing now, until he just seemed to run out of words.

Mike startled when he felt pressure on his hand and he didn't even notice the photo album fall from his lap to the floor. He just stared at where his hand held Johnny's and tried to decide if it was his imagination playing tricks on him or not.

"Johnny?" Mike called out to him in a quietly hopeful voice but never took his gaze from their joined hands.

When Johnny gave his hand another soft squeeze, Mike leapt out of his chair and hit the nurse call button so fast, he had to steady himself against the bed. He never let go of Johnny's hand and when he finally dared to look at Johnny's face, he was greeted with those sky-blue eyes that he thought he would never see again.

Johnny's lips moved but no sound came out. However, Mike didn't need the sound to know what his best friend said: 'M&M.'

"Don't try to talk. Jillian will be here in a moment," Mike said as he felt his eyes welling up with tears.

As if mentioning her name summoned her, and not using the call button, she appeared. "Ah, Mr. Baxter, it is so nice to see you awake." Jillian began talking to Johnny whose eyes never left Mike's. "Now, please don't try to move yet. You have been with us the ICU for the last eleven days."

Mike listened to Jillian as she talked to Johnny and took a fresh set of vitals. "I know you must be thirsty and that your mouth is dry but we need to remove your feeding tube before I can give you some water." Jillian paused and looked at Mike before continuing.

"Mr. Morgan," Mike finally looked at the night nurse. "If you would wait outside while I remove the feeding tube, you may come back afterwards." When Mike made no move to leave the room, she added, "I am sure you would like to call your parents, as well." She gave Mike a smile and he looked back down at Johnny while giving his brother's hand another squeeze.

"I'll be right outside, bro, and back in no time."

Johnny mouthed 'okay' and Mike left the room. He already had his phone open, and hit the Baxters home number the moment he stepped into the visitor's lounge.

"Hello," Mr. B.'s sleep filled voice answered on the second ring.

"He's awake!" Mike said and reminded him self to keep his voice down.

"Mike?" Mr. B. Sounded more awake now and Mike could hear Mrs. B. in the background.

"He just woke up. Jillian, ahh, the night nurse is in with him now." Mike heard Mr. B. relaying the good news to Mrs. B. and thought he heard her start crying. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized that he had never seen nor heard his adoptive mother cry before.

"Thank the Lord," Mr. B said when he came back on the line. "We will see you first thing in the morning, son." Mr. B. sounded as if he was beginning to tear up as well when Mike said good night and hung up.

Mike stood outside the ICU 4 and impatiently waited for Jillian to finish with his brother. He did not have to wait long, though it felt like forever, before she stepped into the hall next to him.

"A word, Mr. Morgan?" Jillian said and angled her head toward the nurse's station.

Mike stomach took a nosedive and he instantly felt ill.
Was something wrong? Did Johnny lapse back into a coma?
He knew all of the color had drained from his face and Jillian immediately noticed.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Morgan. Mr. Baxter is fine. I did not mean to worry you." Jillian laid a hand on Mike's arm and he breathed a sigh of relief. "I wanted to speak with you to remind you that your brother will need his rest and now that he is awake, I don't want you to tire him out."

"You've got to be kidding," Mike replied but was sure she was not. "He's been resting for almost 2 weeks. I doubt he will want to go back to sleep anytime soon."

Jillian's gaze said she understood but she continued. "Mr. Morgan, your brother has been in a coma. His body has been healing itself. We know from brain waves that this is not like when we are asleep. I just wanted you to be aware that he may be tired and you should not tire him out any further."

"Okay, I won't," Mike told her. He would tell her whatever she wanted to hear if it would get him back to Johnny sooner.

"Alright. Now go see your brother. I know he wants to see you." Jillian smiled at him.

Mike gave her a smile of his own before he high tailed it back to Johnny's room. Jillian had raised Johnny's bed up slightly higher and had removed the feeding tube that had been up his nose. The bedside table was pushed over and on it were a plastic pitcher and a plastic cup with a bendy straw. Mike couldn't move fast enough to get back to the chair by Johnny's bed. The whole time, those sky-blue eyes tracked his movements but neither man spoke. They just stared at each other like they used to do when they were boys and had staring contests. Mike felt odd taking his best friend's hand again so instead he rested his hands in his lap.

"Did Jillian tell you what they did?" Mike asked softly, his gaze never wavering from Johnny's. When his brother only slightly shook his head no, Mike told him. "When you got shot..." Mike paused to swallow the lump of guilt that was suddenly lodged in his throat. "The bullet hit your femoral artery in your groin. From there it bounced off your pelvic bone and into the hip joint. Apparently, it bounced around in the joint for a bit before getting lodged in whatever they call that ball on the end of your femur that goes in to your hip. It caused a lot of damage in there." Mike was watching his best friend's face closely as he spoke. "So, they had to give you a graft to replace the artery and replaced your hip."

Mike knew telling him about the hip replacement was going to be the worst part and by the pained expression on Johnny's face, he was right.

"Shit," Johnny mouthed.

"Don't think about it right now, bro," Mike told him but knew Johnny was doing just that. A hip replacement meant a desk job with the force, at best, or no job at all, at the worst. But now was not the time for his brother to be worrying about it.

"You have eight weeks of recovery before you need to worry about it," Mike tried to shut the topic down.

When Johnny lifted his hand toward his cup of water, Mike retrieved it and helped him to drink.

"I called the folks. They will be here first thing in the morning. They would come now but, hell; I'm not even supposed to be here. Good thing nurse Jillian was bribable with Hershey Kisses." That got Mike a grin.

"How's your throat?"

"Sore," Johnny croaked out.

"Are you in pain? Mrs. B. is worried about that." Mike asked. In reply, Johnny lifted his hand flatly and shook it from side to side.

"Don't try to be a hero, Johnny, if you're in pain let them give you more meds." Mike told him and received a frown in return. "Don't make your mom worry any more than she has been, bro."

Johnny nodded and indicated the cup for another drink. "Thanks," Johnny croaked out again.

"Any time," Mike smiled and watched as Johnny's eyes grew heavy. "Go to sleep, bro, the folks will be here when you wake up."

Johnny barely nodded as his eyes drifted closed. All Mike could do was sit there and watch him sleep but that was fine because this time his best friend would wake up. It wasn't until a drop of water hit his hand that he realized his own tears of joy had begun to flow.

***

Mike had wanted to stay longer when the Baxters arrived for the morning visiting hours but instead, after a short visit with them, made himself leave as he had done for his previous visits. Mike kept to the same routine and was back at the hospital in the afternoon. Johnny was not in his room and neither were the Baxters. He found the Baxters in the visitor's lounge enjoying them.

"Mikey," Mrs. B stood and embraced him when he entered the room. "I knew he would wake up for you." She released him and he looked down into her face that radiated joy.

"I just happened to be there, Mrs. B." Mike told her as she stepped away.

"Now we both know better than that," she chided him as she returned to sit next to her husband. Mike knew no such thing but kept his thoughts to himself as he sat next to them.

"They've taken him for another round of scans," Mr. Baxter answered Mike's unspoken question.

"They had him up and moving around with a walker earlier," Mrs. B. added. "He looks so weak but he is in good spirits."

"Typical Johnny," Mike commented. "Nothing gets him down."

"That's our Johnny," Mrs. B. agreed.

"They said he could come home before the week is out if his test come back good." Mr. B. updated him.

"That's great!" Mike was relieved they wouldn't be keeping his brother much longer.

"Michael," Mrs. B.'s voice became serious. "He won't come to the house for his recovery."

"Now, Sophie," Mr. B. put a hand on his wife's arm. "We've discussed this already. Johnny is a grown man."

"Grown or not, Andy, he cannot take care of himself yet and you know that."

Mr. B. seemed to refuse to get into the debate with his wife again when he turned to Mike. "They want to send him to an assisted living facility until he is more mobile but he is fighting against that as well."

"Michael, you need to talk some sense into him." Mrs. B. implored him.

"I'll try, Mrs. B." Mike knew that trying to change Johnny's mind was next to impossible once it was made up. "But you know how he is."

"He'll listen to you, Mikey," Mrs. B. leaned forward and squeezed his arm. "He always does."
Yeah, right,
Mike thought and gave Mrs. B's hand a reassuring squeeze anyway.

An hour later, Mike was sitting in Johnny's room waiting for him to return. The Baxters had left him but would return later as was their routine. An orderly maneuvered the wheelchair Johnny was seated in next to a patient chair and assisted moving him to the empty seat.

"Hey, M&M," Johnny greeted him.

Mike hated the nickname his Army drill instructor had given him in boot camp. It stuck and by the time they finished boot, he was effectively renamed. The only time he didn't mind the nickname was when Johnny used it but he never let his best friend know that, so he frowned as was expected of him.

"You're looking good, Johnny," Mike commented as the orderly took the wheelchair and left.

"Oh yeah," Johnny grinned. "I am the height of fashion in this paisley gown."

"You look..." Mike caught himself and stopped before glancing around the room.

"Look what bro?," Johnny was still grinning at him.

Good enough to eat
, Mike thought.
Can't say that, now can I?

"Fine," Mike recovered. "And a hell of a lot better than when you were stuck in that bed." That was a safe enough reply.

Johnny laughed. "Well it does show off my hot ass when I stand."

Mike swallowed and placed a grinned firmly on his face. "Only you would be looking to get laid within twenty-four hours of waking up from a coma." Mike shook his head as he chuckled. Typical Johnny: ladies man extraordinaire and always looking for a hook up.

"Hey, it was my big head that had the issue. The little one is just fine." Johnny replied and grabbed his junk to emphasize his words.

Mike resisted the urge to follow his brother's hand and kept his gaze steadily on Johnny's face.

"Pretty sure you should walk before you fuck," Mike told him dryly.

"Yeah, that's what the doc said to," Johnny replied seriously.

"What?" Mike asked.

"Doc said I couldn't even jerk off until I am getting around on my own better." Johnny said. "Now how am I gonna alleviate the boredom?" Johnny's face was so serious that Mike had to laugh. Man, it was good to have his best friend back. "Really, bro!"