Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 08:10:34 -0400 From: Jeff Allen Subject: Love of a Lifetime Part 18 This is a fictional story dealing with love and consensual sexual activities between males. If you are not of legal age, reside in an area where viewing such material is illegal, or are offended by homosexuality and/or homosexual themes, leave this site now. The author retains all rights to this story. No reproductions or links to other sites are allowed without the permission of the author. LOVE OF A LIFETIME PART 18 Man my head hurt! When I opened my eyes Andy was there looking at me with a concerned expression on his face. "W...what? Andy?" His face lit up in a big smile. "Welcome back, Lover. How are you feeling?" "Like shit. My head hurts!" I tried to bring my right hand up to my head, but the movement was stopped by a shooting pain in my wrist. "My wrist hurts too! Where am I? What are you doing here?" "You're in the hospital. Let me tell the nurses you're awake. Then I'll explain." He pushed the call button. A mechanical voice said, "Nurses station." "He just woke up." "I'll be right there." Andy turned his attention back to me. "You must have fallen in the shower. When you didn't come back to the room for a while, Justin went out and found you. You've got a broken wrist and a bad concussion. Justin called me after they got you to the hospital." "How long have I..." "You've been unconscious all night. It's about nine o'clock on Thursday morning." "You've been here all night?" "Yeah. I got in the car as soon as Justin called." "That explains why you look so tired and old." Andy stopped for a moment and then replied smiling, "Well, I see you have your usual sarcastic sense of humor. I was hoping the bump on the head would improve it a bit." The nurse came in and made Andy move away from the bed while she checked my eyes, took my pulse and temperature, and asked a couple of questions to make certain I was coherent. When she left, Andy came back to the bedside and took my hand. "I'm really glad you're awake. You scared me. Please be more careful in the shower." My last moments of consciousness came flooding back to me. "Andy, I didn't fall in the shower." "What do you mean?" "Someone pushed me into the wall." "What?" "Someone came in while I was rinsing the shampoo out of my hair. They pushed me into the wall. I fell and hit my wrist and head." Andy's face paled, and then his eyes took on a hard look I'd never seen before. "Whoever has been messing with your car, just upped the ante. I'm going to call the cops. This shit has got to stop!" Andy used the phone in the room to make two calls. The first was to leave a message for Justin that I was awake. I knew from the time that Justin was in chemistry lab. The second call was to the police department. The town police told Andy that since the incident happened on University property it would be up to campus security to do the investigation. They told Andy they would relay his report to the University. Andy was angrier than I'd ever seen him when he hung up from the call to the police. He didn't say anything, but I could see the muscles at the sides of his jaws working as he clenched his teeth. I think he was forcing himself to act calm so as not to upset me. I sure hoped the level of anger I saw reflected in his eyes was never directed toward me! One of the staff doctors came in to check me over. He went over my list of injuries. There was a cast on my wrist that would be on for a month to six weeks. Since I had been unconscious for such a long time he wanted to keep me in the hospital for another night before releasing me just to be sure. If nothing showed up, then I could go home in the morning although I would probably have some recurrent headaches for a week or so because of the concussion. The doctor made some joke about my needing to be more careful in the shower so we told him that it wasn't an accident. He asked if we'd filed a police report. Andy said that the town police had put the investigation off on campus security. The doctor nodded and then asked the big question. "Do you know why anyone would want to hurt you?" I looked at Andy. He nodded so I told the doctor that I was gay and that someone had been harassing me since last semester. I told him about the shaving cream and paint on the door and the two incidents of vandalism to my car. The doctor looked from me up to Andy. "Mr. Hatcher, you were listed as C.Z.'s next of kin by one of the young men who came in with C.Z. You're not kin are you?" Andy stiffened. "No. C.Z. and I are partners." "I see." He lowered his reading glasses and fixed both of us with a look. I figured we were going to get a lesson about the evils of homosexuality. He sighed before opening his mouth again. "C.Z., Mr. Hatcher, just how angry are you about this attack?" Andy met the doctor's gaze. "I can't begin to tell you how angry I am. I want this person caught and punished. He could have killed C.Z." "Are you aware that this state has an anti-hate crime law? Attacks like this are supposed to be reported to the state police, but the local officials often neglect to do it. Sometimes it's because the victims don't want to pursue the hate crime aspect of their attack. Other times it's because the local authorities themselves don't view gay bashing as a hate crime. Do you want to pursue this?" "Yes." Both of us answered at the same time. "Good. Then I'm going to indicate on my report that your injuries were caused by a deliberate assault. I have a duty to report all suspicious injuries to the proper authorities. In this case that would be Campus Security who are supposed to call in the state police." He smiled slightly. "Seeing as how I'm just a simple- minded small town doctor, I'll probably get confused and make the report directly to the State Police." He patted my hand before turning to leave the room. "I'll be back later today to see how you're doing." I went to sleep after the doctor left. When I woke Andy was asleep in the chair next to the bed. I loved watching him sleep. This was the love of my life. I couldn't ask for anything more. An orderly brought in two trays for lunch. He placed one on the hospital table beside my bed and he handed the other one to a surprised Andy. "The doctor ordered two lunches for this room. He thought both of you might be hungry." Justin came into the room as we were finishing the lunches. He'd gotten Andy's message about my being awake and that I had been attacked deliberately. We filled him in on everything. Justin promised to speak to our professors to tell them why I was missing class. After an hour or so he left to go back to campus. He must have started calling the professors as soon as he got back to the room because within an hour of his leaving, Gary Griffith came into the room. "Hey, C.Z. How's one of my favorite students?" "Hi, Doc. I've still got a slight headache and my wrist is sore as hell, but otherwise I'm okay. Doc, this is Andy Hatcher, a friend of mine from home." I thought I saw a flash of understanding cross Doc Griffith's face as he and Andy shook hands. "C.Z., Justin said that someone pushed you in the shower. Do you know why?" For the second time that day I looked at Andy to get his non-verbal assent to explain the motive for the attack. I saw Andy nod. "Doc, I've been hassled since last semester because I'm gay. Last night was just the latest incident." "Okay, that explains some of what Justin told me. He said that you'd been harassed before, but I didn't know what it was about." "Doc, before you jump to any conclusions, I want you to know that Justin's straight. He and I are just roommates. Nothing more." "C.Z., I try not to assume anything about my students except that they're going to work their tails off in my class for their grade. You and Justin have both done that. I came by to see how you were and to see if there was anything I could do for you. Don't worry about the exam tomorrow; we'll find a time to do a makeup when you get back to class." Doc turned to Andy. "Have you been here all night?" "Yes." "Were you planning on staying here tonight or coming back in the morning when C.Z.'s released?" "Now that it looks like C.Z.'s going to be okay, I thought I'd get a room for tonight and then be here in the morning. I didn't get much sleep last night." "I'd like you to stay tonight with my partner and me. We've got a spare room, and it's free." My brain did a flip flop. Did he just say partner? I'd noticed last semester that Doc had a gold band on the ring finger of his left hand. I assumed he was married, but he just said 'partner'. Was the partner male or female? Why would he wear what looked like a wedding ring if his partner was a woman? Andy smiled. I could see the weariness in his face. I knew he hadn't slept much if at all last night. "Thanks, Dr. Griffith. That would be very nice." "It's Gary. After the harassment you two have been through the past few months, it might be nice to realize that there are other gay couples here in Adams. I'll give you directions to the house. Just come on out whenever you leave here. Matt and I will have some dinner ready for you." That clinched it! Doc was gay also! "Doc, I never suspected that..." "Never suspected that I'm gay. I don't announce it in my classes, but Matt and I don't hide it either. I think most of the faculty know that we're a couple. We've been together for five years now." Things began to click together in my brain. Jason had said something about one of the football coaches living with a faculty member. "Is your partner one of the football coaches?" "Yes. Matt Stevenson. How...?" "Jason Sherman, my former roommate is a football player. He told me that one of the coaches was gay." "All of the coaching staff know that Matt and I are partners. He makes sure to tell all the freshman on the team that he's gay so that any of the guys who are struggling with their sexuality know they have someone to talk to." The door opened and Kevin and Kathy Williams came in. Doc and the Williamses greeted each other with hugs so it seemed a safe bet that they already knew each other. Doc introduced them to Andy and then excused himself after giving Andy his phone number and telling him to call for directions when he was ready to come out to their house. Kathy Williams came over to the bed and picked up my hand. "Justin called Kevin and said you had been attacked and were in the hospital. We're so glad to see that you're going to be all right. We wouldn't want anything to happen to one of our favorite students. Can you tell us what happened?" She paused. "Oh dear, it just occurred to me that you might not want to tell us. I'm sorry." I assured her it was okay, and after glancing at Andy to get his assent once again, I told our story for the third time that day. When I was finished, Kathy Williams told us that she was really sorry we'd had to put up with such "barbaric" behavior. She told us that she had a brother who was gay and that she and her husband were best friends with Gary Griffith and Matt Stevenson. Then she asked a question that really shook me up. "How do you feel about going back to live in the dorm?" "I...I'm not sure. Right now I'm not very comfortable with it, but I don't see any other options." The door opened again admitting two campus security officers into the room. One of the officers I recognized as Ron Kestler, the guy who had been so sympathetic when our cars had been vandalized before Christmas. The other officer was a middle aged man who clearly was the person in charge. The Williamses made their excuses and left. As soon as they left the room the older security officer who identified himself as Captain Combs started asking me about the shower incident. Andy and I could tell from the attitude of Captain Combs that he considered the visit to the hospital room to be a waste of his time. Ron Kestler carefully kept a blank expression on his face the entire time. Both Andy and I were beginning to get tired of Captain Combs' condescending attitude. I knew that Andy was going to tell him off any second. The door opened again and a big state trooper walked in. He introduced himself as Trooper McMillan. He was a commanding presence in the room standing about 6' 3" and probably a solid 220 pounds. His neat gray and black uniform shirt seemed to highlight his broad shoulders, bulging biceps, and thick chest that came to a narrow waist at his utility belt. The black, flawlessly pressed trousers gave a hint of powerful legs and a high tight ass. He had a broad face and nose with full lips. His milk chocolate skin highlighted large, almond shaped eyes with dark irises surrounded by almost starkly white sclera. His teeth were also beautifully white and even. His black hair was cut high and tight. His smile was tightly controlled. All in all he could have been a poster child for the state police or been featured in a gay man's cop-in-uniform fantasy. Trooper McMillan and Capt. Combs seemed to know but not like one another. Combs stopped talking while the trooper had me tell my story starting with the shaving cream on the door episode and ending with last night's shower. He asked for the names of people that might have something against me for being gay. I told him about Jason Sherman and Brad Miller, although I didn't tell him the whole story behind Jason's moving out of the room. I just said that he had found out about my being gay, and he didn't want to room with me anymore. Trooper McMillan asked me if I wanted to pursue the case as a potential hate crime. "You realize that if we pursue the case, I'll have to talk to all of the guys on your hall as well as some other folks on campus. It won't take much for them to realize why the state police are involved so if they don't know that you're gay now, they almost certainly will be the time this is over." "Yes. I realize that." "And you still want to me to pursue the case?" "Yes." He smiled a genuine full smile for the first time. The stern, commanding visage melted for just a moment and then returned. "Good. This is where a lot of folks decide that they don't want to go ahead. They realize that it's likely to blow what ever cover they have left. That means a lot of these hate crimes aren't pursued. I'm glad you're willing to charge ahead." He turned to Capt. Combs. "Now, Capt. Combs, I expect that your office will cooperate fully by turning over all the records of the previous incidents to me. I'll be by in the morning to pick them up." Combs replied in the affirmative, but I could tell he wasn't pleased, and he was clearly uncomfortable with Trooper McMillan. I had my suspicions that if we had only reported my assault to the campus security nothing would have been done with it. I also noticed that Officer Ron Kestler had been watching the interchange between his boss and the big trooper very carefully. I thought I saw just a hint of amusement in his features. Trooper MacMillan and the two campus security officers left to be replaced by Justin. He gave Andy a hug and then came over to the bed to squeeze my hand. With Justin there, I insisted that Andy go out to Doc's house to get some rest and get away from the hospital. Justin stayed with me until after the doctor came back in to check on me and then left around dinner time. Hospitals are not the place to get any rest. There's constant noise and interruptions. The nurses wake you up to ask if you've been able to sleep. The rooms are either too hot or too cold. There's never anything interesting on the TV, and after a couple of hours you feel like screaming. I was more than ready when the doctor finally released me the next morning. Andy and I stopped at the dorm long enough to pack up a few of my things before we headed to Carterville for the weekend. I called my boss and Coach Kensington to tell them about my wrist. Justin had already thought to contact both of them so I didn't have to spend a lot of time explaining my situation. The doctor had told me that I needed to lay off from work for at least a week, but after that I could do some light duty work in the kitchen as long as I kept the cast covered so it didn't get wet. Coach told me to start running with the team as soon as I felt able. Justin came back to the room at lunch time. It had occurred to me that Justin might also be a target for an attack. His parents thought the same thing and were trying to talk him into coming home for the weekend. The three of us talked and decided that the better plan would be for Justin to come to Carterville and stay with Andy and me. That way he could help get me caught up on the class work I'd missed and he would be able to drive me back to school on Sunday night saving Andy another trip to Adams. During the drive home, Andy told me about his stay with Doc Griffith and Matt Stevenson. The way Andy described it, their house sounded similar to ours since it was out of town and set in the middle of a clearing in the woods so it was very private. There was a hot tub on the deck and a work out room with a nice set of weights and a Nautilus machine in the area between the house and the garage. Andy said that after he had napped for a couple of hours he and Matt Stevenson had done some light lifting exercises while Doc made the meal. Andy told me that he liked both Doc and Matt instantly. He described Matt as being about 5' 11", handsome, with a fantastic build, small cleft in his chin, sandy brown hair, and light green eyes. The three of them had used the hot tub after dinner so Andy had checked out both Doc and Andy in the raw. I'd seen Doc Griffith in the showers so I paid more attention to Andy's description of Matt Stevenson's body. He said Matt was cut with a nice sized dick that looked like it would be a real tool when it was hard. Andy said it was obvious that both Matt and Doc worked out a lot. According to Andy, Matt had nicely defined pecs with and eight pack abdomen. He had a few hairs around his nipples and a thin line of hair beginning at his belly button and ending in his thick pubic hair. Andy told Doc and Matt the whole story of our meeting, becoming lovers, mom's death, my becoming Andy's ward, and finally about the problems I'd had with Jason and Brad. Andy said that Matt seemed very upset that football players were possibly involved in the harassment. He told Andy that Brad had demonstrated an attitude problem from the beginning, and he promised to have a talk with both of them. Doc told Andy that the Vice President for Student Life appeared to be gay friendly but that Doc suspected he wasn't sincere about it. Doc promised Andy that he would do as much as he could as a faculty member to make certain the university didn't try to sweep the gay bashing issue under the rug Andy related to me the story of how Doc and Matt had gotten together. They told Andy about how they had met when Matt was a student in one of Doc's classes as a freshman and that it had taken them almost four years to realize how much they truly loved one another. Andy related to me the story Doc and Matt had told about Matt's abusive father beating his mother and younger brother before running off. Matt's mother had died as a result of the beating, and Matt's brother, Mark, had come to live with them. Mark was also gay and had become the lover of Matt's best friend from high school and college, Jamal Phillips, a fellow football player. Mark played quarterback on the university football team, and Jamal had been one of the assistant coaches. Andy told me about Matt's father returning the next year and almost killing them. Doc, Matt, Mark, and Jamal had all been publically outed during the trial of Matt's dad for the murder of his wife and the attempted murder of his sons and Doc. Matt had lost his job as a high school teacher and coach as a result of the publicity, but the head coach at the university, John Schroeder, had hired Matt as an assistant coach knowing Matt was gay. I just sat and listened as Andy told me what he'd learned. I'd been in Doc's class and lab for an entire semester and had never suspected that he might be gay. Andy said that Doc and Matt had invited us to stay out at their house the next time Andy came for a weekend visit. I was really blown away by it all. ********** The weekend was restful. I had a couple of headaches like the doctor had warned, but they weren't too severe. My wrist hurt more than I thought it would. I tried one of the pain killers I'd been given as we left the hospital. It put me out for two hours so I decided to put up with the pain and flushed the rest of the pain killers down the toilet. Having my wrist in the cast did have its advantages. Andy and Justin would not let me do anything in the kitchen the entire weekend. To take a shower, I'd pull a long rubber glove up over the cast and secure it with waterproof tape. Taking the tape off was only painful the first couple of times. After that I didn't have any hair left on my forearm so it didn't hurt so much to tear the tape off. Andy insisted on taking showers with me and washing my hair. I didn't object to that. I just stood there and enjoyed the attention. Andy seemed to enjoy the showers also. The most bothersome thing was trying to learn how to do some things left handed. I found that I could still write with my right hand although I was slow and the handwriting had a grade school quality to it. I couldn't twist the wrist or use my right arm to lift anything very heavy. Each time I forgot and tried to do something with my right arm, a jolt of pain reminded me why I was wearing the cast. Poor old Larsen thought I wasn't much fun that weekend. I'd tried to throw his ball for him left handed. The results were pitiful. After the first couple of tries, he stopped bringing the ball to me to be thrown. Andy and Justin were the ones honored with the slobbery tennis ball at their feet and the pleading, expectant look on Larsen's face. The other big disadvantage of the cast on my right wrist was that I was limited to using my left hand when Andy and I made love. However, I did have the chance to practice my left-handed love making technique several times that weekend. ********** I thought I'd be all right going back into the dorm, but as Justin drove us back to school that Sunday evening I could feel the tension building in the pit of my stomach as we got nearer and nearer to campus. Justin must have been feeling it also. He stopped talking, and we drove the last half hour or so in silence. We dropped our stuff off at the dorm, ran Justin's car over to the garage he was renting, and started walking back to campus. "Are you gonna be okay with this, C.Z.?" "I guess I don't have any choice. I'm kind of 'out' there now. I wonder if the guys on the track team or friends in class are going to treat me any differently." "Are you afraid of being attacked again?" "A little. I've been trying to tell myself that with the state police asking questions and snooping around who ever is behind this crap is going to lay low for a while at least. My stomach's kind of tight about the whole thing though." "Hey, man. Your true friends are gonna stick with you." "Like you, Justin? Not many people would do what you've done. You really stuck your neck out for me. I hope you don't end up getting hurt because of it." "I've seen some of what my brothers have had to go through. I just can't look the other way to protect myself. I love all my brothers, and I'm including you and Andy as brothers." "Thanks, Justin. We love you too." "Just be careful. Okay?" "Don't worry. I'll be sure to keep my eyes open in the shower from now on." (To be continued)