HERE WE GO AGAIN ================
I'll keep this short. I guess I'm on some sort of roll (at least I hope I am and you're not all hating this story), in the last week I wrote Parts 3 and 4 and each one was longer than 1&2 combined. By the end of this part we'll be up to more than 30,000 words. And I thought I could dash this off in half a dozen parts and produce the whole thing in a fortnight! Ha. Oh well, here we go with Part 5, and thanks to everyone once again for the encouragement!
DISCLAIMER ==========
This is a work of fiction; any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental. The author asserts all legal and moral rights (copyright (c) 2000 - ardveche@hotmail.com) to this work and you may not copy it or transmit it in any way except in its entirety and with this disclaimer. This story features descriptions of sex between consenting (all over the legal age, at least in my jurisdiction they are) males:
- if such material is prohibited in your jurisdiction, please DO NOT READ ON, - if you're under the legal age to read such material, please DO NOT READ ON, - if you don't like, or are offended by such material, please DO NOT READ ON.
Now, if everyone who is still here is meant to be here, let's get on with it. All comments are welcome and gratefully received (email them to ardveche@hotmail.com).
NEW TO THIS STATE =================
Chapter 5 - Tensions
The following morning I was woken very early by a gentle hand shaking my shoulder. During the night I had turned my back on Curtis and it was him who was trying to get me to return to the land of the living. Like I said, I'm not a morning person and it took several goes before he got me to open my eyes and flop onto my back with my arm thrown across my face.
"Wha?" I managed, less a word than a grunt.
"Time to get up, Drew, unless you want your mom to find you in bed with me." His voice was soft and very close to my ear.
"Mm." Not much of a response, but I knew what it meant.
"Drew." He tried to make his tone serious, but it wasn't really working and I giggled a little at him.
"Mm."
"C'mon. Don't make me hurt you." And so saying he jabbed his fingers into my ribs, causing me to buck wildly, barely managing to stifle a loud squawk.
"Bastard."
"That's me. Now get up and scoot."
I turned to face him, propping myself on one elbow, the same as he was. If anything he was more beautiful when he was rumpled from sleep. Why, why, why, when I had him here liked this was it still not him I wanted? This was so unfair. I couldn't help noticing that some blood had made it through his bandages to stain the gray T-shirt he wore. I shivered and he treated me to a wry smile.
"Curtis..."
"Don't say it."
"But..."
"Shh." And he placed a finger against my lips. "Now, seriously, go."
"Don't want to." I said a bit petulantly, I wanted to stay there with him.
"Tough."
"Oh, all right." I hauled myself from the bed and he snickered again at the sight of my ensemble. With a snort I made my way from the room and up to mine. And not a moment too soon, as I was mussing the covers of my bed, I heard the shower start up on the floor below and knew that my mom was up and about. I threw myself under the shower in my bathroom and once I felt a bit more human I started to sort my wardrobe for the day. It took me about thirty minutes to dress and do my hair and once I was satisfied with the effect I trotted down the stairs to see what was going on.
"Morning, handsome." Lois smiled broadly at me as I walked in. "Your mother's just taken some breakfast up to Curtis. How did you sleep?"
"Wonderfully." I beamed.
"And how did the patient sleep?" She asked archly.
"How would I know?" I replied, knowing full well that she knew I'd spent the night with him.
"Good answer. Toast?"
"Sure. Thanks. I mean it."
"I was young once, you know." She patted my arm and set about making me breakfast. I plopped down at the counter and gazed blankly at the paper, not really taking any of it in, though I felt more awake than I do most mornings.
"Morning, honey." My mother came in.
"Hey. How's Curtis?" I am a skilled dissembler!
"As well as can be expected. Very stiff and sore, but better than he was yesterday. A good night's sleep's done him the power of good. He wants to be up and about, but I said no." She poured herself some tea and joined me. "I have to figure out what to tell the school about him, he won't be back anytime soon." She sighed. "I wish he'd let me tell someone, but he says there isn't anyone other than his father."
"So what are we going to do?"
"I don't know. I have a very busy day today, I can't do anything until tomorrow."
"Which reminds me." Lois chimed in. "So do I. This is my volunteer day and I really have to head off fairly soon, so I can't nursemaid our guest this morning, but I'll be back to do those dressings in the afternoon." I looked at Lois and then the penny dropped and my face spread into a broad grin.
"But we can't leave him alone." I said as though the thought was just occurring to me and I had no solution in mind. "So what do we do?"
"Don't be coy, Andrew, it doesn't suit you." My mother rebuked me. "I'm not going to ask Lois to cancel so I suppose I have no choice but to let you take the day off. Against my better judgment, I might add."
"Thanks, mom!"
"No. Don't, you know as well as I do how bad this will look at a new school, I'm really not happy about it."
"I know, mom. But it's not that bad. I have sports all afternoon and study hall before lunch, so I'd only be missing two classes anyway."
"Plus yesterday afternoon?"
"Yeah, okay, and that. But I can catch up. I swear I can."
"I'm not convinced." My mother's lips were pressed tightly together. Then a thought came to me, Kate! I could call her and ask her to pick up any work from the classes I missed. I felt kinda bad about asking her to do me another favor, but what choice did I have? I would show my mom that I was Mr. Responsibility these days, a reformed character. "Well, I have to go or I'll lose my lousy job, and then were would we be? I'm trusting you, Andrew, behave yourself here and be helpful for Curtis, okay?"
"'kay, mom. Have a good day." And off she went leaving me alone in the house with Curtis. I glanced at the clock and realized that if I was quick I might catch Kate before she left home for school, so I charged up to my room to get the number and then back down to the parlor to call her. The 'phone rang for ages.
"Hello?"
"Kate?"
"Who is this?"
"Drew."
"Oh. Hi. What happened to you yesterday?"
"Long story."
"Another one? For someone who's only been here a couple of days you're up to your eyeballs in long stories, Drew."
"I guess. Um, listen could you do me a favor?" She sighed heavily down the 'phone at me and I had a feeling she might refuse.
"It depends. And you really are pushing it now."
"I know, and I'm sorry, I really am, but I have nobody else I can ask."
"Okay. Spit it out, and make it fast or I'll be late. But I'm going to want a full explanation sometime."
"Can you pick up any work I missed for yesterday and today? Only I won't be in school today." I explained to her.
"You won't? Why not?" I hesitated in replying and she went on. "Let me guess, it's a long story. Give me your address." She sounded resigned to the task, and I felt bad about asking her to do all these things for me without properly explaining why I needed her to. I gave her the address and thanked her profusely, telling her I'd make it up to her someday, but all I got was another sigh and a 'yeah, right'. I hung up and after chewing my thumbnail for a while went upstairs to check on Curtis.
"What are you doing?" I demanded as I walked in the door and found him sitting almost dressed on the edge of the bed slowly doing up buttons on the shirt I had loaned him.
"Getting up. Why aren't you at school?"
"My mom let me have the day off, to stay with you."
"I don't need a nursemaid."
"Bullshit. Back in bed."
"Like I'm going to take orders from you!" A fair point.
"Okay, you can get up, but you have to take it easy."
"I have to go home..."
"No! You can't!" I broke in before he could finish, I couldn't let him go back to that place and suffer any more at the hands of his father. If I had to physically restrain him, I was not going to let that happen.
"...to get some stuff. My dad won't be there, don't worry." He finished with a small movement of his shoulders that said he didn't care if he was or not.
"Oh. But you're still weak, you should stay here and tell me what you need."
"That's good of you Drew, but I don't think that'd work, buddy."
"Well, I'm going with you."
"No need."
"Every need, what if you faint again? What then? What if he is there? No, I can't let you go on your own. I shouldn't let you go at all, my mom'd kill me."
"That, my friend, is your problem." He pulled himself unsteadily to his feet and wobbled slightly, putting a hand on the dresser to support himself. "See, I'm fine?" He smiled wryly at me and I said nothing, I just fixed him with the most stern stare I could muster.
"Okay, if you insist on going, I'm driving." And I snatched up his car keys. "C'mon before I change my mind." He made it down the stairs and out to his car without too much difficulty, but he was breathing harshly and had to lean on it for a while until he got his breath back.
"You okay? This is such a dumb thing to do."
"So give me the keys and stay here."
"You are so fucking stubborn."
"And that's why you love me." I couldn't look him in the eye, I knew he was kidding but after what I had told him about Tyler and what I thought he said the night before that his home. I felt awful, but slid into the driver's seat. He directed me as I drove, but we had gone hardly any distance when he asked me to stop.
"Hey, pull over here would you? I need some cigarettes." He indicated a convenience store a little further down the road. I drew to a halt outside and he patted at his pockets, looking for money. "Shit, I left my cash at your place."
"I'll get them, what brand?"
"Marlboro red. Thanks, bud, I'll pay you back."
"S'okay."
"No. It isn't, I don't need charity, I'll pay you back." He could be really insufferable at times, but I was in no mood for this argument, so I gave in.
"Fine. Wait here." I got out the car and crossed the road to the store. I guess I am just the epitome of gullibility and you probably all saw it coming, but I was stunned when I came back out to find that the car was gone. So there I am standing like a total wiener at the side of the road with a pack of cigarettes, and I don't even smoke, clutched in my hand. What was I supposed to do? He clearly wasn't about to come back for me, so I did the only thing I could do, I walked back over to my house and hoped that he'd show up there. I was so worried, he was in no fit state to be out there on his own, especially if there was any possibility of his father being there, and my mom really was going to kill me for this. How could he do that to me. I walked along the road kicking at stuff and generally cursing him and my own stupidity.
It was nearly ten when I got back to the house, but there was no car in the drive and the place was totally empty. If only I knew where he lived, I could maybe do something, but he'd never told me. I paced, and I fretted, and I debated calling Lois or my mom. And then I paced some more and time dragged by incredibly slowly. I tried to read a book, but not one word sank in, so I went to make some coffee and stood watching the clock in the kitchen as I waited for it to be ready. Almost eleven o'clock and still nothing. And then I heard the crunch of tires in the driveway and my heart leapt. Thank God! I bounded out the front door and stopped dead.
Pulling to a halt at the house was not Curtis's red Ford, but a blue BMW. And at the wheel was Tyler Ellis, with Kate in the passenger seat. They both got out and looked at me. I was thunderstruck, standing on the step with my mouth wide open.
"Well you sure as hell don't look ill, buddy." Said Tyler looking me up and down. "So what's the deal?"
"What're you doing here?" Suave, huh?
"Kate was worried about you, she asked me to drive her over here. And now I'm worried about you too, you look like a wreck." Tyler was worried about me? Now I know this makes me a bad person, but for a moment I forgot how scared I was that something might have happened to Curtis. Then I snapped back to the here and now.
"Kate! Do you know where Curtis lives?"
"Curtis who?" Tyler asked.
"Reid." Kate and I said together.
"Sleeping boy? Why do you want to know where that loser lives?"
"Shut up, Tyler." Kate snapped.
"He's not a loser." I said simultaneously. Tyler looked from one of us to the other with an expression of puzzlement on his face.
"Someone want to clue me in here?"
"Other side of town somewhere. Wilmott, I think." Kate wracked her brains for the information. "Shit, I'm not sure, and I don't know anyone else who would know."
"Okay, still in the dark here."
"We have to go there. Now." I said, ignoring him completely and looking at Kate with pleading in my eyes. She nodded once decisively and turned to Tyler.
"Let's go."
"No way. You might want to go off on this wild goose chase, but I want to know why we're going before I go anywhere. And it's my car." I figured I owed him some sort of explanation. Him and Kate, so I nodded.
"I'll clue you in on the way there. Keep your eyes open for his car. A red Ford."
"Fine. Get in." He clearly wasn't happy about it, but something in my tone must have convinced him that I wasn't just horsing around. We piled into the car and he pulled out and started off in the same direction as Curtis had earlier. "Okay, we're moving. Now talk."
"Okay, Jeez, if he knew I was telling you this he'd be so pissed. But, look, Curtis's dad beat the shit out of him last night. Okay? He gave me the slip and headed back over there and he can hardly stand."
"Why was he with you in the first place?"
"I met him at lunch, he passed out and my Grandma looked after him. He was fucked up real good. She used to be a nurse." I guess that was close enough to the truth without giving away too much.
"Oh God." Kate murmured from the back seat. "That poor guy."
"Yeah." Tyler agreed, but he sounded less concerned than Kate. Fair enough, I suppose, he barely even knew who Curtis was. "So you took the day off school to look after him, huh?" He turned right into a street of smallish, shabby looking houses.
"Well he doesn't have any other family. And my mom had to work." Right at that moment I didn't much care what opinion Tyler was forming.
"That was good of you." Well, that wasn't the answer I expected, but life is full of surprises. "This is the street. Is that the car?" He raised a hand and pointed to a red car parked outside a house on the other side of the street.
"Yes. That's it. Thank God." We drew to a halt and I jumped out and charged across the street. I didn't even look to see if the other two were following me or not. I just wanted to find Curtis and make sure he was okay. I ran up the path to the door and pounded on it several times. There was no sound from inside. "Curtis!" I yelled at the wood. "Curtis, are you there?" The door was flung open by a large, heavy man with the blackest look on his face. I backed off.
"Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm Curtis's friend. Where is he?" I was in no mood to be polite, this was the bastard that had beaten my friend with a belt. Beaten him until he couldn't stand.
"Bull. That little fag doesn't have any friends." He had easily sixty or seventy pounds on me, but I was so angry I couldn't think straight. I tried to barge past him into the house, but he easily pushed me away and I fell on my back.
"So you're the fucker?" He took a step out of the house, fists raised and I saw, like in slow motion, that he was going to beat the crap out of me too, for being the one his son had been talking about the night before.
"Back off!" A voice came from behind me, an assertive and confident voice. One that was used to telling people to do stuff and having them do it. "Pick on someone your own size, asshole." Tyler! Tyler was coming to my rescue. Curtis's father turned away from me to face Tyler with a curse.
"Fuck you, kid."
"Oh you're a big man, when people can't fight back. Aren't you? Well, come on, take a swing at me. I'm begging you. Give me an excuse!" Tyler was as tall as he was, but of a slighter build. He was solid muscle though, and this guy was carrying a few extra pounds.
"Kid, I'll break your fucking neck!"
"Yeah? Maybe you want to go get your belt before we do this, huh? That more your style?" I was amazed at how steady his voice was. I pushed myself to my feet with a grunt.
"Goddam queer bastards, get the fuck out of here." And he took a swing at Tyler, who ducked and dodged it with ease.
"Big mistake. Big fucking mistake." He leapt forward and landed about half a dozen blows before the older man had a chance to react. Down he went on his knees, the wind driven out of him and blood streaming from his broken nose. "Get Curtis!" Tyler barked at me, bouncing back, never taking his eyes off Reid who was back on his feet and angrier than ever.
I hesitated a moment and then ran into the house, followed by Kate who had been hanging back behind Tyler until the first punch was thrown. I heard a roar from outside, and I was scared to death that the guy would hurt Tyler and then come in after us. Where the fuck was Curtis?
"Curtis!" I called his name again.
"Curtis!" Kate called too, going in the other direction from me. "Shit, Drew! In here, the kitchen, quickly!" I charged down the hall and into the kitchen where she was kneeling by a prostrate Curtis. My heart lurched, and then he groaned and tried to move. His face was bloody and one eye blackened. We had come too late. Now I was pissed, I saw red.
"Help him up." And without waiting to see if she did as I said, I ran back outside. Reid was propped against the house, holding his gut, blood still pouring from his nose. As I came out he spat a mouthful of blood onto the glass.
"Take him then. To hell with him." His voice was a little unclear, and he looked to be in a pretty bad way, but I felt no sympathy for him whatsoever.
"Bastard!" And I attacked him, punching at his body and driving my knee into his gut. He went down easily and then I was kicking at his head and body. I fought like mad as Tyler grabbed me from behind and pulled me off him. "Let go of me, you bastard, let me go. Fuck you!" I roared at him as I twisted in his grasp but he wouldn't let go.
"Drew. Drew! For God's sake, calm down, man. He's not getting up any time soon. Settle down, you got him good." He relaxed his grip a little as Curtis came out of the house, limping and leaning heavily on Kate. "Oh fuck." Tyler's voice sounded hollow and I turned to see the look of horror on his face. He dropped me and went to help Kate as they half walked, half carried Curtis up the path. "Drew!" He broke my trance, "car door, buddy, now." I moved towards the car, but was stopped by a croak from Curtis.
"Box. On the bed."
"Forget it." Tyler instructed, and for what may have been the first time he was flatly contradicted.
"No. What I came for." And Curtis tried to break out of Tyler's grasp.
"Shit. Drew, get the box. Hurry." I, unlike Curtis, did exactly as I was told hurrying back into the house past the groaning form of his father. I quickly found the box, sitting on a bed in a small dingy room at the back of the house and grabbed it, trotting back out to the car. Curtis was already in the back seat of Tyler's car.
"Take Curtis's car, buddy." Tyler called to me.
"Is he okay?" Kate asked, and I realized she meant Curtis's father.
"Who cares?" I replied opening the door to the other car.
"He's fine, no more than he deserves, let's go before someone calls the cops." Tyler was more rational than any of us. A good man to have in a crisis clearly. It was then that I noticed he had not come out of the fight unscathed, Reid had landed at least one punch on him and I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of what I'd got them involved in. I got in the car and gripped the wheel. I sat heavy breathing for a few seconds until I felt calm enough to drive and then I started the car and followed Tyler. I paid no attention to where he was going, and was surprised when he drove back to my house. We both pulled up in the drive and I leapt out to help him get Curtis inside.
"He needs a doctor." Tyler stated.
"No." Curtis groaned.
"But he's being fucking stupid about it. Where's your 'phone?"
"Over there." I pointed, but my attention was mostly on Curtis who was slumped on the couch once again. Kate was dabbing the blood away from his face with a handkerchief. Tyler strode tot he 'phone and rapidly dialed a number, there was a pause.
"Hey, Joyce, is my dad there?" His dad? Why was he involving his dad? "Thanks." He waited again and I was about to ask what was going on, but he raised his hand and indicated that I should be quiet. I listened mutely to his half of the conversation.
"Hey, Dad. No, I'm fine. I have a problem, though. Yes. Yes. Pretty bad. Yes. Would you? No. No! Yes, 26?" He looked at me for confirmation and I nodded. "Yeah, 26 Chestnut. Okay, twenty minutes? Yes. Bye." He replaced the receiver and turned to face us. "My dad's on his way over."
"Tyler's dad's a doctor." Kate supplied, looking up from her position kneeling on the floor by Curtis's head. He was breathing shallowly and seemed to be only barely conscious. His eyes were open and he was facing Tyler, but his gaze looked unfocussed. I could see now that Kate had cleaned him up a little that all the blood on his face had come from a cut above the black eye. On the surface he didn't seem much worse than the previous day. But in his already weakened condition he looked awful. I was willing to bet that one he'd felled him with the punch to the face his dad had given him a couple of good kicks to be sure.
"I wish I'd let you kill that bastard." Tyler placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked at him for a moment and then, I don't know what happened, I broke down.
"Oh God! This is all my fault!" I wailed and the tears started to pour down my face. "Why am I so dumb?" Tyler looked startled, but he squeezed my right shoulder and brought his other hand up to rest on my left arm.
"No it isn't. You can't blame yourself."
"I can. I should never have let him go. It's all my fault." I desperately wanted to hold him, for him to comfort me. Then I felt a wash of guilt at how selfish that thought was when Curtis was lying there in such a terrible state, all I could think about was my own pain and how Tyler could make it go away.
"No." Curtis spoke quietly, raising his head a little and trying to focus on us.
"Don't move." Kate said, pressing him back down on the couch. "And you stop this at once, Drew. You're helping nobody with this performance. Least of all Curtis." She sounded a lot like my mother as she said that and I tried to pull myself back together. Tyler smiled at me and squeezed my arm again then let go and walked over to the couch and squatted beside Kate.
"Curtis. How many fingers am I holding up?" He held three fingers in front of the recumbent boy's eyes.
"Three." His voice was weak.
"Well done, buddy. Stay with me now, don't go to sleep. My dad'll be here any minute. Okay? You hear me?"
"Yes." It was painful to listen to him, no matter what he said, it had been my fault. He was left in my care. Tyler snapped his fingers in his face a few times.
"Stay with me." He repeated this several time, asking Curtis occasional questions, stuff like what his name was, and where he was, just to keep him awake and talking. Finally we heard a knock at the door and Tyler stood swiftly to go an answer it. I was feeling terribly useless, just standing there. He came back in with an older version of himself in a blue suit. A tall man with graying hair, but unmistakably Tyler's father, the same regular, handsome features and the same cool blue eyes. He was all business as he knelt by Curtis putting his case on the floor beside him.
"What's his name?"
"Curtis." All four of us supplied, though one more quietly than the others.
"Curtis, I'm Dr. Ellis and I need you to concentrate on my voice. Can you do that for me?" His voice was quiet but authoritative and I could see where Tyler had got some of his character from.
"Yes." His voice had gained some measure of strength, but it was still quiet and tremulous.
"Okay. One of you tell me what happened today. Tyler, please help me take his shirt off." Curtis taking his shirt off seemed to be getting to be a habit around here. I guess it fell to me to provide the background for the doctor.
"Um."
"You are?"
"Um, Andrew Quinn, sir."
"Okay, go on Andrew."
"Um, yesterday, he collapsed at lunch and I brought him here, 'cause my grandma was a nurse, and she checked him over. His dad had beaten him pretty badly, kicked him and used a belt on him. We bandaged up the cuts and she thought he'd be okay with rest. He seemed much better this morning, but he was still weak."
"Go on."
"But today he insisted on going home for some stuff and I guess his dad caught him there and laid into him again." My voice cracked at the end of that sentence and I had to stop talking.
"Thank you. Curtis? What happened today?" Curtis gave no answer, so the doctor asked exactly the same question again adding that he couldn't help him if he wouldn't tell him what had happened.
"Punched me." Curtis finally murmured. "And kicked some more." He closed his eyes and tried to turn his head away from the room towards the back of the couch and I could see tears running down his face. Tyler and the doctor had succeeded in baring Curtis's upper body again, he was limp as a rag-doll, and I heard both Kate and Tyler draw their breath in when they saw the state he was in.
"Open your eyes." The doctor had produced one of those little medical torches and was holding one of Curtis's eyelids back and peering into the green depths. "You have a mild concussion, young man, but you'll recover from that without a problem. Your physical injuries concern me more." He proceeded to cut away the bandages Lois had put on and performed a rapid physical examination of his upper body. "Would you all mind leaving please, I think Curtis might appreciate a little privacy for the rest of this exam." We trooped obediently out to the kitchen to wait.
"Hey, Drew, you got a band aid?" Tyler asked me as we sat down, touching gingerly the cut on his cheek. "That guy caught me with his ring." For the first time I actually paid attention to the state Tyler was in. His hair was a mess, and his shirt pocket was torn and hanging off, but the only apparent physical injury was the cut. I marveled at how brave he had been in facing down Curtis's dad and saving me from the same sort of battering Curtis had received. Though I would gladly have taken it if it would have spared Curtis this new pain.
"Um, yeah, sure." I got the requested band aid from the medicine chest and handed it to him. "Tyler, thanks for today. Thanks a lot. And thank you too, Kate. I owe both of you big time."
"Don't worry about it, Drew. If I had known how bad it was I wouldn't have been such a bitch this morning." Kate said, and I couldn't believe she was apologizing to me, after all the trouble I'd put her to.
"You sure know how to make a first impression, Drew." He shook his head at me and smiled slightly as he carefully positioned the band aid. "This should make sure I don't forget you for a while."
"God, I'm so sorry, Tyler. I didn't mean for this to happen. Really."
"Don't sweat it. He'll need more than a band aid." He smiled broadly. "You were a beast over there, what the hell happened?"
"I don't know. I saw red. I wasn't thinking, I just wanted to hurt him."
"Mission accomplished. Remind me not to get you mad."
"I don't...that is, I've never behaved like that. I hate violence." I felt the tears start to rise again and fought them determinedly. I didn't want to break down on him again, that would be awful.
"I know, gentle as a lamb. It showed, killer. Just relax, okay?" He put his hand on my arm as he said this and my entire body thrilled at his touch. "You want a drink or something?"
"Isn't that my job? As host?" I ad developed an appalling headache, and my hands were both throbbing.
"Yeah, but you're shaking like a leaf, Drew. Let the woman do it, look after my two brave boys." Kate joked standing up and moving across the kitchen for the coffee pot. She made the coffee and we were all sitting in silence drinking it when Dr. Ellis came through from the other room.
"Pour me a cup of that would you, Kate?" He took Tyler by the chin and moved his head back and forth looking at him in the light. Now why couldn't I do that? Apparently satisfied that his son was okay he put his bag on the counter and took a seat. "I gave Curtis a mild sedative, he's sleeping now. I covered him with the quilt that was in there, I hope that's okay?" He addressed me, referring to Lois's sewing project.
"Yes, that's fine. Thanks for everything, Dr. Ellis. It was really good of you to come out like that."
"You won't say that when you see my bill."
"Bill?" Both the Doctor and Tyler burst out laughing at the expression on my face.
"Now, Andrew. Curtis refuses to let me take him in for observation, but I want him to have tests in a day or so, to make sure that there's no permanent damage. And I want those ribs looked at, they'll probably mend themselves if he take sit easy, but I think they should e looked at. He's been knocked about terribly, but it's mostly just bruising and painful though it is it'll heal quickly enough. He'll need to be watched and treated carefully, I have a feeling the emotional damage will prove to be far, far worse, he blames himself for what happened. Can he stay here until then?"
"How can he blame himself?" Tyler demanded before I could open my mouth.
"People in abusive situations often do, Tyler. Now Andrew, can he stay here?"
"Yes, my mom and grandma were okay with him staying. My grandmother's a nurse."
"You said. And she did a fine job yesterday."
"What about his dad?" Tyler asked.
"Well, that's up to Curtis. He's eighteen so he's his own boss. I personally would file assault charges, but he refused point blank, and I can't make him do it."
"I had no idea Curtis was eighteen." I was surprised, I assumed he was the same age as the rest of us.
"He was kept back." Kate, apparently keeper of all the information about everyone at McKinley High, supplied.
"Oh."
"As for you three. I should be mad at you for doing something this foolish, but seeing the state that poor boy is in, you had no choice. Andrew, Curtis has a great friend in you, and that's what he's going to need now more than anything else, support, understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Tyler, you know I don't endorse violence, so that cut, I'm going to assume you got from tripping over and say no more about it. Okay?" Tyler nodded and gave his dad a big grin. "I assume that whatever you tripped over came off worse for it?"
"It did." Dr. Ellis nodded once and then the subject was closed and he was entirely business again.
"Good. Now I'm going to get back to my practice and my paying customers. Tyler, stay with Curtis and Andrew. Andrew, you look pretty shaken up. Drink some hot sweet tea, take some aspirin and lie down, for God's sake. Kate, I'll give you a ride back to school. No arguments from any of you." He picked up his bag and walked from the kitchen. Kate simply shrugged and followed him out.
"Your work's in Tyler's car, Drew!" She called as the door closed on them both. I watched them go in silence and then, suddenly feeling terribly awkward, looked down at my cup, unable to meet Tyler's gaze.
"Alone at last." He said, with a chuckle and I looked up startled, to see his dazzling grin and his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Touched a nerve, huh?"
"Um."
"Don't panic, buddy. I'm not deaf and I'm not, contrary to popular belief, dumb. I heard what that guy said, and I saw how you reacted and how worried you were about him." I didn't know what to say to that, I could hardly deny it.
"Tyler..."
"I don't care, Drew. I saw a person today who is a better friend than I will ever be. Nothing else matters."
TO BE CONTINUED... ==================