So the father finally reached for the mother’s arm and agreed going home for rest was the best thing they could do. When he stood up and glanced across the room at Jasper, he smiled and said, “I think you should go home now and get some rest, too. Do you need a ride, son?”
Jasper’s head went up and he looked slightly startled for a moment. Then he stood up and crossed the room. “I’m fine. I have my car outside. But I’ll walk you both down to the parking lot if that’s okay.”
Luis cast a glance in Jase’s direction and pressed his palm to his heart. Even though there was still awkwardness, he now knew there was hope, from this one small gesture made by Cory’s father.
Cory’s mother wiped her eyes and smiled. “We’d like that, Jasper,” she said. Then she turned to Thomas, Jase, and Luis, and thanked them so many times for helping out and for being there that Cory’s father finally had to grab her arm and guide her toward the exit.
After the first awkward day, the situation between Jasper and Cory’s parents improved with each small improvement Cory made. By the third day, Luis and Jase met them in the elevator and they were all joking around about how Cory had a tendency to be too distant sometimes. The mother said, “He’s been that way since he was a little boy. He was never much of a talker.” Jasper lifted an eyebrow and said, “I’m lucky if I can get him to tell me one thing about how his day went.” Then the mother cast a glance toward Cory’s father and said, “That’s where Cory gets it.” The father looked down at his shoes and frowned.
By the fifth day, the doctors slowly started bringing Cory out of the induced coma. They hadn’t given anyone advance notice about this and Luis was the only one in the room when they began. Jasper had gone back to work part time and he wasn’t due at the hospital until later, and Cory’s parents were home resting. Jase had gone into New York for a meeting. And Thomas was in the hospital chapel meditating about Cory’s condition. Luis sat and waited in a far corner of the small room as doctors and nurses monitored the machines attached to Cory’s body. Luis sat forward in the red vinyl chair with his elbows on his knees and his fingers laced together as the doctors waited for Cory to open his eyes.
But he didn’t open his eyes right away, which the doctors said was still perfectly normal. When they knew Cory was stable, they left Luis alone in the room with him and went on to examine other patients in the ICU. Luis remained seated, watching for signs of movement, waiting for Cory to open his eyes. Fifteen minutes went by before he decided to get up and stand beside Cory’s bed. He reached down and grabbed Cory’s hand. He leaned forward, as close to Cory’s ear as he could get, and whispered, “I’d really love it if you’d squeeze my hand right now. Or at least open your eyes.” His spoke with a soft tone, almost a stage whisper. Though both Cory’s arms were broken, Luis was still able to touch his fingers very lightly.
In less than a minute, Luis heard the sheets rustle.
When he looked at the end of the bed, he saw Cory’s right leg move very slowly. No more than a fraction of an inch, but at least it was something. Luis smiled and his eyes welled up. He said, “I knew you could do it. I’m so happy I could kiss you.”
He leaned forward and gave Cory a friendly kiss on the lips.
Then he felt Cory’s fingers wiggle. A second later, his eyelids fluttered and slowly opened.
Luis kissed him again and said, “You’re going to be all right, sweetie. We’re all here making sure of it. Your mother and father are getting along very well with Jasper.
Jasper’s working right now, but he’ll be back this afternoon.”
There was a breathing tube down Cory’s throat and he couldn’t move his arms at all. But Luis noticed a tear trickle down the right side of his face, as if he were trying to say thank you with his eyes. He even tried to speak. His lips twitched but nothing happened.
“You have a breathing tube, sweetie,” Luis said, gently caressing his fingers. “Don’t try to talk. And don’t worry. It’s only temporary. The doctors said they are going to wean you off the breathing tube as quickly as possible.”
Luis had been so excited about Cory’s eyes opening he hadn’t been paying attention to the machines hooked up to his body. The beeps were louder and going off faster; one machine was making fast swishing noises that sounded like, push, push, push. When a nurse walked into the room, Luis was still gently massaging Cory’s fingers with one hand and caressing the side of his face with the other.
“What’s going on in here?” the nurse asked, crossing to the machine that was monitoring Cory’s heart rate. “His heart is racing, almost a hundred twenty-two beats a minute. His blood pressure hit the roof. The rest of the machines are going berserk.”
Luis pointed to Cory’s face, ignoring her concern.
“Look, his eyes are open. I even saw him move his legs. Isn’t it wonderful?” What did he know?
The nurse frowned and put her hands on her hips.
Then she glanced down toward the middle of Cory’s body and took a quick breath. “I think you’d better step back and let him rest now. He’s a bit overexcited, if you get my drift. In twenty years of nursing I’ve never seen anything quite like this before.”
Luis sent her a confused glance. Then he looked at the middle of Cory’s body himself and gasped. He tipped his head sideways and blinked. The white hospital sheet covering Cory’s middle, had risen, forming a solid tent, and Cory’s obvious erection stood tall and firm beneath it. So Luis released Cory’s hand and took two steps back. The moment he stepped back the heart monitor began to stabilize and the bed sheet descended. Luis smiled at the nurse and shrugged.
She looked at him with her tongue pressed to her cheek, without commenting further about the erection, then said she was going to get the doctor to examine Cory now that he was awake.
When she left, Luis put his hands on his hips and turned to face Cory. Cory’s eyes were still on him but he wasn’t crying anymore. “No more of that,” Luis said. “You have to save your energy for getting better. You need all the strength you can get. I made a vow if you lived through this and came back normal, there would be no more teasing and flirting between us. So be good now. I’m serious, Cory. The last thing you want is your mother and father coming in here and finding you with a big old hard-on. If you understand me, wink with your right eye: once for yes, twice for no.”