Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2020 15:17:36 -0500 From: Eric Murphey Subject: Transitions Book 2 Chapter 11 Gay adult youth I have to say to all of you. My heart is smiling from all the emails I got telling me how you are going to help children this christmas season. Its at least five thousand dollars we are all doing. Maybe more. Its 30 Euros here its a few thousand pesos there. A couple dollars here and there. Its truly awesome Thank you all for sharing with me. Also I got a really neat couple of pictures of a train set up. Wow it was really super cool. Thanks for sharing that with me. You guys are truly awesome and I am thankful for each and every one of you for not only reading my stories. But, it seems we are all pretty much like Eric. We are attracted to them but, helping them comes first by far. Speaking of help why not give Nifty a donation. Transitions Book 2 Chapter 11 Eric and the boys head back tot he hotel when Tran gets sleepy. He has Alejandro get Jorge and he wraps him over his shoulder and is out like a light in seconds. Once they get back to the room Eric isn't as tired due to the fact he had a nap that afternoon. The boys though are pretty tired as they did not. They strip naked and climb into bed. Eric tucks them in and kisses them. "I love you guys." "Love you too." They say to him. He heads back out to the living room area and sits down and turns on the tv. He just puts it on the news. He is watching without paying attention. He hears a light knock on the door. "Who could that be?" He says to the TV. It doesn't answer back. He goes and answers the door. "Sorry to bother you Mr Murphey. I just made a peach cobbler for you and your boys. I know its not nearly enough to say thank you for what you did. I was so worried about the student loans." "I am glad you appreciate it. But, I really do have a foundation set up for things just like that. I get massive tax breaks for doing it. So it saves me a lot in taxes." She looks at him. "No I dounbt that's why you do it. I think you are just a good man." "I thank you for the cobbler. I know the boys and I will love it. Would you like to come in a few minutes?" "Yes please." She says and comes in and sets the cobbler in the kitchen area of the suite. Eric sits back where he was. She sits in the chair. "Again I just want to thank you." Eric holds up his hand to her to stop her. "Please you have thanked me more then enough. I am a very lucky man and as I told my boys earlier. Because we have a lot means we need to help a lot. You are just one of many people I help every year. I like to do it. I like to make peoples lives better. Its what I love to do. You thanking me once is more then enough. I think I get as much joy helping people as they do in getting the help. So I should be thanking you." "You know I believe you. I was telling one of my friends about it and she is a nurse at the hospital. She said you got pizza for the entire floor and the staff as well." "I did. I had actually forgotten about it." "Mr Murphey is there anything I can do for you?" "Yes. I do want something from you?" She looks at him questioning and waits for him to continue. "I want for you to be the best damn doctor you can be. I want you to continue to have the compassion I see, and help all the children that come into your path." She smiles a huge grin. "You got it." "Just out of curiosity. Why are you going into your chosen field?" "I'm a survivor. When I was five I was diagnosed with leukemia. I hated the disease. But, I loved all the staff. Dr Thomas was my doctor. I was one of his first patients. So I decided when I was five and beat the dreaded shit that I was going to be just like him when I grew up. Of course without the mustache." She says laughing and making Eric laugh. "What you would look good with a mustache." "I don't think my wife would like it much." She says giggling. "Oh your married?" "Yes I am. We got married the day the supreme court said we could. We have been together since high school." "What does she do?" "She is a restaurant manager." "Hard job at times. But, very rewarding too. What restaurant?" "You have met her actually. Shes at Corkys." "Isn't that something." They chat for about an hour Eric gets himself a Coke and her a diet. She looks at her phone and says she needs to get to work. "You have a great night." "I will. Thanks again. I promise that's the last one." "Better be." He say pointing at her. She gives him a hug as she leaves. He goes and sits back down. "I like her." He says to the TV. It again refuses to answer back. He watches a news cycle and decides to head to bed. He goes in and lays down after he strips to nothing. He puts his head on his pillow and thinks back to when he was a boy and Mr Brown took him fishing at his cabin for the first time. He falls asleep with happy thoughts filling his head. The next morning he is awakened by Joey and Alejandro talking next to his bed. "No I think we need to let dad sleep some more." "Poppi will want to get up. He wants to go to the hospital I know it. He is real worried about Tran." "Yeah I know. We all are though." "Yeah so lets wake him up." Eric reaches out and snatches both boys in one fell swoop and pulls them on the bed. "No need to wake me monkeys." He tickles them a little and then gets up and heads to the restroom. He looks in the mirror and says. "You know I have shaved my entire life. I don't want to anymore." He rubs his whiskers and smiles. "Alright guys lets go get some breakfast and go see your brother." "Cool." They both say. Eric isn't sure which they meant cool about or both. He gets dressed and the boys wanted McDonald for breakfast. Eric drives to the nearest one and they walk in. He looks around and it is filthy. Trash is overflowing the floors are dirty. It is obvious this manager doesn't give two shits about their store. He looks and he does not own this one. It is however on the market with a few others. "We aren't eating here." Eric tells the boys. "Poppi why is it so dirty?" "Sometimes a manager doesn't care and this is what happens." "You should fire him dad." "I don't own this one buddy. Besides I would talk to them before I fired them. I think its best that way to explain what you expect from them and find out what they expect from you." So they drive five miles to a different McDonald's. This one is better. But, not by a lot. It is however clean enough Eric feels safe to let his boys eat here. They eat and after head to the hospital. Eric and the boys buy some more flowers so they can pass some out. They really liked doing that yesterday. Once Eric and the boys get to Trans room they see Tran sitting up and watching TV. "Ba I am so glad you are here. You too guys." Tran says smiling. "We got more flowers for you to three to pass out." "Dad I want to give one to Beth." "Who?" "The little girl I sang to. Member we met her at the restaurant." "Oh I had forgotten her name. Of course take her some. She is a sweet girl." "Yeah. I like her. She is really brave." "You should tell her that." "I did dad." He says like duh. "You boys have fun." Eric sits down and looks at the TV when Brandon appears at the door. "Oh Hi Trans dad." "Well, hi Trans friend." Eric says making him giggle. "I was looking for Tran." "He is out he will be back in a few minutes though." "Oh I will come back." "No its fine. Why don't you play with the train while you wait." "No it wouldn't be right. He didn't say I could." "But, I'm his dad and I say its OK." "Nah I will wait. Don't want him to get mad at me." "I assure you that he wouldn't do that. Hes a good boy." Brandon has sidled up to Eric on his side. Eric does what is natural to him and puts his arm around the boy and gently strokes his back. "I gotta do chemo today." He says. "Blech." "Yeah its not any fun. I throw up a lot after. I hate it. But, my daddy says it will make me better. So I do it." "Yes it will. Your daddy is a smart man." "Yeah he is. He is an engineer. I was all excited when I was little cuz I thought he was a train engineer. But, he is just a regular one. But, you got to be really smart to be one." "That you do." "What do you do for a living?" "I dont work anymore. But, I used to run a McDonald's." "Tran said you own a bunch of them." "I do." "How many you got?" "I don't know. A lot I guess." "Like a hundred?" "Yeah somewhere around there." Brandon has worked his way around the side of the chair and climbed up on Eric lap now. They start watching the cartoons Tran had been watching. After a few minutes The boys come back in. "Hi Brandon." Tran says and walks over and gives the boy a hug. "You scared?" Tran asks. "Yeah a lot." "Me too. But, its OK to be scared. We don't know whats gonna happen. So being scared of not knowing is what it is." "Yeah. Still dont like it though." "Whats to like getting sick and feeling awful. Who wants that?" "Not me." "Me neither. Why didn't you play with the train?" "Your daddy said I could. But, I wanted to wait for you to say it was OK. I don't want you mad at me." "Brandon you can play with it anytime you want to. I give you total permission." Brandon smiles and hops off Eric lap. Tran gets on the floor with him and they start playing. Alejandro joins them and Joey walks over to Eric. "Dad. You should have seen Beths face when I gave her the flowers. She wants a picture of me." "We can get one printed up today for her if you want." "Yeah. I really like her. Can I go visit with her some more. Her mom had to do some work. So she is all alone." "Sure buddy. Just come back every now and then." "Kay dad." He says smiling and races fromt eh room. I got good boys. Eric thinks. He watches as the boys lay with the train and is enjoying watching them have fun. Eric lets them play and forget about the crap going on in their lives and just lets them be boys. After about an hour Brandon's dad shows up in the door way. "Buddy, I hate to ruin your fun." Brandon's face goes from happy and smiles to completely downcast. "I got to go guys." "I will come see you later Brandon." Tran says and hugs the boy. "I love you Tran." "I love you too Brandon. Now show them how brave you are." Brandon puffs out his chest. "I'm super boy." He says smiling. "You sure are." With that Brandon goes with his dad to go for his treatment. "Its seems like you two have gotten a special friendship going." Eric says. "Yeah I really like him. He is a fun boy. He knows a lot about trains. Lots more then I know. And hes little." "But, its his passion. For you its just fun." "He does love them." With that Dr Thomas walks in. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is we can continue on the same treatment path. The bad news is we have to do one today." "Yep good and bad. But, only two left. Right?" "Right." "The last one wasn't so bad. Can my brothers stay this time. It will make me feel stronger." "I wouldn't suggest it. But, I wont say no either. I will leave it up to your Ba." "If he wants them in here then so be it." Tran smiles. "Well, we get to begin as soon as you hop up into the bed." Tran does get into the bed. But, it was hardly a hop. More like a turtle imitation. "I better go get Joey." Eric says and gets up to go get him. When he gets to Beths room he walks in and sees Joey up in the bed next to her. His arm around her and they are talking. "Look dad she got hair." She smiles an angelic smile and shakes her head so the blonde locks shake. "It looks great." Eric says smiling. Eric takes out his phone and snaps a quick picture of them. Its so sweet he thinks. Wonder if she is Joeys girlfriend now. Never know. Eric knows he likes her. But does he LIKE her? "Tran wants you to be in the room when he gets his treatment." "Gotta go Beth. But, I will come back later." He says and kisses her cheek as he gets out of the bed. "Thanks for visiting with me Joey." She says smiling. "I like hanging out with you. Your cool." She blushes at the compliment. "See you later." He says. Eric and him walk back to Trans room. Eric notices Joey looks back at her as they are leaving the room and smiles. Maybe Joey has a girl friend. Maybe not. When they enter the room the doctor is wiping off Trans arm with an alcohol pad. "OK They are back so we can begin." Alejandro is next to the bed holding his hand. Jorge is in position around his neck. All systems go. The doctor inserts the needle into Trans arm. He winces and a tear falls from Alejandros eye lash. "Its OK Alejandro." Tran says. "I know. I just know it hurts." "Yeah. But, it will make me better too." "Yeah." The doctor starts the IV. "Guys I will be back in a while. Just sit back and try to relax." Eric sits next to the bed and takes Trans other hand. After a few minutes he feels Tran tense up. "Hurting buddy?" "Yeah." He groans. "Its going to be over soon. You are almost done with the bag." "Good. Then one more." He moans. "Yep just one more." "This one isn't so bad. It isn't great. But, its not so bad." Tran says as the pain slows. "Much better then the first one." "By a lot. That one I thought I was going to die." "I thought you were too." Once the IV stops the doctor comes back in. He immediately takes his temperature. "Now we are going to check your temperature every fifteen minutes. It is going to get irritating. But, we have to do it to makes sure you dont over heat again." "I understand." "Are you very worried about it?" Eric asks. "We just don't know. We just want to keep on top of it if it happens again." So afterwards Tran feels fine. Tran is hungry but, kind of afraid to eat. So Eric runs out and gets some fried chicken knowing its his favorite hoping to entice him to eat. He and the boys go to get it and come back with enough to feed an army. He doesn't get enough for the floor but he does get enough for the staff. They just love him for it. They are liking being spoiled. And they should be spoiled too. Tran eats and he eats a lot. He eats a whole container of potatoes an entire thing of mac and cheese. Five biscuits and six pieces of chicken. He ate easily twice what Eric ate. After that he is sleepy and the guys tell him they love him and head to the hotel. On the way Eric's phone rings. Its a 714 area code. He ignores it by sending them to voice mail. No reason to hear how my cars extended warranty has expired. Whatever. When they get back to the hotel it rings again the same number. He again sends it to voice mail. Persistent bastards he thinks. They head up to the room and when they enter they find a tray filled with snacks. Eric picks up the card. It reads to our best guest ever. The staff. Eric just rolls his eyes. The boys though are in heaven there is everything on it. From cashews and macadamia nuts to fruit and candy. "I wish they would stop with this." Eric says. "Why dad they want you to feel as good as her." "I did. Now I feel kind of guilty. I always try to do my deeds in dark so people are just happy and I don't get any praise for it. Because I certainly don't do it for that." "We know dad." Joey says shoving another handful of nuts into his mouth. "Yeah poppi." Alejandro is on the candy train. Eric phone rings again with the same number. He answers a bit miffed. "I don't need a car warranty I have a brand new car thank you very much." He says and starts to hang up. "Wait Mr Murphey. I don't know anything about warranties." "Fine then why are you burning up my phone?" "I'm with a national late night TV show and we saw your son playing on a video on you tube. We want him to be a guest on our show." "I don't think so. But, I appreciate the offer." "We would pay him a lot of money." "I guess you didn't do your research. We aren't interested in money. We have more then we will ever need." "No sir I did and I know you are one of the wealthiest men in your state. I bet in the top 100 in the nation. What can we do to get him on the show?" "Wait until he is of age." "What can we do to make you reconsider?" "Look my son has had a hard life. I don't want that brought out in the media. He is a good boy and he is trying to start a normal life. What you are offering is anything but that." "Will you please consider it. If you change your mind please call me back." "I will think about it. But, I am pretty sure the answer will not change." With that he ends the call. "What was that about dad?" "A tv show wants you to go on and play." "No way dad. No way am I doing that. I would be way to scared to do that." "I told them no." "But poppi, Joey could make a lot of money for St Jude that way." "How do you mean buddy?" "Well, he could tell the people watching the show to donate to the hospital. I bet he could get them to give a bazillion dollars." "I could do it for that." Joey says. "Well, they want to pay you a lot of money they said." "We can make them pay the hospital. Then get donations too." Alejandro says. "Dad call them back and tell them I will do it. If the entire time I'm playing or on tv that St Jude's number is on the screen and that all the money they want to pay me goes to St Jude's too." "Are you sure. I mean if the news people find out your past it could be all over the place and everyone would know your business." "I don't care if it helps other children dad. Besides you guys will be with me." "Never leave your side buddy no matter what." Eric says. "Call them back and tell them what I want." "You sure? Because there is no backing out." He nods. "Alright then." Eric looks at the call logs and calls back the number. "Yes Hi this is Eric Murphey we just spoke about my son Joey being on your show." "I am so glad you called back. Please tell me you changed your mind." "We did however Joey has some demands you have to meet or its a no go." Eric goes through what Joey wants and the person on the other end is in agreement to all the conditions. "Great now that we got that out of the way we can have you guys fly out tomorrow." "Cant." "Why not we are meeting all of his requirements?" "One of my other sons is getting treatment at St Jude's as we speak. He wont be able to go anywhere for a while yet." "Oh that we didn't know. Is there anything we can do to help?" "No he is getting the best care possible. But, thank you." "How about next week sometime. Say Wednesday?" "I think we will be able to if things go as planned." "OK what is your sons name getting treatment?" "Tran." "OK Well, I tell you what you watch the show tonight. I think you will be pleasantly surprised." "Alright." "Make sure Tran watches too." "Will do." Eric rings off and tells the boys its a deal. They are jumping up and down and dancing around. "We are going to make so much money for the hospital." Joey is singing and dancing acting silly. They sit down and play a game until the show comes on. Eric alerted Tran and Joy to watch as he isn't certain what is going to happen. They watch the entire show and nothing. Then at the end they cut to the host. "America. We have some news to tell you. We know you have all seen the internet sensation shown here playing in the hospital lounge at St Jude's Childrens Medical Research hospital. As he says that the website and phone number appear under him. You will see on the screen a website and number. Call and make a donation to help these beautiful children get better. We asked the boy on the video we found out name is Joey Murphey. We wanted him to be on our show. He cant come right now because his brother Tran is sick and is receiving treatment at St Jude's. He will however be on our show making his television debut this next Wednesday. We are honored and pleased to be asked by a guest to help in raising money for such a worthy cause." He looks into the camera. "Tran you get better soon OK?" He smiles gives a thumbs up and the show cuts away to black for three seconds then a commercial comes on. "Dad that was so cool. They already asked for money from people." "That was pretty neat Poppi and he gave a shout out to Tran too." "That was so cool. I bet Tran is freaking." Joey says. Eric phone rings. "Ba did you see that he said my name and told me to get better." "Yeah buddy that was super cool wasn't it?" "Let me talk to him dad." Joey says excited. "Yeah poppi we want to talk to him." Eric puts it on speaker and the boys race into the bedroom to talk in private. Eric thinks brother secrets again. He rolls his eyes and goes back to watching tv for a while. The boys come back in a while later and hand Eric his phone. "Tran says he loves you and will see you tomorrow poppi." They sit and watch a bit more tv and Eric sends the boys to bed. When they go and he has them tucked in and told they are loved. His most important job. He calls the front desk. "Hi this is Eric Murphey I have a question?" "Sure Mr Murphey." "I need a photo made from a picture on my phone. Can you do that here?" "Sure just email me the picture and I will bring it up later and slide it under the door." "That would be great. Thanks so much." Eric sends the picture to the hotels email and heads to bed. Sure enough when he woke up the next morning it was slid under the door. A note attached says. "Cute girl." Eric smiles. He orders room service for breakfast and the boys get up. They eat and head to the hospital. They go to Trans room and he isn't there. Eric goes to the nurses station to inquire where he was. "Oh its so sweet."The nurse says. She leads him down to another room. He sees Tran laying in bed holding Brandon on his lap as he is siting up and sleeping in the bed. "They have been like that almost all night. Brandon was feeling really bad so Tran came down here to help comfort him. It seemed to work." "Hes such a good boy." "Yes I wish more people in the world were like him." She says smiling and walking away. Eric doesn't want to wake them because he knows they both need their rest. So he goes back to Trans room and sits down. "Wheres Tran poppi?" "He is down with Brandon. I guess Brandon elt really bad so Tran went to help him feel better." Alejandro smiles. Eric hands Joey the envelope the picture is in. "Here's a picture for Beth." Eric says handing it to him. "When did you do this?" "When you were sleeping silly." "Thanks dad. Can I go talk to her now?" "Of course." Alejandro climbs up in Eric's lap and takes a hold of one of his hands. "I was thinking poppi." "Yes." "this is how we started. You and me. Sitting in a hospital. We spend a lot of time in hospitals." "Yes we do seem to." "Poppi?" "Yes." "I need to call Cindy. I told her I would call and I haven't yet." "Well, lets take care of that now then." Eric says and takes out his phone. He dials the Bradys number and Cindy answers. He hands the phone to Alejandro. Who gets off his lap and goes to the other side of the room to talk to his fiance. Eric watches and smiles as he sees Alejandro is getting the third degree for not calling sooner. He can hear him telling her everything that has happened and after a while he can tell he is forgiven for not calling sooner. Alejandro and Cindy talk for about fifteen minutes and Alejandro rings off and walks back handing Eric his phone. "Poppi I have to call her at least every other day. She was kinda mad." "I think she has a right to be. I didn't know you were supposed to call her. I would have had you call her long before now. I mean you did promise to call her. I am sure she is worried about you." "That's what she said. That she was worried about me" "Well, from now on we will call her at least once a day. So your finance doesn't get mad." "Thanks poppi." Alejandro climbs in his lap and cuddles in "I have missed this." Eric says. "What Poppi?" "Just you and me. I love the other boys very much as you know. But, it seems like you and I don't get any time together any more." "I know you love them poppi. I understand what you mean. Its nice just us. But, I wouldn't ever want the others to go anywhere but with us." "I know sweet heart. Same here." They sit and enjoy their time together for about half an hour when Tran comes walking in with Brandon. They are holding hands as they walk in. "Good morning Brandon. I hope you are feeling better today." "Some." He says weekly. "But, Tran helped me a lot." "I was just there. Come on lets play with the train set for a while." Brandon gives a weak smile. They get on the floor and Alejandro scrambles off of Eric's lap and plays with them. Eric can tell Brando feels pretty crummy. "Brandon you want me to get you something to eat? Eric asks. Brandon touches his tummy. "Um. No." He says with a funny look on his face. Tran rubs Brandons head. "You will feel better later." "I hope so." He says with a weak smile. They play for a while and Brandon is obviously getting sleepy. "Tran why don't you take Brandon to his room so he can take a nap. He looks pretty tired." Eric says as Brandons head bobs again. "Come on Brandon I think Ba is right." "Will you stay with me Tran. I'm scared." Tran looks at Eric to make sure its OK. Eric nods his head slightly. "Sure I would like that very much." "Thanks Tran. I love you." Tran gets up and picks up Brandon and carries him nack to his room. Eric walks down with them and Tran puts Brandon in his bed and crawls in next to him. Brandon snuggles up to Tran and is asleep in seconds. Tran wraps his arm around him and holds him. "He has two more treatments Ba. Its just terrible for him." He whispers. "Sadly that's the way it works." Eric whsipers back. "You should nap too. The boys and I will go and come back later." "Love you Ba." "I love you too." Eric bends down and kisses Trans forehead and then the top of Brandons head. He heads out of the room to go get Joey and Alejandro and head out to do something for the day. Anything to take the sadness he feels in his heart. From seeing the devastating effects that the treatment has on these two boys. Its not pretty but, hopefully it works. He goes to Beths room first. He sees them laying on the bed together Joeys arm around his little friend. Her just smiling and happy he is there. He sees the picture on the night stand. Joey has signed it with flair. To the prettiest girl I ever met. Joey Murphey. She doesn't have her wig on at this time and Joey is gently rubbing her bald head. "I don't know I like the way it feels. It feels kind of neat." He says. "But, I look like a boy with no hair." "No one will every mistake you for a boy. You are way too pretty." She blushes. "Oh hi dad." Joey says when he sees Eric in the door way smiling at them. "Good morning Beth. I hope you are feeling well this morning." "I feel a lot better with Joey here. I love him you know." "Your sweet." Joey says and kisses her head. She smiles. "Well, Beth I am going to steal Joey away from you. Alejandro and he and I are going on an adventure today. So Tran can rest." She looks a bit sad Eric is stealing her crush. "But, we will be back later and I will make sure he comes to see you." With that she smiles. "Thanks for the picture. Joey said you made it for me." "Your welcome." Joey gives her a kiss on the cheek as he climbs out of bed making her face turn crimson. "I will see you later. Be good for the doctors and nurses." "I'm always good." She says smiling. He smiles back at her and walks ot Eric and takes his hand in his. They walk down to Trans room to get Alejandro. "Come on buddy. We got plans today. We need to let everyone get their rest so they can get better." "Kay poppi." Alejandro says as he gets up and takes Eric's other hand. Once they get on the elevator Joey asks. "So dad where are we going?" "Its a surprise.." "Aw poppi. You always do that." Alejadnro says. "Its fun that's why." They get off the elevator and head to the SUV and climb in. Eric takes them to the location he had in mind and the boys eyes get big and they smile. "I hope you will have fun." Eric says as they get out. "Cooooool." Alejandro says. "Yeah dad way cool."