Broken Heroes - Chapter 13 {Cobra Starship, The Academy Is...}
“How are you feeling?” Gabe woke up to find William already sitting up.
“Fine.” William shrugged. “I think I’ve just got a little bit of Cabin Fever.” He sighed. “Do you know what I mean? Like I’m not really sure what I want to do with myself. I’m tired of being inside, but I’m afraid to go out.”
“You don’t have to be afraid.” Gabe sat up, looking at William. “I’ll come with you if you want to go for just a short walk or something.”
“I don’t think that I could.” William shook his head. “I know that it sounds vain, but people recognize me - us.” He shuddered. “The last thing that I want right now is people following us, asking me questions, bothering me.”
“We could go out in disguise,” Gabe offered. “William, if you’ve got Cabin Fever, you need to get out of here. You’re not in the world’s best shape and you deserve to have what you need and nothing less. If you need fresh air, you need fresh air.”
“I don’t…” William trailed off. “I need some air,” he admitted.
“Then let’s get you some.” He smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll find some good disguises - no one will recognize us, I promise.”
“Are…are you sure?” William looked up at Gabe. He wanted fresh air, he wanted the freedom to be outside and not have anyone crowding him, but he wasn’t sure that, even with Gabe’s promise, it would happen.
“I’ll take care of it.” Gabe nodded. “You just go put on some clothes that you wouldn’t normally wear in public - something baggy.”
“Ok.” William stood up and headed to the bedroom. He put on a pair of baggy jeans that he found in the back of Gabe’s closet and a large, roomy t-shirt, and a hoodie that he was practically swimming in. Gabe came in a second later wearing sweatpants and a plain, black t-shirt.
“Here.” Gabe walked behind William, pulling the boy’s straggly hair into a loose ponytail. “No one in the world will recognize you with a ponytail.” He smiled. “But just in case, Yankee’s cap.”
“I hate the Yankees.” William looked up at Gabe and was able to smile slightly.
“And as I can tell that you know from your smile, that is EXACTLY why I chose it for you.” Gabe placed a plain blue baseball cap over his own head before turning William’s body in the direction of the mirror. “See? No one will recognize either of us.”
“I’m beginning to think that you might be right.” William turned to look at Gabe. “Please, can we just go outside?”
“Of course.” Gabe led William towards the door, checking that he had his phone, wallet and keys before holding the door open for William. Carefully and quietly, they left the apartment building. As soon as William saw the crowded streets of New York City, he began to feel a great deal of pressure on his chest and his hand immediately found Gabe’s, grabbing it tightly. “Are you alright?” Gabe asked, turning to look at William. William nodded, gulping as he did so.
“There are just a lot of people,” he said with a quiet voice.
“I know.” Gabe smiled at William. “It’s the city. Do…do you want me to take you somewhere else?” he asked. “Somewhere that has nearly empty streets?”
“No.” William shook his head. “It’s ok, I’ll be ok here, just don’t leave me alone in this crowd.”
“I would never, ever do that to you.” Gabe squeezed the hand holding his. “Ever.”
“Promise?” William asked, looking up at Gabe with wide eyes.
“I promise you, William.” He smiled gently. “I will never, ever leave you alone if you’re not ready, and most definitely not in a crowd. That would be one of the worst things that I could do to you.”
“Thank you.” William looked around again, throat just as tight at his chest.
“Let’s go to Central Park.” Gabe smiled. “I’ll buy you an ice cream cone and if you want, we can get one of those carriages. I can’t imagine that you’re very used to walking yet.”
“I’m not.” William sighed. “But I don’t want to put you out too much.”
“Hey, I like those carriages just as much as the next person and as for the ice cream, we’re DEFINITELY doing the ice cream. You can’t go to Central Park and NOT get ice cream from a street vendor.” Gabe continued to hold William’s hand as he began to lead the young man towards the park. Gabe was careful to walk slowly so as not to rush William into something that he wasn’t ready for. “How are you holding up?” he asked as the reached the edge of the park.
“It feels so good to be outside,” he whispered. “I missed the air…if you can call this muggy stuff air, that is.”
“Did you just make a joke?” Gabe asked, turning to look at William.
“I think I did.” William nodded, smiling and biting his lip as he looked downwards.
“I’m so proud of you!” Gabe grinned. “I think you’ve earned yourself an ice cream cone.” Gabe led William over to one of the vendors. “What flavor? - Wait, let me guess.” Gabe closed his eyes for a second. “Strawberry cone?”
“You remembered.” William smiled up at Gabe. “And you’re chocolate, strawberry double scoop?” William asked.
“I am.” Gabe nodded. “Although, I only added the strawberry once you insisted that strawberry ice cream was the best.” Gabe paid for the cones, handing William the plain strawberry one.
“Wait, really?” William tilted his head to the side.
“Yeah.” Gabe took a large lick from his cone. “You brought the joys of strawberry ice cream into my life, William.”
“And you brought the joys of chocolate into mine.” William leaned in closer to Gabe, taking a lick from the bottom half of Gabe’s cone.
“Hey!” Gabe laughed, pushing the cone upwards slightly so that some of the strawberry ice cream got onto William’s nose. “You know, that’s a very good look for you.”
“Oh, is it now?” William smiled. “It’s cold.” He wrinkled his nose and Gabe grabbed a napkin from the cart, wiping the ice cream from the young man’s nose.
“So, how about that carriage ride?” Gabe asked, looking towards the five or six horse drawn carriages just waiting for someone to request a nice, leisurely ride through the park.
“Yeah.” William nodded. “That sounds good.” He bit his lip. “I’d like to make one more request for tonight, if that’s ok…”
“Of course.” Gabe stopped walking, turning back to face William. “What is it?”
“I would like to see Sisky tonight. I miss him and I know that he’s a good, loyal friend, so he’s probably been worried about me. I know that he can be too much to handle, but he cares about me a lot and I know that he won’t do anything to upset me.”
“Alright.” Gabe smiled. “I’ll invite him to dinner, but for now, let’s enjoy the great outdoors of New York City.”