"Your mother should know."

[thankfuckforlife]

Who: Richie Jameson, Adrian Hewitt and Karla Jameson
What: That awkward moment where you're a hemophiliac
Where: Hospital, Monaco
When: Wednesday afternoon

Richie had gone and fucked up by forgetting to tell Adrian he had hemophilia. It wasn't, at all, intentional. Richie wasn't one of those dickheads who kept secrets that important, and he should have remembered to give Adrian a warning. Instead, what happened was that when Richie wasn't feeling well and had been throwing up, he just happened to have one particularly forceful got at hugging the toilet bowl and next thing he knew, he was throwing up blood. Which completely freaked Adrian out. Like, he almost certainly had a full-on panic attack that Richie was dying.

Luckily, Richie did manage to explain and stayed calm, despite feeling poorly. He told Adrian he needed to get to a hospital urgently, but once he was there, they would know what to do to treat him. He carried international Medic Alert details on him, and being the age of the internet, the hospital here could get his medical records from New York. Which is exactly what happened.

Richie was started on clotting factor replacement therapy, but the bleeding kept going for a little while still. Not just puking it, but his nose was bleeding too. It was all extremely unpleasant for him to go through, but probably absolutely horrific for Adrian to witness without warning. Luckily, the treatment started to ease the bleeds and they were monitoring him closely to see if he needed a blood transfusion too. The hospital was fucking immaculate. It was like a five star hotel. He had his own room, a huge TV. It was unbelievable.

When Adrian asked him if he really did want him to fly his mom in for him, Richie had just told him he was joking and it was fine. He had left a message for her on her phone, with his grandparents, and at her work so she would get it as soon as she could. She had called him up, but he had no idea that Adrian was going to turn around and fly her in anyway. Adrian had gone to get a coffee, and Richie was lying in the hospital bed waiting for the treatment to run its course like he had many a time before, completely and utterly oblivious.

Comments

[livingforlife]

When you knew your kid as well as Karla knew Richie, you often knew what he was going to say before he got as far as actually saying it. She knew that Richie wanted to tell Adrian about how he'd come to exist. And she didn't spite him that at all. He was coming into a new relationship that was already full of care and affection, and he didn't want to let Adrian be caught off guard by anything else. That was why she shifted to the side of the bed that Adrian wasn't on so that she could sit down and take Richie's other hand in her own. She gave him a nod, wanting him to know that she was okay with this, too. It was her past, but it was the beginning point of Richie's life, and Karla had never treated it like her own story that Richie couldn't talk about. She had explained to him at a young age how sex worked, and how consent was important. She'd also explained to him when he was old enough to understand where he'd come from, and that she didn't want him to ever feel like it was her secret that he couldn't tell to someone that he loved and trusted. He explained to Adrian that he didn't have a dad because he was the product of rape, and just as Karla had expected, Adrian was sweet and understanding.

"That's exactly what he was," Karla agreed with Adrian, giving Richie a warm smile. "I didn't know how to recover from what happened to me. It nearly destroyed me, and even after Richie was born, I went through a lot and didn't really know how to be a good mom to him. But my parents stepped in and took over. They're a huge part of why he's such an amazing person. Both Richie and I will be looking forward to you meeting them, because they really are incredibly wonderful people. But he was a blessing. I'll tell anyone who asks that he saved my life. He's what made me want to keep going when I felt like I didn't know how. Even when I was struggling and didn't know how to care for him, I knew that I wanted to know, and I wanted to one day be a good mom who would keep him safe and be able to love him the way he deserved to be loved." She let go of Richie's hand so that he could wrap both arms around Adrian when he leaned in to hug him. She patted Richie on the leg when Adrian broke the embrace, and though there were tears misting her eyes, she told him softly, "I'm incredibly proud of you, son. For everything, but especially for how brave you are."

[thankfuckforlife]

There was no denying that Richie really enjoyed the physical affection that seemed to come so easily with him and Adrian. Relationships should feel that nice. He did enjoy being close to him. He enjoyed cuddling up close in bed, or lying holding hands while they talked. When he had been on the up and down of throwing up back at the hotel, each time he was done, he would go back to bed because being up and around made the nausea worse and he had been exhausted. Adrian would hop into the bed with him and just softly stroke his hair (a HUGE vice of Richie's, he loved having his hair played with) or rub his back for him. The comfort was priceless, and it hadn't seemed forced or an effort. Richie was a good judge of people and character. That was probably why he had engaged in a conversation with Adrian after the Bachelor Auction rather than just jumping the cab with a 'Thanks, bai'. If there was a time Adrian wasn't feeling well, Richie wanted to be able to return the comfort for him too. That, right there, was what a relationship should be about.

The hug was very much appreciated and Richie hugged back, as tight as he could through the weakness he had with the blood loss. Cold, pallor and lethargy were the signs his mom used to note when he was a kid and had the internal bleeds. She could recognise those before the bleeds were obvious. Even getting a cold could be a pain in the ass and cause to be on-alert with him because if he sneezed too hard or wiped his nose too much, it could bleed and suddenly it would be gushing out of his nose all over the place. It had been a huge awkward moment when he went Tick-or-Treating with a school friend one year and he got a nosebleed... everyone thought it was just a really good Halloween effect of his costume. But Adrian was warm and cosy, and the embrace was secure. This giving love a second chance thing was turning out pretty fucking awesome. "I don't know about brave. Life is life, and I'm glad I have one. I'm glad things like kismet exist where I can meet amazing people who make it worth living. I'm lucky I have a great family and brilliant friends, which not everyone gets. I'm lucky I can be gay and no one thinks any differently of me for it. I'm lucky I can get ill and make wearing white really awkward, but that I'll be taken care of if it happens. I'm lucky that I'm open-minded and interested enough in life and people that I can understand when an amazing person comes into my life. The way I was made was awful, I know that. One of the most awful things that can ever happen to anyone, and I'm glad the cunt got murdered. It's not easy to talk about, and I know some people do judge me and Mom for it. I know that. I'm aware of it, I see it in their faces before they even say anything. But it doesn't make my life any less valuable or meaningful because of it. I breathe the same air as people who were conceived in perfect, loving and committed relationships. I eat the same food, and I work just as hard."

[moviesismagic]

As far as Adrian was concerned, kismet definitely existed. For one, he hadn't meant to be at that Bachelor Auction that night. He got a last minute invite when the organisers heard he was in town and would be making a sizeable donation to the hospital - which was already planned before he bid for Richie. He had stopped by, just to be polite and acknowledge the invitation. He had arrived late, and walked in just minutes before Richie was called up. Then, despite really just wanted to help Richie have an easy out of an awkward situation, Richie didn't take him up on it and they had a really fun night. Sex hadn't been planned. He didn't believe sex could 'just happen' either. There was a sizzling chemistry, it all started with a very heated kiss, and neither of them felt there was anything wrong with what they were doing, both being single adults. It led to all this, there was, indeed, kismet. No doubt about it. He didn't know what he did to deserve an adorable sweetheart like Richie stumbling into his life, but he wasn't taking any of it for granted.

He had a hold of Richie's hand and as he listened, brought it up to his lips to kiss the backs of Richie's fingers tenderly. The fact the rapist had been murdered was definitely a heavy load to drop, but Adrian actually felt relieved to hear that particular fact because he had already been concerned there might be lingering danger for Richie and his mom. "Well, I just want to promise you that while we're dating and in your life, I'll always take care of you the best I can. I haven't been through the extensive amounts of pain that no doubt come from the ordeal and probably still left a lot of scars, but I know what it's like seeing someone you love hurting. My brother used to be a model. A supermodel, actually. Tristan Hewitt is my brother. It strained him mentally and he ended up with Anorexia. He became someone none of us knew; very withdrawn and would barely speak to anything. He wasted away. He's well and healthy now, but I know the terrible judgement that exists in this world. I know good people suffer it all the time, and that it can affect them. I'm here for you. However much you want to talk or not talk about it."