Tim and Hank: Chapter 36
Chapter 36: Hank
Hank
Sean had parked the car at Jimmy's Diner and went inside to get us a couple of coffees to go. I got up and stretched my legs and grabbed a smoke.
I pulled out my cell phone and tried to call Tim. No answer. I then tried the office and also got voice mail. I hung up and called Jeff.
"Hey, bud," Jeff answered.
"Hey. Can you get together tonight? I wanna talk to you about Tim."
"Come on, man. I don't wanna talk about Tim. Can't we just relax and have a good time?"
"Jeff, this is serious. We gotta do something about that Pete guy. He's abusing Tim, verbally and physically. Tim denied it at first, but I knew he was lying. I held him and he was sobbing in my arms. He's terrified."
"Oh shit. Do you really think Pete's...?"
"Yeah. I do. When we saw them at the diner on Monday, my partner took one look and said 'that guy's beating your boy'. When I hugged him yesterday, he flinched when I touched his back."
"Tim didn't show up to work today," Jeff said. "When I called him, he said he was sick. Wait, you saw him yesterday?"
"Yeah, I visited him at the office to talk to him. He wasn't sick at all. I tried to call him before I called you and he didn't answer. Where does he live? I'm gonna stop by and check on him. I got a bad feeling about this."
"I got a spare key. I'll meet you there."
Jeff gave me the address and Sean drove over to Tim's house after trying to convince me that it was a bad idea.
Jeff's truck was parked behind Tim's jeep in the driveway. Jeff got out of his truck and waited for us as Sean pulled in front of the house. We got out of the car and I introduced Sean to Jeff.
"Sean, this is Jeff Matthews. Jeff, this is my partner, Sean Ferguson."
Sean and Jeff shook hands.
"Good to meet you," Sean said. "I heard a lot about you."
"Yeah. You too," Jeff said.
"Are you sure you're not over-reacting?" Sean asked me. "Maybe the kid's just sick, like he said."
"I need to see for myself that he's okay," I said.
The three of us walked up to the front door. I rang the doorbell and waited for a moment.
"Tim?" I called through the door.
I knocked on the door. "Tim, it's Hank. Open up."
We waited for a couple of minutes and I knocked again louder. When he still didn't answer, I looked over at Jeff. He pulled out his keys and found Tim's key and unlocked the door. We walked inside the house.
"Tim?" Jeff called out and headed down the hallway.
I turned and looked in the living room. There were two splotches of blood and a large yellow stain on the carpet near a pile of bloody clothes. I looked over at the couch and saw Tim's battered body, his midsection barely covered by a fleece throw. He was laying face down on the couch, with his left arm and leg dangling over the edge.
"Oh fuck! No!" I cried out.
"Tim!" Jeff yelled.
I ran to Tim and knelt down next to the couch. I picked up his arm and felt for a pulse on his wrist.
"He's alive," I said and let out breath of relief.
I heard Sean calling for an ambulance while Jeff paced back and forth behind me.
I stroked Tim's bruised cheek. His face was bruised and puffy. His left eye was nearly swollen shut. A river of dried blood ran down from his nose. His dark blond hair was streaked with blood.
"Timmy?" I said softly. "Please wake up, Tim."
Tim's eyes fluttered open and then focused on my eyes. "Hank?"
Tim reached out and grabbed onto me and started sobbing uncontrollably. I held him in my arms and closed my eyes and cried.
"Tim, did Pete do this?" Jeff asked.
"Yes!" he sobbed.
"Sean, call it in," I said as I cradled Tim's head in my arms.
"His name's Peter Olivieri," Jeff said. "He's at the MCC job site across the street from the hospital."
Sean got on his radio and made the call.
"Tim, let me have a look," I said gently as I reached for the blanket.
"No," he groaned.
"It's okay. It's just me."
I pulled the blanket away. Tim was laying on his stomach on the sofa. He had new and old bruises all over his naked body. I moved his legs apart. Dried blood and semen left a trail from his cheeks and down the inside of his legs. I wrinkled my nose and coughed. He smelled like stale piss.
"Jesus," Sean whispered.
"Oh my god," Jeff said with a choked sob.
I covered Tim back up and tucked the blanket around him. I cradled his head and whispered to him, "I'm so sorry, Timmy. I'm so sorry."
Jeff had pulled out his cell phone and was making a call. "Dad! Listen. The cops are on their way to arrest Pete. Is he there? Don't let him leave. It's Tim, Dad..."
"No! Don't tell Dad!" Tim cried out.
Jeff continued, ignoring Tim's plea. "Pete... He... He beat the shit out of Tim. There's bruises all over his body. There's blood, urine and semen everywhere. That motherfucker beat him and raped him, Dad!" Jeff cried.
I tried to calm Tim down. He gripped my shirt tight in his fists and sobbed into my chest. Jeff hung up the phone and sat down in the chair and hung his head in his hands and started to cry.
The paramedics arrived quickly and checked out Tim. He screamed as they took him out of the house and pulled him away from me and Jeff. Jeff and I were able to calm him down enough to get into the ambulance. Jeff rode in the ambulance with Tim, and it wasn't a problem since he was his brother. Sean threw on the lights and we followed in our cruiser to the hospital. As we pulled into the hospital emergency room parking lot, I saw three black and white cruisers with their lights on across the street at the construction site. There seemed to be a lot of activity over there.
Sean and I ran into the ER and quickly found Jeff pacing outside one of the exam rooms.
"I'm gonna check in. I'll be right back," Sean said.
Jeff and I watched through the window as the doctor and nurse examined Tim.
"I should have done something sooner," Jeff whispered as he nervously chewed his thumbnail. "I should have known. He's my little brother. I should have helped him..."
A tear rolled down Jeff's cheek, followed by another. I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it to try to comfort him.
"Yesterday, I told him I was still in love with him," I said. "I promised him everything would be okay."
Jeff smiled slightly. "I'm glad you finally told him."
I sighed. "I know we both will regardless... But we can't feel guilty about this. It's not our fault. We just have to be there for him to help him get through this."
"So you're here to stay?" he asked. "For Tim?"
"If he'll have me."
Jeff gave me a smile and a nod then slapped my back.
Sean came running up and pulled me aside. "There's a complication," he said quietly.
The outer doors to the ambulance bays pushed open and Sean and I turned our heads. A gurney was rushed through by the ER staff. A man laid unconscious and strapped to the gurney. Though his face was a bloody mess, I instantly recognized him as Pete Olivieri. Two uniformed officers followed as they quickly moved into a trauma room.
"What the fuck?" Jeff asked as he stepped up next to us.
Two more officers escorted Jack Matthews into the ER. One of the cops had has hand on Jack's arm, leading him. Jack's hands were cuffed behind his back. He had a bruised cut on his left cheek.
"Dad!"
Jeff stepped towards his father, but Sean held him back. Mr. Matthews looked at Jeff and tears started rolling down his face. He then turned to me. With a strained and hoarse voice, he looked at me and said, "Take care of my boy, Hank."
A nurse led Mr. Matthews and the officers to another room. Jeff and I turned to Sean.
"What the hell is going on?" Jeff asked.
"They had to pull him off Olivieri," Sean said. "He beat him unconscious and was still pounding on him."
"What are they gonna do with him?" Jeff asked.
Sean cleared his throat and let out a deep breath.
"That depends on whether or not Olivieri makes it."