Discovering A Mute Boy
Chapter 07
A Different Kind Of Storm
WARNING: this story contains sexual content, and contact between young boys. If the subject matter offends you, is not to your tastes, or if you are under legal age for your area, then find something else to read. In the following story all names and events are completely fictional. Although I may mention specific locations, places, or persons any resemblance to said people, locations, or places is completely unintentional.
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This work is copyrighted © by Hunter Woods. No part of this story may be transmitted or reproduced in whole or in part in any form including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, and recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the express written consent of the author. For those of you who just blow this off and decide to steal anyway keep these thoughts below in mind:
“Intentionally using the quotes of others without author attribution is plagiarism and contributes to illiteracy.”
- Rain Bojangles
“Most plagiarists, like the drone, have neither taste to select, industry to acquire, nor skill to improve, but impudently pilfer the honey ready prepared, from the hive.”
- Walter Colton
“Borrowed thoughts, like borrowed money, only show the poverty of the borrower.”
- Lady Marguerite Blessington, Countess of Blessington
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EXCERPT FROM DAY TERRORS
Glancing sideways at Marty I rolled my shoulders in the typical what’s the big deal manner only teenagers could pull off. “Um…you know…Marty had to brush his teeth.” I told him in a half truth which he seemed to accept not even noticing I had changed my clothes.
Well, that is to say if Pops did notice he didn’t say anything about it. Besides, it wasn’t all too far fetched that I would change into something more comfortable since we were heading into town and it could be a long day. Whatever the reason, I was simply relieved I didn’t have to explain anything and noticed Marty not even giving my little white lie a second thought. He simply seemed to accept it in stride as we all stepped into the boat with the smaller boy looking a bit frightened about the prospect of crossing the lake in such a vehicle. I put on a lifejacket before helping him with his and tried to cheer him up by letting the boy know it would be fun on the boat.
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A DIFFERENT KIND OF STORM
The ride across the lake had actually been really nice. Even though it remained overcast it was a calm type of day with the lake having that smooth glass like quality without any swells. I was glad it had been a smooth ride for Marty’s sake. At first he had sat stiffly in the seat next to me holding on for dear life, but after a few minutes he began to relax. He still sat snuggled up next to me the entire ride and with him sitting so close it felt kind of nice. PopPop sat up front steering the boat, which left the two of us cuddled up alone under a blanket. There was something about the way the wind made his hair fly around that was kind of a turn on, and several times throughout the ride while we sat huddle up together I thought about the way I was feeling towards Marty. On the one hand I felt more like a protective older brother, but on the other hand I knew the feelings I had for him was much more and in a way kind of sexual in nature. It was confusing and a bit frightening at the same time because lately this type of feeling towards other boys was happening more often.
After the boat ride we hopped into our car stored in the shed on the other side of the lake and I buckled in noticing Marty staring at me for several long moments. It took me a few seconds to realize he didn’t know how to operate the seat belt. Reaching over I pulled the strap over his shoulder and across his waist my fingers brushing up along the front end of his pants and his small bulge. Something twitched inside his pants and it made me shiver lustfully because it was so damn sexy feeling his little bulge along the back of my hand. I could tell he felt the slight touch, but he didn’t seem to react negatively to it so I ignored it as well snapping the metal clasp into place.
Marty was a bit nervous as he looked out the window. A short while later they drove into a small town and he stiffened up for a moment because it looked a lot like the one where he had escaped from his ‘parents.’ He began to panic, but then felt Latham’s soft hand covering his and squeeze it reassuringly. Glancing over he saw the older boy smiling at him and his heart seemed to melt. Marty really liked the bigger boy, and even though he hadn’t heard from his ‘voice’ in several days, it had told him to trust Latham. Sighing, Marty smiled back and nodded his head letting the bigger kid know he was alright.
Navigating through the winding roads we finally made it to town without much incident other than the brief moment where Marty began to panic. Pulling into the hospital parking lot PopPop grumbled when he came to his parking spot and someone else’s fancy sports car with out of state license plates was sitting there. It was a brilliant metallic blue sporty Mercedes-AMG GT S which made me drool. The car looked expensive and I wished we had something like it too, but PopPop’s SUV, even though it was an older model, wasn’t too shabby either so I couldn’t complain. Sighing, Pops pulled into one of the other reserved spots making sure to place his hospital tag on the dashboard.
Marty was apprehensive and stuck close to me when we entered the hospital, but he didn’t put up a fuss. It wasn’t a huge facility, but it wasn’t small by any means either since it saw to the medical needs of not only people in the small town of Eelee, but also throughout the region. The complex was a full medical facility like many of the larger hospitals, but on a smaller scale with a complete staff of doctors and nurses who could accommodate any and all medical needs ranging from the mundane like scraped knees to more serious things like chemotherapy, radiation, and surgeries.
“Dr. Bloomenson, it is good to see you.” an elderly receptionist behind the desk greeted my grandfather getting up from her chair and shaking his hand. “It’s been a while, but I should have known you’d be around with it being the Easter Holiday. Both you and your wife always came in to do rounds and check things out. Many of us really do miss having her drop in when you guys are staying at the cabin. I can’t believe it’s been two years already.” The receptionist sighed shaking her head sadly. “Anyway, I’m sure you are here to do some rounds. Did you want me to take Latham and his friend over to the game room while you are busy?” She asked with my grandfather shaking his head and glancing over towards Marty for a second before focusing back on the receptionist.
“Ah, well actually Mary I’m here to check a patient of mine into the hospital. I’m sure it should all be in the computer system already since I had…um…,” my grandfather glanced at Marty before continuing. “I…um…had Jim set it up for me.” He finished with Mary furling her eyebrows.
“You mean Sher…,” She began with my grandfather cutting her off.
“No not…um…Sher…uh…Sheridan. I’m talking about Jim Brown, you know, from down the road here.” He emphasized with me noticing he cut the receptionist off at the ‘Sher’ part before she could say ‘Sheriff’ because he didn’t want it to upset Marty.
“Oh…yes…I see.” Mary replied also seeming to catch on before she sat down at the computer and input some information. “Oh yes…here it is.” She nodded her head before frowning. “Oh…it says room 237, if you want I can change it…you know.” She bit her lower lip and looked at my grandfather who shook his head and smiled back at her.
“No, it’s perfectly fine Mary. I know it was my wife’s room, there at the end, but I requested it so it is just fine.” He assured her with the other woman smiling.
“Oh alright, it wasn’t just that, but also because…well, I suppose it being you and all that everything is in order.” She told my grandfather cryptically while he paused for a second like he was about to ask her if there was some other issues with the room, but then got sidetracked when another colleague recognized him grabbing his attention for a few seconds before PopPop said he had to get going.
Marty’s eyes kept looking all around him a bit frightened but also in awe as if he were seeing things for the first time. Some people where sick walking around with tubes sticking out of their arms or in wheelchairs and so I could understand why it would be scary for him. We had talked to him about all of those things and I was now glad we did because I could tell it was still intimidating to see the state some of the patients where in. When we stepped into the elevator and it began taking us up the smaller boy suddenly panicked clinging on to my arm while I reassured him it was perfectly fine. This was another one of those things we had taken for granted and hadn’t even thought of pointing out to the poor kid. When we arrived at the desk for the ward on the North Wing one of the nurses handed us a band with Marty’s name on it and we attached it to his wrist.
There were a few familiar faces from staff members we recognized on the ward since this was the one my Grandmother had been on when she had gotten very sick towards the end. Some of them also knew and worked with my Grandfather, but most of the staff people were new and even PopPop frowned since it was a bit unusual. Often nurses and doctors worked for years on the same wards so having so many new faces was a bit puzzling. Still, most of the ones who were new on the ward I recognized as staff who had worked in different places in the hospital, but there were a few I didn’t recognize at all and I got the impression they were brand new hired staffers. I suppose it was only natural since the hospital was steadily growing and there was always a need to hire more people or shift staff around in order to accommodate the influx of more and more patients.
Arriving at the door for room 237 we opened it up and to my amazement it looked totally different. When my grandmother was here the large room had two beds in it with curtains around it for privacy, but now there was only one bed and curtain with some plush furniture inside making it look more like a fancy hotel suite than a hospital room. Even PopPop seemed a bit surprised when we stepped inside.
“Alright boys, I need to go fill out some paperwork and get in touch with some of the staff members, so Latham why don’t you show Marty how to get changed into the hospital gown.” He suggested with a small giggle escaping my lips and Marty looking at me wondering what was so funny.
“You’ll see here in a minute, but PopPop I’m getting a bit hungry and I’m sure Marty is too.” I admitted seeing the boy perk up at the mention of food.
“Oh yes, of course.” Pops smiled shaking his head. “Listen, show him how to put on the gown and while he gets out of his clothes and into the gown you can head over to the cafeteria or snack shop whichever one you want and get something you think Marty might like. Bring back a little something for me too because we may be in for a long day.” He suggested giving me his hospital card that put the food bill on an account.
After PopPop left I grabbed a gown showing it to Marty and busted up laughing at his horrified expression because it most definitely wouldn’t hide much of anything. When he turned his serious gaze towards me looking really frightened it dawned on me why he was so worried. It would be difficult to conceal his battered body; especially, since all the welts and bruising were on the back of his thighs, butt and body, and the gown was designed to leave a person’s backside flapping in the wind.
“Don’t worry Marty we will make it so you are covered up. Here let’s put it over your clothes first and I will tie it all up in the back. Then when I go to the snack shop for some treats you can close the door and slip it off over your head before taking off your clothes. You will have to take everything off Marty…you know…including your underwear.” I explained noticing the other boy frown but accepting my instruction. “Alright, then all you need to do afterwards is slip the gown back on over your head. Here are some slippers for you to wear as well.” I suggested the boy looking doubtful about the gown.
Once I laced up his gown over his clothes making sure to wrap and tie it in a way so the back part was completely closed he seemed to feel better about it. Leaving him alone so he could get changed, I made my way over to the snack shop since it was closer not wanting to leave him alone for too long. Besides, all we really needed were a few sandwiches and maybe some treats.
Not really knowing exactly what Marty preferred I picked out a few different sandwiches so he could choose what he wanted. It didn’t matter much to me since I didn’t mind any of the ones I picked out. I didn’t think it really mattered to the other boy either because I noticed he pretty much ate everything he was given and didn’t seem too picky about things. Snatching up some cookies, chips, and juice to go along with the sandwiches I gave the lady PopPop’s card and she swiped it before placing everything in a bag for me to carry. Making my way back to the room I noted it had only taken me about ten or fifteen minutes and hoped Marty wasn’t too scared in the room all alone. I should have turned on the television set for him so it would keep him occupied while I was gone.
When I rounded the corner leading to Marty’s room the entire ward seemed abuzz with activity making me pause and look around wondering what was going on. It was as if a storm had suddenly erupted all around me. Glancing up the hallway I saw a whole knot of doctors and nurses clustered around blocking the way as if they were trying to see what was going on. Then I heard shouts along with calls for security which set off alarms bells. Shoving my way through the throng of doctors and nurses I could now tell it centered around Marty’s room.
“Fuck, the little shit wet himself.” I heard someone shout just as I squeezed past most everyone giving me a clear view inside the room realizing it was an orderly who had belted the last comment.
The man looked as if he was trying to grab on to Marty who was backed into a corner his eyes betraying his fears along with the damp spot in front of his gown and the puddle of urine which had formed mostly on the floor around his left leg. My heart was pounding in a panic because it was total chaos in the room with another doctor a few feet away trying to assure the boy that they were only going to move him into a different room.
“Listen kid,” the doctor who looked to be around fifty or so began in a gruff kind of voice that was anything other than reassuring. “I don’t know who messed up, but we need to move you into another room and ward. This is now a private wing for our elite patients.” The man stated bluntly making me blanch at the idea of such a thing wondering when the hell this started at the hospital.
It didn’t appear as if Marty was going to resist, it wasn’t in him to do such a thing with his frail body simply looking meek and resigned, and even though he tried to hide it I could tell he was frightened to death. The look on his face spurred me into action and I shoved my way inside the room. There was a look of disgust on the orderly’s face as if having to deal with a kid who soiled himself revolted him, but at the doctors urging he began to grab for Marty. This was simply too much for me as rage suddenly boiled up from deep inside of me and I charged.
“Leave him alone.” I shouted launching myself into the orderly putting my momentum and entire weight into it.
The man gave a shout of surprise and to my shock I managed to send the orderly flying into the side of the bed with everything erupting into shouts and cursing all around me. Ignoring them I quickly wrapped the smaller boy up in my arms protectively. The poor kid was trembling now from fear, but even then not a word escaped his lips.
“What the fuck, who the hell is this new kid?” I heard the middle aged doctor yelling in disgust. “I won’t stand for this anymore, where the hell is security.” He shouted while the orderly I sent launching into the side of the bed stood up and ambled towards the doctor’s side not sure what to do.
The orderly was new and I didn’t recognize him or the other one, who I hadn’t spotted until just now, standing close to the doctor as well. I suppose it really didn’t matter, but it seemed odd to me because the doctor was new too. The way they all behaved it was as if they’ve all known each other for a while.
“They’re coming down the hall now Dr. Stevenson.” I heard someone reply putting a name now to the man while I released Marty so I could confront the next threat which was coming my way.
Using my arm I scooted Marty behind me so I could protect him feeling the boy shifting closer to me with his chest up against my back. Turning my gaze towards the doctor who seemed to be the one in charge and giving orders, my eyes smoldered with hatred. I didn’t like the looks of him because he came off as some arrogant snob. Sometimes you can just tell at first glance the type of people who always felt like they were all that and in charge of everything. Our school had kids like this and they came across more like bullies than anything else.
“PopPop isn’t going to like this mister and I won’t let you anywhere near Marty.” I hissed protectively feeling the smaller boy shivering behind me.
“Shit, this is ridiculous. I don’t know who the hell this…um…PopPop guy is, but I’m in charge around here and this is a private wing. The boy will be moved whether you like it or not.” He emphasized before shouting, “WHERE THE HELL IS SECURITY!” He barked out forcefully with several people who were standing close by flinching at his sudden outburst and gruffness which had caught me by surprise as well.
Never in my life have I met a doctor before who was so raw and curt with those around him. Sure there were plenty of them with an ego a mile high, but even the ones I knew who were like this tended to have a soft demeanor with patients and those they worked with. No, I concluded, I most definitely didn’t like this guy.
Suddenly there was movement out in the hallway with people parting like the sea in the movie about Moses where the water suddenly divided on either side. A huge hulking of a man in a security guard uniform followed by two other security guards who weren’t quite as big, but still hulking, stopped in the doorway. The man was clearly of Samoan and Pacific Islander heritage. He was huge, but not in a flabby kind of way, just simply bulky and solid from head to toe. This was one guy not to be trifled with as he stood there at six foot three inches tall like an unyielding wall of muscle from top to bottom and from one side to the other. He was so big he filled the entire doorframe, but instead of being frightened, I felt a sense of relief flooding me and relaxed slightly while remaining alert because of the way that jerk of a doctor was behaving. Marty must have noticed my relief because even though he continued to tremble he started to calm down as well.
It had to be a bit unnerving for the smaller boy; especially, since he had wet himself. I felt for him because just this morning I had done the same thing, but at least no one else had been around except for the two of us. Now though there was a whole group of onlookers and even though many of them were now gone, cleared out by the security guards, it still left enough others around. As much as I wanted to turn my attention to the smaller boy and help him get cleaned up I just couldn’t at the moment.
The lead security guard paused assessing the situation our eyes connecting before telling the other two guards to clear away all the spectators. “What are you doing?” I heard Dr. Stevenson growl at the security guard. “Don’t just stand there gather those two kids up and get them out of my ward.” He barked out commandingly obviously getting more irritated by the moment.
“You want me to just go in and manhandle a couple of kids?” The security guard responded calmly shaking his head.
“Yes, and right now?” Dr. Stevenson barked out furiously at the lack of a prompt response to his demands with his face turning red.
“Um…yeah that’s not going to happen,” came the unruffled response.
“You…what…I.” The doctor stumble frustratingly, his tongue getting all twisted in a knot. “Do you even know who I am? No wonder why I’ve been brought in because this whole place is a mess without any discipline and everyone having a lack of respect. That’s it…what’s your name…you’re fired unless you get in there and do what you’re told. If you don’t then consider yourself fired.” Doctor Stevenson bristled nodding his head as if to convince himself he was still in charge around here.
“Yeah, well that’s not going to happen either, and it’s Mr. Oliva spelled O-L-I-V-A.” The large hulking security guard sighed crossing his arms a tad put out.
“What…I…um…do you mean you aren’t going to secure the boys?”
The guard looked over towards me and winked before gazing back at Dr. Stevenson. “Yeah, that and the fact I’m fired. It isn’t going to happen.”
“You…I…Do you even know who I am?” Is all Dr. Stevenson could manage to get out for a second time because he was getting flustered.
“Yeah sure, you’re the new fancy guy from Chicago that our hospital’s idiot of an Executive Director, Mr. Madsen, hired to be our new Associate Hospital Administrator. I see how well that decision is going already.”
I could see Dr. Stevenson head go completely red with his mouth opening and closing, but no sound coming out of them reminding me of Marty’s inability to utter a word. “How are you doing kiddo?” The guard spoke up with me rolling my shoulders.
“Well, I was doing a lot better until they started scaring Marty half to death Mr. Oliva.” I responded back to the security guard glad he had shown up when he did or else who knew what these idiots would have done as I glanced over at the smaller boy relieved to see he seemed alright despite having wet himself.
When Mr. Oliva had arrived I was relieved because I’ve known him and his family for several years now. He had a wife who got treatment for cancer at the same time my grandmother was sick and they shared this very room together. Even before that I had known the family, but it was during this time where we became really close friends. My grandfather had operated and successfully removed a large cancerous tumor in Mr. Oliva’s wife and she has since gone into total remission.
They also had a son, Luke, who was a couple of years younger than me, and I figured he had to be eleven years old now. The boy was really a nice kid and we got along well together. It wasn’t unusual to see Luke hanging around the halls and visiting with other sick patients. I knew that after school let out he’d often catch the bus over here and wait for his father to get off of his shift so they could go home together. They lived off the beaten path so it was easier for Luke simply to catch a ride on the bus coming here.
The boy was well liked and known in the hospital with his sweet nature and quirky kind of humor which reminded me a lot of his mother. That wasn’t the only thing he got from his mom’s side of the gene pool since he also got most of his looks and physical attributes from her. When you think melting pot it almost describes the Oliva family to a tee. While Mr. Oliva was of Samoan and Pacific Islander decent there was also a Hispanic link to his heritage. On Mrs. Oliva’s side of the family you had a European and Middle Eastern Heritage. This came out in various unique ways for Luke as his gene pool was put into a blender and mixed together.
Even though the eleven year old boy’s father was a tall and solidly built man typical of Samoan’s, Luke on the other hand seemed more average. His mother was a small petite woman so it sort of averaged out for him in this regard. He had a nice complexion as well, somewhere in-between the paler skin pigmentations you find in Europeans and the darker brown golden tones of Pacific Islanders or Samoan’s. In a way he inherited more of his Middle Eastern heritage where this was concerned with a nice olive like skin texture. It’s been close to six months since I’ve seen the other boy so I was sure like me he’s grown a tad.
My attention swung back over to Dr. Stevenson when he spoke up again. “So you know these kids?” He snorted in disgust.
“Yeah, well Latham at least. His grandmother and my wife shared a room together when they were battling cancer. This room as a matter of fact.” Mr. Oliva replied calmly.
Shifting his attention towards me Mr. Oliva winked conspiratorially. “I don’t think your grandmother would approve of these changes Latham.” He sighed shaking his head sadly and I had to agree. “Anyway, why don’t we call your grandfather and get this mess all sorted out.” He suggested just as someone new stepped into the room.
I recognized the tall heavy set man immediately. It was Sheriff Sheridan followed by an elegantly dressed lady who I recognized as well and was from the Department of Human Services. I met her a few years ago when she helped me to get settled with my grandparents. She was followed into the room by PopPop which made me feel relieved.
“Oh thank goodness, the police.” Dr. Stevenson spoke up walking over to the Sheriff. “Listen, I need you to secure these kids and escort them off of my ward. I’ll have a nurse show you where to take them since our own security refuses to do their job.” He sighed in relief pointing towards me and Marty.
The Sheriff glanced at the doctor with a puzzled look on his face before looking towards my grandfather. “Is this some joke?” He asked seriously before turning his attention back to the other doctor his head swiveling back and forth as if he were watching some tennis match.
“No joke Sheriff, I’ve got to get these people off of my ward. This wing is now for our elite patients. Someone screwed up royally by putting them in here, but I plan on getting to the bottom of it immediately. Whoever screwed up is in deep trouble.” He insisted.
“Well, that would be me.” PopPop spoke up calmly stepping forward and glancing around with his eyes shifting to Marty for several long moments noticing the boy had wet himself. “But I have no idea what you are talking about concerning this room.” He added glancing towards me questioningly.
Shrugging my shoulders I began to explain, but was interrupted by Dr. Stevenson. “Well then, you may not be aware of it since it appears you aren’t one of our permanent staff here. If I’m not mistaken you are probably one of our consulting doctors with privileges at our facility. Anyway, I was hired by the board of trustees and the Chief Executive Officer to make some changes around here. I noticed there weren’t any private hospital rooms for patients who can afford them so I made changes here on the North Wing since it has a nice sun deck and garden overlooking the lake.” He stated proudly.
“You’re kidding.” PopPop frowned looking a bit disgusted and definitely surprised by the news while Dr. Stevenson looked very annoyed.
“That’s it.” The other man huffed looking at the orderly standing closest to him, the one I had shoved out of the way to protect Marty. “Listen, we need to schedule a staff meeting so I can nip this in the bud. I can’t believe people around here don’t know who I am after Madsen sent out that email and everything. It is obvious staff aren’t reading their internal memos, another thing I plan on rectifying.” He huffed turning his attention back to my grandfather who was now making a phone call.
“What are you doing?” Dr. Stevenson asked not appreciating how he was constantly ignored, which isn’t the way things are supposed to work for the guy in charge.
“Hold on a minute.” PopPop waved him off suddenly turning his attention back to the phone since someone obviously picked up on the other end. “Yeah hey, it’s me.” He began pausing because it was obvious someone was talking on the other end. “Yeah, it’s been a while, but I’m here. As a matter of fact I’m on the second floor, North Wing, room 237.” He paused again. “Yes, the same one. You’ve got two minutes to get your scrawny butt down here or else.” My grandfather stated in a calm tone of voice before hanging up and making his way towards me.
“You alright?” He asked with me shrugging my shoulders and glancing at Marty. “What happened?” He pressed.
Glancing over towards Dr. Stevenson for a second I focused my attention back to Pops and gave him a quick run down of what I knew including Dr. Stevenson threatening me. The other man interjected at times trying to relay his side of the story and a bit put out by the way I indicated he was more of a bully than a responsible adult. He tried to smooth things over a little, but kept harping how this was now a private wing. I could tell PopPop was starting to get really irritated and was about to say something when Mr. Madsen came stumbling into the room all out of breath and wheezing.
“Nate, what on earth was that all about on the phone?” He managed to get out questioningly to PopPop in-between huge gulps of air which showed he had taken my grandfather’s warning to heart.
He wasn’t in bad shape for a guy in his fifties, but still his office wasn’t all that close by so he must have ran to get here probably using the stairs instead of waiting for an elevator. The man was holding his hand across his chest and patting it all the while looking around him with a puzzled look on his face because of all the people.
“What’s going on, and why is the Sheriff here and the Department of Human Services?” He asked with Dr. Stevenson getting ready to respond, but getting cut off by my grandfather who automatically stepped into the authoritative role.
“Yes, well we will get to that in a moment, what I need to find out is what the hell is going on with the North Wing. Since when did it become a private wing with single rooms that look more like fancy suites?” My grandfather asked with Dr. Stevenson interjecting.
“Mr. Madsen I keep trying to tell these people that things have changed and this is now a private wing but they won’t listen. When I began my rounds on the ward I came across that boy over there and tried to remove him when this crazy kid came running into the room and literally assaulted the orderly. Then when I ordered that big lug of a security guard to remove both of the kids he refused. I swear Mr. Madsen this hospital is in worse condition with staff and all than I initially assessed. I mean it is understandable that a visiting doctor doesn’t know who I am, but the staff around here all act as if they don’t even know who is in charge. I’ve had to bring in my own people on to this wing to get it started in the right way.” He finished smugly.
“You did what?” Madsen started to protest sounding a bit surprised, but was interrupted.
“Madsen, you know Marietta would never have approved of this, not to mention he threatened my patient and then my grandson, this is something I can’t tolerate.” My grandfather glared at the other man who took a step back noticing Madsen’s look before getting defensive and snapping back.
“You aren’t seriously going to listen to him. I don’t know who he thinks he is or who this Marietta is, but you can’t listen to just any bonehead regarding weighty matters like this hospital Madsen, even if they are friends of yours.” He pointed out with the blood draining from Mr. Madsen’s face as he furtively looked towards my grandfather before something seemed to sink in about what PopPop had told him.
Before my grandfather could object he suddenly squared off against Dr. Stevenson. “You did what? What on earth were you thinking? I mean, threatening a kid…but Latham…well…he’s like a nephew to me. The only bonehead around here is you…and maybe me for hiring you. And if you must know Marietta was the heart and soul of this hospital.” Mr. Madsen shook his head sadly. “I’m really sorry Nate.” He added.
“You should have told me Madsen.” PopPop replied softly not really too upset at his long time friend and colleague because he knew the man was doing his best despite everything.
Even though my grandparents had always been low key about the hospital most people around here knew that they were responsible for starting it and making the place a real hospital for the people of the region. Both of my grandparents had invested their own money they had made off of surgical inventions they designed over the years which had helped to improve certain medical procedures along the way. They held several patents and had made a lot of money over the years so had decided to build a facility for the people of this region. My grandmother was raised in these parts and always wanted to contribute back to her community. So about thirty years ago they decided to build this hospital together and over the years it has grown and thrived for the community.
“I did Nate…well…maybe not in exact terms, but I did say we needed to hire someone to help out and fill some of the areas Marietta used to take care of.” Madsen was trying to explain now to my grandfather. “Not to mention try upgrading to keep up with the times. I’ve been trying to pick up the slack after she died and I know you have too along with other staff members, but let’s face it even I had no idea just how much of a hole had been left behind when she passed away. Even when she was sick she saw to the every day little things. So, it wasn’t just the big things, but even the day to day things, which if I am honest even I can’t keep up with. I had no idea just how much she really did behind the scenes day in and day out.” He sighed truly missing her not only in the business aspect of things, but because they had been friends and colleagues for many years.
“Will someone tell me what the hell is going on around here?” Dr. Stevenson spoke up completely confused by the exchange.
Cringing and exhaling loudly Madsen finally introduced my grandfather to Dr. Stevenson. “Um…well the guy you think is simply some bonehead is actually Dr. Bloomenson. Both him and his wife are the Hospital’s Board of Trustees, or rather I suppose it’s just Nate now that his wife passed away a few years ago. He’s also the Chief Executive Officer.”
“Oh…I…um…Dr. Bloomenson, I didn’t know. I mean there wasn’t a chart set up or anything for this patient so I just assumed it was some mix-up. Of course your patient can stay here.” He tried to smooth things out, but only managed to disgust my grandfather even more.
“I see…,” my grandfather paused. “Oh, by the way is that your fancy steel blue Mercedes parked in the staff parking lot up front in the reserved spot.
“Oh, yeah, a beauty, huh? Since Mr. Madsen hasn’t assigned a spot for me I just pulled into that one when I found out it used to belong to another staff member who’s no longer around. Some woman named Johnson. You know her?” He asked casually.
“Yeah I do, it was my wife’s maiden name. She always used her maiden name at the hospital so when one of us were paged it wouldn’t get confusing. The parking spot actually belongs to the both of us. So maybe you can go down and move your car.” PopPop suggested with Dr. Stevenson’s face getting ash white.
Looking over towards Mr. Oliva my grandfather motioned casually and continued. “Mr. Oliva, if you don’t mind maybe you can escort Dr. Stevenson down to his car and make sure he leaves the hospital grounds. We won’t be requiring his services anymore.” He added totally dismissing the newly hired doctor who now suddenly became flustered.
“Of course Dr. Bloomenson, that won’t be a problem” The large security guard replied looking towards Dr. Stevenson smugly before glancing at me and winking.
“I…uh…are you firing me?” Dr. Stevenson’s face got all white before he began to protest. “But I’ve got a contract…you can’t just fire me. I’ve got rights and at least deserve a hearing.” He complained citing the hospital’s policy and grievance procedure.
It was Mr. Madsen who now spoke up. “I’m sorry Dr. Stevenson, but Dr. Bloomenson can fire you if he wants. If you recall the contract you signed stipulated you were here on a trial basis for a year before a final decision will be made as to if you stay or not, along with your salary structure coming into play. It also states, at any time you can be terminated if it is deemed you aren’t the right fit for the hospital and our mission.”
“But…,” Dr. Stevenson began with PopPop speaking up.
“Listen, I’m sorry but you just aren’t a good fit around here. I mean it is obvious you’ve already alienated the traditional staff not to mention you’ve got an ego that gets in the way of good judgment. My wife and I from the very beginning were always selective in the staff we hired at the hospital. We not only want top notch physicians and surgeons, but we want them to have empathy, and care about other patients. I’m sure you are very good at what you do Dr. Stevenson, but your philosophy and approach isn’t a good fit so it is better we take care of this now versus later when it becomes even more difficult for you.” PopPop sighed holding out his hand indicating there weren’t any hard feelings, but his decision was final.
Having no other recourse the other man finally gave in shaking my grandfather’s hand before being escorted out. From start to finish this entire incident had taken all of ten or fifteen minutes, but I still felt bad because I hadn’t been able to see to Marty’s needs. The poor boy had stood huddled in silence behind me, so I now turned and grabbing his hand pulled him into the bathroom.
The smaller boy followed me inside without a word and I shut the door behind us for privacy. “Are you alright?” I asked with the other boy shrugging his shoulders.
The look on his face was one of neutrality, but I could tell he was struggling inside to keep his true emotions hidden. “Oh Marty,” I sniffled stepping up to the boy and wrapping my arms around him. “I’m so sorry about everything, but it was all just a misunderstanding and not your fault.” I whispered softly feeling the boy hesitate before returning my embrace.
It was as if he finally let go of his defensive walls allowing me to truly step inside for the very first time. He began to tremble in my arms and I felt his body convulse as if he were sobbing. I held on to him for several long moments before taking a step back and looking at the poor kid. Huge tears were streaming down his face and he looked away embarrassed and slightly frightened by his open display of emotion.
“It’s alright Marty; you don’t have to be afraid of letting me see you cry. I know all of this is scary and there is a lot to take in, but you can trust me. Besides, I’ve done my own fair share of crying you know, just ask PopPop, he’ll tell you.” I told him reaching out and placing my hand on his cheek forcing him to look at me.
Smiling at the smaller boy, I patted his shoulder gently. “You can trust me Marty.” I told him sincerely.
With huge tears tumbling down the side of his cheeks the boy suddenly wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tightly. We both stood there awkwardly for several long moments, but I let him take his time not wanting to rush things since I could tell he only needed a bit of time to sort some of his thoughts out. Then slowly, and on his own, he unwound from me and took a step back wiping away the wetness from his cheeks with the heel of his hand.
“Better?” I asked with him shrugging his shoulders, but nodding. “Still scared?” I asked with him glancing at me before looking away. “I see, well maybe if I knew what you are scared about then maybe I can help.” I added with him glancing towards the door.
“I see, you’re still worried about all the other people out there.” I pointed out more than asked, but he nodded his head confirming my suspicions.
“Is it anyone in particular?” I asked with him hesitating and shrugging his shoulders forcing me to think on it a moment before I began to wonder if maybe it was more likely the Sheriff who he was the most worried about. “The Sheriff?” I added his eyes immediately shifting and locking on to mine indicating I was probably right.
“Listen Marty, I know you are really scared, but Sheriff Sheridan is a good guy and friend of ours. He’s a really nice guy. He’s only here to help us do what is best for you. I don’t know what exactly happened to you Marty, but I hope you can trust us to do the right thing. PopPop and I know something awful happened to you and from what I…I saw this morning…,” my voice caught in my throat because the memory of his bruised and battered body suddenly jumped into my thoughts.
Pausing for a moment I swallowed down my emotions. “We just want to help, but we are going to need some more information. It means you will have to trust us though, but no one is going to force you to do or say anything you don’t want to. The Sheriff is here to help protect you and the pretty lady is also here to help. She helped me a few years back too so that I could stay with PopPop and Nana when I had nowhere else to go, so you can trust her Marty.” I assured the smaller boy with him looking at me closely before reaching to take my hand into his and squeezed it beseechingly, which took me a moment to realize what he was asking.
Nodding my head I smiled softly at him. “You want me to be there when they ask you questions?” I suggested with him smiling and nodding his head. “Of course if you want I’ll be there with you Marty. I don’t think they would have any problems with that, but they might be asking you some embarrassing and very private questions.” I pointed out with him simply shrugging his shoulders as if to say it didn’t matter.
“Alright, well then that is one thing we’ve taken care of.” I chuckled seeing him flash me a brief grin in return before it disappeared.
Sighing I shook my head. “I really think you’ve got a very nice smile and wish you would show it more often. Anyway, anything else you are afraid about?” I asked with the boy hesitating and then looking down at his hospital gown.
It was still wet, but most of it had pooled up on the floor in the other room. “It’s alright Marty, we will just get you cleaned up.” I offered up noticing him glancing towards the door.
“I’m sure it is no big deal Marty. One of the nurses or orderly’s have probably already cleaned up the other mess and no one will say anything about it. You aren’t in trouble over it, I promise.” I assured him and as if to confirm it we heard a knocking on the door.
It was PopPop so I opened up the door. “You boys alright in here?” He asked handing over a fresh gown. “Thought Marty could use a fresh one.” He added making me smile.
“Thanks Pops, and yeah. Marty and I were just discussing him getting cleaned up. Is it alright if he takes a quick shower?” I asked with Pops looking at the other boy and then smiling nodding his head.
“Sure thing. No one is going anywhere and while he’s doing that it will give the two of us a chance to catch up with the news from Sheriff Sheridan and also Harriet from the Department of Human Services. It’s been a while since she’s seen you Latham, and she can’t wait to hear how you’ve been doing.” He added smiling fondly at me.
“Sure Pops, just let me get Marty squared away and I’ll be right out.” I promised.
With the door closing shut behind us I turned back towards Marty and smiled at him. “See, I told you. No one is mad.” I smirked putting the new gown over the old one and getting it tied up like I did the last time over his clothes so when he removed it and took a shower all he had to do was slip it back over his head.
After getting the warm shower going for him I stepped out so he could have some privacy and joined the others. While we were catching up, our conversation turned towards Marty and I added the information from this morning and what I had noticed. Of course I kept the part out about zoning out and my own little wet accident since it was embarrassing and also not wanting to alarm PopPop. I could see the shocked looks on everyone’s faces when I described the whip marks along the back of the smaller boy’s thighs and butt along with the bruising on his body.
A few minutes later a much refreshed looking Marty joined us out in the other room. After eating lunch it seemed like there was one thing after the other starting with both the Sheriff and Harriet trying to get the kid to tell them as much information as possible. Of course this was a tricky and slow process, but no one pressured or rushed the boy letting him take it at his own pace. To my surprise he began to open up a little and we did manage to get crucial information out of him. He finally admitted he had been abducted by a man and woman, but once he let this out he became emotionally unstable.
It was like even this tidbit of information had frightened him to the core. and he suddenly receded inwards once more becoming very quiet. Well, not that he spoke or anything to begin with, but rather he was quieter in the sense of becoming introverted and somber, no longer so animated. Instead of pressing him further Pops decided we should wait until later. In the meantime he thought it was best to get some other tests out of the way. This involved blood work and dental records not to mention numerous other exams.
To my surprise it was almost dinner time by the time we began to wrap things up. Throughout it all Marty had been a trooper considering all the contraptions he had to put up with the whole time. When he was wheeled into a new room he had clung to my hand listening while I explained what was going on. This helped since some of the gadgets were a bit frightful. The worst had been drawing blood and even though he didn’t flinch or utter a sound I could tell it had alarmed him when he saw the needle. I knew he didn’t understand what all the tests were for even when I explained it to him. Each and every time I told him this was necessary and that it would be alright so he simply accepted my explanation without any further thought to it.
At times throughout the day Marty would become somber and reserved. There were so many things which were foreign and alien to the kid. The noise, contraptions, and even the general things we take for granted in our lives were all new for the boy. It was like a stimulus overload for the poor guy and his only defense was to shut everything out. I began to sense those moments and when possible tried to slow things down so he could cope with what was happening all around him. For the most part the staff members seemed to sympathize with Marty’s plight and would give us the time and space needed until he could gather himself together.
Now towards the end of the day even I was feeling a bit worn out by everything patting Marty’s arm while PopPop and Harriet talked quietly off to the side. After the Sheriff discussed things early on with Mrs. Wilkerson on the best way to proceed in finding where Marty really belonged, the Sheriff had left to start the process while she remained behind. Now as things began to wrap up this late in the day, I could hear her discussing some things with Pops. Since Marty was now officially the responsibility of The Department of Human Services and Child Welfare she explained arrangements would need to be made. At first I thought she was going to take him, perhaps placing him in some sort of foster care facility, but to my surprise and relief she offered an alternative.
She suggested Marty stay in the hospital, for ‘observational purposes,’ she hinted smiling slyly at my grandfather. This would give her time to get a judge to sign the appropriate paperwork turning the smaller boy over to Pop’s custody since he was still registered as a Foster care provider. Even though tomorrow would be Easter Sunday, she knew a judge who wouldn’t be too upset over being disturbed during the holiday. My grandparents became foster care providers when I originally had been placed under their care until everything could be finalized for my permanent placement with them.
Even though my grandmother had passed away, Mrs. Wilkerson didn’t think it would affect my grandfather’s status as a foster care provider, which would now allow him to take care of Marty while things got sorted out. Since we still lived in the same house she knew all the home standards requirements were completely met; especially, since we had an extra bedroom for the boy to stay in. My grandfather was well regarded and respected in the community so all she had to do was make a few small adjustments to the application accounting for my grandmother’s passing, and present it to the judge. She felt this wouldn’t be an obstacle considering my grandfather’s reputation.
With a plan in place, leaving me feeling a bit of relief inside, she said her goodbye’s to Pop’s saying she’d call here after a bit before turning her attention to Marty and promising him that everything would work out just fine. The smaller boy seemed to have warmed up to Harriet even allowing the woman to give him a quick hug before she left. PopPop smiled at Marty and ruffled his hair affectionately like he was fond of doing with me before he got a bit serious again.
“Marty, we have just one more thing we need to do.” He exhaled softly trying to reassure the boy. “Really, it won’t take long and it will be the last thing we do today. Then we can see about getting dinner up here into your room since it is getting late.” He stressed softly indicating it was necessary, but then everything would be done for the day.
To me it was obvious what he meant, and normally a doctor would have done this first, but he knew how sensitive the smaller boy was about things so didn’t want to pressure him right after he had been questioned by the Sheriff and Harriet. “Latham, maybe you should wait outside until we finish.” PopPop suggested with me understanding.
When I turned to leave Marty reached out and grabbed my wrist his eyes pleading with me to stay. “It’ll be just fine and will only take a few minutes.” I assured him, but his green eyes began to well up, which kind of surprised me since he was so good at hiding his emotions.
The look in his eyes made me want to cry because I could tell he was upset about me breaking the promise I had made, but this was something I’m sure he’d be a bit embarrassed about so I knelt in front of him trying to explain. “Marty, I don’t think it is a good idea for me to stay. I mean Pops is going to…um…,” I looked nervously over towards my grandfather who remained silent but urging me to go ahead and explain it.
Taking a deep breathe to calm my nerves, I exhaled softly and smiled at Marty. “Listen, Pops needs to exam your body and this means, well it means you will have to take the gown off.” His eyes got really big for a second before he tried to hide his emotions.
“It’s alright though, he just needs to check you over real quick like. First, he will do things like put a soft band around your arm and fill it up with air. You will feel it tightening up around your arm, but it doesn’t hurt or anything. He will then let the air out and listen through a funny looking thing attached to his ear while placing the other end against your skin on the arm. Then he will listen to your heart and lungs by placing the thing to your chest and back. There will be a few other things too, but then…well…then you will have to take off your gown so he can check…um…other things…uh…like any bruising on your body in front and on your back.” I stated softly not really sure if Pops was going to do a complete physical like what I got just before the school year so I could play sports, or if he was going to do some basics like measuring his height, weight, blood pressure, and then of course check on the welts and bruising.
Getting up to leave I felt the younger boy’s fingers wrapping around my wrist again, his eyes pleading for me to stay. “Are you sure you are alright with this Marty?” My grandfather asked glancing towards me looking a bit worried.
The way Pops gazed at me I got the impression he was asking the same thing of me as well. I could tell he wasn’t too worried about the whole nudity thing per se, but with something else. He knew I’ve seen other boys naked and all because of our school’s hygiene policy after our phys-ed classes and sports, and perhaps in other situations, but this isn’t what appeared to worry him. He seemed more concerned about the whole abuse issue with all the welts and bruising knowing it would upset me to see those again.
Seeing the look in Marty’s green eyes I relented and nodded my head. “Alright Marty, I’ll stay if you want.” I caved glancing towards my grandfather who took a long hard look at me and nodded his head motioning the smaller boy over to the scale by the wall.
Pulling the curtain around for some privacy in case someone came in or took a look through the long rectangular shaped glass in the door, he pulled over the medical cart and gathered up some things getting started. As predicted he weighed and measured the boy recording it on the chart attached to his clipboard. Next he had Marty take a seat on the bed and began to do the more routine and mundane types of things doctors like testing for reflexes before untying the back of the boy’s gown. He let the material settle around the kid’s waist so he could now check his pulse, heartbeat, and lungs.
The smaller boy had a very thin frame but it no longer looked so pale, gaunt, and wasted. There was a more robustness about him now; surprising me at how just a few days of rest and decent meals could have such a positive outcome on a boy. He seemed to be rebounding quickly from his abusive state as I admired his sleek physique. Below the belt, my little fatty immediately chubbed up and while both PopPop and Marty’s attention were diverted with other things I quickly adjusted my erection so the tip of my knob was held in place just beneath the waistband of my sweats. It wouldn’t do for my excited state to give me away at how I was perving on Marty. I couldn’t help myself because despite some bruising on his front side he really was very cute.
Finishing up with the stethoscope PopPop motioned for Marty to stand and I watched as the boy stepped down lightly standing in front of my grandfather holding on to the gown around his waist. Reaching around the back Pops undid the rest of the ties and pulled the gown from around the boy’s waist leaving him standing there completely naked while he slipped on a pair of gloves doctors and nurses always used in these situations. My eyes flew open wide because it was the first time I’ve seen Marty completely naked from the front, and I mean all of him.
He was…well beautifully breathtaking. Despite his thin frame with a couple of blotches of bruising, there was something pure and innocent about him. My gaze settled on his soft circumcised penis and tight rounded boy bundle, and to my surprise he wasn’t really so small down there like I had originally thought. Of course he wasn’t large down there or anything either, but not puny by any means. I suppose he was fairly typical for an eleven or twelve year old boy. In many aspects the way he looked down there reminded me a lot of Joey; especially, the contour of his little bullet shaped nub. I had to admit though his soft penis did look slightly longer than Joey’s by about a quarter of an inch.
At first glance, Marty’s little twig looked kind of short and stumpy sticking out slightly from his pale pubic mound which was completely hairless. If I had to guess I’d say it was about two and a half inches long in all, which was about the way I looked down there a year or two ago as well. It hasn’t been until recently that my own penis seemed to have matured getting longer and fattening up along with some dirty blonde pubes sprouting around the base of my shaft. Even Joey didn’t seem to have any pubes yet, another thing the two boys had in common.
Watching my grandfather’s fingers deftly manipulating Marty’s testicles made my penis lurch and I was glad now that I had secured it in place. I was so excited about Marty’s nakedness I could even feel some pre-cum oozing out from the tip of my penis getting soaked up by the gummy like material of my sweats. I couldn’t rip my eyes off of the smaller boy’s sexiness, despite the seriousness of the situation. Of course PopPop was examining him for abuse, but I was still a horny teenager right at the height of puberty so I couldn’t help lusting after the boy’s sexiness.
Swallowing the lump in my throat I stared at the tight satchel currently being manipulated by my grandfather’s fingers. It was about the size of a ping pong ball and rolled up tightly against his body just beneath his soft penis. When I had seen Joey’s little hacky sack it drooped slightly between his legs and I could tell Marty’s tightly packed one was definitely smaller. It was strange, but despite the tautness of Marty’s little knapsack I could still make out the fine shallow grooved creases which in my opinion added some character to it.
My grandfather’s fingers now began to inspect the shape and size of the smaller boy’s testicles, in the process pulling the taut membrane around the small cherry sized nuggets. I suppose he was checking to see if one was larger than the other, but they appeared to be about the same size; unlike mine, where the left one seemed to be a tad bigger and had dropped down slightly lower than the right one. Of course this wasn’t uncommon for a boy going through puberty at a certain age, all of which now triggered a thought for me. It was then I realized a part of the reason why my grandfather was doing this. Of course it was to check out the boy physically to make sure he wasn’t hurt in a sexual way, but also to help pinpoint the boy’s age. I’m sure it was something where my grandfather couldn’t be completely sure age wise since all boys entered puberty at their own pace and time; but nevertheless, since Marty was still hairless and obviously nowhere near puberty yet it would indicate he was younger.
The smaller boy looked down curiously the entire time watching what my grandfather was doing to him. It seemed kind of odd, but the boy didn’t even seem to be embarrassed by what was going on, almost as if it didn’t even matter. When I had a physical at the beginning of the school year it had been a bit embarrassing; especially, the part where I had to fight off popping a stiffie. For Marty, it didn’t appear as if getting felt up, even if it was in a medical manner, affected him because he didn’t chub up in the slightest remaining all soft down there throughout the entire process.
“Alright Marty, I need you to turn around now so I can take a look at your back.” My grandfather instructed casually.
The smaller boy looked towards me nervously, and I could tell he was afraid of showing Pops his welts and bruising. “It’s alright Marty; he just needs to inspect your injuries is all. It won’t hurt or anything and as a doctor he’s seen plenty of people who are hurt. It’ll be alright, I promise.” I assured the boy with him looking down at his feet looking frightened and embarrassed, but because I had said so, he slowly turned around.
Once more the blood drained from my face and my penis immediately deflated when I saw the condition of the boy’s backside. It was the second time I’ve seen it, but I still couldn’t shake the nauseous feeling inside my gut. Even PopPop seemed to blanch for a moment before ignoring his gut reaction and focusing on the task at hand. Reaching out, his hands moved lightly along Marty’s back quickly assessing the bruising before lingering along the various whipping striations along the back of the boy’s thighs and butt. The welts were too numerous to count with one weal on top of another indicating years and years of abuse.
With PopPop’s light nudging the younger boy bent over the bed allowing my grandfather to spread apart his butt cheeks. It was kind of weird seeing PopPop do that to the other boy, but on the other hand seeing the small little brownish pink opening on the boy also captured my curiosity. Despite the obvious abuse I still found myself chubbing up slightly due to this part of a boy’s anatomy. I’ve never thought much about this part of a boy’s body before, but seeing the pinkish brown like grommet made me curious.
Pausing for a moment my grandfather reached over to the small portable cabinet next to him and opened up a drawer. Pulling out a small tube he poured some of it on his finger forcing me to gulp because I knew what he intended to do.
“Marty, this might be a bit cool for a second when I rub some gel on your backside and then you will detect a bit of pressure back there as well. I know it will feel a bit strange and you will want to stiffen up, but when you feel the pressure try to relax so I can finish this last part of the examination. I promise it won’t hurt and I will take this slow, but you will need to try to stay calm, alright?” He asked with the other boy nodding before his eyes glanced towards me while I tried to smile reassuringly.
Once more PopPop peeled apart Marty’s two small pear shaped mounds, the welts across them glaring back angrily, and spread around a liberal amount of the gel along the rim of the boy’s tight eyelet. Adding more to his fingers I watched in fascination as he slipped it inside of the boy’s tight opening. Marty winced, but it didn’t seem to hurt him any. For me though, this was something totally strange, weird, yet also very electrifying to watch. All sorts of emotions began to bubble up inside of me because this was all new and strange territory for me, not to mention simply kind of wickedly weird to witness. In some ways I felt guilty about the way I was perving on the smaller boy, which in turn also confused me because of the way he was making me feel.
All of this flew to the way side with my eyes flaring open even further because I could tell PopPop was wiggling his finger around inside of the smaller boy like he were searching for something while Marty quivered trying to hold still. The way the smaller boy reacted to the invasion wasn’t from pain or anything, but something totally different. A few moments later Pops pulled his finger out and removed his gloves. Marty started to stand up, but my grandfather told him to lie still for a few minutes because he wanted to put some ointment on the boy’s welts to help them heal and to ease some of the pain. Rummaging through the drawers he pulled out another tube reading the label.
He was about to say something when his phone rang. Taking a look at the screen he answered it letting the other person on the other end know he will call them right back. Sighing, he glanced at me and patted my cheek knowing it was a bit difficult for me to see the welts and bruising on the smaller boy.
“Alright Marty, I need to talk to someone, but I’m going to have a nurse put this ointment on your skin to help them mend and to ease some of the pain from the welts.” He stated with the smaller boy immediately standing up and wrapping the gown around his waist shaking his head looking horrified at the prospect of someone else seeing his backside.
“It’s alright Marty because this is what the nurses do.” My grandfather tried to reason and jumped in surprise when the kid snatched the ointment from his hand while emphatically shaking his head.
My grandfather let out a small sigh and nodded his head. “Alright then, I’ll stay and do it.” He stated, but the boy shook his head no again. “It needs to be done Marty. I’m sure everything will heal on its own like it’s always done in the past, but we can’t take the chance of it getting infected, so it is important we put the ointment on.” He emphasized with Marty staring at my grandfather before glancing towards me.
To my surprise the smaller boy shoved the tube in my direction and when I hesitated reached out and forced it into my hand. Glancing over towards PopPop I swallowed hard because this was a bit awkward on so many levels. Pops seemed a bit surprised as well by the boy’s gesture, but he finally shrugged his shoulders indicating why not.
“D…do I need to put on the gloves?” I asked PopPop because a while back we had discovered I was allergic to the latex material used in these types of gloves.
One time I had to use them to clean up some dishes at one of the charity events we volunteered to help out in, and my hands began to peel. It had looked nasty and took a whole week for all the dead skin to disappear. It was strange because it didn’t really hurt or anything, but my hands had looked awful like a snake shedding its skin.
“Um…no it’ll be alright. We don’t want your skin to react again to the gloves. You can clean your hands with some of the sanitizer first and then again when you are done.” He instructed leaving us alone while he stepped out onto the other side of the curtain to make his call.
Squirting some of the disinfectant into my palms I rubbed them all over feeling the stuff evaporate as if in thin air before motioning Marty to lean back over the edge of the bed. The boy hesitated a moment and then set aside the gown doing what he was told. I squeezed out some of the gel like material from the tube feeling an almost cool soothing sensation on my finger before I hesitantly stepped up and grimaced. The back of the poor kid’s thighs and butt were ghastly looking with different shades of bruising along with bright red welts intermingled with puffy white ones that over the years had healed.
My hands trembled, but I leaned over and gently began to smear the material over the weal like streaks wincing because I felt for the kid and his pain. The boy didn’t even flinch and I became a little bolder applying the gel over him liberally. I had to swallow because Marty spread apart his legs when I began to apply the stuff on his thighs giving me more room to work with, but in the process exposed his tight little ball sack giving me the perfect view of its undercarriage. With him leaning up against the mattress it pressed up against his small tangerine creating a tight like bulge from my angle with even his two rounded nuggets outlined clearly against the pinkish color of his tight membrane. It made me shiver and I could feel myself getting a full blown on erection because of it.
In the background I could hear PopPop talking to Harriet on the phone. He told her from all indications the boy had to be between ten and twelve years old. He cautioned though that all of this was just speculation based on his height, weight, and the fact he hasn’t started puberty yet, which of course he pointed out all of which was a lousy indicator. In regards to puberty, at this stage in a boy’s life there were plenty enough adolescent kids out there without any outward appearance of puberty until they hit thirteen, fourteen, and even at times fifteen years old. As for height and weight, it was also flimsy at best because of the way he was obviously malnourished.
“There are definite signs of physical abuse Harriet, of that there is no doubt, and from all indications mental abuse as well. I mean there’s nothing wrong with his vocal cords that we can tell from the tests so this is one indication of mental abuse, the other indications are just small ones such as the types of things that frighten him.” He explained pausing as if he were listening to what was being said on the other end.
“Oh…um…hold on a minute.” I heard him say thinking he was going to step outside not wanting to be heard by us, but to my surprise he stepped into the bathroom instead.
It took me a second to realize he not only didn’t want us to hear what he had to say, but also probably didn’t want to have this conversation out in the hallway with other people around. Shrugging my shoulders I focused on Marty, but then the muffled voice of my grandfather drifted out into our bedroom. Evidently the bathroom door didn’t do much by way of concealing Pop’s deep resonating voice. His comments weren’t as clear or loud now, but I could still make out what he was saying.
“Yeah, had to duck in somewhere from prying ears. Listen Harriet, I didn’t detect any sexual abuse. I mean there doesn’t appear to be any anal penetration, and the way he reacted when I touched his penis and checked his scrotum sack there wasn’t any indication of him being stimulated in that way either. If the man forced himself on the boy there would be indications of anal penetration, but again I didn’t detect anything of the sort.” He sighed sounding relieved with there being a short pause while he evidently listened on the phone.
Then I heard him speak up again. “Well, if the boy was sexualized by the woman or in other ways there would be indicators when I gave him the exam. I mean sure some boys who haven’t been sexually abused still maybe get a slight erection sometimes when they are examined, but with Marty he simply didn’t react in any way at all. If anything he was a bit naïve about being touched down there. I’m fairly confident he wasn’t abused in that way. So, at least in some small ways this is a blessing considering the other things he’s had to endure.” He finished up with me blushing at the type of blunt conversation he was having about Marty and whether or not the boy was sexually experienced.
Finishing up, I closed the tube of ointment and cleaned my hands. “All done Marty, you can stand up and turn around so I can get the gown back on you.” I told him softly with the boy slowly standing up and turning around while I picked up his gown.
When I looked up it took all I could do to stifle a giggle. The kid was just too adorably cute with his eyes gazing towards the floor while his cheeks flushed red. He was holding his hands over the front of his privates and I could tell he had popped a stiffie while I had put the ointment on him. In a way it kind of surprised me how he appeared to be uncomfortable about it considering he didn’t seem to care about me seeing his pecker and balls earlier while he was getting an exam. If a friend of mine had been watching while I got a physical with my jig and tackle being manhandled I would have died in shame.
Thinking on it though I don’t know what would be more mortifying, me popping a stiffie or being ogled while getting a physical. I mean of course I’ve sort of popped wood before while taking a shower at school. I’m sure just about all of us boys had at one time or another while at school, and it was embarrassing with us simply turning towards the wall and hiding it until the damn thing went away. Thank goodness for the most part no one ever said anything about it knowing they might be the next one. So, even though I was curious about how he looked down there all boned up I didn’t want the boy to feel ashamed about it. In the end I ignored the situation and held the gown in front of me so he could slip his arms through the holes. He appeared relieved once he was covered up in front and I smiled at him fondly.
“You did really good today Marty. I’m so proud of you, and I just want you to know you have nothing to feel ashamed about. You look really nice naked…um…I mean…even with…you know…the back of your legs and butt. I know it kind of looks bad now Marty and you will probably always have some of those marks even after they mend, but it won’t be so bad after a bit, you’ll see.” I tried to help ease his mind about the way he looked in the back with the boy scrunching up his eyes not fully understanding and shrugging his shoulders.
“It’s been a long day so let’s get you under the covers and I’ll turn on the television set. I’m sure dinner will be along here shortly as well.” I smiled tying the strings loosely together in the back not worrying about his back end being exposed since he would be under the covers anyway.
The boy didn’t seem bothered by it either anymore, and he crawled up on to the bed and under the covers while I opened up the curtains again so we could watch some television together. I began to climb up as well when I heard a light tapping on the door.
“Come in.” I shouted turning around to see who it was.
“Uncle Oliva,” I shouted giddily, running towards him and launching myself into the air.
A while back I began calling him ‘uncle’ because I was spending so much time here with his son, Luke, when Nana and his mother were both sick. We were more like family and I only referred to him as Mr. Oliva when it was for official purposes. In private though, I always used the fond ‘Uncle’ reference. Luke always used Tama for PopPop, which is the Samoan word for father or grandfather. It was simply something that sort of happened since we were all spending so much time together.
The big man scooped me out of mid-air, easily lifting me up and tossing my body back up in the air before catching me again like I was simply some little doll. I giggled like a little girl and belted out laughing unable to contain myself. The man was really strong as he wrapped his arms around me holding me tight before kissing me on my cheek.
“Oh sorry Latham, you are probably getting a bit too old for such things.” He chuckled referring to the peck on the cheek.” Shrugging my shoulder I smiled back looking into his soft doe like brown eyes.
“Well Pops still does it too so I suppose you can too if you want.” I chuckled not minding the show of affection as he set me back down on my feet and ruffled my hair. “Besides, I still need to thank you for earlier. That was pretty intense.”
“Yeah, well I never really liked the prick…um…guy anyway.” He corrected himself because of me. “He was a real jerk and made things difficult for a lot of us around here. We are more like a family in the hospital you know. Oh…that reminds me of why I dropped by.” He smiled ruffling my hair again with the expression on my face hinting I wanted to know what it was.
“Oh, well my shift is ending and I wanted to drop by to see how you both are doing. I’m off tomorrow, Easter you know, but I figured I’d bring Luke over to visit for a bit. I understand Marty will check out of the hospital tomorrow, but I know my little munchkin would be upset if he didn’t get to visit with you a bit Latham. He misses you sorely and is always asking after you.” He stated with me getting a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside.
His son was only eleven years old, but we went through a lot together and I thought of him more like a close friend. At first it started out like an older and younger brother kind of relationship, but over time I no longer viewed him as some little kid and instead he ended up a very close friend of mine. When we got together it was like we both could tell each other anything, and in a way I think it was because we were both hurting so much since his mom and my grandmother had been very sick together.
“I miss him too Uncle Oliva, a whole bunch. When Nana died I don’t think I could have gotten through it without him. He was there for me…you know.” I told him sincerely struggling not to cry as I stepped up and wrapped my arms around his big frame.
The gentle giant wrapped me up in his warm loving embrace holding me soothingly until I calmed down. Then without warning I felt myself being lifted up and tossed into the air. I yelped in surprise and thought I was going to hit the ceiling. Slowly my body rotated and I felt my arm brushing up against the roof before the familiar sinking sensation took over when my body began to descend back towards the ground. Uncle Oliva snatched me back into his arms tousling me around a bit before dumping me on to the bed next to Marty who had such a big goofy grin on his face.
“Hey little man, I hope that nasty man earlier today didn’t scare you too much?” He asked Marty who seemed to beam at the man and shake his head no. “Good man,” Uncle Oliva smiled back affectionately tussling the boy’s hair.
Marty genuinely seemed to like Uncle Oliva which kind of surprised me considering how big and imposing the man could appear. I suppose the smaller boy could see how well I got along with the man so wasn’t intimidated by him. It made me happy to know Marty trusted him because I loved Uncle Oliva and his entire family. They were loving and caring people who had welcomed both me and PopPop into their family, and were there for us when my grandmother died. I was now really looking forward to Luke’s visit tomorrow. I hadn’t realized until just now how much I missed him as Uncle Oliva said his goodbyes saying he would drop off Luke tomorrow while he ran some errands.
Settling in next to Marty, the boy flashed me one of those rare smiles, before snuggling up to me. I smiled back feeling such a warm sensation spreading all inside of me. A short while later PopPop exited the bathroom checking in on us while I told him about Luke coming to visit tomorrow which made him smile too at the good news knowing it made me happy. We chatted for a few moments before he told us he had to do some rounds, but promised to have dinner delivered.
Even though it was early both of us fell asleep soon after eating. I don’t know how late it was when I heard Pop’s voice just on the outer edges of wakefulness talking to a nurse.
“No, just let them sleep in the same bed. It isn’t as if Marty is hooked up to a bunch of I.V. lines or monitors. Make sure to tell the next shift they aren’t to disturb the boys since there’s no need to take Marty’s blood pressure or monitor him because we will be checking out of the hospital tomorrow anyway.” He ordered with the nurse seeming to agree and letting him know they’d pass on the information.
A few moments later I felt a blanket settling over me and PopPop’s soft gentle voice. “I’m so proud of you Latham. You did a fine job with Marty. Sleep tight and I’ll see you in the morning.” I heard him whispering into my ears with me fading back to sleep all curled up with the smaller boy in my arms.
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End of Chapter Seven: A Different Kind Of Storm
Coming soon Chapter Eight: Innermost Demons
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- Lady Marguerite Blessington, Countess of Blessington
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EXCERPT FROM DAY TERRORS
Glancing sideways at Marty I rolled my shoulders in the typical what’s the big deal manner only teenagers could pull off. “Um…you know…Marty had to brush his teeth.” I told him in a half truth which he seemed to accept not even noticing I had changed my clothes.
Well, that is to say if Pops did notice he didn’t say anything about it. Besides, it wasn’t all too far fetched that I would change into something more comfortable since we were heading into town and it could be a long day. Whatever the reason, I was simply relieved I didn’t have to explain anything and noticed Marty not even giving my little white lie a second thought. He simply seemed to accept it in stride as we all stepped into the boat with the smaller boy looking a bit frightened about the prospect of crossing the lake in such a vehicle. I put on a lifejacket before helping him with his and tried to cheer him up by letting the boy know it would be fun on the boat.
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A DIFFERENT KIND OF STORM
The ride across the lake had actually been really nice. Even though it remained overcast it was a calm type of day with the lake having that smooth glass like quality without any swells. I was glad it had been a smooth ride for Marty’s sake. At first he had sat stiffly in the seat next to me holding on for dear life, but after a few minutes he began to relax. He still sat snuggled up next to me the entire ride and with him sitting so close it felt kind of nice. PopPop sat up front steering the boat, which left the two of us cuddled up alone under a blanket. There was something about the way the wind made his hair fly around that was kind of a turn on, and several times throughout the ride while we sat huddle up together I thought about the way I was feeling towards Marty. On the one hand I felt more like a protective older brother, but on the other hand I knew the feelings I had for him was much more and in a way kind of sexual in nature. It was confusing and a bit frightening at the same time because lately this type of feeling towards other boys was happening more often.
After the boat ride we hopped into our car stored in the shed on the other side of the lake and I buckled in noticing Marty staring at me for several long moments. It took me a few seconds to realize he didn’t know how to operate the seat belt. Reaching over I pulled the strap over his shoulder and across his waist my fingers brushing up along the front end of his pants and his small bulge. Something twitched inside his pants and it made me shiver lustfully because it was so damn sexy feeling his little bulge along the back of my hand. I could tell he felt the slight touch, but he didn’t seem to react negatively to it so I ignored it as well snapping the metal clasp into place.
Marty was a bit nervous as he looked out the window. A short while later they drove into a small town and he stiffened up for a moment because it looked a lot like the one where he had escaped from his ‘parents.’ He began to panic, but then felt Latham’s soft hand covering his and squeeze it reassuringly. Glancing over he saw the older boy smiling at him and his heart seemed to melt. Marty really liked the bigger boy, and even though he hadn’t heard from his ‘voice’ in several days, it had told him to trust Latham. Sighing, Marty smiled back and nodded his head letting the bigger kid know he was alright.
Navigating through the winding roads we finally made it to town without much incident other than the brief moment where Marty began to panic. Pulling into the hospital parking lot PopPop grumbled when he came to his parking spot and someone else’s fancy sports car with out of state license plates was sitting there. It was a brilliant metallic blue sporty Mercedes-AMG GT S which made me drool. The car looked expensive and I wished we had something like it too, but PopPop’s SUV, even though it was an older model, wasn’t too shabby either so I couldn’t complain. Sighing, Pops pulled into one of the other reserved spots making sure to place his hospital tag on the dashboard.
Marty was apprehensive and stuck close to me when we entered the hospital, but he didn’t put up a fuss. It wasn’t a huge facility, but it wasn’t small by any means either since it saw to the medical needs of not only people in the small town of Eelee, but also throughout the region. The complex was a full medical facility like many of the larger hospitals, but on a smaller scale with a complete staff of doctors and nurses who could accommodate any and all medical needs ranging from the mundane like scraped knees to more serious things like chemotherapy, radiation, and surgeries.
“Dr. Bloomenson, it is good to see you.” an elderly receptionist behind the desk greeted my grandfather getting up from her chair and shaking his hand. “It’s been a while, but I should have known you’d be around with it being the Easter Holiday. Both you and your wife always came in to do rounds and check things out. Many of us really do miss having her drop in when you guys are staying at the cabin. I can’t believe it’s been two years already.” The receptionist sighed shaking her head sadly. “Anyway, I’m sure you are here to do some rounds. Did you want me to take Latham and his friend over to the game room while you are busy?” She asked with my grandfather shaking his head and glancing over towards Marty for a second before focusing back on the receptionist.
“Ah, well actually Mary I’m here to check a patient of mine into the hospital. I’m sure it should all be in the computer system already since I had…um…,” my grandfather glanced at Marty before continuing. “I…um…had Jim set it up for me.” He finished with Mary furling her eyebrows.
“You mean Sher…,” She began with my grandfather cutting her off.
“No not…um…Sher…uh…Sheridan. I’m talking about Jim Brown, you know, from down the road here.” He emphasized with me noticing he cut the receptionist off at the ‘Sher’ part before she could say ‘Sheriff’ because he didn’t want it to upset Marty.
“Oh…yes…I see.” Mary replied also seeming to catch on before she sat down at the computer and input some information. “Oh yes…here it is.” She nodded her head before frowning. “Oh…it says room 237, if you want I can change it…you know.” She bit her lower lip and looked at my grandfather who shook his head and smiled back at her.
“No, it’s perfectly fine Mary. I know it was my wife’s room, there at the end, but I requested it so it is just fine.” He assured her with the other woman smiling.
“Oh alright, it wasn’t just that, but also because…well, I suppose it being you and all that everything is in order.” She told my grandfather cryptically while he paused for a second like he was about to ask her if there was some other issues with the room, but then got sidetracked when another colleague recognized him grabbing his attention for a few seconds before PopPop said he had to get going.
Marty’s eyes kept looking all around him a bit frightened but also in awe as if he were seeing things for the first time. Some people where sick walking around with tubes sticking out of their arms or in wheelchairs and so I could understand why it would be scary for him. We had talked to him about all of those things and I was now glad we did because I could tell it was still intimidating to see the state some of the patients where in. When we stepped into the elevator and it began taking us up the smaller boy suddenly panicked clinging on to my arm while I reassured him it was perfectly fine. This was another one of those things we had taken for granted and hadn’t even thought of pointing out to the poor kid. When we arrived at the desk for the ward on the North Wing one of the nurses handed us a band with Marty’s name on it and we attached it to his wrist.
There were a few familiar faces from staff members we recognized on the ward since this was the one my Grandmother had been on when she had gotten very sick towards the end. Some of them also knew and worked with my Grandfather, but most of the staff people were new and even PopPop frowned since it was a bit unusual. Often nurses and doctors worked for years on the same wards so having so many new faces was a bit puzzling. Still, most of the ones who were new on the ward I recognized as staff who had worked in different places in the hospital, but there were a few I didn’t recognize at all and I got the impression they were brand new hired staffers. I suppose it was only natural since the hospital was steadily growing and there was always a need to hire more people or shift staff around in order to accommodate the influx of more and more patients.
Arriving at the door for room 237 we opened it up and to my amazement it looked totally different. When my grandmother was here the large room had two beds in it with curtains around it for privacy, but now there was only one bed and curtain with some plush furniture inside making it look more like a fancy hotel suite than a hospital room. Even PopPop seemed a bit surprised when we stepped inside.
“Alright boys, I need to go fill out some paperwork and get in touch with some of the staff members, so Latham why don’t you show Marty how to get changed into the hospital gown.” He suggested with a small giggle escaping my lips and Marty looking at me wondering what was so funny.
“You’ll see here in a minute, but PopPop I’m getting a bit hungry and I’m sure Marty is too.” I admitted seeing the boy perk up at the mention of food.
“Oh yes, of course.” Pops smiled shaking his head. “Listen, show him how to put on the gown and while he gets out of his clothes and into the gown you can head over to the cafeteria or snack shop whichever one you want and get something you think Marty might like. Bring back a little something for me too because we may be in for a long day.” He suggested giving me his hospital card that put the food bill on an account.
After PopPop left I grabbed a gown showing it to Marty and busted up laughing at his horrified expression because it most definitely wouldn’t hide much of anything. When he turned his serious gaze towards me looking really frightened it dawned on me why he was so worried. It would be difficult to conceal his battered body; especially, since all the welts and bruising were on the back of his thighs, butt and body, and the gown was designed to leave a person’s backside flapping in the wind.
“Don’t worry Marty we will make it so you are covered up. Here let’s put it over your clothes first and I will tie it all up in the back. Then when I go to the snack shop for some treats you can close the door and slip it off over your head before taking off your clothes. You will have to take everything off Marty…you know…including your underwear.” I explained noticing the other boy frown but accepting my instruction. “Alright, then all you need to do afterwards is slip the gown back on over your head. Here are some slippers for you to wear as well.” I suggested the boy looking doubtful about the gown.
Once I laced up his gown over his clothes making sure to wrap and tie it in a way so the back part was completely closed he seemed to feel better about it. Leaving him alone so he could get changed, I made my way over to the snack shop since it was closer not wanting to leave him alone for too long. Besides, all we really needed were a few sandwiches and maybe some treats.
Not really knowing exactly what Marty preferred I picked out a few different sandwiches so he could choose what he wanted. It didn’t matter much to me since I didn’t mind any of the ones I picked out. I didn’t think it really mattered to the other boy either because I noticed he pretty much ate everything he was given and didn’t seem too picky about things. Snatching up some cookies, chips, and juice to go along with the sandwiches I gave the lady PopPop’s card and she swiped it before placing everything in a bag for me to carry. Making my way back to the room I noted it had only taken me about ten or fifteen minutes and hoped Marty wasn’t too scared in the room all alone. I should have turned on the television set for him so it would keep him occupied while I was gone.
When I rounded the corner leading to Marty’s room the entire ward seemed abuzz with activity making me pause and look around wondering what was going on. It was as if a storm had suddenly erupted all around me. Glancing up the hallway I saw a whole knot of doctors and nurses clustered around blocking the way as if they were trying to see what was going on. Then I heard shouts along with calls for security which set off alarms bells. Shoving my way through the throng of doctors and nurses I could now tell it centered around Marty’s room.
“Fuck, the little shit wet himself.” I heard someone shout just as I squeezed past most everyone giving me a clear view inside the room realizing it was an orderly who had belted the last comment.
The man looked as if he was trying to grab on to Marty who was backed into a corner his eyes betraying his fears along with the damp spot in front of his gown and the puddle of urine which had formed mostly on the floor around his left leg. My heart was pounding in a panic because it was total chaos in the room with another doctor a few feet away trying to assure the boy that they were only going to move him into a different room.
“Listen kid,” the doctor who looked to be around fifty or so began in a gruff kind of voice that was anything other than reassuring. “I don’t know who messed up, but we need to move you into another room and ward. This is now a private wing for our elite patients.” The man stated bluntly making me blanch at the idea of such a thing wondering when the hell this started at the hospital.
It didn’t appear as if Marty was going to resist, it wasn’t in him to do such a thing with his frail body simply looking meek and resigned, and even though he tried to hide it I could tell he was frightened to death. The look on his face spurred me into action and I shoved my way inside the room. There was a look of disgust on the orderly’s face as if having to deal with a kid who soiled himself revolted him, but at the doctors urging he began to grab for Marty. This was simply too much for me as rage suddenly boiled up from deep inside of me and I charged.
“Leave him alone.” I shouted launching myself into the orderly putting my momentum and entire weight into it.
The man gave a shout of surprise and to my shock I managed to send the orderly flying into the side of the bed with everything erupting into shouts and cursing all around me. Ignoring them I quickly wrapped the smaller boy up in my arms protectively. The poor kid was trembling now from fear, but even then not a word escaped his lips.
“What the fuck, who the hell is this new kid?” I heard the middle aged doctor yelling in disgust. “I won’t stand for this anymore, where the hell is security.” He shouted while the orderly I sent launching into the side of the bed stood up and ambled towards the doctor’s side not sure what to do.
The orderly was new and I didn’t recognize him or the other one, who I hadn’t spotted until just now, standing close to the doctor as well. I suppose it really didn’t matter, but it seemed odd to me because the doctor was new too. The way they all behaved it was as if they’ve all known each other for a while.
“They’re coming down the hall now Dr. Stevenson.” I heard someone reply putting a name now to the man while I released Marty so I could confront the next threat which was coming my way.
Using my arm I scooted Marty behind me so I could protect him feeling the boy shifting closer to me with his chest up against my back. Turning my gaze towards the doctor who seemed to be the one in charge and giving orders, my eyes smoldered with hatred. I didn’t like the looks of him because he came off as some arrogant snob. Sometimes you can just tell at first glance the type of people who always felt like they were all that and in charge of everything. Our school had kids like this and they came across more like bullies than anything else.
“PopPop isn’t going to like this mister and I won’t let you anywhere near Marty.” I hissed protectively feeling the smaller boy shivering behind me.
“Shit, this is ridiculous. I don’t know who the hell this…um…PopPop guy is, but I’m in charge around here and this is a private wing. The boy will be moved whether you like it or not.” He emphasized before shouting, “WHERE THE HELL IS SECURITY!” He barked out forcefully with several people who were standing close by flinching at his sudden outburst and gruffness which had caught me by surprise as well.
Never in my life have I met a doctor before who was so raw and curt with those around him. Sure there were plenty of them with an ego a mile high, but even the ones I knew who were like this tended to have a soft demeanor with patients and those they worked with. No, I concluded, I most definitely didn’t like this guy.
Suddenly there was movement out in the hallway with people parting like the sea in the movie about Moses where the water suddenly divided on either side. A huge hulking of a man in a security guard uniform followed by two other security guards who weren’t quite as big, but still hulking, stopped in the doorway. The man was clearly of Samoan and Pacific Islander heritage. He was huge, but not in a flabby kind of way, just simply bulky and solid from head to toe. This was one guy not to be trifled with as he stood there at six foot three inches tall like an unyielding wall of muscle from top to bottom and from one side to the other. He was so big he filled the entire doorframe, but instead of being frightened, I felt a sense of relief flooding me and relaxed slightly while remaining alert because of the way that jerk of a doctor was behaving. Marty must have noticed my relief because even though he continued to tremble he started to calm down as well.
It had to be a bit unnerving for the smaller boy; especially, since he had wet himself. I felt for him because just this morning I had done the same thing, but at least no one else had been around except for the two of us. Now though there was a whole group of onlookers and even though many of them were now gone, cleared out by the security guards, it still left enough others around. As much as I wanted to turn my attention to the smaller boy and help him get cleaned up I just couldn’t at the moment.
The lead security guard paused assessing the situation our eyes connecting before telling the other two guards to clear away all the spectators. “What are you doing?” I heard Dr. Stevenson growl at the security guard. “Don’t just stand there gather those two kids up and get them out of my ward.” He barked out commandingly obviously getting more irritated by the moment.
“You want me to just go in and manhandle a couple of kids?” The security guard responded calmly shaking his head.
“Yes, and right now?” Dr. Stevenson barked out furiously at the lack of a prompt response to his demands with his face turning red.
“Um…yeah that’s not going to happen,” came the unruffled response.
“You…what…I.” The doctor stumble frustratingly, his tongue getting all twisted in a knot. “Do you even know who I am? No wonder why I’ve been brought in because this whole place is a mess without any discipline and everyone having a lack of respect. That’s it…what’s your name…you’re fired unless you get in there and do what you’re told. If you don’t then consider yourself fired.” Doctor Stevenson bristled nodding his head as if to convince himself he was still in charge around here.
“Yeah, well that’s not going to happen either, and it’s Mr. Oliva spelled O-L-I-V-A.” The large hulking security guard sighed crossing his arms a tad put out.
“What…I…um…do you mean you aren’t going to secure the boys?”
The guard looked over towards me and winked before gazing back at Dr. Stevenson. “Yeah, that and the fact I’m fired. It isn’t going to happen.”
“You…I…Do you even know who I am?” Is all Dr. Stevenson could manage to get out for a second time because he was getting flustered.
“Yeah sure, you’re the new fancy guy from Chicago that our hospital’s idiot of an Executive Director, Mr. Madsen, hired to be our new Associate Hospital Administrator. I see how well that decision is going already.”
I could see Dr. Stevenson head go completely red with his mouth opening and closing, but no sound coming out of them reminding me of Marty’s inability to utter a word. “How are you doing kiddo?” The guard spoke up with me rolling my shoulders.
“Well, I was doing a lot better until they started scaring Marty half to death Mr. Oliva.” I responded back to the security guard glad he had shown up when he did or else who knew what these idiots would have done as I glanced over at the smaller boy relieved to see he seemed alright despite having wet himself.
When Mr. Oliva had arrived I was relieved because I’ve known him and his family for several years now. He had a wife who got treatment for cancer at the same time my grandmother was sick and they shared this very room together. Even before that I had known the family, but it was during this time where we became really close friends. My grandfather had operated and successfully removed a large cancerous tumor in Mr. Oliva’s wife and she has since gone into total remission.
They also had a son, Luke, who was a couple of years younger than me, and I figured he had to be eleven years old now. The boy was really a nice kid and we got along well together. It wasn’t unusual to see Luke hanging around the halls and visiting with other sick patients. I knew that after school let out he’d often catch the bus over here and wait for his father to get off of his shift so they could go home together. They lived off the beaten path so it was easier for Luke simply to catch a ride on the bus coming here.
The boy was well liked and known in the hospital with his sweet nature and quirky kind of humor which reminded me a lot of his mother. That wasn’t the only thing he got from his mom’s side of the gene pool since he also got most of his looks and physical attributes from her. When you think melting pot it almost describes the Oliva family to a tee. While Mr. Oliva was of Samoan and Pacific Islander decent there was also a Hispanic link to his heritage. On Mrs. Oliva’s side of the family you had a European and Middle Eastern Heritage. This came out in various unique ways for Luke as his gene pool was put into a blender and mixed together.
Even though the eleven year old boy’s father was a tall and solidly built man typical of Samoan’s, Luke on the other hand seemed more average. His mother was a small petite woman so it sort of averaged out for him in this regard. He had a nice complexion as well, somewhere in-between the paler skin pigmentations you find in Europeans and the darker brown golden tones of Pacific Islanders or Samoan’s. In a way he inherited more of his Middle Eastern heritage where this was concerned with a nice olive like skin texture. It’s been close to six months since I’ve seen the other boy so I was sure like me he’s grown a tad.
My attention swung back over to Dr. Stevenson when he spoke up again. “So you know these kids?” He snorted in disgust.
“Yeah, well Latham at least. His grandmother and my wife shared a room together when they were battling cancer. This room as a matter of fact.” Mr. Oliva replied calmly.
Shifting his attention towards me Mr. Oliva winked conspiratorially. “I don’t think your grandmother would approve of these changes Latham.” He sighed shaking his head sadly and I had to agree. “Anyway, why don’t we call your grandfather and get this mess all sorted out.” He suggested just as someone new stepped into the room.
I recognized the tall heavy set man immediately. It was Sheriff Sheridan followed by an elegantly dressed lady who I recognized as well and was from the Department of Human Services. I met her a few years ago when she helped me to get settled with my grandparents. She was followed into the room by PopPop which made me feel relieved.
“Oh thank goodness, the police.” Dr. Stevenson spoke up walking over to the Sheriff. “Listen, I need you to secure these kids and escort them off of my ward. I’ll have a nurse show you where to take them since our own security refuses to do their job.” He sighed in relief pointing towards me and Marty.
The Sheriff glanced at the doctor with a puzzled look on his face before looking towards my grandfather. “Is this some joke?” He asked seriously before turning his attention back to the other doctor his head swiveling back and forth as if he were watching some tennis match.
“No joke Sheriff, I’ve got to get these people off of my ward. This wing is now for our elite patients. Someone screwed up royally by putting them in here, but I plan on getting to the bottom of it immediately. Whoever screwed up is in deep trouble.” He insisted.
“Well, that would be me.” PopPop spoke up calmly stepping forward and glancing around with his eyes shifting to Marty for several long moments noticing the boy had wet himself. “But I have no idea what you are talking about concerning this room.” He added glancing towards me questioningly.
Shrugging my shoulders I began to explain, but was interrupted by Dr. Stevenson. “Well then, you may not be aware of it since it appears you aren’t one of our permanent staff here. If I’m not mistaken you are probably one of our consulting doctors with privileges at our facility. Anyway, I was hired by the board of trustees and the Chief Executive Officer to make some changes around here. I noticed there weren’t any private hospital rooms for patients who can afford them so I made changes here on the North Wing since it has a nice sun deck and garden overlooking the lake.” He stated proudly.
“You’re kidding.” PopPop frowned looking a bit disgusted and definitely surprised by the news while Dr. Stevenson looked very annoyed.
“That’s it.” The other man huffed looking at the orderly standing closest to him, the one I had shoved out of the way to protect Marty. “Listen, we need to schedule a staff meeting so I can nip this in the bud. I can’t believe people around here don’t know who I am after Madsen sent out that email and everything. It is obvious staff aren’t reading their internal memos, another thing I plan on rectifying.” He huffed turning his attention back to my grandfather who was now making a phone call.
“What are you doing?” Dr. Stevenson asked not appreciating how he was constantly ignored, which isn’t the way things are supposed to work for the guy in charge.
“Hold on a minute.” PopPop waved him off suddenly turning his attention back to the phone since someone obviously picked up on the other end. “Yeah hey, it’s me.” He began pausing because it was obvious someone was talking on the other end. “Yeah, it’s been a while, but I’m here. As a matter of fact I’m on the second floor, North Wing, room 237.” He paused again. “Yes, the same one. You’ve got two minutes to get your scrawny butt down here or else.” My grandfather stated in a calm tone of voice before hanging up and making his way towards me.
“You alright?” He asked with me shrugging my shoulders and glancing at Marty. “What happened?” He pressed.
Glancing over towards Dr. Stevenson for a second I focused my attention back to Pops and gave him a quick run down of what I knew including Dr. Stevenson threatening me. The other man interjected at times trying to relay his side of the story and a bit put out by the way I indicated he was more of a bully than a responsible adult. He tried to smooth things over a little, but kept harping how this was now a private wing. I could tell PopPop was starting to get really irritated and was about to say something when Mr. Madsen came stumbling into the room all out of breath and wheezing.
“Nate, what on earth was that all about on the phone?” He managed to get out questioningly to PopPop in-between huge gulps of air which showed he had taken my grandfather’s warning to heart.
He wasn’t in bad shape for a guy in his fifties, but still his office wasn’t all that close by so he must have ran to get here probably using the stairs instead of waiting for an elevator. The man was holding his hand across his chest and patting it all the while looking around him with a puzzled look on his face because of all the people.
“What’s going on, and why is the Sheriff here and the Department of Human Services?” He asked with Dr. Stevenson getting ready to respond, but getting cut off by my grandfather who automatically stepped into the authoritative role.
“Yes, well we will get to that in a moment, what I need to find out is what the hell is going on with the North Wing. Since when did it become a private wing with single rooms that look more like fancy suites?” My grandfather asked with Dr. Stevenson interjecting.
“Mr. Madsen I keep trying to tell these people that things have changed and this is now a private wing but they won’t listen. When I began my rounds on the ward I came across that boy over there and tried to remove him when this crazy kid came running into the room and literally assaulted the orderly. Then when I ordered that big lug of a security guard to remove both of the kids he refused. I swear Mr. Madsen this hospital is in worse condition with staff and all than I initially assessed. I mean it is understandable that a visiting doctor doesn’t know who I am, but the staff around here all act as if they don’t even know who is in charge. I’ve had to bring in my own people on to this wing to get it started in the right way.” He finished smugly.
“You did what?” Madsen started to protest sounding a bit surprised, but was interrupted.
“Madsen, you know Marietta would never have approved of this, not to mention he threatened my patient and then my grandson, this is something I can’t tolerate.” My grandfather glared at the other man who took a step back noticing Madsen’s look before getting defensive and snapping back.
“You aren’t seriously going to listen to him. I don’t know who he thinks he is or who this Marietta is, but you can’t listen to just any bonehead regarding weighty matters like this hospital Madsen, even if they are friends of yours.” He pointed out with the blood draining from Mr. Madsen’s face as he furtively looked towards my grandfather before something seemed to sink in about what PopPop had told him.
Before my grandfather could object he suddenly squared off against Dr. Stevenson. “You did what? What on earth were you thinking? I mean, threatening a kid…but Latham…well…he’s like a nephew to me. The only bonehead around here is you…and maybe me for hiring you. And if you must know Marietta was the heart and soul of this hospital.” Mr. Madsen shook his head sadly. “I’m really sorry Nate.” He added.
“You should have told me Madsen.” PopPop replied softly not really too upset at his long time friend and colleague because he knew the man was doing his best despite everything.
Even though my grandparents had always been low key about the hospital most people around here knew that they were responsible for starting it and making the place a real hospital for the people of the region. Both of my grandparents had invested their own money they had made off of surgical inventions they designed over the years which had helped to improve certain medical procedures along the way. They held several patents and had made a lot of money over the years so had decided to build a facility for the people of this region. My grandmother was raised in these parts and always wanted to contribute back to her community. So about thirty years ago they decided to build this hospital together and over the years it has grown and thrived for the community.
“I did Nate…well…maybe not in exact terms, but I did say we needed to hire someone to help out and fill some of the areas Marietta used to take care of.” Madsen was trying to explain now to my grandfather. “Not to mention try upgrading to keep up with the times. I’ve been trying to pick up the slack after she died and I know you have too along with other staff members, but let’s face it even I had no idea just how much of a hole had been left behind when she passed away. Even when she was sick she saw to the every day little things. So, it wasn’t just the big things, but even the day to day things, which if I am honest even I can’t keep up with. I had no idea just how much she really did behind the scenes day in and day out.” He sighed truly missing her not only in the business aspect of things, but because they had been friends and colleagues for many years.
“Will someone tell me what the hell is going on around here?” Dr. Stevenson spoke up completely confused by the exchange.
Cringing and exhaling loudly Madsen finally introduced my grandfather to Dr. Stevenson. “Um…well the guy you think is simply some bonehead is actually Dr. Bloomenson. Both him and his wife are the Hospital’s Board of Trustees, or rather I suppose it’s just Nate now that his wife passed away a few years ago. He’s also the Chief Executive Officer.”
“Oh…I…um…Dr. Bloomenson, I didn’t know. I mean there wasn’t a chart set up or anything for this patient so I just assumed it was some mix-up. Of course your patient can stay here.” He tried to smooth things out, but only managed to disgust my grandfather even more.
“I see…,” my grandfather paused. “Oh, by the way is that your fancy steel blue Mercedes parked in the staff parking lot up front in the reserved spot.
“Oh, yeah, a beauty, huh? Since Mr. Madsen hasn’t assigned a spot for me I just pulled into that one when I found out it used to belong to another staff member who’s no longer around. Some woman named Johnson. You know her?” He asked casually.
“Yeah I do, it was my wife’s maiden name. She always used her maiden name at the hospital so when one of us were paged it wouldn’t get confusing. The parking spot actually belongs to the both of us. So maybe you can go down and move your car.” PopPop suggested with Dr. Stevenson’s face getting ash white.
Looking over towards Mr. Oliva my grandfather motioned casually and continued. “Mr. Oliva, if you don’t mind maybe you can escort Dr. Stevenson down to his car and make sure he leaves the hospital grounds. We won’t be requiring his services anymore.” He added totally dismissing the newly hired doctor who now suddenly became flustered.
“Of course Dr. Bloomenson, that won’t be a problem” The large security guard replied looking towards Dr. Stevenson smugly before glancing at me and winking.
“I…uh…are you firing me?” Dr. Stevenson’s face got all white before he began to protest. “But I’ve got a contract…you can’t just fire me. I’ve got rights and at least deserve a hearing.” He complained citing the hospital’s policy and grievance procedure.
It was Mr. Madsen who now spoke up. “I’m sorry Dr. Stevenson, but Dr. Bloomenson can fire you if he wants. If you recall the contract you signed stipulated you were here on a trial basis for a year before a final decision will be made as to if you stay or not, along with your salary structure coming into play. It also states, at any time you can be terminated if it is deemed you aren’t the right fit for the hospital and our mission.”
“But…,” Dr. Stevenson began with PopPop speaking up.
“Listen, I’m sorry but you just aren’t a good fit around here. I mean it is obvious you’ve already alienated the traditional staff not to mention you’ve got an ego that gets in the way of good judgment. My wife and I from the very beginning were always selective in the staff we hired at the hospital. We not only want top notch physicians and surgeons, but we want them to have empathy, and care about other patients. I’m sure you are very good at what you do Dr. Stevenson, but your philosophy and approach isn’t a good fit so it is better we take care of this now versus later when it becomes even more difficult for you.” PopPop sighed holding out his hand indicating there weren’t any hard feelings, but his decision was final.
Having no other recourse the other man finally gave in shaking my grandfather’s hand before being escorted out. From start to finish this entire incident had taken all of ten or fifteen minutes, but I still felt bad because I hadn’t been able to see to Marty’s needs. The poor boy had stood huddled in silence behind me, so I now turned and grabbing his hand pulled him into the bathroom.
The smaller boy followed me inside without a word and I shut the door behind us for privacy. “Are you alright?” I asked with the other boy shrugging his shoulders.
The look on his face was one of neutrality, but I could tell he was struggling inside to keep his true emotions hidden. “Oh Marty,” I sniffled stepping up to the boy and wrapping my arms around him. “I’m so sorry about everything, but it was all just a misunderstanding and not your fault.” I whispered softly feeling the boy hesitate before returning my embrace.
It was as if he finally let go of his defensive walls allowing me to truly step inside for the very first time. He began to tremble in my arms and I felt his body convulse as if he were sobbing. I held on to him for several long moments before taking a step back and looking at the poor kid. Huge tears were streaming down his face and he looked away embarrassed and slightly frightened by his open display of emotion.
“It’s alright Marty; you don’t have to be afraid of letting me see you cry. I know all of this is scary and there is a lot to take in, but you can trust me. Besides, I’ve done my own fair share of crying you know, just ask PopPop, he’ll tell you.” I told him reaching out and placing my hand on his cheek forcing him to look at me.
Smiling at the smaller boy, I patted his shoulder gently. “You can trust me Marty.” I told him sincerely.
With huge tears tumbling down the side of his cheeks the boy suddenly wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tightly. We both stood there awkwardly for several long moments, but I let him take his time not wanting to rush things since I could tell he only needed a bit of time to sort some of his thoughts out. Then slowly, and on his own, he unwound from me and took a step back wiping away the wetness from his cheeks with the heel of his hand.
“Better?” I asked with him shrugging his shoulders, but nodding. “Still scared?” I asked with him glancing at me before looking away. “I see, well maybe if I knew what you are scared about then maybe I can help.” I added with him glancing towards the door.
“I see, you’re still worried about all the other people out there.” I pointed out more than asked, but he nodded his head confirming my suspicions.
“Is it anyone in particular?” I asked with him hesitating and shrugging his shoulders forcing me to think on it a moment before I began to wonder if maybe it was more likely the Sheriff who he was the most worried about. “The Sheriff?” I added his eyes immediately shifting and locking on to mine indicating I was probably right.
“Listen Marty, I know you are really scared, but Sheriff Sheridan is a good guy and friend of ours. He’s a really nice guy. He’s only here to help us do what is best for you. I don’t know what exactly happened to you Marty, but I hope you can trust us to do the right thing. PopPop and I know something awful happened to you and from what I…I saw this morning…,” my voice caught in my throat because the memory of his bruised and battered body suddenly jumped into my thoughts.
Pausing for a moment I swallowed down my emotions. “We just want to help, but we are going to need some more information. It means you will have to trust us though, but no one is going to force you to do or say anything you don’t want to. The Sheriff is here to help protect you and the pretty lady is also here to help. She helped me a few years back too so that I could stay with PopPop and Nana when I had nowhere else to go, so you can trust her Marty.” I assured the smaller boy with him looking at me closely before reaching to take my hand into his and squeezed it beseechingly, which took me a moment to realize what he was asking.
Nodding my head I smiled softly at him. “You want me to be there when they ask you questions?” I suggested with him smiling and nodding his head. “Of course if you want I’ll be there with you Marty. I don’t think they would have any problems with that, but they might be asking you some embarrassing and very private questions.” I pointed out with him simply shrugging his shoulders as if to say it didn’t matter.
“Alright, well then that is one thing we’ve taken care of.” I chuckled seeing him flash me a brief grin in return before it disappeared.
Sighing I shook my head. “I really think you’ve got a very nice smile and wish you would show it more often. Anyway, anything else you are afraid about?” I asked with the boy hesitating and then looking down at his hospital gown.
It was still wet, but most of it had pooled up on the floor in the other room. “It’s alright Marty, we will just get you cleaned up.” I offered up noticing him glancing towards the door.
“I’m sure it is no big deal Marty. One of the nurses or orderly’s have probably already cleaned up the other mess and no one will say anything about it. You aren’t in trouble over it, I promise.” I assured him and as if to confirm it we heard a knocking on the door.
It was PopPop so I opened up the door. “You boys alright in here?” He asked handing over a fresh gown. “Thought Marty could use a fresh one.” He added making me smile.
“Thanks Pops, and yeah. Marty and I were just discussing him getting cleaned up. Is it alright if he takes a quick shower?” I asked with Pops looking at the other boy and then smiling nodding his head.
“Sure thing. No one is going anywhere and while he’s doing that it will give the two of us a chance to catch up with the news from Sheriff Sheridan and also Harriet from the Department of Human Services. It’s been a while since she’s seen you Latham, and she can’t wait to hear how you’ve been doing.” He added smiling fondly at me.
“Sure Pops, just let me get Marty squared away and I’ll be right out.” I promised.
With the door closing shut behind us I turned back towards Marty and smiled at him. “See, I told you. No one is mad.” I smirked putting the new gown over the old one and getting it tied up like I did the last time over his clothes so when he removed it and took a shower all he had to do was slip it back over his head.
After getting the warm shower going for him I stepped out so he could have some privacy and joined the others. While we were catching up, our conversation turned towards Marty and I added the information from this morning and what I had noticed. Of course I kept the part out about zoning out and my own little wet accident since it was embarrassing and also not wanting to alarm PopPop. I could see the shocked looks on everyone’s faces when I described the whip marks along the back of the smaller boy’s thighs and butt along with the bruising on his body.
A few minutes later a much refreshed looking Marty joined us out in the other room. After eating lunch it seemed like there was one thing after the other starting with both the Sheriff and Harriet trying to get the kid to tell them as much information as possible. Of course this was a tricky and slow process, but no one pressured or rushed the boy letting him take it at his own pace. To my surprise he began to open up a little and we did manage to get crucial information out of him. He finally admitted he had been abducted by a man and woman, but once he let this out he became emotionally unstable.
It was like even this tidbit of information had frightened him to the core. and he suddenly receded inwards once more becoming very quiet. Well, not that he spoke or anything to begin with, but rather he was quieter in the sense of becoming introverted and somber, no longer so animated. Instead of pressing him further Pops decided we should wait until later. In the meantime he thought it was best to get some other tests out of the way. This involved blood work and dental records not to mention numerous other exams.
To my surprise it was almost dinner time by the time we began to wrap things up. Throughout it all Marty had been a trooper considering all the contraptions he had to put up with the whole time. When he was wheeled into a new room he had clung to my hand listening while I explained what was going on. This helped since some of the gadgets were a bit frightful. The worst had been drawing blood and even though he didn’t flinch or utter a sound I could tell it had alarmed him when he saw the needle. I knew he didn’t understand what all the tests were for even when I explained it to him. Each and every time I told him this was necessary and that it would be alright so he simply accepted my explanation without any further thought to it.
At times throughout the day Marty would become somber and reserved. There were so many things which were foreign and alien to the kid. The noise, contraptions, and even the general things we take for granted in our lives were all new for the boy. It was like a stimulus overload for the poor guy and his only defense was to shut everything out. I began to sense those moments and when possible tried to slow things down so he could cope with what was happening all around him. For the most part the staff members seemed to sympathize with Marty’s plight and would give us the time and space needed until he could gather himself together.
Now towards the end of the day even I was feeling a bit worn out by everything patting Marty’s arm while PopPop and Harriet talked quietly off to the side. After the Sheriff discussed things early on with Mrs. Wilkerson on the best way to proceed in finding where Marty really belonged, the Sheriff had left to start the process while she remained behind. Now as things began to wrap up this late in the day, I could hear her discussing some things with Pops. Since Marty was now officially the responsibility of The Department of Human Services and Child Welfare she explained arrangements would need to be made. At first I thought she was going to take him, perhaps placing him in some sort of foster care facility, but to my surprise and relief she offered an alternative.
She suggested Marty stay in the hospital, for ‘observational purposes,’ she hinted smiling slyly at my grandfather. This would give her time to get a judge to sign the appropriate paperwork turning the smaller boy over to Pop’s custody since he was still registered as a Foster care provider. Even though tomorrow would be Easter Sunday, she knew a judge who wouldn’t be too upset over being disturbed during the holiday. My grandparents became foster care providers when I originally had been placed under their care until everything could be finalized for my permanent placement with them.
Even though my grandmother had passed away, Mrs. Wilkerson didn’t think it would affect my grandfather’s status as a foster care provider, which would now allow him to take care of Marty while things got sorted out. Since we still lived in the same house she knew all the home standards requirements were completely met; especially, since we had an extra bedroom for the boy to stay in. My grandfather was well regarded and respected in the community so all she had to do was make a few small adjustments to the application accounting for my grandmother’s passing, and present it to the judge. She felt this wouldn’t be an obstacle considering my grandfather’s reputation.
With a plan in place, leaving me feeling a bit of relief inside, she said her goodbye’s to Pop’s saying she’d call here after a bit before turning her attention to Marty and promising him that everything would work out just fine. The smaller boy seemed to have warmed up to Harriet even allowing the woman to give him a quick hug before she left. PopPop smiled at Marty and ruffled his hair affectionately like he was fond of doing with me before he got a bit serious again.
“Marty, we have just one more thing we need to do.” He exhaled softly trying to reassure the boy. “Really, it won’t take long and it will be the last thing we do today. Then we can see about getting dinner up here into your room since it is getting late.” He stressed softly indicating it was necessary, but then everything would be done for the day.
To me it was obvious what he meant, and normally a doctor would have done this first, but he knew how sensitive the smaller boy was about things so didn’t want to pressure him right after he had been questioned by the Sheriff and Harriet. “Latham, maybe you should wait outside until we finish.” PopPop suggested with me understanding.
When I turned to leave Marty reached out and grabbed my wrist his eyes pleading with me to stay. “It’ll be just fine and will only take a few minutes.” I assured him, but his green eyes began to well up, which kind of surprised me since he was so good at hiding his emotions.
The look in his eyes made me want to cry because I could tell he was upset about me breaking the promise I had made, but this was something I’m sure he’d be a bit embarrassed about so I knelt in front of him trying to explain. “Marty, I don’t think it is a good idea for me to stay. I mean Pops is going to…um…,” I looked nervously over towards my grandfather who remained silent but urging me to go ahead and explain it.
Taking a deep breathe to calm my nerves, I exhaled softly and smiled at Marty. “Listen, Pops needs to exam your body and this means, well it means you will have to take the gown off.” His eyes got really big for a second before he tried to hide his emotions.
“It’s alright though, he just needs to check you over real quick like. First, he will do things like put a soft band around your arm and fill it up with air. You will feel it tightening up around your arm, but it doesn’t hurt or anything. He will then let the air out and listen through a funny looking thing attached to his ear while placing the other end against your skin on the arm. Then he will listen to your heart and lungs by placing the thing to your chest and back. There will be a few other things too, but then…well…then you will have to take off your gown so he can check…um…other things…uh…like any bruising on your body in front and on your back.” I stated softly not really sure if Pops was going to do a complete physical like what I got just before the school year so I could play sports, or if he was going to do some basics like measuring his height, weight, blood pressure, and then of course check on the welts and bruising.
Getting up to leave I felt the younger boy’s fingers wrapping around my wrist again, his eyes pleading for me to stay. “Are you sure you are alright with this Marty?” My grandfather asked glancing towards me looking a bit worried.
The way Pops gazed at me I got the impression he was asking the same thing of me as well. I could tell he wasn’t too worried about the whole nudity thing per se, but with something else. He knew I’ve seen other boys naked and all because of our school’s hygiene policy after our phys-ed classes and sports, and perhaps in other situations, but this isn’t what appeared to worry him. He seemed more concerned about the whole abuse issue with all the welts and bruising knowing it would upset me to see those again.
Seeing the look in Marty’s green eyes I relented and nodded my head. “Alright Marty, I’ll stay if you want.” I caved glancing towards my grandfather who took a long hard look at me and nodded his head motioning the smaller boy over to the scale by the wall.
Pulling the curtain around for some privacy in case someone came in or took a look through the long rectangular shaped glass in the door, he pulled over the medical cart and gathered up some things getting started. As predicted he weighed and measured the boy recording it on the chart attached to his clipboard. Next he had Marty take a seat on the bed and began to do the more routine and mundane types of things doctors like testing for reflexes before untying the back of the boy’s gown. He let the material settle around the kid’s waist so he could now check his pulse, heartbeat, and lungs.
The smaller boy had a very thin frame but it no longer looked so pale, gaunt, and wasted. There was a more robustness about him now; surprising me at how just a few days of rest and decent meals could have such a positive outcome on a boy. He seemed to be rebounding quickly from his abusive state as I admired his sleek physique. Below the belt, my little fatty immediately chubbed up and while both PopPop and Marty’s attention were diverted with other things I quickly adjusted my erection so the tip of my knob was held in place just beneath the waistband of my sweats. It wouldn’t do for my excited state to give me away at how I was perving on Marty. I couldn’t help myself because despite some bruising on his front side he really was very cute.
Finishing up with the stethoscope PopPop motioned for Marty to stand and I watched as the boy stepped down lightly standing in front of my grandfather holding on to the gown around his waist. Reaching around the back Pops undid the rest of the ties and pulled the gown from around the boy’s waist leaving him standing there completely naked while he slipped on a pair of gloves doctors and nurses always used in these situations. My eyes flew open wide because it was the first time I’ve seen Marty completely naked from the front, and I mean all of him.
He was…well beautifully breathtaking. Despite his thin frame with a couple of blotches of bruising, there was something pure and innocent about him. My gaze settled on his soft circumcised penis and tight rounded boy bundle, and to my surprise he wasn’t really so small down there like I had originally thought. Of course he wasn’t large down there or anything either, but not puny by any means. I suppose he was fairly typical for an eleven or twelve year old boy. In many aspects the way he looked down there reminded me a lot of Joey; especially, the contour of his little bullet shaped nub. I had to admit though his soft penis did look slightly longer than Joey’s by about a quarter of an inch.
At first glance, Marty’s little twig looked kind of short and stumpy sticking out slightly from his pale pubic mound which was completely hairless. If I had to guess I’d say it was about two and a half inches long in all, which was about the way I looked down there a year or two ago as well. It hasn’t been until recently that my own penis seemed to have matured getting longer and fattening up along with some dirty blonde pubes sprouting around the base of my shaft. Even Joey didn’t seem to have any pubes yet, another thing the two boys had in common.
Watching my grandfather’s fingers deftly manipulating Marty’s testicles made my penis lurch and I was glad now that I had secured it in place. I was so excited about Marty’s nakedness I could even feel some pre-cum oozing out from the tip of my penis getting soaked up by the gummy like material of my sweats. I couldn’t rip my eyes off of the smaller boy’s sexiness, despite the seriousness of the situation. Of course PopPop was examining him for abuse, but I was still a horny teenager right at the height of puberty so I couldn’t help lusting after the boy’s sexiness.
Swallowing the lump in my throat I stared at the tight satchel currently being manipulated by my grandfather’s fingers. It was about the size of a ping pong ball and rolled up tightly against his body just beneath his soft penis. When I had seen Joey’s little hacky sack it drooped slightly between his legs and I could tell Marty’s tightly packed one was definitely smaller. It was strange, but despite the tautness of Marty’s little knapsack I could still make out the fine shallow grooved creases which in my opinion added some character to it.
My grandfather’s fingers now began to inspect the shape and size of the smaller boy’s testicles, in the process pulling the taut membrane around the small cherry sized nuggets. I suppose he was checking to see if one was larger than the other, but they appeared to be about the same size; unlike mine, where the left one seemed to be a tad bigger and had dropped down slightly lower than the right one. Of course this wasn’t uncommon for a boy going through puberty at a certain age, all of which now triggered a thought for me. It was then I realized a part of the reason why my grandfather was doing this. Of course it was to check out the boy physically to make sure he wasn’t hurt in a sexual way, but also to help pinpoint the boy’s age. I’m sure it was something where my grandfather couldn’t be completely sure age wise since all boys entered puberty at their own pace and time; but nevertheless, since Marty was still hairless and obviously nowhere near puberty yet it would indicate he was younger.
The smaller boy looked down curiously the entire time watching what my grandfather was doing to him. It seemed kind of odd, but the boy didn’t even seem to be embarrassed by what was going on, almost as if it didn’t even matter. When I had a physical at the beginning of the school year it had been a bit embarrassing; especially, the part where I had to fight off popping a stiffie. For Marty, it didn’t appear as if getting felt up, even if it was in a medical manner, affected him because he didn’t chub up in the slightest remaining all soft down there throughout the entire process.
“Alright Marty, I need you to turn around now so I can take a look at your back.” My grandfather instructed casually.
The smaller boy looked towards me nervously, and I could tell he was afraid of showing Pops his welts and bruising. “It’s alright Marty; he just needs to inspect your injuries is all. It won’t hurt or anything and as a doctor he’s seen plenty of people who are hurt. It’ll be alright, I promise.” I assured the boy with him looking down at his feet looking frightened and embarrassed, but because I had said so, he slowly turned around.
Once more the blood drained from my face and my penis immediately deflated when I saw the condition of the boy’s backside. It was the second time I’ve seen it, but I still couldn’t shake the nauseous feeling inside my gut. Even PopPop seemed to blanch for a moment before ignoring his gut reaction and focusing on the task at hand. Reaching out, his hands moved lightly along Marty’s back quickly assessing the bruising before lingering along the various whipping striations along the back of the boy’s thighs and butt. The welts were too numerous to count with one weal on top of another indicating years and years of abuse.
With PopPop’s light nudging the younger boy bent over the bed allowing my grandfather to spread apart his butt cheeks. It was kind of weird seeing PopPop do that to the other boy, but on the other hand seeing the small little brownish pink opening on the boy also captured my curiosity. Despite the obvious abuse I still found myself chubbing up slightly due to this part of a boy’s anatomy. I’ve never thought much about this part of a boy’s body before, but seeing the pinkish brown like grommet made me curious.
Pausing for a moment my grandfather reached over to the small portable cabinet next to him and opened up a drawer. Pulling out a small tube he poured some of it on his finger forcing me to gulp because I knew what he intended to do.
“Marty, this might be a bit cool for a second when I rub some gel on your backside and then you will detect a bit of pressure back there as well. I know it will feel a bit strange and you will want to stiffen up, but when you feel the pressure try to relax so I can finish this last part of the examination. I promise it won’t hurt and I will take this slow, but you will need to try to stay calm, alright?” He asked with the other boy nodding before his eyes glanced towards me while I tried to smile reassuringly.
Once more PopPop peeled apart Marty’s two small pear shaped mounds, the welts across them glaring back angrily, and spread around a liberal amount of the gel along the rim of the boy’s tight eyelet. Adding more to his fingers I watched in fascination as he slipped it inside of the boy’s tight opening. Marty winced, but it didn’t seem to hurt him any. For me though, this was something totally strange, weird, yet also very electrifying to watch. All sorts of emotions began to bubble up inside of me because this was all new and strange territory for me, not to mention simply kind of wickedly weird to witness. In some ways I felt guilty about the way I was perving on the smaller boy, which in turn also confused me because of the way he was making me feel.
All of this flew to the way side with my eyes flaring open even further because I could tell PopPop was wiggling his finger around inside of the smaller boy like he were searching for something while Marty quivered trying to hold still. The way the smaller boy reacted to the invasion wasn’t from pain or anything, but something totally different. A few moments later Pops pulled his finger out and removed his gloves. Marty started to stand up, but my grandfather told him to lie still for a few minutes because he wanted to put some ointment on the boy’s welts to help them heal and to ease some of the pain. Rummaging through the drawers he pulled out another tube reading the label.
He was about to say something when his phone rang. Taking a look at the screen he answered it letting the other person on the other end know he will call them right back. Sighing, he glanced at me and patted my cheek knowing it was a bit difficult for me to see the welts and bruising on the smaller boy.
“Alright Marty, I need to talk to someone, but I’m going to have a nurse put this ointment on your skin to help them mend and to ease some of the pain from the welts.” He stated with the smaller boy immediately standing up and wrapping the gown around his waist shaking his head looking horrified at the prospect of someone else seeing his backside.
“It’s alright Marty because this is what the nurses do.” My grandfather tried to reason and jumped in surprise when the kid snatched the ointment from his hand while emphatically shaking his head.
My grandfather let out a small sigh and nodded his head. “Alright then, I’ll stay and do it.” He stated, but the boy shook his head no again. “It needs to be done Marty. I’m sure everything will heal on its own like it’s always done in the past, but we can’t take the chance of it getting infected, so it is important we put the ointment on.” He emphasized with Marty staring at my grandfather before glancing towards me.
To my surprise the smaller boy shoved the tube in my direction and when I hesitated reached out and forced it into my hand. Glancing over towards PopPop I swallowed hard because this was a bit awkward on so many levels. Pops seemed a bit surprised as well by the boy’s gesture, but he finally shrugged his shoulders indicating why not.
“D…do I need to put on the gloves?” I asked PopPop because a while back we had discovered I was allergic to the latex material used in these types of gloves.
One time I had to use them to clean up some dishes at one of the charity events we volunteered to help out in, and my hands began to peel. It had looked nasty and took a whole week for all the dead skin to disappear. It was strange because it didn’t really hurt or anything, but my hands had looked awful like a snake shedding its skin.
“Um…no it’ll be alright. We don’t want your skin to react again to the gloves. You can clean your hands with some of the sanitizer first and then again when you are done.” He instructed leaving us alone while he stepped out onto the other side of the curtain to make his call.
Squirting some of the disinfectant into my palms I rubbed them all over feeling the stuff evaporate as if in thin air before motioning Marty to lean back over the edge of the bed. The boy hesitated a moment and then set aside the gown doing what he was told. I squeezed out some of the gel like material from the tube feeling an almost cool soothing sensation on my finger before I hesitantly stepped up and grimaced. The back of the poor kid’s thighs and butt were ghastly looking with different shades of bruising along with bright red welts intermingled with puffy white ones that over the years had healed.
My hands trembled, but I leaned over and gently began to smear the material over the weal like streaks wincing because I felt for the kid and his pain. The boy didn’t even flinch and I became a little bolder applying the gel over him liberally. I had to swallow because Marty spread apart his legs when I began to apply the stuff on his thighs giving me more room to work with, but in the process exposed his tight little ball sack giving me the perfect view of its undercarriage. With him leaning up against the mattress it pressed up against his small tangerine creating a tight like bulge from my angle with even his two rounded nuggets outlined clearly against the pinkish color of his tight membrane. It made me shiver and I could feel myself getting a full blown on erection because of it.
In the background I could hear PopPop talking to Harriet on the phone. He told her from all indications the boy had to be between ten and twelve years old. He cautioned though that all of this was just speculation based on his height, weight, and the fact he hasn’t started puberty yet, which of course he pointed out all of which was a lousy indicator. In regards to puberty, at this stage in a boy’s life there were plenty enough adolescent kids out there without any outward appearance of puberty until they hit thirteen, fourteen, and even at times fifteen years old. As for height and weight, it was also flimsy at best because of the way he was obviously malnourished.
“There are definite signs of physical abuse Harriet, of that there is no doubt, and from all indications mental abuse as well. I mean there’s nothing wrong with his vocal cords that we can tell from the tests so this is one indication of mental abuse, the other indications are just small ones such as the types of things that frighten him.” He explained pausing as if he were listening to what was being said on the other end.
“Oh…um…hold on a minute.” I heard him say thinking he was going to step outside not wanting to be heard by us, but to my surprise he stepped into the bathroom instead.
It took me a second to realize he not only didn’t want us to hear what he had to say, but also probably didn’t want to have this conversation out in the hallway with other people around. Shrugging my shoulders I focused on Marty, but then the muffled voice of my grandfather drifted out into our bedroom. Evidently the bathroom door didn’t do much by way of concealing Pop’s deep resonating voice. His comments weren’t as clear or loud now, but I could still make out what he was saying.
“Yeah, had to duck in somewhere from prying ears. Listen Harriet, I didn’t detect any sexual abuse. I mean there doesn’t appear to be any anal penetration, and the way he reacted when I touched his penis and checked his scrotum sack there wasn’t any indication of him being stimulated in that way either. If the man forced himself on the boy there would be indications of anal penetration, but again I didn’t detect anything of the sort.” He sighed sounding relieved with there being a short pause while he evidently listened on the phone.
Then I heard him speak up again. “Well, if the boy was sexualized by the woman or in other ways there would be indicators when I gave him the exam. I mean sure some boys who haven’t been sexually abused still maybe get a slight erection sometimes when they are examined, but with Marty he simply didn’t react in any way at all. If anything he was a bit naïve about being touched down there. I’m fairly confident he wasn’t abused in that way. So, at least in some small ways this is a blessing considering the other things he’s had to endure.” He finished up with me blushing at the type of blunt conversation he was having about Marty and whether or not the boy was sexually experienced.
Finishing up, I closed the tube of ointment and cleaned my hands. “All done Marty, you can stand up and turn around so I can get the gown back on you.” I told him softly with the boy slowly standing up and turning around while I picked up his gown.
When I looked up it took all I could do to stifle a giggle. The kid was just too adorably cute with his eyes gazing towards the floor while his cheeks flushed red. He was holding his hands over the front of his privates and I could tell he had popped a stiffie while I had put the ointment on him. In a way it kind of surprised me how he appeared to be uncomfortable about it considering he didn’t seem to care about me seeing his pecker and balls earlier while he was getting an exam. If a friend of mine had been watching while I got a physical with my jig and tackle being manhandled I would have died in shame.
Thinking on it though I don’t know what would be more mortifying, me popping a stiffie or being ogled while getting a physical. I mean of course I’ve sort of popped wood before while taking a shower at school. I’m sure just about all of us boys had at one time or another while at school, and it was embarrassing with us simply turning towards the wall and hiding it until the damn thing went away. Thank goodness for the most part no one ever said anything about it knowing they might be the next one. So, even though I was curious about how he looked down there all boned up I didn’t want the boy to feel ashamed about it. In the end I ignored the situation and held the gown in front of me so he could slip his arms through the holes. He appeared relieved once he was covered up in front and I smiled at him fondly.
“You did really good today Marty. I’m so proud of you, and I just want you to know you have nothing to feel ashamed about. You look really nice naked…um…I mean…even with…you know…the back of your legs and butt. I know it kind of looks bad now Marty and you will probably always have some of those marks even after they mend, but it won’t be so bad after a bit, you’ll see.” I tried to help ease his mind about the way he looked in the back with the boy scrunching up his eyes not fully understanding and shrugging his shoulders.
“It’s been a long day so let’s get you under the covers and I’ll turn on the television set. I’m sure dinner will be along here shortly as well.” I smiled tying the strings loosely together in the back not worrying about his back end being exposed since he would be under the covers anyway.
The boy didn’t seem bothered by it either anymore, and he crawled up on to the bed and under the covers while I opened up the curtains again so we could watch some television together. I began to climb up as well when I heard a light tapping on the door.
“Come in.” I shouted turning around to see who it was.
“Uncle Oliva,” I shouted giddily, running towards him and launching myself into the air.
A while back I began calling him ‘uncle’ because I was spending so much time here with his son, Luke, when Nana and his mother were both sick. We were more like family and I only referred to him as Mr. Oliva when it was for official purposes. In private though, I always used the fond ‘Uncle’ reference. Luke always used Tama for PopPop, which is the Samoan word for father or grandfather. It was simply something that sort of happened since we were all spending so much time together.
The big man scooped me out of mid-air, easily lifting me up and tossing my body back up in the air before catching me again like I was simply some little doll. I giggled like a little girl and belted out laughing unable to contain myself. The man was really strong as he wrapped his arms around me holding me tight before kissing me on my cheek.
“Oh sorry Latham, you are probably getting a bit too old for such things.” He chuckled referring to the peck on the cheek.” Shrugging my shoulder I smiled back looking into his soft doe like brown eyes.
“Well Pops still does it too so I suppose you can too if you want.” I chuckled not minding the show of affection as he set me back down on my feet and ruffled my hair. “Besides, I still need to thank you for earlier. That was pretty intense.”
“Yeah, well I never really liked the prick…um…guy anyway.” He corrected himself because of me. “He was a real jerk and made things difficult for a lot of us around here. We are more like a family in the hospital you know. Oh…that reminds me of why I dropped by.” He smiled ruffling my hair again with the expression on my face hinting I wanted to know what it was.
“Oh, well my shift is ending and I wanted to drop by to see how you both are doing. I’m off tomorrow, Easter you know, but I figured I’d bring Luke over to visit for a bit. I understand Marty will check out of the hospital tomorrow, but I know my little munchkin would be upset if he didn’t get to visit with you a bit Latham. He misses you sorely and is always asking after you.” He stated with me getting a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside.
His son was only eleven years old, but we went through a lot together and I thought of him more like a close friend. At first it started out like an older and younger brother kind of relationship, but over time I no longer viewed him as some little kid and instead he ended up a very close friend of mine. When we got together it was like we both could tell each other anything, and in a way I think it was because we were both hurting so much since his mom and my grandmother had been very sick together.
“I miss him too Uncle Oliva, a whole bunch. When Nana died I don’t think I could have gotten through it without him. He was there for me…you know.” I told him sincerely struggling not to cry as I stepped up and wrapped my arms around his big frame.
The gentle giant wrapped me up in his warm loving embrace holding me soothingly until I calmed down. Then without warning I felt myself being lifted up and tossed into the air. I yelped in surprise and thought I was going to hit the ceiling. Slowly my body rotated and I felt my arm brushing up against the roof before the familiar sinking sensation took over when my body began to descend back towards the ground. Uncle Oliva snatched me back into his arms tousling me around a bit before dumping me on to the bed next to Marty who had such a big goofy grin on his face.
“Hey little man, I hope that nasty man earlier today didn’t scare you too much?” He asked Marty who seemed to beam at the man and shake his head no. “Good man,” Uncle Oliva smiled back affectionately tussling the boy’s hair.
Marty genuinely seemed to like Uncle Oliva which kind of surprised me considering how big and imposing the man could appear. I suppose the smaller boy could see how well I got along with the man so wasn’t intimidated by him. It made me happy to know Marty trusted him because I loved Uncle Oliva and his entire family. They were loving and caring people who had welcomed both me and PopPop into their family, and were there for us when my grandmother died. I was now really looking forward to Luke’s visit tomorrow. I hadn’t realized until just now how much I missed him as Uncle Oliva said his goodbyes saying he would drop off Luke tomorrow while he ran some errands.
Settling in next to Marty, the boy flashed me one of those rare smiles, before snuggling up to me. I smiled back feeling such a warm sensation spreading all inside of me. A short while later PopPop exited the bathroom checking in on us while I told him about Luke coming to visit tomorrow which made him smile too at the good news knowing it made me happy. We chatted for a few moments before he told us he had to do some rounds, but promised to have dinner delivered.
Even though it was early both of us fell asleep soon after eating. I don’t know how late it was when I heard Pop’s voice just on the outer edges of wakefulness talking to a nurse.
“No, just let them sleep in the same bed. It isn’t as if Marty is hooked up to a bunch of I.V. lines or monitors. Make sure to tell the next shift they aren’t to disturb the boys since there’s no need to take Marty’s blood pressure or monitor him because we will be checking out of the hospital tomorrow anyway.” He ordered with the nurse seeming to agree and letting him know they’d pass on the information.
A few moments later I felt a blanket settling over me and PopPop’s soft gentle voice. “I’m so proud of you Latham. You did a fine job with Marty. Sleep tight and I’ll see you in the morning.” I heard him whispering into my ears with me fading back to sleep all curled up with the smaller boy in my arms.
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End of Chapter Seven: A Different Kind Of Storm
Coming soon Chapter Eight: Innermost Demons
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