One
Tommy Oliver leaned back against the tree in the center of his back yard, looking up at the night sky. The stars were beginning to come out one by one in a spectacular display of light. He wondered, not for the first time since moving to Angel Grove, how many of them had civilizations.
"I never noticed how many stars you can see from here,' Jason Scott said from the other side of the tree.
"Really?" Tommy looked around the tree at his best friend frowning.
"Kind of makes me remember when I was a kid and my grandparents would tell me wishing on stars made my wishes come true." Jason looked over at Tommy with a sudden grin. "So, what would you wish for?"
Tommy laughed, "That the Machine Empire gets a computer virus. What about you?" He wasn't really being serious. While he knew better than anyone that magic existed in the world, Tommy didn't really believe wishing on a star would do anything. Jason's next sentence floored him, though.
"I wish I could kiss you." Now Tommy got up and moved to sit beside his friend. Jason looked over at him his dark eyes full of sorrow. "I just said that out loud didn't I?"
"Jase, are you… you're not gay, are you?" Tommy kept the shock out of his voice. He'd seen Jason with plenty of girls, enough that he'd never even suspected that his best friend might not be completely straight. Not that it mattered either way to him. Tommy believed it was no one's business who people dated or did not date, except for maybe the people doing the dating.
Jason groaned and closed his eyes. "Oh, don't I wish, and no joke I really wish I was gay. I have wanted to kiss you since we met, but I want to kiss Emily, too. Tommy, I'm confused most of the time."
Tommy considered things for several minutes, glancing nervously at the house behind them. The curtains were all closed though, and he didn't see anyone. The thing was, he wasn't sure he wanted to be kissed by a guy. Plus, if his father ever found out… Tommy didn't even want to think about what would happen.
This was Jason, though, who looked so lost and afraid right now. Jason who had been his best friend ever since he had destroyed the Sword of Darkness and freed Tommy from Rita's spell. Jason who had always been there when Tommy had needed him. Even listening to Tommy cry about his breakup over the phone when Jason had been in Switzerland.
"All right," he said softly. "Alright… what?" Jason asked.
"Well, I'm not sure I want to be kissed by a guy, but you're my friend so I think I will let you kiss me just once… because we're friends… but just once." Tommy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He wasn't sure what to expect. After all, he had never kissed a guy before.
Jason took Tommy's face in his gentle hands. "Are you sure?" Tommy nodded and Jason's lips were suddenly on his.
The kiss was gentle and sweet; nothing hard about it. After a moment, Jason deepened it, pressing his tongue questionly against Tommy's lips. Tommy let his mouth open slightly and felt Jason slip inside for just a moment. Tommy started returning the kiss half-heartedly, and Jason broke it as if sensing Tommy wasn't really into it.
Pulling back, the Gold Ranger stroked the Red Ranger's cheek for a moment. "Thanks, bro."
"It's getting late," Tommy said softly.
He walked Jason through the gate to the front yard. "See you tomorrow, Tommy."
"Yeah… and Jase? Emily likes you."
"I know," he replied. With that, Jason walked across the street and waved to Tommy just before walking into his house.
There is a phrase: "life turns on a dime." Basically, this means life changes because of the smallest of things. For Tommy, that change came the split second after he looked away from the house and back at Jason.
He had looked for the simple reason that he knew his parents would react badly to him kissing Jason and he didn't want them to see him doing it. Unfortunately, his father had pulled the drape slightly open almost immediately after Tommy had looked. Just in time for Tommy to miss seeing him, but in time for him to see the kiss.
Life changes on a dime, in a split second. If Tommy had looked a bit longer, everything that followed might never have happened.
Kyle Oliver spent the next week making plans on how to nip what he had seen in the bud. He had long suspected Jason Scott was a pervert; the kiss cemented this opinion. While he was sure there was nothing he could do about the Scott boy, he knew he could stop Tommy from going down the same path.
He didn't want to send Tommy for conversion therapy. He was of the belief that it pushed patients into being gay rather than away from it. There was one way, though. One way that might keep Tommy from following Jason down that path.
Kyle spent another week laying the foundation for what he knew he had to do. His wife Nancy helped him get a few things he needed to pull it off. Like Kyle, she didn't want Tommy to choose homosexuality.
Monday morning, Tommy woke to the sound of his alarm clock blaring far too loudly. His head was pounding, and he felt extremely groggy. Far too groggy for someone who had gone to bed uncharacteristically early the night before.
He began to feel sick the night before, just after dinner. Weak and dizzy, he figured it was just exhaustion. The Rangers had been fighting back-to-back monsters for a few days, after all. He had gone to bed early to try to get a little more rest than usual.
Tommy tried reaching over to turn his alarm off, only to find out he couldn't move his arms. "What?" he asked, pulling on them. They were positioned above his head and tied with some kind of rope.
He took a breath and let it out slowly. "Don't panic. Try to figure out what's going on," he whispered to himself. It didn't take him long to figure out that his legs were tied as well. Tied to either side of the bed frame.
He was also lying on his stomach, which was weird. Tommy never slept on his stomach. He couldn't imagine he'd rolled over in the night and somehow tied himself up. This meant someone had done this to him.
The worst thing of all was the fact he was completely naked. This was even though he'd at least had on boxer shorts the night before. Panic gripped his heart in a vice, and he began to yell for his parents tugging on the ropes. "Mom! Dad!"
The bedroom door opened and Tommy raised his head to see Kyle standing in it. Kyle was wearing a blue robe that Tommy had given him for his birthday. "It's about time you woke up, son."
"Dad? What's going on? Is mom alright? Who did this? Help untie me!" Tommy tugged frantically at the ropes.
Kyle said nothing for a moment, just stared at Tommy with an expression that Tommy had never seen on him before. It made the young man's blood freeze. Tommy was about to speak when Kyle broke the silence. "Tommy, your mom's fine. She's out at the moment. We agreed that your punishment would be left to me."
"Punishment?" Tommy repeated, trying to make sense of what was happening. A sudden horrible thought occurred to him: the orange juice at diner and the weird aftertaste it had. "You drugged me."
"Smart boy." Kyle reached out and patted Tommy on the shoulder. Tommy twisted trying to pull free, as if his father's touch burned. "Too bad you're not smart enough. Kissing a boy in our own back yard?" Kyle made a tutting noise.
Sharp panic drove itself into Tommy's mind and heart. He yanked furiously at the ropes, making his bed rock back and forth with the force of it. All that he accomplished was bruising his wrists. "Dad, I'm sorry! Please let me go! PLEASE! I didn't even like the kiss. I was just curious."
Kyle shook his head. "Sorry, Peanut. I can't do that, spare the rod and spoil the child."
He bent over, picking something up off the floor. Tommy tried one more thing. If his dad was calling him Peanut – his childhood nickname – that meant he saw Tommy as a child. Maybe acting the part would get his father to see reason. "Daddy, I'm very, very sorry. May I please be untied?"
Kyle suddenly roared. "LYING FAGGOT!" He raised his arm, bringing it down and Tommy felt the sting of leather biting into his skin. Now he realized what his father had picked up; Tommy's own belt that had been tossed carelessly on the floor the night before.
"Shit," Tommy gasped out before his father began to beat him in earnest. Tommy screamed and begged, twisting with each blow. When it stopped, he was blubbering like a baby and praying that this was it. That his dad would let him go now.
Kyle wiped the tears from Tommy's face so gently that Tommy began to relax. What his father did next brought a whole new level of terror to the already tense situation.
The robe dropped, revealing what he had – or rather didn't have – on. Kyle was completely naked underneath the robe. "No. Oh, no," Tommy whimpered, horrified.
"I don't have any choice, Tommy. This is the only punishment that fits the crime. The only one that will stick. Don't worry, son. I'll be gentle." Kyle ran a hand up the inside of one of Tommy's thighs as he spoke.
Tommy shuddered at the touch and felt fresh tears pricking at the back of his eyes. This was not happening! His father had never even hit him before today. Now he was acting like he was going to... Tommy shied away from the thought, not wanting to finish it.
Kyle stepped out of Tommy's view and for a brief second Tommy let himself hope the worst was over. The shifting of the bed as his father climbed on between Tommy's spread legs shattered the hope. "NO! Don't do this! Please, ground me, beat me some more! Kick me out! I'll go! I'll go far away, and you'll never have to see me again!"
"Shut the fuck up." Kyle slapped his hand on the side of Tommy's head so hard that Tommy saw stars. "Take your punishment like a man!" He felt his father's hands spreading his butt cheeks open, then what could only be his father's cock pressing on his anus. He tightened his muscles, clamping his sphincter shut in a desperate hope that if Kyle couldn't get in, he'd stop this madness.
"This is going to hurt, Peanut." Kyle said in a cheerful tone of voice. He gave a hard thrust forward, breaking down Tommy's defenses and driving into the unprepared teen. Tommy screamed as a red-hot agony shot through him.
Kyle gave another hard thrust, making Tommy shriek again. A final thrust and Tommy felt his father's pelvis pushed against him and knew his father was all the way inside him. "Stop, please it hurts! Dad, you're hurting me!"
"Good," Kyle said with a groan. "It's not a punishment if it doesn't hurt."
Kyle began to move, setting a hard rhythm that made Tommy scream in pain with each thrust. Kyle reached around covering Tommy's mouth with one hand, muffling the teen's screams of agony.
Tommy clenched his fists so hard that blood welled up from where his nails pressed into his skin. He wished he would just pass out from the pain, but he didn't. He stayed awake to endure every moment of agony.
He grew hoarse from screaming, trailing off into whimpers of pain. He could feel what could only be blood running down his thighs and soaking the sheets beneath him. His nose was completely stuffed from crying and his father's hand was pressed so tightly to his mouth that Tommy could get no air.
Kyle seemed to notice this after a moment and removed his hand. Tommy gasped in air and then whimpered as his father increased his speed. As his head cleared slightly, Tommy became aware that he had an erection.
That seemed to be the worst thing; his own body betraying him. Tommy sobbed, wishing he could just die. Kyle's thrusts lost their rhythm finally becoming short and jerky.
Kyle gave a final thrust forward and let out a shout of pleasure before collapsing on Tommy's back gasping. Tommy felt something warm shoot into him and let out a weary moan.
"Now you know what being a faggot gets you," Kyle said sitting up. He slipped an arm around Tommy then pulled him up, making the ropes dig in so tightly that Tommy thought his hands would fall off.
"No more, no more, no more, no more," he begged as he felt Kyle's hand wrap around his erection.
"You've been very brave, Peanut, so you deserve a reward." The hand began gentle stroking that soon brought Tommy to orgasm. The teen went limp in his father's arms, completely broken by this final degradation.
Kyle stood up and left the room. He returned dressed and carrying a warm wet washcloth. He used the cloth to wipe Tommy gently down. "Can I go now? I have school," Tommy croaked out. He figured if he could get to school, he could tell a teacher what had happened.
"I'll call you in sick today. You will stay there, tied to that bed for the day and think about what you did. I'll untie you when I get home from the office. Your mother won't be back until morning." Kyle stood and left the room, slamming the door so hard the walls shook.
Tommy closed his eyes, sagging into the bed. He could feel more blood soaking into the sheets, then wondered distractedly just how bad he was bleeding. It seemed unimportant. He didn't hurt much anymore, and he wanted to drift into sleep.
Monday morning: Power Chamber.
Billy Cranston slid out from under the console and brushed himself off yawning. He had been asleep when Alpha contacted him. The alarm system in the Power Chamber that was supposed to warn of attack was going haywire. It kept warning of an attack but wouldn't say where the attack was occurring.
He hit the button, but the blaring began yet again. Gritting his teeth, he shut it down. "I don't get it! I've checked it six times. It's not even broken. In fact, it should be working perfectly."
"Perhaps there is a problem with the detection system?" Zordon boomed down questioningly.
Billy frowned. That gave him a crazy idea. He typed a command into the computer. "Billy, that's the command to release the privacy protocols from the monitoring of the Rangers," Alpha said, confused.
"It's just a hunch, but I want to check on each of them without the privacy filters. They might be blocking things that may be causing trouble. It could be as simple as one of them falling in the shower." Billy began to pull the Power Rangers up in the view screen one at a time.
Everything seemed normal at first. He found his friends showering, eating breakfast or still sleeping. Until he got to Tommy. The Red Ranger lay spread-eagled on his bed, his father standing over him. Billy could hear the older man's voice through the speakers, telling Tommy he could stay tied up all day.
Billy could see the blood spreading in a pool beneath his friend, too. "No. Oh, no." Billy lunged for the communication system.
Monday morning: Scott residence.
Jason had just finished pulling his clothes on after a morning shower, when his communicator beeped. Yawning and hoping that it wasn't another monster alert, he picked it up and responded. "What's up?"
"Jason, you need to get to Tommy NOW!" Billy's voice came across the system sounding panicked.
"What for? I'm picking him up in an hour. There's no way Tommy would be ready this early anyway. He probably won't even be ready an hour," Jason grumbled, knowing his friend's love of sleeping in and that he always ran late.
"He's… Jason he's going to bleed out. If I go, it risks exposure, but you can go check on him without too much suspicion." Billy was rambling now.
Jason felt his heart leap into his throat. "Alright. I'll run across the street and check on him." He didn't want to know what Billy had meant by bleed out. Surely it couldn't be that bad.
Looking around his room gave him the excuse he needed. Tommy's math book was perched on Jason's desk. He scooped it up and ran down the stairs calling to his parents that he was taking Tommy's math book to him.
He darted across the street, pausing only to find the spare key the Oliver's kept in a fake rock in the garden. Unlocking the door, he stepped inside. "Tommy?" he called. "Mr. Oliver? Mrs. Oliver?"
It was odd, he thought. Kyle Oliver usually didn't go to work until after the boys left for school. He should have been there. In fact, the door shouldn't have been locked and yet it had been.
Jason went up the stairs holding the math book in one hand. "Tommy, I think Billy had a nightmare about... you." He said the last word as he opened the door and saw his best friend.
Tommy lay on his bed tied with his legs apart and so much blood that it had turned the sheets crimson. It was also dripping onto the floor. He was ghastly white, which made the bruises on his back stand out in stark relief.
Jason felt the math book fall from his hand, heard it hit the floor. For a moment, he didn't want to process what he was seeing. There was so much blood! Jason didn't think anyone could lose that much blood and survive!
He darted to his friend's side. Going to his knees beside the bed, he checked for a pulse. When he found it, he breathed a sigh of relief. Tommy was alive, was breathing and had a pulse. Working frantically, he untied his friend from the bed.
"Tommy, can you hear me?" Jason shook his friend's shoulders. Tommy's eyelids fluttered and he let out a weak moan. "Stay with me, okay?" Turning, Jason raised his voice and yelled, "Someone help!"
Pulling his shirt off, he pressed it where the blood seemed to be coming from. Tommy – as weak as he was – began to fight. Jason pushed down harder and to his shock Tommy began to mutter. It was low but Jason could hear it. "No more, Dad. Don't hurt me again. Please, I won't kiss Jason again. Don't."
"Tommy, it's me. It's Jason. You're alright. SOMEONE HELP US!" Jason yelled again. Help. He had to get help, but he couldn't leave Tommy either. "I don't know what to do!" Jason's voice broke on a sob.
"Help." Tommy's eyes fluttered. "Get help, Jase, before my dad comes back."
Jason turned then, ran down the stairs, out the door and across the street. He yanked the door to his house open and burst inside. He slid to a stop in the kitchen and his mother leapt to her feet. "Jason! What happened? Are you hurt?"
He looked down and realized with something of a shock that he was covered in Tommy's blood. "It's not mine, Mom. It's Tommy! Tommy's hurt! He said his dad... it's bad! It's really, really bad."
Lisa Scott let go of her son and ran out of the room. Mark Scott leapt to his feet, grabbed his cell phone and dialed 911 as he followed his wife. Jason hesitated for a moment, then followed them.
Jason stood in the doorway to Tommy's bedroom, a hand pressed to his mouth watching his mother work frantically to keep Tommy alive. He listened to his father bark orders into his phone.
"Tommy, stay awake! I need you to stay with me, okay?" Lisa's voice was gentle but firm. She was fighting to stay calm. Ten years of experience as a trauma surgeon told her that Tommy was in serious trouble. She lacked the necessary equipment to treat him effectively and time was running out. "Tommy come on! Stay with me, honey."
"Leave me alone," Tommy's voice said, barely a whisper. His eyes rolled up in the back of his head and he began to shake. Lisa swore under her breath. Catastrophic blood loss meant there wasn't enough oxygen to getting to Tommy's brain. He was dying. The paramedics needed to get there soon or there would be no time left.
Jason heard the sirens and ran down stairs. Opening the door, he saw the ambulance pulling up in front of the house. Leading the way, he took the two women who climbed out of the vehicle up to Tommy's room. The older of the two checked Tommy's pulse then started an IV. "Do you know his blood type?"
"I do. We did a school project on it. It's O Negative." Jason responded. The younger woman spared him a glance. "Are you hurt?"
Jason shook his head. "It's not my blood." She nodded and turned back to the figure on the bed, joining her partner in opening the cooler they had bought with them. Reaching in, she pulled out a plastic bag full of blood.
They hooked it up to the IV with the younger one holding it up while the older one put a bandage on Tommy. They lifted him onto the gurney and rushed him out the door. Lisa ran after them. "I'm a doctor! I'm coming with you!"
Two cops were called in because of the nature of Tommy's injuries, and they began to string up crime scene tape. Mark put a hand on Jason's shoulder. "They're going to want to question you about what you saw when you first came in to Tommy's room."
Jason wiped his eyes. "Can it wait? Dad, it's Tommy. I can't... I can't breathe it hurts so bad, Daddy."
He hadn't called his father Daddy in years. Mark held out his arms and Jason flung himself into them, sobbing. Mark held him close, murmuring into his son's ear that everything would be alright. Jason sobbed into his father's chest. Tommy was going to die, and it was all his fault.
Lisa couldn't do much except monitor Tommy's vitals and keep him stable. She and the paramedic who had climbed into the back with Tommy attached a second unit of blood. She didn't like Tommy's color and his pulse was thready and weak. The heart monitor gave a steady rhythm, which was a good sign, at least
Tommy was in and out of consciousness. When he was awake, he muttered and fought. When he was out, he was far too still, with only the movement of his chest attesting to the fact he was alive. Lisa brushed Tommy's hair off his forehead, remembering the first time she'd seen this gangly kid that Jason had brought home. He'd filled out since then and put on weight, but he was still in a lot of ways that same kid.
He had spent so much time at her house, even helping with chores while Jason had been in Switzerland. Lisa thought of him as a second son. She wanted to strangle Kyle Oliver for doing this. A beeping sound filled the ambulance and she shot a frantic glance at the monitor. "Shit, he's flat lining!"
Lisa grabbed a pair of paddles, rubbed gel on them then pressed them to Tommy's chest. "CLEAR!" Tommy's back arched as the electricity passed through him. Lisa checked the monitor and felt his pulse. She increased the voltage and delivered a second charge. This one had the desire
effect. Tommy's heart rate returned to normal sinus. "He's losing blood almost faster than we can put it in! He needs surgery ASAP! Radio ahead tell the hospital we need an OR as soon as we arrive!"
They rushed through the hospital doors and the paramedics read off vitals, defibrillated twice and two units of O negative were given. Lisa spotted her boss, John Jackson. "John, he needs surgery now! He's losing blood fast! I need to get in and repair the damage!"
John looked down at the boy on the gurney. "This is Jason's friend?" Lisa nodded. "You once said he was like family. Are you sure you can be effective working on him?"
"Damn it, John! I'm the best surgeon you've got! Tommy won't survive unless we move now! I examined him as best I could on the scene, and from what I could see whoever did this tore him up badly. I need to get in there and find out just how much."
Something in her voice made him step back, letting her and Tommy past and into the elevator. Upstairs, she ordered him prepped for surgery while she scrubbed in.
Two hours later.
The Rangers had gathered along with Tommy's brother in the waiting room. Jason had changed his clothes and sat between the two girls. Katherine Hilliard was sitting with one leg pulled up on the seat idly playing with her hair. On his other side, Tanya Sloan was chewing her nails, something the others had never seen her do.
Rocky Dasantos sat across from them with Adam Park beside him. Billy sat on Rocky's other side, his eyes red from crying. David Trueheart – Tommy's long-lost brother so recently found – paced restlessly around the room. The others had tried several times to get him to sit down. He would sit for a minute or two, then jump up and begin pacing again.
"You know what gets me about all this," Rocky said, suddenly breaking the silence. "Kyle Oliver hurting Tommy… I just can't wrap my head around that. I mean, he's the guy who pulled Tommy out of school when the flu was going around last year, remember? Why would someone like that do something like this?"
"He did it because of me," Jason said so dejectedly that the others turned to face him. "This is my fault."
David stopped pacing and dropped down in front of Jason so he could look the seated teen full on. "No. No, it's not. Just because you have a crush on my brother doesn't make any of this your fault."
Jason's head snapped up. "How-"
"I have eyes," David said with a half-smile. "You look at Tommy as if he was something precious."
"It's my fault this happened," Jason repeated dully.
"No-" David insisted.
"I kissed him!" Jason blurted out. "I kissed Tommy! It was stupid and reckless especially since I kissed him in his back yard! I knew Kyle Oliver was a bigot. I knew and I still told Tommy I wanted to kiss him! He said yes, but only because we're friends. I could tell the moment our lips met that he wasn't into it." Jason buried his face in his hands.
David grabbed Jason by the shoulders forcing him to sit up "Look at me!" Jason tried to twist away. "LOOK AT ME!" Finally, Jason looked up. "None of this is your fault, okay? None of it! You kissed a guy, so what? If you're to blame for the kiss, what about Tommy? Is he to blame because he let you? The only person to blame here is the person who chose to rape my brother. Got it?"
"But..." Jason began. David growled in frustration and kissed the Gold Ranger.
When David pulled back Jason muttered, "Ok, that was unexpected."
"Sorry, but I've wanted to do that for months." David reached up and brushed a hand gently down Jason's cheek. "None of this is your fault, okay?"
"Okay," Jason whispered and then seeing someone over David's shoulders spoke louder. "Mom?"
Lisa stood in the doorway, still in surgical scrubs. She looked exhausted. David leapt to his feet. "My brother?"
She met David's eyes and then looked around the room at the other teens. "Tommy lost a great deal of blood. We had to give a total of three units. His heart stopped twice; once in the ambulance and once during the surgery. We were able to get it started both times. The damage was extensive. Tommy fought hard, but that only made his injuries more severe. I had to remove his colon and some of his intestines." She paused for a moment.
Billy spoke into the silence of that moment. "But… doesn't he need that stuff?"
Lisa sighed. "No, he can live without it. He has a hole in his abdomen now and he'll have a bag to catch waste. I did my best but I'm only a surgeon. David, you can see him if you like but only for five minutes. The rest of you… I'm afraid right now I can only allow family. If any of you are O negative, though, you should donate. We used much of our blood supply on Tommy."
Adam stood up, "That would be me."
David stepped into the room where his brother lay on the hospital bed. David was shocked at just how bad his brother looked. Tommy was hooked up to a monitor that showed his heart beating steady. A tube ran from under his gown to a bag suspended beneath him. Another tube was down his throat. A third tube went into his nose and taped to his cheek.
An IV ran into one arm. It wasn't filled with blood, but David didn't think it was saline. "Antibiotics," Lisa said from behind David. "The tube down his throat is connected to some oxygen, we're giving him extra help because his heart stopped earlier. The tube in his nose is a feeding tube. He'll be on a liquid died for some time. I put in a catheter in case he doesn't wake up for a few days, that's the tube going below him."
David nodded. He reached out and took his brother's hand. There was no response, no reassuring squeeze. David didn't know what to do, what to say. He hadn't asked about brain damage; didn't want to ask about brain damage. He'd searched for so long to find his brother and losing him now would be a devastating blow. "Dr. Scott, he'll be okay, right?"
"He has a fighting chance. The next 24 hours will be the most critical." David squeezed his brother's hand. "Tommy, it's David. Don't leave me on my own, okay? I have to go, but I'll be back tomorrow." wiping his eyes he turned to Lisa. "I'm O negative. Where do I donate?"
Monday afternoon: Anderson-Oliver corporate law offices.
Kyle Oliver sat behind his desk feeling rather smug. Overall, it had been a great day. He had brokered a billion-dollar settlement which was going to give him a hefty commission and had ensured that his son would not be deviant.
He thought about how he had left Tommy tied to his bed and felt aroused. Maybe he'd go home early and give the kid another lesson. There was always the chance that one lesson wouldn't be enough.
There was a knock at the office door. "Come in," Kyle yelled.
The door opened and Mark Scott stepped in. He left the door open as he approached the desk. Kyle thought the guy looked pissed about something. Maybe he'd finally found out Jason was a fag.
"Kyle, I have a warrant for your arrest." Mark put a piece of paper on Kyle's desk.
He laughed, then realizing the other man wasn't joking, picked up the paper and read the warrant. His eyebrows snapped together. Tommy got loose? Wait until I get my hands on that kid!
He threw the paper back on the desk, "Sexual assault? Attempted murder? Just who am I supposed to have attacked?"
"Tommy's in critical condition at the hospital. He was in surgery for almost two hours while they tried to fix the damage you did to him. They had to perform a colectomy on him in the end." Mark paused. "He almost bled out on top of that."
Kyle looked at Mark in horror. He didn't even have to feign it; he was really horrified. He had noticed the blood when he'd been telling Tommy he could stay tied up. It hadn't seemed that bad at the time. He needed to be careful, though. "Tommy was fine when I left for work!"
"He was briefly conscious and told Jason that you did this. Kyle, just take your right to remain silent and come quietly."
By now a few secretaries and paralegals had gathered by the open door. Kyle ignored all of them. "To hell with that! I'm going to go check on my son! Has Nancy been informed? I need to call her."
Joe Anderson, the man who ran the law firm, pushed past the group of secretaries. "Back to work all of you!" They scattered. He looked Kyle up and down. "The best thing you can do is let him execute the warrant. I know a good criminal attorney and I'll give him a call."
"Nancy needs..." he started
"I'll take care of that." Joe put a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "I know there's no damn way you did this, and they can't take the word of someone who was probably not thinking straight. You'll be out in a couple of days max."
Kyle let Mark put the cuffs on him.
Monday afternoon: Angel Grove PD 4 precinct
Nancy Oliver stormed into the police station and up to her husband who was sitting beside a desk being questioned about Tommy's condition. "Bastard! You fucking bastard! You told me you were just going to SCARE him a little! Damn you to hell!"
She slapped Kyle. The sound was very loud in the suddenly quiet room. Mark stood, catching her around the waist and pulling her back. "Nancy, stop."
"Let me go! I'm going to claw his eyes out of his fucking head!" she twisted in Mark's grasp.
"Now, you know I can't let you do that!" He pulled her to the other side of the room and pushed her into a chair. Nancy resisted at first, then slumped in the chair while twisting her hands in her lap. "Nance, what did you mean Kyle told you he was going to scare Tommy?"
Nancy pulled a Kleenex out of her pocket and wiped her eyes. "Tommy and Jason kissed a couple of weeks ago." When Mark blinked in surprise, she sighed. "I guess you didn't know Jason was a fag"
"Don't call my son that!" Mark narrowed his eyes. "So they kissed and…"
"Kyle saw them, we talked and decided we needed to scare Tommy straight. 'Tough love,' Kyle had said. I got some pills from work and put them in Tommy's juice. Kyle was supposed to just tie him up and tell him what could happen if he if he kept going down the path to
homosexuality." Nancy's voice broke. "Just to SCARE him a little! Just a little, not do THIS!"
Mark sat down in the chair next to her and put an arm around her shoulder. "You know, I'm going to have to arrest you."
Nancy nodded, sniffing. "Tommy is never going to forgive us. I bought… I bought some things for him. The cops at the house let me get him some clothes and I thought you could take them to him. Mark, will you and Lisa… will you take…" she trailed off.
Mark pushed her head onto his shoulder, letting her sob. "We'll look after Tommy as best we can." After a moment he asked, "Have you been to see him?"
"No, I... Joe called me at work. My boss gave me the week off almost as soon as I told him Tommy was hurt. I thought I'd get some clothes for him. I didn't think it would be that bad. I figured I'd be taking him home. But the house… there is blood everywhere in Tommy's room. I packed a bag but then all I could think was Kyle had done this. Next thing I knew I was storming in here."
Mark sighed heavily again. He wanted to let her go to her son, but there was still his duty as a cop to consider. "Lisa called me. Tommy's out of surgery. He has a chance, Nance."
Wednesday morning: Angel Grove memorial
Tommy's condition had been upgraded from critical but stable to just stable. He hadn't woken up, but his color was stable, as was his heart rate and blood pressure.
David spent every waking hour at the hospital. He was there now, skipping school to be with his brother and reading him a book of Shakespeare. Personally, David thought Shakespeare was boring. Tommy was the one who liked it.
He was reading Romeo and Juliet going through Mercutio's speech about Queen Mab when he glanced up. Tommy's eyes were open, and he was looking at David. David leaned forward. "Tommy?"
Tommy blinked. His mouth moved as if he was trying to speak, but because of the tube only garbled sounds came out. A look of bewilderment crossed Tommy's face. David grabbed his hand. "Tommy, it's okay." David hit the call button.
Lisa came in a moment later. Tommy looked at her and once again tried to speak. Lisa brushed Tommy's hair back off his face gently quieting him. She put her stethoscope on and listened to Tommy's chest.
"I'm going to take the breathing tube out. I need you to take a deep breath." Lisa grabbed the tube going down Tommy's throat. "Now exhale."
She pulled the tube smoothly out, making Tommy cough and gag. He took the water that a nurse offered him in a cup with a straw gulping it down eagerly. Finally, he was able to speak. "Hospital?"
"Yes," Lisa said gently. "Do you remember what happened?"
A look of bewilderment crossed Tommy's face and David felt his heart sink. If Tommy didn't remember, then Kyle Oliver was going to get away with it. Tommy met David's eyes the bewilderment was replaced by dawning horror. "It didn't happen!" Tommy burst out suddenly.
"It's alright." Lisa gathered Tommy in her arms. "It's going to be alright."
"It didn't happen! It didn't!" Tommy insisted and then he began to sob heart breakingly into Lisa's shoulder. "No, no, no, no," Lisa rocked him as if she were rocking a much younger child.
Finally, Tommy calmed down and Lisa gently lay him back. "Hurts." Tommy whispered. Lisa took his hand and guided it to a button on one of the machines next to the bed. "When you need it, push here it'll give you pain medicine."
Tommy nodded and then a frown crossed his face. He ran his hand up his stomach. David knew when his brother found the bag. He saw Tommy's face crumple again. "I swear, Tommy, it's going to be alright," Lisa spoke again.
Tommy met her gaze levelly in a tone of utter disbelief answered. "Is it really?" Before anyone could answer, he turned his head away from them and closed his eyes as if shutting out the world could shut out the truth.