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Written by: Nicky Smith Edited by: JD Kaster
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: UNCERTAINTY
BEAR'S POV
"Can I stop now?" I asked as I was getting pretty tired. Who knew we had so much stuff crammed into the attic. My mother had commissioned me to bring down all the junk in the attic that she wanted to get rid of aka "give" to charity. I was actually surprised it had taken her that long to do so with how she liked to volunteer for charity events.
"No you may not. We still have quite a few things to move," she said while putting stuff into another box for me to take down.
"This is unfair treatment," I told her but she just looked at me for a few seconds before rolling her eyes and going back to her work.
I just sighed as I knew I was in for the long haul. I just thought of Trey and his smile. He always had the uncanny ability to make me happy with very little effort. His beautiful smile, his amazing eyes, his heart that was bigger than anything that I knew. It didn't hurt that he was also hung like a horse.
"Stop thinking about Trey and move that box over to the corner," mom said before pulling out another box.
"What makes you think I'm thinking about him?" I asked as she couldn't have known.
"Well, that is a big indicator," she said with an amused smirk. I looked down fast to check and make sure because there was no way I could be standing in front of my mother with an obvious boner. When I did look she laughed because it was obvious that she was messing with me.
"That's not funny," I said with a scowl.
"Yes it is, and I knew you were thinking about Trey because you had that big goofy grin on your face that only he seems to be able to inspire," she said before shaking her head at her completely love-struck son I imagine.
"Well, I'm off," Steph said as she stepped into the attic dressed like she was going to a party or something.
"Where are you going?" I asked because there was no way she was leaving with me here doing all of this work.
"I'm going to my friend Kelly Carlson's house," she said with a "duh" look on her face.
"No you're not. You don't get to leave and I have to stay here," I told her even though she hadn't done much in the first place.
"Bear, I told her she could go," mom interjected which earned her an incredulous look from me.
"Why am I the only person doing this? Aside from this brat, you do have a husband and another son, you know," I said. I hadn't seen dad all day and Brian was supposed to have his ass here too.
"I know dear, but they're not build like you are," mom said. I'm sure she was trying for the compliment but I wasn't in the mood for it.
"See, all that muscle and height can be a detriment sometimes. Anyway, I'm out," Steph said before she turned and started walking toward the steps.
"Wait just a minute," I said but my phone ringing with Sean's ring-tone interrupted me.
"Hello," I said. I was about to beg him to come and help me, but it was so noisy on the phone. It sounded like sirens in the background.
"Bear, it's Sean," Sean said, but he sounded like he'd been crying and immediately my chest started getting tight.
"What is it?" I asked. I heard the dread in my own voice and my mother and sister must have too as they both came over toward me.
"Bear... it's bad," Sean said stalling. I don't know why I knew but I could tell.
"What is it dammit?" I asked and again I could hear my emotions in my voice.
"It's Trey. He's been shot man. It's bad...," I heard him say before his voice seemed to fade out as everything started to get fuzzy. That feeling I'd had earlier that made me need to hear his voice had a reason now because it was back and it was crushing me. I vaguely heard my phone hit the floor.
"Bear, what is it?" I heard my mom say as she gripped my arm, but it sounded like she was far away.
I heard Steph talking to someone. I heard her say Sean's name and I guess she was talking to him. I then heard my mother talking to Sean as I heard her say his name. I felt Steph put her hand on my arm and I sort of heard what she was saying but it was drowned out by my heart beating so loud that I thought it was going to burst. I heard my mother again say something to me, but I couldn't make it out. She finally shook me as she shouted.
"Bear! Can you hear me!" she shouted while shaking me. I was finally able to shake the fog a bit.
"Yeah," I was finally able to say.
"We need to go to the hospital. Go and change your clothes so we can go," she ordered and I started walking after a bit toward my room. I don't know why, but I was imagining the worst and the reality of it made my body heavy and my movements sluggish.
My body was on autopilot as I entered my room and changed my clothes. I then walked downstairs to see my mom and sister waiting for me. When she saw me Steph stood and walked toward me. She looped her arm around mine and sort of pulled me toward the door with our mom following behind. We got in my truck with my mom driving and Steph laid her head on my arm to try and comfort me as mom pulled out and headed for the hospital.
I don't know why, but as soon as we arrived at the hospital, my sluggishness wore off and I couldn't get to Trey fast enough. Steph and I had gotten out of the truck at the door while mom went to park. We walked in and there was so much commotion that you would think it was some kind of accident or gang war aftermath. We saw the desk and we both rushed towards it.
"Where can we find Trey Healey?" Steph asked before I was able to.
"Are you family?" the woman asked even though it was obvious that she already knew the answer seeing as Trey was black, while Steph and I were white, although that didn't mean that we couldn't be related.
"Well no, but..." Steph said before trailing off.
"Well I'm sorry but-" she started before I interrupted.
"I'm his fiancé," I blurted loudly and several people around us turned to look at me. The woman looked at me for several seconds with a strange look before she continued.
"Well fiancé, like I was about to say, only immediate family are allowed back there," she said taking on a stern expression that also said that she didn't believe me.
"Listen to me lady. The man that I love is in there and I'm his family too. You're going to let me back there or I'm going to tear this place apart," I said. I heard the menacing tone in my voice and when I looked, the other two receptionists looked terrified of me, even Steph had taken a careful step away from me. The lady in front of me however wasn't intimidated in the least, or she was a great actress.
"Don't make me call security," she with a stony gaze.
"Go ahead. You're gonna be glad we're at a hospital when I'm done up in here," I threatened back with as much malice as I could muster.
"Barry Davidson!" I heard in my mother's stern reprimanding tone which served to cool my anger a bit.
"Mom..." Steph tried but mom stopped her.
"Don't. Bear, you apologize to this woman immediately," mom demanded and the woman had the nerve to smirk at me. I was spared this indignity though.
"Bear," I heard and turned to see Nicole standing at the door to the family waiting room that she held open. She waved us forward and we headed in her direction. The annoying receptionist tried to stop us, but mom turned and looked at her. I have no idea how she looked, but whatever it was the lady finally backed off.
We followed Nicole down a corridor until we arrived at what I guessed was the waiting room for family only. We walked in and I saw Trey's family there and it suddenly became very real. Mom walked over and hugged Trey's parents while Steph walked over and said something to Calvin. Nicole walked over to Zane who looked pissed.
"Hey son, how are you?" Mr. H said as he walked up to me. I wanted to ask how he was, but I just couldn't speak. I guess he realized this as he just pulled me to him and hugged me. Knowing that this man was the father of the guy I loved, who was fighting for his life made me feel angry with myself that I couldn't bring myself to man up and comfort him.
He walked us over to the chairs and we both sat down and waited. It was a few minutes before Sean walked in followed by two cops. Sean saw me and he looked sad, but also strangely guilty. I had no idea what he had to feel guilty about as I didn't have most of the details about what had happened.
"Sean, what happened?" Mr. H asked as he stood. Mrs. H and Calvin came over as well. He looked back at the cops and they nodded before the younger one walked over to Zane and they seemed to be talking about something.
"I don't know all the details but I know I was on the phone with Justice when I pulled over to the park's outskirts. I was cleaning out my car when I heard a loud yell. I went looking and I ended up in the secluded area and saw Trey involved in a fight with a group of guys," he said and I couldn't believe what I'd heard. Trey didn't get into fights, except that one but that was more my fault than any other.
"Group of guys?" Mrs. H asked. She looked like she had aged years since the last time I'd seen her.
"Yes ma'am. We apprehended 5 individuals," the older cop answered. His partner was still talking to Zane who still looked pissed. I guessed that it was about what had happened to Trey, but something told me there was more to that.
"5 boys were beating up on my Trey?" Mrs. H asked and I had the same thought along with ripping them limb from limb.
"Actually ma'am, they weren't boys. The oldest one of them was 24 years old and the youngest was 21," the cop corrected but it didn't matter one bit to me.
"Why would 5 men be beating up on my son?" Mr. H asked with a barely contained anger.
"It was Kent Davis and his friends," Sean said angrily and it took a minute to realize who he was talking about.
"What?" Mom exclaimed.
"I take it you know this Kent Davis individual?" the cop asked?
"The Davises have lived across the street from us for 14 years," Mrs. H said through gritted teeth. Kent Davis had been a hotshot track star in his senior year when we started high school.
"Well, your son as well as the other young man were shot by this Kent Davis," the cop said and I was confused. Why would Kent shoot one of his own friends? Before anyone could answer a couple walked into the room. The man was holding the woman and she was crying. They couple looked familiar. Sean walked over to them.
"Mr. Harrow, how's Clyde?" Sean asked and then it clicked. They were Clyde Harrow's parents, but why would they be at the hospital and what had happened to Clyde?
"He didn't make it son," Mr. Harrow said in a tone thick with emotion. His wife started sobbing loudly then. The cop talking to us then sighed deeply.
"That's a charge of murder for Mr. Davis," the cop said and I couldn't believe what was happening. Trey had been shot by Kent Davis and apparently Clyde had also been there and now he was also apparently dead.
I couldn't process what was going on so I just dropped back down in my chair. Mom came over and sat next to me and Mrs. H sat on the other side. After talking with Trey's parents for a few more minutes the other cop walked over and started talking to Zane as well. Sean came over after talking to Mr. Harrow for a few minutes.
He told us the rest of the story. That Trey had been pummeling Kent in his face when he got there but one of Kent's friends had stopped that and that he had gotten into a fight with him. That he'd noticed Clyde was there fighting two of the other guys and that Kent had pulled a gun, aimed it at Trey, and before he could stop him he'd fired 4 shots.
Clyde had somehow gotten to Trey before the first bullet was truly fired and he took all 4 in the back, but two had passed through him and into Trey. I listened to this and I was consumed with sadness and anger. I'd never felt anger like I felt then, not even with Zane. It was probably a good idea if I never saw Kent as I wouldn't stop until I killed him. We all looked up when a doctor walked in with a somber look on his face and my heart constricted so tightly I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
"Are you Trey Healey's parents?" he asked to the Healeys and they both nodded as they stood. Zane came over to us to hear what the doctor had to say.
"I'm Dr. Miller. I'm the surgeon that operated on your son," he said but he sounded like he was stalling.
"How is my son?" Mrs. H asked anxiously.
"Let's sit down," he said again obviously stalling.
"Just tell us how our son is doing," Mr. H said a bit exasperatedly.
"Well, one of the bullets hit your son in his liver. That was relatively easy to remove. The second however, severed one of the vital arteries of his heart," Dr. Miller said. He was trying to sound as neutral as possible but I could tell that something was wrong.
"Just get on with it dammit," I finally said. Everyone looked at me and I could tell that mom was about to probably scold me for interrupting in such a rude way, but Mrs. H shook her head slightly and mom backed off.
"Yes well, Trey's heart stopped beating twice on the table. We were able to get him back both times of course, but the second time his brain was without oxygen for a bit and well, Trey's in a coma right now," he said and just like that he had destroyed me.
Trey's heart had stopped beating. He was in a coma. He'd been shot for who knows what and as a result was lying in a hospital in a coma and one of my teammates, who had apparently tried to save him was dead. I stood and walked out of the room and started to run, Sean followed me and when I got out into the common waiting room I saw that Liberty and the others were there along with some of the guys from the team. They all stood and I just walked over to them. Liberty pulled me into a hug and everyone else crowded around and gave me a group hug.
"How is our guy?" Justice asked, but I couldn't speak so Sean told them. He also told the guys that Clyde was dead. About a minute later Zane charged out of the direction of where Sean and I had come from with Nicole running after him. He told her to stay there before he left the hospital. I just knew he was on his way to see Kent and I hoped that he'd save a piece of him for me.
ZANE'S POV
I was so pissed for more than one reason. When I'd heard that Trey had been shot my captain had ordered me to stay out of it. I know I was a rookie, but my brother had just been shot and I had to just sit there and wait until they decided to tell me what had happened to him like everyone else. My partner Brett fortunately had told me that the bastard Kent had been arrested and was in lockup at the precinct which was good because I was going to pay him a visit
I arrived at the station and made a call to Ivy before walking inside. I headed for lockup and talked to the cop who was on duty down there. He looked at me and I know that he'd probably been told to keep me out of there but something didn't let him as he finally let me in. Another cop led me in and we walked down and saw the other guys who were involved kept two to a cell like the first cop had told me. Kent was at the end of the corridor in his own cell which was perfect.
"Hello Kent," I said coldly as I walked in and the cell was closed and locked behind me before he walked away.
"What are you doing here?" he asked with a scowl. He had the nerve to have attitude with me at a time like this.
"What am I doing here? I'm here to have a little chat with you," I told him as I stepped toward him.
"Let me guess, you want to hurt me for doing my community a service?" he asked with a smug look on his face. I just couldn't believe he was in jail for attempted murder and now murder too and yet he looked like it didn't affect him in the least. The guy had to be a sociopath.
"You call shooting someone and killing another community service?" I asked incredulously. My anger was getting too much to handle.
"Yeah, I call ridding the world of the filth that is your fag brother a service. As for that other guy, I'm sorry he died but it's his own fault for trying to be a hero. If he had stayed out of it he'd be alive now," he said with no remorse.
"And my brother would be the one who's dead," I finished for him.
"Of course. See how that works," he said as he sat back and smirked at me.
"You know what? I'm gonna make you regret saying all of what you just said," I told him before making sure to flash him a sinister smile.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked finally dropping the smugness and sounding slightly concerned.
"Don't you worry about that," I said before calling for the cop to open the door.
"Nuh uh, what do you mean?" he asked sounding worried now.
"No see, you had the chance to talk to me like a person, but you wanted to be a bitch, so now I'm gonna see that you get treated like one, for you see, you're about to be shipped off to real jail. That should be fun," I told him as the cop arrived and unlocked the cell and I stepped out.
"Wait a second," he said as he rushed to the bars.
"Oh and, there should be a lawyer getting in touch with you within a week. You should be ready to talk to her by then," I said before leaving despite his protests. I smiled knowing that despite his efforts to get to me, I had gotten the last say and left him worried about his fate.
BEAR'S POV
"Baby, it's me, Bear. Can you hear me?" I asked him but there was no response. I'd heard somewhere that people in a coma could hear what you were saying so I was intent on talking to him anyway.
It had been a few hours since Zane had run out of the hospital before they let anyone in to see Trey. His parents went in first followed by Calvin and Nicole. I'd had a strange thought of where Trey's sisters were but his father told me that they were at a friend's house. That's when I learned that I'd voiced my thought out loud.
I finally got my turn and they told me to take my time so I did. I'd been told by the doctors though that I shouldn't stay too long as his parents and Calvin and Nicole hadn't either. I was going to stay though for as long as they let me.
I held his hand, which comforted me a bit to see was warm, and talked to him. I told him about how my mom had been torturing me all day and about how I'd wanted to see him early in the morning. I then told him that our friends were all outside waiting for him to wake up.
I then started talking about any and everything that had to do with us, from memories of the past to my plans for our future. All along I held his hand and promised myself that I'd stay there with him as much as possible until he woke up. I was sure that he would wake up any day and I'd get to see those eyes of his and he'd smile at me and my world would make sense again. I just had to wait.
TWO MONTHS LATER...
It had been two months since my world was shattered. Trey still hadn't woken up and it worried the doctors for a while, until they finally did the last tests and said that there was a very good chance that there had been some brain damage when Trey's heart had stopped the second time and that there was a relatively high chance that he'd never wake up.
I refused to accept this as it couldn't be possible that he'd be like this forever when there had been no head wound but then came the shock that there had been a head wound when he hit the ground after being shot. There had been a good sized rock that his head had hit which they said could be contributing to the coma. They had also found previous damage of head trauma and I knew that it had been when Zane had attacked him. Zane took that part hard and left the hospital after hearing it as I'm sure he blamed himself some for Trey's persistent coma.
Hearing that I went out and got drunk to dull the pain of hearing that Trey might never wake up again. I couldn't imagine a world without Trey in it being all cynical and smart and smiling at me and giving me motivation to get up in the morning. It truly made me hate Kent Davis and want him to fry, especially since our lives weren't the only ones he'd turned upside down.
I was finally able to muster up the will to talk to Clyde's parents and offer my condolences. They were nice enough but they were dealing with the death of their son so I forgave them any perceived standoffishness.
We all went to Clyde's funeral and everything was fine until Clyde's uncle got up and blamed Trey for Clyde's death. He went on about how Clyde threw his life away to protect some "homosexual" he barely knew. He made a point to add emphasis on that word, and really, there was no need for him to bring that up.
I was sitting with the team and Sean and Carter had to stop me from getting up and rearranging the guy's face. Clyde's father was kind of apologetic to Trey's family about his brother's remarks but I'd noticed that he hadn't gotten up to stop him. They guy's wife had to get him to sit down. I just offered my condolences to the man again and left before my anger got the better of me. It again made me hate Kent for everything he'd done.
Speaking of the rat bastard, thanks to Sean's statement as well as Kent's friends testifying against him when it was revealed that Justice had recorded what she had heard over the phone, Kent had gotten life without the possibility of parole for assault, attempted murder, and murder in the first degree.
His friends meanwhile had gotten reduced sentences of 5 years each for their part in holding Clyde and Trey captive and assault. I wanted them all to fry for what they'd done to Trey, and Clyde too. Ivy wanted to prosecute them all but she was both still too new to her firm and the Bar, and she wasn't a prosecutor. Ivy's father, who was the D.A. was the one who did it and I think he went for the jugular in Ivy's place.
I tried to get in numerous times to see Kent, but after the first time I saw him during the trial, I made the mistake of trying to kill him in front of other people so now I was barred from seeing him by his attorney. Ivy tried to cut through the legal red tape, but was unable to.
One of the sickest and saddest parts of the whole thing was that Kent's parents blamed Trey for their son being in prison. Mr. H lit into Mr. Davis and there was a brawl of words and fists at the sentencing hearing.
"Life without parole. I guess that's fine," Mrs. H said.
"I wanted that bastard to fry for what he did to Trey," Mr. H said with a dangerous scowl.
"I still think that I could have done better," Ivy said but I doubted it.
"What do you think you could have done that your pops didn't?" Zane asked and I agreed because he was a beast about getting all of them the max sentence they could get.
"I would have gotten us the right to light that bastard on fire in the streets. Don't forget that he not only shot Trey but he actually did kill that Clyde boy," Ivy said with a cold look.
"Remind me not to get on your bad side," Nicole said in an offhanded way.
"Well I hope you're happy," we heard. We all turned and saw Mr. and Mrs. Davis coming toward us with Jeremy bringing up the rear.
"Well no I'm not happy if you want to know. If I had my way, you're boy would be on death row right now, " Mr. H said.
"Yeah well he's not on death row. Your son deserves what he got anyway," Mr. Davis said with a sneer. I started toward him to kick his ass but Calvin grabbed my arm.
"My son was shot by your son and is now in a coma. Another boy was killed by your son and you have the nerve to stand here and get up in my dammed face. You should have gotten a hold of your son before he got a gun and ended someone's life and almost ended another," Mr. H said. He said it calmly enough but I could tell he was a ticking time bomb.
"That boy's death is your sissy son's fault too. Hell, he was probably fucking your boy for all you know," Mr. Davis said with distaste on his face. I lost it then and charged toward him. It took almost all of them to hold me back.
"You shut your fucking lying homophobic mouth about Trey!" I yelled and he had the nerve to smirk at me. The court guards headed in our direction.
"Can't stand the truth about your little faggot?" he asked with that same smug smirk.
"You better be glad that your son is locked up where I can't get to him, otherwise I'd wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until there wasn't life left in his body," I heard myself say in a snarl. I was so angry and so vengeful that my head hurt.
"Is there a problem over here?" the guards asked when they reached us.
"No problem here," Ivy said trying to smooth things over.
"Except my son is locked up because he tried to teach your sissy son a lesson for turning my nephew into a fag," Mr. Davis said and that was it for Mr. H as he dived for him and decked him right in the jaw.
The guards tried to break it up but they were both determined to fight this out. Zane finally had to get involved by showing the guards his badge and he then got me and Calvin to help him get them apart with Jeremy joining in to help as well. He told them that he's have to arrest them if they didn't stop. Mr. H looked shocked that his son would say something like that to him. Mr. Davis looked like he finally remembered that Zane was a cop and backed off a bit.
"Kenneth, lets go. We have nothing more to say to these people," Mrs. Davis said in a cold tone. They walked away and Jeremy looked back and looked remorseful and like he wanted to say something, but then changed his mind and followed his parents. I was glad as I wasn't sure I had the patience to hear what he had to say, even though none of this was his fault in any way.
So after that Kent was sent to prison for his life sentence and his friends were locked up for the next 5 years. I couldn't help not being satisfied with what happened to them but it was better than Kent getting any chance at freedom. I had to admit though that after some time passed, I noticed that Kent started to lose that defiance and smugness that he had as the trial went on.
I brought this up to Zane and he told me in confidence that he'd arranged for Kent to make some special friends in jail. I had a feeling what he meant, but I decided not to question him on it. I could tell that this whole thing was wearing on Zane, probably because it was supposed to be his job to protect his family. I'm sure it's why he became a cop. I understood how he felt as I was disappointed in my inability to prevent this from happening to Trey.
I knew that I had no way to stop what had happened, which is what my family, Trey's family, and my friends tried to tell me, but I was still stuck on blaming myself. What if I had just ditched my mother and gone over to his house? What if I'd made good on my statement to find Clyde a private tutor?
I initially had questions about why this happened and the circumstances surrounding this whole thing. Like, why would Kent suddenly try to kill Trey? What was Clyde doing at the park with him? Some of the question were answered by the testimonies of Kent's friends, but I just couldn't help but feel like something still wasn't right and that feeling was really strong whenever I was around Sean.
I even asked him if he'd told me everything about what had happened but he just said that I knew everything he did. He then started avoiding me and that was a big red flag until Justice asked him and he told her that he felt guilty that he wasn't able to save Trey and Clyde. I understood that so I let it drop for the most part, but that feeling still persisted.
"Hey," I heard. I turned and it was Liberty and Justice.
"Hey yourself," I said back to Liberty.
"Still nothing?" Justice asked as the both sat on the couch on the right side of Trey's bed. I was sitting in a chair next to the bed holding his hand like I always did.
"Nope, still the same," I said sullenly.
"This is just Trey being lazy. He's worked so hard being all smart and everything so now he's just taking a break while laying on his ass worrying us," Liberty said and if only that was all it was.
"Yeah, he'll probably wake up any time now and ask for a cheeseburger or something," Justice said and I knew what they were doing and I appreciated it.
"He liked to make fun of the way I ate. He said I was always scarfing down my food," I said remembering the times he'd look at me while I ate as if he were watching some wild beast feeding for the first time in a while.
"Well you do. Sean does it too. You both eat like wild animals," Justice responded and we had a brief chuckle.
"Hey I can't help it. I'm a growing boy after all," I joked.
"Growing boy? If you grow any more, your nickname will have to be changed to Goliath," Liberty joked as well. We laughed a bit and it felt good to do so after so long, but it was short lived as it seemed that it dawned on all three of us around the same time that Trey was lying in a hospital bed unable to join in on the joking.
"Things aren't the same without him. Without him around unwittingly making everyone feel inferior, it's just not the same," Liberty said in a slight joking manner.
"He never made me feel inferior," Justice added and Liberty rolled her eyes.
"Whatever Justice," Liberty retorted.
"What're we gonna do for spring break?" Justice asked and it was a non-issue for me.
"What spring break? As long as Trey is lying here in this bed, there is no spring break for me," I said and meant it.
"Bear, he's gonna be awake by then," Justice said which only served to piss me off.
"You don't know that. We all never thought he'd be here this long but look at him. He's still here," I argued.
"Alright, let's not get heated over this. Bear, Justice is right. We need to start making plans for things because Trey's not going to be in this bed for much longer. The world is not the same without him being awake so I refuse to believe that he's gonna be in that bed indefinitely," Liberty said trying to be the voice of reason. I wanted to believe her and take her words to heart, but I was so lost without Trey that I barely had the strength to believe anymore.
Liberty and Justice had left after a while but they talked to Trey before they left. They told him how much they missed him and were waiting for him to wake up and talk to them. Then they each gave him a kiss on the cheek before they left.
I was getting hungry and it would be a while before Trey's mother arrived as she stayed the nights with him sometimes. I decided to go in search of a vending machine and found one with some snacks. I loaded up and headed back to Trey's room. Before I got there though I saw Jeremy standing just outside the door to his room.
He looked like he'd been there for a couple of minutes and he looked hesitant on if he wanted to enter the room. I guess he felt someone looking at him as he turned and looked at me. He looked nervous when he saw me. He started to look like he was about to bolt so I walked up to him.
"Hey Jeremy," I told him as I reached him. He still looked like he wanted to bolt but I think he assumed it would be rude to do so after I'd spoken to him.
"Hey," he said a bit sullenly.
"What's going on?" I asked him. We were just standing there and he looked extremely uncomfortable being around me.
"Nothing much," he said a bit quietly. I was confused where this behavior was coming from as he wasn't in any way responsible for Trey being in the hospital.
"Did you wanna see Trey?" I asked as I walked over to the door.
"Um," he said before trailing off.
"What's wrong Jeremy?" I finally asked.
"I think I'm just gonna go," he said as he started to back up.
"Wait Jeremy, what's wrong?" I asked again trying to stop him. I hoped that he would listen. He stopped and looked at the door for a minute before he said anything.
"Trey's lying in there because of my brother. Clyde is dead because of my brother. It's been so hard around my house listening to my dad rant on and on about how his son is in prison because of Trey. I've wanted to blurt out that Trey is lying in a hospital and Clyde is lying in a grave because of Kent," he said and I again became angry with Kent and his father.
"Jeremy, you know that it's not your fault, right?" I asked choosing not to address the other stuff at the moment.
"I could have said something whenever one of them said anything about you guys. I could have tried to reason with Todd. Maybe I could have figured him out before his actions led to him being so publically outed," he said and I was stunned. It sounded like there was a lot of hate towards Trey and me going on in his house which made it hard for him to stay there with his own feelings on the subject.
"You are just one person Jeremy dealing with people who are all older than you are. You are not to blame for anything that happened here," I told him and I hoped that he would listen, but it didn't look like it.
"I could do more than hold my tongue when they talk about you and Trey and other gay people," he said looking extremely troubled. I guess I nor Trey for that matter considered what it was like for someone like Jeremy to live with people like his parents and brother.
"Look, let's go inside," I said before giving him a nudge towards the door. He resisted at first but then went on inside in front of me. He walked slowly towards Trey and stopped when he reached the side of the bed. He looked down at Trey for a minute or two in silence and I watched him. He finally took and held Trey's left hand in his.
"Trey, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I didn't do anything to try and stop Todd. I'm sorry I didn't realize what my brother was up to. Most of all, I'm sorry I never tried to defend you to my family. I was just chicken shit I guess, worried they'd think I was gay because I was defending you. I'm really sorry," he said, barely whispering the last part as he had grown more and more emotional as he continued to talk.
"He doesn't blame you," I told Jeremy.
"How do you know?" Jeremy asked as he still had ahold of Trey's hand.
"I have this way of knowing what Trey's thinking most of the time and I know he doesn't blame you," I said even though it was a lie. Even though I knew that Trey wouldn't blame him, I didn't know that firsthand as I hadn't been able to read Trey since he'd been in the hospital.
"Are you saying you're psychic for Trey or something?" he asked with slight amusement.
"Kind of, yeah," I told him. I missed knowing what was going on in that hyperactive head of his.
"Thanks for talking to me. I think I'm gonna go though," Jeremy said after a few more minutes of silence.
"No problem. Come by and see Trey anytime," I told him hoping that he would. I hoped that it would help him see that none of this was his fault.
"I'm not so sure Trey's parents feel the same way as you, but I'll see," he said. He gave Trey one last look before he turned and left the room.
"You just never know," I said to Trey. I mean, here was Jeremy feeling guilty and remorseful about what had happened to Trey and Clyde and blaming himself when he had nothing to do with it and then there's his brother Kent who is the one who put Trey in the hospital and Clyde in a grave and yet he felt no remorse or regret for what he'd done. People were so complicated.
It was yet another day at school without Trey. It was miserable out as it was cold, snowy and I was without the guy I loved for yet another day. I was dragging and it seemed nobody could bring a smile to my face. I know I'd already said it before but it hurt to know it was true that without Trey there was no light in my life, because deep down, I was starting to believe that he would never wake up and bring that light back to me.
I walked down the hall of the hospital that I had started to hate as it seemed to be keeping the one I wanted most prisoner inside. I knew really that that wasn't true, but you start to lose reasoning at times of grief.
I made it to Trey's room and walked in to find his mother there. It was rare to find her there so soon as she and his dad usually came later in the evening. I walked in and she looked at me and smiled a tired and worried smile.
"Hey Bear, how was school?" she asked as she sat up from her place hunkered in the chair under a blanket.
"It was school," I said a bit unenthusiastically.
"Yeah I hear you," she said after a brief chuckle.
"How are you doing?" I asked her as I walked to the other side of Trey's bed and took a seat in the other chair and took ahold of his hand. She studied my actions a bit before she answered.
"I'm okay. I've just been sitting here thinking about what Evan said to me the day we found out about Trey," she said before she stood and started pacing a bit.
"What was that?" I asked. I didn't like to think about that day, especially with what happened to Trey.
"You see, Evan said that that we shouldn't have been surprised by you two being together with how close you were. I initially took that to mean that he was saying that it was inevitable that you would become a couple with how close you were, but what he was saying was what he did say. Now I think that all of that really doesn't matter," she said and I guess she was just voicing the thoughts in her head out loud to see what they would sound like.
"Yeah I guess it doesn't," I said just to contribute to her thought process.
"I wonder if I've made any mistakes though. I've been thinking about that and wondering, if I did make any, will I get the chance to make up for them," she said with a worried look on her face. I realized then that this was part of the war within her that was also going on within me. The war to keep believing that Trey would wake up despite the evidence that maybe he wouldn't.
"You've been a great mother. I remember when Trey was struggling with his secret, he was the most worried about his dad and brothers, but I never really heard him voice any worries about you. Even though you did have difficulties with accepting this whole thing, I think he knew deep down that you would be on his side. You are a great mother and I know that Trey wouldn't want any other. I know that Jessica would at least consider trading her mother for you just for your cooking alone," I said and she chuckled.
"Thank you Bear. I'm gonna have to look into adopting you because you are just too good of a son to let go," she said and while it was a fun thought, implications came into play that made that a no no.
"No way," I said holding up my hands.
"Why not. You wouldn't want to be my son?" she asked looking amused, but I could see a tiny bit of hurt at my careless way of saying that.
"Well no I wouldn't because then I'd be engaged to my brother," I said and it dawned on her as she rolled her eyes at herself.
"Oh right," she said looking slightly embarrassed before walking over to Trey's bed and taking his other hand. "Do you see how silly your mother is. You'd better wake up before I have you engaged to your brother," she said before she laughed a bit. I smiled at that too.
"Yeah we wouldn't want that," I said as I could just imagine what Trey would say.
"Yeah, especially with all the sex you two have had," she said and I just about choked on my tongue.
"What- what are you talking about?" I asked after I recovered.
"Oh please, don't play that innocent game with me, especially with the sex box under my son's bed," she said and I mentally cursed Zane for getting that thing and Trey for keeping it under his dammed bed.
"I didn't buy that," I said quickly. I didn't want this woman who had acted as essentially my second mother to think I was a sexual deviant or something.
"Oh I know you didn't. I'm sure that while you could have done so, you probably realized that Trey would likely do bodily harm to you had you done that. I also know that he'd never in a million years buy something like that because my son can be somewhat of a prude at times," she said and I was shocked that this woman was calling her son a prude.
"I can't believe you," I said feeling slightly scandalized.
"Well it's true," she said looking highly amused at what I'm sure was my red face.
"How would you even know that?" I asked feeling my face get hot. I subconsciously stepped away from Trey as I felt kind of weird being that close to him with his mother knowing that I'd been sexing her son.
"I just know. Just like I know that it was my clearly "not right in the head" oldest son who supplied the box for you two," she said. I wonder if Zane ever really thought about the things he did before he did them as even now I could see that a sex kit for your little brother as a gift was inappropriate, but just like Zane to do.
"I've known Zane most of my life and I'm still surprised by how impulsive he can be," I said as I walked back to Trey's side and took his hand. His mother smirked when she saw this and I wondered if she had figured out what I was doing earlier with putting distance between the two of us.
"You're not the only one," she said before she walked over to the bed and kissed Trey on his cheek then walked over and started bundling up in her coat.
"Are you leaving?" I asked. I still didn't know why she was there so early, but she was his mother so she had the right to come whenever she wanted.
"I'm gonna run home and fix something to eat for the kids. We'll all probably be back in a few hours, but I'll definitely be back then. I'll bring you something to eat," she said and I thanked her because I was tired of school food, fast food and hospital snack food. I had probably gained weight in the wrong way since Trey had been in the hospital.
She left after a few minutes and it was just me and Trey. Carter, Miriam and Dale came by a little while later and stayed until Trey's family came back. Trey's mom indeed brought me some food. Some cheesy spaghetti with garlic bread and a salad really hit the spot. I left after a while along with Trey's mom, Calvin and the twins while his dad decided that he'd stay the night with Trey.
I went home and dropped into bed without getting undressed and just thought of all the good times I'd had with Trey. I remembered all the bad times as well, especially the look on his face when he came out to me. It was filled with so much pain and shame that it hurt every time I remembered it. The last thing I remembered was the look on his face when I first told him I loved him which made me smile as I drifted off to sleep.
"Hey Bear, wait up" Veronica said as she was running to catch up with me as I was rushing out of school to get to the hospital.
"Sorry about that," I said as she caught up.
"Damn you walk fast," she said as she was trying to catch her breath.
"Yeah, I was in a hurry. Sorry again," I again apologized.
"No worries. I wanted to know if I could ride to the hospital with you to see Trey?" she asked and I had no problem so I told her so.
"Sure, but why not just ask Sean?" I asked as I started walking again towards my truck with her following.
"I would, but he cut out of school early," she said and as I recalled, he hadn't been in our last period which we shared. I guess I was preoccupied with Trey.
"Oh," I said. We got in my truck and headed for the hospital.
"I'm sorry that I haven't been by lately to see him. I've just been busy with things," she said and I understood.
"It's no problem. I know everyone doesn't have time to come by everyday. He knows too I'm sure," I told her to reassure her.
"Thanks and thanks again for the ride," she said.
"Your welcome, but you should really consider getting your own car," I said with a teasing smile.
"Well we all don't have riches like you do. Just because Sean is my cousin doesn't mean I have a trust fund like him," she said in defense, but she had a small smile so I realized that she didn't take real offense to my comment.
"If you want, I'll buy you a car," I joked.
"And have Trey think I slept with you to get it, no thanks. I don't feel much like dying when he wakes up," she joked back. I almost laughed but what she'd she said hit me in the gut. I tried to shake the feeling off though.
We arrived at the hospital shortly and headed inside. I spoke to the staff I saw as I passed them as I had become a well known person in the hospital over the two months that Trey had been in there. We then headed to Trey's room and I was surprised to find Sean there in Trey's room.
"Sean? What are you doing here?" Veronica asked before I had the chance to.
"What, I can't come to see my best friend, my padre, mi amigo?" he asked in that Sean way he had of speaking sometimes, but I saw that he wasn't as chipper as he was pretending to be. I saw that his eyes were red and glistening a bit like he was about to start crying before we arrived.
"Sure man, I'm sure Trey is enjoying listening to the stupid things that fall out of your mouth," I joked with him.
"Ouch man, you wound me," he said before he stood up and went over to Trey's bed and planted a very long kiss on Trey's cheek before standing up and winking at me with a taunting smile.
"Suck it," I said in mock anger.
"I think I'd better let you handle that," he said with a more genuine smile.
"Men are so annoying with all the male bravado," Veronica said as she walked over to Trey and wiped his cheek where Sean had kissed him before she kissed him.
"Baby, I think you've been kissed more in the last two months than you have been in your whole life. I wonder who else is kissing you when I'm not around," I said to Trey. I wished that I had some way of know if he heard me or not.
"Well I was making out with him before you arrived," Sean said and Veronica slapped him across his chest.
"I'll be sure to make you suffer for that later," I told him.
"Don't worry, I'll tell Justice and she'll take care of it for you," Veronica said with a sinister smirk.
"You all play too much," Sean said in a mock pout.
Veronica and I laughed at Sean. We sat and talked for a bit before Veronica said she had to go. She told Trey that she was tired of not seeing him at school and that he's better not be lying in the bed come graduation because she would come and drag him out of bed and onstage. She and Sean finally left and I was alone with Trey again. I sat for a while looking at him, then I paced around a bit. I looked at him again and looking at him in that bed, I finally hit my breaking point so I started to talk to him.
"Trey, please wake up. It's been two months and I can't take it anymore. I can't stand looking at you lying in that bed and not being able to hear your voice. Baby please, I need you to wake up," I pleaded with him. I knew that it wouldn't really work but I just had to say that out loud.
"Would you please shut up. I'm trying to get some sleep," I heard in a muffled voice but it didn't really register.
"Well I'm just trying...," I started to say before it finally hit me that I'd heard someone speak and there were only two people in the room. "Trey, was that you?" I asked but I had my back turned and I was afraid to turn around because I didn't want to discover that I'd imagined it.
"Yes it's me you big ape. Would you shut up because I have a massive headache," I heard again in the same muffled voice that washed over my entire body. I slowly turned around and there he was, looking at me with an annoyed look on his face with those beautiful grey eyes that I loved so much.
"Trey," I said in a shaky tone.
"Bear," he said back. Even though he had the tube in his mouth, I could see the smile in his eyes and the world was worth living in again.
To be continued....
Author's Notes:
Well the aftermath of the shooting is felt by Trey's loved ones, with Bear taking it as expected. The shooting left Trey in a coma and Clyde dead. His noble sacrifice made it possible for Trey to survive, but that still left him in a coma or two months. Trey finally awakens as Bear has reached his breaking point without him. What will come up now for the two and everyone around them as they learn that Tre's awake?
Kent is in prison for life and seems to not feel any remorse for his actions, nor does his parents care that their son killed someone and almost killed another. What will happen in the Davis household between Jeremy and his parents? Will he finally gain the courage to voice his opinions about the actions and behavior of his family.
Will Zane and Sean be able to deal with their respective feelings about their perceived failings in regards to what happened to Trey and Clyde? What will happen with the fact that Trey was raped and aside fron Kent and hi friends, only Trey and Sean know what happened?
Find out when The Chronicles of Trey continues...
I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. I'll try to have chapter 29 up before the end of the month. I enjoy receiving emails about the story and encourage everyone to send an email to let me know how they are enjoying the story. Send all comments good or bad to thestoryguy9783@gmail.com.
Until next time... Nicky *****************************************************************
Editor's Notes:
Well, this chapter was a roller coaster of emotions all around. Trey in a coma, Clyde is dead, Bear in a fog, Kent feeling superior (though I doubt he is feeling that way at the moment in prison for life), Sean felling guilty, Zane pissed (did I miss anybody, probably).
Anyway two months pass and Trey is still in the coma. It's sad to see Clyde get killed, he was just coming into the story more and was starting to except Trey as a person, but I think he did a noble thing saving Treys life.
But Bear is a wreck for those two months, until finally Trey wakes up but now the big question, what could be the side effects to Trey's personalty. He kinda changed after the beating from Zane, and now he was shot and in a coma cause of head trama.
Stay tuned for the next chapter, send me and Nicky a shout if you are enjoying the story so far. You can reach me at jd.kaster1987@gmail.com, and you can reach Nicky at the email above.
Until the next chapter...
John K