Chapter 10

Fortunately for all concerned, the door to Jay’s private bathroom was shielded from his view by a partly folded screen, so he didn’t realise Jon and his mother had both emerged from the bathroom. Jon and Richie gave the pair a few minutes, then entered the main part of the room as though they’d entered from outside.

“Hey!” Jon grinned, doing his best to hide the sentimental expression he was sure he had. “Look who’s awake! You gave us a scare, buddy.”

“Boss?” Jay pushed himself a little more upright, surprised to see Jon - and Richie - here to visit. He turned to Billie, seeing the blush on her face, but misunderstanding it, knowing she was a huge fan. “Mom - have you met…….?”

“Yeah, we’ve met.” Jon grinned, covering for Billie before she could speak. “I was talking with your mom outside when Richie came to find us. Good to see you looking better, Jay.”

“Feel like I got hit with a Mack truck.” The youngster admitted, gingerly rocking his head back and forth. “But the doc said we won?”

“Jay!” Billie blurted, shocked that his instant thought was of the game, but both Jon and Richie laughed at his enthusiasm.

“Oh, yeah. We won.” Richie smirked. “Dallas ate shit, buddy.” He flashed a glance at Billie. “Sorry, ma’am.”

“Ma’am?” Billie echoed, then shook her head. “My name’s Billie.”

“Okay, Billie.” Richie nodded, and she could see in his eyes that there was a mild acceptance of what she and Jon were working through right now. Could see that this guy would protect his friend no matter what. Which might be useful, since at the moment she was trying to protect Jon from himself.

“We should leave you two alone.” Jon said softly, slapping Jay’s foot through the blanket. “Get well, son - Graz came off the bench to kick Dallas’ asses, but we need you out there, Jay.”

Billie had blanched when he said ‘son’, but the way it was said left Jay to believe that it was no more an endearment than the usual ‘buddy’ or ‘boy’, accepting the word at face value. Jon nodded politely to Billie as he backed away from the bed.

“I’ll maybe see you around…..Billie. Nice talking with you.”

“You too, Jon.” She said, her eyes thanking him more than she could in words right now.

With waves and grins, the two rockstars left the hospital room, Billie gazing after them - after Jon - for a moment before returning her attention to her son, perturbed by the penetrating gaze of his blue eyes.

“What?” Billie said a little uncomfortably. The bright blue of his eyes was too close to Jon’s right now.

“Nothing, mom.” He smirked. Damn if the smirk wasn’t his father’s, too, she thought. “I’m just surprised is all.”

“Why?”

“All my life, you’ve been this massive Bon Jovi fan, but now you meet them - him - and it’s like no big deal. What gives?”

“What gives…..” She looked right into those eyes, praying he wasn’t able to read her as easily as his father could. “…..is that right now I’m more worried about you. Maybe this was the perfect time for me to meet Jon again - I’m too concerned about you to be nervous of it.”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot you knew him already.” Jay said with a tiny frown.

“Huh?!” Billie’s panic flared, but quickly subsided as he continued with an embarrassed smile.

“When I came up here, for the tryouts, I kinda, well, stole a photograph of yours, mom.”

“A photograph?”

“Yeah. I found it in the loft one day - it was of you and him - Jon - years ago. You’d never mentioned meeting him.”

“I hadn’t? I probably had, but you just didn’t remember.” Billie mentally crossed her fingers, then tried to divert his thoughts. “And why did you steal the photograph?”

“Well, I knew you were a really big fan, and when I found the photo I thought it’d be cool to get him to sign it, if he was at the tryouts.”

Billie looked away, realising now how Jon had found out, and wondering how in the hell he’d managed to keep his composure when he realised the teenager in front of him was his flesh and blood. Wondering even more how he’d managed to keep the knowledge - or at least the strong suspicion - to himself for these months since Jay had joined the team. Beginning to get just a little angry now at his holier-than-thou attitude over her keeping the secret when, apparently, he’d been doing just that for months.

She swallowed the irritation, though. Who was being holier-than-thou, now? She smiled at her son, unbelievably glad to see his eyes clear and bright, absolutely no signs of any kind of lasting trauma from the injury. Jay grinned at her, then his smile faltered as tears welled in her eyes.

“Mom?” He reached for her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She smiled bravely, moving across to hug him tightly. “I was just so worried, baby. So worried you wouldn’t wake up.”

“Aw, mom!” Jay wrapped an arm over her - the arm that wasn’t attached to an IV - and hugged her close.

After a moment, though, Billie straightened away from him. All his life, Jay had never doubted she loved him, but she wasn’t a hugely touchy-feely mom - and because of it her hugs meant more than his school buddies whose moms were always hugging and kissing and fussing. His mom had made him self-reliant, yet she’d never made him feel unloved - a rare skill, he realised as he grew older, and a skill he blessed her for every day, because it had made him the man he was becoming.

Billie looked at him, gently brushing his hair back from his face, and when Jay gave her that familiar smirk again, she leaned down, hugging him once more. He laid his arm over her, returning the embrace, and Billie was bent over the bed when they heard an exaggerated cough from over by the door.

“Uh, is this a bad time?” Came a voice Jay recognised, a hint of a laugh lurking there. “Should I leave you two to…..”

Straightening away from her son, Billie turned with an embarrassed half-smile, turning to face the dark haired, dark eyed man standing by the door holding a bundle of envelopes. From the way his eyes suddenly flicked upward, she had a pretty good idea he’d been staring at her denim-clad ass.

“Nick!” Jay said with a grin, reaching out a hand, and the guy walked across with an apologetic smile to Billie, taking the younger guy’s hand in a strong grip.

“How you doin’, kid?” He asked, looking at Jay with a professional eye. “You’re lookin’ good.”

“I feel it.” Jay nodded, and Nick chuckled, glancing at Billie.

“Hey, I’d feel pretty good if I had a pretty lady like this holding me.”

Jay’s eyes clouded, turning that stormy blue Billie had seen in Jon’s eyes earlier. A deep color that heralded anger, and the clenched jaw was another hint of his father. She stepped forward, holding out a hand and speaking, defusing the situation before her son lost his temper.

“Hi. Nice to meet you. I’m Billie - Jay’s mother.”

“His……?” Nick looked from Billie to Jay, seeing the nod. Also seeing the tense line of the player’s jaw. “Sorry. I just assumed……”

“It’s okay.” Billie smiled, a cautioning glance thrown at Jay. “I guess I should be flattered. Sorry, you’re……..”

Jay remembered his manners, gesturing from one to the other.

“Sorry. Mom, this is Nick. Nick Fabian, our team physiotherapist. Nick, my mom, Billie Kelsall.”

“Nice to meet you.” Nick said, taking Billie’s hand, his fingers lingering on hers a millisecond longer than necessary, both of them aware of the tingle of electricity.

Of course, Nick was also aware of the fact that Jay’s father was never mentioned, never named in any of his files, so he was pretty sure the lady in front of him was there for the taking. And he was never a man to stand idly by when an attractive woman was there for the taking. Taking, of course, was his main interest. Keeping, well, that was something entirely different. Something other guys did.