Basorexia

Brotherly Love.

T Y L E R

Mayson and I had made it out the door at four that morning and were on a flight within the next hour. He had trouble sleeping the night before, filled with excitement about picking up Jayson and bringing him home. I didn’t ask questions about why their father wouldn’t come get him, but I also knew from my own experience with my father that work often came first. Sandra, his stepmother, would swing by and pick him up in three days when she flew out. We had stopped by Mayson’s home and gotten a few things for him the night before. Hunter wasn’t very fond of the idea of a child being in the house, but he didn’t have much of a choice. It was a two to one decision. We hadn’t talked about the lockeroom. I told Mayson we had an argument that got physical, but it was nothing important. He had tried to push me for more information, but I quickly shut him down; a little louder than I probably should have.

We sat in a different lobby this time. Parents and family members here were excited, more relaxed. They were still in a hospital, but this area meant that the child was at least stable. Mayson’s leg bounced rapidly with excitement. The colorful door opened, and a nurse entered. Everyone stopped talking, hoping they would be the next called, but this one was for us. Grabbing my bag, I followed after Mayson. The nurse informed us that the doctor wanted to speak to us before we brought Jayson home with us. I had assumed it was about his care and how to give him whatever medicine he needed. Mayson looked to me with worry as we sat at the long conference table. I gave him a reassuring smile. We sat in silence for a few minutes before the doctor came around.

“Good morning.” The doctor smiled towards us. He had dark olive skin and a thick Italian accent. His hair was dyed a shining silver color to match his white beard. He didn’t look old and brittle, he was very fit and almost seemed like he would be on a television show instead of being a real doctor. He gave both of us a firm hand shake before sitting across from us.

“I have printed out some documentation about his visit as well as care sheets for what medications he is on. Majority will be picked up at the pharmacy by your father, he has told us. For the next few days, it’ll just be some pain medications.” he informed us, flipping through the packet he had in front of him then slid it towards us.

“Sounds easy enough.” Mayson shrugged.

“I did want to speak with you about one incident Jayson had last night.” The doctor warned his tone much more serious than before. I could visibly notice Mayson’s body tense. “Last night, Jayson had a seizure and some difficulty breathing. At one point we did lose him and weren’t able to revive him with lifesaving procedures. But, a few moments after we had called it, he woke up. We ran some tests and watched him closely all night, but nothing else happened. Now I can’t exactly explain what happened, all his scans came back normal, but I have a strong belief that it likely won’t happen again.”

The news was good and bad at the same time. At one point last night Jayson had died, he was gone. No pulse, no breathing... then he was back. The doctor went on to explain to us that Jayson is just as he was before. There are no obvious side effects from the time he wasn’t breathing. He explained it was simply a miracle that he was talking and walking. The doctor gave us his direct contact information in case anything else happens and told us to wait for his nurse to come get us. I turned to Mayson, I could see the fear in his eyes.

“Hey, don’t cry, okay? He said everything is alright. Jayson is going to be fine.” I tried to reassure him. He trusted me, leaning against my chest for a moment before the door flung open. A nurse stood in the door dressed in bright pink scrubs. She had a badge that laid over her breast reading ‘Nancy RN’ is purple glitter.

“Well come on then. I ain’t got all day to stare at you two.” she huffed with a smile.

We were quick out of our seats and following behind Nancy. She led us down the hallway towards his room. There were balloons outside and a poster that read ‘Goodbye Jayson!’ across the front, celebrating his leaving of the hospital. As the door was pushed open and curtain pulled back, we saw small Jayson looking out the window. He wore a green and white striped shirt with white shorts. A small black walking boot was fit over his leg. He would be able to walk with a little extra effort, which we knew he would greatly appreciate instead of being couch bound.

“Tater-tot?” Mayson asked, squeezing past me.

The short, blonde boy quickly turned around. A large smile across his face as he wobbled towards Mayson. Mayson quickly picked him up in his arms. He tried to wrap his legs around him, but the weight of the boot kept his leg dangling. “Me-son!” He shouted with giggles. I smiled watching them embrace.

“Are you ready to go?” Mayson asked him, getting a big nod in response. Mayson looked to the nurse who told us she would be right back after printing his discharge papers. Jayson began to look around the room for his take-away toy. The hospital always allowed the kids to take one toy with them when they left. His small hands dug through the colorful bins and pulled out a blue stuffed teddy bear. The animal only had one arm, purposefully removed to make kids with missing limbs feel more normal. “Look Mayson!” Jayson yelled, holding up a paper towards him. It was a barely-dry painted image that he had made himself that morning.

“Aw who is this?” Mayson asked. It was two stick figures on the paper made in water-color paint. He crouched beside his brother so he could show him. A small blonde boy was painted standing next to a taller blonde girl. They were holding hands under a tree with the sun shining down on them. “That’s me!” Jayson giggled, pointing to the small boy on the paper.

“Well of course tot, but who’s that?” he asked, pointing to the girl. I had taken the guys it was one of his nurses or maybe even their mom. I was unsure what she looked like, Mayson had never shown me a picture and it wasn’t exactly my place to ask.

“That’s my new friend. Her name is Hope.” I froze, staring down at the paper. He couldn’t have been talking about her. Mayson had never told him, there was no reason he was only a little boy.

I didn't know what exactly to feel at this point, I haven't truly thought about my sister in a long time. The last time I talked about her was when I was explaining to Mayson, but before that, I couldn't remember. I haven't voluntarily thought of her since her funeral. Occasionally different things would remind me of her. Through the years it happened less often. I was upset, all the bad memories of her pain flooding back to me instead of the good ones, and at the same time, I was pissed off. I was confused. Having someone else mention her beside my brother and I fueled me with anger.

I felt my hands going numb from how tightly I had clenched, and my jaw began to ache. "What did he just say?" I asked Mayson again, feeling my skin start to crawl. I knew Jayson was only a kid, but I couldn’t stop the feeling her name gave me. Mayson stood next to his brother who was looking up at me with a blank face, not understanding where my anger was boiling from. I broke my promise to Hunter about never speaking about Hope to anyone ever again, but Mayson wasn't anyone to me.

"My friend Hope, she sent me back" Jayson repeated, possibly thinking I hadn't heard him the first time. I didn't know what to say to him or his brother. Simply I watched Mayson cautiously walk to me like he was scared to get near me, which I'm sure he was. "Tyler,” he cautioned, “we I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. He probably heard the name from some other nurse and made her up.” He whispered towards me, placing his soft hand on my clenched fist. He understood why I was frustrated, that I was confused with all of this. Realizing how much I had lost control of my temper I pulled Mayson close to me and wrapped my arms around his waist. I knew that if he didn't feel comfortable with anything I was about to do then he would push me away. I stayed there for a moment, giving him time to back up if he wished, but he didn’t move. I softly rested my lips onto his, giving him a soft kiss. Afterwards Mayson picked up his brother holding him on his waist, and I grabbed the small suitcase and rolled it behind us.

As we walked down the hall, Nurse Nancy grabbed my attention to speak with me. I handed him the keys to start the car while I spoke with her. "All we know is that Jayson was quite violent with himself when he woke and in a lot of pain. We don't know if it will occur again or how often, but if it does be sure to give us a call. We also put him on two different types of painkillers and a pack of calming medication to make him more relaxed." I mouthed a ‘thank you’ towards her before running off to the elevators.

Mayson had stopped in the gift shop downstairs, realizing we didn’t have a seat for Jayson in the car. "Who knew Tyler would be buying a car seat before Hunter" I heard Mayson laugh behind me. He was standing with his back to me, facing towards the different gifts that hung on the wall.

"To be honest, we don't have any proof that Hunter doesn't have a child on the side," I argued back while walking over to Mayson and pulling him towards me swiftly. Catching him by surprise, I loved hearing his gasp and watching his cheeks flush pink. He had been on my mind since the party; his lips, the way he swung his hips, he was a partier no doubt, but never had to confidence to let it out.

"You better slow down Ty. Your limits coming up." Hunter teased as we both downed a shot and bit a lime from the lips of the girls around us. In annoyance I turned to him spitting the lime onto him "f**k you, Hunter, I can hold my liquor." I spat back. I couldn't help erupting in laughter from the alcohol that surged through my system, and I felt as if I was catching a second-hand high from the many around us who we had just freshly smoked outside. I sighed leaning back into the leather sofa in our father's bar room. It was considered a VIP section of our parties without ever being made into one. Not many people would come in here other than those who knew about it or knew Hunter and me on a personal level. It was a place to get away from the crowd and enjoy the party on a smaller level. The music carried from the living room to the blue tooth surround sound system around the room.

Hunter had four different girls on him, those I'm sure he didn't remember the name to even one. When I first came to get on him about all of this, we had a fierce argument; but I didn't want to make it physical with so many people around us. Instead of beating him down I turned to shots to keep it on the low and Hunter had turned into a game. With both of us having an uncontrollable competitive side, so it just went downhill from there. Some of the girls who had been trying to gain Hunter's attention turned to me realizing they might have a better chance, though they didn't have one in the first place.

I felt the lips of a busty blond-haired girl on my neck, taking the chance from my relaxed state to try and make a move. She was on the verge of collapsing from all the alcohol and smells like a cocktail of different drugs. I groaned, feeling the hot breeze from the rest of the house fill the room as the door opened. Glancing out I watched as some buddies from our teams walked in, all knowing the better alcohol was in here and it was so much cooler. Just as the door began to close, I thought I saw Mayson in the crowd. The short body shoving past a few others. Quickly I got up, not caring that I had nearly knocked the blond-haired female to the floor. I had totally forgotten that I promised him I would be right up to his room after confronting Hunter, but now I was drunk as hell.

Pulling myself to my feet I left the room, groaning at the wave of body odor and alcohol scents that hit me. Looking around some people had noticed me and were wanting to dance or talk about games. Everyone was singing out loud to Best Friend by Sofi Tucker, the song was already half over. I began to push through the crowd to find him, but the closer I got the farther he got from me to the point that I didn't know what direction he had gone in. I knew sooner or later the house would empty and it would be back to Hunter, Mayson, and myself.

The music was pounding, and I couldn't keep myself from dancing within the crowd. I had found some of my best mates from within the party, all who were wearing their jerseys thinking it would score extra points with the ladies. People would dance around me, next to me, and against me. Girls weren't my preference, but I wasn't absolutely appalled by them either. I nearly stumbled as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me away, probably because I kept talking to the guys. I didn't mind. She was experienced and knew what she was doing, likely I wasn't the first guy she had danced against tonight.

Just as I had felt myself giving into the music a small hand gripped against my arm and pulled me around. It was Mayson. I quickly tried to come up with the words to explain what had happened. I had expected he would slam his hand against my chest in anger or let out a rant to me about how I need to fulfill my statements. "Tyler" I watched as his lips morphed to my name, but I couldn't hear it over the music. I could smell the vodka on him the longer we stood there. He had been drinking. A smirk crossed my lips as I leaned down to whisper in his ear, ‘Look who came to party’. I had braced myself for what I had expected: a punch, speech, smack. Suddenly I felt his arms swing around my neck and grip onto my curls, pulling his lips onto mine.

I found Mayson beyond attractive. It was relatively hard for to me to find someone attractive, I wasn't picky, but I just didn't feel arousal by the majority of people. Mayson was far beyond that. His body was small, yet he still carried muscle on him. He was much shorter than me, causing his head to tilt upwards quite a bit when he looked at me, which I found extremely attractive. He was also innocent with how much he blushed and how he dressed, part of me wanted to ruin that. But a part of me believed he wasn't as innocent on the inside as he played out to be. He also had a rather plump behind for a boy. Since I had seen his sophomore year, I had wondered what it would be like to kiss him, to take him, to dominate him.

Being in our house with us made it extremely hard for me. I had Hunter constantly breathing down my neck, as always. Before Mayson came around, he would play with me. Doing things, he knew bothered me but never committing to anything. That stopped when Mayson came around. On the other side I had Mayson being innocent and so small that it was difficult for me to not pursue him, he was a guest in our house, so I refused to make the first move onto him. He was stuck here with us for a while, and I told myself I would let him make the move. I didn’t want him to be uncomfortable when he had no where else to go. It was also because I had always been a very dominating person sexually. I didn't care about who looked or who cared about what I did, I did it when I wanted to and now that Mayson had taken a step, I wanted to show him my world.

I could feel his fingers tighten around my locks, trying to get closer to me. My hands went to his bum gripping harshly, grinning as a moan erupted from his lips. I could taste the strong hint of fresh vodka on his tongue. No wonder he had gotten so much nerve to make a move. I wanted him and I was going to have him.

Mayson giggled as I pecked his neck, but he froze as I let out a heavy breath against his neck and my lips ghosted his ear. I loved teasing him. Grabbing the car seat, he had picked out, I turned to the elderly lady at the desk and paid. It wouldn't surprise me if Hunter managed to make himself a kid. I knew that I didn't plan on buying a car seat for my own child for a long while if I did have kids. After I had managed to get the car seat in the car, the instructions didn't help any, we strapped Jayson in, and I joined Mayson in the front seat. Mayson wanted to stop off at a drive-thru to get food for his brother, which I didn't deny, we were all starving. Jayson didn't touch much food except his fries, but it was a step considering he hadn't eaten since last nights traumatic events. It made sense that he didn't want to eat after going through all that, he likely didn't have an appetite. I didn't know what to say to Mayson, he seemed to stress out and I had no way of helping him through this other than being there for him when he needed someone.