Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 08:10:34 -0400
From: Jeff Allen <jeff_allen15@hotmail.com>
Subject: Love of a Lifetime Part 18

This is a fictional story dealing with love and consensual sexual
activities between males.  If you are not of legal age, reside in an area
where viewing such material is illegal, or are offended by homosexuality
and/or homosexual themes, leave this site now.

The author retains all rights to this story.  No reproductions or links to
other sites are allowed without the permission of the author.

LOVE OF A LIFETIME

PART 18


     Man my head hurt!  When I opened my eyes Andy was there looking at me
with a concerned expression on his face.

     "W...what?  Andy?"

     His face lit up in a big smile.  "Welcome back, Lover.  How are you
feeling?"

     "Like shit.  My head hurts!"  I tried to bring my right hand up to my
head, but the movement was stopped by a shooting pain in my wrist.  "My
wrist hurts too!  Where am I?  What are you doing here?"

     "You're in the hospital.  Let me tell the nurses you're awake.  Then
I'll explain."  He pushed the call button.

     A mechanical voice said, "Nurses station."

     "He just woke up."

     "I'll be right there."

     Andy turned his attention back to me.  "You must have fallen in the
shower.  When you didn't come back to the room for a while, Justin went out
and found you.  You've got a broken wrist and a bad concussion.  Justin
called me after they got you to the hospital."

     "How long have I..."

     "You've been unconscious all night.  It's about nine o'clock on
Thursday morning."

     "You've been here all night?"

     "Yeah.  I got in the car as soon as Justin called."

     "That explains why you look so tired and old."

     Andy stopped for a moment and then replied smiling, "Well, I see you
have your usual sarcastic sense of humor.  I was hoping the bump on the
head would improve it a bit."

     The nurse came in and made Andy move away from the bed while she
checked my eyes, took my pulse and temperature, and asked a couple of
questions to make certain I was coherent.

     When she left, Andy came back to the bedside and took my hand.  "I'm
really glad you're awake.  You scared me.  Please be more careful in the
shower."

     My last moments of consciousness came flooding back to me.  "Andy, I
didn't fall in the shower."

     "What do you mean?"

     "Someone pushed me into the wall."

     "What?"

     "Someone came in while I was rinsing the shampoo out of my hair.  They
pushed me into the wall.  I fell and hit my wrist and head."

     Andy's face paled, and then his eyes took on a hard look I'd never
seen before.  "Whoever has been messing with your car, just upped the ante.
I'm going to call the cops.  This shit has got to stop!"

     Andy used the phone in the room to make two calls.  The first was to
leave a message for Justin that I was awake.  I knew from the time that
Justin was in chemistry lab.  The second call was to the police department.
The town police told Andy that since the incident happened on University
property it would be up to campus security to do the investigation.  They
told Andy they would relay his report to the University.
     Andy was angrier than I'd ever seen him when he hung up from the call
to the police.  He didn't say anything, but I could see the muscles at the
sides of his jaws working as he clenched his teeth.  I think he was forcing
himself to act calm so as not to upset me.  I sure hoped the level of anger
I saw reflected in his eyes was never directed toward me!

     One of the staff doctors came in to check me over.  He went over my
list of injuries.  There was a cast on my wrist that would be on for a
month to six weeks.  Since I had been unconscious for such a long time he
wanted to keep me in the hospital for another night before releasing me
just to be sure.  If nothing showed up, then I could go home in the morning
although I would probably have some recurrent headaches for a week or so
because of the concussion.
     The doctor made some joke about my needing to be more careful in the
shower so we told him that it wasn't an accident.  He asked if we'd filed a
police report.  Andy said that the town police had put the investigation
off on campus security.

     The doctor nodded and then asked the big question.  "Do you know why
anyone would want to hurt you?"

     I looked at Andy.  He nodded so I told the doctor that I was gay and
that someone had been harassing me since last semester.  I told him about
the shaving cream and paint on the door and the two incidents of vandalism
to my car.

     The doctor looked from me up to Andy.  "Mr. Hatcher, you were listed
as C.Z.'s next of kin by one of the young men who came in with C.Z.  You're
not kin are you?"

     Andy stiffened.  "No.  C.Z. and I are partners."

     "I see."  He lowered his reading glasses and fixed both of us with a
look.  I figured we were going to get a lesson about the evils of
homosexuality.
  He sighed before opening his mouth again.  "C.Z., Mr. Hatcher, just how
angry are you about this attack?"

     Andy met the doctor's gaze.  "I can't begin to tell you how angry I
am.  I want this person caught and punished.  He could have killed C.Z."

     "Are you aware that this state has an anti-hate crime law?  Attacks
like this are supposed to be reported to the state police, but the local
officials often neglect to do it.  Sometimes it's because the victims don't
want to pursue the hate crime aspect of their attack.  Other times it's
because the local authorities themselves don't view gay bashing as a hate
crime.  Do you want to pursue this?"

     "Yes."  Both of us answered at the same time.

     "Good.  Then I'm going to indicate on my report that your injuries
were caused by a deliberate assault.  I have a duty to report all
suspicious injuries to the proper authorities.  In this case that would be
Campus Security who are supposed to call in the state police."  He smiled
slightly.  "Seeing as how I'm just a simple- minded small town doctor, I'll
probably get confused and make the report directly to the State Police."

     He patted my hand before turning to leave the room.  "I'll be back
later today to see how you're doing."

     I went to sleep after the doctor left.  When I woke Andy was asleep in
the chair next to the bed.  I loved watching him sleep.  This was the love
of my life.  I couldn't ask for anything more.

     An orderly brought in two trays for lunch.  He placed one on the
hospital table beside my bed and he handed the other one to a surprised
Andy.

     "The doctor ordered two lunches for this room.  He thought both of you
might be hungry."

     Justin came into the room as we were finishing the lunches.  He'd
gotten Andy's message about my being awake and that I had been attacked
deliberately.  We filled him in on everything.  Justin promised to speak to
our professors to tell them why I was missing class.  After an hour or so
he left to go back to campus.

     He must have started calling the professors as soon as he got back to
the room because within an hour of his leaving, Gary Griffith came into the
room.

     "Hey, C.Z.  How's one of my favorite students?"

     "Hi, Doc.  I've still got a slight headache and my wrist is sore as
hell, but otherwise I'm okay.  Doc, this is Andy Hatcher, a friend of mine
from home."

     I thought I saw a flash of understanding cross Doc Griffith's face as
he and Andy shook hands.

     "C.Z., Justin said that someone pushed you in the shower.  Do you know
why?"

     For the second time that day I looked at Andy to get his non-verbal
assent to explain the motive for the attack.  I saw Andy nod.  "Doc, I've
been hassled since last semester because I'm gay.  Last night was just the
latest incident."

     "Okay, that explains some of what Justin told me.  He said that you'd
been harassed before, but I didn't know what it was about."

     "Doc, before you jump to any conclusions, I want you to know that
Justin's straight.  He and I are just roommates.  Nothing more."

     "C.Z., I try not to assume anything about my students except that
they're going to work their tails off in my class for their grade.  You and
Justin have both done that.  I came by to see how you were and to see if
there was anything I could do for you.  Don't worry about the exam
tomorrow; we'll find a time to do a makeup when you get back to class."
Doc turned to Andy.  "Have you been here all night?"

     "Yes."

     "Were you planning on staying here tonight or coming back in the
morning when C.Z.'s released?"

     "Now that it looks like C.Z.'s going to be okay, I thought I'd get a
room for tonight and then be here in the morning.  I didn't get much sleep
last night."

     "I'd like you to stay tonight with my partner and me.  We've got a
spare room, and it's free."

     My brain did a flip flop.  Did he just say partner?  I'd noticed last
semester that Doc had a gold band on the ring finger of his left hand.  I
assumed he was married, but he just said 'partner'.  Was the partner male
or female?  Why would he wear what looked like a wedding ring if his
partner was a woman?

     Andy smiled.  I could see the weariness in his face.  I knew he hadn't
slept much if at all last night.

     "Thanks, Dr. Griffith.  That would be very nice."

     "It's Gary.  After the harassment you two have been through the past
few months, it might be nice to realize that there are other gay couples
here in Adams.  I'll give you directions to the house.  Just come on out
whenever you leave here.  Matt and I will have some dinner ready for you."

     That clinched it!  Doc was gay also!

     "Doc, I never suspected that..."

     "Never suspected that I'm gay.  I don't announce it in my classes, but
Matt and I don't hide it either.  I think most of the faculty know that
we're a couple.  We've been together for five years now."

     Things began to click together in my brain.  Jason had said something
about one of the football coaches living with a faculty member.  "Is your
partner one of the football coaches?"

     "Yes.  Matt Stevenson.  How...?"

     "Jason Sherman, my former roommate is a football player.  He told me
that one of the coaches was gay."

     "All of the coaching staff know that Matt and I are partners.  He
makes sure to tell all the freshman on the team that he's gay so that any
of the guys who are struggling with their sexuality know they have someone
to talk to."

     The door opened and Kevin and Kathy Williams came in.  Doc and the
Williamses greeted each other with hugs so it seemed a safe bet that they
already knew each other.  Doc introduced them to Andy and then excused
himself after giving Andy his phone number and telling him to call for
directions when he was ready to come out to their house.

     Kathy Williams came over to the bed and picked up my hand.  "Justin
called Kevin and said you had been attacked and were in the hospital.
We're so glad to see that you're going to be all right.  We wouldn't want
anything to happen to one of our favorite students.  Can you tell us what
happened?"  She paused.  "Oh dear, it just occurred to me that you might
not want to tell us.  I'm sorry."

     I assured her it was okay, and after glancing at Andy to get his
assent once again, I told our story for the third time that day.

     When I was finished, Kathy Williams told us that she was really sorry
we'd had to put up with such "barbaric" behavior.  She told us that she had
a brother who was gay and that she and her husband were best friends with
Gary Griffith and Matt Stevenson.

     Then she asked a question that really shook me up.  "How do you feel
about going back to live in the dorm?"

     "I...I'm not sure.  Right now I'm not very comfortable with it, but I
don't see any other options."

     The door opened again admitting two campus security officers into the
room.  One of the officers I recognized as Ron Kestler, the guy who had
been so sympathetic when our cars had been vandalized before Christmas.
The other officer was a middle aged man who clearly was the person in
charge.
     The Williamses made their excuses and left.  As soon as they left the
room the older security officer who identified himself as Captain Combs
started asking me about the shower incident.  Andy and I could tell from
the attitude of Captain Combs that he considered the visit to the hospital
room to be a waste of his time.  Ron Kestler carefully kept a blank
expression on his face the entire time.
     Both Andy and I were beginning to get tired of Captain Combs'
condescending attitude.  I knew that Andy was going to tell him off any
second.  The door opened again and a big state trooper walked in.  He
introduced himself as Trooper McMillan.  He was a commanding presence in
the room standing about 6' 3" and probably a solid 220 pounds.  His neat
gray and black uniform shirt seemed to highlight his broad shoulders,
bulging biceps, and thick chest that came to a narrow waist at his utility
belt.  The black, flawlessly pressed trousers gave a hint of powerful legs
and a high tight ass.  He had a broad face and nose with full lips.  His
milk chocolate skin highlighted large, almond shaped eyes with dark irises
surrounded by almost starkly white sclera.  His teeth were also beautifully
white and even.  His black hair was cut high and tight.  His smile was
tightly controlled.  All in all he could have been a poster child for the
state police or been featured in a gay man's cop-in-uniform fantasy.
     Trooper McMillan and Capt. Combs seemed to know but not like one
another.  Combs stopped talking while the trooper had me tell my story
starting with the shaving cream on the door episode and ending with last
night's shower.  He asked for the names of people that might have something
against me for being gay.
     I told him about Jason Sherman and Brad Miller, although I didn't tell
him the whole story behind Jason's moving out of the room.  I just said
that he had found out about my being gay, and he didn't want to room with
me anymore.

     Trooper McMillan asked me if I wanted to pursue the case as a
potential hate crime.  "You realize that if we pursue the case, I'll have
to talk to all of the guys on your hall as well as some other folks on
campus.  It won't take much for them to realize why the state police are
involved so if they don't know that you're gay now, they almost certainly
will be the time this is over."

     "Yes.  I realize that."

     "And you still want to me to pursue the case?"

     "Yes."

     He smiled a genuine full smile for the first time.  The stern,
commanding visage melted for just a moment and then returned.  "Good.  This
is where a lot of folks decide that they don't want to go ahead.  They
realize that it's likely to blow what ever cover they have left.  That
means a lot of these hate crimes aren't pursued.  I'm glad you're willing
to charge ahead."

     He turned to Capt. Combs.  "Now, Capt. Combs, I expect that your
office will cooperate fully by turning over all the records of the previous
incidents to me.  I'll be by in the morning to pick them up."

     Combs replied in the affirmative, but I could tell he wasn't pleased,
and he was clearly uncomfortable with Trooper McMillan.  I had my
suspicions that if we had only reported my assault to the campus security
nothing would have been done with it.  I also noticed that Officer Ron
Kestler had been watching the interchange between his boss and the big
trooper very carefully.  I thought I saw just a hint of amusement in his
features.

     Trooper MacMillan and the two campus security officers left to be
replaced by Justin.  He gave Andy a hug and then came over to the bed to
squeeze my hand.

     With Justin there, I insisted that Andy go out to Doc's house to get
some rest and get away from the hospital.  Justin stayed with me until
after the doctor came back in to check on me and then left around dinner
time.

     Hospitals are not the place to get any rest.  There's constant noise
and interruptions.  The nurses wake you up to ask if you've been able to
sleep.  The rooms are either too hot or too cold.  There's never anything
interesting on the TV, and after a couple of hours you feel like screaming.
I was more than ready when the doctor finally released me the next morning.

     Andy and I stopped at the dorm long enough to pack up a few of my
things before we headed to Carterville for the weekend.  I called my boss
and Coach Kensington to tell them about my wrist.  Justin had already
thought to contact both of them so I didn't have to spend a lot of time
explaining my situation.  The doctor had told me that I needed to lay off
from work for at least a week, but after that I could do some light duty
work in the kitchen as long as I kept the cast covered so it didn't get
wet.  Coach told me to start running with the team as soon as I felt able.
     Justin came back to the room at lunch time.  It had occurred to me
that Justin might also be a target for an attack.  His parents thought the
same thing and were trying to talk him into coming home for the weekend.
The three of us talked and decided that the better plan would be for Justin
to come to Carterville and stay with Andy and me.  That way he could help
get me caught up on the class work I'd missed and he would be able to drive
me back to school on Sunday night saving Andy another trip to Adams.

     During the drive home, Andy told me about his stay with Doc Griffith
and Matt Stevenson.  The way Andy described it, their house sounded similar
to ours since it was out of town and set in the middle of a clearing in the
woods so it was very private.  There was a hot tub on the deck and a work
out room with a nice set of weights and a Nautilus machine in the area
between the house and the garage.  Andy said that after he had napped for a
couple of hours he and Matt Stevenson had done some light lifting exercises
while Doc made the meal.
     Andy told me that he liked both Doc and Matt instantly.  He described
Matt as being about 5' 11", handsome, with a fantastic build, small cleft
in his chin, sandy brown hair, and light green eyes.  The three of them had
used the hot tub after dinner so Andy had checked out both Doc and Andy in
the raw.  I'd seen Doc Griffith in the showers so I paid more attention to
Andy's description of Matt Stevenson's body.  He said Matt was cut with a
nice sized dick that looked like it would be a real tool when it was hard.
Andy said it was obvious that both Matt and Doc worked out a lot.
According to Andy, Matt had nicely defined pecs with and eight pack
abdomen.  He had a few hairs around his nipples and a thin line of hair
beginning at his belly button and ending in his thick pubic hair.
     Andy told Doc and Matt the whole story of our meeting, becoming
lovers, mom's death, my becoming Andy's ward, and finally about the
problems I'd had with Jason and Brad.  Andy said that Matt seemed very
upset that football players were possibly involved in the harassment.  He
told Andy that Brad had demonstrated an attitude problem from the
beginning, and he promised to have a talk with both of them.  Doc told Andy
that the Vice President for Student Life appeared to be gay friendly but
that Doc suspected he wasn't sincere about it.  Doc promised Andy that he
would do as much as he could as a faculty member to make certain the
university didn't try to sweep the gay bashing issue under the rug
     Andy related to me the story of how Doc and Matt had gotten together.
They told Andy about how they had met when Matt was a student in one of
Doc's classes as a freshman and that it had taken them almost four years to
realize how much they truly loved one another.  Andy related to me the
story Doc and Matt had told about Matt's abusive father beating his mother
and younger brother before running off.  Matt's mother had died as a result
of the beating, and Matt's brother, Mark, had come to live with them.  Mark
was also gay and had become the lover of Matt's best friend from high
school and college, Jamal Phillips, a fellow football player.  Mark played
quarterback on the university football team, and Jamal had been one of the
assistant coaches.  Andy told me about Matt's father returning the next
year and almost killing them.  Doc, Matt, Mark, and Jamal had all been
publically outed during the trial of Matt's dad for the murder of his wife
and the attempted murder of his sons and Doc.  Matt had lost his job as a
high school teacher and coach as a result of the publicity, but the head
coach at the university, John Schroeder, had hired Matt as an assistant
coach knowing Matt was gay.
     I just sat and listened as Andy told me what he'd learned.  I'd been
in Doc's class and lab for an entire semester and had never suspected that
he might be gay.  Andy said that Doc and Matt had invited us to stay out at
their house the next time Andy came for a weekend visit.  I was really
blown away by it all.

                       **********

     The weekend was restful.  I had a couple of headaches like the doctor
had warned, but they weren't too severe.  My wrist hurt more than I thought
it would.  I tried one of the pain killers I'd been given as we left the
hospital.
  It put me out for two hours so I decided to put up with the pain and
flushed the rest of the pain killers down the toilet.
     Having my wrist in the cast did have its advantages.  Andy and Justin
would not let me do anything in the kitchen the entire weekend.  To take a
shower, I'd pull a long rubber glove up over the cast and secure it with
waterproof tape.  Taking the tape off was only painful the first couple of
times.  After that I didn't have any hair left on my forearm so it didn't
hurt so much to tear the tape off.  Andy insisted on taking showers with me
and washing my hair.  I didn't object to that.  I just stood there and
enjoyed the attention.  Andy seemed to enjoy the showers also.
     The most bothersome thing was trying to learn how to do some things
left handed.  I found that I could still write with my right hand although
I was slow and the handwriting had a grade school quality to it.  I
couldn't twist the wrist or use my right arm to lift anything very heavy.
Each time I forgot and tried to do something with my right arm, a jolt of
pain reminded me why I was wearing the cast.
     Poor old Larsen thought I wasn't much fun that weekend.  I'd tried to
throw his ball for him left handed.  The results were pitiful.  After the
first couple of tries, he stopped bringing the ball to me to be thrown.
Andy and Justin were the ones honored with the slobbery tennis ball at
their feet and the pleading, expectant look on Larsen's face.
     The other big disadvantage of the cast on my right wrist was that I
was limited to using my left hand when Andy and I made love.  However, I
did have the chance to practice my left-handed love making technique
several times that weekend.

                       **********

     I thought I'd be all right going back into the dorm, but as Justin
drove us back to school that Sunday evening I could feel the tension
building in the pit of my stomach as we got nearer and nearer to campus.
Justin must have been feeling it also.  He stopped talking, and we drove
the last half hour or so in silence.

     We dropped our stuff off at the dorm, ran Justin's car over to the
garage he was renting, and started walking back to campus.

     "Are you gonna be okay with this, C.Z.?"

     "I guess I don't have any choice.  I'm kind of 'out' there now.  I
wonder if the guys on the track team or friends in class are going to treat
me any differently."

     "Are you afraid of being attacked again?"

     "A little.  I've been trying to tell myself that with the state police
asking questions and snooping around who ever is behind this crap is going
to lay low for a while at least.  My stomach's kind of tight about the
whole thing though."

     "Hey, man.  Your true friends are gonna stick with you."

     "Like you, Justin?  Not many people would do what you've done.  You
really stuck your neck out for me.  I hope you don't end up getting hurt
because of it."

     "I've seen some of what my brothers have had to go through.  I just
can't look the other way to protect myself.  I love all my brothers, and
I'm including you and Andy as brothers."

     "Thanks, Justin.  We love you too."

     "Just be careful.  Okay?"

     "Don't worry.  I'll be sure to keep my eyes open in the shower from
now on."

(To be continued)