Page 13 of See My Words

Scott cast him a wounded look. “It’s not funny, man.”

“It is when you think about this easy fix, though. All I have to do is stand next to you, also wearing a jock, and the toothpick will make the scarecrow look like a stud.”

Instead of joining in the laughter, Scott leaned back in his chair and scanned Rylan from head to toe. “You, in a jockstrap, would be so fucking hot. I think I’d like to see that someday.”

Rylan gulped. “Nah,” he forced out, striving for a breezy tone. “My skinny white ass—”

There came a sharp knock on the door and the surgeon strode in. He greeted them as he headed for the chair behind his desk with a brisk, no-nonsense air.

“All right. This is what’s going to happen.” He picked up a spiral notebook full of laminated charts and flipped through a couple of pages. “Basically we put these metal bars along your gum line on the top and bottom. I’ll thread wires through your teeth and attach them to the bars before winching it all together. It’ll hold your jaw in proper bite alignment until the mandibular fracture knits.”

Scott gaped at the diagram depicting the fixation. “That looks like the teeth are locked in a cage. Will I be able to breathe?”

“Of course you will. Air, liquids, vomit can all get through just fine. The key is to breathe through the nose and not panic if you start to feel claustrophobic or restricted.”

“But what if I choke on—on some food?” Scott looked pale, and Rylan couldn’t blame him. The whole contraption was like something out of a horror movie.

“That’s why you’ll be limited to a liquid diet for the first few weeks. Nothing with pieces, or chunks, that you could either choke on or that would get lodged in your teeth. Look online; there are lots of blogs with recipes out there so you can get some variety.”

Slamming the book of diagrams shut, the surgeon went on, “I’ll do the procedure under local anesthesia. The lower part of your face will be completely numb so I can set the fracture and make sure it’s aligned properly before applying the fixation. It won’t take long, and then you’ll be on your way.”

He stood. “I’ll have my assistant come for you when the treatment room is ready.”

“Shit.” Scott slumped over in his chair as the surgeon left the room. “This is going to suck ass.”

Rylan slid to the floor and knelt at Scott’s feet, putting his hands on his knees and looking up at him. “It will, but I’m here,” he said quietly. “I’ll help you in whatever way I can. Okay?”

Scott ran the backs of his fingers over Rylan’s cheek, stroking a thumb over his lips. “I know you will, and I’ll say it again: I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you, Cock Suckers.”

Rylan lifted an eyebrow. “It makes me super happy to know you’ve joined in my appreciation for cloyingly sweet candy penises,” he said, delighted when the shadows in Scott’s eyes were chased away by mirth.

“Indeed.”

They stared at each other for a moment, until Scott dropped his eyes to Rylan’s mouth. “I really, really need to kiss you right now.”

Rylan didn’t hesitate, just stood higher on his knees and cupped Scott’s bandaged cheek lightly. Scott met him halfway and their lips clung together for a brief moment before parting with a lush sound.

The door opened again, and a cheerful dental assistant wearing a set of pink scrubs walked in. Rylan stood and moved behind Scott’s chair, aware of his flushed face.

“Mr. Ashworth?” she chirped. “I’m Lily, and I’ll be assisting Dr. Rojas today. Ready to go?”

She waited for Scott to get to his feet, nodding to Rylan. “You can go on out to the waiting room, and I’ll bring Mr. Ashworth to you when he’s done. Should be about an hour, give or take.”

Lily led Scott away, her friendly chatter drifting in their wake. Rylan headed to the reception area and dropped into a soft chair, digging the heels of his hands into his burning eyes and settling in to wait.

It was more like two hours before the door opened again and Scott trudged out, no more bandage but his face white as a sheet.

Rylan sprang up and hurried to him. “You okay?”

Lily was right behind him, and she handed him some paperwork and a plastic bag. “Aftercare instructions and scrips for your liquid pain meds, plus some syringes and tubing to get you through feeding for the first several days. You can purchase more at any drugstore.” She turned to Rylan. “Dr. Rojas said the fracture set nicely, and he’d like to see Mr. Ashworth in a week to do another X-ray and make sure everything seems to be knitting properly. Appointment card is attached to the paperwork.”

With a cheery wave, she was gone.

Scott was silent as they made their way back to the car, and Rylan waited until he was settled with his seat belt on before saying tentatively, “Can I see?”

Scott rolled his head along the seat toward him and bared his teeth, and Rylan barely managed not to gasp. It looked like he was wearing a messy set of braces, in that there were metal bars along the top and bottom gum lines. Wires were strung between them every which way, looking haphazard and random, although Rylan remembered reading in the paperwork that they were placed more heavily at the fracture site and wherever else was needed to keep the bite properly aligned. Rylan felt a shiver of faint claustrophobia go through him at the sight. Scott’s lips were swollen, and there was spittle collected at the corners of his mouth.

“Can you talk at all?” Rylan whispered, and Scott made an unintelligible noise, the saliva sliding down his chin to hang there in a shimmery string. Rylan wiped it away with his thumb, his heart aching. “Completely numb right now, huh? Well, once that wears off, maybe you’ll feel better. From what I’ve read, you should be able to talk almost normally with a little bit of practice.”