Three's The Cure

[daddybear54]

Chapter 1:  The Aftermath

 

Andrew sat beside the bed, resting his hand on the left hand of Markus. Did Markus even know he was there? He couldn’t tell. Markus was penned in place by an array of wires, tubes, and cuffs, and surrounded by pumps, IV drips, and monitors. Large areas of his face, right arm, and right leg were swathed in bandages. The room was filled with the sounds of bleeping machines and the steady rhythmic whoosh of the respirator. There was no other sound. The figure on the bed lay still.

 

This was the fourth day now that Andrew had kept this vigil beside his man. Three nights had passed since he had received the call to go to the Vancouver hospital because Markus had been in an accident. Andrew had burned up the roads, trying to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Once there, he’d stared in shocked disbelief at the still figure while the doctor had droned on and on. Words and phrases like “… severe burns to the arm and leg… several rib fractures… soft tissue injuries… inflammation… possible brain damage… induced coma…” had washed over him without any of it registering. The doctor had needed to explain it all to him again, patiently, the next day.

 

Andrew couldn’t comprehend, he couldn’t fathom, how a man as vital and vigorous, as endlessly energetic as Markus, could possibly be lying there, unmoving. It reminded him of a fairy tale where the hero or heroine was entrapped by an evil magic spell and would be held immobile until released by the coming of love, expressed by a kiss. With that thought, he’d tried kissing Markus. It hadn’t worked, and Andrew had then felt like a complete idiot for even hoping that it might help.

 

And the whole day had started off so normally. Andrew usually wound up sleeping on his face, and (as so often before) he slowly came awake to the unmistakable sensation of Markus sliding a wet tongue between his ass cheeks, probing gently at his hole. Andrew squirmed and moaned gently as he felt that delicious sensation of the warm, wet tongue prodding at him, getting him wet, and then pushing to try to enter him. Markus was an absolute master of this use of the tongue as a warm-up to something bigger and firmer.

 

Andrew spread his legs wider apart and relaxed into the feeling as Markus continued to lap at his ass crack, washing the sides of his cheeks and poking at the tight little opening. Then he felt the finger rubbing gently at his anus, rubbing and pressing, seeking to open him up. It was that finger that found the way in first, and the tongue soon followed.

 

As always, Markus took his time, thoroughly enjoying making love to his man’s ass, sliding his tongue in and then alternating with the finger, twisting around, eventually finding and stroking the prostate. By now, Andrew was thoroughly awake and his cock was well on its way to becoming fully hard. He knew perfectly well that Markus would have been hard even before he began, and that made his patience and perseverance all the more amazing. When it came to sex, though, Markus was never in a hurry. Taking his time was far too enjoyable.

 

At last, the tongue and finger withdrew, and Markus began to move. Andrew felt him sliding up his back, his firm pecs rubbing across Andrew’s back muscles, and then the rigid pole sliding into the crack between his buns. Even now, Markus didn’t rush, letting his cock slide along Andrew’s crack, up and down, as he gently humped his husband’s butt.

 

Finally, though, Andrew started getting impatient. He was passing beyond wanting Markus inside his body to the point of needing it, needing his man’s cock to be fully buried inside him. He pushed his ass up, and said, “Give me that beautiful cock, Markus. Slide it right inside me and show me how you can make love to my ass.”

 

“You want my cock, Andrew?”

 

“God, yes. I want it now, and you’re driving me crazy by teasing me – and you know it!”

 

Markus gave an ironic little laugh, and said, “All right, then. You know I always give you whatever you want.”

 

With that, he reached down, took his thick shaft in his hand and placed the tip against Andrew’s hole, now thoroughly wetted and loosened. He then began to lean on it, firmly but still without haste. There was a gasp below him as the head pushed its way inside, but not a sound of protest – more of a sound of relief that the teasing was finally over and the action was beginning.

 

Markus continued to push downwards, sliding the entire eight-inch shaft behind the head into Andrew’s tight fuck  channel. His dick was an unusual shape, getting thicker towards the base, and Andrew loved the sensation as Markus reached full penetration, then stopped at the point where his hole was stretched to its widest around that beautiful cock.

 

“God, Markus, that feels so incredible, you’re stretching me so wide.”

 

“It feels amazing to me too, Andrew – every time.”

 

And with that, Markus began to move out and back in, sliding his cock deep inside his husband’s muscular ass and then withdrawing until only the head was clasped by the ring of muscle. As he moved, he slowly increased the speed until he was steadily pumping into Andrew’s hole, still without haste but driving fully and deeply in on every stroke. Andrew moaned in ecstasy as Markus plowed him deep.

 

Markus reared up on his arms into push-up position, needing more leverage, and his muscles flexed as he continued to pick up speed, the flop of blond hair across his forehead bouncing up and down as he fucked faster and faster. In another minute or so, he was going at close to full speed, his hips making a loud “smack” each time he slammed down into Andrew’s firm, muscular ass. His breathing was coming shorter and faster as the fuck strokes continued to gain speed, and he knew he was going to explode very soon.

 

Andrew knew it too. He heard the rapid breathing, and shoved his hand under himself, grabbing hold of his own cock and jerking it forcefully. He knew how much Markus loved to be talked through his climax. “Yeah, Markus, yeah. Fuck me harder, you stud. Give it all to me, deep and hard. I want you to cum in me, to breed me deep. Cum inside me! Fucking give me that whole load!”

 

Markus was now gasping and groaning as Andrew clamped the hole down tightly on his cock on each thrust.

 

“Cum in my ass!”

 

That final cry pulled the trigger. Markus slammed all the way into Andrew and held it there as the first three big shots of cream erupted deep inside Andrew’s ass, then followed with a quick series of short slams against the cheeks as the rest of his load streamed out into his man’s hole.

 

As soon as Andrew felt Markus cumming in him, he twisted and groaned and let his own load erupt out onto the bed underneath him, soaking the sheets with a generous blast of cum.

 

Then Markus collapsed onto Andrew’s back, his arms unable to hold him up any longer. Andrew reached up and back with both arms, stroking his husband’s firm body as he panted for air in the aftermath of orgasm. Then he turned his head to the side, allowing Markus to seek out his mouth for some intense kissing while they were still riding the high of cumming right together.

 

When evening came, it was typically Andrew’s turn to fuck Markus and load him up. Andrew’s fucking style was more forceful, more energetic, and faster overall, yet they still managed to cum right together more often than not, and frequently Markus would cum without even touching himself. Andrew had driven home that afternoon, all set to give Markus a fuck for the record books – and then had found himself, instead, sitting in the hospital, staring wide-eyed at an unconscious, immobile body.

 

On the second day, Andrew had found himself frantically jerking off in the shower. He was all primed by force of habit to be fucked and to cum, and he had to get it out of his system before he could do anything else.

 

It was on the third day that Andrew’s brother, Chad, and his wife, Alicia, had arrived from Toronto. The two brothers had always been close, right from boyhood, and finding out that Andrew was gay hadn’t disturbed Chad in the slightest. He’d suspected that even before Andrew himself had figured it out.

 

“Chad. Thank God you could come.”

 

“Of course I came. I’m worried about you, bro.”

 

“Thank you for coming too, Alicia.”

 

She said nothing, but hugged Andrew hard and long. That hug was a speech in itself. Unlike Chad, Alicia had never really felt much at ease around Andrew and Markus, taking refuge in polite but stiff formality. With the passage of time, though, she had gradually begun to realize that maybe, just maybe, her fiercely religious and moralistic family upbringing hadn’t given her as many of life’s answers as she used to think.

 

The three of them had sat and talked about what had happened, while Andrew continued stroking the hand that didn’t respond by so much as a twitch. Chad saw that, and his worry and concentration deepened. At last, he came right to the point.

 

“Andrew, you need to get out of here. You need to take a breather for a few hours at least.”

 

“No! I can’t. I won’t. He might wake up. I need to be here if he wakes up!”

 

“Andrew. What are the doctors saying?”

 

“It’s… he’s in a coma. Induced coma.”

 

“Andrew, he’s not going to wake up until they feel sure it’s safe. Until then, they’re going to keep him unconscious, to help his brain to heal.”

 

“But, Chad, I know he can hear me. He has to hear me. He has to know I’m here with him.”

 

“Andrew!” Chad’s voice came out in an abrupt bark. “You need to take a break. You’re on the thin edge of cracking apart from the stress, you’re wound as tight as a strung bow, and if you snap, that’s not going to help Markus at all. Come on, we’re going out.”

 

Andrew kept trying to fight back but soon ran out of steam and slowed to a stop, like a nursery toy that had run down and needed to be wound up again. In the end, it was sheer emotional exhaustion that decided the argument. Andrew stood up, Chad and Alicia got on either side of him and took his arms, and the three of them walked out of the hospital.

 

Outside, Andrew was almost shocked to see the setting sun touching the mountaintops with rose-tinged light, glimpsed through the trees in the park across the road. He’d been convinced that it was deep, dark night. But it was light, the world was awake, people were hurrying by on foot, on bicycles, in cars, and he took a deep breath and felt a bit of the tension leave him.

 

They walked around the corner to a small seafood restaurant, eating an excellent meal and having a couple of glasses of wine each. It was the first decent meal Andrew had enjoyed since that awful phone call. He could feel his frozen brain beginning to thaw a little more.

 

During dinner, conversation turned to their parents. Their mother, Chloe, was recovering from surgery in Ottawa and since she was now in her eighties it was a prolonged process, so it hadn’t been possible for them to come west. Chad had filled them in as much as he knew about what was happening. He would talk to them again, but he also urged his brother to call home. “You know that Mom and Dad love Markus as much as they love us, and Mom especially is going out of her mind with worry. It’ll do both of you good if you talk with her tomorrow – it’ll be too late tonight with the time change.”

 

Andrew nodded agreement. Then Chad changed the subject, cautiously moving onto more painful ground. “Before I forget, I talked to Uncle Tommy as well.” Andrew immediately stiffened. Chad knew it was a sore spot, but it had to be said. “He’s really worried about you, too.”

 

Andrew didn’t look up, but instead spoke to the table cloth. “I can’t talk about that right now.”

 

Chad sighed. He’d guessed right -- Andrew was still struggling with the intense pain of that loss a few months earlier. They’d both gone to Alcantara for their Uncle Rich’s funeral. Both of them had liked the older man very much, but in Andrew’s case the liking had soared to the edge of hero worship.  

 

Rich, their mother’s older brother, and his husband Tommy, had been the first people Andrew had told when he’d decided to come out, even before telling his brother and parents. The safe zone they’d represented for him had been one of the biggest anchors of his entire adult life. Their wise advice and experience had kept him afloat through a couple of early and disastrous attempts at relationships. They had expressed real pleasure when he met Markus and introduced him to the older couple on a video call. His two uncles had come to the wedding when he married Markus, making a wickedly funny joint speech about their nephew that had the entire audience – including Andrew and Markus -- roaring with laughter.

 

The special relationship they enjoyed just went from strength to strength as the years rolled by. They’d visited with each other frequently, taking turns doing the travelling, and even gone on joint vacations. No doubt some of the people who saw the older and younger gay couples going places and doing things together had speculated about possibly kinky daddy and boy antics in the bedroom but, as it happened, sex hadn’t played any part in their relationship – although they had all loved each other dearly.

 

Now, Rich was gone, and both Tommy and Andrew were suffering. Chad knew better than to force the subject, so he changed to another topic. Time enough to return to that later.

 

As the dinner ended, Alicia was the one who suggested to Andrew that he come and stay with them. “We rented a condo for a couple of weeks, and you might want to use the spare bedroom. Just so you can have some company in the morning when you wake up.”

 

To his own surprise, and theirs, Andrew found himself agreeing. His state of exhaustion was such that, when he undressed and fell into bed, he went out like a light and didn’t wake up for nearly ten hours.

 

In the morning, over breakfast and coffee, Chad said, “Andrew, do you want to come over and stay here with us for the next week or so? Maybe better than being at home alone right now.” Andrew thought about it for a moment, and silently nodded his head. “Okay, after we finish breakfast, let’s go over to your place and you can pack a bag, then we can drop it back here before we go on to the hospital.”

 

By the time they reached the hospital, Andrew had calmed down and unwound far enough that he actually followed and took in everything the doctor was saying. At first, the report sounded positive. The pressure and inflammation in the brain was decreasing, and the doctor felt sure that in three more days they could slowly allow Markus to emerge from the induced coma.

 

But then, as the doctor went on, Andrew felt his stomach sinking back down into his shoes. “There is some evidence of possible brain damage. It’s not likely irreversible, but when he wakes up he may display signs of memory loss, perhaps extending back some time before the accident.”

 

Chad gripped Andrew’s shoulders firmly as he sensed his brother losing his cool, composed manner again.

 

“Can you tell us anything more, doctor?”

 

“At this point, no. We will only know more when he does recover consciousness. At the least, he will certainly be in the hospital for several weeks more because of his physical injuries, followed by an extended period of physiotherapy.”

 

It was an unnerving prognosis, and Chad could see that Andrew was thoroughly scared of what might happen when Markus did wake up. Chad stuck close to him for much of the day, finally leaving at about 4:00. After that, Andrew was sitting alone again by the bedside, while Chad and Alicia were off visiting some friends in Vancouver. He was again gently stroking his man’s hand, trying to will his soul to penetrate the dense fog of the induced coma and make contact with the soul of Markus. Andrew’s concentration was so intense that he didn’t even hear the footsteps entering the room behind him. But he did hear the voice, a voice deeply familiar to him, even though it was nearly half a year since he had last heard it.

 

“Andrew.”

 

He stood and turned, his eyes staring wide open on a gasp at the sight of that lined and tanned Asiatic face, the wise, ageing eyes brimming over with sorrow and concern.

 

“Uncle… Uncle Tommy….”

 

And then, just like the frightened little child he had been so long ago, he suddenly raced into his uncle’s arms and they held each other tightly, fiercely, as they sobbed out their stress and their grief together.  

 

After that first emotional storm had passed, Andrew found that the dam had burst and he could hardly wait to have a long, intense talk with his uncle. There was so much for both of them to say, as he well knew, so much that they couldn’t really share with the rest of the family as openly as they could with each other – this above all, because of the special commonality and affection between them.

 

Andrew sent a quick text message to Chad, telling him they were going out (but not where they were going), and they headed off to have a long dinner together. Tommy talked at length about his own emotional stresses from losing Rich, his husband of nearly half a century. It helped Andrew immensely to hear that they shared many of the same emotional triggers, even if the precise causes were different. But were they? Even now, Andrew couldn’t rid himself of the nagging suspicion that things were going to go wrong, that Markus might still die.

 

It was time. He forced himself to drag his fears into the open, to speak them out, to give them life and dimension by putting them into words. Even now, although he couldn’t bring himself to put it quite so bluntly, the fear that he was going to lose Markus hovered behind all the emotional stress that he was describing to his uncle. But Tommy fully understood this fear, too. He put his hand over Andrew’s and gave it a friendly, familial squeeze.

 

“Andrew, you’re worrying too much. You can easily waste half of your life worrying about what might happen, only to find that it doesn’t work out that way. Rich was often like that too. You can’t know yet exactly what will happen, but Markus is just like you – vigorous, energetic, active, and careful about his health. Whatever exactly comes when he wakes up, you can be sure that both of you are good for many more years yet. Just look at his family, and then look at your parents, and your uncle. Good genes.” And Tommy gave Andrew a jaunty wink in which Andrew could clearly see the witty, bubbly young PhD student who had so captivated his uncle.

 

Finally, at ten o’clock, the restaurant owner had to ask them to leave as it was closing time. Tommy picked up the bill, over Andrew’s protests.

 

“Uncle Tommy, please let me take care of it. You’re the one who had to travel all that way to get here!”

 

“Quite all right, Andrew, I’d been hoping for an invitation for a while so, when this happened, I just invited myself. Rich would have beaten both of us to the bill if he’d been here.”

 

Tommy chuckled, Andrew joined him, and then the older man’s face began to crumple. Andrew drew him into a strong hug, holding him close as he cried silently. The restaurant owner stood by patiently, divining that this was much more than just another couple having dinner.

 

Finally, Tommy regained control, and they walked out into the night, noting the full moon shining down on the still-busy streets. As they went, Tommy apologized to the restaurant owner for holding him up so long – an entirely characteristic action. Andrew walked Tommy to his hotel, and then took the SkyTrain back to the condo that Chad and Alicia had rented. He was glad to be alone. It was a silent, thoughtful ride. They’d given him his own key and door pass so getting into the building and the suite was not a problem.

 

He found Chad and Alicia sharing a glass of wine and could guess, from the sudden silence, that they were talking about him.

 

“How did it go?” Chad asked.

 

“Better than I feared,” Andrew replied. “We both needed to talk. It helped.”

 

“Helped you or him?”

 

“Both of us.”

 

“How long is he staying?”

 

“He didn’t say, but I’m sure he didn’t fly all this way just to turn around and head back to Alcantara tomorrow.” Chad and Alicia nodded. “I expect he’ll come by the hospital again tomorrow.”

 

“We’ll see him then,” Alicia said, and for once she didn’t look nervous at the thought of again meeting the famous gay uncle. Chad could sense the change in her, and it pleased him immensely.

 

Andrew slept well. In his dreams, he was a young man again, meeting Markus for the first time – but instead of the beachfront park in Vancouver, he met Markus on the beach at Bahía de la Paz in Alcantara, and when Markus drew close to Andrew, he had the face of the young Tommy which Andrew had so often seen in photographs. He awoke then, realizing that Tommy and Markus were actually like each other in ways he had never understood before this night. Did that mean he was also more like his Uncle Rich than he had guessed? Tommy had hinted at such a resemblance, but perhaps it went deeper than the single point Tommy had mentioned. Musing like this, he fell asleep easily again and slept the rest of the night in peace and tranquility.

 

The next day, while eating lunch with his uncle in the hotel café, Andrew narrated his dream. Tommy smiled, wistfully, obviously sunk in his own memories of his lost love for a moment. Then he spoke. “Did Rich ever tell you how we met?”

 

“He told me that he met you at an embassy reception in Ottawa, and then again a couple of years later after you had moved to Alcantara.”

 

Tommy smiled. “Just that?” Andrew nodded, and Tommy went on. “Andrew, I spotted him lying out, enjoying the sun on the beach at Bahía de la Paz, and went over to speak to him. That’s when I recognized him as the tall, handsome lawyer who had captivated me at that embassy reception.”

 

“Wow.”

 

“I think Rich was talking to you in your dreams last night. I’m sure he’s keeping as close to you as he can right now. He always cared so much about you and was so proud of you, almost as if you were his own son.”

 

Andrew decided to risk a personal question. A bit hesitantly, he asked, “Do you feel him close to you as well?”

 

Tommy chuckled. “Andrew, you don’t have to hesitate to ask me anything. We don’t keep secrets from each other, remember? That’s how the four of us have always rolled. Yes, I do feel him close sometimes. Not as often as I could wish and not as close as I want, but still….” Andrew sat silently, watching and waiting, until Tommy went on. “Rich had some truly awful experiences when he was younger. So did I. We lived through them, and we learned from our mistakes, and when we met each other, we were ready to live and love fully. He wouldn’t want the pain of our loss, or of this horror show you’re going through now, to ruin our lives but he would want, and expect, that we would not just get through it but learn from it all.”

 

Coming from anyone else, those words would have sounded just too trite, too pat, to be credible – but when it was Tommy saying it, with all the wisdom of his seventy-five years, it made more sense to Andrew. Perhaps that was not least because Tommy was one person whose only personal stake in pulling him through was the same kind of enduring love that had held him and Rich together for over 40 years and had drawn Andrew and Markus so close to both of them as well.

 

Two days later, on Monday afternoon, with all four of them present, the doctor explained that he was now ready to start releasing Markus from his coma. It would take, he said, about 24 hours, give or take, so he would not likely wake up and become responsive until some time around noon or later on Tuesday. Chad, Alicia, and Tommy all told Andrew that they would be there with him when that happened.

 

That night, all of them slept restlessly, disturbed by strange dreams, as if the same spirit of disquiet was invading all of their minds simultaneously. The next day, they assembled again in the room, and waited. With them were a nurse and the doctor. The doctor warned them all to keep back a bit from the bed in case anything happened and he or the nurse had to intervene suddenly. Tommy was the most patient of them all. Alicia was second-best, keeping her arm draped over Chad’s shoulders so he would know she was with him. Andrew, understandably, was the edgiest of all. He just couldn’t wait any longer to see and be seen, to speak and be heard, to kiss the man he loved, even though full-throttle hugging was impossible due to the profusion of wires and tubes.

 

At last, Markus began to stir. His head turned a bit from side to side, his eyelids fluttered for a moment but didn’t open. Then his arms and legs began to move slightly. The doctor was watching closely.

 

“Motor function in all four extremities,” he muttered to himself, making a note on his chart.

 

Markus blinked, and his eyelids rolled back, revealing those startlingly blue eyes which had so enthralled Andrew when they first met. He was staring upwards at the ceiling, not focusing, plainly trying to decipher what he was seeing. His mouth opened, and there came first a couple of inarticulate sounds, and then – startlingly clear – a name.

 

“Werner.”

 

“Who?” Alicia whispered. Andrew put up a warning hand, indicating silence.

 

The eyes of the man in the bed began to move, swinging slowly down from the ceiling until he took in the group of people watching him so avidly. He looked faintly puzzled.

 

“Hello, Markus,” the doctor said in a matter-of-fact voice.

 

“Uh… you look like… must be a doctor.”

 

“That’s right. I’m Dr. Preston.”

 

At that point, Andrew couldn’t hold himself any longer. He stepped up to the bed. “Markus, my love, it’s me. Andrew.”

 

“Who?” Andrew’s face fell to the floor. “Werner? No, you’re not Werner. Who are you?”

 

At that, Andrew’s composure cracked. He dropped Markus’ hand, turned, and walked swiftly out of the room, leaving Markus staring in a puzzled way at the spot where he had stood. Chad began to follow, but Tommy put out a hand to stop him, and said, “No. Let me go.”

 

As Tommy left, Markus began talking again. “That wasn’t Werner. Where is he?” And then, on a steadily rising note of panic and anger, “What have you done with Werner? I want to see him! Where is he???”

 

The doctor said, quickly and quietly, “You’d better go. You’re doing more harm than good being here. I may have to give him a sedative.”

 

“We’ll be in the waiting area,” Chad replied as they left.

 

Out in the hall, Chad and Alicia looked at each other, wide-eyed. It was clear to both of them that Andrew’s nightmare was just beginning.

 

 

 

[evilqueerpig]

Good start!

[negchaserlooking]

Wow

[Charmingbear]

I need more of this story! 

[daddybear54]

On its way soon, @Charmingbear!

[daddybear54]

Chapter 2:  Wake-Up Call

 

Tommy got out into the hall, just in time to see the long legs in black trousers vanishing around the corner. He headed that way, nerving himself for a very stress-filled conversation. Turning the corner, he found that he was approaching the nursing station and the waiting area across from it. He could hear the harsh, wracking sobs coming from the waiting area.

 

Thankfully, no one else was there – just Andrew, crumpled up in a chair, shoulders heaving, as he sobbed disconsolately. Tommy knelt down in front of him and opened his arms wide. Andrew flung himself forward into his uncle’s embrace, crying heartbrokenly on his shoulder as Tommy wrapped him securely in a loving hug.

 

Chad and Alicia came along the hall and into the waiting area, stopping without saying a word as they watched Tommy holding the tearful Andrew close while his shoulders shook. Tommy looked up at them, and waved to them as if to say, “You can go, I’ve got this.”

 

After a while, the tears died down and Tommy could feel Andrew was regaining control of his body, the quivering and shaking slowly dying away. “Come, Andrew, let’s go for a walk outside. Fresh air will do us both good.”

 

As they left, Chad and Alicia came back into the waiting area and sat down, expecting Dr. Preston to come and talk to them. It was a good half hour before he appeared, and then the doctor had questions to which they didn’t have the answers. The big Number One was, “Who is Werner?” Knowing the answer to that might help to judge how far back the memory lapse extended, and therefore how long it might take for Markus to fully recover the ability to access all his memories – or at least the great majority of them.

 

Chad finally said, “The only person who might be able to answer that is my brother, and he’s somewhere outside right now, bawling his eyes out as he tries to come to terms with the fact that he’s married to a man who doesn’t know who he is any more.” That came out with rather more of a cutting edge than Chad intended, but it did penetrate the doctor’s absorption in a fascinating case study.

 

“Ohhh.” Dr. Preston’s voice trailed off down the scale as the human dimensions of the whole awful situation finally began to sink in. He thought for a moment, and then asked, “Can you get hold of him?”

 

“I could,” Chad replied, “but I think it’s better if I don’t try right now. Our uncle will take care of him and help him to get over the first brutal shock. I’d rather leave them to sort it out. Perhaps by tomorrow he’ll feel able to come back in and talk to you about it.”

 

Dr. Preston nodded and then, choosing his words carefully, he went on. “If he can, that will be a help, but don’t try to force it. He must be in a terrible emotional mess right now. Whenever he feels ready, that will be soon enough. We’ll keep taking care of his husband in the meantime. Can you give me your number so I won’t have to be calling Andrew if he doesn’t want to hear from me just yet?”

 

“Of course.” Once Chad had given the doctor his phone number, he and Alicia said goodbye and left. Outside the hospital, he checked his phone and said, “Message from Uncle Tommy: ‘He’s a bit calmer now, but I’d better stick with him for a while. Will let you know if any news.’”

 

“Thank goodness he’s here,” Alicia said. “It’s a real Godsend for Tommy to be with Andrew right now.” With that, they headed back to the condo.

 

Later that evening, Tommy called. “Chad, I’ve brought Andrew to my hotel suite. I’m letting him sleep in the bed, and I’m taking the couch. I just want to be here to care for him if he wakes up and gets distressed again during the night. He’s asleep right now.”

 

“Thank you so much, Uncle Tommy. I really appreciate you keeping him close, and how you’ve always cared so much about Andrew and watched out for him.”

 

In fact, Andrew’s emotional exhaustion ensured that he slept for about ten hours. When he awoke in the morning, he opened his eyes to find Tommy looking at him, full of care and concern.

 

“Good morning, Andrew. How are you feeling today?”

 

As the memory of the previous day came slowly back, Andrew’s face began to fall. But simply giving way to his emotions wasn’t in his character, as Tommy well knew. “I’m not all there, Uncle Tommy, but feeling a bit better than last night. Let’s go get some breakfast, I’m hungry.”

 

Over breakfast, and about four cups each of the hotel’s rich, aromatic coffee, Tommy nudged Andrew to talk through the short-term and long-term implications of the situation. It mattered to him that Andrew thought the whole thing through for himself as much as possible. It also meant that Tommy had a basis for ongoing advice calls which were sure to happen in the days and weeks to come. It was the most natural thing in the world that Andrew would turn to Tommy for advice, as he always had with Rich as well, and the best of that special relationship between them was that Andrew’s parents also saw it as the natural thing for him to want -- to talk it over with his uncle.

 

As they finished breakfast, Tommy said to Andrew, “I hope this won’t upset you too much, but I’m heading back home tomorrow. There are still all kinds of finicky details from Rich’s estate that I have to attend to.”

 

At once, Andrew felt contrite. “Uncle Tommy, I’m so sorry. I’m being so damned selfish, pinning you down here when you have your own life to live and things that you need to do.”

 

Tommy hugged him again. “Andrew, you should know by now that you and Markus are as big a part of my life as if you were my own sons. Rich would have said exactly the same if he were here. Just know that I am very concerned about both of you. Even though you have to figure your way through this for yourselves, I’m never far from you in spirit and only a click away if you need a listening ear. We’re family, Andrew, in a way that I could never have guessed or predicted until it happened.”

 

The next few weeks dragged by interminably for Andrew. Tommy had gone back home to Alcantara, but he had firmly told Andrew that he was to call at any time if he needed to talk about what was happening. Chad and Alicia had also returned home to Toronto, amid profuse thanks and appreciation from Andrew. And when their flight took off, Andrew was left to cope on his own with the problem.

 

He had been able to tell Dr. Preston that “Werner” was the name of the first man Markus had gotten into a relationship with, back when he was in university in Germany, almost 20 years earlier. It seemed that all his memories since then had disappeared. However, as Preston explained carefully, it wasn’t likely that the memories themselves had vanished, just that Markus’ brain couldn’t figure out how to access them right now. He was hopeful that the brain’s electronic pathways would in time repair themselves enough to make most of his memories accessible to Markus once again.

 

Andrew himself was a good deal less confident, since Markus had shown no sign of recognizing him as yet. All the same, as he reminded himself, Dr. Preston had to reintroduce himself every morning when he came through on his rounds, and for days, Markus would ask, “Have we met before?” or some such thing. But in the second week after he woke up, Markus now remembered Dr. Preston from day to day. He remembered Andrew, too, but just as another familiar face and name. There was still no sign beyond that.

 

By the beginning of the third week, though, Markus was no longer asking them to produce Werner. From some of the disconnected comments he made, it seemed that he had now recalled that his relationship with Werner had ended badly. Andrew knew he was grasping at straws, but that seemed to him like a positive sign.

 

Meanwhile, the physical healing was moving on rapidly, and Dr. Preston felt that he would be ready to be discharged from hospital by the time three weeks were up. That, of course, raised a challenge: how was Andrew supposed to take home and care for a husband who didn’t know who he was at all?

 

To help with the critical memory problem, Markus was assigned an occupational-health therapist, who could do various kinds of mental exercises designed to stimulate the revival of the brain’s memory circuits. Ariana was a lively, vivacious woman with a light-hearted approach to her task, and Markus found his work with her to be actually fun, as well as stimulating.

 

By this time, Markus had also begun seeing a physiotherapist, a young man of Danish descent named Henrik. He began working with Markus on a daily basis, helping him to recover the mobility and flexibility that he had lost from the burns in the accident, followed by the long stay in the hospital. In no time at all, Markus fell into an easy and comfortable manner with Henrik. Andrew also found Henrik easy to talk to. Soon enough, Andrew was explaining to Henrik the challenging situation that he would face when Markus was discharged. Henrik could appreciate the difficulties, and since he had an innate inclination to be sympathetic towards both men, it came naturally to him to want to help them out.

 

After a couple of days, Henrik came up with an idea, and asked Andrew to meet him after his work day was done at a nearby pub. When they got there, Andrew realized that something was up as Henrik walked with him into a watering hole which was unmistakably a gay bar. They grabbed a table in a corner, got a couple of drinks, and Andrew listened as Henrik proposed that he should become Henrik’s assistant. Andrew balked, but Henrik laughed and said, “Not officially! I’m not suggesting you go through formal training as a physio! But I can show you how to work on the exercises Markus needs, and you can work with him at home on the days that I can’t be there myself. That’ll be weekends to start with, and then later on some weekdays as well. We’ll keep it informal, except that we can tell Markus that you’re my assistant. That’ll give you an excuse to be there all the time and to help him in other ways as well.” Henrik gave Andrew a meaning wink and grin as he said that.

 

“Is this even legal?”

 

“It’s on a need-to-know basis, which means that nobody but us needs to know. Does that answer your question?”

 

“I guess.”

 

Andrew still felt unsure if he could pull it off. But Henrik simply said, “You’ve got a better idea?” No, he didn’t, so he decided to go along with Henrik’s scheme even though he thought privately that the whole idea was a bit hare-brained. What made it feasible was the fact that the patient had already accepted Andrew as part of the team looking after him, so having Andrew carry on into home care would perhaps seem reasonable to Markus.

 

The next day, Henrik introduced Andrew to Markus as his assistant, and told Markus in the most natural way that Andrew would be going home with him to provide home care and therapy as his healing continued. Meanwhile, Henrik himself would be coming for an hour most days to continue providing therapy – at least for a while.

 

By the end of the Tuesday session, Andrew had begun doing some of the simpler exercises while Henrik watched, approvingly, saying, “You see, Markus, he’s as much of a natural at this as I am.” On Wednesday, Andrew did about half of the session, and Henrik gave him some pointers to improve one or two of the exercises. Henrik knew that what he was doing was strictly illegal, but he had also sold himself on the idea that his role with helping Markus along the road to healing had other dimensions at least as important as simply doing textbook physiotherapy. He explained to Andrew that he had arranged for the delivery of a massage table for physiotherapy sessions in their condo. Wednesday was also that day that Dr. Preston notified Andrew that Markus would be discharged on Friday.

 

That meant that Thursday was Andrew’s last chance. He’d done a thorough sweep through their condo, hiding things that might distress Markus. He’d even packed a bag, to bring with him on the day he was going to “move in” with his “patient” to take care of. Even with all of that, he still had a piece of important unfinished business that he simply had to take care of before Markus came home. Andrew had a serious case of an itch that needed desperately to be scratched. When he left the hospital at eight o’clock on Thursday night, he made a beeline for the bar where Henrik had taken him. At least, he figured it might give him a shortcut to his objective and save him hours of unproductive messing around on apps. Pulling up a stool at the bar, he ordered a beer and then started looking around. As luck would have it, there was a slim, red-haired twenty-something twink who spotted Andrew right away and found the older man and his athletic muscles definitely appealing. He sat down next to Andrew and began a conversation.

 

Andrew wasn’t in a mood to be fussy, but he had to admit to himself that the twink, who was handsome and well-built (although slender), certainly filled the bill. As soon as they each finished a beer, Andrew left the bar with Jimmy (the twink) in tow. Jimmy walked him around the block to his apartment and led Andrew to the elevator, and then down the hall to his apartment.

 

As Jimmy closed and locked the door, Andrew spun him around, pressed him up against the wall, and began kissing him, thrusting his tongue aggressively into Jimmy’s mouth as he slid his hands down that slim back to the firm round ass. Pressing the kissing even harder, he began squeezing and moulding Jimmy’s butt as he began grinding his crotch up against the younger guy’s bulge. No hesitation there, either – both of them were already rock-hard, and Jimmy was well on his way to getting Andrew’s shirt out of his trousers and fully unbuttoned.

 

As the passionate kissing, grinding, and squeezing continued, successive items of clothing gradually littered the floor all the way from the entrance to the bedroom, until Jimmy was sitting on the bed and releasing Andrew’s painfully hard dick from his tight briefs. Right away, Jimmy proved that he had the skills as well as the body to fill the bill, as he began giving Andrew’s seven-incher a virtuoso blowjob. Twisting his mouth around the shaft, plunging deep down to the root, pulling back until his tongue was washing the head, sucking the cock deep and then swallowing while the head was deep in his mouth, Jimmy had Andrew on the ropes in just a few minutes.

 

But Andrew had other plans for his load. He wanted to breed ass, to pump his sperm as deep into this twink’s beautiful ass as possible. He pulled Jimmy up onto his feet, spun him around, and fell to his knees, pushing his face right into the crack between those well-shaped buns. Andrew quickly brought his years of experience to bear, eating Jimmy’s ass, licking along the sides, down onto the taint, and back up again, washing over and over across the tight little hole and then pushing and twisting until his tongue pried its way in. He then proceeded to tongue-fuck Jimmy’s tight opening until the younger twink was moaning and sighing in ecstasy.

 

It was a good ten minutes before Andrew pulled out his tongue and replaced it with a finger, then a minute or so later with a second one. The third finger followed in due order. He certainly knew how to keep his fingers twisting and flexing around inside Jimmy’s ass, loosening and opening him every way he could.

 

Meanwhile, Jimmy was sniffing on the poppers, giving himself a good rush. Andrew said, “Pass it up here.” Jimmy handed him the bottle and he took a couple of good deep whiffs himself, then handed it back down, saying, “Get ready, because you are about to get fucked.” He could tell from the feel of Jimmy’s hole that this guy hadn’t had cock inside him for a while.

 

Andrew moved his hard dick against the hole and pressed inwards. As he entered, Jimmy collapsed face-down across the bed and Andrew followed right with him, letting his cock sink deeper and deeper inside Jimmy’s hole as he lay down right on top of the twink’s slim and beautifully-shaped back and butt.

 

Jimmy groaned loudly, “Oh, fuck, yeah!” as Andrew’s cock penetrated him all the way and his fucker’s firm, muscular torso collapsed right across his body. Almost at once, he began twisting his hips from side to side, squeezing the cock inside his ass first one way and then another. That was enough to stimulate Andrew into action, as he planted his hands on either side of Jimmy’s chest, pushed himself up to arm’s length, and began to pump.

 

Starting slowly, he soon began to gain speed, pushing his way into Jimmy’s ass faster and faster until he was giving that twink butt a full-on pounding. Jimmy continued moaning and twisting under the assault, feeling the power of the man fucking him deep inside his body.

 

As Andrew speeded up his powerful thrusts, Jimmy moaned aloud that he was going to cum. Andrew pounded even faster, gasping out, “Cumming right with you!” Suddenly, Jimmy’s ass contracted violently around Andrew’s cock as the first spurt of cum shot out under him onto the bed. That was all it took. Andrew slammed full-force inside his ass and started firing bolts of cum deep inside that hot young hole.

 

As the force of the orgasm died away, Andrew slowly pulled out, and flopped on his back next to Jimmy. Jimmy dived onto his cock and began licking and sucking it clean. After a couple of minutes, during which Andrew hadn’t even begun to soften, Jimmy pulled himself up and sat down on that rigid pole, taking it all inside himself for another round. Andrew groaned at the feeling of his first load lubricating that tight hole and sliding all around his dick. He was happy to let Jimmy do a bit of the work for a while, and lay back, enjoying the sight of that firm, slim young body bouncing up and down on his erection.

 

After a while, though, Andrew was ready to resume control, and he sat up, rolling Jimmy backwards until he was lying on his back with his legs kicking up in the air. Andrew got in between those long legs and pushed his cock back into Jimmy’s hole, coming right down on top of him, face to face, and tongue to tongue, while Jimmy wrapped his legs and arms around Andrew, pulling him in closer.

 

Between the nearness of the position, the intensity of the kissing, and the speed of Andrew’s plunges into Jimmy’s hole, it took no time at all before load number two moved into place and started making its way up the shaft of Andrew’s cock. “Ready for me to knock you up again?”

 

“Oh, yeah, I want that hot load all the way inside me. Breed me deep!”

 

A few moments later, Andrew’s cock went into spasms, pumping another massive load deep inside Jimmy’s receptive ass until the sperm was draining and squelching out around his dick as he slowed down from the final epic thrusts. When he pulled out, a long stream of cum oozed out of Jimmy’s ass and ran down his taint. Jimmy lay there with what some people call an “all gone” look on his face, dazed and happy with the joy of two big loads swimming around inside his ass cunt.

 

They lay on the bed together, cuddling and kissing and stroking each other for a while. Then Jimmy said, “That was so awesome, I hate for you to leave. Want to stay?”

 

Andrew sat up then. Yes, he wanted to stay. No, he didn’t want to stay. His mood swerved wildly between the two extremes while Jimmy watched him curiously. Andrew felt like he owed Jimmy an explanation, especially because the sex had been so sensational and he had certainly felt an attraction to this good-natured young guy.

 

Finally, he spoke. “I’d like to but I can’t. It’s complicated, I can’t explain the whole thing, but I would like to see you again – I’m just not sure when it will be possible. I know that sounds like a copout, and it’s not that at all, really. I’m sorry, but that’s all I can say right now.”

 

Something of his stress and distress came through in the relatively conventional words. Jimmy was a sensitive, intuitive guy, and he realized that Andrew really was struggling with something big. But he’d enjoyed their time too, so his response was, “Okay, let’s swap digits.”

 

Andrew got up, got his phone, and had Jimmy enter his number. “I’ll send you a text now with my name so you can add me.” That done, he left after a lingering goodbye kiss at the door, remembering to turn back and wave again before getting on the elevator. He’d guessed right; Jimmy was standing by his open door, watching Andrew as he left.

 

As Andrew walked home, he realized that his life was about to get complicated. He’d always valued honesty, and here he was preparing to live a lie with his husband who didn’t know who he was. As if all that weren’t enough, he guessed that it might be a long time before he could have sex with Markus again, and there was Jimmy, eager,  willing, fun, and good company -- quite apart from being a sensational fuck. Andrew had enjoyed his evening immensely, but he didn’t want to manipulate Jimmy’s feelings when his own hope was to have his normal life with his husband back again.

 

What a mess! Andrew groaned and shook his head as he walked in the front door of his condo building.

 

 

[BottomBeef]

Can't tell you how happy I was to read Rich and Tommy's names again and it increased my desire to continue with this story and get to know the "next generation".Hope you keep posting this story and we get to find out if three is the cure or not....

[daddybear54]

Chapter 3:  Ducks in a Row

 

Andrew unlocked the door of the condo, then stepped aside to let Markus walk in first. Of course, he was watching for any signs of familiarity to note down and report back to Dr. Preston.

 

Markus walked into the main living room, and then went slowly around. He paused at a display shelf.

 

“My dad’s gold medal from Olympic wrestling. He gave it to me when I won a citywide high school tournament in Frankfurt.”

 

Andrew knew the story well, but politely said, “Oh, wow.”

 

“And the little ceramic vase – my mom made that while I watched her at work. I was about eight or nine, and the way her hands shaped it as the wheel spun around, it fascinated me.”

 

“It’s beautiful.”

 

Now, he moved to the panoramic window and stared out at the mountains across Burrard Inlet. “Those two peaks there, are those the Lions?”

 

“Yes, they are. They’re a lot farther away from here, and from each other, than they appear.”

 

Andrew knew that Markus couldn’t have had a view of the Lions from any room in the hospital, so he took that as a positive sign. But he decided to move on.

 

“Let’s get these bags dropped off into the rooms.”

 

He headed off down the hall to the master bedroom. Markus followed behind, suddenly suspicious.

 

“Wait, how did you know which way to go for the bedrooms?”

 

“We got your address from your ID when you were brought in. Once we knew you were going home, we got permission from the management to come into the apartment, just to make sure there would be room for the massage table. And there it is.” He pointed to the far side of the room, where the table stood between the desk and the window. “I’ll just drop my bag off in the guest room.”

 

“Wait!” Markus spoke so sharply that Andrew pulled up, before turning to look at him. “Are you afraid to share the bed with me?” The words were spoken with a meaning grin and a wink.

 

Andrew faked a chuckle. “That’s your game, is it?”

 

Markus grinned again. “Well, you certainly are good-looking and in shape, and your pants look like you could be packing a concealed friendly weapon.”

 

Andrew cringed inwardly at what he had to say next. “Not a good plan. Have to maintain professionalism here. I’ll stick with the guest room, thanks.”

 

Once he was in the guest room, Andrew sat down, groaned, and buried his head in his hands. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought – and he suddenly realized that the problem wasn’t the only thing that was hard. Markus hadn’t forgotten that he liked men and he was attracted to Andrew – all over again. It was like a replay of the first time they’d met, at a Pride party on the beach. Andrew thought back to that Sunday afternoon twenty-two years earlier.

 

***************

 

The sun blazed fiercely down on the beachfront, making the temperature uncommonly warm for Vancouver. The band was pumping amplified music out at a superjet-powered level that made sure the lyrics could be clearly heard for miles around. The crowd of revellers in a few clothes and a lot more skin streamed continuously into the party area.

 

Andrew moved around the periphery of the crowd, where he felt more comfortable. He had tucked his shirt inside the back of his shorts, and was enjoying the sun, but he wasn’t sure why he had come. Sure, it was Pride, so wave the flag, show your true colours, community solidarity, blah blah blah, but the truth was that he didn’t really enjoy big, noisy parties.

 

He was just trying to decide if it was time enough to pull the plug and leave, when a hand seized him and dragged him right into the crowd. “C’mon, let’s dance! You’re looking kind of down there – let loose and enjoy yourself!” Andrew found himself facing a tall, lean blond man with clear blue eyes. Like him, the guy was shirtless. Unlike Andrew, the shirt was nowhere in sight and the shorts were super-tight and super-short, outlining a firm round ass and a more-than-interesting bulge.

 

In no time, he realized that the stranger had far better dance moves than most of the guys around them. Andrew began picking up some pointers just by watching and the two of them were soon moving in sync, two guys dancing as one. Once they really got into the same groove, the stranger moved closer to him and they danced close, moving together and moving against each other.

 

Soon they were embracing and kissing, and then the stranger asked his name. “Andrew. Yours?”

 

“I’m Markus.”

 

They hung out together for the rest of the party, and Andrew found he was enjoying the party much more now that he was with someone. The party was on Sunset Beach, and they stayed until just about sunset. But then Markus said, “Let’s leave now. I’d rather just watch the sunset somewhere a bit calmer. Okay with you?”

 

They left the party area and walked along the shoreline park for about 10 minutes, then picked out a spot and sat down on the beach, leaning back against one of the huge logs placed there. Markus reached out and took Andrew’s hand. A minute later, Andrew was leaning his head on Markus’ shoulder, Markus put his arm around Andrew, and they sat like that, watching the sun go down.

 

At last, the air was getting cooler, and Markus stood up. “Come on, Andrew, let’s go and heat things up again.”

 

“What did you have in mind? Club party? Bar?”

 

“My bedroom? Yours?”

 

Andrew laughed. “Yours, if its close. Mine’s a fair distance.”

 

“Come on, then.”

 

It was a short walk to the apartment which Markus shared with two other guys. “They won’t be home, they’ve gone off to Barcelona for the week.”

 

Markus led Andrew into his bedroom, and in seconds they had their arms around each other and were busily working at getting each other’s shorts off as fast as possible. Andrew won, because he just had to give a little tug on the tiny shorts Markus was wearing, and down they came. He dropped to his knees and grasped the beautiful 8-inch uncut tool in front of him as it jutted up, licking up the shaft as he played with the balls. Then, skinning back the cover, he licked around the head before he swallowed the entire shaft into his mouth, and Markus let out a long-drawn groan.

 

“Oh, fuck, yeaaahhhh, that’s so good.”

 

Andrew worked on Markus for a few minutes, but then Markus grabbed him, pulled him up, and resumed kissing for a minute. Then he said, “My turn,” and went to his knees, taking Andrew’s 8-incher in hand and going to work on it. In no time, he had Andrew moaning and groaning as he worked his tongue up, down, and around the shaft, then plunging his head right down the shaft, taking the entire cock into his throat.

 

“Damn, that’s fucking hot,” Andrew gasped out, as Markus used his virtuoso sucking technique to bring him rapidly to the boil. But now, Markus released Andrew’s tool, and Andrew pulled him up, said “Turn around,” and then knelt down again, burying his face in between Markus’ firm round ass cheeks.

 

One thing Andrew had learned right from his earliest experiments with his high school track teammates was that he loved eating ass. It turned him on immensely to hear a man groaning and moaning while Andrew’s busy tongue dug into his hole, washed down his cheeks, licked over his taint, and more. He gave Markus the works, until Markus was moaning and crying nonstop in ecstasy, his hole opening up and begging for it. And now Markus was begging too.

 

“Oh, fuck, man, you’ve got me so fucking hot. I can’t wait! Get that thing into me. Plant that big fucking cock on my hole, shove it into me, and ride me long and hard!”

 

“Always glad to oblige.” Andrew stood up, then gave Markus a firm shove that sent him sprawling across the bed, face down, ass up, and ready. Andrew leaped on top of him, digging his dick into the crack. “Spread those cheeks,” he snapped, and Markus reached back with his long arms, grasping his cheeks and pulling them open as Andrew planted his big cockhead against the hole and began to lean on it. “Got some lube?”

 

Markus was still just a little too tight. He reached over to the bed table, pulled out a tube, and passed it up to Andrew, then grabbed and opened his cheeks again. Andrew spread the lube over his rigid dick, worked some into Markus’ hole, then tossed the tube aside, planted his cock against the hole and began to lean on it. Now, like magic, Markus opened right up, and Andrew’s thick head slipped into his ass.

 

“Ohhhhh….” Markus gave a long moan that trailed off into silence. Andrew waited patiently until the hole began to relax a little more, and then slowly began sliding deeper. It took a few minutes. His tool was thicker than average, and Markus was tight, feeling like he hadn’t been fucked for a while. But Andrew kept the pressure on, and slowly his tool sank all the way in to the bottom until his hips were resting against those taut ass cheeks and he could then lie down, right across Markus’ firm muscled back.

 

Andrew proceeded to do just that, moving slowly at first but gradually gaining speed until he was propped up on his hands in full push-up position, slamming his hips down over and over to drive his cock into the tight, willing ass under him. Markus certainly knew how to get fucked, too, working his ass muscles on each down stroke and relaxing them as Andrew pulled out again.

 

After a few minutes of this, Andrew pulled right out and flopped over on his back, then said, “Here, climb on.”

 

Markus proceeded to sit down on Andrew’s firm pole, riding him up and down like a merry-go-round horse gone mad, moaning nonstop as he fucked himself into next year on Andrew’s cock. After a while, he spun around so that he was facing away from Andrew, and then leaned back while Andrew stretched his hands up, grasping Markus by the shoulders so he could ride like a maniac.

 

Then Andrew pulled Markus all the way down on top of him and began slamming his cock at top speed up into Markus. His ass wasn’t tight any more. It was looser now, still grasping Andrew but no longer seizing him in a death grip. Andrew drove himself harder and harder into that hot hole, groaning, and saying “Fuck” over and over, and then suddenly, “Oh fuck! I’m gonna cum. Gonna flood your guts!”

 

“Yeah, man. Fill me up with your cum! Seed me!”

 

Andrew thrust his hips all the way up, clear off the bed, holding both Markus and himself in the air as his cock pulsated, pumping shot after shot of his sperm deep into that awesome hole. Markus groaned, grabbed his dick and beat it, and started cumming all over himself while Andrew was still shooting inside him. Then Andrew’s strength gave out and he flopped down onto the bed, his cock coming out of Markus, and a stream of hot cum flowing slowly out after it and dripping down onto his body.

 

Later on, they were sitting up in bed together, relaxing with a glass of wine and stroking each other gently between little kisses. Andrew felt amazingly comfortable and, somehow, at home. He’d been through several partners, some fun, some not so fun, some for a month or three, and some only for a night. But he had never felt this kind of comfort-zone sensation before. He made a mental note to call Uncle Rich and Uncle Tommy and run it by them, to get their feedback.

 

Just as he thought to do that, Markus sighed. “What is it?” Andrew asked.

 

Markus thought for a moment before he replied. “Just thinking about how good this feels. I mean, the sex and all was amazing, it was great having you load me up twice like that, but – just this, the two of us at ease, comfortable, relaxed, close. It feels so – I don’t know… right, somehow.” He emphasized the word “right” clearly.

 

With that, Andrew knew at once that they were on the same wavelength. He made no reply, just tightened his arm to snuggle Markus closer. And Markus spoke again.

 

“I’d love for you to stay – unless you have to go.”

 

“I’m in no hurry.” With those words, Andrew put his glass down, slid down into the bed, and rolled onto his side to face Markus. Markus parked his own glass, switched off the light, and snuggled down next to Andrew, rolling to face him. They wrapped their arms around each other and fell asleep like that.

 

***************

 

Andrew snapped out of his reverie of the past to find a stain on the front of his trousers, and to hear the voice of Markus calling irritably to him, “Andrew! Are you going to take all day? I’m ready for my treatment!”

 

“Be right there.”

 

Andrew did a quick change, and then sauntered back into the master bedroom to find Markus lying on his back on the table. He grabbed the massage oil and began working on the left leg.

 

“I’m glad you started there, it’s a bit sore and stiff from all the walking.”

 

Andrew worked on the muscles with his fingers, and then started the bending and flexibility exercises. After a while, he moved on to the left arm and shoulder. They were certainly getting better, but all that side of Markus had taken a hell of a beating when his car was crushed against the concrete retaining wall on the Sea to Sky Highway by a transport with a hotshot young driver who was a little too sure of his ability to text and drive at the same time. Nor had the resulting fire helped matters, although the burns were not the worst of the problem.

 

Over the next few days, they worked out the details of housekeeping arrangements, what foods to shop for (of course Andrew knew already, but he played dumb), and other such mundane matters. Andrew also kept playing the memory games with Markus. Unlike the physio, his occupational therapy with Ariana hadn’t continued when he left the hospital, so Andrew was happy to keep doing it. After all, the sooner Markus recovered his memory, the better. Meanwhile, patience was a necessity for Andrew.

 

On Monday, Henrik came in for a therapy session, and Andrew took advantage of the opportunity to go out for a good long walk along the waterfront park and back. The stress of the situation, which was far different from the normal stress of caring for a recent hospital case, was really getting to him. When he came back, he heard some giggling and sighs which were somewhat different from the sounds of a normal therapy session as well.

 

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Markus dropped even more suggestive remarks towards Andrew. It was plain that his ordeal had left him raring to go, and Andrew was finding it more and more difficult to keep a professional distance. Henrik kept coming in each day for a morning therapy session, and Andrew took care of the afternoon sessions.

 

On Friday, he made up an imaginary work session day at the hospital, and left Markus on his own when Henrik came in. He’d been texting Jimmy, and when Jimmy said he had a day off, that was all Andrew needed to hear. Andrew picked him up and drove to a restaurant out of the neighbourhood so they wouldn’t be seen by anyone who knew them. After a fun lunch together, they went back to Jimmy’s apartment for another wild round of sex, in which Andrew bred the younger guy twice again, and then urged him to return the favour since Jimmy hadn’t cum yet.

 

Andrew had been so sure that Jimmy was bottom only, but when the younger man got his dick all the way inside his ass, Andrew found to his surprise that Jimmy was an experienced and virtuoso fucker too. He said something and Jimmy laughed. “Yeah, I can do both – I just prefer to take it. But I give, on demand.”

 

“I demand that you give it to me!”

 

Both of them laughed then, but Andrew’s laugh quickly changed to moans of satisfaction as Jimmy worked his hole over, using his dick alternately as a power drill, then a corkscrew, and then a crowbar. It was a long time since Andrew had taken a fucking like that, and it awoke a real fire in him, a desperate need to have Jimmy fuck the cum right out of him, preferably hands-free. The odds were good; Jimmy certainly knew how to keep rubbing the prostate of his bottom from multiple angles.

 

In all, Jimmy pounded Andrew for over 20 minutes, showing terrific staying power. He took Andrew through almost any position you could imagine. The one that really surprised Andrew, giving him sensations like he’d never felt before, was when Jimmy got right up over him and faced Andrew’s feet, then slid that tool back inside and fucked his way to a climax. Just as Jimmy announced that he was about to breed Andrew’s hole, Andrew yelled aloud as his cock convulsed, shooting a stream of cum underneath him onto the bed. That did the trick. As soon as Andrew’s hole contracted, Jimmy’s cock blasted an epic load inside his butt, pumping shot after shot of cum into Andrew, firing until he’d shot at least a dozen times – and still his cock kept contracting and trying to force even more out.

 

When he pulled out at last, a river of cum poured down Andrew’s crack and dripped over his balls and onto the bed, adding to the mess he’d already made on it.

 

After they’d wound down from that power climax, and cleaned up some of the resulting mess, Andrew sat Jimmy down for a serious talk. He’d decided that he needed to bring Jimmy right up to speed with what was happening in his life. After he’d gotten through the whole lengthy analysis of the situation, Jimmy had a question.

 

“Andrew, why are you telling me all of this?”

 

“I figured you had a right to know. It’s obvious that we enjoy playing with each other. I just need you to know why that’s all it can be, but also why it’s going to stop sooner rather than later.”

 

“Fair enough. I can live with it. And I appreciate the honesty.”

 

“I’m going to have to go now. I still need to give Markus his afternoon physiotherapy session.”

 

They parted, not without a few lingering kisses, and Andrew hurried home. He walked in the door of a silent condo. No lights, no sound, nothing. He looked into each of the rooms in turn. No Markus. It was as if he had completed his morning physio and then vanished. Andrew could feel panic rising in his throat, but he forced himself to remain calm and check things off one by one. No note anywhere. No message on the fridge. No message on my phone. Car keys still there (phew!).

 

He texted Henrik. Henrik responded, “No idea.”

 

He decided to wait half an hour more, and then contact the police. Tick. Tick. Tick. The clock inexorably marked off the seconds and minutes until Andrew wanted to scream at it. Then, at the 28-minute mark, his phone rang. He grabbed it. “Hello?”

 

“Andrew? It’s me. Markus.”

 

Andrew heaved an overwhelming sigh of relief. But he also registered the fact that Markus sounded either sad or worried, and tired with it.

 

“Markus, where are you?”

 

“I’m at the front door of… what was that address again?” That remark was directed to another voice that he could hear, speaking indistinctly in the background. “1892 Comox Street. I tried to get into the building to come up to the apartment, but my door pass wouldn’t work.”

 

“It’s the wrong building. Yours in 1982 Comox.”

 

“I know. This fellow who was coming in told me it must be the wrong building because my condo is on the 25th floor, and this one only has 22 floors.”

 

“It’s just a block away. Hang tight, I’ll be there for you in about 5 minutes.”

 

Andrew headed down in the elevator, and then walked down the street to the next block and into number 1892.

 

“You’re okay, Markus?”

 

“Yeah. Tired, though. I thought I had a little more stamina than that for walking.”

 

“Frustrating for you, I’m sure. But we all know it’s going to take a while.”

 

“All?”

 

“As in you, me, Henrik, and Doctor Preston, for starters. Come on, let’s get you home.”

 

They walked slowly back up the street to number 1982 and rode up to the twenty-fifth floor. Once inside, Markus flopped into an armchair, and propped his left leg up on the stool.

 

“Damn. I’m wiped.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“I just wanted to get out for some fresh air and to walk a bit. I didn’t trust my memory, so I copied down the address from my desk. See?”

 

He held out the handwritten note and Andrew took it. Neat and clear: “1892 Comox Street.” Andrew thought about it for a moment. Then he got a pad and pen.

 

“Markus, I’m going to show you an address and get you to copy it for me. Just to see what happens.”

 

He opened the map on his phone and picked out a random address: 1042 DAVIE STREET.

 

Markus copied it down: 1402 DAVIE STREET.

 

Andrew tried another one: 1180 HOWE STREET.

 

Markus copied: 1810 HOWE STREET.

 

Andrew thought for a moment. Then he said, “It looks like something in your brain is scrambling the numbers up. I’ll mention it to Dr. Preston the next time I see him.”

 

“Oh, great. That’s all I need, another problem to deal with.”

 

“Anyway, Markus, I’ll just write your address out properly for you on a small card and you can stick it in your wallet so it’s always on you wherever you go. And we’ll skip the afternoon therapy session for today, you’ve had more than enough of a workout.” And I’ve had all the stress I can take for today, he thought. Of course, he knew that Markus already had his address on his driver’s licence but that had been removed since he was still unable to drive. Andrew was keeping it safe.

 

Markus was so tired that he flopped into bed at 9:30 and slept right through until Andrew called him for breakfast the next day. He was too tired to even think of making his usual sly remark about Andrew joining him.

 

 

[daddybear54]

Chapter 4:  Surprise Party

 

By the third week at home, Markus was getting to be self-sufficient in many areas. Going out by himself was still a non-starter, except for the immediate area around the building, but Andrew was feeling confident overall that he was improving. The memories were filling in rapidly, but still concerned almost entirely with the earlier part of Markus’ life, when he was still living in Germany.

 

On the Monday of the fourth week, Andrew came home from one of his semi-regular visits to his office, where he was doing his best to stay on top of the needs of clients in his brokerage. He walked in the door of the condo just in time to hear a loud groan and an unmistakable “Aw, fuck!” At once he realized that this was not a distress call but a cry of unbridled passion. He headed down the hall and stepped into the master bedroom in time to see Henrik riding up and down on top of the erect cock of Markus, and plainly loving every minute of it.

 

Andrew realized that Henrik was even sexier than he’d thought, with a firm round muscle ass and broad shoulders tapering down to a tiny waist. No doubt the abs and pecs would be just as spectacular.

 

Markus said, “Damn! Should have closed the door.”

 

Henrik, though, saw things differently. “Well, don’t just stand there gaping, Andrew, get over here and join the party!”

 

“Him? Not a chance. I’ve been trying, but he just keeps going on endlessly about professional ethics. Okay, Andrew, you can see Henrik isn’t worried about his professional ethics at all, so what’s your excuse now?”

 

Andrew had to admit that the two looked really hot together, going at it like that. And he definitely wanted to join the party, even if Markus still hadn’t figured out who he really was. Before he’d even reached a conscious decision, he was already discarding his tie and dress shirt, kicking off his shoes, and stripping off his trousers. His tight briefs went next, and he crawled up onto the bed, putting his hands around Henrik’s back to stroke his chest and play with his nips while he rode on Markus’ big erection. Henrik groaned loudly, evidently loving the tit play, and the feel of another rigid cock stroking his buns. But then he got other ideas, and said, “Bring that cock up here, I want to suck it.”

 

Andrew scrambled to his feet and into position, feeding his cock to Henrik, and Henrik went right to town on it, sucking like mad as he continued working up and down on the solid cock in his ass at the same time. Andrew clamped both hands on Henrik’s head, holding him tightly over his cock as Henrik sucked and spluttered. But Henrik never lost concentration on Markus either, knowing that Markus didn’t have the stamina to drive hard into him – which meant it was his job to draw that load up and out. After so many weeks, he knew it was going to be a big one. And he could tell that it was coming soon.

 

Henrik broke free from Andrew’s grasp and cried out, “Yeah, Markus, let it go. Cream my guts. Give me that whole hot load of cum deep inside me!”

 

With that, he speeded up his riding motions and, in about ten seconds, Markus cried out and stiffened as his cock convulsed, emptying the load of a lifetime inside Henrik’s clenching, clutching cunt. Henrik kept riding more slowly until Markus finished cumming, and then pulled off. A stream of cum started flowing out of his hole, but Henrik saw Andrew jacking himself and quickly cried out, “Don’t waste that load, Andrew. Get that dick inside me and finish yourself off there!”

 

Andrew pushed Henrik down onto the bed, and rolled him onto his face, then mounted him. Henrik emitted a squeal as Andrew plunged deep inside his hole in one long, hard stroke, then began pounding.

 

As he went to town on Henrik like a piledriver, Markus said, “Fuck, that’s hot,” in a tone of mixed awe and envy.

 

Henrik just kept wailing, “Harder, harder, dammit. Fuck me like you mean it!”

 

“Shit, I’d forgotten how much I love getting sloppy seconds!” Andrew muttered.

 

By now he was hammering out a rapid tattoo of loud “smacks” on Henrik’s firm round ass, and Henrik’s expert hole was working hard to bring him to climax.

 

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum!”

 

“Yeah, Andrew! Fucking breed me. Cum in my ass!”

 

Andrew slammed in one last time and exploded, spurts of cum shooting into Henrik like jets from a firehose.

 

“Oh, god, I can feel it pumping into me!” Henrik moaned.

 

At last, Andrew ran out of juice and collapsed across Henrik’s muscular body, gasping for air. And then he felt a hand stroking his back and ass gently. It was Markus, touching him for the first time in almost two months.

 

And it was Markus who spoke first. “Let me suck that dick clean, Andrew.”

 

Andrew actually wanted to cry at those words, but he got into position, straddling Markus, and fed his slimy, slippery cock into his husband’s mouth. Andrew was overwhelmed with a torrent of emotions, feeling that expert mouth working on him again after so long but knowing that Markus still didn’t realize who he was.

 

Markus pulled off and looked up at him. “Are you okay, Andrew? Hey, it’s just a blowjob, nothing to get so emotional over.”

 

Andrew was at a loss for what to say. It was Henrik who intervened, gently. “Markus, I think he’s maybe getting feelings for you, and he’s worried because it’s unprofessional for him to do that.”

 

Markus then said, “Well, I won’t tell if you won’t tell. Come on, fellows, let’s all cuddle.” Henrik lay down beside him and snuggled in against him, and Andrew – after a moment’s hesitation – lay down behind Henrik, pushing up against his back so he could reach across and stroke Markus while he pressed against Henrik.

 

Later on, after they’d all gotten cleaned up and had dinner, Markus went off to bed while Henrik stayed to have a talk with Andrew.

 

“Henrik, that was so hard to take. Everything at once, the past, the present, the future which is still so cloudy. I just don’t know how to handle all these conflicting feelings.”

 

Henrik held him close in a comforting hug. “Andrew, I’m surprised you haven’t cracked wide open from the stress ages ago. It’s taking a long time for his memory to come back, longer than I expected for sure, and I think that even Doctor Preston is worried. It’s almost like he needs some sort of huge or startling stimulus to break through the key connection in his mind. Maybe this little three-way will help him make that breakthrough.”

 

“I sure hope so. It seems like hope is all I’ve got now.”

 

“Well, hang onto that hope. I’ve got to get going, but I’m always a text away if you need to talk.”

 

“One question: do you come on to your patients a lot, or was this a special thing?”

 

“Yes -- and yes. That’s to say, I come on to guys I’m sure are gay and who attract me. And yes, this is a special case. What happens to you and Markus has become important to me, on a personal level, and I’ve understood that there’s more healing needed here – by both of you – than just textbook physio. And just like Markus: I won’t tell if you don’t tell.”

 

With that, he kissed Andrew goodbye, and went. Andrew was left to ponder it all, and he knew that he desperately needed to talk to the best listening ear a man could ever want. He picked up the phone and speed dialed Alcantara.

 

“Andrew?”

 

“Hi, Uncle Tommy. Sorry if I woke you up.”

 

“I wasn’t sleeping. I was writing. What’s happening?”

 

“I’m at an emotional crossroads.”

 

“Tell.”

 

Andrew proceeded to relate the whole story of the three-way and what happened afterwards.

 

“Sounds like a fun time,” Tommy chuckled. “So, where’s the problem?”

 

“As you could probably guess, I got pretty wound up about having sex with Markus again, especially because he still thinks I’m just a therapist helping him along. But it also got to me because Henrik, the real therapist, said something that made it sound like he’s getting feelings for Markus.”

 

“Can you remember what he said?”

 

“Something like, ‘What happens to you two is important to me, personally, and I think both of you need more healing than just textbook physio.’”

 

“Interesting. To me, Andrew, that sounds like his feelings are more directed towards helping you and Markus than just getting it on, or getting involved, with one of you.”

 

“Somehow, Uncle Tommy, it just feels all wrong to me, especially when Markus still doesn’t realize that he and I are much more than just a client and therapist.”

 

“Is that all that feels wrong?”

 

“No. It feels wrong to be helping another man have sex with my husband, because we were exclusive.”        

 

“I didn’t know that.”

 

“It just seemed to us like the right thing to do.”

 

“When did that happen?”

 

“On our fifth wedding anniversary.”

 

“Wow. That’s – what, fifteen years ago?”

 

“Fifteen years this Friday.”

 

“And you’ve both held to it?”

 

“Well….”

 

“Come on, Andrew, spill it!”

 

Andrew proceeded to tell Tommy all about his two meetings with Jimmy.

 

“There’s a lesson for you here, Andrew. About the whole thing of being exclusive. It’s great, if you can do it. Or you can take the easy way out and say, no, we don’t have to, that’s heteronormative. But that’s a cop-out, because it doesn’t clear up the emotions that are involved. Rich and I were exclusive for a while, but we couldn’t hold onto it. Each of us cracked, separately. I won’t go into the details now, but after we came clean to each other, we did all our outside playing around together. That way, we weren’t going behind each other’s backs, but we also weren’t confusing hot sex with love, because they are two very different things, of course. You cracked. Perfectly understandable under the circumstances, and I doubt very much if Markus would blame you for doing it. And he cracked, without realizing that was what he was doing or what he intended to do. So, it sounds to me like you two need to be more realistic about the idea of being exclusive, definitely talk it over once he’s back up to date with being married to you, and then maybe do something like what Rich and I did.”

 

“Uncle Tommy, why is it that you always seem to have the best advice?”

 

“Probably because I’m the one gay man in your life – Rich was the other – who’s had the life experiences that you need to know about, the ones that none of your immediate family can help you with, much as they love you. But there’s another thing here, Andrew. Markus has shown his hand, by showing that he wants to be with you. That means that he’s still the same man who reached out to grab you at the Pride Festival two decades ago. Whatever it was that drew him to you then, it’s still there and still working. One thing I’m sure of, you aren’t going to lose your man to anyone else. So don’t fret about that.”

 

“Thank you so much, Uncle Tommy. I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”

 

“Well, Andrew, I think I can answer that one. Some day, after I’m gone, you’ll be ‘Uncle Andrew’ to some young nephew, perhaps even the son of a friend, who needs help navigating the turmoil of realizing his identity. And you’ll do a great job of it, too.”

 

With that, they signed off the phone call. Andrew then went through his nightly ritual of gazing at the special photo album on his phone, the one with all the best moments of his life. And there it was: the selfie of him with Markus, that first photo of Markus that he ever took, arms around each other and grinning happily into the camera at the Pride Festival. The welcome hug from Markus’ mom and dad when they flew to meet them in Cologne. The visit with his parents in Ottawa on the way back from Germany. Then the picture on their first visit to Uncle Rich and Uncle Tommy in Alcantara, the two couples standing together by the pool in speedos while the self-timer did its job from the nearby table. The wedding: a close-up of two hands with rings resting one atop the other, then the two of them kissing each other under the garden archway, the picture of the wedding party with their parents, and the one with Rich and Tommy, with the four of them all in dashing grey tuxedoes. By that time, Markus had become every bit as close to Rich and Tommy as Andrew himself.

 

Andrew sighed and put the phone away. He knew that Tommy’s advice was solid. It was one thing to acknowledge that his uncle had been right, another altogether to accept that advice and make it his own. But he knew that he would try, because the alternative… it was a case of “that way madness lies.”

 

On Tuesday, Henrik told them that by the end of the week they’d be able to move Markus to physiotherapy just three times a week, with Andrew handling two and Henrik coming in for the third and more intensive session. As they explained this to Markus, his face fell. “What, I finally got the two of you into bed with me and now you’re both going to run for cover?”

 

“We both have our jobs to do, Markus, and other clients to care for. But Andrew can keep living here to help you out with going out and about, getting shopping done, and other errands like that. If you don’t mind, that is.” And Henrik winked slyly at Markus, then turned and grinned at Andrew. “Anyway, we’re still keeping you on the seven-day schedule at least until Monday at least.”

 

On Wednesday, Andrew did the physio session but resisted the urgings from Markus to have some fun. Markus grumbled about “damned professional ethics,” but he accepted it.

 

Thursday brought an unusual off-day visit from Henrik, who explained that he had a day off on Friday to travel back to Denmark for the funeral of one of his grandparents. He wouldn’t be back until Wednesday, so they agreed to defer the final decision about scaling back the therapy until then. Out of deference to his feelings, they didn’t indulge in any sex play but just sat around after the physio session, talking over a glass of wine, and then had Henrik stay to dinner. Markus insisted on preparing the steaks and salad himself. Andrew kept an eye on things from his seat, but there were no problems. It seemed that much of Markus’ kitchen skills dated back to his teenage years and that period was still pretty clear in his mind. Henrik and Andrew both complimented the dinner and thanked Markus for giving them such a great meal.

 

By Friday, Andrew was getting edgy. As the time for daily physio was winding down, it was going to get harder and harder to sustain the myth of why he was living in the condo. What the hell was he going to do then? All he could think of was letting himself drift into a relationship with Markus while waiting for Markus to remember that they were already married. Not the worst fate, he supposed, but it still felt somehow like he was taking advantage of the situation, and of his husband’s incomplete memory. Not very logical, he admitted, but logic seemed to have no role to play in this entire mess anyhow.

 

Friday, Andrew took Markus out to dinner at what had been one of their favourite spots, Café Chanterelle, down near the water. Markus didn’t remember it at all, but definitely enjoyed it as much as ever, particularly the house specialty of confit of duck. After dinner, they walked down to the park to enjoy the sunset. With summer coming on, the evenings lasted late, and on this clear Friday night there were many others, sitting on the grass, walking along the waterfront walkway, lying on the beach, or scrambling over the rocks by the shore.

 

They managed to grab a bench facing the water, and just sat there enjoying the view. Markus was looking from side to side, taking in all the variety of water, trees, buildings, mountains, and the… “That bridge,” he said, half to himself, looking down the shore towards the Burrard Street bridge. “I remember this place.”

 

Andrew managed to suppress his eagerness. “Really?”

 

“Not to say remembered it. I dreamed about it the other night. I recognized the bridge from the dream.”

 

“It’s called Sunset Beach. What happened in your dream?”

 

“Everyone was down here. It was like a huge party. Thousands and thousands of hot guys, all drinking and dancing up a storm, with a band playing really loud music from a stage over there,” and he pointed down the shoreline. “I was young again, and I was having so much fun. And then, I saw this one guy, really handsome young fellow, walking past me alone, and I wondered why. He looked… I don’t know, not sad exactly, more like detached, as if he wasn’t really there at all. I felt sorry for him, because I wanted everyone to be as happy and have as much fun as I was having. So, I started walking over to him, to get him to join me and dance with me… and that’s when I woke up.” He sighed. “Have you ever had a dream like that?”

 

Markus turned to Andrew, to hear his response, and his jaw fell. “It was you! Andrew, you were the guy in the dream – younger, but I’m sure it was you! Wow, this is crazy, I’m starting to have dreams about my therapist. Does that mean I’m falling in love with you?” Markus laughed happily, and then realized that Andrew was looking at him very strangely indeed. “Sorry, Andrew, did I say the wrong thing or something?”

 

“It’s not that, Markus.” Andrew paused and drew a very deep breath. “It feels like I’ve been waiting for this moment since halfway to forever. It’s time for me to show you something.” He drew out his phone, entered the security code, and opened the album with the special pictures, showing Markus the first one.

 

Markus stared at the picture, his jaw dropping to the ground. When he finally spoke, his words came slowly, quietly, as if spoken in a trance. “So… it wasn’t a dream after all. It was a memory.”

 

“Yes, Markus. You didn’t dream it or imagine it. You really did walk over and grab me by the hand, pulling me into the crowd to dance with you.”

 

“And then what happened?”

 

“We danced and drank the whole afternoon away. Then we came up here and sat down on the beach over there, leaning back against one of those logs, to watch the sunset. We were holding hands as we sat – and then you put your arm around me and snuggled me closer to you. Then we went back to your place…”

 

“…and made love all night long until the sun came up?”

 

Both of them laughed.

 

“Not quite that long. But we had some really wild sex, and when we were relaxing afterwards, both of us said that we just felt so right and comfortable with each other. That much we knew right away.”

 

“Amazing. And then what happened?”

 

“Here are some more.”

 

“Wow. So then… I took you to meet my parents. And are those your parents?”

 

“Yes, they are.”

 

“We must have gotten serious really quickly.”

 

“We did. For me, it just felt from the start like we were meant to be together. And then, we went to Alcantara so you could meet my uncles.”

 

Markus pointed excitedly at the handsome Japanese face on the screen. “Andrew, that guy – I remember him, he was in the hospital when I woke up!”

 

“That’s right. I call him my uncle, but actually he’s my uncle by marriage. That’s his late husband, my mom’s older brother, Uncle Rich. This one’s name…

 

“…is Tommy.”

 

“You remembered that!”

 

“I knew as soon as you said Rich’s name. Rich and Tommy – of course. And he was here last month.”

 

“Yes, he was. Okay, one more set of pictures.” Up came the photo of the two hands wearing wedding rings. Then he swiped through the rest of the wedding pictures.

 

“Andrew! We got married!”

 

“Yes, we did, and what a wonderful day that was.”

 

“When did all this happen?”

 

“The wedding? Exactly twenty years ago today.” Markus looked almost shocked. “Happy anniversary, husband.”

 

Markus took his cue and leaned in for a kiss. As they kissed, their fingers entwined automatically, familiarly, as if they’d done it thousands of times before (which they had). Then Markus looked at Andrew solemnly, holding both his hands in his own. “I was going to ask where you’d gone to after I met you, but it wasn’t you that went away – it was me.”

 

“Well, it’s not as if you wanted to get clobbered by that careless truck driver on the Sea to Sky Highway.”

 

“Andrew, I can’t even imagine what hell you’ve been going through since the accident. And I’m sorry, but we aren’t out of the woods yet. I still don’t really remember much of this at all. I mean, the pictures obviously prove that it happened, but I look at them and only scattered little bits make me say ‘yes, that.’ So, it’s going to be a long time yet before I’m completely back with you. At least, I know now why I felt so strongly that I needed to be closer to you once you started doing the exercises with me.”

 

“I know this is going to take time. I just can’t tell you how happy I am that you remembered the day we first met all on your own -- and did it on our twentieth anniversary. And you have no idea how utterly delighted I am that I can finally stop pretending to be your damned therapist!”

 

Markus pulled a face. “You mean you’re not my therapist? Shit, I was really enjoying having you touching me all over like that. But all that endless rigmarole about your damned professional ethics. What were you thinking?”

 

“What I’m thinking right now is that we’re just about to miss the sunset we came down here to see.”

 

They sat there on the bench, hands curled around each other, and watched the sun emerge from a cloudbank and dip below the horizon in a glorious light show of reds, oranges, and yellows. At last, Andrew spoke. “Perfect sunset.”

 

“To me, it feels more like a sunrise. Life beginning again.” Markus leaned over to kiss Andrew. “Come on, Andrew, let’s go home and toast this anniversary properly.”

 

“Home.” Andrew’s voice was wistful.

 

“The way you just said that….”

 

“Well, it hasn’t felt much like home for the last month, being stuck in the guest room and all.”

 

“Let’s go home, Andrew. Our home.”

[negchaserlooking]

That was awesome. Are you going to continue or leave it there @daddybear54?

 

[daddybear54]

@negchaserlooking  still much more to come!

[negchaserlooking]

51 minutes ago, daddybear54 said:

@negchaserlooking  still much more to come!

Excellent news

[daddybear54]

Chapter 5:  Sleeping Beauty 

 

As soon as they walked in the door of the condo, Markus wanted to seize Andrew in his arms and start kissing him and undressing him. Andrew had to fight him off for the few seconds it took to close and lock the door. That done, he quickly grabbed Markus by the hand and dragged him to the bedroom. They fell into each other’s arms then, kissing as passionately as if both of them had been stuck in the middle of the desert with no human contact for half a year or more.

 

Before long, all their clothes were on the floor in a heap, and the two bodies were piled in another heap on the bed, arms and legs all tangled up in each other as each of them struggled to touch and feel and kiss as much of the other as possible.

 

No words were needed. None were possible. Their lips were closely fastened together, tongues duelling in the tiny space between their mouths. Hands were moving over and around all parts of their bodies in less time than it takes to describe it.

 

Finally, Markus got loose from the kiss and bent his head down to take Andrew’s cock in his mouth. Almost by instinct, he tried to get up on his knees to get the best shot at deep throating that beautiful tool, but his injured leg sent him a sharp reminder of its presence, and he fell on his back. Then, he urged Andrew to come up over him and feed that rigid cock down his throat. Andrew assumed the knees position over Markus, and then bent down to swallow Markus as Markus swallowed him.

 

It was another sign to Andrew that the Markus he knew and loved was back, when they instantly fell into a perfectly synchronous rhythm in their sixty-nine, each one going down as the other did. They did it so smoothly that it felt almost like they were each sucking themselves. Plainly, Markus had not in the least forgotten his virtuoso cock-sucking skills, and Andrew outdid himself in matching him. Their cock-sucking duel kept growing in intensity and power until both of them began moaning, a sure sign that they were nearing climax. Andrew was rubbing his fingers gently over the taint below the cock, and Markus was doing the same to him as they drove each other towards the peak.

 

Then it happened. Andrew groaned and pumped a first shot into the sucking mouth under him at the exact moment that Markus let his first huge squirt fire into Andrew’s mouth. The two of them went on pulsing and cumming in perfect unison, in an ecstatic reunion of pleasure. When the waves of orgasm finally died away, Andrew swung around and kissed Markus, each one sharing the other’s cum in a perfect snowball. They wrapped their arms around each other, holding each other close in a comfortable and (for Markus) suddenly familiar embrace. It was still early evening, but they fell asleep like that, and slept until morning, waking up with their arms still holding each other in a loving hug.

 

Markus disentangled himself first, rolling out of bed to head for the bathroom. Then he pulled on some shorts and a t-shirt, walked down the hall to the kitchen, ground the beans, and set the coffee maker running. As he was doing that, he felt Andrew’s arms sliding around him.

 

“Good morning, husband,” Markus said, turning his head to meet Andrew’s kisses.

 

“Good morning, my love,” Andrew responded, between kisses.

 

“You realize that we never did toast our anniversary properly.”

 

Andrew laughed. “I think the toast we drank was better than any glass of champagne.”

 

Markus replied, after a moment’s thought. “Our twentieth anniversary – and the first day of our new lives together. How perfect is that? You’re right.”

 

Once the coffee was poured, they sat down, enjoying the fresh brew and the quiet time to be together again. After a while, Andrew got up and organized some breakfast. Once they’d eaten and got the dishes cleaned up, it was time for the morning therapy.

 

Markus headed down to the bedroom and climbed onto the massage table. Andrew came in and began working on his left leg muscles, and almost at once Markus started trying to grope him. But Andrew shut him down. “We’ll never get this done if you keep trying to get me going like that. But let’s not forget, you need to do this and make it work with me if you’re going to recover one hundred percent use of your arm and leg. Focus, and save the fun and games for later.”

 

Markus was contrite. “I’m sorry, and you’re absolutely right. Business before pleasure, Mr. Therapist.” They both laughed at that, but then the rest of the therapy session was conducted properly.

 

It was a different matter when the prescribed exercises were finished. Andrew made some notes on the chart Henrik had left for him, and then kept on massaging Markus, but with rather more attention being paid to certain other muscle groups and body parts that were no part of the required physiotherapy -- that, and the way he began using massage techniques that never appeared in any kind of official physiotherapy manual. Those techniques involved a lot of use of the tongue and fingers, and much attention to the cock, nips, balls, and ass.

 

Andrew spent a good ten minutes making love to Markus’ lovely ass, the first time he’d had a chance to do that since the accident. After that long of a tongue bath and tongue fucking, it took no time at all for Markus to open up and let Andrew’s finger inside his hole. Soon Markus was writhing and moaning all over the bed while Andrew continued to twist his finger in and out of that tight ass, finding and stroking the prostate to drive Markus even further into total sexual abandon.

 

Andrew bent down to kiss Markus as he continued to work two fingers in and out. Markus moaned, “Oh, fuck, I so want you inside me, making love to me. But I can’t lift my legs very well, it’s still hard to move that left one.”

 

“Well, roll onto your side, whichever one is more comfortable, and let’s see what we can do with that.”

 

Markus got onto his right side, and Andrew positioned his cock at the hole, then began to lean in. Markus opened right up at the first pressure and, in no time, Andrew had gotten the head inside and was slowly sinking farther into the channel. Markus groaned in pleasure. As for Andrew, he was over the moon with delight at finally getting to join himself to his husband again. That familiar and well-loved tunnel surrounded his cock as he delved in, and Markus let out another moan as he touched bottom.

 

“Markus, can you turn your shoulders and chest to lie flat?”

 

“There you go.”

 

Once he’d done that, they were in a position where they could face each other and kiss while Andrew fucked Markus. He proceeded to do just that. He leaned forward over Markus and brought his face down, sliding his tongue into his man’s mouth as he slid his cock up inside that beautiful tight ass. Andrew was in no hurry; he wanted to make this last as long as possible. He kept his pumping motions nice and slow, aiming himself to keep rubbing against Markus’ prostate every so often. Markus would moan again every time he did that, and his rock-solid cock would jump by itself each time Andrew made contact.

 

“Ohhh… Oh, Andrew, that feels so wonderful. You’re filling me and stretching me so much.”

 

Andrew continued kissing Markus as he worked slowly inside that wonderful ass, pumping slowly and lovingly in and out again. “Markus, I’ve been wanting to do this ever since you woke up. To be inside you, to make love to you. You feel so amazing, wrapped around me, drawing me into you.”

 

Andrew felt his orgasm beginning to build and stopped moving. He wanted to make this last as long as possible, so he pulled slowly out and bent down to work on Markus some more with his tongue. Markus kept moaning and murmuring about how wonderful it felt as Andrew washed his crack and hole down with slow, luxurious tongue strokes and kisses.

 

Then he pulled up again, placed his cockhead back against the hole and sank slowly back in while Markus exhaled a long-breathed “Yeeaaaaahhhhh.” Once more, Andrew resumed his slow, loving strokes in and out of Markus’ ass while they kept kissing each other. At last, the passion of the kisses reached Andrew’s dick and his fucking motions began to speed up.

 

“You want me to fill you up, Markus?”

 

“Oh, yeah, I want it. Give to me – cum in my ass.”

 

“I’m going to give you a big load.”

 

“Yesssss, Andrew, I want it all. Fill me up, cream my guts, don’t stop!”

 

Just then, Andrew felt like the dam was about to burst and he slammed all the way inside Markus, just in time for the first shots of cum to spray all the way inside. Markus speeded up his stroking hand and came right along with Andrew, firing his cum all over his abs and chest, and even hitting Andrew on the side of the face with one shot as they kept kissing each other right through their orgasm.

 

At last they calmed down and their breathing slowed to normal. Andrew let himself slide out of Markus, and Markus then rolled his hips down so that he was lying flat on his back. Andrew snuggled right up against him, and they kept on kissing and cuddling like that for a good half hour before Andrew finally, reluctantly, detached himself and sat up.

 

“I need a shower. I reek of hot sex.”

 

Markus laughed. “I’m not objecting. Don’t you want me to come along and help wash you?”

 

“Of course. Let’s go.”

 

The shower involved not only some extremely thorough washing, but also a good deal more gentle, romantic kissing. The two of them spent the rest of the weekend carrying on like the pair of honeymooners they’d been twenty years earlier, bouncing from bed to table to bed, and going out each night for dinner in another place that was waiting for Markus to rediscover it.

 

In between bouts of sex, and the twice-daily therapy sessions, they spent a lot of time talking about exactly which details and moments Markus could remember. Andrew kept his laptop on the table between meals and would look up his photos of any particular time or incident which Markus recalled. That gave him a chance to try to recover even more details of his memories.

 

But when Andrew started branching out into times Markus hadn’t remembered yet, trying to accelerate the recovery, Markus gently called a halt. “You’re trying too hard, Andrew, and I don’t think this is a process you can force. It has to happen in my brain’s own good time. I know you’re desperate to have me all the way back to normal, but we both have to remember always that this is going to a be a long road – not a weekend do-it-yourself project for us.” It was a message Markus had to repeat more than once in the days that followed. By Monday, Andrew had also brought Markus up to speed on his own work in the brokerage, and how he was using a combination of work-at-home and office time during these weeks when he was caring for Markus.

 

Although not yet putting in a full day at the office, Andrew went into work in person each day during that week, for at least a few hours, and manfully endured a lot of ribbing about his side gig as a personal nurse and what kinds of health therapies he was expected to perform.

 

On Wednesday, Andrew got a text message from Henrik: “Home again, jetlagged like crazy. Ten A.M. tomorrow OK for you?”

 

“Confirmed.”

 

Then he told Markus that Henrik was back and would see them Thursday morning. That being so, they skipped any rousing sex that night or Thursday, so they could be ready, neat, and tidy when Henrik arrived.

 

“We’ve got some big news for you,” Markus said as soon as Andrew and Henrik entered the bedroom where he lay on the massage table.

 

“Well, that sounds interesting. Spill it!” Henrik replied.

 

“On Friday evening, Andrew took me down to sit by the water and I recognized the place from a dream I’d had earlier in the week. I told him about it, and that’s when he showed me a photograph of the day we first met.”

 

Right on cue, Andrew produced his phone and showed Henrik the picture.

 

“So… you’re telling me that your dream was actually a memory.”

 

“Yes -- and that we are now back in business as a couple.”

 

Henrik gave what could only be called a dirty laugh. “Yeah, I can just imagine.”

 

Andrew chuckled. “Actually, it’s a lot more than just wild sex.”

 

Markus added, “Falling in love all over again is the most incredible feeling. Exciting, and scary, and a bit stressful, like the first time… only not. But wonderful anyway.”

 

“Okay, well let’s get on with this session and see how your flexibility went all to the dogs while I was away, and you two lovebirds were busy playing instead of working.”

 

At the end of the hour, Henrik expressed pleasant surprise that Markus had indeed improved during his absence and confirmed that they could now move to a thrice-weekly schedule, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It was Andrew who urged him to come at the end of his client list for the day on Friday so he could hang out for a bit – this with a highly suggestive wink and salacious grin. Henrik agreed.

 

After he had left, Markus began groping Andrew. “We’ve got time before lunch, don’t we?”

 

“Yeah, I guess I could put off going into the office until this afternoon.”

 

In another minute or so, heaps of clothing dotted the floor and Markus was lying on his back with Andrew between his legs, sucking industriously. After a while, he turned around and proceeded to sit down on his man’s face, allowing Markus to begin eating his ass. Andrew loved having his ass eaten almost as much as he loved to eat ass himself, and Markus certainly hadn’t lost any of his incredible technique. While he was licking and digging in with his tongue, Andrew kept playing and sucking on his cock until both of them were thoroughly wound up.

 

Then, Andrew moved down the bed and placed Markus’ erect dick at his hole before slowly sliding down and taking Markus deep inside his body. The feeling of that hard cock sliding into him for the first time since the day of the accident awoke a fire in Andrew, and he began panting right away as he rode up and down on Markus, letting that beautifully curving dick do a number on his ass. For once, he was ready long before Markus, and kept plunging down on that cock until his own jumped up and down and let a load fly out all over Markus’ thighs, without Andrew even having to touch it.

 

It barely even slowed him down. After only a few seconds, he was right back up to speed and pumping his muscular ass up and down on that hard tool. After another minute he pulled off – but only to turn around and face Markus, and then he sat right back down. By now, Markus was beginning to gasp for air too and Andrew knew that he was going to cum soon. Andrew was so turned on that he could feel his own load beginning to rise again, and he knew that he and Markus could cum right together, as they so often did. Andrew rose and fell even faster as Markus groaned louder and more often, and Andrew began giving a stream of dirty talk to bring his man to a full boil.

 

“Fuck, Markus, you’ve got the best cock for reaming me out like this. You’re getting me so wet. I can feel the precum sliding around your tool. I want it. I want your load in me. Your cock’s going to make me cum again. Cum right with me, Markus! Fucking seed my ass, cum inside me! Aww, fuuuuck!”

 

Andrew exploded again, this time showering his cum over Markus’ face, just as Markus thrust up into him and started shooting deep inside his hole.

 

After they had showered together, and got dressed for the second time, they sat down to a completely decorous lunch of the chili Markus had made the day before. Andrew then gave Markus a loving kiss before heading off to work.

 

Later in the afternoon, he came back in time to conduct the evening therapy session before they sat down to dinner, which Andrew prepared – pork chops with potato salad and coleslaw. After dinner was finished and the dishes all washed up, Andrew was feeling frisky again – but this time Markus shut him down.

 

“Uh-uh, lover boy. You’re the one who invited Henrik to ‘hang out,’ as you put it, and I’ve got to save something to be ready to give him. So do you. So no playing around tonight or tomorrow morning.”

 

Andrew pretended to be hurt, grumbling about being shut out, and then started laughing. They settled for a nice long session of cuddling and fell asleep holding each other, something they never got tired of doing.

 

On Friday morning, Henrik texted that he would be arriving between 1:30 and 2:00 in the afternoon, so Andrew decided to skip office hours. Since it was a beautiful sunny morning, he took Markus on a scenic drive up into the mountains on the north shore, to a viewpoint where they could see the entire city spread out below them like a model in a museum.

 

Back home, they enjoyed a light lunch, and Markus then went to get ready. Henrik arrived promptly at 2:00, and the therapy session got under way. Andrew simply sat in the chair in the bedroom and watched, getting aroused even at the medically correct stretches and flexes that Henrik performed with Markus.

 

Then, at 3:00, Henrik said, “Andrew, time to get up off your duff and get over here. I’ve got a couple of new exercises for Markus that I want to show you.” Andrew sauntered over and got in position next to the massage table, and Henrik stood behind him, reaching his long arms around to demonstrate. “See, I want you to take up his leg with your left arm, and then press down firmly with your right hand on his left hip, so the hip won’t come up off the table. Then, I want you to push the leg over towards the right hip – not forcefully but stretching it across him without bouncing it at the end of the range of motion. Got it? Here, let’s do it together.”

 

Andrew obediently pressed down the hip and stretched his arm forward, moving the leg across Markus’ body. Henrik also had his hand on the leg, but he had a longer distance to stretch because Andrew was in his way. As they neared the maximum range the leg could reach, Andrew felt something big and firm pressing into his glutes. “And hold it there, Andrew, for one thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand, five thousand, then slowly bring it back. And repeat, five times in all.”

 

On each repeat, Andrew felt his butt getting prodded, and the thing prodding him was getting bigger and firmer on each repeat. On the fifth time, Henrik took over the counting and, after counting to five thousand, said, “And hold it there… hold it… hold it… hold it… hold it… hold it…,” at the same time gently rubbing his erection up and down against Andrew’s ass. “And relax.”

 

By now, Andrew himself was rock hard, and the pressure of his erection against the edge of the table during that last long hold had actually become a bit painful. Andrew turned to face Henrik, clamping his hand firmly onto Henrik’s bulge.

 

Markus asked, “Is that it, then?”

 

Andrew responded with, “Henrik has something else going on that I think he wants bent over to the other side.”

 

All three of them laughed, then, as Andrew dropped gracefully onto his knees, undid Henrik’s trousers, and slid them down to reveal a sopping-wet bulge in his briefs. He began sucking on that bulge, breathing onto the fabric to give Henrik’s tool a heat bath, and then slurping on the wet material to try to suck his precum out of the briefs.

 

After a minute or two of that treatment, he moved onto the next exercise, sliding the briefs down and taking that proudly erect cock into his mouth. As he gave a virtuoso blowjob with sucking, deep throat, licking the lollipop, and slowly pumping the shaft with his hand, he heard some rustling noises behind him, and guessed that Markus was getting undressed behind him.

 

After he’d been blowing Henrik for five minutes or so, Henrik pulled him up to his feet, then spun him around.

 

“Time for my special therapy for the two of you.”

 

Henrik then shoved Andrew forward until he was bent over the massage table with his mouth falling naturally onto Markus’ dick while Henrik proceeded to strip down his trousers and briefs, exposing his ass. Henrik knelt down and proceeded to give Andrew an Olympic-quality rimming and tongue bath, eventually adding a finger and then two inside his ass. All the while, Andrew couldn’t make up his mind whether to pay more attention to Markus’ cock, his nipples, or his mouth, but did his level best to give some good mouth love to all of them.

 

The next thing he knew, he felt the blunt head of Henrik’s cock poking at this hole. Andrew closed his eyes and did his best to relax, as Henrik pushed slowly into him, holding still for a few moments, and then sinking his cock all the way inside Andrew until his hips pushed up against Andrew’s butt cheeks. Andrew moaned and bent his head lower, swallowing Markus all the way into his throat until Markus began moaning too. Then he pulled off.

 

“Oh, fuck, Henrik, that feels so good.”

 

“Damn right, I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I met you. God, your ass feels incredible!”

 

Andrew swallowed Markus again, and Markus said, “Whatever you’re doing to him, keep it up. It’s working. He’s doing an amazing number on my dick.”

 

Andrew was now bobbing steadily up and down on Markus’ hard-on, applying plenty of suction as he went, and Henrik had begun moving inside his butt, sliding out and then pushing back in. Before long, Henrik was fucking Andrew as vigorously as Andrew was sucking Markus, and all three of them were making a fair bit of noise.

 

Andrew pulled off Markus again and applied his hand instead. “Fuck me harder, Henrik. Really show me what you’ve got. Pound my ass with your big hard cock!”

 

Henrik started speeding up, while Andrew was jacking Markus harder and harder. “Fuck, Andrew, keep pulling on me like that, I want to cum all over your hand.” Henrik, too, was moaning that he was getting close, that Andrew’s hot hole was going to suck the cum right out of him.

 

In another minute, things began happening. Markus heaved his hips up off the table, moaned aloud, and began spurting cum over Andrew’s stroking hand. Andrew immediately bent down and swallowed Markus again, sucking the rest of his load down his throat. Henrik slammed hard and fast into Andrew’s butt, locked up against him, and pumped his hot cum deep inside Andrew’s firm, round ass. All three groaned aloud as the cum flew.

 

That left Andrew, and as soon as Henrik pulled out of him, a stream of cum poured out of his hole. He caught some of it in his hand, spread it onto his dick, and began yanking on it like a madman.

 

“Hey,” Markus snapped, “don’t waste that. Get up here and shoot it all over my face!”

 

Andrew obediently moved left to the head of the table, held his cock above Markus, and pounded it furiously for about half a minute until his man cream erupted, coating Markus’s face with streaks of white. After he finished cumming, he let his dick drop down onto the eager lips and tongue which proceeded to lick and kiss him clean. He then licked up the rest of the load Markus had shot on himself, added some more cum from his own butt, and shared it all with Markus. Henrik got down on his knees again and sucked the rest of his load out of Andrew’s gaping ass, triggering another loud moan as he did so. He then moved up and joined the others in a three-way snowball kiss.

 

At last they all parted to get some air. Henrik laughed. “Wow. What an awesome way to start the weekend.”

 

Andrew chuckled. “Hope we didn’t leave you short for whatever hot date you have lined up for tonight.”

 

“No hot date, I’m kind of in recovery from a bad experience a couple of months ago.”

 

Markus said, “I’m sorry to hear that. I hope we’ve made you feel a bit better.”

 

Henrik laughed. “If I didn’t feel better after playing around with you guys, I’d be really worried! Seriously, though, I do appreciate your kindness very much – not just the sex but the free meals, the listening ears, it’s all been really helpful.”

 

“Speaking of free meals,” Andrew put in, “want to stay for dinner again?”

 

Henrik hesitated.

 

“Please do. We enjoy your company too,” Markus prodded him.

 

“All right, yes. And thank you. Just want to make sure I don’t wear out my welcome.”

 

The three of them enjoyed a quiet, relaxed evening together, ordering take-out pizza and just unwinding and talking over a couple of rounds of drinks. Henrik left at ten o’clock with profuse thanks, and Markus and Andrew went off to bed in a peaceful mood that lasted through the weekend.

 

On Monday afternoon, Markus was out for a walk when Andrew’s phone rang. It was Marlyse, the secretary to Danniel Burnham, who was the executive director at the People Places Foundation, the affordable housing non-profit where Markus had been working before the accident. Andrew had called her after the crash to let her know that Markus would be unable to work for a considerable period of time, and they’d chatted about his progress a couple of times since. Now, she was calling to ask if Markus could come in for a face-to-face meeting with Burnham on Wednesday afternoon.

 

“The meeting isn’t a problem, Marlyse, but his memory is still far from perfect. If Mr. Burnham doesn’t mind, I’d like to come in with him, to help with any questions where his memory is still uncertain.”

 

“Not a problem, Andrew. Would three o’clock work for you?”

 

“Fine, thanks. We’ll be there.”

 

On Wednesday afternoon, Marlyse welcomed them warmly, and then ushered them into the office. Burnham opened the meeting on a cordial note.

 

“Glad to see you doing so well, Markus. You seem to be having no trouble moving about.

 

“Thanks, Dan. It’s been a tough road, but I’m nearly all there physically.”

 

“That’s good to hear. We’re really missing you here. Everyone’s always depended on you to have all the facts and figures on our case files right at your fingertips.”

 

“Well, that part isn’t so good.”

 

Markus looked decidedly unhappy at the way the conversation was turning, and Andrew decided he should intervene. “He has only very scattered and fragmentary memories of pretty much everything from twenty years or so ago up to the point where the accident occurred. His memories since he woke up in the hospital are fairly solid, but before that….”

 

Markus added, “As an example, I might remember a street name but be unable to recall where it was located or why it mattered.”

 

Andrew continued, “One of his doctors told me to imagine a pixelated image with ninety-nine percent of the pixels missing, and none of the remaining pixels adjacent to each other.”

 

Dan drummed his fingers on the desktop, looking upset. “That sounds difficult, no doubt. Any time line given by which significant improvement might take place?”

 

Markus shrugged helplessly, and Andrew spoke again. “No. The doctor really can’t estimate how long this might take. It’s already proven to be a longer and slower process than we’d hoped.”

 

Dan sat in thought for a minute while Markus and Andrew waited. At last he spoke again. “I’m really sorry to hear this. I’d very much hoped we might be able to get you back sooner. As things appear now, I’m afraid I’m going to have to hire someone to replace you. I’d love to be able to hold your job for you, but we aren’t a very big organization and it’s imposing a lot of strain on the rest of the staff to try to keep everything going. I’m sorry, Markus, but we’re going to need to move on.”

 

Markus shrugged. “I understand. It’s not fair to the others.” Andrew sat silent.

 

Dan was now looking truly unhappy. “I wish I didn’t have to tell you this. When you do recover your memories to a fuller degree, I would like nothing better than to add you back on. Please give us a call and come and see us when you think you’re ready.” He stood up to indicate that the meeting was over. Andrew and Markus also stood, hands were shaken all around, and goodbyes were spoken.

 

Danniel Burnham stood at the door of his office, watching Markus and Andrew walking away. Markus was visibly drooping, his shoulders sloping forward. Dan sighed deeply, as Marlyse came up to him with some documents.

 

“That was awful, Marlyse. I hated having to swing the axe like that, but what else could I do?”

 

“I know, Dan. Times like this, I wouldn’t be in your shoes for any amount of money.”

 

Andrew and Markus walked slowly out to the car. Once they were seated, Andrew turned to Markus. “That must have hurt, Markus.”

 

“The funny thing is, it didn’t really. I mean, I know I worked there for years but I don’t really remember much of it at all. No, losing the job as a job doesn’t hurt. What hurts is the feeling that I’ll never be much use to anyone at all until my mind gets back in top-notch working order – and that’s taking so damned long.” He sighed, as Andrew took his hand and squeezed it for a minute before starting the car and driving him home.

 

Over the next few days, Markus was visibly down, the usual sparkle in his eyes absent. He worked away around the house, went on long energetic walks, participated fully in the therapy sessions, but in a way that suggested a part of him was somewhere else altogether. Henrik noticed the difference and commented on it when he came in on Friday. Markus told him what happened, sighing deeply as he did so. Henrik was at a loss for words. The conventional “you’ll find something else soon” seemed both untrue and out of place.

 

Over the weekend, and the next week, Markus rebounded. Andrew was much happier to see his energy level coming back up. They enjoyed a great dinner out at Café Chanterelle on Wednesday evening. Oddly enough, he also recovered a number of other bits of memory. These were all from their earliest years together, but still, progress was progress. One detail that especially delighted Andrew was when he said on Thursday, “I just remembered lounging with you in an infinity pool, high up on a hillside, overlooking a town centre and harbour. Was that in Alcantara?”

 

“Yes! That’s Uncle Rich and Uncle Tommy’s private pool!”

 

“Seemed awfully big for a private home.”

 

Andrew laughed. “They were both super-dedicated swimmers. Rich told me they had that huge deck and pool installed as their first big project after they bought the house – and the house is a real sight, too. Hey, maybe we could go there on a holiday. I’m sure Tommy would love to have the company. What do you think?”

 

Markus nodded. “I’d like that. I think a complete getaway would do me good. Seems like we’re pretty much near the end of the physiotherapy anyway, so maybe we could go after Henrik signs off on it. I just don’t know about how comfortable I’d be, staying with your uncle.”

 

“I don’t think you need to worry about that. He thinks you’re the best. He always says that he feels about the two of us just as proudly as if we were actually his sons. Just the fact that he came to Vancouver when you were in the hospital says it all.”

 

“We should go when winter’s coming and the rains set in. It’s tropical, so it’ll be warm, right?”

 

“Definitely!”

 

“While we’re on the subject, you never did tell me. When did your Uncle Rich die?” Andrew’s face clouded over, and Markus picked it up right away. “Would you rather not talk about it?”

 

“No, it’s okay. I have to get used to thinking about him in the past tense. It was last March, so about eight months ago. Heart failure, I guess. He just didn’t wake up in the morning. And he was 84, so he’d had a good and long life. He and Tommy had been together for over forty years. It’s been hardest for Tommy, of course. But I really miss him too.”

 

“Wasn’t he some kind of politician?”

 

“Yes. He spent nine years in the Cabinet, and then was elected as President three times, for a total of 15 years.”

 

“President? Wow!”

 

Andrew chuckled. “Yep. Sounds impressive, but it’s actually just a formal head-of-state position to do all the ceremonial duties, welcome foreign dignitaries, things like that. The Premier is the working head of the government in Alcantara.” That conversation made Andrew feel very happy. In spite of the setback from losing his job, it seemed that Markus was finally making headway in recovering memories and that helped Andrew to feel a lot less stressed.

 

Andrew walked up from the bus stop to the condo on Friday afternoon, feeling right on top of the world. It was a beautiful day, he’d acquired two new clients on the say-so of satisfied long-timers on his list, and he was coming home to the husband who had finally come back to him. Life was feeling pretty damn perfect.

 

He was remembering his last mental image from that morning. Markus had chosen to sleep in, and Andrew leaned down to kiss him as he lay among the pillows, looking serene and peaceful. As Andrew kissed him goodbye, a beatific smile spread across Markus’ face. Andrew walked off on his way to work with that image of his own wonderful Sleeping Beauty in his mind.

 

Now, he stepped into a silent condo, but this no longer troubled him. Markus by this time had a good sense of direction in the immediate neighbourhood and often went for walks at any or all hours of the day. It wasn’t a panic moment any more, not like that first time he hadn’t come home.

 

He headed down the hall and into the bedroom, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the neatly folded paper resting against the pillow on his side of the bed. He picked it up, unfolded it, and began reading – and found something that dropped his heart right down into his shoes.

 

Markus’ absence was neither coincidental nor unplanned.

 

 

[negchaserlooking]

WTF?  The intrigue!

[daddybear54]

Chapter 6:  Negotiations

 

My dear, dear Andrew, he read.

 

I’m sorry to do this to you, but I need to get away and think things through on my own. So much has happened so quickly, and I’m struggling with all of it. I’m still groping in a mental fog, with only occasional gleams of light from the past coming through, and it’s making everything in my present incredibly hard to handle.

 

Don’t worry, I haven’t done anything stupid or gone off to some shithole on the wrong side of town. I’m in a safe place, with a friend, and I’ll be fine. Please don’t go checking around and trying to find me. I’ll come back when I feel like I’ve got things together – because I love you. That much I do remember clearly now.

 

I know you’re going to worry about me because you’re like that. Please, please look after yourself. Talk to anyone you need to help you cope with my absence. Again, I’m sorry that I’ve had to do this to you, and I love you.

 

Love, Markus.

 

***************

 

An hour later, Andrew was still sitting there, the letter dangling limply from his fingers. He’d read it over and over, scanning the page automatically, and the only thing that sank in was that Markus was gone. Nothing else registered. Dinner time came and went, and still he sat and stared.

 

Finally, at about seven o’clock, he snapped out of the trance. As if it were the only possible course of action, he seized his phone and again speed dialed Alcantara.

 

“Andrew! How’s everything going? Markus still doing well?”

 

“Uncle Tommy!” Andrew’s voice cut right across his uncle’s social chat as a cry from the heart.

 

“What’s happened? Andrew, what’s wrong?”

 

“Markus is gone.”

 

“Has he gotten lost again?”

 

“No.”

 

“My God, he isn’t dead, is he?”

 

“No.”

 

“What then? Andrew, please, tell me!”

 

“He… he… he’s left me.”

 

“Please tell me this is a joke.”

 

“No joke. I came home from work and found a letter he’d left on the pillow. He’s gone. And I don’t know what I did wrong. No idea at all. But he must not love me any more, why else would he go?”

 

“Andrew. Read me the letter.”

 

Tonelessly, Andrew read it aloud. There followed a silence as Tommy pondered what he’d just heard.

 

“Andrew, have you actually read that letter – I mean, really read it?”

 

“Over and over. I get it, he’s leaving me.”

 

“I don’t think you’re getting it at all. Look, go through that letter and tell me how many times he says he loves you in it.”

 

“Three.”

 

“Make that five.”

 

“Uncle Tommy, how do you figure?”

 

“Add one for the opening where he calls you his ‘dear, dear Andrew’ and one for the last bit where he actually begs you, ‘Please, please, look after yourself.’ Andrew, that isn’t the sort of thing people say in a break-up letter. They tell you exactly what they think is wrong with you, they tell you they don’t love you any more, or that they hate you, and they say, ‘I’m going, and I’m never coming back.’ What does Markus have to say about that?”

 

“He says, ‘I’ll come back when I feel like I’ve got things together – because I love you.’”

 

“Precisely. ‘I’ll come back.’ Andrew, you’ve gone off the deep end and panicked when it really isn’t necessary. To judge by the tone of the letter, he’s being completely honest with you. He’s gone away to spend some time on his own and somehow pull his head together. If he feels he needs that kind of ‘me time’ so badly, we need to respect his wishes. You know, Markus has never been the kind of guy who uses words to conceal the truth. He’s normally very straightforward. Says what he means and tells it like it is. You just need to read his words and stop trying to find an unpleasant or unhappy hidden meaning between the lines.”

 

“But what if he changes his mind and decides not to come back?”

 

“There you go, trying to focus on the worst-case scenario again! That habit will make you old before your time, young man. That letter was written by a man who is very much in love with his husband, but he’s struggling with all the other issues in his life, like his loss of memory, his loss of his job, his physical injuries from the accident – shall I go on or do you get the picture?”

 

Andrew let out a monumental sigh. “Uncle Tommy, I’m sorry. I’ve been such an absolute idiot about this. I can see now that I should have read the letter more carefully before I flew off the handle.”

 

“You were in shock, Andrew. I think anyone would be under the circumstances, considering all you’ve been through. But it sounds like you’re feeling better now. Time to park all your imaginary fears, go get yourself a good dinner, have a little nip of Scotch – not the whole bottle, mind you! – and try to get yourself a good night’s sleep. Yes, it’s hard to do all that when you’re worried about Markus, but I’d advise you not to be. He’s a smart guy, apart from his memory lapses, and you can trust him to take care of himself.”

 

“Well, Uncle Tommy, you’ve done it again, as so often before – pulled me back from the brink. I’m surprised you don’t get tired of rescuing me before I go over the falls.”

 

“What goes around, comes around. I would have been truly lost and in despair if you and Markus hadn’t been there during the week of the funeral and afterwards to keep me on a somewhat even keel. We’re good for each other, Andrew, just like any really effective family – and we’re both good for Markus as well. He’ll be fine and so will you, and you will get back together when he feels better about himself. Okay now?”

 

“Yes, Uncle Tommy. Thank you so much.”

 

****************

 

Markus sat on the couch, holding his head in his hands. Henrik sat beside him, an arm draped around his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

 

“God, Henrik, I wish it hadn’t come to this, but it’s like I didn’t have any choice. Getting fired from my job was the last straw. I was worn out from coping with the physical injuries, emotionally exhausted from struggling to try to get some of my memories back, and now this. And poor Andrew, trying so hard to help me all the way, and even neglecting himself to help me. It was more than I could bear.”

 

“You know he’s going to be an even bigger mess now.”

 

“I know. That’s why I hated to do it, but I couldn’t go on as I was. Just tying myself in knots.”

 

“So, Markus, what do you want me to do that Andrew isn’t doing?”

 

“It’s not that, Henrik. I just need some alone time to figure things out, and I expected you would be out most of the time, which is why I asked you. I don’t want to get under your feet or in your way, honestly.”

 

“And if I want to bring someone home?”

 

“You just told us you weren’t doing any hot dates because you were struggling with the fallout from a bad experience. That’s what gave me the idea of asking you. But if you do, I can sleep on the couch.”

 

Henrik sighed. “Yeah – you’re right. I was and I am. But now I’ve really gone and done it – gotten involved personally in a client’s problems which have nothing at all to do with my job.”

 

“Nobody else needs to know. Please, Henrik – I don’t know where else to go.”

 

He sighed again. “All right. You can stay. Good thing the bed is extra-huge. We can both sleep in it without this getting any more involved than it already is.”

 

“I’m so grateful.”

 

“And what do I do if you start asking me for advice?”

 

“You can tell me I’m on my own to sort it out. I really don’t want to make things awkward for you.” Henrik made a face. “Well… not any more awkward than I already have done.”

 

“One more question. Andrew is sure to call me, or text me, at least to share the news, if not to ask me for any advice I could give. What do you want me to tell him?”

 

“Tell him you’re seeing me to keep going on the therapy because he’ll be worried about that. And just tell him that I’m safe and in a good place, and I will come back to him when I feel ready.”

 

Henrik’s phone started ringing. He glanced at the display and said, “And sure enough, right on cue.” Then he waved at Markus to get out of the room before he picked up the call.

 

“Hello, Andrew. What’s up?”

 

“Henrik, Markus has left me. Have you heard from him or seen him at all?”

 

“Yes, I have, as a matter of fact. Andrew, he’s fine but he needs time to himself to sort himself out. I know where he is, and I’ll be seeing him regularly to keep up with his physio, so he won’t lose ground on that.”

 

“And what about his memory work? Who’s going to help him with that?”

 

“I didn’t really talk to him about that, Andrew, because it isn’t my area, but I guess that’s what he wants to work on by himself. I’ll ask him the next time I see him.”

 

“Henrik, he’s cut me off. He won’t pick up his phone, he won’t answer my texts, what the hell else am I supposed to do? I can’t imagine what I did wrong!”

 

“Andrew, did he tell you that you did something wrong?”

 

“Well, no, but….”

 

“Sounds like that is not the point and settling himself down is more what it’s about. And before you ask, no, I am not going to tell you where he is because he asked me not to. He needs to be alone right now. And he’s fine.”

 

With a sigh, Andrew said, “Okay, thanks. Tell him I love him.” And he clicked off.

 

Henrik sat in an exact duplicate of Markus’ appearance a few minutes earlier, head in his hands, as Markus came back into the room.

 

“What a mess. Markus, I sure hope you know what you’re doing because I feel awkward as hell being asked to act as a go-between for you and your husband. He’s completely messed up. He thinks he’s done something terrible to drive you away, but he has no idea what, and he’s beating himself up emotionally.”

 

“I’m sorry, Henrik. I shouldn’t have come to you.”

 

“Wrong, Markus. Right here is precisely where you should have come. You know, it’s a good thing for you that I care about what happens to both of you fellows. I’ll call him tomorrow and go and see him after my work hours are done. Maybe I can calm him down some.”

 

“That would be great. You’re such a good friend.”

 

“Sucker is more like it.”

 

And now I feel guilty again, Markus thought, because I’m not telling Henrik the real reason I chose to come to his place when I needed to get away. I think there must be something wrong with me. I know I’m not lying to myself. I love Andrew so much, I really do. So why am I getting the same kinds of feelings about Henrik? And how on earth can I explain it – to either of them – without sounding either weird or just plain greedy?

 

None of the three of them slept well that night. Henrik lay awake for ages, wondering what he’d gotten himself involved in, and wondering what it was going to do to him emotionally, because of his own feelings. Markus tossed and turned, keeping Henrik awake, because of his unpleasant dreams. Andrew kept reaching out to cuddle with a husband who wasn’t there, and then waking up and getting teary-eyed as he remembered the letter.

 

***************

 

Andrew walked to work in the morning and plunged into a busy agenda of phone calls and deals. It was the only way he could take his mind off the mess in his life, not that it helped that much. At regular intervals, he would hang up the phone, make a few notes, and then shake his head, wondering how this could have happened, wondering what he could have done or what he had done. His colleagues could tell that something was very wrong but none of them wanted to broach the subject. He’d been through so much already this year.

 

Around three o’clock he got a text from Henrik. You free to see me this afternoon?

 

Listlessly, he wondered what Henrik wanted with him. Yeah. When and where?

 

Meet me at the bar in thirty minutes.

 

OK.

 

Andrew proceeded to wrap up the rest of his outstanding work items, before heading out to walk over there. He got to the bar first, perched on a stool, and ordered a drink. Henrik arrived about five minutes later, tapped him on the shoulder, and took him over to a quiet booth.

 

“I was hoping you’d bring Markus with you.”

 

“I figured you would. But no. I haven’t seen him yet today – that’s my next call.” Henrik mentally was cursing himself for starting off with a lie. But he went on. “Andrew, I know you’re busily trying to blame yourself for what’s happened, but you shouldn’t. I got that out of him, loud and clear. This is not about you, it’s about him. You should try to imagine yourself in his position. Sure, there are more and more things that he’s remembered but they’re still disjointed pieces. They don’t connect up with each other at all. Think about what Dr. Preston said to you about the pixilated picture. And he’s feeling more down than he’s willing to admit about losing his job, even though he can’t remember clearly what that job was or how he was doing it.”

 

Andrew sat with a thoughtful look on his face, sipping his drink. At last he said, “So I didn’t do anything wrong?”

 

“The only thing I can think of is that maybe you tried too hard to help him. That may have kept reminding him more than he liked of how messed up his memory is. But again, this is about him, not about you, so don’t keep beating yourself up like you’ve obviously been doing.”

 

“That’s pretty much what my uncle Tommy already said to me.”

 

“Obviously he knows you better than I do. Good advice. I gotta get going now, but keep in touch and look after yourself, Andrew. Okay?”

 

“Sure. Thanks, Henrik.”

 

***************

 

Back at his apartment, Henrik talked again to Markus. “So when I talked to him, he told me that he’d been talking to his uncle. Uncle Teddy?”

 

“Tommy.”

 

“Right. Andrew got the same message from him that he got from me – to remember that this is about you, not about Andrew. He keeps thinking he did something awful to drive you away, but I think I persuaded him that you weren’t reacting to him, only to yourself.”

 

Markus looked thoughtful for a moment. “Andrew told me that Uncle Tommy and his husband, Rich, were always very close to us. Maybe I should talk to him myself. I just don’t have his number.”

 

“Do you know where he lives?”

 

“In Alcantara – or somewhere down south, I can’t remember.”

 

Henrik sat down at his laptop and started searching. “Okay, I’ve found Alcantara. What did you say his husband’s name was?”

 

“Rich.”

 

After only a few seconds, Henrik let out a low whistle. “Wow! You fellows really move in important circles! I just found this huge obituary for Rich, who was the President of Alcantara for 15 years, and then a detailed article all about Tommy when he retired from the university seven years back – he was the Dean of Arts and Sciences. Keeps talking over and over about the ‘power couple.’ Just give me a moment to find the number.”

 

Henrik scribbled on a piece of paper, and then handed it to Markus. On it was the name, Professor Tomoyoshi Takahashi, PhD, and an address and phone number.

 

“Henrik, can you enter that number and save it in my phone? I’ve got another little problem, scrambling some of the digits when I’m copying numbers. And then I’m going to call him.”

 

“I’ll go in the bedroom so you can have some privacy.”

 

And I’ll sit there, Henrik thought, wishing you well as you try to sort out your life. This is so frustrating. There’s a part of me that hopes you’ll succeed because I care about what happens to you. But there’s another part of me that’s hoping you’ll fail because then I’ll feel less rotten about going to Andrew and telling him my true feelings.

 

Markus sat, listening to the ringing tone. On the third ring, the phone clicked on.

 

“Hello, Markus. How are you doing now?”

 

“Uhh… Tommy?”

 

“Yes, it’s me.”

 

“I sort of recognize your voice, but I don’t really remember much about you.”

 

“So I’ve heard. That’s all right.” Tommy’s voice came through the phone in his signature calm, reassuring tones – the same tones with which he’d once persuaded Rich to run for election as President.

 

“I’m afraid I’ve made a real mess of this whole thing. Are you mad at me?”

 

“Should I be?”

 

“You know, walking out on your nephew, I mean – it wasn’t exactly a nice thing to do.”

 

“Markus. First of all, you are every bit as much my nephew as Andrew is. I’m going to say the same thing I’ve said so many times before, although you may not recall it. I am as proud of both of you, and feel as close to you, as if you were my own sons. You both matter to me just as much. I’m sorry you are having so much trouble getting through this situation, but I don’t think there was any nice way for this to all happen – it was bound to get messy. The big thing here is to be sure of what you are trying to achieve.”

 

“I just want to find myself again.”

 

“And that’s important. If you don’t mind a bit of advice….”

 

“Please.”

 

“Markus, I think the biggest thing you and Andrew have to do is to get to know each other all over again. Easy for you, it’s all you have to go on right now. Not so easy for him, he wants to get you back as you were, and I’m not sure that’s going to be possible. You need to get to know each other and fall in love with each other as you are now, not keep trying to go back to what was there before your accident.”

 

“That’s easy to answer. I know that I love him, but I don’t know much about him as he was. So I really have fallen in love with him all over again.”

 

Tommy chuckled, a bit smugly. “That’s what I told him you were going to do. Keep going along those lines, and I think you’ll find the whole situation will iron itself out. For you, I would guess the biggest part is just keeping on moving forward while you’re learning to live with and work around those gaps in your past, rather than trying to fix all the problem spots before getting on with your life.”

 

“You make it sound easy.”

 

“But I know it won’t be. That’s why you should feel free to call me any time you need to talk about it. Just as Andrew does.”

 

“Uncle Tommy…, umm, if it’s okay for me to call you that….” Markus spoke hesitantly.

 

“Of course.”

 

“When you talk to Andrew again…, could you please tell him I love him?”

 

“Well, yes, I could do that. But if you don’t mind another piece of advice, you need to tell him yourself. Call him now. I’m sure he won’t be asleep yet. Markus, that’s the big Number One here. You and Andrew need to talk to each other. Sooner rather than later.”

 

“I will.” Markus surprised himself by saying those words, and then realized a second later that this really was the thing he wanted most right now – to hear Andrew’s voice.

 

“That’s good, Markus. I’m sure it will pick him up tremendously, and right now I think he needs a boost more than you do. He’s such a worrier – takes after his Uncle Rich that way.” Tommy chuckled reminiscently about all the times he’d had to calm Rich when he started getting too many “what ifs” tangled up in his thought process.

 

“Uncle Tommy, I’m sure this won’t be the last time I say this but thank you so much for helping me get through this whole mess.”

 

“Markus, even if you don’t remember it, you were a rock of support for me during the first week or two after Rich died. We’re family, and we definitely look out for each other. Take care, Markus.”

 

***************

 

Even with that strong and positive reassurance from Tommy, Markus sat for close to an hour, staring at his phone but doing nothing. Henrik came back into the room, saw the look on his face, and decided to just leave him alone to wrestle with his demons. There was a fair bit of the worrywart in Markus too, if not quite as much as Andrew, and he feared getting hit with a blast of anger fuelled by fear from his husband. At last, he realized that if he didn’t act then, it would be too late to do it tonight, so he braced himself for unknown reactions, and speed dialed Andrew’s number.

 

It rang. One. Two. Oh, shit, Markus thought, he’s put it on silent and doesn’t hear it ringing. Three – and the phone clicked on in the middle of the third ring.

 

“Markus!” Andrew’s excited, ecstatic voice bellowed in his ear. Markus eased the phone away a bit before replying.

 

“It’s me, Andrew.”

 

“Thank God! I’ve been so scared ever since you took off, so afraid of what might happen to you. Are you okay right now? How are you feeling?”

 

The words kept bubbling out of him in an unending stream of emotional energy. At last Markus got a word in.

 

“I’m all good, as in safe and healthy. Otherwise, it’s as I told you in my letter. I’ve gotten so overwhelmed with the emotional impact of everything that’s happened that I just had to get away for a bit. And before you ask, no, it’s nothing to do with you, and no, it’s not because of anything you did or failed to do. I just needed peace and quiet and breathing space and plenty of time to think.”

 

A sound came to him over the phone, a sound he couldn’t recall ever having heard before: Andrew was crying aloud. As a matter of fact he had heard it once before, at Rich’s funeral, but he still didn’t remember that more recent event. At last, Andrew calmed down enough to say, “Markus, I love you, so much I can’t tell you. Do you still love me?”

 

“Silly boy, of course I do. Didn’t I say it often enough in my letter?”

 

“I’m sorry, Markus, I just let my imagination run away with me about what happened.”

 

“So you’re feeling better now, Andrew?”

 

“A bit. I’ll feel a whole lot better when I see you again.” Markus cringed a bit, knowing with one hundred percent certainty what the next question would be. And sure enough, Andrew went there. “When do you think you’ll be coming back?”

 

“Andrew, I’m sorry, but I can’t say for certain. There’s so much I have to process, and it’s taking time. I’m doing a lot of writing to help me come to terms with it all, and that’s actually helping a bit with recovering memories too -- well, a few of them anyway. But I just don’t feel settled down enough yet, or ready to move forward. I need your love, for sure, but right now I also need your understanding that I require space and time to work on my own healing. You do understand that, don’t you?”

 

Andrew still didn’t quite understand it, but he did understand clearly that Markus still loved him and truly needed his love and support right now. “I do, Markus. Keep working in your own time, and your own way. I’ll be here whenever you feel ready.”

 

“I love you, Andrew.”

 

“I love you, Markus.”

 

And they clicked off.

 

Andrew sank slowly back down on the bed, putting his phone down on the nightstand, and then slowly rolling over with an expression of dread on his face to look at the face of the man lying naked beside him. He’d expected to see anger -- and was surprised to see there nothing but sadness and compassion.

 

“So that was him,” his companion said.

 

***************

 

About five hours earlier, after Henrik had left the pub to head home, Andrew had ordered another beer and sat there, brooding, and thinking his thoughts with a deep, solemn expression on his face. A few guys who were intrigued by his appearance quickly realized, after a close second look, that he was off somewhere much more important to him and probably wouldn’t welcome any interruption. As it was, he had barely finished half the beer at the end of nearly an hour. The brew in his glass was getting decidedly warm, and he sighed and pushed it away. Just then, a hand fell on his shoulder and a familiar voice said, “Andrew. You okay? You look as if you just lost a fortune on a bad bet.”

 

He looked up, and his mind – which had almost been on another planet – matched the face to the voice and produced the name for his use.

 

“Hi, Jimmy.”

 

“Need some company?”

 

“I wouldn’t object.”

 

Jimmy sat down, waved Gary, the waiter, over and ordered two more beers. Gary took away the one that Andrew had pushed aside, guessing rightly that it had gotten so warm that its owner didn’t want it any more. Once he’d delivered the fresh drinks, Jimmy came straight to the point.

 

“You want to talk about whatever it is that’s made you look so lost and vacant?”

 

“I don’t know, Jimmy. I feel bad about burdening you with my problems.”

 

“From the looks of you, you had better offload on someone, and pretty damn quickly too. Come on.”

 

Andrew took a deep breath. Once he began talking, it was hard to stop the words from pouring out. He told Jimmy all about everything that had happened, from Markus losing his job to coming home and finding the letter. He went on to describe the phone calls with Tommy and Henrik, and his own lingering fears about whether he was going to lose Markus. After he’d fallen silent again, Jimmy pondered for a moment and when he did speak, it seemed strikingly irrelevant.

 

“Have you ever heard that old saying that when three people tell you you’re drunk, you should go home and lie down?”

 

“Jimmy, I’m not drunk. Not yet, anyway.”

 

“No, perhaps you’re not, but you’ve heard this over and over, from everyone, and now you’re going to hear it from me. You know what comes shining through your whole tale of woe, loud and clear? Andrew, he loves you. He loves you, and he is going to come back to you. We just don’t know when. There, now you’ve heard it from his letter, you’ve heard it from your uncle and from that therapist, Whatshisname, and you’ve heard it from me. Persuaded yet?” Andrew still looked doubtful. “And another thing, I’ll bet he wouldn’t be very happy if he knew you were running all over the place, letting people know that you don’t trust him when he says, ‘I’ll be back.’”

 

“Jimmy, I guess what I really need is to hear it from him.”

 

“I can think of another thing you need, something that will help you relieve your stress and maybe sleep better tonight. Come on, drink up, we’re going.”

 

“Where?”

 

Jimmy smiled archly at him and then winked. “Can’t you guess?”

 

Once they reached Jimmy’s apartment, they quickly got undressed and got into bed. At first, Andrew said that he didn’t really feel like doing anything but cuddling, so Jimmy held him close and stroked him gently, reassuring him that he was loved and valued. After they’d been snuggled up together for about twenty minutes, Jimmy felt the familiar sensation of a hard cock rubbing against his own.

 

“Sure feels like you’re interested now,” he said as he wrapped his hand around Andrew’s tool and began squeezing and stroking it. After a minute of that treatment, he flung the duvet aside and slid down Andrew’s body, taking that hard dick into his mouth. One thing for sure, Jimmy definitely knew how to give a super blowjob. As he worked his way up and down, swirling his tongue around the head, and squeezing the shaft with his lips, Andrew began moaning, quietly at first, but with increasing passion.

 

“Oh, fuck, Jimmy, that’s so damn good. That feels awesome!”

 

“If you think that’s good, wait until you feel my ass.”

 

“Get up here.”

 

Andrew pulled Jimmy off his cock and up to face him, then began kissing him full-on, tongues swirling around and stabbing into each other’s mouths. As they made out, he ran his hands down Jimmy’s back and began stroking and squeezing the cheeks, then sliding his fingers into the crack and prodding at the hole. Andrew smiled as Jimmy’s hole opened right up and his finger slid in, feeling the channel already lubed up and ready to go.

 

“Well, you sure came prepared, didn’t you?”

 

Jimmy laughed happily, but his laughs turned to groans of passion as Andrew rapidly rolled him over and then mounted on top of him, his hard cock prodding into Jimmy’s crack and finding the target. “So, you want this big dick inside your ass?”

 

“Oh, yeah, give it to me. Fuck me deep and hard.”

 

With that, Andrew started to push. Jimmy opened right up and sucked him in almost as easily as he’d sucked Andrew down his throat a few minutes earlier. Once Andrew had pushed all the way into Jimmy’s hole, he came down flat upon Jimmy’s back and began kissing and nibbling at his shoulders, then digging his face into Jimmy’s neck and biting on the skin. Jimmy cried aloud, and reared his ass up, working the hole around Andrew’s solid erection, squeezing down on that cock.

 

Andrew took the hint and began pumping him, going right up to speed really quickly as he realized that Jimmy was more than ready to take what he had to give. As that fuckhole kept squeezing and chewing on his dick, he knew that this first round was going to be quick. Driving into that firm round ass faster and faster, Andrew let his moans fill the room and then gasped, “I’m going to cum.”

 

“Fuck, yeah, cum inside me, fill me up. Give me your load.”

 

Andrew exploded inside Jimmy’s working, clutching ass. After he’d finished cumming, he pulled out and then flopped over on his back. Jimmy immediately dived onto his dick, licking and sucking it clean, and kept working on it until it became hard again. It didn’t take long. Andrew was definitely good for another round. Once Jimmy had gotten his cock standing upright again, he proceeded to sit down on it, facing Andrew as he fucked himself, riding up and down like a wild man on that big rigid organ. Before long, Andrew was groaning, muttering about how incredible Jimmy’s ass felt around his dick.

 

Then Andrew sat up, wrapped his arms around Jimmy, and shifted his legs around until he could lay Jimmy down on his back and do him missionary. He started fucking really slowly, lying right down on top of Jimmy’s body and just pumping gently in and out. Jimmy wrapped his arms and legs around Andrew’s body, holding him close somewhere else altogether – and Jimmy could guess that Andrew, in a kind of waking, dream was actually making love to his lost Markus.

 

This is crazy, Jimmy thought, I’m letting this man use me as a surrogate husband, and I don’t even mind. Why doesn’t it matter to me? I guess it’s because I really like him, and he desperately needs this kind of physical closeness right now. I can give him that, and maybe help him a bit too.

 

Andrew was kissing him now, as his cock slowly picked up speed inside Jimmy’s hole. His groans got louder and more frequent as he reamed Jimmy’s ass to the max, sliding all the way out and punching all the way back in. Jimmy continued to hold him close as he fucked faster and faster. Then Andrew broke free from the arms and legs tangled around him, reared up on his knees, and jack-hammered Jimmy’s tight butt until his cock exploded, shooting a second load deep inside his butt. Jimmy gave a loud cry of, “Yes! Breed me!”, and quickly grabbed his cock, jacking a huge eruption of seed out of himself as Andrew finished cumming inside his ass.

 

Andrew slowly pulled out and then lay down beside Jimmy. Jimmy pulled him close and cuddled him, letting Andrew curl his head into Jimmy’s chest. Jimmy realized that he was feeling very paternal towards this man much older than him who was feeling like a lost child right now.

 

And then, as they lay there together, Andrew’s phone rang. It was the second ring before it registered with Andrew. That was the distinctive ring tone that belonged to just one caller on his entire list.

 

He grabbed the phone, picked up the call, and yelled, “Markus!”

 

Jimmy watched, curiously, as Andrew began talking at a mile a minute.