Chapter Six

~ Wright ~

One doctor's visit turned into three, spread throughout the day.

Doctor Pillar, the family friend of Patrick and Xander, took X-rays and did an overall evaluation on him. After confirming that he had two cracked ribs and prescribed some pain medication, she sent them to the other side of the hospital to see a Nephrologist. That appointment was a bit awkward because Wright didn't want Xander to leave his side, but he also had to answer questions about how it felt to use the bathroom and if anything hurt. The specialist suggested that he report any pain in his lower back that wasn't from the other injuries or if he started urinating blood.

The third doctor was for his eye. The bone around his eye socket was swollen and he had a cut on his eyelid that they hadn't seen from the bruising and swelling. The first doctor had already put three stitches in the cut on his forehead. He had a follow up in a month with each of the doctors but was to have Patrick call them on their direct lines if anything happened before then.

It was after five when they made it back to Patrick's truck. Xander stayed with him the entire time, but Patrick left for about an hour or so to get them lunch earlier. He stayed in the truck during the last visit, a business call or something he needed to take care of. Xander wrapped his arm around Wright's good side and helped him up into the truck. Even with the extra step attachment, he moved slowly and tried not to stretch his body too much. He'd been instructed not to take any other meds until he finished seeing all the doctors and to say his body was hurting was an understatement. He just wanted to lay down and not move.

"Everything good?" Patrick asked once they were settled. The truck was a newer model and had a second row to it where Wright was sitting. Xander was sitting up front, but had his upper body turned so he could see Wright sitting in the middle of the backseat.

"Just what we suspected," Xander said. Wright wasn't in the mood to talk. He didn't want to be rude, but after the poking and prodding, he was ready to sleep. "He's going to need all the rest he can get for a few weeks. They're worried about possible kidney trauma too, so he has to watch that. I went ahead and filled his prescriptions so we're good to go home."

"Um." Wright didn't want to be a bother after they spent the entire day at the hospital with him.

"What is it?" Xander asked. All day, shuffling from one department to the other, Xander was right there with him. He walked slowly next to him when he wasn't using the wheelchair. He sat in the chair through the awkward questions and grabbed them both a snack from the vending machine before Patrick had gotten them lunch. He'd made sure to keep a tissue on hand to wipe against his bad eye from time to time. He wouldn't let Wright look in a mirror, not that it stopped him from doing so when he was in the bathroom himself. It was a deep purple all around, red splotches mixed in. The cut was bandaged and his eye was re-covered at the end of the visit, but he was sure the stitches only added to the gruesome look. Despite all of that, Xander looked at him with a soft smile and no hint of irritation.

"I need clothes. And things." Wright's voice was nearly a whisper. "I know William said he would bring some clothes by, but um, other things I still need."

"We can stop by the store on the way home," Patrick said. "We'll go to the one on Forrest, so we aren't close to your neighborhood. I'll let the two of you go in and get what you need."

"I don't want to be a bother," Wright said quickly. "You've already done enough for me today."

"It's okay, Wright." Patrick started the truck and headed out of the parking lot. "If you just want to grab the basics today, Tracy does her big shopping on Saturday mornings so she can pick up whatever else you need. And we can always order things online. Paxton is great at that." The comment about his daughter was sarcastic and if Wright wasn't more than aware of the pain from his injuries he would have at least chuckled at it. He'd never been able to order anything online.

"Thank you." Wright sat back against the seat and watched as they started driving down the road. Everything was too familiar for him. He knew if he took a left up ahead and went down a few side streets he would end up at his house.

His dad's house. He didn't want to think of it as his place anymore.

"Are you okay, Wright?" Patrick broke the silence and pulled him from his stare into nothingness.

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking." He knew if he thought about it too long, he'd start crying again. He wanted more than anything to have the memories of his dad erased from his mind.

"I'll be right beside you," Xander said, seeming to understand what he was thinking without him saying it. "We'll drive through the parking lot to see if your dad's truck is there before we even go in, okay?"

Wright hadn't thought of that. It was a smart idea. His dad either had Wright order groceries or he'd go and grab whatever he wanted cooked for dinner that night. Wright was never allowed to go on his own to buy them, even though he did ninety percent of the cooking. He wasn't sure what store his dad used most frequently, but as they drove slowly up and down the rows of parked cars. He didn't see the beat-up black truck and he finally sighed. "I think we're good."

"I'm going to let you out and I'll circle back around and park over toward those trees." Patrick lifted a finger to a single row of trees set to the right of the store. It offered very little shade to the cars parked under it. "Tracy's just about got supper ready."

Wright held Xander's hand tightly when he helped him down from the truck. He could already see people looking at them, expressions ranging from pity to concern. They barely made it into the store before Xander said something. He leaned down and whispered in Wright's ear. "I feel like I should be carrying a sign saying I didn't do this."

"If anyone has a problem with it, I'll gladly tell them who really did it." Wright looked up at Xander and smiled. He'd only known him for a day, but never in his life- even before his mom left- had he been given so much attention or been cared for the way Xander had. Wright had to be careful or he was going to get used to it.

"You've already gone through it enough," Xander said softly. It was true. Between explaining what happened to the doctors and then to the officer between the first and second appointment, Wright had relived yesterday at least three times. It played a constant loop in his head each time his body hurt. Which was a lot. The trauma doctor noted that he had fractures that had healed improperly from years prior too. Wright wasn't even aware of that. He knew that sometimes his dad's hits or the way he gripped his arm a little tighter would hurt for a while after, but a whole fracture he didn't know about. It wasn't like he was seeing a doctor on the regular to begin with.

Wright hadn't been to the store in a while so he let Xander steer him toward the men's section of clothing. "Doc is going to email your records to Officer Ryland and we'll get the justice you deserve."

"Thank you." Wright glanced back up at Xander once more with the words. He meant them too. Yesterday he thought he was going to die because of a video on his phone, thought he would be strapped down or tortured to beat the gay out of him. But now, only twenty-four hours later, he was being cared for by a family that he hoped would be around for a long while. In whatever capacity, he was forever grateful for them.

"How about we just focus on getting the things you need and we'll go back to the ranch and get you set up in the guest house with me."

"Patrick said he had a guest bedroom," Wright said quickly. He didn't want to impose on Xander any more than he already had. "I can just use-"

"The guest room is up the stairs and it's noisy in his house. You need rest. No stairs if you can avoid them and the meds you got will probably make you sleepy or dizzy and I don't want you on your own."

"If you're that obsessed with me, just tell me now."

"I'm that worried about you," Xander grumbled in his deep voice. His voice was naturally deep, a true southern gentleman. Wright's voice had dropped when he hit puberty, but he kind of wished he could go through another round because his voice was still higher than most he knew. It was something his dad pointed out a lot. "Now, are you a boxers, briefs, or whities kind of guy?"

Wright looked at the selection. It was a whole row, several shelves, of different underwear. Some were in packs, others were hanging from a hook. Colorful, plain, cotton, satin, shorter, longer, tight fitting, looser. "There are so many options."

"What do you typically wear?" Xander picked up a basic black pair. It was a pack of four, sealed in a plastic bag. Xander looked from the packaging to Wright. His eyes dropped down to his waist for a brief moment before he looked back at his eyes, waiting for an answer. Wright tried not to read too much into that. Or the way his nose had flared slightly when he'd done it. The baseball cap he wore didn't hide the lower half of his face.

"Um." Wright tried to find his words. They needed to get going. He couldn't get caught up in whatever he was feeling toward the older man. It was just that he was being nice and helping him. There was nothing else there between them. He cleared his throat once more before talking, avoiding Xander's gaze as he looked over the options again. "Just the usual, I guess. I would just tell my dad when I needed new ones and he'd grab them. They weren't anything special."

"What size do you wear?"

"Extra large." Xander's eyes moved to him quickly, squinting in confusion. "Gotta have room for everything down there."

"I really can't tell if you're joking or not." Again, his eyes dropped down for another second.

"I am, unfortunately. It's all pretty average. I think the ones I had yesterday were medium loose fitting. These that William gave me are a bit smaller than I'd prefer."

"How about we get a few options and you can decide what you like?"

Xander pulled three packs off the shelves and dropped them in the basket. He added a pack of socks too. They walked past the women's clothing and to the health and beauty section for a new toothbrush and paste. And he would need a hairbrush. Some shampoo and conditioner, soap, a few towels. He wasn't sure what Xander and his family were willing to share. They were talking back and forth; more so Xander arguing with him that he needed to stop worrying about prices and just get what he needed or wanted.

"… free tonight. We can go back to my place and do whatever you want." That voice immediately sent chills racing over his body. He knew it all too well and didn't think- He didn't know he'd be here. His brain started racing, the same it had done earlier. But this wasn't just a joke, his dad was here. It was much too close. He rounded the corner and Wright was once again face-to-face with his dad. His abuser. He was at the end of the aisle, not paying a bit of attention beyond the blonde under his arm. His dad wasn't a small man, but it wasn't like Xander or Patrick. Where they had muscles from physical work, his dad was just big. Too many beers.

Before Wright could do anything, Xander crowded around him, pressing his back against the closest shelf. They were in the corner, where one shelf met the other on another wall. Xander's entire body was hiding him, his back to the rest of the store. He was pressed as close to Wright as he could get, not letting him move to even look around him.

"Look at me, gorgeous." Xander's voice was low. His eyes were serious and didn't leave Wright's for a moment. Wright could still hear his dad's voice, telling whoever he was with how he had a house to himself now that his deadbeat son moved out. Wright didn't want to cry. He didn't want to have any feelings toward the man that nearly killed him and then dropped him and left. He didn't care about Wright so why should he care about him? "You're okay, sweetheart. Don't listen to him."

Wright could feel the edge of one of the shelves pressing into his back, right where the bruising was the worst. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Xander had finally given him one of the pain pills just before they left the hospital to meet Patrick and he was grateful for it now. When he opened his eyes again, Xander had one hand caressing his cheek. He couldn't hear his dad's voice anymore, but neither of them moved from that spot. Wright's breath caught in his throat at the gentle contact against the good side of his face. He continued to look up at Xander, everything around them fading. It didn't matter.

"I think he's gone," Xander said lowly. Still, he didn't move. His thumb moved to trace his jawline. "Are you okay?"

Xander shifted and Wright was suddenly fully aware that his body betrayed him. The close proximity of Xander's body to his, the way he had immediately jumped into action to help him. The way he stared down at Wright, the brush of a calloused finger against his skin. He was hard and the sweats and thin briefs weren't hiding much of it.

"Fuck. Xander, I'm sorry. I don't-" Wright could feel himself on the verge of tears again. He dropped his eyes, cursing himself for being young and getting hard at the first signs of protectiveness and care someone gave him. In the middle of a department store, no less. He was every cliché he could think of at that moment. Pathetic.

"Shh," Xander interrupted his berating of thoughts. "You're not alone, okay? I think my jeans are just hiding it a little better."