Disclaimer:  This is a work of fiction, and any similarity to persons  living or dead is purely coincidence.  Writings are submitted to the  Archive under required guidelines.  The author retains all copyrights  and creative licenses.  This story does contain acts of sex and love  between men.  If you are offended, or are not of legal age to view this  material, then please focus your attention elsewhere. Wow, I have to tell you all that I never expected such a positive reception to the Derek-and-Scott series.  I've received many E-mails so far and everyone has had nice things to say.  Your comments and suggestions have been very helpful.  Part 5 is the last chapter that I had finished before I started to post the series to the Nifty Archive.  I have encorporated some of your suggestions into the coming chapters.   I'd like to know what you think.  E-mail your comments to me at derek2122@hotmail.com
Derek and Scott - Part 5

I snapped out of my fantasy when I heard the locker room door open.  Shit, I though.  I spun around and made the water as cold as I could stand it.  I had been standing there daydreaming and stroking my dick in the shower.  I was still very hard and I hoped the cold water would help my dick go soft.  I had only moments before Mason would appear in the shower.

"The gym will be closing in 10 minutes..." Came a voice over the announcement system. 

I had just turned off the water and grabbed my towel when Mason came into the shower.  He hung his towel on the hook and turned on the water.  It looked like he was in a hurry to finish before the gym closed.  I quickly wrapped the towel around my waist and covered what was left of my hard-on.

Mason was even more magnificent naked than I imagined.   His chest had more hair than I though, and his dick was considerably thicker.  I averted my gaze to my feet and quickly finished drying.

"The gym will be closing in 5 minutes..." How annoying.  I thought.  We heard you the first time.

I heard the water turn off and Mason appeared moments later.  His locker was not that far from mine.  He took his time drying off and made no effort to cover himself while doing so.  I tried my best to keep focused on getting dressed and getting out of there.

"I saw you watching me work out." Mason said with disgust in his voice.

Shit, here it comes. "Excuse me?"  I said in my best-confused voice.

"I saw you staring at me in the mirror while I was working out.  So it's true then?" He said it as more of a statement of fact than as a question.

"What's true?" This was heading nowhere good.

"Your old roommate Mike said you were a fag!  Now I know he was right."

"I don't know what you're talking about."  I said, realizing right away that I still had yet to deny that he was right.  I was just about finished dressing and I had stuffed my gym clothes in my backpack.  I was doing my best to get out of there quickly.

Mason had on his boxer shorts and socks and nothing else.  He walked over to me and blocked my exit.   He got eye to eye with me, and half spit when he spoke.

"If I ever catch you staring at me again I'll beat your ass!!" He shouted.

For further emphasis he punched me extremely hard on the right side and then shoved me out of the way and walked back to his locker.  I lost my balance and fell backwards over the bench behind me.  The left side of my head behind the temple struck the lockers.  As I was falling, my head must have connected with one of the handles on the locker and opened up a small gash.  It hurt like hell.  My hand went up to feel the wound and came back with a little blood.  The cut was not all that bad, but it was bleeding a little.  I lay there for a moment gasping.  Mason's punch had knocked the wind out of me.

I think that's when the adrenaline kicked in.  Despite the pain in my side, and the pounding in my head, I got to my feet.  I grabbed my backpack, helmet, and jacket and rushed out of there.  I heard Mason laughing to himself in the background.  The last thing I heard him yell was "You tell anyone I touched you, and you WILL get the shit beat out of you.  Consider this a warning."

Outside I walked quickly to my motorcycle.  My heart was racing, and I was in a state of near panic.  Everyone would know that I was gay.  Mason would only keep quiet for just so long.  I never even denied it - SHIT!   What did I do to Mike to make him think I was gay?  What would Erik say about me being his gay roommate?  What would Derek think about being friends with me all these years and me never telling him the truth?

I realized that I was shivering.  I put on my jacket and slung my backpack over my back.  I winced in pain at the twisting motion required to do this.  My ribs were killing me where Mason's fist connected with my side.  I was sure I'd have a nasty bruise tomorrow. 

I started the bike and went to place the helmet on my head and stopped.   My head was still bleeding but not that bad.  It was going to get the inside of my helmet all messed up.  Oh well, I'll never make it to the lab on time if I walk.

I pulled the helmet on and winced in pain.  Maybe the cut is worse than I though.  I changed my mind and decided to go home.  Derek would just have to do the lab without me.  I was in no condition or mood to work on a Chemistry lab anyway.  I just hoped that Erik would not be in the room so I could dress the wound and go to bed without having to explain.  Maybe tomorrow I could come up with a plausible excuse for what happened.

It was really getting cold out.  I'd better take my bike home soon.  My Mom would give me crap about it unless I put the bike into winter storage soon.  I was trying to think of anything but what had happened.  Maybe it will be OK.  Maybe Mason's warning was just that - a warning.  If I avoid him, maybe he'll leave me alone.

My head was throbbing by the time I got home.  My ribs didn't feel any better either.  I decided to park in the regular lot and move the bike back to the covered parking reserved for motorcycles in the morning.  It was really cold, and the bike parking area was at the far end of the lot.  I just wanted to get inside and lay down.

It was probably just after 9 PM at this point.  The school had a rule that all freshmen were to be back on campus by 11PM during the week.  It is not something that they could really enforce but most students abided by the rule.  Since I lived in a freshmen dorm, the adjacent parking lot was mostly full given the hour.  I managed to find a spot not too far from the door.  I pulled into the spot next to a Jeep Cherokee.  The pavement was a bit wet from a miss-aligned sprinkler head that had shut off some time ago.  Well, it was not supposed to rain, and the sprinklers were done for the night so the bike should stay dry.

I turned off the motor and removed my helmet placing it over the right side mirror while I removed my gloves.  I went to stand up and put down the kickstand and get off the bike.  That's when it happened...

What I didn't notice was that some of the water on the pavement had already frozen from the clear cold night temperatures.  My left foot slipped on the ice and since I hadn't put the kickstand down yet the bike began to topple over.

I tried desperately to keep the bike upright but my legs were still sore and weak from overdoing it at the gym so I had little strength to do anything about it.  The bike weighed nearly 400 pounds and there was little I could do with an icy footing.  Shit, I was going to dump my new motorcycle on its side.  I was apparently more concerned about damaging my baby than I was myself.  What I should have done was jump out of the way and let it fall.

The bike took me over with it and sent my backpack flying.  The left side of my head struck the mirror of the Cherokee parked next to me and opened up the gash in my temple even more than the locker did when Mason shoved me into it.

My last memories of that day were of lying there on the pavement feeling a gut wrenching pain in my lower left leg and my head pounding like a July 4th marching band.  I tried to move but the weight of the bike had my leg pinned down.  It tried to call out for help but my voice was nothing but a croak.  It was hard to breath.  Oh shit it hurt.  It hurt everywhere.

I was getting cold, so very cold.  My teeth began to chatter and my left leg was numb.  All I could think of was Derek and how I needed him.  I started to cry from the pain.  My pain, Derek's pain too.   Is this what Derek went through when he lost feeling to his legs?  Why didn't I run from the bleachers to his side the day he fell off the pommel horse?  Why didn't I comfort him when he needed someone?  Why didn't I go into his room at the hospital?  I felt so alone.  I felt what Derek must have felt.  I felt closer to him at that moment than ever before, and yet even further away.

I don't know how long I lay there.  I was in such amazing pain, and I could feel the blood from my head drip down my neck.  I began to feel dizzy.  At least it happened quickly.  The blackness enveloped me and I felt nothing more.


This next part of the story is told in the third person... It was about 9:40 at night when a loud banging was heard on Erik and Scott's dorm room door.  Erik was studying with his headphones on and didn't hear the knocking.  Without waiting for Erik to answer, the door flung open.  Steve, the dorm's RA barged in the room.

"What the fuck Steve..." Erik started to protest removing his headphones.

"Shhh Erik, I need to call Scott's parents.  Do you have their number?  I can't find Scott's file."

"Yes why, what's going on, why did you barge..."

"There's been an accident.  Scott is all fucked up.  They're taking him to the hospital!"

"What!  When?  Is he OK!"  Erik yelled jumping to his feet.

"No he's not.  The ambulance is getting ready to take him away now.  They are just out front!"

With that Erik ran outside to see what happened.  He heard Steve in the background yelling after him to call Scott's family for him.  The ambulance was just out front parked next to the motorcycle.  The bike was upright and they were just lifting Scott onto the stretcher.  There was blood all over the parking lot near the bike.  Scott had an IV hooked up to his arm and an oxygen mask over his face.

"I'm Scott's roommate, what happened?"  He was able to get close enough to Scott to hold his hand as they loaded him into the ambulance.  Erik got Scott's blood all over his hand.

"We're not sure, looks like he slipped on the ice getting off his bike and he cracked his head open on the mirror of that Jeep.  His leg may be broken too and it's cut badly.  The foot-peg of his bike went right into his leg.  He's unconscious and he's lost a lot of blood.  His injuries are not that bad but we don't know how long he was laying there before someone found him."

"I'm coming with you!"  Scott said.

"I'm sorry, we cannot let non-family members..."

"Fuck your rules, I'm coming with you!"

"Sir, you're not helping!"  You can meet the ambulance at the hospital, right now we need to take care of your friend."

Erik knew they were right and ran back to the dorm to call Scott's parents.  His hand was still covered with blood so he wiped it clean on his shirt and pants.  He was searching for Scott's address book when Derek came into the room.  Erik had his back to the door and did not see Derek enter.

"It's after 10, where the hell is Scott?  I waited at the lab until..."

Erik turned around upon hearing Derek's voice.  The sight of blood all over Erik's pants and shirt stopped Derek in mid sentence.

"What the hell happened to you?  Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, this is Scott's blood.  They are taking him to the hospital, how did you miss the commotion outside?"

"I came in the back door, what do you mean Scott's going to the hospital!!"  Derek's voice jumped several octaves.

Erik quickly filled Derek in on what had happened.

"Let's go to the hospital, Scott needs us!"

"Derek, you go on ahead.  I'll meet you there in a few minutes.  I have to call Scott's parents, and I need to get out of these bloody clothes.  Damn!  I can't find his folks number."

"Here, I know it by heart.  I'll write it down for you."

And then Derek was gone.  He dropped his books and his cane and ran down the stairs to his car.  He ran in full strides without the slightest hint of faltering.  Derek momentarily remembered forgetting his cane but ignored the thought that he should go back for it.

There were still people lingering around the parking lot when Derek got outside.  He could here the sirens wailing in the distance.  As he ran past Scott's motorcycle he slowed just enough to see the blood still spilled on the parking lot. The sight sickened him and he stumbled briefly.  He made it to his car and was off.  Derek was driving so fast he all but caught up to the ambulance.  Moments later he was at the hospital.

The only thoughts in his mind were of Scott.  "Oh please let him be OK, please, he's such a beautiful person.  He doesn't deserve this."  He said aloud to himself.

Derek parked his car and ran into the Emergency Room - or what they referred to it anyway.  It was a small town after all and the hospital was pretty small.  Derek feared that they would not be able to adequately deal with Scott's injuries.  'Why didn't they take him to County General?' He wondered.

He ran up to the reception desk and asked where they had taken Scott.  The lady at the desk looked nonplussed. 

"Where have they taken Scott Miller, I need to seem him."

"Are you family?"

"No, I'm his friend, they just brought him in on that ambulance."  Derek said while pointing to the ambulance parked just outside.

"I'm sorry sir, we cannot release information to anyone unless they are immediate family..."

"We'll see about that!" Derek started moving towards the ER doors.

A nurse stopped him at the doors telling him that he'd have to wait in the waiting room.  Derek collapsed at her feet and started to cry.  He had forgotten his cane and his emotions had gotten the best of him - he was losing control.

"You don't understand...  He needs me.   I, I...love him."  That last part came out as mainly a whisper.

The nurse quickly surmised the details of the situation and tool Derek aside into an examining room.  She told him the extent of Scott's condition making Derek promise to keep quiet because she could lose her job for telling a non-family member what was happening.

She explained that Scott was being taken to X-ray at the moment.  Scott had lost a great deal of blood, was in shock, and had a mild case of hypothermia from the cold.  There was bruising on his side and his breathing was erratic.  The doctor thought he had a broken rib and wanted to rule out a punctured lung by taking some X-rays.

She said that the gash in his head was not too bad, but the foot-peg punctured his calf and the weight of the bike had crushed his leg.  They were not sure if his leg was broken.  The puncture seemed pretty bad and would probably take multiple stitches to close.  Their greatest concern right now was the fact that he was unconscious.  Normally it would not have been such a concern after an accident, but the significant loss of blood, shock, and hypothermia, the doctor was fearful Scott might slip into a coma.

"That's all I know, and I need to get back in there.  Are you going to be OK?  Is someone going to come get you?"  She asked.

"Yes."  Derek sat there stunned.  As the nurse began to walk away he asked, "What's your name?"

"Leslie."

"Leslie, I know this may seem unconventional, but I have a favor to ask, and I need you to do something for me - well, it's actually for Scott.   There is one thing I can do to help, and it would mean the world to me."

Leslie was confused until Derek quickly outlined his plan.  Her face scrunched up for a moment as she thought about it.  Her reply was quick and simple.

"Follow me, we need to hurry!"