Love Speaks Through: Chapter 16
Adam thought that with time, the pain would get better, not worse. But the third day post-fire found him in agony. The bandage-changes had already happened, so he hurt like a bitch, even though he knew it had to be done. He was glad no one was there to witness his state now, and he wasn’t sure that he would be able to handle being released today.
He was excited to be back with Kris, Allison and Tyler. Even the idea of seeing Joan and McKenna had him perking up a little. But Adam had no idea how he was going to do.
When a nurse came in, carrying a bag that looked to be from some tourist spot in San Jose, Adam looked surprised. His Spanish speaking was still as inept as ever, but he found he could understand a lot more now. Important words like leave, pain, medicine and bandages. He understood with a little pantomiming that Sandy had dropped stuff off for him, and he was supposed to change. Adam assumed somebody would be waiting for him once he was ready to go.
Interested, he reached in the bag with his good hand and promptly regretted it, grimacing at the items he held. First, there was the coral colored golf-polo that would blend in entirely with his skin. That was repulsive enough on its own. Then there were the shorts. Baggy and homely looking coral and blue plaid shorts. But he smiled a little, finding yellow sandals in the bottom of the bag. They weren’t his, or even very similar to the ones he had worn, but Adam appreciated that even with horrible fashion sense, somebody was intuitive enough to try to replace something that he had lost.
The nurse, Rosa, hung around, as Adam contemplated how he would dress with one hand and avoid aggravating his neck. He managed the shorts on his own, and slid his feet into the sandals. Then, he tried tackling the shirt. Using his good hand, he slipped it over his head. Then, he put that arm through the hole, with the intent of helping the burned one through. Luckily, it was a tee shirt, so there wasn’t a lot of sleeve for Adam to navigate but the damn thing had a collar. Every time he turned his head a certain way, Adam swore, feeling like his healing burn was being rubbed raw by the fabric, even through the dressings.
He made his way to the bathroom - that was another word he had learned in Spanish. Adam was determined to make himself look at least a little presentable. And also, determined to finally risk a look at himself in the mirror.
Adam had been given the chance before, but always turned it down. He hadn’t wanted to see himself. But knowing he was going back and everyone would see him, Adam had decided he wanted to see what they would be subjected to.
When he managed to glance at himself while brushing his teeth, Adam found there wasn’t really much to see other than the gauze itself on his hand. When that came off, his hand would be gross, but this he could take. The burn on his neck was discolored - a lighter pink than the rest of his skin - and looked like it was starting to peel, which was gross. But he knew he was going to have to wear some kind of compression dressing so that the scarring wasn’t too bad.
Left-handed now, and clumsy, Adam finished his teeth and ran a brush through his hair.
That shirt, he mused, looked worse than the burns did. It even had one of those horse-unicorn things over his heart. Adam didn’t even think Costa Rica had polo shirts at all, much less something this hideous. He supposed he should be glad he had clothes at all, since everything he came in had mysteriously vanished.
Finally, he was able to meet Sandy where she was speaking with some of his nurses, presumably about aftercare, but the Spanish was too hurried for Adam to even catch a word other than his own name.
“Here,” Sandy said, finally turning to him, offering a familiar red hat. “They said to make sure you wear a hat to protect your neck from the sun. Kris wanted you to wear his, because of the brim.”
Adam smiled in spite of the pain. Now Adam looked totally ridiculous. Plus, he had to keep his right hand raised, so no fluid pooled there and made it swell up.
Sandy grinned apologetically, reading his thoughts. “Joan bought the clothes. Her heart was in the right place. But I think it’s safe to say that she’s never had a son.”
Adam laughed, despite being uncomfortable all the time. “Well, I guess this is better than going home in one of those hospital gowns.”
--
The bus ride was hellish with its bumps and jostling and sun that insisted on coming through every window. Adam was grateful that Sandy brought a little parasol thing and used it to block a good portion of the sunlight out.
Adam didn’t talk much, even to ask about Emilio, whom he heard had a rough night. It took all his concentration to try and relax, and breathe. He did stretched his neck, even though it killed, because Adam didn’t want to look all contracted and weird going home, and from everything Sandy was chattering on about, Adam had learned that his neck was at risk for that.
He was home in time for lunch. None of the kids came out to greet him this time, and that was fine with Adam. Patrick and Sandy made sure he was inside, with the air-conditioning as much as possible, since the heat just made his burn worse.
Everyone kind of hung back at first, not sure what to say or how to react, but when Kris picked up his own plate from the picnic table on the porch and brought it in to sit with Adam, Allison and Tyler quickly followed suit.
“Hey! I missed you guys so much,” he said, giving one-armed hugs to everyone, keeping his right hand raised, as if he had a question and was still waiting to be called on by a teacher.
Kris got to him first, hugging him hard, but trying not to jostle him too much. “So glad you’re back. How does it feel?”
“Hurts,” Adam admitted softly. “But what are you gonna do?” He shrugged, smiling, though he had to work to keep it there.
Allison was next, smiling sadly and whispering in his ear when he was close enough. “The clothes are hilarious, dude.”
“I know,” he returned softly. “But don’t say anything about it. I’m gonna thank them as soon as they come in here. And hey, it was either this or the green gown.”
Tyler cocked her head and grinned. “I think you’d look good in green,” she complimented, a gleam of humor that Adam had missed, shining in her eyes. Heedless of her still-stung shoulder, Tyler pulled him in for a quick hug. She hadn’t seen him since before the fire, and was grateful to see that his injuries looked relatively minor.
“Hey, you,” he greeted softly.
“It’s so good to see you,” she said, pulling back, aware that the hug was probably hurting him more than it was hurting her, and she was in quite a bit of pain.
“I’m back, and all in one piece,” he reassured.
“Is that the man of the hour?” Joan called, sounding more thrilled than his friends, if that was possible. She walked up and kissed his cheek, not wanting to bother any of his burns. “How are you doing, young man? You look fantastic.”
“Thank you. And thank you for the clothes. I would have had nothing to wear home otherwise.”
“Do you love the sandals? McKenna remembered you had yellow and we searched high and low for those.”
“Love the sandals,” he affirmed honestly, grinning.
“McKenna’s a little hesitant right now, but give her a little time and she should come around.” Joan took Adam by the hand and walked him a few paces away from the others. “Now, I don’t have any experience as a nurse or anything, but I am a mom. I told Sandy and Patrick I’d be willing to help with the bandages, if that’s something you’re comfortable with.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Adam insisted, though he had wondered who he could possibly approach that wasn’t squeamish and could handle inflicting pain on him. “That’s not necessary at all.”
“Oh, honey, it comes with the territory,” Joan reassured.
“They’re gross, though,” Adam objected weakly.
“I’ve seen my share of terrible things. If you trust me, I’d like to do this for you,” Joan said seriously.
Adam nodded slightly, and then went back to the table, which was now crowded and loud, as Allison, Kris and Tyler joined Adam inside with their sub style sandwiches and juice.
--
Allison wasn’t sure what to think of Adam being back. She kind of thought it was too soon, especially when she saw the way he was still all wrapped up and in pain a lot. Even though he tried not to show it, his eyes were a crazy shade of lighter blue when he had tears in them. And she had seen that a little too often lately. Plus, she remembered what a burn felt like, and she couldn’t imagine being as strong as he was.
Since Adam was chilling on the couch in the living room for siesta, but not really resting at all, she decided it was the perfect time to take out the presents she had brought, and entertain him.
She dug through her possessions, unearthing Jake the Snake from her bag, as well as the Costa Rican coffee. She decided she would give the necklace to Kris, since it wasn’t really the greatest gift for a guy with a neck burn. And because she hadn’t bought anything for him, and the guy had really been amazing, especially after she talked to him about her bad dreams.
Allison hadn’t been able to bring herself to wake Kris up, but he had poked his head up to check on her, while she was trying to be quiet and go back to sleep. As promised, he climbed up on the top bunk with her and they whispered in the dark about what her dream had been about, and how it had scared her, but maybe, it wasn’t as bad as the others had been.
Kris was talking to Adam about something, so Allison waited her turn - her arms full of gifts.
“Hey, we’re gonna drink that, aren’t we?” Kris asked, glancing up and noticing Allison carrying around coffee and that dumb snake.
“It’s Adam’s. His call,” Allison shrugged.
“Of course,” Adam said, forcing himself to nod even when it wasn’t necessary. “We need to taste it. Starbucks back home probably has nothing on this.
So Allison helped herself to the coffeemaker, figuring that Pat and Sandy would be okay with her using it if she was going to share with everyone, which she was. Adam wasn’t selfish with good things.
While Kris told them both stories about Katy adjusting to life at the Ronald McDonald House and how Kaleb had set a personal record for the amount of time he had not had a respiratory arrest, Allison got mugs and filled them with coffee.
Adam had been waiting to get his hands on this. While some people had control issues, he found he had self-control issues, and couldn’t help taking a long sip right away. The coffee tasted even more amazing than it smelled. Deliciously rich and surprisingly sweet.
“Careful,” Kris warned before he realized what he was saying. Worrying that Adam might burn himself on coffee was small potatoes compared to what he was actually dealing with.
“It’s a little late for that,” Adam smirked.
And instead of feeling sad, the three of them laughed, enjoying that they still had each other to enjoy things with. They were all keenly aware that the situation could have been very different, which is why they made the decision to look at this with humor.
Life was too short, after all.