Life Struggles (Life Stories Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter Twelve

I saw a bright light ahead of me in a tunnel. I started walking toward it. It felt so comfortable. The pain was gone. I was going toward the light. Then someone turned it out.

I saw another light. It wasn't as nice. In fact, it seemed harsh through my closed eyelids. I tried to move my legs and was met with excruciating pain. I stopped trying to move and tried to speak. That was really hard because my entire face was bruised and my breathing wasn't so good. In fact, I couldn't breathe at all. I wondered briefly how I wasn't dead if I couldn't breathe. I heard a female voice yell “Stat.” Then it was back into the void.

I started waking up and the pain was too bad. I felt something cold in my arm and went back to sleep. Somebody please bring back the tunnel with the bright light. Please. This is too much.

I woke up again. My throat was raw, my ribs ached, my dick and balls ached, and my abdomen felt worse than absolute shit. There was no way to catalog the parts that hurt. I had to tell someone what happened. Talking was difficult, but I managed to get out two syllables.

“Blowjob.”

“Later, honey, I promise.” I knew that voice, but it was too much work to try and remember from where.

I dreamed about getting a blowjob, but it was from Kitty. I tried to pull out but she bit down on my dick. Sometime later I dreamt about Alex and Dana. It was a happy dream. Alex was sixteen and Dana and I had been dating for only a short time. Then somebody was calling me ‘douchebag’ and the dream stopped.

After about seven thousand years I opened my eyes. Cheryl was standing over me. “Doctor, stat!” Why was she calling me Doctor Stat? Didn't she know my name?

A hand was shaking my shoulder. “Wake up, Ethan. It's Cheryl. You're going to be all right.” Those should have been the most wonderful words I had ever heard, but I just wasn't interested in words at the moment.

I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep. Cheryl's voice said something again. I tried to get out ‘blowjob’ but Cheryl stopped me.

“Ethan, you're going to get the blowjob of your life, just not right now.” Well, that was something to look forward to. She held my hand. I liked that. She kissed me on the forehead. I liked that too, even though it hurt. Anything touching me anywhere hurt.

I was starting back to sleep when some asshole woke me up again. “Can you open your eyes?” It was a man's voice. OK, if I open my eyes maybe they'll let me go back to sleep.

“Cheryl, can you leave us?” This was the same man.

“Barney, I'm not moving until Ethan's dead or ready for his blow job.” I'd heard that tone of voice before. Cheryl dealing with a prisoner patient. I sure hoped Barney paid attention. All of the other dinosaurs were already dead.

“Where does it hurt?” The man's voice again.

“One of my toes doesn't hurt too bad. Everything else hurts like a motherfucker.” I hoped he was satisfied and I could go back to sleep.

“Ethan, you nearly died twice. When you were found you had almost no pulse and weren't breathing. Then in surgery you did die – your heart stopped. I believe you're going to get better, but it will take a while and be painful.” Fuck that guy, what does he know?

Something cool went into my arm again and I went back to sleep. No dreams this time, which was just as well. A cool cloth was washing my face and Cheryl's voice was speaking in a reassuring tone. “Ethan, they're going to start weaning you off the narcotics. That's not going to be fun. I'll be here with you. I will not give you any pain medication. You're in for a difficult time here, but I'll be with you.”

Oh, great, I almost died twice, I know I have some broken ribs, my throat is raw, my face feels like tenderized meat, my dick and balls hurt, my legs hurt, my shoulder hurts, my gut feels like it's crammed full of razor blades, and somebody's put a funny-looking box on my right foot. And now I have narcotics withdrawal to look forward to. Can life get any better?

“You have a visitor.” Alex? Is Alex here?

Danny Flint's face came into view. “Ethan, you're going to live. Thanks to you, we've pretty well shut the Capelletis down. You're a hero.”

“Where's Alex?” That was the only thing I needed to know.

“We don't know.” I started crying. “But, we don't think he was kidnapped. His girlfriend was found by some campers north of here in the bayous. She said something about Lex and lost and gas and that was it.

“Could this Lex be Alex?”

I'd heard Monica call him Lex. “Yes. She calls him Lex some times. Go find Alex.” That was all I was interested in.

“We'll find him. Some lawyer has put up a hundred thousand dollar reward for his return. Can't be too long.” Finding him wasn't enough. I wanted him found alive.

Danny left and I asked Cheryl what had happened to me.

“Wait a minute, I'll be right back.” Shit, that's not what happened to me.

Cheryl returned in less than a minute with the guy called Barney. He didn't look like a dinosaur. I looked questioningly at Cheryl.

“Ethan, I've been prohibited from functioning as a nurse in your case. If I do I lose my license. It's all good; I would have done the same thing with any other nurse under me. I am a visitor with no more rights or privileges than any other visitors. I'm here only as your friend. This is Barney Clayburn, he's your doctor.” Huh, Cheryl is my friend. I knew that, it's just the first time she'd ever said it. I reached for her hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back, then stopped when she saw me grimace.

Doctor Dinosaur spoke. “Ethan, we're going to start at the head and go down. You have a pretty bad concussion. Your face is badly bruised and your lips are still very swollen. You're missing three teeth. Your jaw is broken, but it's just a hairline fracture. You were stabbed in the shoulder. Four ribs were broken. The worst injury is the tear in your abdomen. It looks like you were stabbed and the knife was twisted and then torn side to side. Nothing is beyond repair, but you've got a couple more surgeries coming up.

“Your genitals are badly bruised. In fact, if you still had a foreskin we would have to circumcise you to get a catheter in. The catheter comes out tomorrow. You were stabbed in both legs, but the arteries were not cut. Your right foot had gangrene, so we're using a new device, a miniature hyperbaric chamber with 99% oxygen on it. Do you have any questions?” Do I have any questions? Lots.

“Where was I?” That's a good place to start.

Cheryl took over. “The police had an ‘observe and report’ order out on the car you were driving. Belongs to a friend of Luke's. You were in a city garage and had been left for about a day. You had lost a lot of blood, your foot was gangrenous, and if you had been found four hours later I'd be at your funeral.” Cheryl's eyes were glistening. She was either super-horny or trying not to cry. Or, knowing her, both.

“Where's Blowjob? He did this.” I wanted revenge.

Cheryl laughed. “Detective Flint told me you had nicknamed Bob Cerone ‘Blowjob,’ which is why you got the beat-down. Bob Cerone is in jail facing a list of charges that would barely fit in the city telephone directory. Stiletto, Skinny, Sarge and the rest of the crew are also in jail. The feds are doing something with the D.A.'s office, I don't pretend to understand it.”

“Who's looking for Alex?” I needed to know that.

“Detective Flint assured me that three county sheriff's departments, the state police, a couple of other organizations and Fish and Wildlife are combing the woods. And, the lawyer's gotten seventeen tips from people looking for the money. Another tip came in this morning and Luke said something about a birthmark and took off for the bayous.” How fucking stupid could I be? I forgot to tell anyone about the birthmark on Alex's left ankle. It looked a bit like the state of Florida.

“Birthmark? Is it Alex?” I didn't realize I had Cheryl's arm in a death grip. A word of advice to the uninitiated: Never put a trauma nurse's arm in a death grip. I quickly let go and had another pain to add to my list.

“Luke took an off-duty nurse trainee with him. We should hear something later today.” Cheryl was smiling. I was agonizing.

Cheryl whispered in Barney's ear and he nodded. He left and about two minutes later another nurse walked in. She scanned my patient ID bracelet, scanned some sort of container, entered some information into a computer, and then put something into my IV. I was asleep in less than a minute. Bless you, Cheryl.

I woke up to see Marcus and some white guy standing next to my bed with a laptop. When did Marcus start working at the hospital? This was getting awfully complicated.

Marcus set up the computer on my tray-table and hit a button. Luke's face was there and he was beaming.

“I think we've found Alex alive. It looks kind of like him and he has the birthmark. And he called me ‘Uncle Luke.’He's really sick and the student nurse is a miracle worker. The EMT's should be here in a few minutes. When he's able to travel I've hired a private ambulance to take him to St. Swithin's. Ethan, it isn't over yet, but I think we're getting close.”

I couldn't see or hear anything more. I was crying my eyes out. Marcus held me and I clung to him as hard as I could. Somebody tried to untangle us but neither I nor Marcus was having any of it. Meanwhile the unknown white guy rubbed my back (except for the broken ribs it didn't hurt
too
badly) and made soothing sounds.

Marcus told me that he had spoken to Alex the day before he disappeared. Alex didn't know how to approach me. He confessed that he did really like me, but he'd been an asshole since his mother died and if he stopped he'd be admitting to his assholishness. I could understand that.

When I was eighteen I was always right. Even when I found out I was wrong I still pretended I was right. Admitting that I'd been wrong about something wasn't difficult, it was impossible. I'd need to talk with Alex. Of course, eventually I cried myself out and went back to blessed sleep.

They woke me up to take a tube out of my upper chest, the side without the stab wound. Somebody said I had to lie flat for thirty minutes. Best news I'd had in ages. Then Cheryl was at my side with a spoon. “Ice chips,” she explained. I let her feed them to me one by one. Best tasting fucking ice chips I've ever had.

After the half hour I was allowed to sit up. I couldn't have anything but ice chips for the rest of the day, but tomorrow I would start on clear liquids. I mentioned that vodka was a clear liquid. The nurse laughed. Then she said all visitors had to leave.

I looked at Cheryl and she said she was just a visitor here to see her friend. She called me her friend again. I waved good-bye to her and to a black shape I think might have been Marcus. Then my arm felt cold again and I fell asleep.

The next morning Danny came in with Marcus and I got a little bit more of the story. The gay black man repeated the story about Alex really liking me but being too proud to retreat from his asshole attitude. I told Marcus what I planned to do and he thought it was a good idea. Of course it was a good idea, I had thought it up.

Marcus was staying at my house until I could come home. Somebody named Lucy (intern from the paper?) was spending the nights while Marcus handled the days. Marcus said that Lucy was real nice, but she had a crush on Marcus and he didn't know how to break the news to her.

“Tell her you suck dicks, Marcus. That ought to do it.” I wasn't well enough to be polite. Danny had put out an ‘observe and report’ order on the car I was driving. An off-duty cop working as a security guard at the city lot called it in and looked in the window. There was a body and a lot of blood in the back seat. He broke the window and called 911. I knew the rest of that story.

“Why were Alex's clothes by the road?” That was what had started all this shit. I wanted an answer.

“We're not sure.” Danny might not be sure, but he was looking hopeful. “Monica's across town at another hospital. They're going to bring her out of a medically-induced coma shortly, and there's a detective standing by to talk with her.”

I fell asleep again until Danny woke me up. I hate that man. Let me sleep.

“Monica told Detective Goldberg that she picked up Alex next door to your house. She told him she was going to a Rave party with her cousin and asked if Alex wanted to go. You know the Rave parties with all the drugs where the kids all get naked and fuck? Yeah, that's a Rave party.

“Anyway, Alex didn't want to go because of the drugs, but Monica told him there would be plenty of beer. She wouldn't let him get in her car because his filthy clothes would get the seats dirty. So he took off his T-shirt and cut-offs. Then, being eighteen years old, suffering serious testosterone poisoning and looking forward to beer and sex, he just forgot them and got in the car.” I will kill that kid. Right after I hug him.

Danny continued with the narrative. The Capelletis are pretty well finished. One of their enforcers is trying to make a deal on six murders. Yes, it was Rufus Yardley. I asked which murders and Danny named them. Hmmm, didn't include the liquor store one. I asked to talk to the D.A. handling the case. “Later.”

I told Marcus that I would pay Luke's friend to have the back seat cleaned or replaced.

“Already taken care of. One of my cousins has been trying to set me up with his wife's gay nephew, but the nephew is only 23. Too young for me. So, I agreed to three dates with the guy if my cousin's auto detailing shop would take care of the Chrysler.

“The nephew had as much interest in me as I did in him. Zero. I took him to Whiskey Festival and he hooked up. The next night I took him to Dorothy and he hooked up again. The final date was to Tucson/Hawk. I left him there after thirty minutes. The next day he showed up at the house at 6:00 a.m. holding a plastic bag in front of his nuts. Otherwise he was naked. And grinning. My cousin told me the nephew was on Cloud Nine and talked non-stop about half a dozen guys, none of whom was named Marcus.

“Anyway, the car is as good as new. Thank God, because Mike lets me drive it, and I don't know what I'd do without wheels.” Marcus smiled and tried for a fist-bump. He missed. Oh, well. Who was Mike?

After more ice chips I took a little nap. When I woke up Danny was in the room with me.