by Joe Lechene
The one thing that I adjusted to the quickest was our bedroom life. Our lovemaking only seemed to get better each time. As we both became more comfortable with each other, the tension between us went away. Now, we were only concerned with pleasuring each other. I even let Tristan make love to me at least once a week. Just looking at his twink body walking around the apartment was enough to get my blood flowing.
I tried to get that last image out of my mind as I walked the last block to the restaurant. When I got closer to the alley where I usually waited to meet Tristan, the faint sounds of screaming echoed out into the street. Since it was a little before eleven, Tristan would have been still finishing up his shift. Afraid that someone else was getting the shit beat out of them, I started running and banked the corner into the alley. After dodging the trash bags and weaving around the dumpsters, the attackers were clearly within sight. There were three of them, all dressed in black from head to toe. The person that they were attacking was laying on the pavement, curled up into a ball.
Believing that these were the same guys that killed Erik, I allowed my internal rage to take over. The next few seconds seemed like a blur as I threw the assailants off the helpless victim and into the surrounding walls. They tried to get a couple punches in on me but were quickly met with some strategically thrown elbows and knees. Evidently, none of these attackers were expecting to deal with any kind of resistance. After landing a few more blows on them, one by one they started running down the alley.
As soon as the last goon was off me, I pulled my phone out and dialed 9-1-1. While I was on the phone with the dispatcher, I got down on my knees and tried to get a look at the individual that was still curled up in the fetal position. As soon as I saw the side of their head, nausea instantly washed over me. His shoulder-length dirty-blond hair had blood caked all through it. He was holding his arm with one hand while the other was holding his lower leg. I tried to gently shake his shoulder, but he seemed to be unconscious. After I finished describing him to the dispatcher, I laid on the ground behind him and held onto his limp body.
Not knowing how bad his injuries were, I tried not to move him. The only thing that I could do was whisper into his ear, “Hold on buddy. Help is on the way.”
I started crying into the back of bloodstained hair. “I love you, Tristan. You can’t leave me yet.”
I reached around his side and placed my hand on his chest. I could feel the thump of his heart beating through his torn dress shirt. After what seemed like forever, the faint sounds of sirens could be heard. Unsure if it was the ambulance or just another emergency vehicle going down the street; I laid with Tristan until I was sure that it was the ambulance coming for him. The sirens got gradually louder and soon there were red and white lights flashing down the alley. I jumped up from where I was laying and ran back down the alley to the street. The paramedics were unloading the stretcher from the back of the ambulance when I approached them.
I tried to catch my breath before talking, but there was no time for that. “He’s down here,” I gasped while pointing in the direction that I just came from.
The paramedics looked at me as I pointed toward the entrance to the alley. They threw their bags on top of the stretcher and followed me as I ran back to where I had left my lover. When they reached him, I let them do their thing as they looked Tristan over. He was still unconscious and completely unresponsive to anything that the paramedics did. As they took his vitals and put the collar around his neck, they started asking me some questions.
“Sir,” the female started, “can you tell me his name?”
“Tristan… Tristan Beckman.”
The guy then asked, “Age?”
“Nineteen.”
“Any allergies?”
“Um… none that I’m aware of.”
She asked next, “What happened here?”
“I was coming to get him from work when I found three people all dressed in black beating the shit out of him. I managed to get them off him and they scattered. Then I called 9-1-1 and waited with him until you two arrived.”
The guy responded, “Well, his pulse and breathing are good, considering his current condition. We need to get him to the nearest hospital fast though. I’m concerned about brain trauma. It appears that he took quite a beating.”
They picked him up and laid him down on the stretcher before strapping him in. As they started to push him down the alley, I stayed beside him holding his hand the whole way. When we reached the ambulance, the guy used the controls and loaded the stretcher into the back. I was still in a state of shock watching these events unfold all over again before my eyes.
The shaking of a hand on my shoulder brought reality crashing back to me. The lady asked, “Sir, are you riding to the hospital with us?”
“Yes, please! I’m not leaving him.”
She nodded as I climbed into the back of the ambulance and sat down beside the stretcher. I took Tristan’s hand as the lady jumped in and closed the doors behind her. Once they were shut, the guy slapped the front wall twice and we took off down the street. I gazed at Tristan’s face as the paramedics worked on him. His lip was split open with blood running down his chin. Bruises were already forming on his beautiful cheeks and around his light blue eyes. Even as I squeezed his hand, there was no reaction from his face.
“Sir,” the lady said, “can you let go of his hand for a second?”
I nodded back and relinquished my hold. I watched as the paramedic cut the fabric up his sleeve and across his shoulder. What was left of his shirt slid off the side of his thin frame, revealing the damage done underneath. His torso was covered in bruises and scrapes. The guy was already starting to put his right arm into a splint. I took Tristan’s hand again as the lady pulled the thin white sheet up over his stomach.
“Well?”
She sighed before responding, “About the only thing I can say is that he’s stable. The rest will be up to the ER doctors to diagnose. We’re splinting his arm as a precaution.”
“He was holding his left leg too.”
She replied, “Alright, we’ll pass that on to the techs when we get there. We’re only a few minutes away now.”
“Thank you.”
She nodded back at me before going back to work on my boyfriend. Just as she promised, it was only a minute or two later before we reached the hospital. After the ambulance backed up and stopped, they opened the doors and wheeled the stretcher out of the back. I followed right behind them as they pushed the stretcher through the automatic doors. Right after we were inside, another woman stopped me.
“Sir, I’m afraid that you can’t go back with him.”
“But…”
“I’m sorry, you’ll have to wait in the waiting room.”
I knew that she was right, I was only going to get in the way. The best thing that I could do for Tristan was to let the professionals take care of him. The lady led me down a hallway and out to the rather busy waiting room. Shortly after leading me to a seat and walking away, she returned with a clipboard full of papers.
“Sir, could you please fill these forms out for us? If you don’t know an answer, just leave it blank.”
I nodded and took the clipboard from her. It was the same set of forms that I had to fill out for Erik. Once again, I worked my way through the stack of papers. After answering the questions to the best of my ability, I took the clipboard back over to the counter and handed it to the man sitting behind.
He flipped through the pages before asking me, “No family history?”
“Sadly, I know nothing about his family.”
“That’s fine,” he said, “we just have to double check. Someone will come out for you when they have an update.”
I thanked the man and returned to my seat only to find it now occupied by someone else. After looking around the room for another seat, my eyes fell upon a coffee vending machine. Already knowing that it was going to taste like shit, I decided to get a cup anyway. I had a feeling that thi
s was going to be a long night and I didn’t want to fall asleep in the waiting room. With my crappy ass cup of coffee in hand, I found an unoccupied seat by the emergency room doors.
Slowly sipping the brown water in my cup, I watched as people came and went from the room. Most left after a doctor came out to visit them, while others just seemed to wander around. I had been sitting in this seat for about two hours when the doors opened. The clicking sound of high heels approaching brought memories flooding back into my mind. I watched as the lady that I would never forget walked into the room. She was wearing a black dress just like the one she was wearing the last time that I saw her. For all I knew, it could have been the same dress.
She walked into the middle of the room with a man in green scrubs beside her. I was having trouble keeping down the bile that was trying to work its way up my throat. My lungs didn’t seem to want to take in the air. Holding my head between my hands, I tried to settle the wave of nausea that was overtaking me. Slowly glancing up, I watched as she stopped in the middle of the room.
When she said a name that I didn’t recognize, I instantly started to relax and breathe normally again. Although, I knew that some other family was getting news that they didn’t want to hear tonight. I watched as the woman and two kids sunk to the floor in front of them and started crying. My heart ached for that family, even though I didn’t know them. Losing a loved one was something that was still weighing fresh on my mind. Even though I was thankful that she wasn’t talking to me, I hated to watch someone else go through that.
I watched as she finished talking to the family and turned around with the doctor following suit. They walked back across the waiting room towards the double doors that I was sitting by. My eyes never broke off looking at her. She looked just like the ‘Grim Reaper’ walking towards me. When she was just a few feet away from me, she stopped and looked right at me. I tried to avert my gaze, but hers didn’t break from me. She stopped right in front of me while the doctor continued through the doors without her.
“Excuse me,” she said, “but, you look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?”
“Um, yes, Ms. Embersole. Seven months ago, I was here when you told my friend that his boyfriend died in surgery.”
“Ah yes,” she replied, “I remember that case now. So, what brings you back here tonight?”
“Tristan is back there now. I think that it was the same people that jumped Erik.”
I tried to wipe the tear that escaped the corner of my eye before she saw it, but I think that I was too late. I was completely shocked when she sat down in the vacant seat beside me. She placed her hand on top of mine and held it there while I recomposed myself. Maybe I had misunderstood this heartless bitch.
She asked, “Well, since you remember my name, do you mind if I ask what yours is?
“Ian McClellan.”
She paused before responding, “That name sounds extremely familiar. Wait a minute, are you by chance an author?”
“I am.”
She replied, “I’ve read a few of your books. You really are quite a gifted author.”
“Mam, if you don’t mind me asking, well I only write one genre.”
Ms. Ebersole leaned into my side until her lips were almost touching my ear. “I used to be a man.”
“Oh shit, well, sorry I wasn’t expecting that.”
“It’s okay,” she responded, “not very many people know. I feel like my secret is safe with you though. It’s Lori by the way.”
“Yeah Lori, totally.”
“So,” Lori asked, “is he a relative of yours?”
“Um, no. It’s kinda complicated.”
She replied, “That’s fine, I should have some free time now.”
“Well, I first came across the boys almost three years ago. They were homeless, staying at a teen shelter not too far from my apartment. I came across them sitting on the street, begging for money. Seeing them like that broke my heart, so, I started giving them money when I walked by. After a month, I asked them to have breakfast with me where I offered them a place to stay. The couple stayed in my spare bedroom for the next two years.
I helped get them jobs at a restaurant that a friend of mine managed. Everything was great for the longest time until they started coming home with bruises and cuts. It all led up to the night when Tristan came home with a seriously beaten Erik. We ended up here and well, you know how that night ended.”
Lori said, “I really did feel bad for Tristan that night. This has to be one of the shittiest jobs in the city. There wasn’t really anything that I could do.”
“There wasn’t anything either of us could do. He was a wreck for six months after and I didn’t even realize the full extent of it. Then, I found out that he was cutting.”
Lori cut in, “It’s sad, that happens more than people realize.”
“Yeah, after seeing all of the scars that he’d been hiding, I knew that he had been doing it for a while. Well, I’ll spare you all of the details, but Tristan and I ended up together. The past month as has been a complete whirlwind for me. He’s happy with me though and I couldn’t be happier with him. So, I guess that every cloud really does have a silver lining.”
She said, “Wow, that’s so sad and really sweet at the same time.”
“Yeah, it is.”
Lori dug through her pocket and pulled a business card out of it. As she handed it to me, she said, “Well, if you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate. Even if you just need to talk to someone.”
I took the card from her and stuck it in my wallet. “Thank you, Lori. I really appreciate the offer.”
“Perhaps we could even do dinner sometime. I would really like to talk to you about your books and get to know you guys better.”
“Yeah, I think that we’d both enjoy that. Once he gets through this whole ordeal, of course”
Right after I spoke, a woman in blue scrubs walked out the double doors. My eyes shot right toward her as she inquired, “The family for Beckman?”
Immediately standing up, I turned and faced the woman beside my chair. Lori stood up after I did and put her hand on my shoulder.
The lady said, “Ms. Ebersole, I didn’t realize that you were involved in this case.”
Lori replied, “I’m not, this is just a friend of mine. This is Ian, Mr. Beckman’s boyfriend.”
“I see. Well then, I’m Dr. Howell. I’ve been his attending ER physician since the paramedics brought him in. Tristan is still unconscious, but his vitals are stable. His right arm and left leg are both fractured. The orthopedic is working on casting them now. He has two broken ribs on one side and three on the other. The ribs and most of the bruising should heal fine on their own. However, we are still concerned about the trauma to his brain. A neurologist is looking at him now and I’m sure that he’ll be ordering some tests.”
“Can I see him?”
“I’m sorry, not yet. The specialists need time to finish their work. Once we get him in a room, you’ll be able to see him then.”
“How much longer?”
The doctor answered, “Another hour, maybe two depending on the neurologist. A nurse will come back out to get you after they take Tristan upstairs.”
“Thank you, Dr. Howell.”
The doctor shook my hand and went back through the double doors. The worst-case scenarios of his condition started running through my head. I sat back down in my seat and put both of my hands on the sides of my face. I bent down until my elbows were resting on my thighs. Although I was happy that he was alive and stable, the thought of him ending up a vegetable was tearing me up inside. It didn’t change the fact that I would still love him and care for him. He didn’t deserve any of what happened to him.
I didn’t even notice that Ms. Ebersole had sat back down beside me until I felt her hand on my shoulder again. She said, “You have to be strong Ian. Tristan is going to need you more now than ever.”
“I know, the reality of this is all just hitting me at
once.”
“Try not to get yourself worked up over it just yet. You don’t even know what the neurologists are going to find, if anything.”
“You’re right. I’m trying to focus on the positive.”
Ms. Ebersole sat with me for about another five minutes before she had to go back to work. I lost track of time sitting in the waiting room after she left. However, my stack of empty paper poker cups was stacking up on the table beside me. It had to have been way past the hour or two that the doctor told me when she came out and I hadn’t heard any updates since. Since I had to relieve myself anyways, I got up and disposed of my stack of cups. Just as I was about to go to the bathroom, I heard my name being called. When I turned around, I saw the doctor that I had spoken with previously. I walked back over to where she was standing by the double doors.
