Chapter 25 - 25

Reiner and Brandon sat awkwardly next to each other not knowing what to do. The doctor who was observing them could tell that there was something wrong with both of them. She remained quiet and didn't say anything pretending to be writing something in her notebook. She wanted the two of them to get comfortable and talk to each other.

Reiner had no intention of talking to Brandon and Brandon didn't feel like talking so they sat there waiting for the doctor to talk. Time was passing and the room remained quiet, the doctor realized that her tactic wasn't working and thought of trying something else.

"Brandon, please hold Reiner's hand," she said making both of them stare at her like she was a ghost. They didn't expect her to say that or ask that, Brandon started feeling nervous. What he was afraid of was happening, he was afraid of getting too close and now the doctor was asking him to do just that. The pain was too much so he hesitated in doing what he was told.

Reiner didn't like the doctor's request one bit because he didn't want to be anywhere near Brandon. But he had to admit that seeing Brandon's hesitation hurt him more than he would ever want to admit..

"Brandon, this is not optional. You have to do as I tell you, now hold his hand," the doctor repeated. Nervously Brandon reached out to hold Reiner's hand. The minute their hands touched he felt electricity travel through his body from Reiner's hand. His heartbeat picked up and started racing like crazy in his chest. All these emotions coursing through his body so suddenly made his breath heavy and it hitched. He removed his hand just as fast and looked down.

He felt empty when he let go of his hand but he had to. He was tired of losing things and he shouldn't get attached. The doctor was keenly watching him and saw all the changes that he went through. For the first time since he met Brandon he saw him being emotional. Though it was just for a few minutes she got a lot from him. She saw a lot of emotions in his eyes at that moment; fear, sadness, longing, love, and pain.

She was no expert in love but she knew enough to know that the two share a deeper connection than both of them would care to admit. She didn't find the problem with her patient but she found a possible solution.

"Reiner, it's your turn. I need you to hold Brandon's hand and do it for five minutes. I will time you and tell you when to let go," she instructed and took her phone out. Instead of opening the clock up, she checked her emails. "Start now," she said.

He took Brandon's hand and held it, it felt a bit cold but he didn't care, at least that is what he kept chanting in his head. He kept telling himself that he didn't care but not even his mind was in the mood to be fooled. He tried to ignore the warm feeling he got from holding his hand and how complete he felt at that moment. He felt like Brandon's hand was a perfect fit for his and he wanted to hold his hand forever. He closed his eyes to get rid of the thoughts in his head. He intertwined theirs hands subconsciously and held on to Brandon tightly.

That simple thing sent Brandon from reality to crazy town. The screws in his head came loose and his mind became chaotic. His heart had long won the marathon but it still kept beating faster than he had ever felt his heartbeat before. The butterflies in his stomach were flapping their wings happily making a blush appear on his face. He was blushing so hard, his mind kept screaming at him. 'He still cares about you' he thought over and over again.

The doctor took note of both their reaction and applauded herself for being right. Reiner didn't have any expression on his face but his body language told her how he felt. Brandon on the other hand was an open book with all his emotions on display for her to see.

"Time is up," she said bringing Reiner out of his trance. He opened his eyes and saw their fingers intertwined, he glanced up at Brandon who was also looking at him. He saw the same boy that he met that day at the cafe, with all the pain and sorrow that he saw in his eyes that day if not more. He tightened his hold on his hand, he couldn't bear to see him like that. He wanted to pull him for a hug but recalled how Brandon had hugged Zane so tightly right in front of him. Like it wasn't bad enough that he kissed him so he went ahead and embraced him. All his rage and anger resurfaced and he yanked Brandon's hand away.

Brandon was surprised and he wanted to complain but the look on Reiner's face told him otherwise. The anger and hatred were visible for him to see and he didn't like what he saw. The warm feeling from a moment ago vanished and was replaced by a cold feeling that he had grown used to. The pain in his heart came back but he stayed silent, he didn't cry or say anything to the two people in the room.

"Now what I want you to do i...," she started saying but stopped when Brandon fell from his seat and dropped unconscious on the ground. She got up and went to him. "Reiner help me," she said and that is when the frozen boy got his senses back and carried Brandon to the nurse's office. The nurse was not around so the doctor was the one to do the check. She checked upon him and gave him an injection and turned to Reiner.

"We need to talk Mr. Devon," she said and signaled him to come out of the room. They walked out of the room and stood in the corridor leaning on the wall.

"What do you want to talk about?" asked Reiner feeling nervous, he was worried about Brandon and hoped the doctor wasn't going to give him bad news concerning the boy.

"Your relationship with Brandon," she said. "And don't deny it, I know that something is going on between the two of you," she added.

"I don't know what gave you that idea but there is no such thing going on between the two of us," he replied strongly.

"Is that so, reading people is part of my job and I know what I am saying so stop denying it. I want to help Brandon and I need your help. He has not been as expressive as he was when you held his hand and I saw him come to life just from it so please help me," she said.

"If you want him to come alive then invite his boyfriend to come here and do that for him," he said bitterly.

"Boyfriend?" she asked. "I didn't know that Brandon had a boyfriend," she said.

"Now you know and if there is nothing more I will leave," he said and left. What the doctor had said, seeing Brandon like that broke his heart. He wanted to stay and help Brandon but Zane keeps popping up in his mind and he stops.