Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2005 13:28:40 EDT
From: RitchChristopher@cs.com
Subject: briarwood:the-clayton-clan-12

All rights reserved. Copyright held by the author. If you are underage or
are offended by gay fiction, containing graphic sex and explicit language,
please exit now.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>


                                  "BRIARWOOD"

                          aka "Whence Cometh My Help"

                                     R.S.V.


                                A dramatic saga

                                      by

			       Ritch Christopher

                                   * * * *

                             literary enhancement

                                      by

                                 Les Martin


                                 <><><><><>


                              HERE STARTS BOOK TWO,


                                Chapter Twelve



<><><><><><><><><><><><>

                              "The Clayton Clan"

                                     of

                                  Briarwood


	Walter Clayton, prominent attorney in Briarwood and trustee-manager
of several big estates including Roger Cole's, raced his BMW760i at eighty
miles-per-hour down Oak, Vine, and Willow Streets, almost a ballistic
projectile, to get to the emergency room of Kimbrough Hospital. He parked
in the nearest available space and jumped out without giving a second
thought about locking it. He ran at a sprinter's pace to the ER waiting
room and to the nurse-on-duty's desk.

	"Hello, I'm Walter Clayton. I believe you have my son, Alex here!"
Walter said to the nurse, trying to catch his breath.

	"One moment, sir, while I check the patient roster." The nurse
replied. "Yes, he has being seen by a doctor and, if you'll wait, someone
will be out here soon to talk with you."

	Alex could hear his father's voice through the swinging doors next
to his examining cubicle. Alex, though mentally groggy, was aware he was in
a hospital. He don't know how he got here. His throat felt raw and burning
and his stomach was cramped in pain. He felt woozy, not quite coherent, and
the room was spinning uncontrollably. He saw an IV bag of clear liquid
dripping down into the tubing attached to a needle protruding from the bend
of his left arm. There were two patches on his chest and he could hear the
'beep-beep-beep' coming from one of the machines next to the pallet on
which he was lying.

	Alex thought, 'Why am I in a hospital? Besides my throat and
stomach, I don't feel any pain. I feel like I can move my arms, my legs, my
head...nothing's broken, I don't remember being in a car wreck. Did I pass
out? What's the last thing I remember?' Before he could reach a conclusion,
his father entered the examining room.

	"Alex?"

	"Dad?"

	"Yes. Are you all right, son?"

	"I don't know, Dad."

	"What happened?"

	"I don't know."

	"Jeffrey called me at work and said he found you lying unconscious
on the bathroom floor next to the toilet."

	"I don't remember."

	"Son, the doctor said you had overdosed. Is that right?"

	"I don't know."

	"Son, you must remember taking something. They pumped almost a full
bottle of Darvocet from your stomach."

	"Dad,I said I don't remember."

	"Did you and your brother have a fight about something? God, a
person just doesn't swallow a bottle of pills for no reason!"

	"I didn't have a fight with Jeff. I'm sure of that."

	"What happened at school today? Anything out of the ordinary?"

	"I remember Ted bringing me home and he came in and we played
Tetris."

	"And then?"

	Alex fought through a fog of medication." I went into the kitchen
and made us both a sandwich. And while I was out of my room, Ted put on a
video and we watched a movie and ate...and then Ted left and I had to go to
the bathroom. That's all I remember...except I woke up here."

	"You don't remember anything about taking pills? Did you and Ted
have words?"

	"No,I don't think so."

	"Well, Alex, none of this makes any sense...Maybe if I call Ted,
he'll be able to put some light on the subject."

	"Dad?...When can I go home?"

	"I'm not sure. The doctor may want to keep you here overnight for
an evaluation...to make sure you've got all those pain-killers out of your
system. He wants you to talk to another doctor in the morning."

	"What kind of doctor?"

	"He wants you to see the house psychiatrist."

	"Dad. I'm not crazy!"

	"No one said anything about your being crazy. We're just looking
for some logical explanation as to why you did what you did."

	"I don't want to see a psychiatrist. I don't need one."

	"Well, let's let the doctor decide that. Now you get some rest and
do what the doctors tell you and I'll come by tomorrow and take you home,
if they think it's all right."

	"OK."

	"Good night, son."

	"Night, Dad." His father left and Alex felt a moment of doubt.

	Something HAD happened between Ted and him. Alex thought he was
beginning to remember...something. They'd been watching a videotape...and
then Ted asked Alex if he had any porno tapes and Alex said 'No', but he
thought that his dad had some up on his closet shelf, hidden behind some
boxes of papers. Alex remembered going to get the tapes and going back into
his bedroom. He seemed to remember sliding one of them into the VCR. The
name of the tape was, "My Son, My Lover" and it was about a man whose son
was a tennis player. They were rich and had their own tennis court. The
father and son played a tennis match and after the son had won, he went
back into his house and went up to his room to take a shower. Alex thought
back---he's been slightly shocked to see that the video tape was so
sexually explicit. The camera showed close-ups of the boy washing his
genital area as well as his butt crack. Then, about halfway through getting
himself soaped, the boy's dad got in the shower with him! The boy was
surprised as his dad took the soap and started lathering up his son's back
and washed his butt. He slid his soapy hands between the boy's ass cheeks
and the boy seemed too afraid to say anything. He didn't even try to stop
his dad. But then, his dad went further, turning his son around and soaping
up the boy's private parts, where the boy, himself, had just
washed. Involuntarily, the boy started getting an erection. The dad started
to masturbate his son, followed by the father kneeling and performing oral
sex on his son!

	And then suddenly Alex remembered how viewing the tape had affected
him! He couldn't believe this tape belonged to his father! Then he
remembered looking over at Ted who had unzipped his pants and started
playing with himself! In all the years that Ted and Alex had been school
chums, this was the first time either had ever exposed himself to the
other, not to mention while being in a state of erection! Alex wondered why
Ted was so turned on watching two guys in the shower together and the first
thing that occurred to him was that Ted, his best friend, possibly was
queer! What's worse for Alex was the question that thundered through his
mind...was his own dad queer? Why else would he have this tape? And then
Ted looked at Alex and asked...

	"Aren't you going to join me?"

	"No... I mean....why are you doing that?"

	"Look at the picture, man...it's hot!"

	"Yeah, but it's two guys, Ted!"

	"So?"

	"So?...Guys don't do that sort of thing!"

	"Why not? As long as you can get your rocks off?...It beats going
into the shower and beating off by yourself."

	"Well, this is even worse. The guy sucking him off is his own
father!"

	"So?"

	"Well, I know my father would never do a thing like that to me!"

	"How do you know?...it's your dad's tape, isn't it?"

	"It was in his closet, but maybe it got mixed up at the store where
he bought it and he just hadn't taken it back yet."

	"Yeah, and maybe pigs fly, too...Alex, come on! Don't tell me you
never heard anything about your dad and my dad when they were boys."

	"What the hell are you talking about."

	"My dad and your dad used to get together and jerk each other off
and swap blow jobs. I think they even tried butt fucking!"

	"Ted...shut up! You're making this up!"

	"I am not! My dad told me all about it. Don't tell me that you and
your kid brother Jeff live under the same roof with him and never suspected
anything about your dad?"

	"Absolutely not! I don't know anything and I'm sure as hell Jeff
doesn't either!"

	"Sssh!! Let's talk about it later. The movie is just getting
good. I think the father is gonna fuck his son and I can't concentrate on
what I'm doing if you're gonna talk."

	"You mean you're gonna jack off?...here...and now...watching two
queers in a movie?"

	"I am, if you'll shut the fuck up! Why don't you take your dick out
and join me? The movie is getting hotter and hotter and so am I! Come here
and let me unzip your pants. You can't tell me you don't have a hard on!"

	"I don't"

	"Let me feel."

	Ted reached over and grabbed Alex's penis through his Levis and
Alex slapped Ted's hand aside.

	"Ha, ha! I thought so. You're as hard as I am."

	"Well, who wouldn't be with you grabbing me like that.!"

	"Come on, Alex...it's just the two of us...and I won't say
anything. You know that! Let's just jerk off together and I'll go home."

	A thought occurred to Alex. "What about your dad? Does he have
tapes like this one?"

	"Oh...well, he and I play around from time to time..."

	"You mean...with each other's pricks?"

	"Sure. He's the one who talk me how to masturbate."

	"Have you done other things, too?"

	"Come on, Alex. buddy, get with the times! This is a whole new
generation!"

	"Ted, I can't believe any of this bullshit!"

	"You want me to call my dad so's you can ask him?"

	"No way...You and your dad?...for real?"

	"For real! Now come on and quit stalling and pull your dick out."

	Alex really wanted to, but at the same time, he was scared out of
his mind, confused. He couldn't deny that the conversation, along with the
video, had made him horny and, after all, Ted WAS doing it!...and Ted was
his best friend, Alex slowly moved his hand to the zipper tab and pulled
down the zipper, tooth by tooth, releasing his hard cock.

	"Hurry, before one of them cums! It'll be fun if we can cum the
same time they do."

	They were too late---the father on the TV screen had just deposited
a load in his son's ass, moaning as he rammed into the boy's butt.

	"Aw, hell, we missed it...but just wait...they gotta do some more."

	By now, Alex had pulled his erect cock out of his pants and had sat
down on the side of the bed next to Ted. Sure enough, the father knelt down
again and was taking his son's penis into his mouth.

	"Oh man, look at that! That kid don't know how lucky he is...I've
never showered with my dad...but this sure gives me ideas...Come on, start
jerking yourself!"

	Alex watched the screen and soon he and Ted were masturbating in
unison, matching stroke for stroke.

	"My zipper is pinching me!...let's take our jeans off," Ted said.

	Alex had to agree. The teeth on his zipper were biting into his
shaft. They paused the tape long enough to take off their shoes, briefs and
pants, dumping them in a heap of the floor. Alex was more in control of
himself physically, but emotionally, he knew what he was doing was
wrong. Once seated again, Ted clicked the remote button to continue the
action...that of the actors as well as that of the 'viewers'.

	Ted increased his speed as he stroked his hard prick and he moved
his free hand over to Alex's scrotum.

	"Let me tickle your balls while you do that...it gives you more
sensation."

	Alex didn't try to stop him; he was becoming more tolerant with
less fear of possible consequences. After all, they were just two
guys...neither one of them was queer...just two best buddies...watching a
movie and sharing a little private moment of brotherhood, Ted stopped
tickling and grabbed Alex's sac and began to squeeze.  This heightened
Alex's self-stimulation.

	"Man, Alex, I've never seen your dick before. You got a big one!"

	"Looks about the same size as yours, at least to me."

	"Yeah, I know, I got a big one, too...Here, why don't you play with
my balls the way I'm playing with yours?"

	"Oh...all right...but how much farther are we going to go?"

	"Just until the movie ends...We should both have cum by then,"

	On the screen, the father had stopped sucking his son's dick and
had turned the shower off, dried themselves with towels, and had gone into
a bedroom with a huge king-sized bed. They lay down together, but not in
the same direction, They had positioned themselves so that each of their
mouths could suck the other at the same time.

	"Oh, wow, sixty-nining!"

	"Is that what that's called?"

	"Yeah, you know like the number where the tail of the six meets the
round part of the nine and vice versa...God...look at 'em
go... shit!...look at that...Oh, man...I'm about to shoot a load all over
myself."

	"Well, don't get any on the bed spread. I'd never be able to
explain it!"

	"What do you use to clean yourself when you jack off by
yourself?...You DO jack off, don't you?"

	"That's a dumb question. I keep a box of Kleenex in the drawer in
the table by the bed,"

	"Well, get out the whole fucking box. I think I may need it."

	Alex had to stretch his arm across Ted's body to reach the drawer,
causing their penises to touch in the process. In a flash, Ted grabbed both
organs and started jerking them in tandem.

	"Hey, this is more like it! Did you ever do this with anyone
before?"

	"You know damned well I haven't!"

	"Not even with Jeff?"

	"Especially not with Jeff!"

	"What is he, one or two years younger than you?...and you guys
never have done anything together?"

	"Heck, no! Definitely not!"

  	"Shit, man, you guys don't know what you're missing. You could be
having some exciting times in the bedroom every night...and then, there's
your dad...?"

	"Ted, I don't believe a word of what you said about my dad and your
dad. Let's just finish what we're doing and that'll be the end of it. I
don't ever even want to talk about this afternoon...ever again."

	"That's what you say...but I bet this won't be your last
time...with me...or someone else."

	"Well, let me tell you, this won't happen again with me."

	But soon their eminent orgasms were about to become realities.

	"Oh, God, Alex, you just made chills go over my whole body."

	"I know...I felt the same thing."

	"Close your eyes and just don't watch! Just concentrate on how good
this feels!"

	Alex obeyed by shutting out the view. Ted was right, It did feel
better with one's eyes closed. Alex supposed that's why he always
masturbated in the dark at night.

	"Ted, I think you had better stop. This isn't right... I don't
think we should continue!"

         But Alex's warning was a moment too late---they both arched their
backs in ecstasy, their muscled tensed as they ejaculated at the same time.

	"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Ted said as they both came down
from physical heaven.

	Once the euphoria had subsided, Alex felt an onslaught of rage,
embarrassment, and anger toward his best friend.

	"Ted, I want you to leave!"

	"What?"

	"I want you to put on your clothes and get the fuck out of my
house. I MEAN IT!! I want you out NOW!...And I don't ever want to see you
again, as long as I live...NOW, GET THE FUCK OUT!!!"

	"OK...OK...I'm going..."

	Ted didn't look Alex in the eye, If he had, Alex would probably
have beaten him to death. Never had he felt such fury towards anyone. Ted
hurriedly picked up his shoes, shorts, and jeans and ran out the door,
leaving Alex alone on the bed. Ted's tires squealed as he screeched out of
the Clayton driveway.

	Ted looked about the room; he wanted everything just to be the way
it had been. He went into the bathroom, took a damp towel back to the
bedroom to wipe away any evidence that might have been deposited on the
bedspread but there were no semen stains to be seen. So he quickly went to
the VCR and rewound the tape, but found himself stopping the rewind only
halfway through! Then he suddenly hit the 'play' button---he began watching
the oral-sex part again! As he viewed it for a second time, he watched
closely as the father took his son into the bedroom. Again they lay down
opposite the other's head feet and began to orally stimulate each other at
the same time. No matter how disgusting he knew it should be to him, Alex
couldn't help but find himself becoming sexually aroused again. There was
no way on earth or in hell that he could or would ever do anything of this
nature with HIS dad! Still, he wondered, what would it have been like if
his and Ted's session of proceeded to this level? Granted, he had always
loved Ted, probably more than he loved his own brother, Jeff. Would doing
such a thing with Ted make Ted and him homosexuals in the truest sense of
the word? Ted had gone home and Alex was alone with his thoughts. He found
himself unzipping his jeans for another masturbatorial round as he watched
the tape. Only this time, he found himself fantasizing that it was he and
Ted doing the these things to one another...and almost immediately, he
experienced a quicker and yet more body-wrenching orgasm. Once again, the
anger he felt before Ted left reasserted itself and he hated Ted.....AND
himself.

	He quickly turned off the video, rewound it to the start and took
it back to his dad's closet. Then Alex returned to his room and
straightened the bed. Everything looked OK. but he noticed that his hands
were still sticky with his fluid. He ran into the bathroom and washed his
hands. That's when he looked at himself in the mirror,

	He hated what he saw. Every part of his face looked ugly to
himself. Two hours ago, he was a happy, healthy, normal teenager and now he
had had queer thoughts about his best friend! Then another fear stuck
him...what if his mother's spirit had seen him? had seen what he had done?
His dad had told him and Jeff after their mother died that she would always
be with them, to see them and guide them through the rest of their
lives. Could his dead mom read his thoughts about Ted? What if Jeff had
walked in and caught Ted and him on the bed going at each other? Jeff, no
doubt, would run to their dad and Alex would be punished forever or sent to
some institution for the insane. That's probably where he belonged now
anyway...some asylum for queers. He hated himself and Ted. He wanted to
die. It would take too long to find out where dad had hid his pistol. The
three Clayton men used electric shavers, so there were no razor
blades. Alex thought he could go get a sharp butcher knife and cut his
throat and wrists...but, no, they would find him in a big pool of blood and
Jeff and his dad might not ever be able to wash away all the bloodstains,
Alex couldn't remember ever seeing any rat poison under the sink in the
kitchen. Then he opened the medicine cabinet and saw several medicine
bottles.  There was one, with about 30 white caplets of Darvocet which the
dentist had given Jeff when he had a toothache.

 	Alex took the plastic lid off and emptied the whole bottle in his
hand. He kept the medicine cabinet door open---he did not want to see
himself ever again in the mirror. Next, Alex opened his mouth and crammed
all the pills in at one time. He turned on the faucet and cupped his hand
to fill it with water. He coughed as he swallowed them. Finally, he braced
himself with each arm on the lavatory and waited for the pills to take
effect. Then a wave of fear went through his entire body, he knew that he
had decided to die and realized that he was facing the unknown. He
remembered what he had heard in church that all people who committed
suicide would burn in a lake of fire for all eternity. Which was
worse?...Facing his dad and letting him find out what sin he had engaged in
with Ted...or facing Satan?

	About two minutes later, Alex began to feel dizzy, He also felt
tears streaming down his face. He was scared...scared and sick to his
stomach. Next he felt a surge of hot water in his esophagus. He had to
vomit. So he got on his knees and placed his head over the toilet bowl and
tried to heave...but nothing came up. He tried again. He was getting more
dizzy The floor was slanting. Alex couldn't get his balance to stand
up. The last thing he remembered was his forehead grazing the rim of the
commode before his head crashed on the cold white tiles on the floor.


<><><><><><><>


	The next morning in the emergency crisis, Alex awoke in room 419 in
the hospital. He had remembered everything before he had slept. The IV was
gone...but not the guilt. He was guilty of two unpardonable
sins...suicide---and a desire to commit a homosexual act with Ted, his best
friend. Either one would guarantee him a seat in hell...but both of them?
Alex was damned forever and he wanted to die more than ever. He had
survived only to face everyone with the horrible truth.

	It was 9:00AM and they had served him a meager meal of toast and
skim milk. The door opened. Alex expected to see his dad, Instead, it was a
physician, Doctor Hughes, a nice looking man in his 40's. Alex soon learned
that the doctor was the dreaded shrink. Alex vowed that no matter how kind
and how nice Doctor Hughes was to him, he wouldn't reveal anything to the
psych MD. Now, having remembered in horrible detail all the events that had
led up to his hospitalization, Alex panicked at the idea of ever telling
anyone anything.

	"Good morning, Alex, I'm Dr. Hughes..."

	"The shrink..."

	"Sometimes...but I think more about expanding one's mind and
outlook rather than shrinking it."

	"OK...the expander..."

	"Very good, Alex, at least you didn't refer to me as a
'terminator', as other patients have," Dr. Hughes said, trying to lighten
the mood of conversation. "Now, have you been able to recall anything about
yesterday that would cause you to try to end your own life?"

	"No, I've been thinking and thinking and it's like a big black
blotch in my brain. I can't remember anything."

	"Well, it might take some time. Often, we block unpleasant memories
or things which frighten or shock us...Do you mind if I ask a few
questions?  Maybe something will help jog a few brain cells and help you
remember."

	"No, I don't mind."

	"Good. Tell me about your father and how you feel about him."

	"He's great. He's my dad. He's been both parents to me and my
brother since my mom died of cancer about six years ago."

	"You still miss her a lot?"

	"Sure, I miss her and sometimes it makes me sad when I can't
visualize her face or remember the sound of her voice."

	"Do you and your father ever quarrel about things?"

	"Nothing more important than my weekend curfew. He likes me to be
home by 11:00 on the weekend nights."

	"Your brother, Jeff...how do you boys get along?"

	"We get along fine like most brothers. He wants to use the phone a
lot more than I do and sometimes he asks me to hang up the phone before I'm
ready. We usually have words about that...That's all."

	"...when you're talking to your girlfriend on the phone?"

	"I didn't say that. I don't really have a girlfriend."

	"Do you have a best friend?"

	"Yes."

	"What's his name?"

	"Ted."

	"You two?... been friends long?"

	"Every since we were babies. Our dads were roommates in college."

	"Did you see Ted yesterday?"

	"Sure, he always picks me up and takes me to and from school."

	"He brought you home yesterday? Did he go in the house with you?"

	"Yeah, we usually go in my house and play some video games and eat
a snack or something."

	"How late did Ted stay yesterday?"

	"I don't remember."

	"You don't remember when he left?"

	"No."

	"That's interesting. Maybe if we were to talk to Ted, he might
enlighten us on what you were doing as he was leaving. He just might hold
the key to your memory."

	"NO! I don't want you talking to Ted."

	"Oh? Any particular reason. Do you remember having a fight with him
about something...maybe he beat you at a video game?"

	"NO! I didn't have a fight with Ted."

	"Would you like it if I were to ask him to come by and see you?"

	"No, I don't wanna see him, and besides I'm not gonna be here that
long. My dad is coming by soon and taking me home."

	"Maybe I should ask your dad to talk with Ted."

	"No, please don't. I don't want any member of my family having
contact with Ted. He's my best friend and I don't want him to know
about...about what I did!"

	"Alex, is there something you're not telling me?...Something you've
remembered, perhaps?"

	"No, it's just...I don't want to talk about it!"

	"So something DID happen between you and Ted."

	"I didn't say that..."

	"It would help if you told me. Whatever it is that you're holding
inside may be the reason you have blocked your memory."

	"It's just that we...we did things..."

	"What kind of things?"

	"I'd rather not say."

	"Smoke? Drink some wine or beer? Hard liquor, maybe?
Marijuana?...Drugs?"

	"Aw, hell, no, I promised my mom I would never do those things."

	"And you never have?"

	"Never!"

	"Alex, was it...was it something of a sexual nature? I mean it's
natural for adolescents to be curious or have the desire to experiment?"

	Alex didn't answer.

	"You...uh...want to tell me about it?"

	Alex felt the emotion building inside and finally the dam broke and
his eyes filled with tears."

	"Dr. Hughes, it was so stupid!" Alex screamed,

	"Tell me, Alex...please."

	"Ted and I were watching a video I found in the house. I don't even
know who it belongs to or where it came from."

	"It was of a sexual nature?"

	"The worst kind...it was about this boy tennis player and his
dad...and they did things to each other...bad things."

	"How did you feel about what you saw?"

	"It made me sick and I wanted to turn it off, but Ted wouldn't let
me. He wanted to watch more of it...but I didn't..."

	"Do you know if this tape was exciting to Ted?"

	"You mean was he getting a hard-on? The answer to that is 'yes'."

	"And you didn't get an erection?"

	"Not until Ted reached and grabbed my penis through my jeans."

	"And then what happened?"

	"I don't know...things just started happening and got out of
hand. He was touching me and he made me touch him and before I knew it, we
were both in bed with our pants off."

	"And did you do anything after that?...more than just touching?"

	"Yeah, we did..."

	"And did this action wind up with ejaculation?"

	"Yes..."

	"And did you do anything after that."

	"Not until I ordered Ted out of my house!"

	"Did he leave then?"

	"Yeah."

	"And you sat home all alone, feeling guilty and ashamed?"

	"Yes, but that's when the worst happened."

	"You mean after Ted was gone?"

	"Yes."

	"What happened then, Alex?"

	"I...I watched parts of the tape over again...and...but, this time
I fantasized that it was Ted and me, doing all those things the actors were
doing. I felt myself, actually WANTING to do those things with my best
friend. I knew then I might be turning queer!"

	"And you wanted to get away from these feelings?"

	"Yes."

	"And so you went in the bathroom and took a bottle of pills to
escape?"

	"Yes...but Dr. Hughes, please don't tell my dad. I can't let him
know anything about this."

	"Do you think he'd punish you?"

	"I don't know...but he'd be ashamed of me."

	"Have you stopped to think maybe your dad did some of the same sort
of things when he was growing up?"

	"No."

	"It's possible...Most boys do...I know I was about fifteen when I
first learned about oral sex from my best friend,"

	"You're kidding? Oral sex?"

	"Yes, I don't remember my trying to end it all when we were
through. As a matter of fact, I recall myself enjoying it and wondering
when we could do it again,..!"

	"It made you queer, didn't it?"

	The doctor laughed.

	"No, Alex, it didn't make me queer. I remember having a lot of good
times with him but as time passed, we grew up, we met the girls we were to
marry; and were best men at each other's weddings."

	"Did you..did you do things with him after you were married?"

	"No, Alex. We were just going through a period of adolescent
adjustment. Did you get the feeling that Ted was upset after you finished?"

	"No, he was smiling like he wanted to do it again! You know, I got
to thinking when he left, that if I hadn't stopped him and told him to go
home...well, who know what might have happened?"

	"You and Ted might have engaged in oral sex?"

	"Yes, sir, I think it might have happened!"

	"Well, I think you've given me enough to work on. I'm going try to
convince you that what you and Ted did is normal. Everyone tries something
like that when they're growing up, no matter how much they try to deny it
later."

	"You really think my dad would understand?"

	"I'm sure he would. Perhaps if you talk to him now, maybe you won't
find yourself coming to a hospital emergency room again. Whaddya think, big
guy?"

	"I'll think about...no...I'll try."

	"Good luck, Alex. I want you to make an appointment to see you next
week. In the meantime, I've written you a prescription to sorta get you
over this hump."

	"Thanks, doctor...I really mean it, Thanks."

	"You're more than welcome."

	Dr, Hughes grabbed the handle of the door to exit just as Walter
was pushing trying to enter.

	"Dad, this is my doctor, Dr. Hughes."

	"How is he, Doctor?"

	"Alex?... I have a feeling he's gonna be just fine." Dr, Hughes
left.

	"Alex? How are you, son?"

	"I'm fine, Dad. Please sit down, I want to tell you something."

	Walter pulled up a chair next to the siderails of Alex's bed and
reached over and took his son's hand.

	"Tell me anything you want, son. I'm on your side. Whatever it is,
we can get through this together."

	"Well, yesterday afternoon when Ted brought me home from school..."


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(To be continued in "Briarwood" BOOK TWO-chapter thirteen)