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Ian clicked his tongue. “I’m so sorry, Alek.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“He didn’t know how to swim?”
Alek lifted his head, his face unreadable. “I’ve answered more than yes or no. Next question, please.”
“When did you fall in love with me?”
Apparently, Alek had the answer on reserve.
“The night we closed escrow on our first restoration. The four square. I know you remember, but I’m going to tell you how I remember it.” He smiled, his pale green eyes sparkling in a way Ian hadn’t seen in months. “You said we should christen it. We sat on the front steps, getting drunk on champagne. A bottle for each of us, right? You were silly. You actually giggled.”
Ian bent closer, straining to hear through Alek’s accent.
“When we first got there, the sky was the most striking pink and we stayed until it turned purple, then black. I laid down and put my head in your lap and watched the stars blink awake overhead, but you weren’t looking up. You were looking down at me. You kissed me and when I closed my eyes I could still see the stars behind my eyelids, like you gave them to me, so I’d never be alone, so it would never be dark inside my mind again. That’s when I knew I loved you.”
That was the night Ian had admitted to himself that he wasin love too.
On Friday,Alek’s CT scan had improved and the logistical nightmare of a typical hospital discharge process made Alek even more petulant than he was at baseline.
“Let’s play our game now,” Ian suggested. “It’ll pass the time.”
Alek nodded his assent.
“Tell me about your mother.” Ian almost took the question back. He felt like such an asshole, but Alek needed this too. Trying to erase everything from his past wasn’t coping and it wasn’t working.
“My mother…”
Ian held his breath and looked for any sign of emotion from Alek, but he wasn’t pausing to stave off tears. He seemed entirely unaffected. Bored even. More likely, he was trying to choose his words carefully.
“My mother was beautiful. Her eyes were like mine, but greener. If she had to speak to me, she’d look just over my head. She thought I didn’t notice, but I did.” He picked at the Velcro on his sling. “Is the length of my answer satisfactory?”
“If that’s all you have to say, then yes, it’s enough.” Not for the first time, Ian wondered if Alek was neglected as a child. Maybe his uncle, and the piano, were all that he had. “Are you up to answering the second one? I can give you the rest of the day off.”
Alek scoffed. “Your expectations of me are insultingly low.”
“Okay. This one’s pretty serious. Remember, you have to be honest.” Ian grinned. “Is January second your real birthday? I’d hate to think I’d been celebrating the wrong day.” Ian suspected he had been. Alek had forgotten his own birthday more than once, and he refused any suggestion of fanfare on Ian’s part.
“November second,” Alek answered.
“Hmm. I would have guessed you were born on Halloween or Friday the Thirteenth.”
“Haha,” Alek deadpanned. “You’re not going to ask me what year?”
Ian shrugged. “Would you tell me?” If Ian knew Alek’s full birthday, he might be able to find his true identity. Not that he would try. He wanted to wait for Alek to tell him.
Alek smirked and raised a single eyebrow. “Of course not.”
Ian flickedthe switch for the blinker. Alek usually teased him for indicating the turn onto their driveway from the dark, tree-lined road. “I’ve literally never seen anyone else on our stretch of the road,” Alek would say. “It’s a habit,” Ian would reply.
But today, Alek said nothing. In fact, he’d been silent the entire drive home. Dr. Modorovic warned about persisting nausea and vertigo after a head injury, and if Alek’s ashen face was any indication, the empty pink emesis bag he clutched in his hand confirmed it. The winding mountain roads probably hadn’t helped.
The truck rumbled over the gravel road and rocks flicked up and pinged against the metal undercarriage. Fog hung low and dewdrops misted against the windshield. After spending the last few days inside the four corners of Alek’s hospital room, the trees seemed taller, and out of place, the familiar ones a few inches off from where he last remembered them, like they’d grown legs and moved around while he was gone.
Ian took Alek’s hand and squeezed it, but he didn't seem to notice.
When the house came into view, Alek finally spoke. “It looks wrong without the wisteria.”
