Andrew's Misplaced Trust

Chapter 24 - All those tubes and wires.

There may be some real events that inspired parts of this, but I have to tell you this is fantasy fiction.

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Boys are to be loved, cherished and cared for. Never hurt!

New website for Grizzly Valley is coming - Covers the town, the people and places. Bruce's Dojo, Tech Tribe, Liams Automotive, Grizzly Baptist Church, Laundromat, Mac's Diner and more. You'll see Mark, Jamie, Bruce, Liam, Taylor, Sebastian, Andrew, Ethan and the rest of the town.

"Andrew, I've told you I'm not after anything like that from you. I'm not like those guys that made you do things. We can watch TV; you can take a nap; we can go for a walk or a drive. We have a couple of hours to kill."

Andrew thought "Really, he just turned me down? Maybe he really isn't after sex, but I need to pay him back before I get shuffled off to CPS or somewhere worse. Was grandma right?"

He started to think, "Can you find out about Ricky?"

"Sure buddy, I know you care about him. Let me make a couple of calls while you check out what's on TV and think about what we can do."

Ethan went into his bedroom and closed the door. Andrew thought maybe he did trust him. This is the second time he's left him alone. He could just walk out the door, but no, he needed his help still.

Andrew grabbed his backpack and dug through it, looking for his phone. He wanted to let Pastor Green know he was good and that everything was safe, but it wasn't there. He probably forgot to grab it in the chaos when the building burned. It was probably for the best since the police would have wanted to dig through his calls.

Andrew settled back on the couch to watch some TV, but quickly dozed off. He was worn out from everything.

Ethan came out and sat next to Andrew until he woke up. "Andrew, good news, Ricky is going to be fine, but it's going to take a while. He's still in intensive care after his surgery to fix his injuries. He had lost so much blood they weren't sure if he would make it, but they filled him up with new blood, stitched up his butt, and he is going to heal. We can see him tomorrow if you want."

"Yeah, I want to see him. He was my best friend and protector. We kind of helped each other out too, if you know what I mean."

"Good, that's a plan for tomorrow. Let's get going to the movie." Ethan ignored the comment about them helping each other.

The movie was nice. Andrew thought it kind of felt like a date because he was helpless with only one arm and a sore leg. Ethan sat on his right and there were a few intentional moves, reaching into the popcorn when the other did so their hands would meet. They were both doing this and didn't realize that it was intentional by the other. One or the other would timidly pull back and whisper "sorry" each time, but the electricity flowed with each touch. They were both tired, but the movie was great. Andrew didn't want to fall asleep in the movie, but he did lean his head on Ethan's arm a few times. Ethan didn't seem to mind. Andrew could smell Ethan's scent on his shirt and through his sleeve. It gave him peace. Andrew must have dozed a bit because he started to wake up to a loud scene in the movie. Ethan just looked over and smiled.

"Damn, he is hot. He's made it clear he's not into me, but maybe, just maybe." Andrew thought, not paying attention to the movie.

They went home, and Ethan put Andrew in his bed and went to sleep on the couch. Andrew told him he didn't want to take his bed and he would sleep on the couch, but Ethan insisted. Andrew begged him to stay with him in the bed, and he said no.

About 2AM Andrew woke up sweating and startled. He was dreaming that he was in the burning building and that he didn't make it out before the explosion. He was in the building as it fell around him, burning, and he could see Ethan trying to save him. He must have screamed because Ethan was lying by his side, holding him.

"Andrew, Andrew, you're safe. Andrew, buddy, I'm here."

"What happened?"

"You must have had a bad dream. You screamed out my name and I was worried something happened. Want to talk about it?"

Ethan sat up next to him on top of the sheet, kind of trapping him in. "I was in the building when it exploded. I could see you out the window trying to save me as I fell and I was burning."

"Oh buddy, I'm sorry. You're safe now. Ricky's safe now. I promise I will do everything I can to keep you safe."

"What about the other boys? Will you stay with me? I'm scared." He really was. He didn't want anything but comfort. He didn't know why, but he was starting to trust Ethan even more.

"Sure, buddy. We will find out about the others in the morning." He laid on top of the sheet and pulled up a blanket. He draped his arm over Andrew as he laid facing him. It felt good to Andrew, and he quickly fell asleep and didn't have any more nightmares that night.

Morning came too early. Ethan was gone, but Andrew was covered with the blanket. He had to piss something terrible, so he got up and walked down to the bathroom. He could smell something cooking, He thought it was bacon and eggs, but had to piss before finding out.

Andrew was just in the new boxer briefs, so it was easy to let his morning wood out and drain it. He got it all put away, tried to wash his hands, and then went out to see Ethan.

"Morning buddy, how's it hangin?" He chirped.

"Wanna see?" Andrew laughed as he put his thumb in the waistband and pulled it down. Ethan turned bright red.

"Put that away, It's just a figure of speech. I don't need to see it again, although, it is nice and healthy." Ethan paused. Embarrassed. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." He was grinning ear to ear and starting to blush.

"See, you did notice and you do like it." He got even redder, if that's possible.

"Andrew!" He looked frustrated. "How about you get some juice out of the refrigerator and put it on the table. I think you can keep your good arm busy with that instead of your package. Keeps it away from mischief."

"His name isn't Miss Chief, it's Mr. Chief to you!" Andrew joked back.

Ethan pulled a couple of glasses out of the cupboard and put them on the table. He put some plates out and served up some bacon and eggs and put them on the table. Hopefully, the turn in Andrew's attitude will stay.

"Let's see, forks, napkins, salt and pepper. What else?" He seemed to be talking to himself. "Do you like ketchup or Tapatio on your eggs?" He was trying to clear his mind from seeing Andrew flash his boner.

"Nah, naked eggs are fine today." Andrew responded, thinking he was being cute.

They sat and ate. The conversation was about the movie they saw last night. They talked about what things Andrew liked. Andrew kept thinking about what was next and what he and Ricky would do next.

"We can go see Ricky if you like. I'm sure he'd like to see you."

"Sure, if you don't mind."

"Of course buddy, I want you to see your friend."

They got dressed, or rather Ethan helped dress Andrew and they went to the hospital.

When they got there, they walked to the nurses' station on the floor where Ricky was. Ethan and the nurse were talking, and then they nodded that we could go in. "Andrew, they didn't want us to go in, but since she knows me from bringing people in all the time, they agreed. They know Ricky is bad and needs someone for support."

They walked through the door to Ricky's room, and Andrew wasn't prepared for what he saw. He started crying and ran to his friend.

"Ricky!" Andrew shouted, making all the nurses look. He didn't know what to do. Ricky was covered in blankets. There was a tube running up his nose, a bunch of tubes connected to both of his arms. There were wires coming from under the blanket. On the side of the bed there were two bags. One looked like piss, the other looked like shit. Andrew wanted to hug him but was afraid of what he saw.

"I'm so sorry, dude." Tears were flowing as Andrew touched his hand being careful not to hurt him. Ricky's eyes were groggy and he looked and Andrew and tried to smile. The nurse came over.

"Ricky is in pretty bad shape. He was really hurt by the sexual abuse and he's going to be here for a while. Ricky can't talk because of the trauma, so you're going to have to ask yes, no questions. I'm sorry, but that's all he can do. See this? This is to feed him, and these are to help him heal," pointing to the tubes in his arms, "These are for his bodily fluids since he can't get up." Pointing at the urine and feces bags.

Andrew was scared, but also intrigued. How did all this work to keep his friend alive? "But how is he pooping in a bag?"

"Honey, his rectum was torn apart by whatever those men did to him. While it heals, they had to connect his colon up to this tube to bypass the rectum while it heals. He should be fine once things heal and they do surgery to reconnect his insides."

"Ricky, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you were being hurt so badly, or I would have screamed sooner."

Ricky nodded at Andrew with an understanding, but pleading look in his eyes. He tried to speak and whispered, "It's not your fault. I got us into it. I'm sorry, Andy."

"When will he be able to talk more?"

"We should be able to get the feeding tube out in a couple of days. But his throat was traumatized a bit too, so he might have a scratchy voice like you just heard for a while. He needs to heal."

Andrew didn't know what to do. He stood there holding Ricky's hand. This felt more intimate than when they would fuck or play with each other. Andrew could feel his pain. "Ricky, you have to get better."

Ethan offered to get Andrew a drink so he could have some alone time with Ricky. Andrew didn't know what to do or say, but he just sat by his side. Ricky kept whimpering as he sat there. Andrew wanted to plan their escape, but it was clear that this wasn't going to happen for some time.

"Ricky, that guy is the fireman that saved me from the fire. When he was carrying me down, the building exploded and knocked us to the ground."

"What fire?" he whimpered.

"The building? Don't you remember?"

He shook his head no.

"When we got back, I took you up the stairs to your room. Do you remember that?"

Another head shake no.

"I was cleaning you up, but we fell asleep. Then, the building exploded. A fireman came in to take me and I told him about you. He took you first, then Ethan came to get me. I'm staying at his house now. I'm scared, Ricky. I think I can trust him and all, but I'm scared. I don't want to go home and I don't want them to know who I am so they can find my parents."

Ricky was flicking his fingers. Andrew didn't know what that meant. "Ricky, what?"

"Others," he squeaked out.

"Ricky, they found bodies, but no sign of the others. They haven't identified them yet, but only two as far as we know."

Tears were forming in Ricky's eyes.

"Don't worry, Ethan's friends told him that the bodies looked like adult men. So far, there's no sign of boys."

Ricky tried to form a smile. Andrew leaned in and kissed Ricky on the cheek and wiped away the tear.

Ethan came back and gave Andrew a Fanta. That was nice that he remembered. Andrew smiled at him. Ethan walked up behind Andrew and put his hands on his shoulders and gently rubbed them. Ricky curled his fingers to call Andrew closer to his face.

"Hot," Ricky whispered, "Trust."

Ethan couldn't hear any of it. Andrew responded, "He sure is hot!" Ricky was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

The nurse came up and put her hand on Andrew's shoulder. "I'm sorry, hun, but you need to let Ricky get some rest. It's time to go."

"Ethan, when can we come back?"

"Every day, buddy, every day."

"See you, Ricky." he said sadly as they left. The nurse asked them to stop at the desk. She looked at Andrew and asked, "Do you know Ricky's last name?" He nodded no. "Do you know where he's from?" again, no. "How old is he?"

"I think he's 14."

"Okay, we're just trying to help him."

"Just fix him up. Don't try to fix or find his family. I don't think he can go back and it would make things worse." Andrew noticed the chart had his name as `Ricky Doe' and so did Ethan.

"So, I guess you guys are the Dough boys, like the Pillsbury rolls!" he said laughing and poking Andrew in the tummy. Andrew didn't get it.

"Can we help Ricky too?" Andrew sort of pleaded with Ethan.

"Buddy, I'll do everything I can to make sure he's OK, but you are my priority. I need you to trust me. Let me in."

"OK. I understand." The truth is, he didn't understand. Living on the streets taught Andrew to watch his back and that no one helps you without expecting something in return, but he hoped that Ethan could assist in some way.

"Ethan?"

"Yes, buddy."

"Never mind." Andrew wanted to ask Ethan to help find the other boys.

"Hey. You know, I'm here to help. If you want to talk, just say so. Let's get some food. Burgers?"

"Yeah!"

On the way home to Ethan's house, they stopped at In-N-Out since he hadn't had one in more than a year and there wasn't one within walking distance. They stopped and ate at the restaurant. Andrew had three refills of pink lemonade with a double double cheeseburger and fries light, animal style. Ethan just had an iced tea and a single cheeseburger.

"You're a bottomless pit, kid."

"I'm sorry."

"Nonsense, I'm glad you're healthy and eating. You want more?"

"No, I'm really stuffed now."

They finished up and drove home.

End of Andrew's Misplaced Trust - Chapter 24 - Andrew Thomas