Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 14:30:16 EDT
From: H
Subject: "Soulful desires" - chapter 8

The story you are about to read contains explicit material one may find
offensive. It contains homosexual acts and behavior between consenting
adults. If you know you're not supposed to be here or you know this
material will upset you, please hit your back button immediately and get
out of here. The story is fictionally written with real life
experiences. Any similarities of plot, names, setting, etc. are totally
coincidental.

Chapter eight - The hospital

Adam and Ryan hurriedly walked into University Hospital. The possibility
that Taylor could be dead sent a piercing feeling to Adam's heart. He tried
not to think about it until he was sure, and the only way to be sure was to
find the doctor who knew about Taylor's condition. They both stopped at the
front desk and asked the secretary a series of questions. While they were
trying to find information about Taylor, a medium-built young man
approached them.

"Excuse me, I'm Doctor Thomas Cordovan. I overheard you asking about
Mr. Hastings and I would like to talk to you about him. He said, looking at
us with great concern. "I assume one of you must be Adam?"

"Yes, I am." Said Adam, with sadness in his voice. "Please tell me that
he's going to be OK."

"Come, this way." Said Doctor Cordovan, as he led them to a sitting area.

All three of them sat. Doctor Cordovan sat facing Adam and Ryan.

"I have some good news and some bad news." Doctor Cordovan started. "The
good news is, Taylor is alive."

Adam sighed deeply and was relieved beyond measure to hear that his man was
still breathing.

"Doc, what's the bad news?" Ryan questioned, carefully.

"I know you've heard by now that Taylor's accident was horrific." Said the
Doctor. "I don't want to alarm you more than necessary, but I want you to
stay optimistic."

"Come on, Doc." Adam pushed, irritated. "What's wrong with Taylor?"

"A few of Taylor's internal organs has been injured." Doctor Cordovan
started to tell them. "His rib cage was badly fractured, and he suffered a
minor concussion to the head."

"Do you have to perform surgery?" Adam sorely inquired.

"We probably will." Said the doctor. "Taylor has minimal damage to his left
kidney, and his lungs. There are also a few blood vessels that were
punctured, but that, too, was minimal. The only severe damage to his body
was his rib cage. But we can expect Taylor to have a speedy recovery,
especially because of how young he is and how he took care off his
body. His body will repair itself at a rapid rate."

The mentioning of how young Taylor was, made Adam think about the
conversation he and Taylor had in the kitchen, hours before this tragedy
had happened. Today was Taylor's birthday and Adam was so heartbroken to
see something like this happen to him. Nevertheless, he was relieved that
Taylor's prognosis was promising.

"Now I've tried calling his parents, but they live in another state."
Doctor Cordovan said. "I'm sure they'd like to be here with their son. Your
name was the first to appear on Taylor's identifications as an emergency
contact, and I figure you must be someone important to him."

"Yeah, we're lov..., we're very good friends." Adam stuttered, not
understanding why he held back from telling Doctor Cordovan the truth about
their relationship.

"Well, you must be a really good friend to him." The doctor smiled. "Would
you please try to call his parents again, I have to attend to the situation
at hand."

"Doc, when can we see him?" Ryan asked, as the doctor stood up.

"I'll let you know." Doctor Cordovan said, as he patted Ryan on his
shoulder and then left them.

A few minutes later, Rouge showed up. He met Adam and Ryan sitting in the
waiting area of the West Wing, where Taylor was situated.

"Hey!" Rouge hailed, softly.

"Hey!" Adam hailed back, with tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, man."

"What for?" Rouge asked, pretending to be concerned.

"I'm not myself right now." Adam said tearfully, and then wiped his eyes.

"You don't have to apologize, I know Taylor meant a lot to you." Rouge
said, sitting next to Adam and then placed an arm around him.

"This is so unfair that a shitty thing like this had to happen to him."
Adam said, breaking down completely. He placed his head on Rouge's chest
and cried.

Ryan sat looking at them. He wanted to comfort Adam too, but he didn't know
how to console a man in Adam's condition. He started to think about his
brother Eric and how he missed him so much. He began to wonder why life had
so many sorrows in it, and even though he was grateful for the gift of
life, sometimes he wished he hadn't been born.

"How did you know Taylor was in an accident?" Adam questioned, as he rose
from Rouge's chest.

"Um, the news." Rouge said quickly. "When I heard, I rushed over here
immediately. I know Taylor was someone special to you and I just wanted to
be here for you."

"That's nice of you, man, but why are speaking as if Taylor is already
dead?" Adam questioned without suspicion.

"He's not?" Rouge asked surprised, but tried to appear happy.

"No." Adam told him. " As a matter of fact, the doctor told us that he
thinks Taylor is going to pull through this just fine."

"I see." Rouge said, trying to conceal his disappointment. "I guess we have
something to be thankful for, huh?"

Adam didn't say anything.  He just barely smiled. A few hours went by, and
then Doctor Cordovan appeared. Ryan was slouched across a few chairs, Rouge
was drinking a cup of coffee, and Adam just sat still. That was until he
saw Doctor Cordovan.

"Doc, is everything OK?" Adam questioned with much concern.

"Well I'm hopeful that it's going to be." The doctor started. "Let me
update you on what we've done. We had to perform a minor surgery to stop
the internal bleeding. Fortunately, his punctured wounds weren't that
serious. We ran some tests to check for any brain damage and the results
came back negative. His rib cage is going to take some time to heal, but so
far, everything else seems to be OK."

"Doc, thank you so much." Adam said gratefully. "So can we see him now?"

"You can, but I must warn you, he's still unconscious." The doctor told
them. "But for now, only one at a time is allowed.

"You go." Ryan told Adam, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, we'll be right out here." Rouge said, seething under his fake
smile. Angry that his plan had been foiled, but committed to not giving up
any time soon. He decided to use the time that Taylor spent recovering, to
get closer to Adam. Yes, he was going to do everything in his power to win
Adam's love.

Adam followed the doctor to the room where Taylor was resting. When Adam
saw Taylor, tears rolled down his cheeks. Doctor Cordovan smiled and then
left them alone. Adam drew near to Taylor's bedside and held his hand.

"Baby, it's me." Adam said, with tears streaming down his face. "I'm so
sorry that this had to happen to you on your birthday. I prayed so hard for
you and I'm so blessed to still have you here on earth with me. Baby, I
don't know what I would do if you left me. I'd die of a broken heart."

Taylor squeezed Adam's hand slightly, and Adam smiled, leaned over and
kissed him on his forehead.

"I know you can hear me, babes." Adam said, running his fingers through
Taylor's hair. "I love you so much. I can't wait to get you back home with
me, so that I can take care of you."

Meanwhile, Rouge was outside on his cell phone with his partner.

"Where the fuck are you?" Came the voice over the phone.

"I'm still at the hospital." Rouge said irritatingly. "Our target is still
alive. What do you want me to do?"

"Don't do anything!" Said the voice, forcefully. "Just lay low, and try to
work on Adam's emotions. This could work out better than I thought. Maybe
it's best that Taylor remains alive. It would do more damage if a cute
Nicaraguan guy, like you, took Adam from him. Just stick to what I tell you
to do and everything will be OK."

"What about this Ryan guy?" Rouge asked.

"What about him?" The voice asked.

"Well, he might be a problem."

"How so?" The voice inquired.

"He might be young, but he's still upset about his brother's death." Rouge
told the voice. "And I believe he came here to Florida to do an
investigation on his own. I mean, Adam told me he was here for college, but
I don't buy that. What if he suspects me?"

"How the fuck he's going to suspect you?" The voice questioned. "That boy
doesn't know his left foot from his right. Well, if he decides to play
detective, then you know what to do, we can't let anyone link Eric's death
to us."

"You have me doing all the dirty work." Rouge told the voice. "I want you
to know, if I go down, you go down too."

"Well, you better make sure that your ass doesn't go down." The voice
retorted angrily. "I invested too much of my time and money into this shit
and I depend on you to do your part."

"Don't worry about me, I'll do what I was paid to do." Rouge said, and then
hung up the phone.

When Rouge turned around, he met Ryan standing behind him.

"How long have you been standing there?" Rouge asked in a paranoid voice.

"Not long." Ryan said looking at him. "I just wanted to get some fresh
 air."

"How long is not long?" Rouge Questioned.

"Dude, if you're worried about me eavesdropping on your conversation, don't
be, because I didn't hear anything." Ryan said seriously. "I'm not that
type of person."

Rouge searched Ryan's eyes for any dishonesty, but he couldn't tell if the
boy was telling the truth. He didn't know whether to do something drastic,
like leading him somewhere dark and then killing him, or wait to see if
Ryan really didn't hear anything. Before he could make a decision, Ryan
interrupted his thoughts...

"So, you knew Eric too?" Ryan questioned innocently.

"What?" Rouge asked angrily.

"I asked did you know my broth..."

"I heard you the first time." Rouge interrupted. "No, I did not know your
brother. Why did you ask me that?"

"I don't know, just making conversation I guess." Said Ryan.

"How old are you?"

"I'm 18. Why?" Inquired Ryan.

"Just asking.  You seemed a bit older." Said Rouge.

"Yeah, my friends tell me that all the time." Ryan said, smiling.

"Well, don't be too quick to grow up.  Enjoy being a teenager while you
can." Rouge said, with a hidden agenda.

"You're talking to me like you're so much older than I am." Ryan told
him. "How old are you?"

"Don't worry about it, kid." Rouge said, brushing him off. He didn't want
to get friendly with Ryan. He was trying to figure out what he should do
with him. He thought this boy could be playing him for a fool and he didn't
want to take any chances.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Rouge asked.

"Sure." Ryan agreed. "Just let me tell the secretary where we're going, so
if Adam starts to look for us, he won't be worried."

"Nawh, don't worry about that, we're not going far." Said Rouge with a fake
smile.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, come on, it'll be fine." Rouge assured him.

Rouge knew that Ryan didn't know his way around Tampa, so he took every
advantage of the situation. He and Ryan walked down this dark alley and
everywhere around them looked desolate.  Rouge kept looking around,
inconspicuously, making sure that no one was around. Ryan walked and talked
about Eric, while Rouge constantly felt the bulge that was stuffed in his
waistline. It was a small handgun that he kept on him most of the
times. Suddenly, Ryan started to get uneasy about his surroundings.

"Man, this place look like a ghost town." Ryan laughed, nervously. "Where
are we?"

"Oh just in the back of the hospital." Rouge smiled. "It's quite beautiful
during the day."

"Don't you think we should be getting back now?" Ryan suggested. "Adam may
be looking for us."

"Are you afraid of the dark?" Rouge jested, but started to reach for his
handgun.

"Only when I don't know where the hell I'm at?" Ryan laughed, but he was
really ready to turn around and go back the way they came.

"Are you telling me the truth, Ryan. Rouge asked seriously.

"Of course I am, why would I be lying to you." Ryan said, a bit bemused.

"I'm talking about that phone call back there at the hospital." Rouge said,
taking out his gun and holding it next to his leg. It was dark, so Ryan
didn't see the gun.

"Man, you still worried about that?" Ryan questioned tensely. "I've told
you, I haven't heard a word you said on that phone."

"Don't bullshit me, Ryan!" Rouge said with anger in his voice. "Tell me the
fucking truth!"

"I am telling you the truth." Ryan said, in a fearful voice.

Rouge stopped walking and held up the gun towards Ryan

"Keep walking until I tell you to stop." Rouge told Ryan in a gravely
voice.

"What the fuck is going on, man?" Ryan cried.

Rouge walked up to Ryan and placed the gun against the right side of his
head.

"Now, I'm going to ask you one last time, how much of my conversation did
you hear?"

"OK, OK, OK, I'll tell you." Ryan profusely cried.

"Oh, so you do know something." Rouge said sarcastically. "You lying ass
bitch!"

"Please. Please don't kill me, I'll won't tell the police anything." Ryan
pleaded for his life. "I swear, I won't tell anyone."

"You mother fucker! You think I'm gonna trust you now?" Rouge taunted. "You
lied to me, how do I know you wouldn't turn me in?"

"You have my word." Ryan cried.

"Nawh, your word is not good enough." Rouge said. "Walk!"

"Please, man, you don't have to do this." Ryan tried. "Come on, man, don't
do this."

"Walk!" Rouge commanded Ryan.

Suddenly, Ryan took off running down the alley. Three shots were fired in
the dark. Ryan dropped to ground and Rouge backed up and ran in the other
direction. Did he kill Ryan? He didn't know, and he couldn't check to see
if he was dead, because a car with bright lights was making a turn in the
alley the same time he fired those shots. Rouge trembled as he reached for
his cell to called his partner.

"I fucked up, man." Rouge said, in a fretful voice.

To be continued...

Chapter eight ends here. I hope you're enjoying the plot as much as I'm
writing it. Stay tuned for the coming chapters and read as this mystery
unfolds before you.

I want to say a special thanks to Daryl, my editor. He helped the story to
flow, as it should.