The usual disclaimer applies. This is Chapter 2 of The New Kid. I decided to put a chapter out every week or so. Comments fuel my writing! Send them to JSmithAuthor@yahoo.com Thanks! -JS <<
"Hi, is this Mrs. Stevens?" Bryan asked with a quiver in his voice.
"Why yes it is. Who, may I ask, is calling?"
"This is Bryan Anderson; the one Josh told you about."
"Ah yes, I remember. Please, call me Kathy. What can I do for you, darling?"
"I have some bad news regarding Josh. We were in an accident on the way to the movie theater. Josh was knocked unconscious at first, but slowly started to come around when the paramedics showed up. They put him in a neck brace and took him to St. John's Hospital." Bryan almost couldn't get the last words to come out because he was fighting back the tears.
Bryan put the phone back up to his hear in time to hear a thump, running, and Mrs. Stevens screaming, "Rob! Damn it Rob, get off the computer and get down here! Josh is in the hospital!"
"Bryan, thank you so much for your call. We'll be there as soon as we can. If you need to get a hold of me, call my cell phone at 214.336.1126." With that said, there was a click and Bryan closed his phone.
When he walked back over to where Kevin, the officer, and the other driver were standing, he started to think of how he was going to explain this to his parents. They warned him repeatedly about being a safe driver. His dad was going to kill him.
"...and that's when the ambulance showed up." Kevin finished explaining his side of the story to the officer.
"Do you have anything to add?" The officer asked the other driver.
"No, that pretty much covers it. There was a deer crossing the road so I hit the brakes hard and they rear-ended me. There was no way to avoid it," he replied while looking over at Bryan. "And I suppose I owe you an apology for going off on you earlier. I was a little hot-headed because I just got the car, but there was nothing you could do. Sorry about that."
"Not a problem. Sorry about hitting your car and threatening you earlier. I just didn't want anything to happen to my friend," Bryan replied while shaking his hand.
The officer finished the accident report and handed each of the drivers a copy for their insurance. Just about that time the tow truck backed up to Bryan's truck and started to hook it up.
Bryan's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID on the front. It was his mom, and he wondered why she would be calling, if she knew they were going to a movie and then straight to Kevin's for the night.
"Oh, yeah; I called your mom while you were on the phone with Mrs. Stevens. I told her we were in an accident and that we needed a ride. I didn't know who else to call because my `rents are out of town," Kevin said.
As the ambulance sped towards the hospital, the paramedic in the back with Josh started to look him over. He found several abrasions on his arms but assumed those were from the items in the car hitting him. When he reached the skull he found a fairly large contusion on the back of the head. He looked at his watch and noted it had been 25 minutes since the initial accident.
"Can you tell me what day it is?"
"Thursday?" asked a confused Josh.
"Not quite. It's Friday. Do you know what kind of car you were in?"
"I think it was a red truck."
This wasn't going too well; Josh had a hard time remembering what had happened. The paramedic continued with the line of questioning.
"Do you feel like you're about to throw up at all?"
"Not really. I felt like it for a few minutes then it went away."
Gradually, Josh started to remember what had happened and it looked a though his amnesia was going away.
"It looks as if you're going to be ok. You had a moderate concussion, which would explain why you lost consciousness and why you had amnesia for about 35 minutes. You'll be sore from the bruises. You also have a large bruise on the back of your head. When you hit the airbag did your head fly back and hit anything behind you?" asked the paramedic.
Josh knew what the mark was from, but he wasn't about to let anyone know his secret.
"Uh, I can't remember. It was all a blur to me really. Why? Does it look bad?" Josh asked as he avoided the man's eyes.
"It looks like something hit it pretty hard, but it also looks like it started to heal. Are you sure you don't remember having this before the accident? It could be very dangerous not to get things like this looked at right away."
Josh didn't like the sound of that. He didn't want to tell the man what really went on, but he felt like he had no choice. "I had it before the accident, but please don't tell my parents. I don't want them to find out!" Josh sputtered as he looked towards the wall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As the ambulance stopped in front of the Emergency Room, the back doors swung open. One of the medics got out and slowly brought the stretcher's front wheels to the ground. The second medic followed with the back and locked them in place. Seeing as how Josh wasn't in critical condition, they didn't rush to take him into an exam room.
Not long after the ambulance arrived, Josh's parents came through the sliding doors. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens rushed to the nurse's station to ask where their son was. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Josh, I'm going to need you to tell me what happened. How did you get the nasty bruise on the back of your head? It looks like you fell on it somehow and then didn't get it checked out by a doctor. Do your parents know what happened?" Dr. Lasater asked while he finished checking the rest of Josh's injuries.
"No!" Josh practically screamed at the doctor causing him to jump. "I mean, no they don't know. And I'd like it if they didn't find out either. Isn't there some kind of doctor -- patient confidentiality type thing that prohibits you from talking with them?"
Josh was getting desperate now. He was frantically trying to think of a cover story as to what really went on that night.
"Yes, there is such a thing as the doctor -- patient confidentiality, but they have recently amended that, so if you are 15 or under then your parents have a right to know. However, I can see that you don't want them to know about it, and I'll respect that. I still need to know how you got that bruise, though. You don't need to tell me the whole story, but tell me how it happened."
"Doc, I trust that you won't ask my parents about what happened, so I'll tell you part of it." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As the tow truck drove off, Bryan and Kevin were left at the scene with the last cop. Bryan was looking over both the accident report and the paper that told him where his car was when his parents stopped behind the cop car on the side of the road.
Not to his surprise, Mrs. Anderson rushed over and hugged him right away. She moved back a step and checked to make sure he wasn't bleeding. When she was satisfied, she brought him back to her chest and started saying how thankful she was.
Kevin sat back and watched with amusement in his eyes until Mr. Anderson came over. Without saying a word, he nodded to Kevin and held out his hand for the officer to take. "Hi, Ray Anderson, and this is my wife, Meredith."
The officer shook the offered hand and replied, "Steve Rapp. I was just waiting to make sure these boys had a ride. It was nice meeting you all, but my shift was over about 30 minutes ago. So if you don't mind I'm going to head off before I get a call from the wife. The boys can fill you in on what happened."
With that the officer got back in his patrol car and eased back on the road. The four of them watched as he drove off.
"Alright now tell me what the hell happened. How did you manage to get yourself into a mess this time?" Bryan's arrogant prick of a father asked.
Bryan, never one to stand down to a confrontation with his father replied in a rather bitter tone, "It wasn't my fault. The guy in front of me slammed on his brakes for a deer and I didn't have time to stop so I rear-ended him. The guy agreed that there was nothing either of us could have done about it."
"That's bullshit and you know it. You were playing your damn music too loud and didn't notice the car. This is so like you. You don't pay attention as to what the hell you're doing and you make everyone else pay for your stupid mistake."
"Dad, what the hell did you expect me to do?" Bryan's face was getting redder with every word. "Did you want me to swerve off the road and into a ditch? Because if I would have done that then I doubt neither Kevin nor I would be standing here right now. It just so happens, that while you're standing here taking all your anger out on me, one of my friends was sent to the hospital. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on Josh."
"Don't you walk away from me young man!" Mr. Anderson was beyond pissed off. "Bryan, you get your ass back here right now! I'm not through with you!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And that's basically what happened, doc. I didn't want my parents to find out because they would start asking questions." Josh looked over to where the doctor was standing taking in everything he just heard. "So let me get this straight, you were pushed by someone whose identity you don't want me to know, and fell to the ground. When you tried to get back up, they pinned you against the ground. And when you wouldn't do what they asked, they bashed your head against the sidewalk and left you there." "Yeah, for the most part that's what happened." "When your head hit the concrete, did you black out?" "I don't remember. I think I blacked out for a bit and then woke up and looked around. I sat there for a good 10 minutes wondering what happened before I started to remember. I guess I stood up too fast because I vomited in the bushes right away." Josh looked up at the doctor when he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Dr. Lasater asked as he walked towards the door. "It's Kathy and Rob Stevens. Josh's parents. Is my baby ok? Is he in there?" Mrs. Stevens asked as she held her ear to the door, trying to figure out what was going on. Josh's eyes went wide when he heard his mother's voice. "Oh God!" he thought to himself. "How much did she hear? She can't know what happened. It would kill her". The doctor opened the door and Mrs. Stevens tumbled to the floor. She got up and looked around, embarrassed. "It's nice to meet you both." The doctor shook the Stevens' hands and went on to explain what happened. All the while, Josh's mind was racing with questions. "Would the doctor tell them? How much would he tell them if he did? Can I trust him? Do they already know? What the hell am I going to do?" The doctor never mentioned anything to Josh's parents about what went on behind the closed door. He kept his promise, and for that Josh was forever grateful. Josh was cleared to leave as soon as his parents stopped by the nurses' station to fill out any additional paperwork. On his way out the door, Dr. Lasater gave Josh a business card with his name and cell phone number on it. "Give me a call when you get a chance. I want to ask you a few more questions about what happened that night. I want to get to the bottom of this." Josh rejoined his parents and walked out to the car, leaning on his dad's shoulder for support. The accident had left him a little weak, and he didn't trust himself to walk on his own just yet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This was the first time Kevin had witnessed Bryan and his dad go at it this much. Usually it's just a brief yelling, stomping away and mumbling under their breaths. Not this time. "No, Dad. You don't fking understand! Things go wrong outside of that perfect little world you create in your mind. Shit happens. And in this case, something big happened. I was in a damn car accident and you don't even ask me if I'm ok. You couldn't care less about how the hell I am. You just take this as a chance to blow off some of your steam. So you know what, go fk yourself. I'll walk home." With that, Bryan turned around with disgust in his eyes and started walking down the road towards a gas station. Not knowing what to do now, Kevin waited to see what Mr. Anderson would do next. When he turned and went to the car, Kevin headed off to where Bryan was. Mrs. Anderson watched with tears in her eyes as her husband of 20 years treated her son with such disrespect. "Meredith, get in the car. We're leaving." Mr. Anderson said while he started the car. Mrs. Anderson said, "No, Ray. I stand behind Bryan's statement. Go f**k yourself." That being said, she followed Kevin towards the gas station. Bryan was sitting on the sidewalk next to the 7-11 with his back leaning against the wall. When Kevin came over, he sat next to him and put his arm around his best friend. "Look at it this way, at least now you don't have to hear `the birds and the bees' lecture when prom rolls around." Bryan smiled at the comment. Kevin always knew how to turn a bad situation into a humorous one. The two had been best friends since the second grade when Kevin moved in down the street. At the time, Bryan had no idea what his sexuality was. Girls were still icky, and he didn't know that the thing between his legs was used for anything but going pee. But as time went on, Bryan started to notice his liking of the same gender girls. It just seemed so natural to him. He didn't want to be gay; he wanted to be just like everyone else. He wanted to like girls. But no matter how hard he tried to push those thoughts out of his mind, it didn't work. His best friend was becoming attractive to him. Those thoughts were long gone now. When Bryan came out to Kevin, they worked through it .Bryan valued the friendship more than anything and didn't want to put it in danger by going after his straight best friend.
"I'm so sorry honey," Bryan's mom said as she sat down next to him. "I can't believe I let him treat you like that for so long. I always promised myself that I would put a stop to it, but I never had the courage to actually do it. And I wanted to let you know that I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I decided to leave your father. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "How are you feeling, honey?" Josh's mom asked as she sat on the corner of his bed.
"I'm doing better. The pills Doctor Lasater gave me help ease some of the pain."
"That's good. You should get some rest soon. You've had a long day."
When Mrs. Stevens finished telling her son to get some sleep, the doorbell rang. "Well who the hell could be coming around this late?" she thought to herself as she went downstairs.
When Mrs. Stevens arrived at the front door, her husband was already greeting the young man standing there. As the boy at the door extended his hand to her, he smiled and said, "Bryan Anderson. Nice to meet you ma'am"
"It's nice to meet you too, Bryan. Would you like to come in?" Mrs. Stevens asked. Without bothering to wait for an answer, she ushered him to the kitchen.
"So, what can we do for you, Bryan?" Mr. Stevens asked.
"Actually, I was here to talk to Josh, if that's okay with you. I feel bad about what happened today, and I really wanted to apologize to him."
"Sweetheart, no one blames you for this. And he'll be okay in a few days," Mrs. Stevens replied. "I know, but I really want to say sorry to him."
"Go on up the stairs, son. He should still be awake," Mr. Stevens said with a smile on his face.
"Wow," Bryan thought, "why the hell couldn't I have a dad like this?" He started daydreaming as to what life would be like if he had a different father. "Well, at least I don't have to deal with him anymore. I just hope Mom's okay after she went to talk with him."
"Bryan, are you okay? You drifted off on us there," Josh's mom said, placing her hand gently on his shoulder.
Bryan jumped at the touch. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about some things. Anyway, I better go talk to Josh before he turns in for the night." With that, Bryan turned and started up the stairs.
When he reached the top, he realized he forgot to ask which room Josh was in. "Oh well, I'll figure it out," he thought. He turned to the door on his left and opened it, revealing a home-office. Bryan closed the door and crossed the game room towards a small hallway with two doors. The first one was a small linen closet, and he quickly shut that and moved on to door number three.
He paused at the door when he heard a noise coming from inside the room. He didn't think much of it and proceeded to open the door without knocking. When Bryan opened the door, his eyes shot across the room to where Josh was sitting at the computer with his 5 ½ inch cut dick in his hand, stroking away. Josh jumped at the sudden intrusion and tried to cover himself and close the window he was looking at.
"Oh, uh, sorry Josh. I didn't know you were, um... busy. I'll come back tomorrow," Bryan said as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
When he was halfway across the game room, Josh came out of his room with a bright red face and no shirt on. Bryan took the opportunity to look at his swimmer's body with no hair to be seen.
"Bryan, wait!"
"Don't worry about it, Josh. I can wait until tomorrow. I'll see you then," Bryan. He practically ran down the stairs and out the front door. Before he closed it all the way, he poked his head back through the door and yelled, "Goodnight Mr. and Mrs. Stevens! It was nice meeting you!"
Bryan closed the door and started making his way to Kevin, who was waiting for him in his car. After the incident with his dad, they had takena cab to the school so Kevin could grab it. After they dropped Mrs. Anderson off at home, Bryan asked if they could go to Josh's house so he could talk to him real quick.
"Bryan, wait damn it! It's not like you've never seen a guy naked before. You take showers with the lacrosse guys every other day. And don't act like you're embarrassed either. If anyone should be embarrassed it should be me. So stop and talk to me. What'd you want when you came up there?"
Bryan turned and looked him dead in the eyes and shook his head. "You just don't understand. I came to apologize to you for what happened today, and I'd like to talk about what happened, but I just can't anymore. I'll see you tomorrow and we can talk about it then." Bryan turned and went to the passenger side of Kevin's Xterra as his eyes watered. Without looking back he climbed in and told Kevin to go.
Kevin noticed his best friend's mood and decided not to question him just yet. He put the car into drive and left the neighborhood.
"So where to?" Kevin asked.
"Home." Bryan mumbled.
That does it for chapter 2. You'll see another one around Thursday or Friday next week. Don't forget to comment(. NOTE: The yahoo group was shut down... it was rarely used and it's easier to just post them here. Thanks! -- JS <<