August 2027: A Parent's Nightmare Part I.
At 7.30pm on the day of the partnership ceremony, Elliott was ready to serve up the supper that he had made, but as yet there was no sign of Dante and Lachlan. That was a source of a little stress for both Beats and Elliott, albeit for different reasons; for the latter, he didn't want the food to spoil, for the former it was more a slight anxiety about the fact that they were late and had not phoned to explain why. Normally when they were paying a visit, they were extremely punctual, especially when there was food involved. Beats however managed to dismiss his anxiety as ill-placed, as he knew from experience what reunions with old friends could be like, time slipping away as stories were shared and everything got caught up.
Elliott on the other hand got more annoyed and then worried as time went on, and when they were ten minutes late, he tried to call Dante, but the call was not answered. "He always answers his phone when he sees it is us," said Elliott, anger now changing to concern.
Beats had to admit that he was right, and his own worry started to grow. "Try him again, whilst I try Lachlan; it might just be that Dante's phone has died, or maybe they are about to come through the door, wondering why we keep calling them…" Elliott nodded, and redialled, as Beats made his own call…
In the house next door, Mike Chang was sitting in an armchair, gently rocking his daughter to sleep, whilst Tina tidied up in the kitchen, having already put their son in bed. She smiled as she observed her husband, the very picture of contentment. She had made up the garbage bag and was ready to head out to the trash can with it, knowing that there would be a collection first thing the following morning. The collection point was just round the corner in the next street now, and though some had objected, the garbage trucks had struggled to get down their narrow street and collect the waste without blocking the road. It was only a two minute walk, and she was happy to do it.
As she stepped out of her front door, however, Tina heard the sound of raised voices; somebody was yelling nearby, although she couldn't make out what they were saying. She paused as she reached the sidewalk, convinced she had just heard a scream. That set her on edge a little, so much so that she nearly jumped out of her skin when she looked behind her and saw Kitty approaching, a garbage bag in her own hand.
"That does not sound good," the blonde remarked, then with a smile went on, "It was probably just another argument between two entitled people over a parking spot…"
Tina laughed then, knowing just how frequent such things were in the narrow streets of the West Village and the surrounding neighbourhoods; they had been built in an age when the residents would have at most possessed a horse, that would have been stabled elsewhere. With that thought in her mind, she and Kitty made their way down towards the collection point; then as they reached the corner, they were almost sent flying as two young men in hoodies came barrelling round the bend. Kitty at once yelled at them, but Tina had observed something that made her blood run cold; they had blood stains on those hoodies. She then heard a clatter as something metal hit the sidewalk on the other side of the street; a brief glint of metal in the summer sunshine as whatever it was they had dropped was kicked into the basement yard across the street. Kitty saw that too, and with a quick look at Tina, the two of them hurried around the corner, worried about what they might see…
What confronted them was the sight of two bodies slumped on the street before them, close to each other but not quite within touching distance. Tina dropped her bag of trash, and spun round to tell Kitty to call 911, but the blonde was already on her phone. She hastened along the street to see if there was anything that she could do to help and was left horrified the moment she reached the first person. She quickly examined them, and although they were out cold, with blood oozing from a deep gash on their forehead, they had a strong pulse. Hearing a gasp, she looked up to see that Kitty had joined her, and she motioned to her to take care of this person whilst she moved on to the other one; after all, she had seen a knife, and that implied that someone had been stabbed or slashed, and there was only one person it could be…
The fact that she knew who the second person had to be made things worse. She reached them and saw her assumption had been correct; she quickly found the wound and applied pressure to it as all of her first aid training had taught her to. She knew that she should be making a phone call but she had far more important things to do with her hands, as she was literally all that potentially stood between life and death for the person she was attending to. She looked back towards Kitty, and once again the blonde was on the phone, making the call that was required. Her next words were about to destroy what had been a happy day…
When Beats had not been successful in reaching Lachlan, his initial calm reaction to the non-arrival of the two young men had faded a little, but he did not let it show in front of an increasingly worried Elliott. There could after all be any number of reasons why neither of the two were answering their phone; even in the city there were occasional blackspots in coverage which meant no reception. In fact, he realised, the most likely explanation was that they had not turned the ringtone on their phones back on having switched them off during the partnership ceremony, and amongst the buzz of conversation amongst old friends in the café, they had neither heard or felt them vibrate.
He decided that there was no point in trying again; instead, he would make a more proactive move. He turned to his husband, who was about to try Dante once more and said, "Look, there is no point in calling their phones over and over; they are young and enjoying themselves with friends and have lost track of time. I will take a quick stroll down to the café and see if I can find them. True, it will make me look like the most uncool dad in the world, but it will set your mind at rest…"
Elliott nodded, then said, "I could go if you want…"
"Yeah, and have you moan that I have let the supper spoil on top of everything else when you get back? No, you stay here…," replied Beats. His tone in saying it made Elliott laugh…
"I'm sure that you are right, they are just having so much fun that they have forgotten us old people," he said. "However, I still get the feeling that there is something wrong somewhere…"
Beats nodded, as he had the same feeling. He went to fetch his jacket from the peg in the hall; as he walked back to the kitchen to say goodbye, his phone started to ring, and he smiled. With a look at Elliott, he answered without checking who the caller was, as he fully expected it to be Lachlan returning the missed call, or rather the missed calls… "Hey, I am sorry if I disturbed you when you were having a good time, but Elliott was getting worried because you didn't arrive when you said you would…"
As Elliott scowled at him, Beats heard something that made him shiver. "Beats, it's Kitty. I need you to do something for me. I need you to get Elliott, get Ethan or Drew up to keep an eye on your young ones, and then come round to the garbage collection point for me. Just the two of you, as quickly as you can."
"Why on earth…?"
"Don't argue, just do! And hurry, the two of you need to be here yesterday…"
Kitty hung up, and Beats stood there, stunned and dumbfounded. Elliott was looking at him with an equal look of confusion. Before his husband could speak, it suddenly hit him. The street with the collection point was on the route back from the café the boys had been at. He took a breath and called Ethan as Elliott just stared at him. He didn't even give him a chance to say a word when he answered the call.
"Ethan, can you come up? Elliott and I need to pop out and deal with something right now…"
Elliott was still in the dark as Beats bundled him out of the house a minute later, Ethan barely in the door before they hurried out. There had been a phone call, and then Elliott had found his coat thrust at him, and Ethan was there, and then they were running down the stairs as if the place was on fire. True, Beats had stopped to whisper in Ethan's ear, words that had made Ethan's smile fade, but other than that his husband had not spoken since his last words into his phone. As they ran out into the street, Elliott pulling the door closed behind them, he decided that he needed to know what on earth was happening. As they hurried towards the corner of the street, he spoke.
"Nate, what on earth is going on? One minute you are going to the café, you get a phone call and suddenly you are getting babysitters and dragging me out of the house too! Was that one of the boys on the phone? Has there been some trouble at the café, and they need us both? I think that you owe me…"
Elliot nearly body slammed into his husband at that moment, as he had just stopped dead at the street corner, his eyes frozen on something. He looked in the same direction; he saw Kitty; he saw Tina. Then he saw that both of them were knelt beside the body of a young man…
Then he heard a scream of pain and anguish from the man at his side, but he did not stop to comfort him. Elliott ran, coming to Kitty first, who just pointed him in the direction of Tina. He saw who Kitty was kneeling by, and his heart fell, but he knew that even more pain was ahead. He ran up to Tina, and sank down on his knees beside her; beside his son, whose eyes were shut, whose skin was pale, whose shirt was crimson…
"He still has a pulse, he is still alive, but he has been stabbed; there were two young men ran past me and Kitty, about Dante's age, who probably did this. I'm applying pressure to the wound to slow the bleeding, and I will stay here, doing just that, until the ambulance arrives," said Tina, her voice filled with sorrow. "Why don't you take his hand, cradle his head maybe; talk to him. He won't reply, but he will know that you were here and most importantly of all, he will know that he is loved…"
Elliott nodded, and gently, fighting back tears, he lifted his son's head up and wiped his hair from his eyes. He looked back down the street, which seemed to be quite misty through his watering eyes and saw that Beats was down on his knees beside poor Lachlan…
Beats had surprised himself when his scream had emerged, but it had been needed, a reaction to a horror that no-one wanted to face. He had unfrozen almost at once, as Elliott sprinted away to their boy. His paternal instincts made him want to follow his husband to be at the side of their son, but then he realised that it would be the worst thing he could do as he already had two people with him. No, if Dante could speak, he would want him to take care of Lachlan, the love of his life. He had Elliott, his boyfriend had no-one he was close to…
He staggered forward and knelt beside Kitty, who just looked at him with so much sorrow. "I am sorry that I couldn't bring myself to tell you exactly why I needed you both here," she said in a whisper. "It was too much to break to you over the phone, and I thought you would be calmer that way, but I am guessing you worked out what was wrong somehow… There is an ambulance on the way and the cops are coming too. There were two other young men that nearly ran into me and Tina as we brought the garbage here; reading between the lines, I think they are responsible for this. We heard shouting when we came out of the house…"
Beats nodded, and took Lachlan's hand, grateful that it was warm, although he looked paler than he usually did…
"I'm no expert, but I think that he might have a head injury, not just that gash on his forehead. I mean, that makes me think that he fell once, and got up; then he fell again. I don't want to move him and maybe do more damage…"
Beats nodded again, then gasped. "I should call his parents; they need to know. What do I say to them? How do I tell the Rosenfelds that their son has been attacked just yards from my front door?"
Kitty did not envy him having to make that call, but she could give him advice… "I'd wait until the ambulance arrives before you make that call. That way you will maybe know more about what is wrong, and more importantly, what hospital they will be taking them to." That was all she could say, because frankly, she had no idea how to start that sort of conversation either…
Suddenly the sound of sirens split the air, and then flashing red and blue lights appeared almost simultaneously from either end of the street as an ambulance arrived from one direction and a police cruiser from the other. The ambulance arrived at Dante's end of the street, and the crew went to him first; Beats stood aside to allow the policewoman in to check on Lachlan. He looked up the street to where the two paramedics were now bent over Dante, the bleeding young man the obvious priority. Tina still had her hand pressed to his wound as they looked at him. He turned back to the scene before him, where Kitty was now talking to the second cop that had arrived. Despite everything that was happening around him, Beats felt as if he was alone in a crowd, detached from it all, lost in his thoughts…
Then he felt the by now familiar draught, and moments later he heard Wes' voice in his ear. "Neither of them is on the list, not that that information will make any of this any easier for you to deal with. I am going to go and see Ethan, tell him exactly what has happened, as you have a much more important task ahead of you. You will find the words, just do not overthink it. They will need to be told soon, because otherwise there will be a cop showing up at their door, and that will be all the more devastating for them when they find out that you were actually here…"
Beats wanted to ask Wes so many questions, but there were too many people around, and in any case, the ambulance crew were now loading his son into the back of the ambulance; in a moment they would be coming to place Lachlan on a second stretcher. That would restrict the space in the ambulance and mean that only one of the two of them could go with the boys to the hospital right now. If he had been a coward, he would have volunteered, and sent Elliott to the Rosenfelds, but he wasn't, and in any case, his husband had a blood stain or two on his clothes. He walked over to him and said, "You go with them Ell. I need to go and tell the Rosenfelds what has happened; I can't leave that task to the NYPD…"
Elliott nodded, then said, "Just don't be long. I am going to need you with me to get through all of this."
Beats hugged him, then with the confirmation that they were being taken to the hospital were Oliver Harwood worked, the ambulance departed, as Beats wondered if Ollie might even be on duty in the emergency room right now. He surveyed the scene, the police now talking to Tina and Kitty. He left, nobody stopping him as he walked towards the main avenue, where he was able to hail a cab straight away, giving the driver the Rosenfelds address. It was better that he delivered this sort of news in person; the impact would be no less severe, but he would be able to see just how they reacted far better. This way he would be there to take the blame instead of his son; in the back of his mind Beats feared that the couple would attribute the injuries that their boy had sustained to his relationship with Dante. The adopted latino could easily be made a scapegoat, particularly as the two young men Kitty and Tina had mentioned had been of the same ethnic background…
It did not take long for the taxi to reach the Rosenfelds' home in Greenwich Village. As it stopped outside, Beats took a deep breath, knowing that he was about to break the couple's hearts. He had already explained to the driver what was happening, and he was happy to wait whilst he carried out his task. He climbed out of the cab, and then realised that he was being observed by Lachlan's mother, who had come to the front window just at that second to close her blinds as the sun began to set in the west. Her eyes widened as she saw him, and the grim expression on his face; by the time that he had crossed the sidewalk and made his way up the steps, she was at the front door, opening it before he could ring the bell.
He knew from the expression on her face that she now knew something was wrong, so he decided not to even try and sugar coat it. "I'm so sorry, they've been attacked, just yards from our place in the West Village… They're alive, but unconscious, and on their way to hospital right now. I wanted to come here, tell you in person, because a phone call didn't seem right or personal enough in the circumstances. I am on my way to the hospital, and the cab is waiting for all of us… I can only say how sorry I am…"
Whilst he had been speaking, Mrs Rosenfeld had been joined on the threshold by her husband, who now looked straight at Beats, and said, "This isn't your fault; you've done nothing wrong." He handed his wife her coat, and as she put it on almost on autopilot, he went back into the sitting room, turning off the television, shutting the blinds, leaving a light on… He came back carrying his wife's purse and handed it to her as he picked up his own jacket. Then she was moving towards the taxi as her husband set the alarm and locked the front door. Beats guided her in, allowing her to sit in the back along with her husband as he entered in the front at the driver's instruction. Then they were off in the direction of the hospital, the driver moving as swiftly as he could, taking every shortcut he knew…
As they drove, Beats found himself telling the couple in the back everything that he knew from Kitty; that Lachlan had a steady pulse and a gash to his forehead. That he must have hit the sidewalk hard the second time, and that had knocked him out cold. "And what about Dante?" asked Mr Rosenfeld.
"Elliott was with him… He had been stabbed… There was so much blood…" Suddenly the dam that had been holding everything back for Beats burst, and he began to sob. He felt the hand of Mrs Rosenfeld on his shoulder then, her own shock and horror at her son's injuries being pushed to one side by the news of those that Dante had suffered. A blow to the head was bad, but a stab wound was worse; it could easily be fatal in no time at all…
When the taxi pulled up outside the emergency room of the hospital a short time later, Mr Rosenfeld insisted on paying, telling his wife and Beats to head straight in and not wait, and to find out what was going on. As soon as they stepped into the reception area they saw Elliott, who was sat in the chairs in the waiting area, his head bowed, and his shoulders slumped. They headed straight for him, knowing that he would know more than those sat behind the glass at the reception desk at this point.
He looked up as they approached, and Beats saw the tear tracks on his face; he then said, "I'm afraid that I can't tell you any more than you already know. They took them straight into the back, told me to give all of their details to the ladies behind the reception desk… Actually, there is one thing that I can tell you; this wasn't a robbery gone wrong. Before we got here, one of the paramedics gave me a bag in which he had placed their wallets, watches and phones; as he said, it was safer staying with me than lying in there beside them. It was such a bonus at the desk too, as I was able to just hand the ladies their medical cards…"
He stopped then, and took Lachlan's wallet, watch and phone out of his left-hand pocket and handed them over to his mother. She took them, but it started her crying once more, and Beats could understand exactly why. In every medical drama he had ever seen on television, the victim's property was usually only handed over to them when there was either no hope, or they were already deceased…
Mr Rosenfeld joined them moments later; as he talked to Elliott, Beats caught sight of a familiar face, a man that was just now talking to a nurse as he emerged from the corridor that led to the administrative area. Dr. Oliver Harwood had obviously just finished his shift and was about to head home, if the light coat he was wearing over his scrubs was anything to go by. He left the nurse, and that was when he saw Beats and Elliott in the waiting area. Inside him a part of his brain sighed and willed him to pretend he hadn't just seen them and to head out, go home to Michelle and his son. Deep down though he knew that he could not do that, not when one of his little brother's friends was in the ER…
He headed over, and it was only as he did so that he spotted that the couple next to Elliott were Lachlan's parents; he had met them a few times now, frequently at the fundraisers that the hospital held periodically for those nice extras for patient comfort. He quickly put all the pieces together, realising that the presence of them all meant that something had happened to Dante and Lachlan; the sight of the blood on Elliott's shirt sent a chill down his spine. He was used to working in the emergency room, to seeing relatives anxiously waiting every day, but it was somehow more difficult to handle when you knew the people involved…
"Hey, has something happened to Dante or Lachlan?" he asked as he reached them. "I have been up in the admin wing for the last two hours, so I've not witnessed anything down here…" Beats filled Ollie in as quickly as he could, and the doctor nodded, his face grim as he was told the worst. When the former Warbler finished, Ollie took off his bag and coat, and said, "I will just go into the treatment area, see what I can find out for you; as soon as I know anything, I will be right back." The four parents thanked him, and he headed off, praying as he walked into the business end of the ER that all would be well…
The fact was that Ollie was no stranger to having to deal with the parents of college age kids, and frequently found himself being the one to have to break bad news to them. He had lost count of the number of occasions if he was honest, but it was the ones like this, the assaults in the street, that seemed to be the hardest to deal with. In contrast, auto accidents were the easiest to deal with, as there was someone to blame at once most of the time, be it the kid themselves or the other driver; the car they had been in or the one that had hit them. This case was one of the hardest, because it bore all the hallmarks of a homophobic attack, or perhaps an anti-semitic one. He had seen too many of both recently after years of decline…
There was something else too. When Beats had described the two possible perpetrators, it had rung several alarm bells in his head. There had been quite a few of the attacks recently where the attackers had the same description to those two, at least according to his friends at the NYPD. The worst thing was that of all those other attacks, three quarters had resulted in a fatality, or a comatose patient. He could only hope that neither group was about to get larger tonight…
Ollie would only be away for a short time, but to those in the waiting area it felt like eternity. Beats took a moment to quickly check his phone; he was unsurprised to see a message from Ethan, telling him that Wes had filled him in fully, and that he would stay with Olivia and Ty for as long as was necessary; he went on to say that he had informed Drew of what was happening, but that, as of yet, neither of the two children had any inkling of the reason for their swift exit, but they did keep asking…
Beats realised that they did need to be told, deserved to have the knowledge, but there was no point in saying anything right now, as there was still so much that they did not know. He wondered then if Artie and Mike also knew everything, as they had been bound to wonder where their wives had vanished to, and in the latter case, why she was now covered in blood. He guessed that they would know that someone had been attacked in the next street, but they probably had no inkling of the identity of the victims. Tina and Kitty were both aware of the delicate nature of the situation and would not want to reveal too much even to their respective partners until they knew more. He added them to the list of people he would need to inform when he had more news, along with the kids. That was when he realised that he would also need to call his parents…
At his side, Elliott had taken his phone out too, but his reason for doing so was a much more practical one. He was down to be the duty manager at the diner on the early shift the next day, but the 7am start that he usually had no issue with was now an impossibility, tomorrow at least; there was no way he could go to work when his son was in danger. He sent a quick message to Michelle, letting her know that Dante was in hospital, but not saying why; that as a result she would need to find someone to cover his shift. He added that Ollie was with them, as he guessed she would be expecting him home soon, and that wasn't going to happen now.
In less that a minute he had a response, telling him that she understood, that she was thinking about them all, and that he was not to worry, she would cover the shift herself. He thanked her, and did not correct her on the second part of her reply, saying that she would see Lachlan's morning shift was also covered, as he would be as anxious as he was and to let him know. It was true that he would not be working the next day, but not for the reason Michelle was assuming; in fact, Lachlan would not be working for a little while at least…
The four parents did not know that Ollie was coming back until he appeared beside him, and took a seat amongst them, the waiting area quiet for a Sunday night. He had known that they would be focused on the door he had walked in by, so in a deliberate act, he had left instead by the side door so that he could have a moment to compose his response before they were upon him….
"Okay, so I will begin with the good news. Both of your sons are in a stable condition, and neither of them is now giving us any cause for concern that we might lose them…" He paused as there was a collective sigh of relief, a little joy now returned given that they now knew that they were not about to lose them. "Now in Dante's case that is largely down to the actions of the person at the scene who knew what they were doing and put compression onto his wound to stem the bleeding…" As he said that, he looked straight at Elliott, but he shook his head.
"No, that was down entirely to Tina. She knew what she was doing and she did not move a muscle away from that wound until she was told to do so by the paramedic…"
"Well, to be blunt, Dante might just owe her; her actions are what saved his life. She stopped him losing so much blood, and that bought him valuable time. They took him straight into surgery when they got him here, and thankfully the blade that was used managed to miss all the major organs and arteries except one; they did do some damage to his left lung, but they have made the necessary repairs, and it will heal. He will be left with a scar unfortunately, and he will have to deal with the pain of a number of cracked ribs, but he will recover fully in time…"
Beats and Elliott smiled, and for a moment Ollie did too. Then his face went back to serious as he turned to speak to Lachlan's parents… "I'm afraid that with Lachlan, quiet conversely, things aren't quite so simple. He had no stab wounds as you are aware, just a few minor cuts on his hands and the gash to his forehead. However, we are now convinced that he has a pretty serious head injury. When he fell the first time and gashed his head, he was left stunned, but was still able to get back up on his feet, and presumably he went to try and help Dante. This was when he was pushed and fell again, but backwards this time; the back of his head therefore took the full impact. He would have hit the stone at the edge of the sidewalk with considerable force; unfortunately, there was also a raised metal drain cover at that precise point. We believe it was that raised edge that did the real damage, and left him with a fractured skull…"