The Ties That Bind

Chapter 17

     Kasden awoke from a deep sleep to the sound of a loud, obnoxious buzzing. His phone had been ringing, but he missed the call. He was about to turn over and go back to sleep when it started ringing again. Luke continued to sleep, somehow oblivious to the irritating noise.

     He reached for the phone he'd left charging on the small bedside table, doing his best to avoid waking his slumbering boyfriend. Glancing at the time displayed on the small screen, he read 1:22 in the morning - 'what an ungodly hour for someone to be calling me', he grumbled to himself, sliding his finger over the 'accept call' button. He was still too groggy from being so rudely awakened to notice the name of the caller on the display.

     "Hello?" He quietly answered, sliding out of bed and making his way into the other room to keep from disturbing Luke. 

     "Kasden, is that you?" A familiar voice asked; for a moment he couldn't place where he knew the voice from. "It's me, Seth," the caller stated, apparently realizing that Kasden hadn't recognized his voice.

     Seth was one of the boys from the orphanage, a few years younger than Kasden. They had almost never hung out together, both having friends in their own years. Most of their time spent together was at meals, the rest of the time they were either at school, or Kasden was at his part-time job after school and didn't get back to the orphanage until the rest of the boys had already gone to bed. Kasden had occasionally helped the younger boy with a couple of subjects that were giving him trouble in school.

     "Is everything all right, Seth? How come you're calling so late at night?" He might be a bit slow in his current state, but he nevertheless started to worry that the boy was calling due to an emergency at St. Jerome's; what other reason could there be for the late-night call. 'God, I hope Simon hasn't gotten into any trouble', he thought.

     "Father Jacob collapsed tonight, and he was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. The sirens woke everybody up and we're all having trouble going back to sleep. Father Benjamin and Father Phillip went to the hospital with him. I'm sorry to call you so late, but Simon and I knew you and Father Jacob were close when you were here, and we thought you would want to know. Simon broke his phone so he couldn't call you; he's back in his room right now because Mr. and Mrs. Milton made everyone go back to bed."

     The news was deeply upsetting, more so because there was not a thing he could do except worry about the old priest. He thanked Seth for calling him and made him promise to call again if he heard anything else. After hearing this news, there was no way Kasden was going to be able to go back to sleep, so he sat down on the couch, pulled his knees up to his chest and sat in the dark to wait until morning.

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     "Why are you sleeping on the couch, Kas?" Luke asked, waking the boy from his restless sleep. He'd clearly fallen asleep at some point after all.

     "One of the boys from St. Jerome's called me early this morning to let me know that Father Jacob was rushed to the hospital during the night." Kasden explained to his lover. "I didn't think I'd be able to go back to sleep, so I was waiting here and must have dozed off."

     "Do you think he'll be all right?"

     "I don't know. He's an old man with a weak heart." Kasden said worriedly, looking at the guitar case leaning next to a small bookcase the boys had purchased. The guitar reminded him of the old priest and brought back good memories every time he saw it there. "I hope everything will be okay, he's the one person I've looked up to the most the whole time I lived at the orphanage".

     "Are you going to skip classes today? It would be understandable if you needed to."

     "I sort of want to, but it won't do any me good sitting around here worrying since there isn't anything I can do. I think it will be best if I don't skip today. I'll worry either way, but at least classes might give me something else to try and focus on besides worry."