Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 17:30:55 +0200
From: sanansaattaja2003@yahoo.com
Subject: Sam, chapter 9

This is a story about gay love, so if reading such things is offensive to
you or if it is not legal for you to do so, proceed at your own risk. This
is fiction. All people, places and events are the product of the writer's
own imagination. All rights are retained by the author.

Please send your comments to sanansaattaja2003@yahoo.com

I would love to hear from you. When you write me about the story be sure to
write `Sam' in the subject line. (Emails with an attachment will not be
opened.)

Sam, chapter 9

Having been told by Officers Ellis and Douglas that a man believed to be
her husband Gene was lying unconscious in Our Lady of Mercy Hospital on the
far side of the city and that they needed her to go and identify him, Irene
began making plans to go. The policemen offered to drive her there, but
Mack and Sharon immediately said they would take her. They wanted to be
with her to give her moral support, for which she was very grateful, and
she accepted their offer instead. Officer Ellis told her that some other
police officers would meet her upon arrival at the hospital and escort her
to the room where her husband was. So a time was agreed upon -- eleven
thirty - and thanking Irene for the coffee, Officers Ellis and Douglas
left, promising to be in touch again soon.

"I want to stop by the Good Samaritan on our way and look in on Jay again,"
Irene said, "so perhaps we should leave right away. Just let me freshen up
a bit first."

"Absolutely," Mack agreed.

"And maybe it would be better if Jenna stayed with Marjorie and Lee and
Sam," Irene added. "Would you like that, honey?"

"Oh, good!" Jenna exclaimed. "Will they be at the hospital seeing Jay when
we get there?"

"I expect so. Don't you think so, Mack and Sharon?"

"Yes, when I phoned them earlier they said they would leave Marge's at ten
thirty," Sharon said.

Ten minutes later they were again at the hospital. Nurse Hellvig saw them
as they went past the nurses' station and called out for them to stop for a
minute and she came to where they were standing.

"The x-rays confirmed Dr. Everidge's diagnosis. Jay does have pneumonia,
I'm sorry to say. We're giving him antibiotics, like the doctor already
told you, and now all we can do is wait and hope he can fight it off
quickly. We're giving him the very best of care. He is such a precious boy!
I can just feel that, even though I don't actually know him yet. I want to
assure you that you are always welcome here, any and all of you. It would
be best if not too many came at a time, generally, but please don't
hesitate to come and see Jay. That sweetheart is going to need you a lot
when he finally wakes up, and he can tell you himself if he wants to be
left alone sometimes." There were tears in her warm, kindly eyes when she
spoke to them. Irene gave her a big hug and they all thanked her for her
generosity.

"He reminds me so much of my own grandson, honey," the nurse explained. "It
nearly breaks my heart every time I look at his sweet and battered face. I
must say, not all of the nurses, or doctors either, agree with my liberal
visitors policy, but I'm the supervisor on this floor and they don't dare
cross me. If anyone gives you any flak, don't hesitate to come to me. I
mean to enforce what I've promised you." Having said that, she turned back
to her charts and told them to give Jay a kiss from her too.

Jay was back in his bed and still asleep when they got to his room, and
none of them had the heart to disturb his rest. Irene laid her hand on his
forehead again and found it was still very warm, though perhaps a bit less
so than earlier. His breathing was regular enough, but there was a slight
rattling sound in his chest, and his pulse was still quite elevated. Irene
kissed him on the forehead once, and then again, whispering, "That one's
from your nurse, sweetheart." And then she just stood there holding his
hand and gazing down on him as he slept.

The others wanted to touch him too, and one by one they laid their hand on
his forehead and smoothed his hair and whispered in his ear that they loved
him and were praying for him to soon be well. Jenna then laid her head down
on his chest and held her hand against the uninjured side of his face, her
tears running down onto the sheet that covered him. Before long she
realized she was getting his sheet wet and she rose up, embarrassed, and
apologized to the others for doing so.

"It's all right, darling," Sharon assured her. "I'm sure your tears won't
hurt him. After all, love is the best medicine there is."

"Jenna, honey, we're going to have to hurry in order to get to the other
hospital by eleven thirty," Irene said. "I hope you don't mind if we leave
you here with Jay. I'm afraid we can't wait any longer, but Marjorie, Sam
and Lee should be here soon. You'll be all right, won't you?"

"Yes, Mom, I'll be fine," Jenna replied. Irene gave her a hug and a kiss
then, and Sharon did too. Then the three adults left the room and headed
for the parking lot to leave.

About ten minutes later Marjorie, Sam and Lee walked into Jay's room and
found Jenna standing by his bed, running her hand through his damp hair
again and again, and talking softly to him, tears trickling down her
cheeks.

Lee thought he had prepared himself for the worst and had steeled himself
as much as he could, but the sight of his beloved Jay's face was almost
like a blow to the solar plexus, taking his breath away and leaving him
feeling week and faint. He grabbed onto his mother's arm for support,
thinking he was going to keel over, but luckily the feeling soon passed and
a surge of strength poured into him from somewhere and he stepped over to
the bed beside Jenna. He put an arm around her shoulders and laid his other
hand on top of Jay's which was lying on his chest. Surprisingly, he didn't
shed any tears at that moment. He had already wept buckets of them in the
hours since he first heard about Jay being hurt, but now there were none,
even though his heart ached for his sweet lover. He stood like that for
several minutes, silently. They all were quiet. No one said anything.

"Where's your mom, Jenna? And my mom and dad?" Sam suddenly asked. "I
thought they would be here too."

"They just left," Jenna explained. "Let's go sit in those easy chairs out
in the hall for a little while and I'll tell you what's happened."

* * *

Fortunately Mack knew the city well and he knew the quickest route to the
part of the city where Our Lady of Mercy Hospital was located. He had to
circle around a bit once they were in the general neighborhood, looking for
the hospital, but they were pulling into the parking lot a good fifteen
minutes before the time they had agreed upon with Officer Ellis. Irene was
glad, because she hated to be late. She had an aversion to keeping anyone
waiting. Perhaps that was partly due to her years of living with Gene, who
was very impatient and who always became angry if he had to wait for
anything.

Upon entering the hospital, they went to the Information Desk as
instructed, and Irene gave her name. She was told to wait there, and five
minutes later two police officers came walking toward them - a man and a
woman. They introduced themselves as Sgt. Martin and Officer Perez. The
man, Sgt. Martin, was much older and distinguished looking, with thick
white hair and an imposing and rather severe demeanor, whereas Officer
Perez was young and vivacious, with an unruly mop of black curls and big,
sparkling, smiling brown eyes.

Irene shook hands with them, introducing herself as Mrs. Eugene Evans, and
Sgt. Martin asked to see some proof of identity. After producing that, she
introduced Mack and Sharon, and then without further ado Sgt. Martin turned
on his heels, saying over his shoulder for them to follow him as he strode
away, Officer Perez scampering after him.

They walked down one long corridor and then turned right and followed
another until they came to a set of elevators with a plaque beside the
doors that said: Unit 4 -- Neurological. Inside the elevator, Sgt. Martin
pushed the button for sixth floor and almost without any sense of having
moved, they found the elevator door opening again onto a large open area
with corridors leading off in several directions. They were led down one of
these and then stopped finally before room 615.

There was a policeman stationed outside the room, with whom Sgt. Martin
exchanged a few words before opening the door and beckoning for the others
to follow him inside. Upon entering, the first thing Irene noticed was all
the equipment in the room. This was no ordinary hospital room! In fact, it
was a sort of private ICU unit, and a nurse was sitting beside the one bed
in the room, monitoring all the equipment and keeping an eye on the various
screens and gauges and blinking lights. Irene's eyes then fell on the man
lying on the bed, and sure enough, it was Gene, even though he was scarcely
recognizable, with an oxygen mask on his face and a myriad of tubes and
wires connected to him. The sheet was pulled up no farther than his navel,
leaving his powerful upper body bare. His massive chest rose and fell
rhythmically in time with the respirator which controlled his
breathing. His face and torso were a bit bloated looking and his damp,
clammy skin was a pasty gray color. His eyes were closed.

Irene felt slightly faint and almost sick to her stomach from the shock of
seeing her husband in that condition, and she reached for Sharon's arm to
steady herself. Instinctively, Sharon put her arm around her and held her
close, and for about the millionth time Irene breathed a silent prayer of
thanks for these amazing and wonderful people who had appeared seemingly
out of nowhere the previous day to help Jay and her and Jenna, and without
whom she could never have managed. It was as if God had seen her dilemma
and sent his angels. What other explanation could there be?

Sgt. Martin had been observing her reaction to seeing Gene and he was
convinced she had recognized him, but he asked, "Is this your husband,
Mrs. Evans?"

"Yes, sir," Irene replied. "It's Gene. But whatever has happened to him?"
And then she burst into tears.

Irene hadn't felt much, if any, love for Gene for a long, long
time. Perhaps she had never really loved him, she didn't know. True, she
had been very infatuated with him back when she was a naïve high school
girl, and immensely flattered that he, the star jock of the school, the
cock of the walk, the king of the mountain, had chosen her of all people,
her, shy little Irene Allington, to be his girl. But the saying that
`marriage is an eye opener' had certainly been true in her case. Already on
their wedding night the disillusionment had begun when his selfish and
brutal love making -- if you could call it that -- had only left her
feeling empty, bruised and violated.

Even if she hadn't loved him in the years since then, she had feared him
and had dedicated her life to a mostly futile endeavor to please him. Ever
since he had attacked Jay so savagely the day before, she had been filled
with a growing sense of revulsion and anger, but now, seeing him as little
more than a bloated and empty shell, an all but lifeless hulk lying exposed
on that hospital bed, his once strong and invincible body invaded by all
sorts of tubes and wires and kept alive by machines, she felt nothing but
pity. How could she hate him? He was reduced to nothing.

"The doctors are waiting to talk with you, Mrs. Evans," Sgt. Martin said in
answer to her question. "They will explain his condition. I understand you
were informed already of how and where your husband was found last night?"

"Well, yes, sir, somewhat," Irene answered.

"Very well then," Sgt. Martin said, rather brusquely, obviously impatient
to keep things moving along. "Come with me." And he turned and walked out
of the room.

Shortly Irene and Sharon and Mack were seated in a pleasant little
conference room and Sgt. Martin informed them that the doctors would join
them there in a few minutes.

"We'll be waiting for you outside the room," he said. "When you're finished
here we would like to speak with you some more." And then he and Officer
Perez left, closing the door.

The three of them sat for ten minutes in silence. Irene was feeling numb
and Sharon and Mack didn't intrude on her thoughts, but Irene was comforted
by their presence and extremely grateful to them for being there with her.

Finally the door opened and one lone doctor entered the room, a rather
small, dapper, middle aged man. The three of them stood to meet him.

"Hello," he said, "I'm Doctor Warrington. I understand one of you is
Mrs. Evans?"

"Yes, sir, that's me," Irene replied, extending her hand. "And these are my
good friends Sharon and Mack McMillan."

They all shook hands and the doctor motioned for them to be seated
again. Then he sat down facing them and cleared his throat.

"It's always difficult to be the bearer of bad news," he began, and then
paused.

Irene interjected, "We've just seen my husband, Dr. Warrington, and I can
see he's in a very grave condition. Needless to say, it's been a shock to
me."

"Yes, I can understand that, Mrs. Evans, and I would like to make this as
easy for you as possible. But I'm afraid there is no easy way to say
it. Your husband is dying."

In spite of herself, Irene gasped at the bluntness of his words, and Sharon
immediately reached out and took her hand. But Irene remained composed,
waiting to hear what more the doctor would say.

"You're sure he's dying?" she asked.

"Yes. Absolutely. There is no way in the world that he can survive. The
damage done is too extensive."

"Whatever has happened?" Irene asked.

"What have the police told you, Mrs. Evans?"

"That Gene was mugged. They found him slumped over in his car, unconscious
and bleeding from a blow to the back of the head."

"Yes, that's correct," the doctor said. "When he was admitted to the
hospital last night he was out cold and had obviously been drinking
heavily. We expected him to come around after a few hours at least, but his
condition began to deteriorate and we've discovered that he has hemorrhaged
quite a lot inside the skull, causing extensive damage to the brain
stem. Unfortunately, such a situation is inevitably fatal. His organs are
all shutting down and it's only a matter of time. I'm very sorry,
Mrs. Evans."

"Only a matter of time..." Irene repeated. "Can you say how much time,
Doctor?"

"Not precisely, of course, but I would say less than a day at this point,
Mrs. Evans."

"Thank you for telling us, Doctor," Irene murmured, her head bowed. Her
hands were shaking so badly that she clasped them together in her lap in an
effort to hold them still.

"Would you please report to the admissions office before you leave the
hospital, Mrs. Evans?" the doctor said, as he rose to go. "They need some
information from you. Now please excuse me, but I must run. My sympathies
are with you, ma'am."

He extended his hand then, and Irene shook it and then he shook hands with
Sharon and Mack and left the room. Sharon and Mack threw their arms around
Irene and held her close for a minute or two before they also walked to the
door and opened it, bracing themselves for whatever further revelations the
police would be giving them.

Sgt. Martin and Officer Perez were waiting outside the door as they had
said, and Irene asked them if she could take one last look at her husband
before they left.

"Certainly, ma'am," Sgt. Martin said, and they escorted them back to room
615 again. Irene stood motionless and silent beside Gene's bed for several
minutes, and then, without so much as touching him, she turned back to
Sharon and Mack who were standing behind her and said, "Let's go."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Good Samaritan Hospital, Lee was alone in Jay's
room. Marjorie, Sam and Jenna had gone down to the first floor in search of
a cafeteria to get some lunch. Lee had insisted on staying with Jay, saying
he would grab a sandwich later. He had wanted, if possible, to be with Jay
when he woke up, and he was rewarded only a few minutes after the others
had left the room. He was just standing by the bed, lightly running his
hand up and down the length of Jay's forearm and now and then giving his
hand a little squeeze, when suddenly Jay gave his hand an answering squeeze
and said, so low it was little more than a whisper, "Lee?"

"Jay! You're awake!" Lee exclaimed, more loudly than he meant to. He was so
startled and overjoyed.

"Wha... where am I?" Jay asked.

"You're in the hospital, Jay."

"Oh," he said, and then lapsed into silence. After a minute or two he
sighed and then a little sob shook his frame and a tear trickled from the
slit of one of his swollen eyes.

"Do you remember what happened, Jay?" Lee whispered to him, squeezing his
hand.

Jay nodded and then said, "A little." After another long pause, he said,
"My dad hates me so bad. I'm s-s-s-scared. I don't..." And then he said no
more, but the tears came faster.

Lee was crying too, by then, and he kept touching Jay, caressing his hand
and arm and his forehead and the side of his face that wasn't bruised. He
leaned over and nuzzled his ear and whispered to him, "Don't worry,
sweetheart. We won't let you get hurt again."

"My dad..." Jay started to say again, and then stopped.

"Do you know why your dad hit you, Jay?" Lee asked.

"He called me a worthless fag. He just thinks I'm rubbish. I never saw him
so mad before."

"Do you know why?" Lee asked again.

"I knew there was trouble coming the minute I..."

After another long pause, Lee prompted him. "The minute you what, Jay?"

"When Mack took me home. My dad was just pulling into the driveway and saw
us. Saw me in Mack's car. The look on his face scared me so bad. I knew I
was in for it."

"What happened then, sweetheart?"

"He grabbed me as soon as I opened the front door and hissed at me, `Who's
your sugar daddy?' or something like that, and he called Mack a goddamned
fag and me too, and then he hit me and... and..."

"And what?" Lee prompted him again, after a pause.

"I can't remember," Jay sighed. "Everything's black then."

After another minute of silence, Lee asked, "Why did your dad say that
about Mack? What was wrong with him giving you a ride home?"

"I... Well, I was telling Mack thanks for everything and he reached over
and put his arm around my shoulders and my dad saw it. I could see his face
and it's just like it turned black. I knew he... he... I got so scared..."

"Oh, Jay," Lee said, and leaned over and kissed his cheek and embraced him
awkwardly, as much as he could from that position with Jay lying in the
bed, and laid his face beside Jay's on the pillow. "Mack's the most
wonderful man in the world, Jay. He's been like a dad to me."

"I wish he was my dad too," Jay whispered.

Lee remained in that position, as awkward as it was, wanting to comfort his
lover and to convey his love to him, patting his head gently and now and
then kissing him on the forehead, and after awhile he could tell from Jay's
breathing that he had slipped into sleep once more.

Suddenly he was startled by someone's hand being laid on his shoulder and
he jerked up away from Jay and turned to see who was behind him. He looked
right into the eyes of a nurse but the kindly look in those eyes relaxed
him at once.

"It's OK, honey," she said. "He's a sweetheart, isn't he?" She meant Jay,
Lee knew, and he nodded dumbly in agreement, not having found his tongue
yet.

"I'm Nurse Hellvig, honey. And you are...?"

"My name's Lee, ma'am. Lee Wilson."

"I'm glad to meet you, Lee. And I think Jay's lucky to have you."

Lee blushed furiously, dumbfounded to hear this older lady talking like
that, seeming to understand what he and Jay were to each other, and so
accepting of it.

"It's plain to see how much you love him, honey. I was watching you for a
couple minutes. I wanted to leave you alone, and yet I wanted to talk to
you too. I'm sorry if I've frightened you or embarrassed you, Lee. Like I
said, Jay is very lucky to have someone who loves him like you do, and I'm
happy for you both. He's going to need all the love you can give him, isn't
he? But do be a bit careful, darling. This is a hospital, after all. And
anyone can come walking through that door at any minute. Not everyone is so
understanding. In fact I'm sure one of the nurses here would have raised a
terrible ruckus if it had been her who walked in on you just now."

Lee just nodded, still blushing, and unable to look Nurse Hellvig in the
eyes. She then reached out and lifted his chin so he had to look at her.

"Please don't be afraid of me, Lee. I'm your friend, and your ally. And I'm
a rather powerful ally on this floor too, I might add. I'm the floor
supervisor, and if anyone gives you any trouble, I want you to let me know
and I'll help you out. Now I want to tell you a little secret. Jay reminds
me so much of my own grandson. He's about the same age and his name is
Adam. He's gay, bless his heart, and he's one of the sweetest kids on God's
earth. He has a boyfriend too, and his dad - my own son, I'm ashamed to say
- found out about it and flew into a rage and beat him up and kicked him
out of the house. He didn't mess up his face like Jay's dad did, but he
broke his arm and injured his kidney. I've had an awful time trying to
forgive him for it, let me tell you. And I can't seem to talk any sense
into his thick skull. That happened five months ago and he still hasn't
relented. He insists Adam is no longer a son of his. But by God, he's still
my grandson, and now he's my boy too. He lives with me now, and I don't
know how I could live without him, I love him so much."

Nurse Hellvig couldn't keep the tears from coming as she told Lee about
Adam, and Lee, of course, was touched deeply by the story. "What about his
mother?" Lee asked.

"I'm afraid she's not much better. She doesn't hate Adam like his dad
does. Well, I hesitate to say that Jim -- that's my son -- actually hates
Adam, but he says he hates all gays. Anyway, Adam's mother, Janice, is a
very shallow person, I'm afraid, and she doesn't really care about anyone
but herself and her own social image. She comes to my house to see Adam,
but only occasionally, and she's perfectly happy that she doesn't have to
look after him any more. Jim has not once been to my house since I took
Adam in, and he says he never will. I know dear sweet Adam hurts a lot that
his own parents have rejected him but he refuses to let on to me, and he is
quite happy now, at least he seems to be. He's especially happy with his
boyfriend, Todd, and with good reason, let me tell you. Todd's a gem. I
want you and Jay to meet them both sometime. You'll like them, and they'll
like you, I know. Now, honey, I mustn't stand here talking all day. I just
came in to check on Jay when I happened to intrude on your little private
moment. Anyway, we'll talk again, OK? Sometime I want you to tell me about
the two of you and how you got together and everything. And sometime, when
Jay's up to it again, I want both of you to come to my house and meet my
boys."

Having said that, she startled poor Lee by giving him a big hug and kissing
him on the forehead, and then she turned and left the room, closing the
door behind her.

Lee thought his heart would nearly burst with all the emotions that flooded
it after Nurse Hellvig had left the room. He couldn't wait to share her
amazing story with Sam and with his mother, and with Jay of course, as soon
as he was awake enough to listen to it. But he didn't want to share it in
front of Jenna. He still didn't know that Jay had already come out to his
sister and that she knew he and Jay were boyfriends.

Just a few minutes later, the three ladies came back from having lunch. He
was happy to be able to tell them that Jay had been awake for a few minutes
and had talked with him a little, and they were duly thrilled with that
good news. When Lee's mother mentioned again that he really should go have
something to eat, he didn't protest. Marjorie explained to him how to find
the cafeteria and gave him five dollars, and he left. He had a lot to think
about.