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When we all returned to our trucks, we caravanned out of the middle of nowhere back into town. Things took a while to look familiar. When they did, we were pulling up to the house we had visited the day before. In the back was Dr. Tom’s office. In the front was a beautiful two-story home that glowed.
“Someone’s still awake,” I told Quin. “Do you think this is a good idea?’
“Which part?”
“All of it. Any of it. We don’t want to piss off the only person who will be able to do the test.”
“We don’t know this town or the way it works. Maybe people do this all of the time, here.”
“You think people show up at his house in the middle of the night requesting genetic tests all of the time?” I asked with a smile.
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. But, that wasn’t really what I was asking. Do you think finding out if Nero is my brother is a good idea? I mean, the man hosts fight clubs and throws around homophobic slurs. Could all of this end badly?”
“It might,” Quin conceded. “Anything could end badly. We could end badly. But, just because it might end badly isn’t a reason not to try to make it end well.”
It rattled me that he suggested that things between us might go bad. Did he really think that? I was ready to be all in with Quin. Not only is he the hottest thing ever, but no one has ever done for me what he has in the few months I’ve known him. Quin was a keeper and I was going to hold onto him with every breath I had.
Parked in front of the house, Quin and I followed Nero and Titus towards the porch. The front door opened before we got there. Glen and Dr. Tom stepped out wearing robes.
“Nero, Titus, is that you?” Dr. Tom asked as we approached. “What’s going on?”
They didn’t reply. When Dr. Tom saw us, they didn’t have to.
“I see you found Nero,” he said to Quin stoically.
“I did. But not before the two of them tried to kill each other,” Quin told him.
“Huh. And, what are you doing here?”
“We need a blood test,” Quin explained.
“Come back in the morning.”
“Did you know that I could have a brother?” Nero asked Dr. Tom.
He didn’t answer.
“You did,” Nero said shocked. “After all of those things I told you were going on, you couldn’t tell me that my mom might not be crazy?”
For the first time, Dr. Tom’s stone face cracked. Regret washed over him.
“There are a lot of things that a doctor can’t disclose to anyone no matter…”
“That’s bullshit!” Nero injected. “I was a kid crying to you about all the crap that was going on and not once did you even suggest that this could be a possibility.”
“That’s not true. I hinted. I told you that sometimes things aren’t what they seem.”
“And that was supposed to mean something to a ten-year-old? That was just a bunch of adult garbage to me. How was I supposed to know that you were telling me that I had a brother and that my mother wasn’t nuts? No. You’re a fuckin’ asshole.”
Dr. Tom regained his composure.
“Fine. I’m a fucking asshole. If that’s all, you can all have a good night.”
“Wait,” I said stopping him from going. “Look, I don’t know you. But, I’m getting the sense that you know me, at least a little. I don’t know why you wouldn’t have told Nero that he might have had a brother. I don’t care. All I know is that for 22 years I’ve been denied having a family, at least one that cares about me. And, if you take 20 minutes of your time, you might be able to cure me of that.
“Isn’t that what doctors are supposed to do, cure people of disease? Well, this is my dis ease. Help me. It’ll take two minutes.”
