Boys Like You by Jaye Pratt
I wake to the sound of hushed voices. “Should we be worried about him?” I know I shouldn’t eavesdrop, but why would they be worried? “He hasn’t stopped holding her hand. You know how he feels about being touched, he’s almost as bad as Maximus.”
“Stop worrying about him, maybe he needs this; she could be good for him.”
“How is getting attached to a girl we know nothing about a good thing? She could get her memory back today and be gone, and then what? We’re left with an angry Mercer who beats on any guy who looks at him the wrong way again.”
“You’ve lived with cops for way too long. He isn’t angry at this moment and that’s huge, we will deal with whatever happens as brothers. We always have.”
I move a little to make them think I’m only just waking up. The slight movement causes me to groan. Pain shoots through my ribs and feels like it’s coming out of my pelvis.
Not long after the guys left earlier, our nap had been interrupted. They dragged me off for an MRI, extracted half my blood, then sent me for x-rays, an ultrasound, and the dreaded rape kits. Mercer was brought in to me when I had a panic attack. The one thing that scares me the most is if I was raped. Not remembering who I am doesn’t seem to bother me as much as it should. Which I think is because how can I be bothered about people I don’t remember but I know what rape is.
“Afternoon, JD.” Rocky says, looking down at me with his beautiful blue eyes and thick black lashes.
“JD?” I question, shifting my position on the bed so I’m sitting up slightly. Mercer jerks awake at the sound that comes from me when I shift, and he and Rocky both help with fixing my pillows. Levi is standing defensively in the corner of the room. I don’t blame him for being cautious, I mean, I don’t even know who I am, so how can he know what to think of me? He’s just being protective of his friends, and I like that. If I had friends, I would think I would feel the same way he does.
“Yeah, we decided it sounds better than Jane Doe, and by we, I mean me. At least until it catches on anyway.” I smile at Rocky; his words fly out of his mouth so fast my brain has to piece his sentence together to make sense of him.
“I like it,” Mercer adds, standing from the recliner and stretching his hands above his head. I watch shamelessly as his shirt rides up, revealing his stomach and a thin trail of blond hair from his belly button to the top of his jeans.
I look away when his arms drop, meeting the amused eyes of Rocky, who just caught me red-handed, ogling his friend.
“We’re back,” Rory announces, walking into my room followed by Maximus, both carrying shopping bags. “Remind me to never go shopping with your Dad again, Merce.”
“Stop bitching, it wasn’t even that bad, we went to four shops before you cut me off,” a short, thin man with stylish glasses says as he glides through the door, pushing his way past the boys, and placing some take out containers on my wheelie table. “Hi, I’m Doctor Cole.”
“Dad, you’re not a doctor,” Mercer chastises, walking around to greet his father with a hug.
“I could be. Son, you smell terrible; lucky for you I packed a change of clothes. Go steal the girl’s shower while I feed her; she looks like a bag of bones.” Mercer goes to say something, but his dad shoos him away. The other four are handed a container each and take a seat on the floor.
“I spoke to your doctor; he said you can eat, just small amounts at a time.”
“Thank you.” I smile, looking around at the guys.
Rocky jumps up from the floor and takes a seat at the end of my bed. “You should try Carson’s chicken stir fry, it’s to die for.” He passes me his container and fork, clearly no phobia of germs. I take a bite and he is right, it is amazing.
“Mmm.” The sound escapes my lips before I have a chance to stop it. I honestly don’t know if I have ever tasted anything this good before, but my mouth salivates for more.
“JD, I don’t want to hear that sound come from you again unless it’s followed by ‘Rocky’.” He laughs at his own joke. It takes me a minute, then I feel my face go bright red.
“Don’t embarrass the girl. I need to get home and cook my husband a nice meal after working all day. I’ll bring you heathens more food in the morning. Tell my son, I will call him.” With that he breezes out of the room.
“Mercer has two Dads?” I ask. They all look at me weird. I feel like an idiot for asking.
“Yep,” Rocky says with more attitude than necessary. Maybe I hit a sore spot for them.
“Awesome,” I answer, and they all seem to visibly relax. “Is Mercer having two dads usually an issue?” I’m sure having gay parents would bring out the assholes. But who am I to judge as long as they love their son and are good people? That’s all that should matter.
“A lot of people have an issue with it,” Mercer says, rubbing his hair with a towel. He’s freshly dressed in a new pair of jeans and long sleeve Nike shirt.
“Why? If they treat you right and love you, who cares?” He smiles at my comment.
“I think they love me too much – you met one of my dad’s – he can be crazy. He likes to feel needed; I’m sure it isn’t the last you will see of him.” He takes his seat back in the recliner, taking the container his dad left for him. Rocky is still seated on the end of my bed, now shoveling what looks to be homemade cookies into his mouth. Maximus is sitting on the floor between Rory and Levi. They all seem to be watching whatever is on Maximus’s phone.
“So, what’s in the bags?” I ask, changing the subject. Talking about his dads seemed to slightly change his mood. Rory moves from his spot to where the bags were placed. He seems to have shaken off whatever was wrong when he left.
“Maximus and I went to the shop to pick up some clothes for you, and when we saw how many options there were for girls, we called Carson, who was more than happy to help. We should have winged it – you now have enough options to last you a year,” Rory says, picking up a couple of bags and placing them on my bed. “I had to guess your size. We kept the receipts and Carson said he would exchange them if we needed.” I’m momentarily thrown by his generosity. They claim to not know me but they keep going out of their way to be nice.
“Thank you, Rory, you didn’t have to buy me anything, but I do appreciate it; this hospital gown is a bit breezy in the back. I think Mercer copped a nice view of my ass when he helped me out of bed earlier.”
“Damn, I knew I should have been the one to stay,” Rocky jokes.
I ignore Rocky’s comment and look over at Maximus. “Maximus?” He looks up from his phone. “Thank you for the clothes and for finding me.” He nods and looks back at his phone, pulling his headphones over his ears. “Did I upset him? I didn’t mean to.”
“Don’t take it personal; he gets uncomfortable when people talk to him because he feels rude not responding,” Levi explains. Until now, he’s been awfully quiet. “I have basketball practice, I’ll come by in the morning.”
“See you later.” He walks out shaking his head. Maybe he doesn’t like me. They all seem close, and I wonder if he will make the rest of them leave me alone.
“Okay, everyone take a seat,” Rocky says, jumping to his feet. Mercer is already in the recliner, Maximus is still wearing his headphones watching his phone, and Rory takes Rocky’s place on the bed. “Let’s take a look at what Daddy Carson picked out.”
“In bag number one we have… oh it’s some undies.” He scours through the bag. “I particularly like these ones.” He holds up a lacy black pair, not overly sexy but nice all the same.
“How about we skip that bag, I’m sure JD doesn’t want us touching those,” Mercer states, giving Rocky a serious look.
“Fine.” He places that bag down and pulls out another one. “Nope, this one is bras. I really have a knack for finding the important stuff.” I laugh and snatch the bag from him, pulling out a sensible sports bra.
“Carson said we should get some of those ones while you’re sore, that underwire might hurt or something,” Rory says.
“Good idea, I will hold onto this one. Rocky, find me a pair of underwear that looks comfortable, not sexy.” He goes back and digs through, pulling out a navy blue pair of boy legs that match the sports bra.
“There’s also a bag of shirts and shorts but this one has some pjs – here, these look comfy.” He pulls out a pair of pink flannel pants with a white long-sleeve cotton shirt.
“You have all gone above and beyond for me.” A tear rolls down my cheek. “None of you know me, and yet you have gone out of your way to be so nice.”
“We know what it’s like to feel lost and alone. Until you know who you are, we’re not going anywhere,” Rory says. “Mercer, you need to hit the gym, and Rocky, your Mum wants you at the track in an hour.”
“Come on, I’ll give you a lift,” Mercer says to Rocky before turning back to me. “If you need anything, the nurses have our numbers. You can call me anytime, and I’ll be here.”
“Go, do what you would normally be doing. I will be here when you get back.” Rocky jumps up on Mercer’s back and shouts “Giddy up!” I expect Mercer to drop him on his ass, but he grabs him under the legs and leaves the room. I wait to see if he will race back in, and after about twenty seconds he is back through the door to kiss my forehead before racing out of the room again.
I ask Rory to buzz the nurse. I need some painkillers, a shower, and more sleep – in that order.
While we wait, Rory sits beside me and shows me pictures of his dirt bikes. We end up snapping the others, sending funny faces. Maximus even sends one back from the other side of the room. When he texts Rory, he takes his phone and reads it out of my sight before texting back. I watch them both before Maximus stands to leave the room. I wave – he still has his headphones on, so he won’t hear me. He smiles and is gone.
“Knock knock.” Rory and I turn to face the door at the same time. A middle-aged woman with short curly hair, her hair pinned to the sides so it doesn’t hang in her face, her curls fall around her shoulders.
“Hi dear, I’m Marlene from the department of child services.” She comes into the room and eyes Rory.
“And who might you be?” she asks him. Before he responds, I answer for him.
“This is Rory, one of the guys that found me. They have been keeping me company until my memories come back. The doctors say they should hopefully have some answers for me soon.” Rory goes to get off the bed, and I grab his hand before panic sets in. “Anything you need to say to me, you can say in front of him. I get panic attacks when people ask me questions.”
She says that it’s fine – she doesn’t have many questions since I have no memory yet, she just wanted to introduce herself as she will be handling my case. When asked what happens if my family isn’t found, she says she has a lovely lady who will take me in while we search for them.
“How are you coping with having no memories?” she asks, getting up off her seat.
“I’m fine. Can’t miss what you don’t remember, and I have the guys here to help me until I remember something.” She writes something in her notepad and says she will be in contact soon.
Rory gets back up on the bed after she leaves and continues to show me videos of him riding his motor bikes, telling me all about different kinds of tricks he does on them, like something called a superman. It’s weird, I feel like I have known the guys for a long time. Like an old comfy sweater.
My nurse for the night is Millie. She gives me my painkillers and gives the okay for me to shower on my own, to just press the red button if anything happens and she will come help.
Rory helps put my clothes in the small bathroom attached to my room, the same one Mercer showered in earlier. It still smells of him and it warms my heart thinking about him.
“Carson also got you a travel pack with shampoo and some girly shit.” I thank Rory and close the bathroom door behind me. Being locked in, the panic sets in. I try to breathe and hear Mercer’s voice in my head. I’m safe here. When the feeling subsides I look at myself in the mirror. My blonde hair is messy, I think it has sand in it, my face is swollen and the colour of the bruising is starting to turn a deep shade of purple. My lip is busted but a scab has formed over the top. I inspect the rest of my body. The right-hand side of my ribs has a large bruise, my hips look as though there are finger indents on them, I’m also the kind of girl who shaves her nether regions, has manicured nails, and a small black infinity tattoo below my hip. I run my finger over it and wonder what made me get a tattoo.
Once I’m showered and dressed, I head back into the room where Rory is waiting.
“You look like a whole new person,” Rory says, still lying down on the bed, except he is now in sweatpants and a white Von Dutch shirt, his hair down around his shoulders, and his shoes removed.
“I feel like a new person, besides all the bruising. The ones on my hips look like hand prints.”
“Can I see?” he asks, sliding off the bed. Moving around so he is standing next to me, I nod and slide the side of my pyjamas down just past my hip. His hand reaches out slowly, his fingers brush over my hip, tracing along the marks. “Did you show these to the doctor?”
“I only just saw myself in the mirror, but maybe they saw them when I was brought in.” The touch of his fingers running along the marks sends goosebumps across my body.
He clears his throat when he notices my reaction and drops his hand. “Let’s call in the nurse and let her know.”
We do just that, and she says she will update the doctor. Rory calls Levi and asks him to see what his aunt thinks. My painkillers start to kick in and I’m told to rest since the medicine will make me drowsy.
I should get some of my test results back tomorrow and might get some answers as to what is wrong with me. Getting in bed, Rory slides in beside me. Tears fall, not because I’m scared, but because I have been around these guys for a day and I hope I never find out who I am. That girl is gone. I hated seeing the blonde hair and perfect nails. Rory pulls me into his side. I rest my head on his chest while he runs his fingers through my hair until I fall asleep.