Building Things

by icevuk2634

1 May 2019 1146 readers Score 9.7 (55 votes) PDF Mobi ePub Txt


Derrick sat at his desk in his office staring at his computer, going through all the emails that seemed to keep piling up, it seemed never ending to him. He briefly thought that people didn’t seem to have anything else to do with their time. Ads that should be spam, to try this, to try that, what the hell? Then there was one he came to and it floored him when he opened it. He had to read it again just to make sure he’d read it right the first time. He picked up his desk phone and punched an extension.

“Hey, if you’ve got a minute, I need to see you.” Derrick said, “Thanks.” He hung up the phone.

“What’s up, boss?” Terry asked only a few moments later. Derrick looked up.

“Uh…I have an email here from Neil. Do you know about this?” Derrick asked and Terry looked at him questioningly. He came over to the desk and looked at the computer screen.

“What the fuck?” Terry asked softly after he read it.

“I’m guessing you didn’t.”

“That stupid little fuckin shit. I’m gonna kill him.” Terry said.

“Now just hold on there a minute, Rampage.” Derrick said, “I know you guys are really tight. Is there something going on between you two that might have prompted this?”

“No.” Terry said and looked down at Derrick, “We were actually out last night together, just hangin out after work.”

“Okay, and nothing was said?”

“Not a thing.” Terry said, “I need to go talk to him.”

“No…no. Let me talk to him first.” Derrick said getting up from his desk, “Is he in the Core?”

“I think so, or at least he better be.” Terry said, backing up to get out of Derrick’s way.

“Alright, let me go see about this. You go find something to do until I talk to him.”

“Shouldn’t I go with you?” Terry asked.

“No, let me handle it. Then you can talk to him, okay?”

“Whatever you say, boss.” Terry said softly.

Derrick walked out of his office. He went toward the back and came to the large room, the Core, being the core of the firm where most of the drafting and planning went on. Several associates and interns were all busy doing the tasks that were assigned to them. Derrick saw Neal, the young good-looking blond that was Terry’s best friend since they were very young. Neil was bent over his table back tracing lines on a large print, following what appeared to be a change to the plans. Derrick was looking over Neal’s shoulder and was following along what he had been doing and smiled to himself. He could clearly see that Neal was following detail, as he was very detail oriented, one of the things that Derrick liked so much about him.

“Seems like you found your problem.” Derrick said softly as Neal took his pencil and made a light note to change the print later. Neal looked and saw Derrick there and went wide eyed, “Did I scare you?”

“Uh, no…well, yeah, kind of.” Neal said and looked nervous.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to.” Derrick said and gave a half smile, “Say listen, I just opened an email from you.”

“Yeah…uh…I was gonna come talk to you.” Neal said as he straightened. Derrick was just looking at him.

“You want to give notice?” Derrick asked softly.

“I…uh…I…” Neal said with some struggle. He was kind of looking around at the others in the Core.

“Do you want to go talk in my office?” Derrick asked.

“Well…” Neal said softly.

“Why don’t we go? Come on, we can talk in private.” Derrick said and smiled. He put a hand on Neal’s shoulder, pat it once then walked away, Neal followed. Derrick came in the door, held it, Neal came in, Derrick closed the door, “Have a seat.” Neal was very nervous and sat down in one of the big chairs across from Derrick’s desk. Derrick came and leaned against the edge of the desk in front of Neal, “So tell me what’s going on.”

“Uh…I got an offer.”

“Really? To do what?” Derrick asked, his hands gripping the edge of the desk. He crossed his feet and tried to look as relaxed as he could to ease Neal.

“Being an office manager.” Neal said quietly.

“Okay, good for you. Mind if I ask for who?” Derrick asked.

“Blackstone and Ross.” Neal said weakly. It stunned Derrick a little. Blackstone and Ross were his chief competitor here in the city. Derrick didn’t see eye to eye with Milt Blackstone as he could be a little underhanded and a bit of a cutthroat as far as Derrick was concerned.

“Wow. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was shocked.” Derrick said.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, bud, it’s fine. I understand. Did they make you a good offer at least?” Derrick asked. Neal shrugged a bit.

“I guess so.”

“What do you mean you guess so, Neal?” Derrick asked gently. Neal looked like he was going a shade paler to Derrick, “Is this about money, Neal?”

“Uh, not really.”

“Okay,” Derrick said and tried to smile, “let’s try this a different way, alright? You just tell me if I’m stepping out of bounds, okay?”

“You’re not upset, are you?” Neal asked as he wrung his hands. His eyes were a bit wide and he lost a little more color in his face.

“Well…to be honest with you, I guess I am, a little. But not at you. I would never fault anybody for trying to better themselves. But you have to see this from my side, Neal. One of our key people wants to leave the firm and go to work from our main competition. I’m just wondering if you’re unhappy here or if I missed something or…”

“No, I’m not unhappy. You and Tom are great to work for.”

“Then, the question is, why?” Derrick asked.

“Mr. Blackstone said he’d give me the position and it might go up from there. I thought it might lead to becoming a partnership.” Neal said.

“Did he actually say that? That he was going to make you a partner?” Derrick asked.

“Well…he kind of hinted at it, but never came right out and said it.” Neal said.

“Okay.” Derrick said and sighed, “I’m not going to stand here and badmouth Milt Blackstone, Neal, but I do know him. Have you talked to Tom?” Derrick asked and Neal shook his head, “Tom used to work for them before we started the firm together. He can tell you what it’s like to work for Milt Blackstone.”

“I didn’t know that.” Neal said.

“Just do me a favor if you would.” Derrick said, folding his arms over his chest.

“Sure.” Neal said.

“I want you to talk to Tom. I won’t say anything to him beforehand so he won’t know anything about this. You can ask him and that way he’ll give you an honest answer without thinking he has to try and convince you to stay. Is that alright?” Derrick asked. Neal nodded, “Good. And don’t say anything to Terry either.”

“Oh, jeez…does he know about the email?” Neal asked.

“Yeah. Sorry, I had to ask him about it. I thought maybe he knew what was going on.”

“Is he pissed?” Neal asked and lost all color in his face now.

“Yeah…he threatened to kill you.” Derrick said with a smirk, “Look, I know you guys are really close. I’ll handle Terry, just talk to Tom.”

“Okay, I will, right away.” Neal stood up out of the chair. Derrick put out his hand, Neal took it.

“Just remember, Neal, we’re family here, alright? You need anything, anything at all, you come to me, alright?”

“Yeah.” Neal said as he held Derrick’s hand in his, “I will.”

“And let me know what Tom says. I won’t do anything with this email until we talk again after that.” Derrick said.

“Okay. Thanks, boss.”

“Don’t mention it.” Derrick said, “Now, go finish your changes before you forget where you left off.”


8888 8888 8888 8888


“Mario!” Ty called out from the back of the building, “I hear a truck out front! Go see if that’s the new dumpster!”

“Gotcha, boss!” Mario called back.

“Why does he want you to check it?” Rod asked Mario.

“If you really wanna know, why don’t you go ask him?” Mario asked in reply. Rod rolled his eyes and shook his head, walking away, picking up a shovel as he went muttering to himself.

Ty was going over the plans with Mike Pershing, the retiring foreman, at the back of the building. Mike was pointing out some of the old brick wall that needed shoring. Ty looked at the plans again and shook his head then looked back up. He could see the lean of the back wall, the lean inward, even with the roof attached to it, it looked bad.

“I don’t think shoring is going to help.” Ty said.

“Yeah, but that’s what’s bid.”

“I can see that, but it won’t hold. It’s structurally unsafe, you can see the lean just as much as I can.”

“Yeah, I can. But we have to do what’s on the plans.” Mike said pointing back at the blueprint.

“I don’t give a shit about the plans or the bid. Weren’t we talking about reputation just the other day? You think Sam wants his name on something that’s going to be a structural nightmare?”

“What do you suggest we do?”

“First, get him down here, have him look at it. Then we need to get a structural engineer in here. None of this was known until the demo was done. Then we need to get the architect involved.”

“I don’t want to make that phone call to Sam.”

“I don’t have a problem with it.” Ty said and pulled his phone. He opened it and dialed. It rang a few times then it was answered, “Hey, Sam, I need you to come over here to the downtown project and take a look at this back wall. I think we have a major problem.” Ty said. He listened then shook his head, “Yeah, we were discussing it…no, I think you need to see it…no, I don’t think it’s going to hold, it’ll roll back the other way. It’s structurally unsound…what?...I’m doing what you told me to do, Sam, let you know about problems before they become bigger ones…” Ty looked right at Mike, who threw up his hands and cocked his head a little, “Fine…you want to play it that way? Find yourself another boy.” Ty said. He hung the phone.

“He a little too busy?” Mike asked.

“What the fuck is his problem? It’s his business. I’m just trying to cover his ass.” Ty said, stuffing his phone back in his pocket.

“You’re preachin’ to the choir here, bud. I’ve been doin’ it for years.” Mike said with raised eyebrows.

“Well, I’m not gonna do this shit. He’s gonna get somebody fuckin killed just so he can stay on budget. This is bullshit. I’m going over to the office and have it out with him.”

“Yeah…you’re going alone too. Good luck with that one.”

“Stay close, I may need a lift home if I get really pissed off.” Ty said.

“Just don’t hit him like you hit that guy the other day.” Mike said and grinned. Ty shook his head and walked away.


8888 8888 8888 8888


Seth was holding parts for Aiden as they plumbed the new piping underneath a bathroom sink. Aiden was on his knees and under the cabinet working the valve on. The plastic piping was colored, blue for cold, red for hot. It was the new code standard and it was easy to work with, easier than trying to solder copper fittings inside a wall and less dangerous with the possibility of starting a fire from a torch.

“So, what’s up with Greg?” Seth asked.

“I told you last night at dinner.” Aiden said as he used a snap wrench to seal the valve on the piping.

“Not really. You didn’t say much. Are you guys boyfriends now?” Seth asked and Aiden jerked, bumping his head on the bottom of the sink bowl.

“Damn it.” He said and rolled to his side.

“Looks like that hurt.” Seth smirked, “So I guess that means you are, huh?” Aiden rubbed his head with one hand and looked at his brother.

“What does it matter?” Aiden asked.

“It matters because you’re my brother.” Seth said, “So what’s goin’ on?” Aiden crawled out from under the sink and sat on the floor. They stared at each other for a minute.

“What do you want to know?”

“What happened at his house?” Seth asked.

“I guess it was pretty bad. He told us all about what’s been going on for a lot of years, and I thought I had it bad. His was a fuckin nightmare and he never said anything in all the time I’ve known him.”

“Were they beatin’ on him or something?”

“No, it was worse than that.” Aiden said, “There’s such a thing that’s called mental abuse and it can be worse than getting beat on. When people are always telling you you’re worthless and good for nothing or stupid, after a while you get so used to it, you start to believe it. You can’t get away from it sometimes.”

“Is that what happened to him?” Seth asked.

“No, not really, I mean it was part of it, yes, but I guess his mom did a lot of mind games on him, really bad ones and a whole lot more. It’s all he ever knew I guess. He’s been so sad and just lonely for a long time and then I came along. I started to help tutor him to get his grades up and he didn’t seem so lonely anymore.” Aiden said, thinking about everything all of a sudden, “I think that’s really the problem with his mom, she’s been lonely too I guess.”

“Yeah…that’s deep. Okay so, are you guys…doin’ it?

“What?” Aiden asked. Seth looked at the doorway to see if they were alone. They were.

“Come on, Aid, are you guys…you know…”

“I am not going to talk to you about this.” Aiden said.

“Who else can I talk to besides you?” Seth asked and looked at the door again, “You know Charlene Marlston, next door at Uncle Bart’s?”

“Yeah?” Aiden asked.

“Yesterday I just happened to look out the window upstairs in the room. It looks down on her bedroom.”

“Oh no.” Aiden said.

“Yeah.” Seth flashed his eyes, “You know what she did when she saw me?”

“I know who she’s done, at least half the football team.” Aiden said and rolled his eyes.

“She saw me looking and she flashed her tits at me.” Seth said in almost a whisper with almost bugged eyes.

“What? You need to stay away from her, bud. I’m tellin you she’s bad news.”

“Why?” Seth asked.

“Because, I know her from school.” Aiden said, “Just stay away from her.”

“I think she likes me.”

“What? How do you know from just one look?”

“Because she did it more than once, that’s how.” Seth said and smiled.

“Oh, Jesus. Seth, listen, she’s got a really bad reputation. She’s nothin’ but trouble.”

“You’re just sayin’ that.” Seth said with a scowl.

“No, I’m not. I know it for a fact.” Aiden said and was a little angry.

“How?”

“You know Danny Simmons?” Aiden asked, Seth nodded, “Well I accidentally caught him with her and someone else under the bleachers after school just before summer break.”

“Really?” Seth asked with wide eyes. Aiden nodded.

“I promised I wouldn’t say anything when Danny caught up to me the next day.” Aiden said, “You can’t say anything either, alright?”

“Were they doin’ it?”

“Yeah, they were doin’ it.” Aiden said and threw up his hands, “What is it with you all of a sudden? You’ve got nothin’ but sex on the brain.”

“I just can’t get it out of my mind lately, I don’t know why.” Seth said.

“I get it, it’s okay.” Aiden said and gave him a soft smile, “I was there once too. Guess I still am if I really think about it. We gotta get this done, okay?” Aiden turned over and crawled under the sink again.

“So I guess you guys are doin’ it, huh?” Seth asked. Aiden sighed.


8888 8888 8888 8888


Greg was using a push broom to sweep up the floor. He was working along, making a long path with the broom, going about two dozen steps, he would stop sweeping and go back to the starting point at the back wall, set the broom again and start to push the dust and dirt along in the next path. He looked up from what he was doing as one of the guys came with another broom and joined him, the other guy, Rod. Greg wasn’t paying attention to what he was mumbling about. The guy was obviously pissed about something Greg thought to himself but he kept working.

“Hey!…HEY!...get out of there!” The yell came in the building, it seemed like it was coming from all directions in the huge open space. Greg looked up and saw the older guy, Mike, running toward them from the front of the building and pointing. Greg heard something, turned and looked up. Rod was still pushing his broom and wasn’t paying attention at all. Greg’s eyes went wide as he dropped his own broom and sprinted toward Rod and the back wall, running across its width, diving and tackling Rod as the top portion of the old brick wall came crashing down on them.


8888 8888 8888 8888


Ty came through the back door of the office of Beckett Builders. It was a short trip from the downtown project, only five blocks, and from the time he left the project and drove to the office, he just got madder and madder with what Sam Beckett had said to him on the phone. If this was the way this business was truly run, then he wanted no part of it, Ty thought. He was prepared to rip Sam Beckett a new one when he reached the office door.

“We need to talk.” Ty said flatly. Sam Beckett looked up from what he was reading on his desk.

“I told you what you needed to do, just do it.”

“And that’s bullshit. You haven’t seen it. Do you know how old that building actually is?” Ty asked.

“Yeah, and?”

“The bricks are falling apart. That whole back wall is literally crumbling, it’s only evident more now that the demo’s been done and there’s no support at all.” Ty said.

“Did we cause damage with the demo?” Sam asked.

“No, but the demo has shown just how bad the structure actually is.” Ty said then sighed, “Look, I understand bid and budget, you know I do having been doing this for years on my own, but I’m telling you here and now, shoring it up isn’t going to work. That building is too fucking old and you know it. Those bricks have seen their day, the mortar’s gone. You shore that shit up and that wall will roll out the other way and collapse and bring down the new second story as well as the roof.”

“Look, I don’t have time for this. I’ll come by tomorrow and take a look at it. I’ve just got to get through this stuff here right now in front of me.” Sam said as Ty’s phone started ringing. Ty pursed his lips and pulled it out of his pocket. He swiped it without looking.

“Get here now!” It was Mike’s voice yelling into the phone. Sam heard it from where he was at his desk.

“What happened?” Ty asked.

“Wall came down! Hurry!” Mike yelled. Ty shut off the phone and went on a dead run for the back door. He ran into Annie and knocked her down by accident, papers going everywhere. He didn’t stop until he got to the truck and threw open the door. He leaped in and fired it up as Sam Beckett came charging out after him. He ran to Ty’s truck, opening the passenger door as Ty dropped it in gear. Sam was barely in as Ty burned out through the small parking lot and hit the street. There were five blocks to go to reach the jobsite. Ty ran two red lights and Sam clutched the dashboard and just held on. He was just buckling his seatbelt when Ty locked up the brakes and slid to the curb in front of the project, throwing the truck in park and leaped out with the keys.

Ty ran across the sidewalk and crashed through the construction door and ran through the open building, seeing the pile of bricks from the old back wall, some scattered across the open floor. Daylight was coming through now from the gaping opening, the huge wound of the old building. He saw the group, Mike, and the boys, a couple of them were down on the floor in the midst of the pile and his heart stopped as he came running up. Sam was behind by a few feet as Ty was looking at the dirt and dust covered boys on the floor.

“Jesus, are you guys alright?” Ty asked as he looked at them, dropping to his knees in front of them.

“Yeah.” Rod said and looked over at Greg, who looked scared out of his mind, “He…he saved my ass.”

“What?” Ty asked.

“Apparently your boy there, tackled Rod, covering him with his body just as the wall fell on them. I saw the whole thing. We had to dig them out.” Mike said as he was behind Ty, hands on his knees. Ty looked at Greg.

“Are you alright, bud?” Ty asked as he put his hands gently on Greg’s shoulders, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m a little sore. Something hit me, I don’t know what.” Greg said.

“Let’s go get you looked at, both of you.” Ty said.

“What hit me?” Greg asked.

“It’s called a building, dude.” Mario said, looking very scared, as he was beside Mike looking down at Greg.

“What the hell happened?” Sam Beckett asked, “Were they doing something with the wall?”

“No, they were just sweeping up the floor when it came down on them.” Mike said as he looked at his boss, “I guess the dirt and dust were the only thing holding it up.” He said and had a definite nasty tone to his voice. He glared at his boss and then looked back down at the boys.

“Here, let me help you up.” Ty said to Greg. He gently helped Greg to his feet.

“I feel a little dizzy…kind of sick to my stomach too.” Greg said. Ty scooped him up in his arms without another thought. He spun and started walking quickly toward the front of the building, carrying Greg like a baby.

“Red tag this building right now.” Mike growled at Sam Beckett, “None of these guys are coming back in here until you get a structural engineer here, do you hear me?”

“Hang on, buddy.” Ty said to Greg.

“I really don’t feel good, Ty.” Greg said weakly almost out of breath.

“I bet. But we’re gonna get you taken care of, just hold on.” Ty said as he reached the front of the building. He used his foot to open the construction door and swung out with Greg in his arms. Several people were walking on the sidewalk and two men stopped seeing Ty carrying out Greg, “Would you help us real quick?” Ty asked them without stopping.

“Yeah, what happened?” One of the men asked as he went along with Ty.

“There’s been an accident. I need to get him to the hospital.” Ty said as Greg slumped and went unconscious in his arms, “Get that truck door open for me, will you?” Ty asked and the men jumped and ran ahead to the truck passenger door, opening it for him. Ty came around it and gently put Greg in the seat. He checked to make sure Greg was breathing, and he was. Ty closed the door and ran around the truck, jumping into the driver seat. He fired up the truck and ripped away from the curb, leaving the two men standing there.


8888 8888 8888 8888


“Listen, I know he’s your best friend, Terry,” Derrick said, holding up a hand, “but you have to give him a little space, okay? Don’t go hammering on him with a bunch of questions or give him any attitude, okay?”

“Yeah. I just can’t believe this. We tell each other everything, and I mean everything, boss.” Terry said, “Why didn’t he say anything?”

“I’m sure he has his reasons, bud.” Derrick said, “Just give it a little time and I’m sure he’ll tell you what’s going on.”

“This sucks, this really sucks.” Terry said shaking his head.

“Don’t let it get you down.” Derrick said as his phone buzzed on is desk, “Derrick Jacobson.” He said as he picked it up, “What? Are you alright?” Derrick asked as he stood up and listened, “Alright, hold on, babe, I’m coming…no, I’m coming right now.” Derrick said and hung up the phone, “Damn it.”

“What’s wrong?” Terry asked.

“There’s been an accident with Ty at his work. I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later.” Derrick said as he went around his desk going for the door.

“Is Ty alright?” Terry asked as he followed almost at a run.

“Yeah, he’s shaken up though. It’s a couple of his guys, one of them is staying with us.” Derrick said as he went around a corner and came past the front desk, “You’re in charge, bud, or if Tom is here, he is, I guess. I’ll call you later.”


8888 8888 8888 8888


Derrick walked in the emergency room doors of Community Hospital and went to the desk. The lady there was on the phone and going over papers. Derrick leaned on the desk and waited. She didn’t lift her eyes at first to him and he drummed his fingers on the counter. He looked up and saw Sam Beckett walk out the door from the actual emergency department. Derrick walked over toward him and Sam saw him.

“What are you doing here?” Sam asked.

“Ty called me.”

“Yeah? Well he’s not hurt.” Sam said.

“He said a couple of the guys were.”

“Yeah. This has been such a shitty day. I should have fuckin listened.”

“Listened to what?” Derrick asked.

“Your boy. He told me that wall was unsteady and I didn’t listen. What the fuck has happened to me, Derrick? I’ve lost it somewhere along the line, I used to be better than this. And now, I’ve got a couple of kids that could have been killed, and I mean killed.”

“Sam, pull it together, buddy, come on.” Derrick said as he looked at his old friend, “How are they?”

“The one is beat up pretty bad. He just started today too. Damn it. But you know what, he literally saved the other kids life. What the fuck am I gonna do?”

“Sam, come on, come and sit down.” Derrick said. He pulled his phone and texted Ty he was out in the waiting room. Ty texted back. Derrick went a little wide eyed, “You sit down here and I’m going to go and check on them real quick.” Derrick guided Sam to sit down.

“Yeah, sure.” Sam said. Derrick turned and went to the doors but was stopped by a nurse.

“I’m sorry, sir, you can’t go in there.” She said to him.

“You have a patient in there by the name of Greg Adkins, I’m his guardian.”

“You’ll have to check in with the desk, sir.”

“Yeah, tried that but she’s a little too preoccupied right now on the phone. I don’t mean to be nasty about it, but I would like to see Greg and I mean right now. My husband is in there as well.” Derrick said and she raised an eyebrow.

“Is he the big guy with all the muscles?” She asked and he smiled briefly at her with a nod, “Yeah, you have good taste. Maybe you can calm him down for us. The security guards are a little afraid of him. Come with me.” Derrick followed her in. He wanted to chuckle but didn’t. She led him to a curtain and pulled it back for him. Derrick heard Ty snarl as he stepped in.

“Well, I can see you’re in fine form.” Derrick said. The nurse raised her eyebrows and turned away closing the curtain.

“This is fuckin nuts.” Ty snarled, “They won’t do anything for him.”

“What do you mean they won’t do anything for him?” Derrick asked.

“They got us in here, looked him over really quick and left. I haven’t seen anybody since.” Ty snarled and veins were popping all over the place in his neck.

“Hey, hey, hey, more flies with sugar, remember?” Derrick asked.

“Don’t start with me.” Ty said and gave him a look of death.

“I’m here to help, babe.” Derrick said, putting his hands on Ty’s upper arms, “I think that’s one of the reasons you called me, right?”

“I’m sorry. Just look at him.” Ty said and tears formed, “He’s really hurt.” He whispered.

“I know, sweetie. They’re going to make it better, I promise. They’re good people here, you know that.” Derrick said. He looked over at the quiet and dirty Greg, “Do you know what happened?”

“Yeah…and I’m gonna kick his ass into next week because that fucker wouldn’t listen to me.”

“If you’re talking about Sam, he’s beating himself up pretty bad over this right now out in the waiting room. He’s not looking too good either.” Derrick said.

“He’s gonna be even worse looking after I get done with him.” Ty said, rage building in him again.

“Now just hold on, one thing at a time. Greg first, he’s the important one, okay?”

“Yeah.” Ty said as he looked over at the bed, “You’re right.” The curtain pulled back and the doctor stepped in.

“Good afternoon, I’m Dr. Rena.”

“It’s about time.” Ty muttered under his breath.

“Doctor, I’m Derrick Jacobson, this is Ty Caldwell.”

“You look a little familiar, Mr. Jacobson.” Rena said. Derrick narrowed his eyes and then smiled.

“Yes, so do you, Doctor. I seem to think you were here when I needed some stitches not too long ago.”

“That’s right. Something about a stabbing or something if I recall correctly.”

“Yes, something like that.” Derrick said as the doctor stepped over to Greg. He pulled a pen light and opened Greg’s eyes, one at a time, shining the light in them. He put the light back in his pocket. His hands ran through Greg’s hair and the back of his head, checking him all over and felt the back of his neck.

“This young man looks vaguely familiar as well. He’s not your son…is he?”

“No, we’re his guardians.” Derrick said, “And Ty is also his boss.”

“Well, can you tell me what happened then?”

“We’re working one of the buildings downtown doing a renovation. Greg was cleaning along with another one of the crew when part of the brick wall above came loose and collapsed on them. He was buried with the debris.”

“That goes along with what the other young man in another bed said. His story is a little different though.” Rena said.

“What do you mean?” Ty asked.

“According to him, your young man here saved his life and was buried in all those bricks. Looks like you have a genuine hero on your hands.” Rena said as he kept examining Greg with his hands, “No broken bones so far.”

“He said he was dizzy and sick to his stomach before he passed out.” Ty said.

“I don’t doubt it.” Rena said, “I think he has a major concussion, but I want to send him for x-rays to rule out a skull fracture and any possible hairline fractures as well. Was he wearing a hard hat?”

“Yeah.” Ty said.

“That may have saved his life.” Rena said and briefly smiled.

“Why won’t he wake up?” Ty asked.

“He’s had a severe blow, well, I take that back, several severe blows to his entire body it seems. I don’t think any of us would wake up right away from that. We’ll give him some time. His body will tell him when it’s time to wake up.”

“You’re not saying it’s like a coma, are you?” Derrick asked.

“Heavens no, nothing that dramatic. He’s just had a trauma, a severe trauma, and his body is trying to cope with it is all. He’ll come around before long, probably just in time for the x-rays.” Rena said, trying to make a little joke. He cleared his throat when it failed, “So, one of the nurses will be along shortly to take him. In the meantime, one of you should be close to him in case he does come around. It’s always best to have a familiar face nearby when you wake up in a strange place.”

“Yeah.” Ty said as he stared at Greg. The doctor walked out through the curtain, “Will you stay with him for a bit?” Ty asked Derrick.

“Of course.” Derrick said. Ty nodded once and walked out, Derrick looked down at the sleeping Greg, “Been a rough first day, huh, buddy?” Derrick asked softly.

Ty walked into the waiting room and saw Sam Beckett sitting there in one of the chairs. He walked right up to him and stopped, breathing hard. Sam slowly lifted his eyes and stared at the muscled form in front of him.

“How is he?” Sam asked.

“Better than you’re gonna be.” Ty growled in his throat, “Get on your feet.”

“So you can kick my ass?” Sam asked, “Is that what you want? Will it help him? If you think it will, then let’s go outside.”

“Whatever you want.” Ty growled, rage filling him. Sam got to his feet. Annie Beckett was at the counter giving the ward clerk paperwork that they needed for the hospital billing. She saw her father and Ty glaring at each other as they went to the doors and she knew right then what was going to happen.

“You better call security.” Annie said to the ward clerk, who looked up and went wide eyed herself. The pair barely got outside when the shoving match started. She reached for the phone as Annie went running for the doors.


8888 8888 8888 8888


“So, can I ask you a question?” Seth asked his brother.

“Is it about sex again?” Aiden asked. Seth rolled his eyes.

“Well…kinda’.” Seth said. Aiden huffed.

“Go ahead.”

“How do you guys do it?”

“Are you serious?” Aiden asked in reply.

“I’m just curious.” Seth said. Aiden leaned close to him.

“Look, why don’t you watch a gay porno and find out for yourself. I’m not going to explain it to you what we do.”

“Well…I actually watched one last night. It was different.”

“What do you mean different?” Aiden asked, stopping what he was doing.

“It was different from the other ones I usually watch.” Seth said as he held the wrench on the pipe.

“What do you usually watch?” Aiden asked as took the other wrench to backspin the old pipe to break it loose.

“You know, the normal kind.”

“The normal kind.” Aiden said and laughed, “I didn’t know there was a normal kind of porn.”

“Well, what I mean is, the kind of stuff I normally watch.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Aiden said and strained to bust the old pipe but it wouldn’t budge, “We probably need something to lube this up.”

“Yeah, that’s what he said too.”

“What?” Aiden asked.

“The guy, the one dude in the video. He said he needed lube.” Seth said like there was nothing wrong it at all.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Aiden asked as he looked at his brother and shook his head, “That’s not the kind of lube I was talking about, dippy.”

“There’s different kinds?” Seth asked.

“You are hopeless.” Aiden said as he got up. He went to go out to the truck to get what he needed for the job.

“I’m not hopeless, you know!” Seth called out after his brother still holding the wrench on the pipe, “I’m just horny!” Not more than thirty seconds later, Bart stuck his head in the door and looked at Seth with wide eyes, “Oh, hi.” Seth said softly.

“Yeah, we’ll have a talk when we get home.” Bart said and walked away. Seth swallowed hard, he knew what that meant.


8888 8888 8888 8888


“Had enough?” Sam growled as he gripped Ty’s arm and a shoulder. Ty was holding him as well as they wrestled around with one another. Not a single punch had been thrown, just pushing and shoving. A couple of security guards came running up but they both knew they were completely outsized by these two men that were struggling.

“You guys need to break it up!” One of the security guards shouted.

“Fuck off.” Ty growled without looking at them. He was focused on Sam fully.

“Alright, that’s it. Call the cops. I’m through screwing with these guys.” The other security guard said. Both Ty and Sam looked over at them and eased with their struggle, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Why don’t you guys grow up already.”

“Yeah.” Annie said as she pushed in between Sam and Ty. She looked up at her father and kicked him hard in the shin with her boot.

“Goddamit, Annie!” Sam hobbled away a couple of steps. She spun on Ty and slugged him in his big chest and he looked at her, stunned. She shook her hand again and again from the pain.

“Ow, damn it.’ She said, “You big jerk.” She said as she glared at Ty.

“What did I do?” He asked. She kicked him in the shin too, “Ow, damn.” He said and spun around.

“Damn, it’s a good thing we’re at a hospital.” Sam said with a grimace of pain.

“Yeah, you’re gonna need one when you get home too. Mom’s probably gonna kill you, you know that.”

“You keep your mouth shut about this, missy.” Sam said to her. She turned on Ty, anger in her eyes.

“And you, you’re fired.” She said, jabbing a finger in his muscled chest.

“You can’t fire me.” Ty said looking back at her.

“Yeah?” She yelled.

“Yeah, I quit. I’m not workin’ for this stupid ass company where you can get kids killed.” Ty said, pulling his keys for the truck out. He grabbed Annie’s hand and slapped the keys in it, glaring at Sam and then walked back into the ER. She turned, stunned, and looked at her father. She really didn’t know what was going on yet.

“I need to go talk to him.” Sam said.

“What?” She asked with bugged eyes.

“You heard me.” Sam said and walked after Ty. The two security guards followed. Sam limped a little from the kick in the shin but caught up to Ty in the waiting room, “Ty, hold up a minute, please.” Sam said.

“I’ve got nothin’ to say to you.”

“Please, just give me a minute.” The big man said. Ty stopped. He closed his eyes a moment to compose himself. He turned around slowly to face Sam. The two security guards were back just a little bit behind Sam, Annie came in as well and hung back, “Look, I was wrong, totally, totally wrong about the situation. I should have listened to you from the start. I know the experience you have, and it’s not an excuse, but I should have paid attention to what you said. I’m sorry I didn’t, I was just too wrapped up in what I was doing.”

“That’s it? That’s all you’re gonna say?”

“What else do you want me to say?” Sam asked.

“I guess you’re still too wrapped, because you can’t figure it out.” Ty said, flexing his fists, “So now I’m gonna go pick up the pieces in there and pray like hell that that kid is going to be okay.”

“Yeah, me too.” Sam said and looked past Ty. Ty looked over his shoulder, Mike Pershing and Rod walked out of the back department. Ty turned and went to both of them. Mike smiled briefly at Ty. Sam walked up and stood next to Ty.

“How are you, bud?” Ty asked Rod.

“I’m okay. A little banged up.” Rod said, “How’s Greg?”

“I was just going back in there to find out.” Ty said.

“Rodrigo, you sure you’re okay?” Sam asked as he looked at the young man.

“You sure you care?” Mike asked Sam with a snarl. Rod went wide eyed as heard Mike. He’d seen him mad before, really pissed off even, and this sure sounded like it to him.

“Not you too.” Sam said with an eye roll.

“Yeah me too.” Mike said and got in Sam’s face, “I have worked for you for years and nothing like this has ever happened before. I listened to what he told you on the phone and what did you do? Nothing. You piss me off, you know that? If I was ten years younger, I’d take you outside.”

“I already did.” Ty said then looked away. Mike snapped his head and looked at Ty, then back at Sam.

“Well it looks like you got off easy, Sam, because I’ve seen what he can do when he gets fuckin pissed off and it ain’t pretty, believe me. I’ll bring the truck back in the morning, I’m done with you.”

“You can’t quit. I need you.”

“Should have thought of that earlier.” Mike growled.

“He’s already quit.” Sam rolled his thumb in Ty’s direction, “I need one of you.” Sam said. He looked at Ty for a moment and then back at Mike, “Come on, Mike, you can’t quit, not yet, please. We’ve been together too long.”

“That’s the fuckin problem, Sam, too many years between us. I’ve put up with your bullshit and your attitudes for too fuckin long. Today was the last straw. It scared the living piss out me watching that wall collapse on those boys. I’m not the one you should be begging. I’ve seen what this man can do.” Mike head rolled toward Ty, “He can do twice the job I did without even trying and already has, and you know it.”

“I don’t think he’d want…” Sam said and hung his head a little.

“Did you even ask him?” Mike asked, “Didn’t think so. What happened to you, Sam? You used to be tougher than the nails we pound. You better ask him before he’s gone.” Mike continued to glare. Sam cleared his throat and turned to look at Ty.

“Ty…I don’t know how to say this…but…I really need you, the company needs you.” Sam said. Annie was stunned, almost horrified hearing her father almost begging like this. Rod looked at Ty.

“Boss, did you really quit?” Rod asked Ty. Ty just looked at him. Rod just shook his head, “I’m not goin’ back to that job unless you’re there.” Ty fought tears hearing him. He mashed his lips together and flexed his fists. He turned and jabbed a finger hard into Sam’s big chest.

“Alright, fine…but this is how it’s going to work, and you better fuckin listen to me.” Ty growled and Sam was wide eyed, “When I tell you something, I tell you for a fuckin reason. You want to know about problems? I’ll tell you what the problems are and you better give me a fuckin good solution. When I need you on a job, you better fuckin be there and not be pushin’ paperwork. Are you good with that?” Ty asked with a snarl. Everyone was wide eyed because as he had his finger pushed deep into Sam’s chest, his arm muscles looked like they were going to explode.

“Yeah, I’m good with it.” Sam said softly.

“Rodrigo?” Ty asked as he was still eye locked with Sam, but took his finger away.

“Yeah, boss?”

“Take the day off tomorrow…with pay.” Ty said.

“Okay, boss.” Rod said above a whisper.


8888 8888 8888 8888


“Hey there, bright eyes.” Derrick said as he looked at Greg with a smile.

“Derrick…what happened? Where am I?” Greg asked with a short grunt.

“Well, for starters, I hear that part of the building fell on you and as far as where you are, you’re at the hospital.” Derrick said softly. Greg groaned with a short breath.

“Oh god, I hurt.” Greg said.

“I don’t doubt it. Let me see if I can get you something.” Derrick said. He picked up the call button and pushed it. The nurse came on the speaker behind the bed.

“Yes?” She asked.

“You have a patient that’s awake in here and in quite a bit of discomfort.” Derrick said, “Hang on, buddy.”

“It really…hurts.” Greg said almost like he was starting to pant.

“Where does it hurt the most?” Derrick asked.

“In between…my shoulders. It’s kind of…hard to breathe.” Greg said and started to take rapid short breaths, now fully panting. Derrick got up quickly from his chair beside the bed. He went to the curtain, grabbed it and threw it back. He didn’t see anybody coming.

“Hey! A little help in here! He’s having a hard time breathing!” Derrick yelled and all at once there were nurses coming, trotting toward him, then he saw the doctor coming as well. Nurses pushed Derrick out of the way and Rena came in and started looking at Greg.

“Get this shirt cut off him, but don’t roll him.” Derrick heard the doctor say, “Somebody get a backboard.” Derrick watched the nurses flying about getting things, “Get me a C-Collar.” Derrick watched as things were happening, “Get me a line started, somebody call x-ray, tell them this is now stat.”

“You’re going to have to step outside, sir.” One of the nurses said and put a hand on Derrick.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. That’s my son, I’m not leaving.” Derrick said flatly.

“Then stay out of the way please.” She said and opened a drawer in a cart next to Derrick, pulling out wide tape. She turned and joined the rest of the crowd around Greg.

“Get him on a cannula, 3 liters.” Rena said, “What did x-ray say?”

“Their ready and waiting, Doctor.”

“Get his pants cut off him.” Rena said, “Come on people, move.” They wheeled Greg past Derrick and Greg looked completely different to him, pale, unconscious. Derrick looked at the doctor, who gave him a brief look then walked away following the group working on Greg.

“Oh dear god, please no, do not…” Derrick said as he looked toward the ceiling. He started to fight tears.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Ty asked as he put a hand on Derrick’s shoulder. Derrick looked at him and hugged him tight as tears fell, “Oh no, no, no, no, no.”


8888 8888 8888 8888


Derrick, Ty, Sam Beckett, Annie Beckett all sat in the waiting room, doing the obvious…waiting. It seemed to take forever. There was no talk between them, not a single word had been said as they waited. People came and went, some with cuts, or rashes, or breathing problems. But it just went on and on as far as they were all concerned. Derrick had gotten up once and had gone outside. He called his office and spoke to Terry, telling him where he still was and filled him in on a little of the situation. Derrick came back in and sat down next to Ty. The first words were finally spoken.

“Why haven’t they told us anything?” Ty finally asked, “You would think they would tell us something.”

“I know. This is the hardest part of the whole deal, the waiting.” Derrick said softly.

“What’s Aiden gonna say? Should I call him?” Ty asked.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell him until we know something for sure.” Derrick said. Derrick saw Dr. Rena come out of the doors. He came a few steps as Derrick and Ty jumped to their feet and came to meet him. Sam and Annie followed.

“Hi there.” Rena said with a nod, “I wanted to come and tell you what’s going on. Your boy in there is a really tough guy.”

“What happened with his breathing?” Derrick asked.

“When I first examined him, I was palpating for obvious broken bones, I don’t find any. X-ray was backed up at the time, that’s why nothing had happened right away. When Greg was at rest, in his unconscious state, his body was able to relax so his breathing was fine. When he became conscious is when things started to happen. The body goes through reflexes when it’s awake and also reacts to pain. The x-rays clearly show that all of the ribs on his right side have been fractured away from his spine, obviously from the impacts he suffered. There is no damage to his spine, thankfully.”

“Thank God.” Ty said.

“But, because of the fractures, one of his ribs punctured his right lung. He’s been in surgery, it has been repaired, and he is fine now. We’re going to have to admit him and keep him for a couple of days. He’s sleeping right now and is in recovery. They’re getting a room ready for him up on the second floor.”

“Dear God.” Sam said and hung his head.

“Now, the surgeon will want to talk to you and tell what is going to happen, that’s Dr. Monroe. He’s one of the best we have here in the hospital. Greg couldn’t be in better hands.”

“Do we go up there now?” Derrick asked.

“If you’d like. You probably won’t be able to see him or talk to him yet until he recovers from the anesthesia fully, and I will warn you, he will have a hard time talking for a while because you need to breathe to talk and that will make it very difficult for him, at least for a while. So he needs to be kept kind of quiet.”

“We understand. Maybe we can get him a pad to write things on so he doesn’t have to talk as much.” Derrick said.

“That’s a good idea. He’ll need lots of care for a couple of weeks at least. It will be difficult for him to move because of this. You have to remember, it’s not just his ribs but the rest of his body that has been injured as well. He’ll have bumps and bruising over most of him, on his backsides for sure and he’ll be very stiff. I mean after all, a building did fall on him, right?” Rena asked and they all nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, Doctor, for what you did.” Ty said and put out his hand. Rena shook it and turned away.

“I’m going to go to the house and wait for Aiden. I’ll bring him back with me.” Derrick said.

“Maybe I should do it.” Ty said.

“No, you’re still pretty shook up. You stay here with Greg, I’ll talk to Aiden and then come back.”


8888 8888 8888 8888


Derrick waited in the house for Aiden. It was just half past three. Derrick wasn’t sure when Aiden would get home or if they were working late. He knew from past experience that Bart liked to knock off around three or so. Derrick made a cup of coffee. He sat down on a bar stool at the counter to wait.

He had just about finished his coffee when he heard the car pull in. He got up and went to the front room windows. He looked out and saw Aiden’s little car parked out of the way as he always did. Derrick smiled with the thought of how considerate and sweet Aiden really was.

“Yeah, he’s the perfect son for sure.” Derrick said out loud and walked through the house. He went out the back door and started down the steps as Aiden was opening the man door and saw Derrick. He smiled toward Derrick.

“You’re home early.” Aiden said.

“Yeah, I am. How was your day, bud?”

“Oh you know, replumbing that old house over on Blaker. It’ll be nice once it’s done because Uncle Bart won’t be having to go over there all the time and fix a different leak once a week.” Aiden said as Derrick came up to him.

“I was wondering if we could have a little talk really quick.” Derrick said.

“Sure. Is something wrong?” Aiden asked as he opened the man door, Derrick followed him into the studio, closing the door behind him.

“Let’s have a seat, shall we?”

“Okay.” Aiden said softly. Aiden went to the bed and sat at the foot of it. Derrick looked around the room, it was spotless as always. The bed was made, no clothes anywhere to be seen.

“I was going to ask you, what are you doing with your dirty clothes?”

“Oh, they’re in the bathroom. I put them in a small duffel. I need to go to the laundromat this weekend.” Aiden said.

“No you don’t. Do them in the house.” Derrick said.

“No, it’s okay. I’m used to doing it there anyway. We didn’t have a washer and dryer at the house, I’m just used to going.” Aiden said. Derrick knelt in front of him on his haunches. He put his hands on Aiden’s knees.

“Aiden, you live here now. Use the stuff that’s in the house, it’s your house too now. You don’t need to dance around it, it’s okay.”

“Okay. Is that what you wanted to talk about?”

“No.” Derrick said, “I wanted to talk to you about something that happened today.”

“Did you call that guy?” Aiden asked.

“What guy?”

“The guy at Croft.” Aiden said. Derrick sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.

“No, bud, I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance yet.”

“Oh no, it’s okay, you don’t have to go to any special trouble or anything, really.”

“I told you it was no trouble, and I’ll make a point of it tomorrow, I promise.” Derrick said and felt even worse now for forgetting such a simple thing, “So about this thing that happened today, it was this morning actually. Ty called me. There was an accident at one of his jobs.” Derrick could feel Aiden tense up.

“Is Greg alright?” Aiden asked above a whisper.

“He will be.”

“Okay. Is he hurt pretty bad?” Aiden asked slowly.

“He was. They didn’t know how bad at first, but then they found out. He had to have surgery and is out now. Ty should be with him.” Derrick said.

“Okay.” Aiden said. Derrick noticed that Aiden was being so strong. He wasn’t tearing, at least not yet but he was chewing on his trembling bottom lip.

“The doctor said it would take a while to get him back on his feet.” Derrick said. Aiden looked away.

“What happened to him?” Aiden asked in that same tone barely above a whisper.

“Part of the building they were working on collapsed on him. It fractured his ribs along his spine. They punctured his lung, that’s why he had to have surgery, he was having problems breathing, but they fixed it.”

“What happens now?” Aiden asked and wouldn’t look at Derrick.

“I came home to tell you and to take you to the hospital to see him if you want. He should be awake in a couple of hours or so. They said he won’t be able to talk much because of the damage, it’ll be hard for him to breathe for a while too, but he’s going be fine, Aiden.”

“He’s not gonna die?” Aiden asked and looked at Derrick fully.

“No, sweetheart, he’s not going to die, that I promise you.”

“Good.”

“Do you want to take a shower and change before we go?”

“I probably should. I don’t want to have him see me all messed up like I am.”

“Are you okay?” Derrick asked. Aiden nodded a few times, still biting his bottom lip, “Okay. I’ll let you get ready. I’ll be in the house.”


8888 8888 8888 8888


Room 218, second floor of the hospital was a corner room and was private. It had windows on two walls and in the center of the room, was only one bed, and that bed contained a sleeping Greg. When Derrick arrived with Aiden, Aiden slowly approached the bed and came up beside Greg, taking his hand in his and held it gently, using his other hand to lightly rub the back of Greg’s hand as Aiden looked down at him. Ty stood there in the corner watching them. Derrick moved to be beside his husband, putting an arm around Ty’s waist.

“I hear you had kind of a bad day.” Aiden whispered to Greg, “I’m really sorry you did. I know you were so looking forward to it, so excited, going to work, an honest job as you call it. You kept me up almost all night talking about it, and now you get to sleep, lucky you. I love you, Greg.”

Ty looked up at the ceiling and fought tears listening to Aiden speak to Greg. Derrick squeezed Ty tighter around his back and waist. Ty walked away from Derrick and went out into the hallway, Derrick followed, leaving the boys alone in the room.

“You okay, babe?” Derrick asked as he stood in front of Ty.

“This is all my fault.”

“Don’t do this, Ty, you didn’t know this was going to happen.”

“But that’s just it, Derrick, I did. I could see it. I should have pulled all those boys out of there like I wanted to and let that fuckin place collapse in on itself. I knew it was going to happen. I’ve been doing this too damn long, but I listened to him on the phone and he pissed me off and I left to go talk to him, to rip his ass. And as soon as I left, what happened? Exactly what I knew was going to happen. Two boys were hurt, one could have died and almost did. And for what? To save a fuckin nickel on a bid? I should kill that fucker, not work for him.”

“You think it’s Sam’s fault?” Derrick asked.

“I know he’s your friend, Derrick, and I can respect that, but he was wrong…he was dead fucking wrong. I’m sorry, but this is unforgiveable. He knew. I know that he knew. He’s got too many years in this trade not to know.”

“Maybe you’re right. In fact, I know you’re right. Whether Sam is a friend of mine or not doesn’t matter. What matters is, what you’re going to do about it. Are you going to do something that you’ll regret, or are you going to rise above it and take control of the situation?”

“What do you think I should do?” Ty asked with anger in his voice.

“I think you should do what’s right, not just what’s in your mind, but what’s in your heart. Because that’s what this all comes down to, doing the right thing. Because from what you’ve told me, he didn’t.” Derrick said with firmness.

“Why do you do this? You always say just the right thing at just the right time.”

“Well, I’d like to say that it’s because of vast intellect, but truthfully I learned a long time ago when I was very young to stop and think and to do the right thing.” Derrick said.

“What did I do to deserve you?”

“I think you built a studio for me, if I remember right.”

“You’re a shit, aren’t you?”

“And you wouldn’t have it any other way.” Derrick smiled and flashed his eyes.

“He says he really hurts.” Aiden said from behind Derrick. Derrick spun.

“He’s awake?” Derrick asked. Ty went around them and into the room quickly, going up to the bed, looking down at Greg.

“Hey, buddy.” Ty said softly. Greg went to answer but Ty put up a hand, “The doctor said you shouldn’t talk. So for a while, I’m going to ask you questions, yes or no, okay? You just nod or shake your head, got it?” Greg nodded, “Good. You hurting?” Greg nodded slowly, “Okay. I’ll go down to nurses’ station and tell them your awake and come right back. The doctor wanted to talk to you as well, okay?” Greg nodded, “Be right back.”

“Hey there, bright eyes, good to see you again.” Derrick said from the foot of the bed with a smile, “You look better than you did before. Got some color back in you at least.” Greg smiled softly, “I’m going to go down to the gift shop and see if they have a pad of paper and some pens. You can write down what you want to say to us for the time being, okay?” Greg tried to speak but was having a hard time with it, “Relax, buddy, don’t strain yourself. It makes your breathing worse and it’ll make you hurt even more, okay?” Greg just nodded and closed his eyes. Aiden was right beside him and took up his hand again. Greg squeezed the fingers a little and Aiden smiled. He bent down and kissed Greg on the forehead, “Alright, I’ll be back in a bit.” Derrick said and left the room, going by the nurses’ station and telling Ty what he was going to do.


8888 8888 8888 8888


“Well, hello there, Greg, I’m Dr. Monroe, do you remember me?” The older man asked. He was slightly balding, grey, was wearing a white lab coat. He had a friendly face to Greg. Greg shook his head in answer to the question, “Well, I can understand that, considering what you were going through at the time. We spoke just before you had surgery. Have you been told what happened with that?” Again, Greg shook his head, “I see, that’s alright, we’ll get to that. Are you still having pain?” Monroe asked and Greg shook his head. He took a pen and wrote something on the pad on his lap and dropped the pen. The doctor leaned forward and looked at it. He read it, then looked back at Greg.

“Okay. Is this numbness in just your legs?” Monroe asked, Greg shook his head, “Your arms too?” Greg nodded, “Yeah, that would be the Morphine that’s in that bag hanging up there above you. I want to keep you on that through tonight and we’ll slowly take you off it starting tomorrow morning. Then tomorrow, I want to take a closer look at you and check you over again. Do you understand me so far?” Monroe asked and Greg nodded, “Good. Now, you’re going to be here for a couple of days with us, just to make sure there’s no problems with you. I don’t want you to go home then have to come back because of problems, alright?” Monroe asked and Greg nodded. The doctor looked at Derrick and Ty standing there.

“I understand you’re his guardians, is that right?” The doctor asked. Derrick nodded.

“Yes, we are.” Ty said.

“He’s going to need constant care for at least a couple of weeks. Are you going to be able to do that?” Monroe asked.

“You bet we are. We’ll be with him constantly, you can count on that.” Ty said.

“Good.” Monroe said and looked at Greg again, “Tomorrow, when I take a look at you and see that everything is going the way I’d like it, we’re going to put you in a cast, an upper body cast.”

“You’re gonna what?” Ty asked. Monroe looked at him.

“An upper body cast. It will help support the rib cage. Normally with a fractured rib, you would wrap it to support it. In Greg’s case, half of them are fractured. If he is encased, it will support and will allow him to get up and move freely from time to time with limitations of course. There’s also the rest of him. Deep bruising has already started in his muscles.” Monroe said and looked back at Greg, “You are going to be stiff and sore for a few days, but it’s also important that you work your muscles. You’re in very good shape I noticed. Do you play sports?” Monroe asked and Greg nodded.

“He plays baseball.” Aiden said. Monroe smiled and nodded.

“I used to play myself once upon a time. I was the best short stop in the league, but that was because of my height.”

“He’s a pitcher.” Aiden said, “He’s got a mean fast ball, no one can hit it.” There was pride in his voice. Everyone heard it, the doctor looked at Aiden directly in the eye.

“You don’t say.” Monroe said and looked at Greg again, “All the more reason for you to work those muscles. But do it slowly, and don’t push it. Do you understand?” Again, Greg nodded, “Alright, the Morphine is going to make you sleep again, Greg, and sleep is the best thing for you. It helps to speed the recovery. Okay?” Monroe asked and Greg nodded, “I will see you in the morning then.”

“Thank you for what you did, Doctor.” Ty said and put out a hand.

“You’re welcome.” Monroe shook his hand then Derrick’s. He looked at Aiden who was looking down at Greg, standing at his side, “I think he’s in good hands and will be just fine.”

“I’m sure he will.” Derrick said, looking toward Aiden as well, then back to the doctor. Monroe walked out the door of the room.


8888 8888 8888 8888


Aiden sat in the chair beside the bed, watching Greg as he slept again. The evening was now upon him. Even though the day had been long, the previous even longer, as Aiden smiled remembering them being together last night, their first real night together in the studio. Greg talking away as he was excited about starting a new job, something that he had said just felt right to him about it all. Greg talked about this new-found freedom that he felt with being away from his controlling parents, the pressures that he no longer felt because of them and Aiden knew that Greg was happy. He could see it, hear it in his voice. They had laughed together.

Aiden smiled wider and reached out and took Greg’s hand gently in his, just holding it. He felt tired, yes, but not sleepy. He resolved himself to just being here, to want to be close to Greg in case he needed anything when he woke up. A nurse would come in now and then and look at the bag that hung beside the bed, that had that clear tube that ran down from it and was attached to the back of Greg’s other hand. Derrick and Ty had gone downstairs and had left Aiden alone with Greg. He knew they would come back up and soon. Aiden had his back to the door and had heard someone, but he didn’t look. He thought it might just be one of the nurses again. Whoever it was, was still there, and Greg turned and looked over his shoulder. He didn’t know who the man was that stood there in a suit as he was in the shadow of the doorway.

“Can I help you?” Aiden asked quietly.

“Is he alright?” The man asked without moving. Aiden looked at Greg once and then back at the man again. Aiden nodded.

“He’s sleeping. It’s the pain medicine they gave him.” Aiden said and stood up.

“I see.” The man said, “Are you…a friend of his?” Aiden nodded in answer to the question.

“My name is Aiden.”

“I think I’ve heard of you before.” The man said. He took a couple of steps into the room and stopped, still looking at Greg.

“Do I know you?” Aiden asked.

“We’ve never met. How did this happen?” The man asked.

“There was an accident at his work.”

“I see.” The man said.

“Who…who are you?” Aiden asked.

“My name is William Adkins, I’m his father.” The man said and Aiden went wide eyed.

“I don’t think you should be here, Mr. Adkins.” Aiden said getting closer to the bed, closer to Greg as if to shield him.

“Where else would I be?”

“Anywhere but here.” Aiden said firmly but was also scared.

“Does he need anything?” Adkins asked.

“If he does, I’ll take care of it.” Aiden glared now, firming himself up. The eyes of the man fell on Aiden now.

“You seem to be close to him, and a little protective as well.”

“I think you need to leave.” Aiden said.

“Alright, I will. You can tell him I was here and I’ll come back.” Adkins said.

“That may not be a good idea. I don’t know if he’ll want to see you or not.”

“Well, we’ll let him decide that, won’t we?” Adkins said, “It was a pleasure meeting you…Aiden.” The man looked at Greg one last time, turned and walked away. Aiden could see down the entire corridor to the nurses’ station. He watched the man wait at the elevator. Derrick and Ty stepped out as Adkins stepped in. Derrick looked once at the man and stopped, Aiden saw it, then watched as Derrick came toward him and the room, Ty beside him.

“Was that his father?” Derrick asked Aiden and Aiden nodded.

“What?” Ty asked.

“The emergency room doctor, he said he thought Greg looked familiar, remember?”

“Holy shit.” Ty said.

“What did he say, Aiden?” Derrick asked.

“He asked how it happened, I told him it was an accident at his work but that’s all. Then I asked him who he was, he told me. I told him he should leave and he wanted to know who I was. He asked if Greg needed anything, I told him I’d take care of it if he did.” Aiden said.

“He’s coming back, isn’t he?” Ty asked.

“He said he would. I told him it wasn’t a good idea and I didn’t think Greg wanted to see him. He can’t do anything, can he, Derrick?” Aiden said.

“Well, actually he can. He has the legal right to as his father, and unfortunately, we don’t have any legal right to stand in his way.” Derrick said, “I need to get a hold of Sid.”

“Who’s Sid?” Aiden asked.

“My lawyer. I need to get a hold of Dave Campbell too.”

“Why do you need Campbell?” Ty asked.

“He’s the one cop on the police force that will take the time to not only listen to Greg’s story, but will do something about it.” Derrick said.

“Your right, he will.” Aiden said and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out his wallet and opened it. He took out the card Campbell gave to him and handed it to Derrick, “I know he will because it’s the right thing to do, just like he said to me that night at the house.”

“He gave you his card?” Ty asked. Aiden nodded.

“He told me if I needed anything to call him.” Aiden said, putting his wallet back in his pocket. He looked down at Greg, “And now I guess I really do need something from him.”

“I’ll go over to the lounge at the other end of the hall to call him.” Derrick said. Aiden looked up from Greg at Derrick.

“Maybe I should call him.” Aiden said. Derrick gave him a puzzled look, “This is kind of my problem. I mean…I’m the one that asked about bringing Greg to the house.”

“And I think I also said that I don’t have a problem with it, Aiden. You know that.” Derrick said.

“I know that Derrick, but the more I think about it, the more I think I should call him…for Greg.” Aiden said. Derrick hesitated a moment and then handed the card back to him, “It’s the right thing to do.” Aiden said quietly as he gently took the card from Derrick’s fingers, “Don’t you think?” Aiden asked and Derrick nodded.

“It shows me that you care, Aiden, really care for him, and you’re being responsible.” Derrick said and nodded toward Greg.

“I do care for him.” Aiden said softly. Ty put a hand on Aiden’s shoulder and gave him a half smile with a nod. Aiden looked at Ty, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Aiden said. He looked down at Greg for a moment, then walked out of the room. He stopped out in the hall between other rooms, out of earshot of Derrick, Ty, and a sleeping Greg. Aiden pulled out his phone, opened it and dialed the number on the card, the cell number that was printed on it. He put the phone to his ear as it rang.

“Dave Campbell.” The voice said carefully.

“Hi.” Aiden said quietly into the phone, “Uh…this is Aiden.”

“Aiden?” Campbell asked, “Oh, hey Aiden…you alright, buddy?”

“Uh…yeah…well kinda, I guess.”

“What’s wrong?” Campbell asked into the phone.

“I’m not bothering you, am I?”

“No, not at all. I told you could call me if you needed to. What’s wrong? Where are you?” Campbell asked.

“I’m…at the hospital.” Aiden said quietly.

“You’re what? Are you hurt or something?” Campbell asked.

“No, not me. But…someone else is.”

“Who?”

“His name is Greg, Greg Adkins.” Aiden said quietly, “The reason I’m calling…is because he needs your help.”

“Okay.” Campbell said carefully, “What kind of help?”

“It’s a long story…uh…”

“Are you there alone?” Campbell asked.

“No. Derrick and Uncle T are here too.”

“Alright. What hospital are you at?”

“Community, up on the second floor.”

“Okay. I’ll be there in a bit. Just hang on, okay?” Campbell asked.

“Thanks.” Aiden said quietly.

“See you in a bit.” Campbell said then ended the call. Aiden put his phone back into his front pocket, walking back into the room. He stopped just inside the door, looking at Greg, still asleep.

“Did you call him?” Derrick asked. Aiden nodded.

“He said he’d be on his way.” Aiden said quietly, still keeping his voice in the same tone as he looked at Derrick. Derrick stepped up to him.

“I’ll go make my call to my attorney.” Derrick said as he put a hand on Aiden’s arm, giving it a squeeze of comfort. Aiden nodded again as he looked at Greg. He knew that Greg was ashamed of what went on with his parents, he had a hard time talking about it, and didn’t want it known. Aiden felt bad that he was about to bring in someone else now, and Greg’s secrets were about to be known.

by icevuk2634

Email: [email protected]

Copyright 2024