Best Friends to the End
Chapter 16
Healing and Questions
Matt Taylor - computer technician who lives alone
Jeremy White - Matt's best friend, Emergency Medicine resident
Ron Waters - works at the Academy and brother of Ben
Ben Waters - works for
Beth Waters - Matt's apartment manager, sister to Ron and Ben
Derek Anderson -
visiting chief resident from
The character Derek Anderson was borrow with permission for the story The Road Home written by the fabulous author Tyler Peel. The website for this awesome story is http://tickiestories.us/theroadhome_cl.htm. I love reading this story. Once again a personal thanks to my editors for helping me so much Please email me with feedback my ego needs it.
Matt's hospital room,
I had just watched an hour of Regis and Kelly and decided I wanted to check on Ben and make sure he got some sleep. I picked up the phone but realized that I don't have his phone number. Just then my phone rang.
"Hello," answering the phone.
"Hi there boyfriend, I just woke up from a nap, and I thought I would call you and see how you are feeling?" Ben asked very happy.
"My head is still pounding and the staff will not let me get out of bed, because I have a concussion," I whined my best.
"Well I am going to go run a few errands, mainly pay some bills, and then I will come up there and hang out with you this afternoon." Ben said.
"Can you bring me some ice cream please?" I begged.
I heard Ben laughing into the phone.
"Well since I know your favorite is cookies and cream so I will pick some up although I thank my cream is better"
"Ben your crème is always better, and I am very hungry for your cream. Now your mission when you get here is to get this tube out of Matt Jr."
"You poor baby, I will talk to Jeremy, but I bet he will bust out laughing. Now go be a good patient and hurry up and get healed so you can come home." Ben hung up the phone and I put the phone up. I decided I was going to watch some ESPN. I was going over the scores when there was a knock on the door. The door opened and Jeremy walked in dressed in very bright red scrubs.
"So when are you breaking me out of this pop stand Jeremy?" Jeremy walked over to the bed and looked down.
"Well they've got to make sure you abdomen is fully recovered after surgery, not to mention that we usually keep concussion patients for 72 hours." I decided to put the sad face on and see what would happen.
"That is not going to work on me, mister, I am not your doctor, and beside this way I can keep an eye on you instead of you keeping an eye on me." Jeremy said.
"Well can you at least can you take this tube out of my dick for me?" I asked pointing down with my fingers.
"I am not your doctor but I will stick a note on your chart." Jeremy said and that satisfied me. Just then there was a knock on the door and a police officer walked in.
"Mr. Taylor, I am Officer Jake Wright, and I am investigating the accident that landed you in the hospital. I would like to talk with you if that is all right." I nodded my head.
He came into the room and pulled up a chair and sat close to me. He pulled out a notepad and a pen. "You look familiar officer, have I seen you before? I do not remember you giving me a citation." He laughed.
"I was the first officer on scene at the accident, and we helped you until the EMS team arrived. Now what can you tell me about the accident?"
"Honestly officer, I have been having a lot of problems remembering what exactly happened. I have been trying to remember but all I get are bits and pieces. Am I at fault for this accident?" He looked at his notepad and looked at me very seriously.
"From witness statements that we have taken, you had gotten a green arrow and were in the middle of a left turn when someone from the west bound on Mitchell ran a red light." I nodded and he continued. "You were taken by ambulance to a near by school so a helicopter could fly you here to Baylor. My partner began a detailed investigation of the accident. After conducting a field sobriety test, the other driver was arrested and charged with DUI." I did not like the sound of that at all.
Jeremy extended his hand, and I grabbed it. "With regards to your injuries and the injury of your female passenger, I need you to decide if you would like to press charges."
"What would he be charged with?" I asked starting to feel like I wanted to hit something. He sat there for moment thinking.
"Well, DUI in conjunction with an accident is a felony. It is hard to say, but if you would like to press charges we will charge him with assault with a deadly weapon in conjunction with felony DUI." I thought for a few seconds.
"Officer Wright I want him to be prosecuted. He nearly killed me, and I want him to be locked up for a long time." Officer Wright wrote something down and stood up,
"Well, I have turned the case over to the detectives, and they will add the charge when he is arraigned next week. Can I give you a piece of advice? It is your right to go to court and watch everything, but I do not know if it will do you any good mentally. I have seen some people break down when they see the assailant in person. Find someone and talk to, maybe a friend and just talk about everything."
"That is good advice and I will do everything I can to make sure that he adheres to it, Officer" Jeremy said. The officer wrote something on a piece of paper and gave it to me.
"This is the case number of your accident. You may need it when you start thinking about insurance, and, if you want to know the status of the court case."
I really liked this officer a lot. He came over to the bed and shook my hand and walked out. "Matt talk to me please, you are scaring me."
"I don't understand it, Jeremy. This moron decides to have a few beers and nearly kills me." I said, feeling really angry.
"Matt, I am going to tell you this honestly. People make choices all the time. That person chose to drive, after drinking and will have to pay the price. But now I want you to do something. I am going to call Ben and tell him that you need him. Please calm down before they give you a sedative, okay?"
"Will you do me 1 favor and find my cell phone and wallet, please? I really want to be able to call Matt." I asked as Jeremy left.
Ben's apartment .
"Now where is my check book?" Ben muttered to himself as he looked all over the apartment. He went into the kitchen and started opening drawers beside the refrigerator. He opened the 3rd one and he saw his check book. He opened it and made sure that it had checks inside. He grabbed his keys and cell phone and left the apartment. Ben walked to the office to pay his rent. He opened the door to the office and walked in. He walked up to a desk and sat down facing Jessica, his land lord.
"Well how is my cute fireman doing today?" Ben noticed Jessica smiled a little more than usual.
"Well it has been a hell of a few days. My boyfriend got banged up really bad, but is on the way to recovery." Ben thought to himself. He removed his checkbook from his back pocket and set it on the desk. He grabbed a pen and wrote out a check for the rent. He tore it out and handed it to Jessica. She typed something in the computer and then there came the sound of her printer going. She gave Ben a receipt. He took it and said good bye to Jessica. Ben put the pen back in the cup and went around and kissed her. She smacked his butt and he laughed. He walked out and went back to his apartment, opened the door and went inside. He reached over to the side and found the file that he used for bills. He stuck the receipt inside. Ben decided that he was going to stop and get some lunch and find Matt some Ice Cream. He walked out to the parking lot and got inside his car.
Ben decided to drive over to What-a-burger and get something to eat. He had ordered a bacon cheese burger with what-a-size fries and coke. He handed the cashier his visa and she swiped it. He got his receipt and was given his drink cup. The cashier told Ben to put the triangle number on his table, so that his order could be brought to the right table. Going over to the drink machine, he filled his cup with root beer, grabbed a straw, and found himself a table. Ben put my number, 48, on the corner of the table and sat there waiting for about 10 minutes. Finally his burger and fries were brought out; he was really hungry so he ate everything really quickly. Ben thought for a few seconds about getting Matt some ice cream. He knew there was a Ben and Jerry's in the same shopping center, but as it would take 15 minutes to get to Baylor and another 5 to park the car, he thought that it would be best to get him something in the cafeteria. Ben cleaned up his mess and left the restaurant. He was driving towards Baylor when his cell phone rang.
Rinngggg
"Hello"
he answered his cell phone.
"Hey Ben, this is Jeremy. I wanted to call you and tell
you an officer stopped by. I was in the
room and Matt is not a happy person."
"Are they charging him with something, Jeremy?"
Ben asked very softly. He decided
that he should pull off the road so that he
could process everything.
"No, the other driver was drunk at the time of the accident. Matt is not really happy, nor dealing with the situation too well right now."
"I am about 10 minutes from Baylor. I am going to stop and get him some cookies and cream ice cream that he has been asking for."
"Well I have to get back to the ER; I have a couple of interns that need to be spanked... I mean supervised"
Ben reached the medical district fairly easily and decided to park his car near the ER instead of going to the hospital parking. He was worried about Matt, and decided that he would get the ice cream later because he needed to get to Matt as soon as possible. He made his way through a maze of hall ways until he found the hospital elevators. He pushed 6 and the elevator doors closed. He walked briskly down the long corridor until he found room 628. He knocked firmly on the door and Matt told him to come in.
"Hi there Ben, I am glad you got here." I said, sounding very subdued
"Jeremy called me and told me about the police visit today. How are you feeling?" Ben really wanted this man he had come to love to open up and not keep everything bottled up inside.
"I don't know Ben. I feel so many things. It is hard to describe." I said, very distressed.
"Take your time, but please do not keep your feelings bottled up, I love you and will help you any way I can." Ben said trying to reassure me that he was going to be in my life for the long hall.
"I am quite angry, at why this had to happen. Beth and I were on our way home and some idiot could not call there friend for a ride, and nearly kills 2 people." I felt weak and foolish as I began to sob, letting all my feelings come pouring out.
Ben felt his heart break for Matt, and was filled with a deep longing to ease his lover's pain. "Matt I wish I could take away the pain, but I can't. The person who did this is going to pay the price. Don't let him rule your life. You need to focus on healing physically and emotionally, because I want you to come and stay with me when you get discharged." My eyes got huge as I could feel the love that Ben had for me, and at last I smiled.
"I have only known you for a few weeks and yet I feel like I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He declared earnestly. Just then a very cute Doctor walked in carrying a bag.
"Hi there Mr. Taylor, your friend Jeremy asked me to bring these if I was in the area." The doctor put a bag the table and it had Matt's keys, wallet, and cell phone in it. "I leave for Philadelphia tomorrow and I wanted to come say good-bye. Ben walked over to the end of the bed as Dr. Anderson decided to do a quick examination. He pulled out his scope and listened to me breathe, He removed the sheets and looked at the dressings.
"I sign out tonight and head back to Philadelphia tomorrow, but I would really recommend that you talk with someone about the accident, your feelings, and what not. I just fixed you up and I do not want anything to mess up perfection. My boyfriend Tyler lost his family in a car accident and it took almost 10 months for him to talk to me about it. I bet you 10 bucks you and he are exactly alike. You bury your feelings deep inside as you don't want to deal with the fall out."
I looked at him and I wanted to talk to him more, but he had to leave.
"I think they are going to set me up with a psychiatrist before I leave and Ben will make sure I go. I wish you could come back maybe bring your boyfriend," I said smiling at Dr. Anderson.
"Thank you for fixing me up Dr. Anderson If possible one weekend can Ben and I come to Philly and hang out?" I extended my hand and the doctor took it.
"Let me talk to Tyler and I will email you." Dr. Anderson took out a card that had his email address and phone number on it. I grabbed a pen from Ben and jotted down my email address and cell number.
Ben stood up and hugged the doctor and thanked him for saving his boyfriend. Ben looked at Matt and loved it when he smiled at the sight. Dr. Anderson walked out and we both took a good look at his butt.
"Now I know what you are looking at and if I could I would spank you." I said. "How about you, Matt? I saw that hungry look on your face. Now I know you're starting to get better! I have plans for us, but first you have to heal up more so that you can come home."
RINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
"Hello"
"Ben we have a bad chemical fire in West Dallas and we really need everyone who has done the haz-mat training because indications are that we have 40 people inside." He put the phone to the side for a second and looked at me :
"There is a bad chemical fire in West Dallas and I have been called in, Matt, so I will be busy for a while."
"I will be at the station in 15 minutes captain."
"No station 12 is 3 blocks from where you are and you can ride in with the crew." That sounded like a better plan, but this must be bad if they are calling units in from downtown.
Ben hung up the phone and walked up to me explaining "I have to work tomorrow Matt, so Jeremy or Beth will give you a ride home. I want you to call me often and if I can I will be back here later on, okay sweetie?" He bent down and kissed . I felt a bit sad and empty as I watched Ben walk out of the room. "Damn, I can't wait to get out of here!" I vented to nobody in particular.
Ben decided to take the stairs and walked out the ER doors. There was engine 38, waiting for him. They smiled at him and he got in and took off flying.