Work Text:
Caitlyn finished placing the last vase of begonias on a table and opened her cell phone to find two messages. The first, from Sky, said “I can’t find Viktor.” The second, from Vi (Wedding Photographer), said, “Can you call me? Have a question.”
Caitlyn texted Sky, “What do you mean, you can’t find him?” took a moment to regret telling Jayce that she would take over the wedding planning, and pressed Vi’s name on the screen.
“Okay, I’m on my way, but we’ve had a small complication,” Vi (Wedding Photographer) said, and Caitlyn realized this was the first time she’d heard her speak. All of their previous correspondence had taken place over email. She had a nice voice, deep and clear. Which was not what Caitlyn should be thinking about.
“Who are you talking to?” said a voice in the background, accompanied by the first notes of “Brutal.”
Vi said, “The wedding planner, keep it down,” and the second voice squealed in protest as the music quieted. “Sorry. That’s why I was calling, actually. My babysitter backed out at the last second and I don’t want to leave my sister alone for like 5 hours, especially at night.”
The second voice squeaked, “I can stay by myself!”
“Not after last time! Powder will just stick with me, I promise. She won’t distract from the wedding.”
“Yeah, of course you can bring her,” Caitlyn said. “Just tell me you’re on your way.”
“Seven minutes. Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.” Olivia Rodrigo once again reached ear-splitting volume as Vi hung up. Caitlyn returned to her text messages, trying to ignore the way her cheeks were burning.
“I went to get my laptop from my car, and when I came back he wasn’t in the hotel room. He’s not answering my texts,” Sky had typed.
“Are you dressed?” Caitlyn wrote back.
Sky texted back almost instantly. “Soon!” Which meant she had gotten distracted by whatever she was doing on her laptop and hadn’t even thought about hair or makeup or putting on her dress.
“Get ready. I’ll find Viktor,” Caitlyn texted back. She wasn’t sure why she’d expected Sky to be much help as the other best person. Sky was a brilliant scientist, an excellent teacher if her reviews on Rate My Professor were any indication, and a very good friend–but she was not a person who cared about clothing, flowers, music, or food. And as far as Caitlyn could tell, that was pretty much what a wedding was.
Caitlyn really needed fewer scientists in her life.
Speaking of which, she had a missing groom to locate.
She texted Viktor as she walked to the parking lot, though she didn’t expect him to answer. Viktor rarely seemed to remember he owned a phone.
His and Jayce’s car was still in the parking lot, so he probably hadn’t left. Where would he go that wasn’t the room, then? Caitlyn started back toward the elevator, then stopped when she spotted a head of auburn hair at the hotel bar.
Viktor didn’t have a drink in front of him, just a glass of water and a notebook. When Caitlyn got closer she could see he was working on equations, which sparked horrifying thoughts of the Finite Mathematics exam she would have to study for at some point.
“Sky put out a missing persons report for you,” Caitlyn said.
Viktor didn’t look up from his math. “I told her I had work to do.”
He probably had told her, and Sky had probably been so distracted by her own work that she hadn’t paid attention. Thus the fewer-scientists-in-Caitlyn’s-life desire.
“You don’t have work to do, unless that work is getting married,” Caitlyn said.
Viktor and Jayce had been dating for months before Caitlyn believed Jayce’s claims that Viktor had emotions. But after 3.5 years, she had a chance of interpreting them at least some of the time. And she thought, from the way he pressed his lips together and avoided her eyes, that he was probably nervous.
“Second thoughts?” she asked.
“Not about Jayce. But I am–uncomfortable with the idea of people looking at me.”
Caitlyn decided now would be the wrong time to point out that he lectured freshmen three times a week.
Viktor looked down at his notebook. “My vows aren’t ready.”
“You haven’t written them?” She tried not to sound like she was about to jab her eyes out with a pencil. She didn’t succeed.
“I have, but they’re not–adequate.”
“Are you Caitlyn Kirraman?” a voice said.
Caitlyn turned and felt her stomach flip.
She was staring at a woman with bright pink hair shaved into an undercut, blue-gray eyes, and black jeans tucked into combat boots. Tattoos ran up her neck and across her face, and she had a scar through one of her eyebrows. Caitlyn’s mouth went dry.
They looked almost exactly the same age. And she had to be gay, right? With that undercut and those boots?
Okay, so Caitlyn shouldn’t make assumptions. People always assumed she was straight, and it sucked. But if Vi (Wedding Photographer) was queer–
Vi had a camera. She was here to take pictures. Caitlyn needed to focus.
Vi also had another person with her, a girl in a fluffy, bright purple dress and combat boots that matched her own. “This is Powder,” Vi said.
The smaller girl waved.
“I’m Caitlyn. This is Viktor.”
“Oh yeah, congrats! Is that what you’re wearing in the pictures?” Vi asked.
Viktor looked down at his Emory University sweatshirt and black joggers.
“Change and come back with Jayce and Sky, okay? I’m going to take Vi to get some shots of the tables and stuff.” Caitlyn hesitated, looking back at the unbearably hot photographer she’d somehow hired. “If that’s good with you?”
“Hey, you’re the one paying me,” Vi said.
Caitlyn watched Viktor grab his forearm crutch and walk out of the room. When she was sure he wasn’t coming back, she texted Jayce, “Check on your fiance. He’s freaking a bit.” Then she led Vi and Powder to the tables and candles and begonias.
Caitlyn had to stop herself from staring while Vi worked. She stayed on the balls of her feet as she snapped pictures, darting around the room like a dancer or a boxer.
Powder lost interest after a few minutes and tried to climb on one of the tables.
“Not the tablecloths. They’re rented,” Caitlyn said, and then realized with a shudder that she sounded like her mom.
“Sit in a chair, Pow,” Vi said without emerging from behind the camera. Powder stuck out her lip but obeyed, slumping down in an actual chair with an X-Men comic book.
“So how’d you end up planning this wedding?” Vi said.
“I offered. It’s a good distraction from choosing my major.”
“If it makes you feel better, I barely made it out of high school.”
Caitlyn felt a surge of guilt. “You have a job. That’s impressive.” She chewed her lip. “I’m sorry, that was–I was rude. I shouldn’t be whining that I get to go to college.”
“Don’t apologize. College sounds like a nightmare.”
“That’s why I’m not going,” Powder said without looking up from her comic book.
“You sure as hell are. I don’t care if it kills both of us, you’re going to the best goddamn school you can get into.”
Powder rolled her eyes and went back to reading.
“Don’t listen to her bullshit,” Vi said. “She’s the smartest person I know. She’s teaching herself calculus.”
A smile tugged at Caitlyn’s lips. “You’re forbidden to tell Jayce. I’ve already lost Viktor and Sky’s concentration, I can’t afford to lose his too.”
“Jayce is your brother, right?”
“Not biologically. He rented a room at our house during his undergrad, and I’d always wanted a sibling, so I latched on. And my parents really loved him too, so now he’s stuck.”
“Who’s stuck?” Jayce said, and Caitlyn turned to see him, Viktor, Sky and Ximena, somehow all in suits or dresses, which made her want to weep with relief. Viktor still hung behind the others, but the tension had left his shoulders, and he smiled when Jayce leaned over to say something to him.
“Vows?” Caitlyn whispered when he stepped closer to her, and Viktor nodded. She exhaled.
“So what groups do y’all want to do?” Vi said. When no one responded, she suggested, “Everyone together?” and arranged them into a clump.
She took a few more pictures–Jayce and Caitlyn, Viktor and Sky, all four of them–and then started to take some of Jayce and his mom. Caitlyn shifted closer to Vi and said under her breath, “Don’t make a big thing about pictures of Viktor’s family, okay?”
Vi nodded and gave her a small smile. “I get it. I was a foster kid.”
Which is why you make sure your sister isn’t, Caitlyn thought, and realized this was very, very bad, because she’d somehow managed to hire a wedding photographer who was both unbearably hot and a far better person than her.
Ximena motioned Viktor over, and Vi took pictures of the three of them. Then she said, “Okay, everyone out but the couple,” and Ximena, Sky, and Caitlyn headed for the hotel hallway. Caitlyn was surprised to see Powder trailing after them.
She must have noticed Caitlyn’s questioning look. “It’s easier to get the really good pictures if no one else is there to watch them make goopy eyes at each other,” she said. “Like the ones you were making at my sister.”
Caitlyn couldn’t see her own eyes, but she was sure they looked nothing like her brother’s did at the moment. Jayce and Viktor had been through two degrees, three apartments, hundreds of work days, and at least six or seven hospital stays together. Caitlyn couldn’t possibly look at a girl she’d met an hour ago the way they looked at each other.
But maybe her gaze had been a little bit goopy.
The ceremony was perfect. Sky started crying halfway through the Neruda poem Jayce had asked her to read, and Mel had to stop before the vows when Viktor started to cough badly enough that he needed to sit down, but it was the first wedding ceremony Caitlyn had ever attended that felt exactly the way a wedding should feel.
Caitlyn didn’t see much of Vi during the ceremony–she was good at staying out of sight while she snapped pictures, and Caitlyn was a little caught up in the poems and the vows and Mel’s speech and the huge, goofy grin on Jayce’s face that kept making Viktor flush and smile and then try to hide it. She was so happy with everyone in the room, so full of love for all of them, even her mom and Jayce’s awful City Council coworkers, that she could feel it radiating off her.
Most people were finishing up their dinner by the time Caitlyn finally got hers. Frank Sinatra was playing, and a few couples had started to dance. Professor Heimerdinger stood near Jayce and Viktor’s table, saying something that made Jayce laugh, and Cailtyn took a bite of arepa and savored the feeling of successfully pulling off a wedding. A few more hours of people dancing and drinking, then maybe an hour of shoving flowers, candles, tablecloths and gifts into boxes, and she would have done it.
She heard an explosion from the kitchen.
There shouldn’t be anyone in the kitchen. It was a tiny room, designed only for catering staff, and they hadn’t paid any staff to stay through the ceremony. The restaurant team who’d dropped off the food had left hours ago.
Caitlyn sprang to her feet and raced toward the sound, but Jayce beat her there. He flung open the kitchen door, releasing a horrible, chemical smell that forced Caitlyn to cover her mouth and nose with her arm.
“No one come in!” Jayce shouted, and then, of course, barrelled into the kitchen. Caitlyn followed.
Powder sat cross-legged in the middle of the kitchen, the remnants of a plastic bowl in front of her and a haze of smoke surrounding her. Caitlyn grabbed the girl by the elbow and pulled her out of the kitchen as Jayce ran for the fire extinguisher.
They had to shove past the guests crowded around the door to get to safety. “Everyone out in the hall!” Caitlyn yelled, but no one moved.
“Let’s go. Outside,” Mel said, and people finally began to migrate.
Caitlyn pulled Powder into the corridor and knelt in front of her. “Are you hurt?”
“You didn’t let me write down what the mixture did!” she said.
“It exploded,” Caitlyn said.
“Oh my god, Powder.” Vi emerged from the door and rushed toward them.
“I’m okay. It was just an experiment.”
“What were you thinking? I’m working. You could have injured someone.”
“I got bored, and they had a ton of cleaning supplies with interesting chemical make-ups. I wanted to see what would happen.”
Vi turned to Caitlyn. “I am so, so sorry.”
“Is everyone out?” Caitlyn said.
“Everyone except Jayce.”
“I’m here,” Jayce said from the doorway. “Smoke’s gone, no flames. We’re all good.”
Relief rushed through Caitlyn’s veins. “I am so, so sorry,” Vi said again, then whirled on her sister. “You know you’re grounded.”
“Noooo.” Powder dragged the word out to 6 or 7 dramatic syllables. “I already promised Ekko I’d be at the skate park tomorrow, and you have to drive.”
“Oh, I’ll take him to the skate park,” Vi said. “And you’ll stay at home and think about how you almost killed one of my clients.” She motioned to Viktor, who was bent over coughing beside Jayce.
Caitlyn left to get Viktor water and to let Vi deal with whatever older sister/surrogate parent lecture needed to happen. When she got back, her mom was deep in conversation with the hotel manager. For once, Caitlyn was grateful to step back and let her take control of a situation when no one had asked her to.
She brought the water to Viktor, whose coughing had slowed, though he was still too out of breath to speak. He tilted his head in acknowledgement when Caitlyn handed him the water, and Jayce said, “Thanks, Cait.”
“Sorry about the explosion at your wedding.”
“It’s not the first explosion at one of our family events,” Jayce said. Viktor held up two fingers. “Yeah, not the second either.”
“It is a little bit appropriate.” Caitlyn smiled.
The hotel staff gave them permission to go back in the room–Caitlyn suspected money had changed hands, but didn’t ask–and the reception resumed.
The rest of the night was divided between eating and dancing and drinking, though by 10 pm the drinking was definitely winning. When Heimerdinger started doing the macarena to a song that wasn’t the macarena, Caitlyn decided it was time to wave Jayce and Viktor back to their hotel room and clean up.
Her mom, Sky, Mel, and a still very excited Heimerdinger stayed to help, though Caitlyn suspected that only Sky and maybe Heimerdinger regularly cleaned any of their own messes. She still appreciated their efforts.
Caitlyn was folding a tablecloth when she noticed Vi still standing by the wall. She fumbled in her purse for the cash she’d brought for a tip and held it out to the photographer. “Sorry, you can go. I didn’t mean to keep you.”
Vi took the money, their fingers almost brushing, and their eyes locked. Caitlyn’s cheeks burned. She ducked her head.
“Sorry again,” Vi said.
“Don’t be. It’ll make a good story.”
Vi opened her mouth, then shut it and cleared her throat. “I’ll email you the pictures.”
“Yeah, email is great.”
Vi nodded, took a quick step back, and said, “Pow, let’s go.”
“Finally,” her sister said, and then, reluctantly, “Sorry I almost ruined your brother’s wedding.”
“Apology accepted.” Caitlyn smiled and turned back to her tablecloths so she wouldn’t be tempted to steal glances as Vi walked away.
Vi emailed her, Jayce and Viktor a few days later with the photos attached. Caitlyn immediately abandoned the essay on Yeats she was supposed to be writing to open the files.
The pictures were better than Caitlyn had hoped for. Vi had included the standard ones–the family and friends shots she’d had taken before the ceremony, photos of Mel’s opening speech and Jayce and Viktor saying their vows–but she’d also included pictures Caitlyn hadn’t noticed her taking. Mel, Jayce and Viktor laughing around their dinner table, Mel covering her mouth with one hand, Jayce’s head tilted back. Heimerdinger doing some sort of whirling dance next to Sky, hands raised in the air. Jayce and Viktor sitting next to each other, knees touching, during what Caitlyn realized were the moments immediately after Viktor’s coughing fit during the ceremony. Their hands were intertwined on top of Jayce’s leg, and though Jayce wasn’t smiling, there was a tender, awed look on his face that made Caitlyn’s heart ache.
The photos are great, she texted Vi. I’ll let Jayce and Viktor pick which ones they want, but they’re all great.
Vi texted her back almost immediately. What can I say. I’m good at my job.
Then a second message: But for real, thanks.
You’re very welcome.
So now that I don’t work for you anymore–would it be okay if I asked you out for coffee?
It was a good thing Caitlyn’s roommate was safely ensconced in her bedroom on the other side of the apartment, so she didn’t see Caitlyn drop her phone, reach down to grab it, lose her balance, and fall halfway out of her desk chair. Caitlyn’s fingers shook as she scrolled back to her messages.
Vi had texted her again. Sorry if it’s weird to ask that when my sister almost blew you up.
It’s not weird , Caitlyn typed back. Unless it’s also weird that I would really like to get coffee with you.
She stared at her phone screen, barely breathing until she saw Vi begin to type.
Are you free next Wednesday? At like 6 or 7? I don’t work that day.
I have Pride Alliance on Wednesdays. I could do Friday?
I have to work. But after 8 is okay. The Last Drop at 8:30?
Caitlyn texted back Yeah. See you there before looking up what The Last Drop was. It was a coffee shop, not far from her apartment. Perfect.
Caitlyn was eleven minutes late for her date, partly because of traffic but mostly because she spent too long putting outfits on and taking them back off. Vi was already seated at a table and jumped up when she saw Caitlyn come in. They went to order.
Vi got plain coffee but didn’t make fun of Caitlyn’s iced vanilla oat milk latte, which scored her several points.
“So you’re part of the Pride Alliance?” Vi said when they sat down with their drinks.
“Vice-president this year.”
“Glad I didn’t read you wrong.”
“Straight people can be in Pride Alliance,” Caitlyn said, then grinned. “But no, you didn’t read me wrong.”
“So are you going to be president next year?”
Caitlyn shrugged. “Depends on elections. But I’ll run.”
“So is that what you want to do? Activism?”
Caitlyn hesitated. The last thing she wanted was to seem like an entitled, naive college kid. But Vi was gazing at her like she genuinely wanted to hear the answer.
“Everyone says this, but I want a job that helps people? As a kid I wanted to be a cop, so I could keep people safe. But then I realized that’s not what cops do a lot of the time, so–maybe I’ll be a social worker? I thought about being a paramedic or a nurse, but I hate hospitals.”
“Me too.” Vi was quiet for a moment, then said, “I think it’s cool that you want to do something meaningful. Especially when you could just go work for your mom’s company in marketing or sales or some shit.”
“You Googled me?” Caitlyn said.
“Dude, I Googled you when you hired me. Which is how I know your mom is like, a billionaire.”
“She’s not a billionaire,” Caitlyn mumbled miserably. She was a millionaire, but that didn’t help.
“I still think it’s cool that you don’t want to work for her.”
“I think it’s cool that you’re a photographer.”
Vi grinned, and Caitlyn tried not to stare at how it made the tattoos on her face and neck shift. “It was an accident. I didn’t hate my photography class, so when I graduated my teacher gave me one of her old cameras as a gift. And working here–” She motioned around The Last Drop– “wasn’t enough to take care of me and Powder.”
“You worked here?”
“Still do. You think I can support two people with one job?”
“If the minimum wage wasn’t grossly unfair, you could,” Caitlyn said, feeling like pond scum.
Vi grinned. “Yeah, get your mom on that, why don’t you?”
“She’s on City Council. Georgia law says only the state can decide minimum wage.”
“She tried it?”
Caitlyn scoffed. “No, my mom doesn’t care. Jayce looked into it a few years ago.”
“I’ll consider adding him to my ‘okay-guy list.”
Caitlyn grinned. “He’s an annoyingly good person. And unfortunately also smart. Which is why I’ve had to resign myself to being my mother’s second-favorite child while being an only child.”
“I’m pretty sure Powder was my foster dad’s favorite. Not that he would say it, or that I felt like I wasn’t important or anything.” Vi smiled. “But she was a really, really cute kid.”
“Do you still talk to your foster dad?”
“He died.”
Caitlyn’s stomach dropped. “I’m really messing this date up, aren’t I?”
“Nah, I brought him up.”
“I’m sure I can come up with a topic that isn’t like, needle torture,” Caitlyn said. “What do you do for fun?”
Vi’s eyes lit up. “I box. I have a friend who lets me use her gym for free in exchange for washing the towels. Good way to get frustration out.”
“I go skeet shooting.”
“What?”
“I hate hunting. But my dad used to take me skeet shooting when I was young, and now that’s my stress relief.”
Vi’s face broke into a broad smile. “You are full of surprises, cupcake.”
Heat flooded Caitlyn’s neck, but she was spared from figuring out what to say next when Vi’s phone buzzed. Vi glanced down at it and said, “I’m sorry, I need to answer. It’s Powder.”
“Yeah, take it,” Caitlyn said quickly.
“I won’t ditch you.” Vi winked, and Caitlyn felt her stomach float away.
Vi went outside, so Caitlyn checked her own phone. Her only text was from Sky.
How is your date???!!!!
I should have you arrested for overuse of punctuation , Caitlyn typed back.
😔
Shouldn’t you be in the lab?
It’s Friday night, I’m not in the lab.
Oh, so you’re working at home?
Sky texted a picture of a dense, scribbled-over chart. Guilty. But I ordered Indian food as a treat.
God, I would kill for Indian food right now.
Take your date and go get some!
Caitlyn looked up as Vi walked back into the shop, looking frazzled. “I hate to do this.”
“You have to go?”
Vi nodded. “Powder’s at a band party, and someone brought beer. So now she’s drunk, and the girl who was supposed to drive her and her friends home is drunk. And I told her a long time ago that if anything like that happened, she could always call me and I’d come get her.”
“Yeah, Jayce used to do that for me if I was afraid to tell my mom.” Caitlyn had spent a lot of nights on the sofa in Jayce’s apartment, and later the sofa in Jayce and Viktor’s apartment.
“I’m not trying to ditch our date.”
“I know you’re not.” Caitlyn waved a hand. “Go!”
“Thanks.” Vi ducked out the door, leaving Caitlyn staring at her empty coffee cup.
Vi texted her a link to a video the next day. It showed four teenagers, including Powder, crammed into the backseat of a sedan, singing along to Lil Nas X on the radio. So you know I wasn’t lying about why I ditched you, she wrote.
A smile stretched across Caitlyn’s lip as Powder moved the screen from her own face to the face of the boy next to her, who mugged for the camera while singing, then passed the phone to two other boys pressed against the window.
You’re a good big sister, she texted back.
I know. Can I make our date up to you? Tuesday night?
Absolutely, Caitlyn wrote back, and returned to her Yeats essay.
The rest of her weekend was taken up by shifts at the library, homework, and endless thoughts about her continued lack of a major. She had to meet with her advisor on Friday. She was doomed.
Caitlyn was walking out of her Sociology of Gender class–her favorite of the semester–when she looked down and saw she had a missed call from Jayce. But Jayce should have been teaching. He had back-to-back classes on Tuesdays.
Caitlyn’s stomach clenched as she pressed his name on the screen. Jayce picked up immediately, but his voice was crackly, like he was on speakerphone. “Did I interrupt your class?”
“It’s okay.” Caitlyn stepped off the sidewalk packed with people leaving class so she wouldn’t block them. “Is it Viktor?”
“He was having trouble breathing and passed out during one of his classes. One of his students came and got me, but that was all she knew. I’m headed to the hospital now.”
“Shit,” Caitlyn said.
“Yeah. Shit.” Jayce took a shaky breath and said, “I wanted to know if you could feed Rosalind tonight? I don’t think I’ll be back in time.”
“Of course. Do you need any stuff?”
“We have go bags in the bedroom closet you can grab, if you have a chance. But you don’t have to leave class.”
“I’m done,” Caitlyn said. She had a pile of homework awaiting her, but she was, technically, done with classes. “I’ll be there soon.”
“Thank you.”
“Love you. Go take care of your husband.” Caitlyn hung up before Jayce could hear the tremble in her voice. It was her turn to hold it together.
She walked back to her apartment to grab her car and reached Viktor and Jayce’s apartment in less than 15 minutes. As soon as she unlocked the door, Rosalind came out to greet her, pressing against her ankles and purring.
“You weren’t expecting someone home so early, huh?” Caitlyn knelt down to pet her head. Rosalind purred louder.
It wasn’t time for her to eat yet, but Caitlyn didn’t know when she’d come back, and the cat would have a tough time of it anyway with her dads gone for the night. Caitlyn got a can of wet food and plopped it onto a plate, and Rosalind immediately decided she wasn’t interested in being petted anymore.
Cailtyn left her in the kitchen and walked into the bedroom. The bed was unmade and the bedside tables covered in pill bottles and lip balm and a copy of Heretics of Dune. Caitlyn didn’t like the reminders that they hadn’t packed up to leave, that them not coming back that night was accidental.
She pulled open the closet and found the two backpacks Viktor and Jayce had left at the bottom of it. She double-checked to make sure there were clothes and toiletries inside, then added the Dune book and pills. She wasn’t sure which meds were supposed to go to the hospital, but she figured better safe than sorry.
Rosalind stopped her at the doorway, pressing against her ankles again. Caitlyn knelt to pet her. “It’s going to be okay, Ros,” she said, but she heard herself choking and had to stop.
There were a lot of things Caitlyn was afraid of–that she wouldn’t ever find a career she could tolerate or do anything meaningful with her life, that her mother would always be disappointed in her, that she would never get through a first date she didn’t destroy–but her most constant was that she would pick up the phone and hear Jayce crying.
Caitlyn pressed her forehead against her knees and took four deep breaths, in and out, in and out. Then she petted Rosalind one more time, grabbed the backpacks, and left the apartment.
Jayce texted her the hospital room number, so Caitlyn went straight to the cardiopulmonary wing. She ducked her head as she wound through the hallways to avoid eye contact with the nurses. She really hated hospitals.
Viktor’s room was in the middle of the hall, and when Caitlyn pushed open the door she saw just one bed, which was a relief. Shared rooms were the worst. Viktor was asleep, already hooked up to oxygen and an IV. His braces and crutch lay next to the bed. Jayce sat in the only chair, bent over a laptop.
“Thank you,” he said when Caitlyn dropped the bags. He started to stand and give her the chair, but Caityln waved him off and perched on the end of the bed.
“How’s he doing?”
“His blood oxygen levels aren’t great,” Jayce said.
“Was he feeling sick?”
“He was tired yesterday.” Jayce rubbed his forehead. “Maybe I wasn’t paying attention.”
“I’m always tired. It’s not your fault you aren’t psychic,” Caitlyn said.
“I wish he’d said something.”
“Probably didn’t want to worry you.”
“‘I might be in the midst of hypoxemia’ is the sort of thing I like to know about my partner.”
Caitlyn snorted, and Jayce smiled. “I fed Rosalind,” she said.
“Thank you.” Jayce stood up to adjust the blanket over Viktor’s legs and glanced at the monitors again. Caitlyn didn’t know what he was looking at, but whatever it was, it made him shake his head and sit back down.
“You want me to bring you dinner or something?” Caitlyn said.
“No, I’m alright. You should go home. You probably have plans. Or homework?”
Caitlyn looked at Viktor. He was always pale, but now all the blood had drained from his cheeks. When she and Jayce stopped talking, she could hear his strained breathing.
“I’d rather stay.” The thought of going home and pretending everything was normal for her roommate made her feel nauseated.
“Alright, but you’ll have to distract me,” Jayce said.
“With what?”
“Anything but medical stuff.”
Caitlyn stared at her backpack, still holding all of her textbooks. “What would you think if I majored in sociology?”
Jayce leaned forward in his chair. “You picked your major?”
“Maybe. Sociology of Gender is my favorite course. And if I want to do anything meaningful, I need to actually understand class, inequality, cultural capital, all that stuff.”
“I think that’s awesome, Cait.”
“Not as impressive as biomedical engineering.”
“It’s every bit as impressive, and anyway I don’t want more people trying to get our funding.”
He smiled, and Caitlyn scoffed. “I think every sociology student in the world shares $12 to buy printer ink.”
“But seriously, understanding how people build societies–doesn’t get much more important than that. I know you don’t care whether I’m proud of you or not, but I am.”
“I care,” Caitlyn said.
Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out to see one missed call and three texts from Vi, spread out over an hour and a half.
Hey, you coming?
Did something happen?
I’m probably going to head out. Hope you’re okay.
Oh no.
“What’s wrong?” Jayce said. “Or what else is wrong?”
“I had a date,” Caitlyn said.
Jayce’s face fell. “I’m sorry. You can go.”
“I already more than missed it.” She stood up. “I’m just going to call her and say I’m sorry.”
“You have a good excuse.”
Caitlyn nodded and walked into the hospital hallway–which wasn’t any more private, but at least the nurses probably didn’t care what she was talking about.
Vi answered almost immediately. “You okay?”
Caitlyn felt sick, her stomach and head heavy. She couldn’t fix this, and she couldn’t force out the words to explain. “Yeah, I um–you probably figured this out, but I can’t meet up. I’ve got–family stuff.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No,” Caitlyn said, too quickly. She wanted to get off the phone.
A moment of silence stretched between them, and then Vi said, “Okay. Call me if you want to reschedule.”
“Sure.” Caitlyn fumbled at the button to hang up, shoved her phone into her back pocket, and walked back into the hospital room. Jayce looked up and said, “It didn’t go well?”
Caitlyn shrugged. “She was nice about it. I just don’t think it’s going anywhere.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you liked her.”
Caitlyn thought of the way Vi had smiled about her being a crack shot, about the video of her sister and her friends singing in the backseat and the way her tattoo moved as her expressions changed. “I do. But every time we see each other, there’s an explosion or her sister gets drunk or Viktor ends up in the hospital. I feel like maybe the universe is telling me something.”
“The universe doesn’t tell us anything.”
“Please don’t give me a scientist talk.”
“Can I give you a big brother talk?”
Caitlyn felt a surge of guilt. Jayce was having a far worse day than her, and he still wanted to help. And all she could do was snap at him.
“Yeah.” She looked at Viktor, willing his eyelids to flicker open. They didn’t. His breaths whistled in his lungs, even with the oxygen.
“The universe is a random collection of atoms running into each other. There’s no plan, no message.”
“Is this actually just an existential crisis talk?”
“And that’s terrifying, but it’s also incredible. It’s incredible that people meet people, by chance, and decide to hold onto each other, in the midst of all that chaos.” Jayce looked away from her, and Caitlyn didn’t follow his gaze, not wanting to interrupt a private moment.
“So if you don’t like her, or don’t feel like a relationship, or don’t want to date someone who has to raise a teenager, that’s cool. But if you do want to be with her and you’re waiting for it to be easy, that’s not going to happen. What’s going to happen is kitchens blowing up, and sisters calling in the middle of dates, and this.” Jayce motioned at the hospital room around them. “You don’t get to decide what kind of shit the world’s going to throw at you. You just get to decide who you weather it with.”
Caitlyn walked across the room and wrapped her arms around Jayce’s shoulders. He squeezed her back, and she could feel his breaths becoming shaky.
Vikor said something from behind them. Caitlyn didn’t understand Serbian–she barely understood Cantonese, another failure in comparison to all of her bilingual loved ones–but she caught Jayce’s name.
Jayce ran to the bed. “I’m here,” he said, and Viktor reached for his hand and said something else in Serbian. Then he shook his head and said, in English, “I passed out during class?”
“Yeah.”
Viktor winced. “How bad?” Jayce started to talk oximeter readings, and Caitlyn gazed at her phone and tried not to listen. She couldn’t focus on the screen, but she wasn’t sure whether the details were supposed to be her business or not.
She looked up when Viktor said, “Thank you for coming, Caitlyn. And for the bags.”
She squeezed the hand Jayce had finally released, trying not to press against the IV, and said, “Of course.”
“She blew off a date for you. And for Rosalind,” Jayce said. Viktor began to cough, and he reached out to rub his partner’s back.
“Don’t tell him that,” Caitlyn said.
When the coughing subsided Viktor said, “That was unnecessary, but Rosalind and I thank you. Please use me as an excuse to ensure the pink-haired wedding photographer is not angry with you.”
“She isn’t.”
“Good. I like her.”
“I do too,” Caitlyn said. Jayce pushed one of Viktor’s curls away from his face, and Viktor leaned his cheek against Jayce’s hand.
“I need to make a call.” Caitlyn wanted to give them a moment. And also to make a call.
She walked into the corridor and pressed Vi’s name on her messages screen. Vi picked up immediately.
“I’m at the hospital with Viktor and Jayce. Viktor passed out during one of his classes. And right now oxygen isn’t helping very much,” Caitlyn said without waiting for a hello.
Caitlyn heard a muffled shout of “Powder! Not right now,” and then, unmuffled, Vi said, “I’m so sorry. That sucks.”
“It does suck,” Caitlyn said. “And I didn’t want to tell you because I was scared that if I told anyone who wasn’t here right now, it would be true. But I should have said I was at the hospital, instead of blowing off our date by being a dick. And I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. We’ll get together when things are better. And I’ll take you boxing so you can punch things.”
“That sounds really good, actually.”
“Take care of yourself, cupcake. And tell Jayce and Viktor I’m thinking of them.”
“Thank you.” Caitlyn hung up and realized her chest felt warm for the first time since Jayce had called her.
Caitlyn stayed at the hospital until night fell, then went back to her apartment. Viktor wasn’t awake when she left, but Jayce was, still hunched over his laptop.
She had her Finite Mathematics exam the next day, and since she was already on campus she went to her other classes too. By the time she fed Rosalind and got back to the hospital, it was almost six.
Caitlyn walked into the front lobby, ready to head straight for the elevator, and found Vi, Powder, and one of the boys from the lip syncing video waiting for her.
She froze. “Vi? What are you doing here?”
“Bringing you coffee. I had to pick Powder and Ekko up from band, so they’re helping. Iced oat milk vanilla latte?” Vi held the cup out to Caitlyn.
“And a cold brew which I did not drink any of, because I’m a nice person,” Powder said.
“How do you know Jayce’s coffee order?” Caitlyn said.
“He told me to drop by the hospital, because he thought you might need a distraction. So I asked him what kind of coffee he wanted. I would have brought Viktor one too, but I wasn’t sure if he was allowed to have it, and I’m scared of nurses yelling at me,” Vi said.
“Me too,” Caitlyn said. A nurse glared at them from behind the front desk.
“We also brought these.” Ekko held up a stack of books. “There’s sudoku and crosswords and then just coloring. For like, therapy purposes.”
“Oh, and!” Vi passed the coffee to Caitlyn and reached into her backpack. “The best part.” She held out a stiff cardboard folder and took the coffee back so Caitlyn could open it.
Caitlyn pulled out a photograph: her, Jayce, Viktor, Sky, and Ximena in their wedding clothes, smiling at the camera.
“I’ll send over the digital files later today, but I went ahead and printed the ones your brothers asked for.”
“Thank you.” Caitlyn stared down at the photos, and her chest felt tight. “This is incredible.”
“You’re welcome.”
Caitlyn flung her arms around Vi’s neck, careful not to crush the pictures, and Vi hugged her back almost immediately.
“I like you,” Caitlyn said. “I want to get to know you. And your sister.”
“Gross,” Powder said.
“And anyone else you care about.”
“Me,” Ekko said, “because I’m Powder’s coolest friend.”
“Sure,” Caitlyn said with a laugh. “Even if you have to ditch dates, or our schedules don’t line up. I want to know you and all the messes you come with.”
“Why do you think I’m here, cupcake?”
The nurse was glaring, Powder and Ekko had started making gagging noises, and Caitlyn still hated hospitals. But Vi’s eyes were fixed on hers, so Caitlyn kissed her anyway.