a chained heart

4 | impulses

The days rolled by slower than molasses, but it was finally Tuesday—the day Adam was to pick Lawrence up from the hospital.

Lawrence. He couldn't stop thinking about him. Adam didn't understand these feelings. He'd always considered himself straight as a stick, so why did this man get him so hot and bothered? Adam tried to shake it off as he gelled his hair in the mirror, lying to himself that he wasn't doing it to impress.

Taking one last look at himself, he left his apartment. Hopping into his car, he found himself checking out his hair again in the rearview mirror. Since when do I care about my appearance? he asked himself. Shaking off the stupid nerves that were filling him, he put his car into gear and drove to the hospital, every mile bringing him closer to someone who would change his life

***

Pulling into a parking space, Adam exited his car, and as he made his way to the front doors, he saw that Lawrence was already outside waiting for him. He was in a wheelchair, pushing himself towards Adam with a smile beaming on his face.

As the two made their way to each other, Lawrence stopped wheeling himself and Adam knelt down to put him in a tight embrace.

"I missed you all week," Adam lightly whispered into his ear, gripping tighter onto his shoulders. Am I being weird? Adam worried. He quickly but reluctantly let go and stood back up; he didn't want the hug to last too long.

Lawrence was disappointed when he felt a cool breeze as Adam's warm body retracted away from his, but he showed no signs of it on his face. Instead, he smiled up at him, trying to keep the blush under control that he could feel surfacing across his cheeks.

Why did this Adam kid get him so flustered? He understood that they just went through a lot together, so of course they would turn out to be good friends. But this felt like more to Lawrence. His whole body grew hot when he went near him and his skin tingled when they touched.

Lawrence's thoughts were disrupted when Adam began wheeling him in his chair towards the hospital. "Why are we going back inside?"

"Well, you were such an eager-beaver to get out that I never got to check you out of there myself—I'm sure I need to speak with someone. I don't want to get charged with kidnapping." Adam paused and sighed before continuing, "And I want to thank your friend for helping me out of the bathroom."

Adam made his way towards the front desk, meeting eyes with one of the same jerks that was working the desk last week. "Adam Stanheight—here to pick up Lawrence Gordon."

The man typed away at his computer before replying, "Alright, yep I see right here. Adam. Cool, you guys are good to go." He gave him a dismissive thumbs-up.

Adam hesitated before leaning in, "Actually, I was wondering if you would help me find Ron? I just wanted to talk to him real quick."

"Sure," he impatiently replied. After calling Ron's office, the doctor soon made his way into the waiting room and shook Adam's hand, "Hey man! You look great! And so doesn't he," Ron motioned to his best friend. "So what brings you back here, Adam?"

"Oh, I'm just here to pick up Lawrence."

"Oh," Ron was visibly surprised. He wondered why Alison wasn't here instead, but then he recalled the conversation between him and David. Maybe there was something more than friendship between him and Lawrence after all. "Well that's great," he tried to hide his suspicion.

"Yeah, and I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" this shocked Ron.

"Yeah, you saved my life."