By Any Other Name Read Online Free PDF Page A

acknowledgment.
     
    “Run, Forrest, run.” Tim smirked from the door and made Skye swing the bag at him playfully. That was something new too, feeling playful occasionally with the people he knew. Not that that would continue any longer; he knew no one outside these doors. Not in the city or Rowan Falls or the suburb between the two places where he would be living.
     
    The drive to the airport wasn’t too long, and Tim had the car stereo on.
     
    “Ever been in a plane before?” Tim asked as the first signs for the airport appeared.
     
    “Yeah, once, when I was about six years old.” Skye snorted a bit. He had no real recollection of it.
     
    “It’s, what, three hours or so and then some hours’ wait in the middle before the connecting flight that’s four hours, right?” Tim asked, even though Skye knew he was just quizzing him and they both knew the schedule by heart by now.
     
    “Yeah, I have the papers here, don’t worry.” Skye rolled his eyes a bit. That reminded him…. He took the envelope and opened it. “Damn,” he whispered. There was easily five hundred bucks in there.
     
    “They don’t do that for just anyone. You’re special,” Tim said in a good-natured way.
     
    There was nothing Skye could say to that, so he didn’t say anything, just stayed quiet for the time being.
     
    Tim parked the car in the temporary parking lot and walked with Skye to the mass of people. Monday morning. No wonder.
     
    “Hi, I have this code for my ticket,” Skye said, standing in front of the desk for the correct airline, and the smiling woman took the paper from him and tapped the code into her computer.
     
    “Oh, yes, Mr. Walker?” she asked, and Skye took that as a cue to produce his ID. The woman looked at it and compared it with the information, then handed the paper and the ID back to Skye. She gave the proper gate number to him and some advice on how to get there, probably because she could tell Skye was getting anxious, and then it was time for Skye to get to the gate and wait.
     
    “So here we are, man,” Tim said as they got to the security gates, which would limit Tim’s access to the rest of the airport.
     
    “Yeah….” Skye rubbed his neck and looked anywhere but at the nurse who had become his friend over the last two years. His confidant, in some ways. Tim was the one to talk him down when nobody else could do it.
     
    “E-mail me, okay? I’ll worry. You’re a mate, don’t go forgetting that, you hear?” Tim said, mixing his British words into the American ones in the way that was so familiar to Skye that it made it harder for him to go. But he had to.
     
    “Yeah, I will, and you have their number. When I get my own number, if I get a phone, I’ll call you with it and all that. Keep an eye on Lindy for me, Skittles freaks her out still.” Skye smiled a little and this time didn’t hesitate to hug Tim goodbye. He wasn’t intimidated by the smaller man; Tim had proven to be worth his trust over and over again.
     
    “Okay. Call me anytime,” Tim said, and Skye could tell he was holding back tears.
     
    Skye stepped back, got his bag, and walked away. He couldn’t say he would be okay because he just didn’t know, but he’d survive somehow, probably.
     
    The rest of the way was easier than he had thought. The second airport was easier to navigate, and the one time when he wasn’t sure where to go, he even asked for directions from a lady at the information desk. It felt good, having courage to do that with nobody else he knew as backup. There were people around him, but he concentrated on ignoring them. As long as they didn’t come too close to him, it would be just fine, or so he kept telling himself.
     
    The closer he got to his destination, the more nervous he became. He hadn’t seen Dru in about seven years. Not since the day he’d been picked up from Rowan Falls and watched through the window of the truck as his best friend, the always so proud and strong