Alex's Guardian Angel
Chapter 12
By and © Anthony Lane
When Alex woke up the next day he already felt apprehensive about the appointment with the counsellor later that afternoon. He thought that if Justin was ok with it perhaps they could go for a good run this morning to try and chase some of the tension away. When he got downstairs Justin was sat at the breakfast bar eating cereal.
"Thanks for turning the telly off last night, I can't believe I fell asleep."
"No problem, it's no different than what I did in the afternoon."
"I suppose, so how you feeling today?"
"That's something I wanted to talk to you about. You know I got to see this therapist later, well I was hoping that we could go for a long run this morning to try and take my mind off it?"
"Sounds ok with me, what did you have in mind?"
"Maybe go down to the park like yesterday but go round the park a few times or until I feel that I've had enough, does that sound alright?"
"No problem for me. What time do you want to go?"
"Well I gotta be at the therapist for two, take half hour to get to his office, half hour for lunch, and about ten minutes to shower and change, which means I need to be back around quarter to one. So if we start around ten that gives us two and a bit hours to play with."
"Sounds ok, I'm guessing you don't intend on running for the whole time?" Justin got up and started to swill his dish and spoon in the sink.
"No, I thought we could do it in two stints, with a bit of a rest in the middle."
"Ok, well mom has gone out so once you've had breakfast, come up to my room."
"Ok."
With that Justin went upstairs leaving Alex alone in the kitchen. Alex hadn't been in the kitchen on his own before and wasn't sure where everything was kept. It took him a few attempts to find the right cupboards, and then he sat down with a bowl of cornflakes just like yesterday.
When he went up to Justin's room he still felt the need to knock. Justin was playing on a different console to the PS2 when he walked in after Justin told him it was ok to come in.
"What you playing?"
"I'm playing tennis on the Wii. I'll show you how to play in a second and then we can play against each other."
"Looks like fun."
"It is, it's so much more fun when you have someone to play with." Justin knew exactly what he had said and he wondered if Alex would pick up on the double entendre.
"I suppose any game is fun when there are more of you to play." Justin was a little disappointed that Alex didn't appear to pick up on the second meaning.
"You'll want stuff for the run later, why don't you get them while I finish this game." Alex went to the cupboard and got what he needed and went into the bathroom to change. When he came out Justin was sat on the bed waiting for him. After a few instructions on how to use the controller they started a game. It wasn't until the second set that Alex won a point. After that he started to pick up points more frequently. Justin won the first two matches without Alex winning a single game. When they started the third match, Justin got a shock when Alex won his first game quite easily, after that Alex was winning as many as he was losing. Justin was forced to pull out a few special moves he had learned to eventually win the third match.
The boys had worked up a good sweat by the time they finished the third match, so Justin asked Alex to nip downstairs and bring some drinks up. When Alex left Justin quickly changed into his running clothes, he didn't want to make Alex uncomfortable like he had the day before.
After Alex got back upstairs with the drinks they sat on the bed with the sports news channel on, telling them about the team news for the weekend games. Justin was looking forward to the weekend because there would be a few football games on the telly. On the other hand Alex was looking forward to going to church for the Easter services, he was curious about the church that Sarah had mentioned to him.
The boys played a few more matches of tennis on the Wii before they went downstairs to go on their run. Alex was able to keep pace with Justin much easier today. Justin knew that if he wanted to, he could set their run to take in a few of the spots more frequented by those who were inclined in having sex outdoors, but he thought it may make Alex uncomfortable. As the boys were running to try and take Alex's mind off this afternoon, Justin thought it was better to stay away from there. Sex outdoors was something Justin was interested in experiencing, but he was happy to wait until he was with someone he knew and, perhaps, loved, rather than try it with some complete stranger.
When the boys stopped for their rest they did so when they were near the cafe. Justin bought them some drinks to help cool down. "You seem to be keeping up much better today."
"I know, I felt physically better this morning when I got up. Is your mom going to be there when we get back?"
"I'm not sure, why? She shouldn't be too far away because she knows about getting you to the appointment later."
"It's just I am supposed to keep a dry bandage on. Obviously it gets wet when I have a shower and your mom has changed it for me the last few times."
"Well if mom's not there I don't mind seeing if I can do it, if you want."
"You sure you want to? It's not a pretty sight, even I don't like looking at it."
"I've done first aid as part of my studies in school, I know it's not exactly the same but I'm prepared to have a go."
"Only if you're sure."
"Well it's sorted then, if mom's not there I'll do it. How long is your appointment this afternoon?"
"I have a half hour session today to see if I feel comfortable with him and we'll make the next appointment if I do."
"Do you know anything about him?"
"I know he's called David and he is supposed to be pretty good and young too."
"You'll have to tell me if he's hot." Justin had a grin spreading across his face.
"He's probably into granddad cardigans and smokes a pipe."
"I doubt it, especially if he is young."
"I suppose I'll find out soon."
"I hope you find him easy to get along with and I hope he is able to help you. Do you want me to come in the car with you and mom or would you prefer to go with just mom?"
"I think it would be good if you came along. I know it's probably a stupid question but why do you want him to get my head sorted?"
"I hope he can help you get to the point where you won't want to harm yourself, I want you to be around for a long time, and if you have another accident like you did on your birthday, then you may not be around for much longer."
"In the last few days, I've come close to it but I have been able to step away from the edge."
"I still feel guilty about making you uncomfortable yesterday. Now we are not in the house where we could be over heard I want to thank you for last night."
"What for, I didn't do anything."
"You did. I enjoyed all the cwtching we did. I wasn't sure if you would be comfortable with it, but I'm glad you were."
"I enjoyed it as well. I've never been that close with anyone, not even my parents and it was something I didn't realise I needed until yesterday. You do realise that you've done more for me in the last two days than my parents have in the last six months."
"It's the least I could do, I would do it even if you weren't as sexy as you are."
"You talking to that person behind me again aren't you?"
"No I'm talking to you. I'll get you over that complex you have too, even if it's the last thing I do. You are not ugly. I mean when someone sees you, they see someone a little short of six foot, some people think curtains are a hair style that is out of fashion but not me. While you don't have the Scandinavian look of blonde and blue, I think brown hair and green eyes are just as attractive, add to that your body is in good shape, so tell me what's not to like. "
"When you put it like that it sounds like someone else. I still think you need to go to the opticians if you think I'm hot."
"You said yesterday that a stud like me would never go with someone like you. If you say you are not hot what makes me a stud then?"
"Well because you are. I don't know how to explain it."
"There is a saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but if you're serious I'll make an appointment to get my eyes checked and you can go with me. I know what the optician will say, I have perfect vision I always have. You ready to get going again?"
"Sure."
The boys started off again and Justin built up the pace to push Alex as much as possible. When the boys got back to the house Alex was straining to keep up with Justin. Sarah came out of the kitchen just as the boys came through the front door.
"You haven't forgotten that you got that appointment at two?"
"No, I just wanted to try and get a run in before we went."
"What do you want for lunch? Do you want a normal lunch after your run or do you want to make it light?"
"I think it would be best if it was light please."
"Justin, what about you?"
"Normal please."
"Ok, well I'll make the lunch while you two go get a shower." The boys disappeared and Sarah returned to the kitchen. Both boys had a quick shower and returned downstairs, as his mom was busy in the kitchen Justin replaced Alex's bandage. They then polished off the lunch Sarah had made them. The conversation around the table was a little one sided, Alex's mind being on the appointment with the therapist. The boys washed the few dishes that were there from lunch and then all three got in the car to go to Alex's appointment.
They arrived at the doctor's surgery, went into the reception area and sat down waiting for two o'clock to come around. When the doctor came out all three were surprised, they had all been told this doctor was young but he looked only a couple of years older than Justin and Alex. Justin didn't think the doctor was drop dead gorgeous but there was something about him that made him take notice.
Alex was too nervous to notice much about the reception room or the doctor. When David took him into the room on his own, he pointed Alex to a number of different chairs. Alex sat down on a comfy blue chair that was in the shape of a tear drop. Every one of David's patients who were really hurting for some reason or another always chose the teardrop chair.
"Ok Alex, to start with I want you to feel comfortable here, so if you want to sit with your feet up feel free and please call me David, when I hear Doctor or Mr Boyland I think my father is behind me. So down to business, I've been told very little of why you need to see me. I know that you were in the hospital a few days ago but not really what for and I know that the two people you were sat with in reception are not your family. That's all I know. Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself, what you like or don't like. I don't want you to get into anything heavy today, I just want this to be nice and gentle."
"What do you want to know?"
"Let's start really simple, most guys are into sport, you follow any?"
"Yeah, I like football."
"Are you are Man U or Liverpool fan?"
"Neither, I'm a Leeds fan, but I like watching most football."
"Did you watch the game on tv the other night?"
"Sort of, I was at Sarah and Simon's house then, but I was tired and missed most of the second half."
"Do you think Leeds could go up this year?"
"I don't know, maybe it would be too soon, they only came up this season, I think they may do better if they stay in the championship another season."
"Who do you think is likely to win the Premiership?"
"I'd say it's probably gonna be Man U or Chelsea, I don't think Arsenal have the defence to last long enough and Liverpool were out of it before Christmas."
"What do you think of some of the signings that happened this year? Do you think Chicharito is any good or what about Suarez?"
"Chicharito is a good little player and considering Fergie paid six million for him, I'd say he's a steal. I'm surprised no one bought Suarez in the summer, but I think he will make a great player for Liverpool, I also think that Dalglish will turn Liverpool around. I think one of the best buys of the season has to be Van der Vaart." The conversation didn't get any heavier than talking about the football season and what Alex thought about who would stay up or go down
When the half hour finished Alex was really surprised at how the time had gone by so fast, he realised that maybe this therapy thing could be ok. They went out to reception and checked with Sarah before making an appointment for the following week. By the time they reached the car Justin noticed that Alex appeared to be walking with a lighter step and he seemed a little more cheerful than he had earlier.
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