I've been really pleased with the fedback on the story so far. I think I'm at the half way point now so keep following along with me and please let me know what you think.
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RClayton
TEN
Jerrison had slept in fits and starts ever since being locked up. Not hearing much about Heath's condition was wearing on his nerves. The young man was an innocent the entire situation, dragged in only for being willing to help a stranger.
"Draper, your lawyer's here." The police officer unlocked the cell, he held the cuffs ready.
Jerrison slipped the shoes on his sock covered feet and walked out of the small cell. He had been alone for hours as his room mate had been removed earlier in the day. He held out his hands and the officer cuffed him, but not as tightly as before. The man treated him less roughly as well, leading him by an elbow to the visiting room down the hall.
When they arrived the officer removed the cuffs and left him alone with the man he now knew to be Frank Hess.
"I have some good news for you," Frank said. "Heath is awake and has backed up your story. He wasn't able to give a great description of his attacker other than to say it wasn't you. The man he described was nearly seven feet tall and over three hundred pounds according to him. I don't think I've ever seen anyone on the island that size myself, but you never know, I don't get out of the office much these days."
"Does that mean they're letting me out of here?" Jerrison asked.
"The paper work is being done as we speak. You should be on your way to the hospital to see Heath within the hour. I should tell you though, there has been another attempt on his life."
Jerrison sat up straighter in the chair. "What happened?"
"Someone posing as a doctor tried to inject poison into his IV last night. He was caught but he isn't talking."
"What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know, but I intend to find out. I'm having some investigatory work done on a few of your partners back in California. I still have a few connections back there so we'll see what pops up."
"I'm worried about my family," Jerrison said.
"You have reason to be. From what I know so far, this Phillip Mason fellow your wife married is a rough character with a lot of unsavory habits. How much did you know about him before becoming business partners?"
"Not much. It wasn't my decision, really. Phillip was a member of the firm before I was but I made partner before he did. I know he was married to a socially prominent woman who died mysteriously while on a boating trip in the Cayman Islands and he inherited her estate after that he began climbing the company ladder far more quickly, though how he did it I don't really know. I was busy with my own job and the family plus a few problems. I just didn't pay much attention to office politics and water cooler gossip."
"We'll the detectives will dig up whatever there is to find. Let's just get you out of here and work on getting your name cleared and getting you back home to your family."
Jerrison looked down at the table in silence for several moments contemplating what Hess had said. Was that what he really wanted? Did he want to go back to that world and leave Heath?
"You do want to go home don't you?" Frank Hess looked at his client. He knew just looking at the man what he was thinking. Those same those and feelings and gone through his own mind many times before he volunteered to move to Homony.
"I miss my kids, but I don't miss my life back there. I don't want to be married to Gloria any more; I want to be with Heath." Jerrison looked up at the lawyer.
"You know you can't do that out there."
"I know, and I can't be with my kids in here."
"You can be with your son when he turns sixteen if he is homosexual, otherwise, no, you can't, just twice annual visitation on the vacation island." Frank said.
A knock on the door disturbed their conversation. The officer opened the door. "Excuse me. The paperwork is complete and Mr. Draper is free to. I have his clothes here so he can change; his other possessions are in the property office. He can claim them on his way out."
"Thanks officer," Frank said. "We'll be right out."
"Yes, sir," the officer closed the door but didn't lock it this time.
"Are you ready to get out of here," Frank asked.
"As if you have to ask," Jerrison said as he stood up.
The two men left the room.
The officer handed Jerrison a brown bag. "You can change in there." He pointed to a room with a sign with a drawing of a toilet on it.
Jerrison took the bag and entered the room. He went through the bag and found that his clothes were as he had left them. Heath's blood till stained the pant legs of the jeans and the bottoms of the tennis shoes. He would need to change before going to the hospital but into what he had no idea as he had no other clothes.
Frank stood waiting for him as he exited the room dressed in the bloody clothing. "Well, I guess we'll need to stop by Heath's for clothes."
"I don't have anything there to change into. I'll have to get something." Jerrison said.
"Okay, I'll hit a shop on the way. You can wait in the car; you aren't going in anywhere looking like that." Frank said.
"Whatever you say," Jerrison replied.
After finishing with the police, stopping for clothes and going to heath's to shower and change Frank dropped Jerrison off at the hospital around four that afternoon. He went to the room Frank and told him to and found Heath sleeping so he sat down to wait for his lover to wake up. He could have woke the young man up, he was sure Heath wouldn't have minded but he wanted some time to sit and think things through. There was so much going on and everything was happening to fast to process.
He sat watching Heath sleep. The man was so beautiful, even with black eyes and cracked lips. The plastic surgery to fix the nose was scheduled for early the next week. Frank had already made all the arrangements. He wondered what kind of working relationship Frank and Heath had that would inspire the man to spend that kind of money to take care of his secretary. It had probably been sexual at one time, had to have been. There was just a twinge of jealousy attached that realization but he stomped it down. The man was helping him with his problems; there was no way he was going to get all territorial about a relationship that was over. Frank himself had said he was in a committed relationship and now he and Heath were working on the same arrangement.
What if things got cleared up and he could go back home? Would he go? The kids meant the world to him, especially Ricky. His son needed him, always had. Cynthia was like her mother, independent and cold, never admitting a need for anyone. It was Ricky he wanted to be there for, what if Ricky ended up here too? Was that even possible? Could his son have the same feeling he'd had at that age? He hadn't seen it before he was torn away, but then he'd been awfully busy there toward the end. He had put so many things off that he'd wanted to do with Ricky, things he'd wanted to talk about with his son. He knew that if he didn't see his son again he would regret those things for the rest of his life. If he had the chance to go back he had to take it, no matter what. He'd miss Heath, miss him like crazy, but he had to be there for his son.
"Hey," Heath said. He smiled.
"Hey yourself," Jerrison said. "I was so worried about you. Nobody would tell me anything except Frank."
"Frank came to see you?"
"Yeah, he got me out, well him and you waking up and telling them it wasn't me that attacked you." Jerrison took Heath's hand.
"I missed you." Heath said.
"I missed you too, lover." Jerrison said.
Heath smiled. His damaged teeth gave him an awkward smile. He definitely needed a good dentist. The important thing was that he was alive though.
"You'll be back to your old self real soon."
"That'll take a miracle. I've seen myself in a mirror, Jerrison. I'm hideous."
"No, you're beautiful. You're alive and that's what counts. Frank had already arranged for a plastic surgeon and a dentist to come in and handle the rough stuff next week. In a matter of a month you'll be better than ever."
"You really think so?" Heath said, hopeful.
"You bet, baby." Jerrison stood, bent over the bed and kissed Heath on the mouth. They engaged in a little tongue action before the nurse entered the room to check vital signs and give pain meds before dinner was served.