Senses 03 - Love Comes Home (DA) (MM) (2 page)

“Quite honestly I’m concerned about the apparent deterioration in his vision. I won’t be sure until I get the records from his previous exam as well as the results of the tests I’d like to do, but I do have concerns.” Jerry paused. “I don’t want to make a diagnosis based on incomplete information. We’ll get the tests scheduled as quickly as we can so we can get some answers. I promise.” Jerry nodded for emphasis, stood up, and opened the door.

Greg walked out front, and Jerry followed. Jerry gave the receptionist some instructions, and they helped get the appointments set up. Greg signed the forms for the release of the records and then joined Davey in the waiting room.

“Let’s go home,” he said with a touch of excitement he didn’t feel. Davey nodded and slowly got up, and they left the office. They walked to the car in silence and got in.

“Dad, what did the doctor want? Is something wrong?” Panic edged Davey’s voice.

Greg didn’t have answers and figured the truth, or at least part of it, was the best way to go. “He wants to run some more tests. He saw something but isn’t sure what it is. We’re going to have your records transferred, and the tests should tell them what’s going on.” He shifted toward his son, watching Davey blink his blue eyes as he stared back. Greg leaned over the seat and hugged Davey as best he could. He didn’t know what else to do.

“It could be nothing, Dad,” Davey said.

Greg knew in his heart it wasn’t likely to be nothing. But they could do amazing things these days, and whatever was wrong, Greg hoped it was something correctable. He could feel Davey’s nervousness as well as his own, but there was nothing they could do right now. So Greg determined to continue their lives as normally as possible until they got some answers.

O
VER
THE
next few weeks, Davey had the tests and the records were transferred. Once the results were in, Greg and Davey sat waiting, not in an examining room, but in Jerry’s office, with bookshelves behind the desk and diplomas and awards hung on the walls. Davey fidgeted in his chair, and Greg felt himself doing the same thing. Whatever came of this meeting, he knew it would be important.

“Good morning,” Jerry said as he came in and closed the door before sitting behind his desk. He opened the folder in front of him and looked at Davey and then at Greg. Over the next ten minutes, Jerry explained the results of the tests and what they meant. Davey was stunned, and Greg listened as best he could, trying to take in all of the information Jerry had for them. By the end, Greg sucked hard for air as tears filled his eyes, knowing his son would eventually go blind.

T
OM
S
PANGLER
turned the corner and did his best to find a place to park. Ken and Patrick’s party was sure hopping this year if all of these cars were here for them. He loved this time of year in Pleasanton, in Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula. He grabbed the bottle of wine out of the back as well as the large bowl of his grandmother’s macaroni salad. After bumping the door closed with his hip, he strode across the street and around to the back.

“Ken,” Tom called when he saw his friend hurrying down the walk. “Looks like you have quite the gathering.” Ken opened the gate, and Tom hurried inside before following Ken toward the din of overlapping conversations.

“Did you have any trouble with the directions?” Ken asked, taking the bowl, and Tom shook his head. “I’ll put this inside. There are soft drinks in the blue cooler, and the red one has wine and beer. Help yourself. I’ll be right back out to make introductions.”

“It’s okay, I’m good at introducing myself,” Tom said, looking around the gathering. “You’ve got your hands full,” he added with a smile. Ken hurried inside, and Tom opened the beer cooler and pulled out a cold bottle of Sam Adams Summer Ale. He opened it and took a drink before beginning to circulate. If there was one thing he knew, it was how to work a room. He’d been doing it since he was ten and had been allowed to attend the first of his mother’s legendary social gatherings. Every weekend there was some sort of party, either thrown by his parents or by their circle of well-heeled friends.

He turned at a light tap on the shoulder and came face-to-face with Ken’s partner, Patrick. He was immediately engulfed in a hug. Patrick had been an opera singer before an accident had robbed him of his voice. Tom had never brought it up because it would be insensitive on his part, but he’d seen Patrick perform when he’d gone to Opera Cleveland with his mother.

“How are you?” Tom asked. Patrick smiled and nodded, then pointed to Tom, as if to ask him the same question. “I’m doing well. It’s so great to see you again.”

He couldn’t help himself and hugged Patrick once again. The man was the most tactile person Tom had ever met. He was also one of the most wonderful.

“Are you working on any projects? I have a bedroom I’d like to furnish, and I’d love it if you’d make the furniture. I want a complete set—bed, dressers, nightstands, the works.”

Patrick moved to the side of the deck and ran his hand over the railing. Tom nodded his understanding.

“You can use whatever wood you want. I know it will be wonderful, and you’re the craftsman.”

Patrick let Tom know that he’d e-mail him by making a typing motion. Tom agreed, and then Patrick was called away by one of the other guests, which was fine. He was in demand. Patrick couldn’t speak, but his personality and heart were as big as all outdoors. Since Tom had met Ken and Patrick at an artists’ evening fundraiser for the Red Cross almost a year earlier, he’d been jealous in a small way that Patrick was taken.

He stepped back and something bumped the back of his leg. He turned around to see a man sitting in one of the chairs, holding a white cane. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Tom Spangler, a friend of Ken and Patrick’s.”

“Howard Justinian,” the man said and held up his hand.

Tom took it in his, shaking briefly and then letting go. The chair next to Howard was empty, so he sat down.

“My partner, Gordy, is around here somewhere. You can’t miss him.”

“Yellow shirt, really big?” Tom said and then stopped. The white cane should have been a clue. He wanted to smack his forehead.

Howard laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Yes, Gordy is big, and I think he said he was wearing yellow. Personally, I like it when people treat me like everyone else.” Howard sat back in the chair. “How do you know Ken and Patrick?”

“I was involved in a fundraiser at the Red Cross last year. We were doing an artistic evening, and Ken donated one of his works and agreed to act as a sort of master of ceremonies for the evening. Since I was organizing the event, we worked together for a few weeks and got to be friends. And if you know anything about Ken and Patrick, they seem to welcome people into their lives.”

“Yes, they do,” Howard agreed and then turned slightly. “Gordy, this is Tom.” Howard smiled. “Before you think I’m psychic, I’d know his footsteps anywhere.”

Tom stood and shook hands with Gordy.

“He loves to do that,” Gordy said and turned to Howard. “Token is out in the yard, watching the kids.”

“Token, come,” Howard said, and Tom watched as a German shepherd walked across the yard and up the stairs onto the deck before sitting at Howard’s feet.

“That’s really something,” one of the men a few chairs away said.

Howard picked up the harness between their chairs. Tom hadn’t even noticed it. He laid it out, and Token stepped into the openings so Howard could pull it up and fasten it around him. Then he curled up at Howard’s feet. Every minute or so, he’d look up at Howard and then relax.

“Do you mind if I interrupt?” the man asked, moving his chair closer. “I’m Greg Hampton, and I couldn’t help noticing your dog.”

“Token is a trained Seeing Eye dog,” Howard said. Gordy sat down on the other side of Howard and entwined their fingers. “I’ve had him two years now.” Howard lightly stroked the dog’s head.

“Sometimes I wonder if he’s more attached to him or me,” Gordy joked, and Howard lightly bumped against the large man. It was obvious to Tom that wasn’t the case at all.

Greg looked uncomfortable, and Tom wondered if it was from being around Howard. “How would I go about getting a dog like that for my son?” The pain in Greg’s voice hit Tom hard.

“Is he blind?” Howard asked.

“Not yet,” Greg answered. Tom glanced at the others around them and then shifted his gaze back to Greg.

“If you want to talk about it, you’re in the right group,” Howard said, leaning forward slightly.

“Dad, I hit the ball,” a boy said as he approached. He stood in front of Greg. “The boys were playing baseball, and I hit it. It was a good hit too.”

“That’s great, Davey,” Greg said. Tom could hear the enthusiasm in his voice and saw the excitement in Greg’s eyes, but it seemed hollow to him. Thankfully, Davey didn’t seem to notice. “Go back to the game and have fun.”

Davey whispered something.

“You can have one, but you have to drink it all.”

Davey opened the soda cooler and leaned in close. He pulled out a can and then put it back before picking up another one. Eventually he closed the lid. When he turned around, the first thing Tom saw were Davey’s Coke-bottle glasses. The boy hurried off, nearly stumbling on the stairs. Greg winced and held still until Davey ran across the grass. Then he got up and walked across the deck to stand by the railing, watching the kids play.

“It can be very hard on parents when they find out their child is going blind,” Howard said from next to him.

Tom continued watching Greg, his heart unable to allow him to look away. “Could you… were you…?” Tom began.

 “It’s fine. I don’t remember ever being able to see. I was told once that there was the possibility I might have been able to see when I was born, but I think that was wishful thinking on my parents’ part. Nonetheless, it was hard on them, and if Davey is going blind, it will be hard on his dad.”

Tom stood up. “Excuse me,” he said softly. He got another beer and then decided to grab two. He walked over to Greg and nudged his arm, offering the second beer. Greg took it with a slight nod, but said nothing as he twisted off the top. Sometimes a guy didn’t need to talk. Sometimes, and Tom figured this was one of those times, a guy just needed someone to stand quietly by his side.

“He used to be so active,” Greg said, placing the empty bottle on the railing. “Now, seeing him run and play like that is a rarity. He sits two feet from the television and watches it all the time.”

“What happened?”

Greg sighed. “No one knows. They think it’s probably genetic. He reached a certain age and the aberrant genes kicked in or something. Last year he was largely normal, playing baseball like any other kid. This spring his playing got more difficult and I took him to an ophthalmologist. This year I’ve gotten him three pairs of glasses in nine months, each one stronger than the last. But they only help him for a little while.” Greg turned toward him. “Three months ago, when I got him these glasses, he could read and was actually doing things, but slowly the books got closer to his face, and he got closer to the television. His world is going darker by the day, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Maybe you can’t stop him from going blind. But you can help him adjust to his circumstances,” Tom said, and then he realized how he sounded. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sound preachy.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t told myself multiple times. I want to give him everything I wasn’t able to have.”

“You still can. He’s going to need you more than he ever has,” Tom said. “Not that I know what it’s like to be blind or to have a kid go blind, but I know about wanting a parent’s love and attention and not getting it. So I can say from experience that’s the most important thing.”

Tom jumped when he heard a voice behind him.

“You have it within your power to help make the transition from sighted to unsighted person truly hell or something your son can learn to live with and eventually thrive in spite of. And he will thrive. How quickly that happens is up to you as well as to him.”

Tom turned around and saw Howard standing just behind him.

“I can do most anything a sighted person can do. Yes, there are limitations, but the world isn’t closed off to me. It’s just different from the one you have.” Howard looked upward. “Did you notice the squirrel in the tree above us?” They all lifted their gazes and saw a squirrel jumping from limb to limb.

“No, I didn’t,” Greg admitted.

“Neither did I,” Tom said as he watched the acrobat.

“I heard him. He’s been playing and chattering up there for the past half hour. Like I said, the world isn’t closed or smaller—it’s just different. I have difficulty getting around in strange places. That’s why I have Token. He guides me and helps keep me away from trouble. Gordy is there for me too.” Howard moved closer, holding Token’s harness. “I will warn you, though. Your instinct as a parent is to protect Davey from everything you can. The thing is, you’re going to have to let him explore the world in a whole new way, and you won’t be able to keep him from danger. You have to let him find things out on his own. Guide, but don’t sequester. My family protected me nearly to the point where they were cutting me off from the world. I rebelled, and things weren’t so good for a while.”