Lee put his arm around me, squeezing my shoulder. “You’re not a heartless bitch, Im. I think you were trying to capture something with Chris you had felt before. Maybe with a certain dark-haired man taking up temporary residence in your house.”
I pulled back and looked up at my friend. “Someone’s wearing their shrink Imogen pants today.” I made a face and Lee pinched my cheek as if I were a five year old.
“I’ve shared a room with you and Yoss for all of twenty minutes and I could pick up on the under current between you. He’s your second chance, isn’t he?” Lee asked softly.
“I’m hoping,” I admitted, knowing the words were safe with him.
“Then tell me who he is. Be straight with me, Im. It’s hard to miss the old bruises and scars on his face.”
Lee was my only genuine friend, even if at times it was very one-sided. I didn’t give him much and he knew that.
However, self-imposed isolation was highly over rated.
“I told you about my time as a teenage runaway,” I began and Lee nodded.
“Very briefly. Getting you to talk about anything is akin to pulling teeth,” Lee chastised good-naturedly.
“I know I haven’t been the easiest person to be friends with—”
Lee ruffled my hair in a platonic gesture. “Loving you is very easy, Im. It’s getting you to love back that’s the hard part,” he said softly.
That hurt. More than it should. But he was right.
“Yoss and I were together. When we were teenagers. When I was on the streets,” I explained, feeling strange about sharing my story. Even with Lee.
“So, Yoss was homeless too?” Lee asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin and getting up to take the dishes to the sink.
“Yes. He took care of me. He protected me. And then we were together. I loved him. He loved me.”
Lee turned around and leaned against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest. “That had to make the experience very intense. First love is profound enough without throwing in the whole trying to survive part of it. What happened to the two of you? What happened to him?”
I listened to see whether Yoss was coming out of the bathroom, but all was silent. I made sure my voice was low when I answered Lee. “We were going to go away together. Leave town. That was the plan. Things had happened…” I trailed off, fisting my hand over my steady, thumping heart. “Anyway, we were going to meet underneath the Seventh Street Bridge. The usual spot. Where all of us hung out. He had to take care of some things before we left. He had promised he’d be there. I knew something was off about him but I was young and na?ve and refused to see what was right in front of my face.”
Lee snorted. “We’ve all been there. Love makes even the smartest of us incredibly stupid.”
I gave a half smile that I didn’t really feel. “He never came. I went looking for him…”
“Did you find him?” Lee prompted when I didn’t rush to finish the story.
“I found him,” I whispered. Remembering. I couldn’t tell Lee that part.
“And?” Lee asked.
“And nothing. We never went anywhere. I decided to go back to my mother’s and I never saw him again. Until ten days ago when he showed up at the hospital, nearly beaten to death.”
“You are leaving out some pretty big pieces. There’s more than you’re telling me.” Lee took a drink of his coffee, peering at me over the rim. Then his eyes widened as he made the connection. He put the cup down and smacked his hands on the table. “Wait a second. Is this the new case you mentioned? The one you said was complicated?”
I nodded, swallowing. “Do you see why?”
“So, he’s homeless now. Well not now because he’s staying with you,” Lee deduced. “Is that why he’s here? Because I should probably point out how unethical the whole thing is. Him staying with you like this. Considering you’re his social worker and all.”
“He’s sick, Lee. Really sick. I owe this to him. To make him comfortable. To make him happy. He deserves that.”
“But, Imogen, I don’t know—”
“I know how this sounds. I know what you’re going to say. But Lee, how could I not? I found him in that hospital bed and I just knew this was my chance. His chance.”
Lee took my hands and looked at me intently. “It sounds like what you and Yoss experienced together was hard. It occurred during an unstable time in your life and you clung to each other and your relationship. It makes sense that, because you had a lack of closure, you’d want to reconnect with him. To reestablish a connection you once had. But, be careful. This has all the earmarks of a tragedy, Im.”
There was an audible cough from behind us and I startled. I glanced over my shoulder to find Yoss standing in the doorway, his hair wet and sticking out on top of his head. The growth on his chin was becoming thick again. He needed another shave. I didn’t like his face being covered up like that.
How much had he overheard? It was hard to tell. His face was unreadable.
“How was your shower?” I asked him. How was your shower? What sort of question was that?
“Wet,” Yoss said, giving me a wry smile.