My life was constructed around Greg. I had lunch with Greg and I had dinner with Greg. His parents came in the morning and I didn’t see anyone else beside his bed. If Greg wanted to make a call, the phone was rolled in on its own table and plugged into the wall near his bed.
As it came closer to getting his left leg out of traction, the phone was by his bed more often. I was sure he was reconnecting to his world. There was no conversation about his phone use or who he called. I pictured the boys from the party I attended.
It was on Tuesday his left leg was freed from the contraption that had dominated his bed for months. All the rigging and doodads were missing. It was difficult to miss that Greg was no longer attached to his bed. Our time together was coming to an end. His smile was wide and victorious. Greg was getting closer to going home.
“It’s better?” I asked.
“No, they need to do more X-rays. Then they’ll put me in a big ass cast. I’ll have to drag that around for the next few months, but I’ll be able to get out of this bed.”
He was beaming.
“Pajamas?” I said, noticed that particular change right away.
“Yeah, they did my physical therapy on my right leg. I was hanging out all over the place, as big boys do. One of the nurses got me jamies so my physical therapist didn’t jump me.”
“A woman does your physical therapy?” I asked.
“No, he’s a dude. His assistant is a woman. She watches me though. Not my type but if she held me down and jumped up and down on my dick, I’d probably let her.”
“How generous of you,” I said.
“I haven’t had pussy in over a year. Girls want you to swear you’ll never ever never fuck anyone else if they let you touch their pussy. I don’t make promises. You never know when opportunity will knock. I keep my options open. Do you think I’m queer?”
“How did we get from pussy to queer?”
“I’d let my physical therapist jump me and he wouldn’t have to hold me down. He’s always got his hands up in my crotch.”
“Horny, yes. Queer, I doubt it.”
“That’s true. It’s not like I have so many opportunities to do anything up here and I don’t jack off.”
“You don’t,” I said with surprise.
“Of course not. Why do something I can get someone else to do for me? You want to play a little? You wouldn’t have to hold me down, Martin.”
“You’re hopeless,” I said.
“Never pass up an opportunity to get a little action.”
“This isn’t the place, Greg. Someone might come and we’d be too busy to hear them.”
“So if we had someone to watch for us, that would be okay?”
“I suppose. You’re getting out of here soon. You’re out of traction. Think about that,” I recommended.
“I do. I do. It gives me more mobility. That gives us a lot more positions to try,” he said.
“You can wait a little longer,” I said.
“Easy for you to say. You can get anyone you want. I’m limited to the far end of this ward.”
“I wish,” I said. “I haven’t gotten anyone yet.”
“Once I get out of here, you’ll be hopelessly pestering me to get into my pants. trying to take what I’ve been trying to give you for months, but you won’t be the only one then.”
“Could be, Greg. Once we’re out of here anything can happen. You’re pretty easy. You’ll have plenty of fun.”
“I am not easy,” Greg protested.
“When is the last time you turned someone down?”
“I’m not easy. Take that back. I’m in demand. I have a responsibility to provide that which most people want.”
“You’re hopeless.”
“Hopelessly horny maybe. I’ve been in here next to forever.”
“Soon it’ll be easier to do things,” I said, trying not to sound too much like him.
“You mean once I’m out of here, and don’t be so sure of yourself, Tonto. Once I’m out of here there are options. I depend on you, Martin. You guarded my sanity and kept me pure, but it won’t be long. We’ll see how it goes.”
“Yes, we will,” I said, sensing his independence resurfacing.
“Oh, you have company,” a young guy dressed in all whites said. “I thought I’d give you that bath you wanted before they put the cast on you. I can come back but the cast is scheduled for an hour from now.”
“An hour for a bath. I can’t wait,” Greg said.
He carried a pan with a large sponge and a cloth. He had a towel over one shoulder. He looked twelve.
“Pull the curtain. He’s cool. I’d like another bath like you gave me yesterday. You know your business. I’m beginning to smell myself already. This will perk me up.”
“Martin, this is Bobby-Lee. Bobby-Lee, my friend Martin. Wash away, my man. You can’t embarrass Martin. He’s seen everything I got close up if you know what I mean.”
“Hi, I won’t be long. They’ll come for him in an hour. They had an emergency case come in they needed to get right on. They don’t want his leg exposed for long. They sent me to bathe him to keep him occupied until they come for him.”
I watched Bobby-Lee unbutton Greg’s hospital shirt and separate the two sides. Greg watched his hands carefully. I watched his hands. He used both hands to get the extra water out of the sponge, leaning over Greg to work the sponge gently across his chest.
“It’s warm. That’s nice. My dick’s hard already.”
“A bath, Greg. I’m not here for that. It’s not customary to bathe someone there when they’re hard.”
Bobby-Lee’s white tunic hung out and covered the top of his white pants, but when he leaned the top of his white pants appeared along with a tiny bit of fuzz around his bellybutton.
Bobby-Lee was having a more than casual reaction to Greg. The bulge in Bobby-Lee’s pants rubbed the edge of the mattress as he reached. He was devoted to washing Greg.
He was no different from the boys I’d seen Greg with. He was clean, his hair was trimmed close, and he was neat.
Greg was very happy in the days leading to his cast coming off. He’d begun to smell differently. He looked cleaner. I noticed it without commenting on it. His constant request to be handled lessened. Our conversations were less sexual. I figured he was thinking about getting out of the hospital. I was beginning to sense another reason for the changes.