THIS WORK IS FULLY PROTECTED BY U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. NO PORTION OF THIS WORK MAY BE COPIED OR REDISTRIBUTED BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF ITS AUTHOR.
THIS WORK DEALS WITH A FICTITIONAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO MEN. IF READING ABOUT HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS OR SEXUAL CONTACT BETWEEN TWO MEN IS EITHER ILLEGAL IN YOUR AREA OR OFFENDS YOU, PLEASE DO NOT READY ANY FURTHER.
ANY SIMILARITIES TO ANY PERSON LIVING OR DEAD ARE PURELY COINCIDENTAL. THIS WORK IS ENTIRELY FICTITIONAL.
Guys I really appreciate all the great responses you've sent me after the original posting of Daniel's Love. Because of these letters and the multitude of requests I am writing the sequel. Since these characters have taken on a life of their own, they are writing this story, not me. We will continue as they direct. Again, thanks for the encouragement.
DANIEL'S LOVE
Michael A. Raburn
Chapter 7
I felt like a part of my own body was being ripped from my chest when I caught the first glimpse of his crumpled body lying beside the dumpster. Daniel and I had been frantically searching the streets and alleys between the subway station and Cornelia's building for the past hour. Monica came running to join us after she had posted Marcie by the phone to talk with the police if they called back and to get in touch with the Averys.
We tried to approach the search in as orderly pattern as we could come up with in the state of mind we were in. Daniel and Monica were asking anyone they saw on the streets if they had seen the boys. Luckily we had copies of the kids' school pictures in our wallets. While they were searching the crowds, I had begun to enter each alleyway as we approached them. Maybe the kids were scared and had hidden from the guy that had bothered Marcie. The alley seemed a logical place for them to hide until they felt safe.
I could barely tell who the boy was when I first found him. I almost tripped over what I though was a vagrant before I recognized the new shirt he had wanted so badly the last time we went shopping. Lying in a heap, unconscious, Jason looked like he was asleep except for the bruises around his head and the blood oozing from his obviously broken nose. At least he was still breathing even though I could not wake him up. Within a few minutes a police officer had heard my yells for help and joined me in checking him for injuries. The officer radioed for an ambulance that seemed to take forever to get there.
"Is he asleep?" I asked of no one in particular. Daniel and I had been allowed to visit for a few minutes after the emergency room people had examined Jason and then admitted him to the intensive care unit. We were torn between going with him to the hospital or staying to continue searching for Kyle. Monica had finally decided for us and pushed us towards Jason. We both jumped into the ambulance and left Monica and the police to continue the search for Kyle.
"Mr. Jamison, Jason has some pretty nasty broken ribs and a broken nose as well as lots of bruises. We don't have him here for those, but because he might have some type of head injury. We didn't see anything in the CT scan that emergency did, but for some reason he is still unconscious." The doctor tried to explain.
"When will he wake up?" Daniel asked, pulling me closer.
"We're not sure, there are several more tests that we need to perform. Ultimately it's up to him and how quickly he heals. Here in ICU he can get the best care we can give him. A nurse will be with him around the clock. It would probably be a good idea for you to go back and try to get some sleep."
"No, I'm staying with my child." Daniel protested.
"You can only visit for fifteen minutes every hour. I'm sorry, but those are the hospital's rules." The doctor explained.
"Fine, but I'm not leaving him."
We both bent to kiss Jason's forehead then I ushered Daniel from the ICU unit to find the waiting room that the nurse indicated. Daniel got us both coffee as I tried to remember the number for Cornelia's apartment. If I was going to leave Daniel here to sit with Jason, I was not going to leave him alone. Marcie answered the phone on the first ring and explained that the Averys were there waiting with her. So far nothing had been found, no clues to Kyle's whereabouts. The police had assured her that they were still searching the streets and the train stations. I explained our situation at the hospital and passed along what little information we had about Jason. Mr. Avery insisted that he and his wife would be at the hospital in a few minutes to relieve me and to sit with Daniel.
"Paul, what are we going to do?" Daniel's voice warmed my neck as he spoke.
"Baby, we're gonna find Kyle. Jason's going to get well and we're going to get past this, like we always have. We'll all be fine." I tried to reassure him.
"But, he could be anywhere." He cried, clinging to me.
I wrapped my arms more tightly around him. For some reason, I had not shed a tear since leaving the apartment. Whether it was the adrenalin rush I had been living on or the anger that I was feeling about what had happened, I did not have the time to fall apart. Someone had to be strong to get us through this mess.
Every possible situation passed through my head while I sat there with my lover. Had they been mugged for money? If so, where was Kyle? The kids probably did not have more than fifty or sixty dollars between the two of them, hardly worth the effort to beat up Jason. Was it some kind of kidnapping for ransom? Daniel and my picture had been splashed around the media back in the summer. We were not really living a life in the public eye, but we were known. That stupid reporter that had interviewed me in Atlanta before the shooting had been in touch with Nina several times to try to get a follow-up interview. She had released the information about the kids after we had been granted custody. Was there some kind of black market trade in young boys for prostitution active in the New York City area? If that was the motive, why get rid of Jason? He was just as handsome as Kyle. What about child pornography?
I was becoming more and more agitated as these thoughts flew around me. With Jason still unconscious, there was no way to get any information from him. I was finding it hard to sit still and wanted to run back into the streets to find my other child. Daniel had sensed my nervous energy and was rubbing my back to try to calm me. By the time the Averys arrived I was ready to jump out of my skin, I was so keyed up.
"Paul, what do you think you'll accomplish out there? Let the police do their job." Mr. Avery said. "You need some rest, both of you."
"Arthur, I can't sit here and wait. I've got to get back out there and find him."
"What good will you be able to do. You hardly know the city?" Mrs. Avery asked.
"I've got to do it. I'm gonna go crazy if I stay here. Oh, shit! Has anybody called Cornelia? She can't hear this on the news."
"Paul, I'll call her. You go do what you have to do." Daniel stood to embrace me. "Just be careful out there. I love you."
"I love you too, baby. I'll be back as soon as I find him." I leaned to kiss Daniel.
"Well, I'm going with you, Paul. Rose, you stay with the boys."
"You be careful, you old coot." Mrs. Avery kissed her husband good-bye.
"Daniel, what are you doing back here? How is Jason?" I asked when I saw him lying on the sofa.
Arthur Avery and I had spent the last eight hours walking up and down the streets that surrounded the apartment building talking to everyone we met. We looked in every garbage can and dumpster we found and had even opened a few garbage bags, all to no avail. None of the people on the streets and none of the shopkeepers in the area had seen anything. Arthur tried to keep me as focused on the task at hand and got me moving the few times I nearly broke down.
I had noticed during the shift change that the police detail had dwindled as the morning had gone by. A sergeant confided in Arthur that statistically the longer a child is missing, the greater the chance that he will not be found. He felt it would be easier for me to hear that news from a friend and not from the police. Boy, was he wrong about that.
"Cornelia breezed into the hospital this morning and insisted I come home. She's still there with Mrs. Avery. There had been no change in Jason when I left." He answered, rising to meet us.
"How did she get here so fast?"
"She had that crazy pilot crank up that jet. I must have dozed off because she woke me up when she dropped her overnight case beside me."
"You two try to get some rest. I'm going by the hospital to see what's happening." Arthur turned to leave.
"I'm going with you." I said.
"Oh no you're not. Do I need to get Cornelia over here?" He chuckled. "You're going to drop if you don't get some sleep. We can handle it for a little while."
"Thank you. We'll try to get a few hours sleep then will come over to the hospital. Will you call us if he wakes up?" Daniel asked.
"You know I will. Try to get some sleep."
Daniel led me towards the bedroom. He kicked off his shoes and went off to the bathroom. He came back into the room and found me still standing in the same place. I was too tired and too emotionally drained to maintain a linear thought. I was standing in the middle of the bedroom trying to remember what I was supposed to be doing and where I was.
Like he would a child, Daniel undressed me and tucked me into bed. He slid in next to me and pulled me to his chest. Being back in his embrace somehow tore down the emotional dam I had been trying so hard to reinforce since we had left the apartment the night before. Great sobbing cries broke from my throat as he cradled my head against him. I must have reached the breaking point; I had been strong as long as I could. I am not sure how long I cried before I finally wore myself out and fell into a fitful sleep.
"Cornelia, he's either going to go back into his depression or he's going to try to hold it together and make us think he's in control." I heard Nina's voice coming from the sitting room.
"Well, hell. We've got to find that boy and get him back here. I'm not sure how much more those two men can go through and not be destroyed. You know how long it took Paul to get over the shooting and to put that behind him. Did you see Daniel? He looked like he didn't sleep one minute. And you don't look a hell of a lot better, Paul." Cornelia said as I wandered into the room.
"Where's Daniel?" I grumped.
"He went over to the hospital. Alan and Mikey are with him." Nina replied.
"I need to get back over there. Oh, when did you get here?"
"Oh, no you don't. You're going to stay here and at least get a little breakfast in you before you get back out and start stalking the streets again." Cornelia protested.
"Where is he?" I sobbed.
Cornelia pulled me into a hug. "Go get showered and dressed, son. We'll go over as soon as you eat something."
The phone was ringing when I got out of the shower. I quickly dressed, fearing the worst.
"Okay, we'll be there in a few minutes." Nina was hanging up when I emerged from the bedroom. "Jason's awake. The police are talking to him now. Let's go."
"Here, Paul, eat this." Cornelia handed me a bagel.
"Yes, mother." I whined.
By the time we had arrived at the hospital, Jason had been moved to a private room. The news leaks were doing their typical fast as light work; there were reporters everywhere. Cornelia, Nina and I had to practically fight our way through the throng of microphones that were stuck in our faces. The hospital guards finally came to our rescue and ushered us through the doors and to the elevator.
Alan was standing guard at the door when we emerged from the elevators on the fifth floor. Thank goodness we had a security guard in the family.
"Hey buddy, how are you holding up?" Alan asked.
"Thanks for coming Alan. I'm...fine, I guess." I grabbed him into a hug. "How's my boy?"
"Well, the police just left him. I don't know what he told them, but obviously they told him Kyle was missing."
"Ooh, oh."
"He's still a little rattled. The doctor had to give him something to calm him down. He was screaming for Kyle and for somebody to not take him away."
I pushed open the door to see Jason cradled in Daniel's arms. Mikey and Monica were sitting across from the bed. A lot of the tubes and monitors that had been with him in the ICU had been removed. The sedation seemed to have calmed him down, but he was still away, softly crying on Daniel's chest. There were bandages around his chest and across his nose.
"Daddy!" he yelled when he saw me.
I rushed to the bed and moved Jason into my arms.
"Daddy, we've got to get him back. He'll kill him..." he sobbed uncontrollably.
"Who, Jace? Who has him?" I was rubbing stray hair back from his eyes.
"His father." Daniel whispered.