Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:26:26 -0700
From: Jacob Miller <jacobmillertex@aol.com>
Subject: Jacob Finding His Way: Chapter 11

{Jacob Finding His Way is based on mostly true events in my life. To keep
the story interesting to the reader, some of the events are fiction. As I
am writing this story, I am above the age of 21. Any similarity to any
other events, names, or life events is pure accidental. If you are a
underage, (according to your state laws as a minor), if this literature is
offensive to you or to anyone around your viewing area, or it is illegal
for you to view such content where you are reading it, stop reading the
story.  This story cannot be distributed in any way, shape or form without
my expressed consent. Written by J.P.G. As well I would like to thank my
editor! Who has given his time, and not ask for any thanks for his work,
Thank You!}


		Chapter 11

(JOEY'S POINT OF VIEW)

We all stood there watching the EMT'S try to help this poor guy stay
alive. They were able to finally get him on a stretcher then into the
ambulance. They sped off down Schuster. The cops started asking if anyone
saw anything. Of course no one did. The bell rang, so I headed off to
fourth period.

When I got to class, I sat down at my desk. Several minutes later David
came in and sat at his desk. The bell rang, and still there was no sign of
Jacob. I was getting really worried by this time.

The class went by fast!  All you could hear was whispers on who it might
have been out there in the back of the school. Several of my classmates
said it was Jacob. It couldn't believe that. I won't believe that!

The bell rang, David and I walked out together.

"Hey Joey, I'll fix this thing between Ralph and the guys I promise. Also I
see the look on your face, it wasn't Jacob! You know that he doesn't hang
out over there! So don't worry about the rumors."

I nodded as he went his way and I went mine. I got across the street to the
ROTC building. You could still see several police cars on top of the side
walk where the poor guy's body was at.

We did roll call, then headed to the shooting range. We were to do
formation outside, but due to the police presence, Sergeant Haney decided
best to do it in the range. Jacob wasn't in this class either. I was really
getting nervous by now. So far after lunch, Jacob has not been in none of
his classes.

As we were going through the squads reporting in, Major Moore walked
in. His normal self slapping his paper work against his leg, biting down on
a tooth pick as he walked.

He talked to Sergeant Haney, and then Sergeant Haney walked over to me.

"Major Moore needs to see you in the office right now son. Go ahead and
fall out and head on over to the office."

"Yes Sir!"

I got out of formation, and headed to the office. When I reached Major
Moore's office, I knocked on the outer door.

I heard a quick "Come in!"

I walked into the office, and stopped, my stomach dropped. I couldn't move
any more. Standing in the office are several police officers.

"Joey, please come in, and come closer to my desk son."

I just couldn't move. I knew right there and then, there was something
wrong. I felt in my bones since lunch time, there was something
wrong. Something happened to Jacob, I know something happened to Jacob.

One of the officers spoke up; "I understand you are good friends with Jacob
Hernandez, is that correct?"

"Yes sir, he is my best friend!"

I stumbled around my words, couldn't even get them out.

"You two were attending Austin High last year, is that correct?"

"Yes sir!"

"Jacob along side of you witnessed the drive by shooting that happened in
front of the school last year?"

"Yes sir we did!"

"We need to keep you safe Joey. The student Jacob picked out as the
shooter's court date is in two weeks. The other guys in the gang he belongs
to, are trying to knock off the witnesses of that shooting.'

"I didn't see who they were, nor did Jacob. We shouldn't be in any danger
sir!"

"Sorry to tell you this, but Jacob did see one of the shooters. He then
picked him out. He was promised protection if this went to court. We didn't
even think it would have gone this far. We hoped he would have pleaded out,
but he hasn't.

Now we know why he hasn't. He's sent his friends to clean up his mess. The
student that was beaten up at lunch today is Jacob."

I fell to the seat near the door. I couldn't believe my ears, it was
Jacob. For being a good human being, he gets beaten up for it.

"Joey, please son, we don't know who they are after. We think due to you
two being friends, they might think you know something as well. We need to
keep you safe."

"Where did they take Jacob to? Has his mother been called yet?"

"He was taken to Columbia West emergency room, and yes his mother has been
informed moments ago. I believe she is on her way over to the hospital
now."

"Have you all called his doctor yet?"

"That I don't know son. I figure whatever doctor is working in the
emergency room will treat Jacob right now. We need to get you safe now as
well."

"I won't go anywhere except the hospital. I need to be with Jacob and his
family. Why in the hell didn't you guys protect him, why?"

I started crying at that point. Jacob is hurt again, and the stupid cops
didn't keep their end of the deal.

"Settle down please Joey. Since we already have officers posted at the
hospital, I don't see why you can't go over there."

We walked outside to an unmarked police car. I got in, and we drove off to
the hospital. It was only ten minutes from the school, just down
Schuster. I couldn't believe all this was happening all over again.

(DAVID'S POINT OF VIEW)

As I left Joey I was burning up. I was mad as hell. How could Ralph and the
guys do this to Jacob? Jacob never did them any harm. As I was getting to
my locker Ralph and the guys were there.

"Hey guys please tell me what I just heard isn't true!"

"What's up man? If it's about a girl, yes, it's true; anything else, no
way!" Ralph stated.

"No Ralph it isn't about a girl. Did you guys corner Jacob last Monday and
throw rocks at him? And, then tell him not to get near me or Joey?"

"Come on David you know that prick doesn't deserve your friendship."

"That's for me to decide not you or anyone else for that matter. By the
way, that prick as you call him, is the strongest person I have ever
met. If any of us have gone through half of what he has gone through
already in life we'd all have given up."

"Come on David, we were just trying to get him to leave you and Joey
alone. We know you like Joey and Jacob in the picture, you won't get him."

"I never had him for starters. Joey belongs to another, and I will never
get his heart. Do not ever decide on your own who I can and cannot hang
around with. Do you guys understand what I am saying to you?"

At first they didn't say a word. I was getting madder by the minute. I
pulled Ralph from his collar and slammed him against the locker.

"Did you hear me or not? I want to keep my friendship with all of you and
Jacob. But if it means that someone gets hurt in the long run, I don't want
it. So let me ask you again..."

"I understand David and promise I will not do anything like that again to
Jacob!"

I let go Ralph and looked at the other guys. Almost at the same time they
said:

"We won't do anything again to Jacob as well. You're our friend David!  We
were just looking out for you."

"I understand that, but I want to keep all of my friendships, including
Jacob's."

"Do you still like Jacob as you did before?" Ralph asked.

"If you mean do I love him? Yes I do!  Although I know now I will not get
him. Even if he would give me a chance, his heart belongs to another. It
will never work because of that."

"Do you know if he is even gay?" Ralph asked.

"That I can't answer for sure. I think in time we all will find out if
so. Thank you, guys. We have been friends since elementary school. I want
to stay friends for years to come. I just want to make my own decisions;
that's all."

"We understand, and nothing will ever destroy our friendship David!"

Ralph stated, and the other guys were shaking their heads. I was happy on
what we settled. We bumped fist and headed our different directions. As I
was walking to fifth period class, I started to hear whispers that the guy
that was beaten up in the back of the building was Jacob. That just cannot
be true!  I need to find out for sure.

(JOEY'S POINT OF VIEW)

I got out and went into the emergency room. When I walked in, there sitting
in the seats was a really shaken Ms. Hernandez. As I was walking over to
her, she saw me.

As I reached her, she started crying. I held onto her tight as I could, and
then started crying along with her. We stayed like for a long while.

I felt someone pat my shoulder, I got up, and it was Dr. Whitmore.

"Ms. Hernandez, Joey, I just heard. I rushed on over here a quickly as I
could."

"Have you found out anything about my son Dr. Whitmore?"

"Just a little, Ms. Hernandez. Jacob was shot six times, one time in each
arm and leg, once in the shoulder, then somewhere in the upper chest. At
sometime through the shooting, before, after, or during the shooting, Jacob
was beaten really badly. They broke both of his hands, most of his
fingers. As well it looks from the report, they took the butt of the gun
they were using, hit Jacob over and over and over again in the face.

If you want, I will take over the surgery of Jacob." Dr. Whitmore offered.

"Yes please Dr. Whitmore, help my son again. Please..."

Ms. Hernandez started crying again. I held onto her as Dr. Whitmore walked
away. I had so hoped to never see the inside of an emergency room again.

We had already been sitting in the waiting room for almost two hours, when
the principal from Austin High School came in. Along with him were Irene
and some other people.

"Ms. Hernandez I am so sorry to hear about Jacob. When I heard what had
happened to him, I got on the phone with the district attorney. I feel this
is my fault. I promised your son this wasn't going to happen. I promised."

"Ms. Hernandez, I am district attorney Sanchez. I am really sorry for what
has happened to Jacob. I cannot begin to say..."

Jacob's mom stopped Mr. Sanchez saying; "Don't you dare come in here saying
that you are sorry. You failed my son, you failed him. You promised him
that no one will know it was him that picked that son of a bitch out. That
piece of shit sent someone to kill my son. You were supposed to be
protecting him."

"Ms. Hernandez, we made a mistake. We don't know how they found out it was
your son that picked out our suspect. I will find out how they did it. I
will be adding more charges to the guy we have in jail, and we will get
those who did this to Jacob, I promise."

Irene pulled on my shoulder. "How are you Joey? How are you taking this?"

"I'm fine Irene, thank you for asking."

"I know you and Jacob mean a lot to one another. I will stay here with you
until we find out the good news." Irene stated in a solid show of support.

"What do you mean good news Irene?" I asked somewhat blankly.

"Someone that has a big heart and soul like you and Jacob will not be taken
off this earth. The doctors will come out here and tell us he will be
fine." Irene said without a hint of doubt in her manner or words.

We all just sat there in the waiting room. It has been six and half hours
now since Jacob was rushed into the emergency room. We still haven't heard
a thing about him. Around eleven Dr. Whitmore came out.

"Ms. Hernandez I have some news for you. As before Jacob is fighter, this
guy won't let anything take him down. As I said before, he was shot six
times and beaten up really bad. We are still doing surgery on him as we
speak..."

"Dr. Whitmore I thought you said it wasn't good to keep anyone in surgery
for a long time. You have had my son in surgery now for over ten hours at
least." Jacobs's mom asked with more than a hint of terror in her voice.

"Yes ma'am you are right, I said that. Your son condition is bad. The shots
to his legs and arms are bad, but not as bad as the shot to his shoulder
and chest. But we have removed all bullets from his body.

Where we are working at now is your sons face. Whoever did this, beat Jake
badly? They broke his jaw, almost all of his front teeth out. We are
worried he might have swallowed a few of his teeth. They broke his cheek
bones.  His left eye was actually out of the socket. They cracked, but not
broke, his skull in several areas.

We are working right now on his face, and trying our best for him to come
out looking the same as he did when he walked out of your house this
morning."

"What about the last surgeries? What about his back and cancer?"

"We are paying a lot attention to the last surgery, more so to his back. It
won't happen in this surgery, unless we have to, but we are going to need
to go in and redo the surgery to his spine. When they were beating him,
they did re-damage his spine.

We will work on it all Ms. Hernandez, and again your son is a fighter."

"Thank you Dr. Whitmore, thank you!"

Dr. Whitmore left us sitting there in the waiting room. The hardest part is
just sitting there and not knowing what was going on. Will the person in
surgery make it, or not? We cannot ever think of the negative, I just
can't. I cannot think of a day without Jacob, I love him so much. He will
make it; I know he will.

(JACOB'S POINT OF VIEW)

I heard a lot of noise all around me. People were talking and moving
around. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't see a thing. Then I heard:

"Hey kid, do you hear me kid? If you hear me, try to squeeze my hand."

Then I heard another person talking to the one asking me questions.

"Look at the poor kids hands. Even if he could hear you, he can't squeeze
your hand."

"Hey kid, stay with us man, don't go anywhere. We are doing everything we
can. It's up to you though; it's up to you."

I went out at that point. Then I felt like someone pulling out my heart. At
least it felt like that. I tried to open my eyes again.

"We got him back again. We need to get him to the hospital, if we have any
chance to save him."

"We don't even know the extent of his injuries at this point. He is so
bloody, to move him, could kill him!"

"We already have his neck supported. Let's put him a hard board and tie him
down. Then get on the stretcher and move him out of here. He is losing too
much blood, through too many areas of his body."

"Go ahead then, get him on a hard board. Let's move him out of here."

The next thing I knew I was being moved to my side. When I was moved back
to my back, I was on some kind of wooden bed. Then they threw ropes over my
body and tied me down. I couldn't feel a thing.  I was numb at this point.

I blacked out again when I was lifted into the air. Once again I felt the
pain in my chest as if someone was pulling out my heart. I woke up gasping
for breath.

"We got him back.  Let's move him now before anything more goes wrong!"

The next thing I knew, I was being moved quickly through the dirt. I saw
the top of what I could only think was an ambulance. I was thankful for
this!  I couldn't believe I was being saved.

The door shut to the ambulance, then the sirens went on and we started
moving. One of the guys there was talking on a radio, I think to a doctor.

"We have a teenage boy, maybe fifteen or sixteen. He was shot six times in
the body. One shot in each leg and arm, shoulder and upper chest. He was
beaten really badly in the face, by the looks of it, by the butt of a hand
gun. Hands and fingers look broken."

"What are the patient's vitals at this time?"

"They are week, but there. We have already had to shock him back three
times. When we arrived on the scene, he didn't have a pulse."

"And now, is the patient stable?"

"He is stable at this moment. The patient has lost a lot of blood."

At that point we arrived at the hospital. They pulled me out of the
ambulance. As the stretcher was pulled out of the ambulance, it was
surrounded by nurses and doctors. Including the EMT'S that were working on
me. They started throwing numbers at the doctors and nurses.

I couldn't even see clearly at this point, all I knew was that I was
safe. All these unclear figures were moving around me, talking at the same
time. I went out again.

(JOEY'S POINT OF VIEW)

It is already eight in the morning, and no one has come out to talk with
us. You could see everyone waiting for an answer was getting nervous. I got
up and started walking back and forth in the waiting room.

By the third or fourth round, David and several other kids from school
walked through the door.  "Joey it isn't true man, is it? Is it Jacob? Was
Jacob the one that was beaten up yesterday?" David asked, his voice
trembling.

"Yes it was Jacob!"

"Why? Who wanted to kill him? He never did anything wrong to anyone!" David
cried out.

"No your right, he never did anything wrong to anyone. Just last year at
school, he witnessed and remembered the shooting in front of the school. He
was able to ID one of the shooters. The guy's court date is in two weeks,
so he wanted Jacob dead before then!" I informed all who were within
earshot.

"You got to be kidding me. This doesn't happen here in our town. We are too
small.  We don't have gangs like LA or New York." David said with
disbelief.

"We are not as small or insulated as you think. They say we are the fifth
largest city in Texas. Jacob and I lived on the wrong side of town last
year. You have always lived on this side of town, but we lived on the side
of town where gangs are an everyday part of life."

"I just cannot believe this is happening. Jacob was trying to do a good
deed and he gets shot and beaten for doing so." David said.

We walked over to Jacob's mom. David said hello and hugged her. The rest of
the kids did the same thing.  Then we all sat there waiting for some kind
of answer.  It was almost ten when Dr. Whitmore came out. As he walked over
to us, he had a team of doctors with him including Dr. Mitchell. Poor
Dr. Whitmore; he looked tired.

"Ms. Hernandez, I'm sorry for not coming out here since last night. I know
you had to be really worried. We had several complications in the
surgery. I had call in Dr. Mitchell to help in the regional injuries your
son had."

"Just tell me what is going on please!" Jacobs's mom pleaded.

"As I told you last night, the gun shots were the least of our worries. I
know that sounds weird, but they were. The gun shot in your son's chest was
the worst of the six. We don't think the gun that was used was working
properly. If it was, your son would have died on the scene. The bullet
didn't have the power behind it as it should have had. It lodged into your
son's rib cage.

The injuries we are worried about are in his face. Several parts of his
face were almost collapsed in. We had to begin reconstructive surgery to
parts of his face. As we were working on that, I was still worried about
your son's spine.

So I called for Dr. Mitchell to come in. When he arrived and looked at the
scans, we had to stop what we were doing. At that point Dr. Mitchell took
over. Dr. Mitchell, please explain what you saw."

Dr. Mitchell stepped forward a bit; "Ms. Hernandez your son spine was weak
already as it was. Both you and Jacob knew that when the bullet was removed
from his spine then we put in the screws for support. His spine was a fixed
as long as he didn't put more pressure on the spine than normal.

By the looks of the damage, someone sat on your son that was over two
hundred pounds. He crushed your son. The weight actually broke a couple of
ribs plus re-damaged his spine. I went back in, took out the screws, and
put in metal braces in the spine.

What these braces are supposed to do is completely support your son's
spine. Allow it to heal and get stronger. He will be able to walk and move
his arms. No need to worry about the therapy like last time. He will be
walking with a cane for support for a while.

The good news is that he won't need to relearn how to walk again. The bad
news is the pain is going be worse than before. The pain medicine we will
be putting him on is going to be strong. The metal braces along the side
his spine will never be taken out. Dr. Whitmore?" Dr. Mitchell deferred to
his colleague.

"After Dr. Mitchell finished, we went back to work on Jacobs face. There is
no question about your son Ms Hernandez; he is in critical condition, but
is stable. In a couple of hours we will be moving him into his own room."

"So he is going to live then?" Jacob's mom asked, daring to have some hope.

"Yes Ms. Hernandez, Jacob is going to live. That boy hangs on; he's one
hell of a fighter!"

"Thank you guys so much, I can't believe it. You did it again, you did it
again." Jacob's mom emoted.

"Ms. Hernandez, no thanks needed. When you go up and see your son, please
do not be shocked with what you see. Both of his hands are in a sling in
the air, bandages on your son's legs and upper arms. As well there are
bandages on his shoulder, chest, and spine. His face is wrapped in white
gauze, and will be like that for weeks.

When he wakes up, he will be in pain. As well very confused about what had
happened and where he is. Work with him, don't pressure him at all. Let him
recover at his body's own speed. Support him and he will get through this
again." Dr. Whitmore said, finishing his report.

"Thank you again doctors! When and where can we see Jacob?"

"Right now he is in recovery, only family can see him in there. He will be
moved to the sixth floor for in a couple of hours, and then any of you can
see him then."

"Dr. Whitmore and Dr. Mitchell I don't know how I am going ever repay for
all you have done for my family. Thank you so much!"

"Ms. Hernandez your thanks is all we want from you. The state will pay this
bill.  They dropped the ball on your son. If I was you, I would sue the
state for not protecting your son as they promised to." Dr. Whitmore said
in a mentoring tone while looking over his glasses that were perched low on
his nose.

"Thank you again, that is something to think about." Jacob's mom said
reflectively.

We all got up to head to the sixth floor when Ms Hernandez grabbed on my
arm.

"You are family Joey, you should come with me!"

I looked at Ms Hernandez and tears started going down my face. I couldn't
hold it in any more. I hugged her, and thanked her.

"Also for now on Joey please call me by my first name Gloria. Don't call me
Ms. Hernandez any more, you're family."

"Yes ma'am, thank you!"

I told Irene, David and the rest what was going on. They headed to the
sixth floor. Jacob's mom and I went into recovery. We stopped by the
nurse's desk to find out what room Jacob was in.

"Jacob Hernandez is not in recovery any more. We have already moved him to
his room."

"What is his room number then?" I asked with surprise.

"He is in room six twelve, on the sixth floor."

"Thank you, ma'am."

We grabbed the elevator and went up to the sixth floor. When the door
opened, David and the rest were just standing there.

"What's up David?"

"We just saw them wheel Jacob off the elevator, Joey. He is in really bad
shape man. I know the doctors warned us, but until you see it firsthand,
you can't imagine. It is ugly man, it is ugly."

"I know David, let's just support his family."

We headed to Jacobs room. I walked in and Gloria was already in the room by
Jacob's side. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He looked like a mummy;
he really did. The only good thing coming out of this, he didn't have tubes
coming out of his body. Just the IV'S were connected to him.

I walked over to the other side of Jacob. I looked down at him, just barley
being able to see his eyes through the entire wrap. He was breathing on his
own, I was happy about that. I took a seat when David, Irene, and the rest
walked in.

When they looked at Jacob, their jaws dropped open. You could tell they
were stunned at the sight before them. But they didn't say a word, just
took seats on the remaining chairs and floor.

It was almost one when we heard movement from Jacob's bed. I got up right
away and moved towards him. Jacob's eyes opened up. They were badly blood
shot. He looked at me and I could see a smile. I laughed with tears coming
down my face. I was so happy to see Jacob is fine.

He looked over to his mom, and smile at her. Gloria started to cry and went
down and kissed Jacob on his wrapped forehead. The rest of the guys got up
and looked at Jacob.

For the first time Jacob spoke: "Hey guys, why this unhappy faces?"

We all started to laugh. To hear Jacob's cracked voice made us all so
happy.

"Man we were so worried about you, Jacob. We are glad to see you are
alright." Dave interjected.

"They just can't put a good person down." Jacob crackled.

Jacob tried to laugh a little. You could tell it hurt him to laugh or even
move for that matter. He already knew what to do for the pain.  He pushed
the button that gave the pain medicine. He was asleep soon afterwards.

"Joey, I need to get home and make sure Marie is ok. I called her last
night, and she was crying on the phone." Gloria said speaking softly.

"Go ahead Gloria. I will stay here with Jacob. I had planned to stay
anyways."

"Thank you Joey. And thank you all for staying around to make sure Jacob
made it through it all. Joey I should be back in a couple of hours." Gloria
said as she leaned down and kissed me on my forehead. Then she left. David
got up and sat on the chair where she had been sitting.  Irene and the rest
said their goodbyes. Irene promised she would be checking in on Jacob until
he leaves the hospital.

As they were leaving, I saw the uniformed police officers posted at the
door. The district attorney wanted to make sure Jacob nor I got hurt or
killed.  I figure better late than never.

(JACOB'S POINT OF VIEW)

I had this banging in my head I couldn't get rid of. I opened my eyes.  It
was dark in the room. When I got a clearer sight, I was confused on where I
was at. I jumped, but couldn't move much. I tried again to jump, and still
found I was unable to move.

Then I felt a set of hands on my shoulders, which scared me even more. Then
I heard Joey's voice; "Calm down Jacob, you are safe now! Don't be afraid,
we are here with you."

I couldn't see Joey at all. I heard him talking to me, but I couldn't see
him. I was getting freaked out, why I couldn't see him.

"Joey is that you? I can't see anything but darkness."

"Jacob everything is ok. Just settle down. Calm yourself." Joey said in
mellow tones.

I started to breath in and out, calming myself. Within a few moments, more
and more I was able to see. Finally I saw Joey's face looking down at me,
his hands on my shoulders. I smiled up to him.

"You see, everything is going to be fine. You just need to be calm. You
took a pretty serious beating and it will take your mind some time to do
things right now." Joey said in an informative fashion.

I looked around the room and didn't see anyone else. As I turned to my
left, I saw David standing there on my side.

"What's going on David? Is everything alright?"

"I should be asking you the same questions. I am doing better now that you
are out of danger. Why didn't you tell any of us about this joker?" I
asked.

"I didn't even know I was being hunted. Trust me if I knew, I wouldn't have
been alone where those guys would be able to get to me."

"Well we now have your back. We won't let you out of our sight for a
moment." Joey stated with assuredness.

"Thanks guys, it means a lot to me."

Saturday and Sunday went by pretty quickly. I was asleep most of the
time. When I was awake, the same people were in my room. I was happy that
Joey didn't leave my bedside for anything. He even had food delivered for
himself.

When I woke up on Monday morning, there wasn't anyone in my room. I figured
that school and work had to be kept up with. It was around nine when I saw
Dr. Whitmore for the first time. I looked up at him when he walked in with
his team of students and doctors.

"Jacob my man, didn't I tell you to stay out of trouble?" Dr. Whitmore
laughed as he patted my shoulder. He was explaining to his med students who
I was and why I was in the hospital.

Then Dr. Michael came in with his group of students. "I see Dr. Whitmore
and I brought our team of experts. Jacob how are we feeling this morning
son?"

"I am doing ok. I still can't move much and I think I don't have any front
teeth."

"In order for you move Jacob, it will only take a couple of days this
time. Now your teeth are another story. But before you leave this hospital,
you will have all your teeth back." Dr. Michael declared confidently.

"Thank you!"

"How does your body feel Jake? From head to toe, don't leave out your
spine." Dr. Michael inquired.

"I feel like pins are poking me all over my body; numb, but mainly I can't
seem to move anything right now."

"Just like Dr. Michael said, it will take a couple of days for your
movement to return. We are concerned about your face though."

"Don't worry about my face doctors.  It was ugly to begin with. They
couldn't do much more damage to anyways."

Everyone started laughing in the room.

"Don't say that about yourself Jacob. We will use every means to get you
back to normal. When you leave this hospital, no one will be able to
tell. Not a scratch will be on your face."

At that point, several other people walked into the room. I have never seen
these people before. Dr. Whitmore and Michael looked at them as well.

"Are you Jacob Hernandez?"

"Yes I am. Who are you?" I said with no small amount of irritation.

"I am District Attorney Sanchez and these are my assistants. We are here to
see if you are able to speak with us for a few moments."

"Hi there, my name is Dr. Whitmore and this is Dr. Michael. I really don't
think you should be talking to Jacob for several reasons. One, he is
recovering from a major surgery. Two, he is a minor and his mother is not
here. And three, I really don't think he can take questioning at this
time."

"Doctors, I do understand your concern, but we do need to speak with
Jacob. We have already spoken with his mother, and she has given us
permission to speak with her son."

"If you don't mind then, I would like to stay while you question Jacob."
Dr. Whitmore said in a very paternal and protective tone.

"I don't mind, as long as Jacob doesn't mind."

"I don't, I rather he does stay here if he can."

"That's fine with me then. Could the rest of the doctors in this room go if
all their business in here is done?" DA Sanchez more stated than asked.

Dr. Whitmore pulled his team out, and then came back. Dr. Michael followed
right behind them.

"Ok Jacob, let's get started now. Do you remember anything from the events
of last Friday?"

I just stared at the DA. I really didn't want to answer any of his
questions. I don't want to be shot again.

"It's ok Jacob, you won't be hurt anymore. You can tell us anything."

"Sorry to say this, I do not trust you guys anymore. You gave me that
promise already before, and look where I am. So the answer to your question
is yes. I can pick the guys out. I remember all five of them, but I won't
do so. This time I am going to keep my mouth shut because I want to
live. Also I do not want to be called to court on the other matter. If you
do, I won't say anything on the stand that will get me killed."

"Jacob we can force you to testify if we need to. You know that don't you?"

"You can force me to go to court, but not to talk on the stand. I fear for
my life, you didn't protect me like you said you would. So I will take the
fifth on any questions you ask me."

"Jacob the fifth is for those who might say something that would get them
in trouble with the law. The fifth doesn't work for you. We can put you on
the stand as a hostile witness, if we needed to."

"You can, but it wouldn't look good for you all. You will be forcing me to
answer questions where I fear for my life if answered. For that reason
alone, I will keep saying that while I am on the stand."

"Jacob we need your help. We need to get these guys off the street for
good. If you don't testify on the regional case, we will lose it. He will
be set free, and nothing will stop him from going after you again. At that
point, the police detail will be gone. You don't want to be looking over
your shoulders every minute of every day, for the rest of your life, do
you?"

"Mr. Sanchez, I am very tired now, the pain is getting to me. So I am going
to push the button for the pain meds. It normally puts me to sleep. You
have a nice day and take care."

I touched the button for the pain meds. The district attorney reached over
and pulled away the unit from my mouth. Dr. Whitmore grabbed onto him.

"You cannot touch this patient or any tubes and wires going into his
body. You know that."

"Dr. Whitmore you better never touch me again, or I will have you taken out
of here in hand cuffs. I need this smart ass to answer my questions sooner
rather than later."

"He is in pain, he cannot do so."

"I believe he is hiding in that excuse."

"So besides being the district attorney, you're a doctor now?"

"No I am not a doctor. I just need Jacob's help that is all." Sanchez said
through clenched teeth.

"When he has strength and can stay awake longer, I will recommend to
Ms. Hernandez you can come back for a visit. I will also tell her what you
called her son and threaten his life. I will recommend to her that you
don't visit again until I release him."

"I never threatened his life, never."

"Sir, yes you did when you said there wouldn't be any police protection and
he will need to be looking over his shoulders all the time."

The DA realized he'd been caught and said; "Dr. Whitmore I was not
threatening him. When he is able to talk again, please have Ms. Hernandez
call me then. When I get back to my office I will be calling her and
letting her know you were in the way today."

"Why wait until you get back to your office, let's call her now on my
phone. That way you can hear everything I tell her."

Dr. Whitmore and Mr. Sanchez were talking all the way out the door. I don't
know if they called my mother or not. All I do know, I will not be stupid
again, and tell them what they want to know. I want to live and they cannot
protect me. Before I knew it, I was out.

When I woke up again the room was empty and quiet. I looked around and saw
for the first time I was in a single room. Last time I was in a double and
let me tell you I had several roommates.

I stayed awake this time for awhile. The only people that came in when I
was awake were nurses to do their checks. As evening came, no one came down
to visit. I figured that was going to be the case.

As the week wore on, I had no visit me. I got used to the quiet room. Since
my hands were in a sling, I couldn't even turn on the television to watch
and that sucked to say the least. Dr. Whitmore is the only one that came
around to visit on his rounds.

By Friday I was bored out of my mind. Joey came walking through the door
around five. I was so happy to see him. He leaned down and kissed me on my
lips that stuck out of the dressing on my face.

We talked a while about this and that. I was getting restless being there
in the hospital and not going to school. I think Joey realized it in my
voice. The officers were still posted at my door for protection. I felt
weird having them there just standing at the door. I felt they could be
doing something else with their time and the tax payers' money.

Joey and I really couldn't do much, due to my injuries I had. Later that
evening my mom and sister came down and stayed for a couple of hours then
left. Joey stayed the night with me. This time he had to sleep on the
chair. I really wish he could be in bed with me.

The rest of the weekend went pretty much the same way. My mother and sister
came to visit on Saturday and Sunday for a couple of hours each day. Joey
never left my side except to eat and clean up. When Sunday evening rolled
around, Joey said his goodbyes, but you could tell he didn't want to leave.

As the weeks wore on, it was the same routine as it was in the first
week. There were no visitors during the week, but when the weekend rolled
around from Friday to Sunday Joey stayed with me. My mom and sister visited
me for several hours each day during the weekends.

Finally on the fourth week in the hospital Dr. Whitmore came in on that
Tuesday morning. He told me I was going to be taken down to get some
x-rays. Sure enough the nurses came in and took me down.

Several hours later Dr. Whitmore returned to speak with me.

"Jacob I got your x-rays back. It looks like everything is healing pretty
well. What I want to do right now is to start taking your bandages off of
your hands and see what kind of movement we have."

I didn't say a word, I wanted it so. So Dr. Whitmore and some of the nurses
started taking off the bandages on my hands. When they removed the last of
the bandages, Dr. Whitmore instructed me to try to move my hands and
fingers.

At first I couldn't move anything. I kept trying then finally with every
ounce will power in my body I was able to move fingers on both of my
hands. It hurt like all hell, but I did it. Dr. Whitmore was happy with
what movement I did.

"Now Jacob what we need to do is take off the bandages around your face. We
need to see how it is healing. I need to warn you; at first it won't be a
pretty sight. The bandages being on your face for four weeks does a toll on
the skin. Then the damage to your face was bad so you will have a lot of
scaring. Remember though Jacob, this scaring we will be getting rid of in
the next week or so through plastic surgery."

"Yes sir, I do understand what you are saying. When you take off the
bandages from my face, will they stay off?"

"It all depends on the healing of your body. For now I am hoping we can
keep the bandages off. Let's just take it a step at a time."

Dr. Whitmore started to take off the bandages carefully from my
face. Within a few minutes they were off. He started looking really close
at my face. After poking at certain areas of my face for a few minutes, he
finally stepped back.

Smiling he said; "Jacob it looks really good. We will leave the bandages
off. Now again, before I give you a mirror to look at yourself, the scaring
will not be there after the plastic surgery. Give me time to do the
surgery."

"Yes sir. I understand!" I said with more than just a bit of trepidation in
my voice.

He gave me the mirror and I slowly moved it up to my face. When I opened my
eyes and looked in the mirror for the first time, I was stunned. My face
was still very puffy. Scars were coming down in all directions all over my
face. I looked like a science project gone really wrong. My nose was bent.
It looked like my eyes were not centered at all. It just wasn't a site
anyone would want to see.

"Once again Jacob, after plastic surgery, most if not all this, will be
corrected. You won't be able to even tell you went through this."
Dr. Whitmore said as convincingly as he could.

"I believe you doctor, just I have to live with what I see in the mirror
for now."

Dr. Whitmore left, and I stood there looking in the mirror. How in the
world is Joey going to look past this? I'm like a Frankenstein monster
now. I put the mirror away and started moving my arms. I still was unable
to.

The next day when Dr. Whitmore walked in, I had to ask.  "Dr. Whitmore,
when am I going to be able to move my body from the neck down?"

"Jacob you still have this unit in your neck that keeps you from moving
from the neck down. The main reason we put it in was for managing pain. We
didn't want you to be in too much pain." Dr. Whitmore said.

"What about the pain I am feeling now, sir?"

"That pain you are experiencing now is mainly from the injuries you
sustained to your face. If we didn't put that unit, the pain would be
unbearable right now."

"Ok, then when will it be taken out? I can't even watch television because
I can't hold the control." I said with no small amount of frustration
coming forth.

"I just don't want you to be in pain. The metal braces that were put in, to
support your spine, will be very painful." Dr. Whitmore admonished.

"I understand that, Dr. Whitmore I really do. Please Dr. Whitmore, sooner
or later I would need to go through that pain anyway."

"Ok then Jacob. I am warning you, the pain is going to be bad. You're more
likely be asleep most of the time due to the pain medicine we will be
giving you through the IV and the morphine drip you will be on. I will have
the nurse pick you up in a couple of hours and take you down."

"Thank you Dr. Whitmore. I just want to get through this as quickly as
possible. I am getting tired of being in the hospitals."

"I understand that Jacob, I do. Just be ready my boy. I will also schedule
you for plastic surgery in the next couple of days."

Within a couple of hours I was taken down to the third floor to have the
unit removed. At first I didn't feel any different. I still couldn't move
from the neck down. Plus there was no more extra pain going on.

I was taken back to my room. No one was there when I arrived. The nurse
came in and hooked the IV into the machine that would be feeding me the
morphine. Soon after that, about an hour later, the pain hit and it hit me
hard. I was in so much pain I was yelling. I pushed the button so many
times for the morphine, and all it did was dull the pain.

The nurse came in and gave me a shot. That did the trick, I was out. The
rest of the week I was asleep more then I was awake. I knew it was the
weekend because when I did wake up for the few minutes and I saw Joey.

When I saw him sitting on the side of the bed, I tried to cover my face
with the cover. Joey stopped me as I was yanking the blanket over my face.

"Jacob, don't do that please. No matter what you look like, I love your
heart and soul, not your looks. Looks is a plus..."

He laughed, trying to make me laugh. Instead I started to tear up. He made
me cry with what he said. I really love this guy and I wish I could scream
it to the world.

The next time I woke up I saw my mom and sister was there. My mom came up
to me when she noticed I was awake. Brushed my hair back and kissed me on
my forehead.

I thought to myself, I should have listened to Dr. Whitmore. On Sunday Joey
was there, but I had more people visiting me. At first I was in such a blur
I didn't know who they were. Then it got clearer, it was David, Irene, and
several other friends. The one that surprised me was there was my old
friend Chase. I haven't seen him since we moved from the central side of
town.

Monday rolled around and Dr. Whitmore introduced me to the plastic
surgeon. I was so out of it, I didn't catch his name. Later that day I was
wheeled down and went through first of many plastic surgeries of that week.

By the end of the week, I had four plastic surgeries. I was all wrapped up
like a mummy again. As time was passing, I was able to handle more pain
each day. This means I was able to stay awake even longer.

By my sixth week in the hospital, I was mostly off the morphine drip. I was
glad about that. I moved around a lot more. My hands and arms were ok. My
fingers were still little swollen, but worked. I was able to walk on my
own, but with help of a cane. I was glad it wasn't a walker again.

On Monday of my seventh week, Dr. Whitmore came in and took off the
bandages on my face. When I looked up to him, the smile on his face told me
a lot. He gave me a mirror to look at.

As I was bringing the mirror up, I was scared at the same time. As I looked
into the mirror, I was stunned. My face was pretty much back to
normal. There were no scars or signs of my face having been beaten in. I
think the only really big change was my nose, lips and the size of my
eyes. Other than that, I was very happy.

I was released from the hospital that late Wednesday evening. No one knew
except my mom and sister who came to pick me up. At least I thought so. As
I was sitting on the bed waiting for them to come, Joey came walking
through the door.

I was so happy to see him.  I got up and hugged him. I hugged him so tight
not wanting to let go.

"Jacob let me see! Man did they do a great job with your plastic
surgery. They put back your ugly mug just the way it was."

He laughed and punched me on my shoulder.

"That's the mug I fell in love with. I would never trade it for another in
the world." Joey said with joy lilting in his voice.

"Thank you Joey. That means a lot to me."

I was about to lean in and kiss Joey, when I heard the door. It was my mom
and sister walking in. It was the first time they saw me since the plastic
surgeries. They were stunned to say the least.

As we were leaving to go to the elevator, I saw Dr. Whitmore. I asked the
nurse to stop and she did. I got up and walked over to the doctor, I hugged
him.

"Dr. Whitmore, I don't know how you put up with me, but thank you. If it
wasn't for you I wouldn't be here today." I said with more than just a bit
of a check in my voice.

I was hugging him as I was talking. I started to cry. All my emotions came
to the surface.

"Jacob you are like a son to me. I never want to see you in here again. I
couldn't stand another phone call that you were hurt."

At that point the hug was broken, but Dr. Whitmore kneeled down holding
both of my shoulders as he was talking.

"You listen to me Jacob; you be careful. You do not need to do anything you
don't want to do. That includes testifying in court. They didn't take care
of you as they promised. If you do decide to testify in court, you are a
better man than many. Just promise me that you will take care of
yourself. I mean it Jacob, you're like a son to me, I cannot have another
call that you are hurt again." The good Doctor said with much emotion.

"I promise Dr. Whitmore. I will make you proud of me. The work you did will
never go to waste, I promise you that!"

"Thank you Jacob, and call me John. Here is my card. It has my home and
cell number on it. Call me any time. Please keep up with your
medicine. Don't call just for the pain but as for the other things as
well."

"I will John. I will be calling you if for no other reason than just to
talk."

Dr. Whitmore messed up my hair as I walked back to the wheel chair. On the
way home we stopped in the McDonalds and grabbed dinner. We just sat there
talking. At first I didn't know why people were staring at me, then it dawn
I me why. It was the officers that were there with us. I got so used to
them at the hospital. It was like second nature to me having them around.

Joey's uncle and aunt let him stay the rest of the week at my
apartment. When we got home, Joey and I went to my room. It was great to be
back in my room again. I was happy to be home and to be with Joey again.

We sat on my bed and watched television. As my mom headed to bed, she
yelled through the door.

"Boys you need to go to bed now. You have school tomorrow."

"Yes mom we will turn off the television and hit the hay."

We did turn off the television but we didn't go to bed. We waited to hear
my mom's door shut. I looked into the hallway to see where my sister
was. She had already gone to bed. I shut the door quietly, and headed to
bed.

I sat down on the bed and started to kiss Joey. It was great to be kissing
his lips again. I moved down his neck, kissing every inch I could. We took
off our shirts at the same time, as I was kissing his neck, he was kissing
mine. Whatever I was doing to Joey, Joey was doing to me. I started to suck
on his nipples, then kiss up his arms. Then I started to kiss back down his
chest to his belly button.

At this point, Joey would repeat what I was doing. We decided for the first
time to get into the sixty-nine position. We both unbuttoned our jeans at
the same time and pulled them off each other. Then we pulled our underwear
off at the same time.

I went down on Joey like never before. At the same time, Joey was going
down me. I was on cloud number nine. I was going up and down on Joey's
cock, while he was sucking on my balls. I don't know how he did it, but he
started to rim me as I was still sucking him off. It felt so awesome, I was
about to blow my load. By focusing intently on pleasing Joey, I was able to
hold off.  I wanted us to blow our loads together. It didn't take long when
I heard Joey whispering he was about to cum. At the same time, we blew our
loads all over each other. It was one of those orgasms that is never to be
forgotten.

We sat there breathing hard at first, and then we calmed down. We cleaned
ourselves up, but didn't bother to put any clothing on. We crawled under
the blankets together, and snuggled with each other. It felt awesome having
Joey's naked body tight against mine. Feeling the heat coming from his body
got me recharged and all horny again.

I reached around back to feel for Joey's dick, I found it. He was hard as
well. I started to jerk him off, and then moved his cock between my butt
cheeks.

"Jacob, please don't. I don't want to do this unless you are ready and
truly want it."

"I love you so much Joey I want to give myself to you. You are the only one
I ever want. I want it, and I want it to be you!"

At that point I moved his cock head down to my butthole entrance. It felt
so good having his dick there. Joey moved in closer to me, we used his pre
cum to wet his dick. At first it didn't hurt when his head entered. Then,
as his dick slowly made its way in, it started to hurt. Joey stopped and
let me adjust and get used to his size. Then inch by inch he went in until
I felt his hair touching my butt cheeks. He rested there for a few moments
to allow me to adjust fully to his presence inside me.

Once I adjusted, he started going in and out. At first the rhythm was
really slow, then faster. It felt so damn good, I don't know what he was
doing or hitting when his dick went all the way in, but it made me so
harder and sent new and wonderful sensations throughout my entire body and
being. Joey picked up the speed even more, I was just out there. I heard
Joey breathing heavily.

"This feels so damn good Jake!  I don't know how much longer I can hold
off!"

"You're going to make me cum without me even touching my dick Joey! Keep
going man, it feels so damn good. Push in harder, further. I don't know
what you are doing to me, but, I'm loving it all!"

"I am going to cum Jake!  I can't hold it any more man. I am cuuuuuumming
man, oh shit Jake this feels so damn good, I cummm..."

"Joey that feels so damn awesome, I about to, oh shit, I cuuuuuummming as
well man, oh shit man!"

I could feel Joey releasing inside of me, flooding me with his warm
semen. I realized he was giving me his very essence, making a bond that was
the ultimate. I started to cum all over the wall and my belly. Having
Joey's semen shot inside me felt awesome. I couldn't breathe. When Joey and
I finished, we stayed there, still coupled, coming down from our
high. Joey's dick slowly slid out of me. As it slid out, his cum started to
leak out, running down my butt and balls.

Joey pressed our bodies together and we cuddled. We fell to sleep in each
others' arms. When the alarm went off in the morning, I woke up in a mood I
cannot explain. I was so damn happy. Here I was, cuddled up with my Joey.
We just had the greatest night of sex together. I then recounted it all and
realized that this was so much more than just sex. We had joined our bodies
and, at the same time, we had linked our souls on a new and higher level. I
turned to face him. He was awake already. I started to kiss him on his
lips.

"Jake we need to get up and clean ourselves. In other words, take a
shower." Joey said, snapping me back to reality.

He laughed and kissed me again.

"You first Joey, I want to stay here a little longer!" I said with my voice
in a somewhat dreamy tone.

Joey got up, his beautiful bubble butt bouncing. He slipped on his
underwear then his jeans and t-shirt he was wearing the day before. He
headed out of the room to the shower. Soon after, I followed suit.

When I got back into the room, Joey already had the bed made. He was
dressed and combed ready to go. I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms
around him. Kissing his neck from behind, smelling his scent. I started to
kiss the top of his head when he turned around. We started kissing, just
touching one another all over.

"We've got to stop Jake,... now. If we don't, we will never get to school."

I finished getting dressed. We had breakfast and headed out. When we walked
out, there was an unmarked police car there waiting. They explained they
had to take me to and from school until two things were done.

First the guy I pointed out was the shooter last year is tried and
convicted. Second the guys that almost killed me are caught and
convicted. Until these two things are accomplished, I had better get used
to having and ever present a shadow.

They drove us to school. When we got to school, Joey and I headed to grab
breakfast. For the first time this year when I sat down to eat, I had
someone to eat with. As we were eating, David showed up. "Hey Jake it is
good to see you back. Man you look good!"

"Thank you David. I think that's why all these eyes are looking at me."

"Don't worry about that man.  They will get tired after a while. Remember
you are a folk story here. You almost died. Since you lived, you were
supposed to look like Igor or something like that," David observed.

We all laughed and David took a sit next to Joey. To my surprise, I wasn't
mad about it. I knew Joey was mine and no one will ever take him from
me. As we were talking, everyone in the cafeteria was looking at me,
staring actually, and talking about me.

Then David's friends came up. Ralph was the first to speak up: "Hey Jake
the man. Please accept my apologizes. I am very sorry for what I was part
of at the beginning of the year. You're David's friend, and you're our
friend. We will never try to screw with the friendship again."

The other guys chimed in; "Yeah Jake, we are very sorry as well. We should
have never done what we did."

"Don't worry guys. It is in the past now. David and I mended our fences
already, and you are his good friends. I want to be friends with you guys
as well."

All the guys said at the same time; "Thanks Jake!"

We shook hands, and they sat down evenly on each side of the table. The
bell rang, and we headed to class. As I walked down the hallway with Joey
and David, people were just staring at me. I suppose I'd better get used to
this.

As we passed the office, the principal called out for me.

"Hey guys I will see you in class. Yes sir, how may I help you?"

"It's good to see that you are back and in one piece. First do you need
anything from us here in the office?"

"No sir I am doing ok. I am walking now without any assistance. Yes, I am
in pain a lot, but that's what the medicine is for." I said in an
informative manner.

"Does the school nurse have your medicine and know when and how much you
need to take?" the Principal inquired.

"Yes sir she does."

"Dealing with your classes, we are going to just let you finish the
semester off. Whatever you earn, here on out, will be you average. You
missed the first six weeks of school. Also if you need anything, you feel
you are being bothered, followed, or anything, you let me know. I know you
have police protection for right now, but that isn't in the class rooms."
He stated with obvious concern.

"Yes sir, I will. Thank you very much sir."

"Ok then, head onto class and be careful." He said, concluding the short
conversation.

I shook the principal's hand, and walked to first period class. When I
walked in, everyone looked up at me. I handed the teacher my slip to return
to class, she wrote something down in her grade book. She indicated for me
to take a seat next to Joey and David. I was happy for that.

The rest of the morning went the same. When I walked into class, the
students just stared at me. They finally would get tired, and go back to
their groups.

When I walked into fifth period class, the entire class clapped as I walked
to my seat. Sergeant Haney and Major Moore walked out of their office and
started clapping when they saw it was me who the class was clapping for.

It felt good on getting a greeting like that. All day I had been getting
nothing but stares and whispers. Here I was given a warm welcome back.

After roll call, Major Moore came up to speak with me. "Mr. Hernandez it is
good to have you back with us. How are you feeling son?"

"I'm feeling great. Not like when I first woke up in the hospital, like I
was ran over by a train."

He laughed at what I had said. "Well Mr. Hernandez I am glad to have you
back. Nothing has changed and you still have your position. Also, I did
give some thought to us having our own newsletter. What you were telling me
makes sense. We don't get any kind of print in the school newspaper. So go
ahead and put it together, and let me know. We will go from there."

"Thank you sir, I will get right on it."

"You have to understand this though. You will get some kind of title on the
news paper we print, but I think the editor should be a senior
student. What do you think?" The Major more stated than inquired.

"I think whoever is appointed Editor, the person earns the position. I
agree it shouldn't be a ninth or tenth grader. They might be taking the
class like I did a first, for the PE credit. You want a cadet that will be
here for long haul and is dedicated to the program."

"Yes Mr. Hernandez that is what I meant. Next year, I have no problem
putting you up to being the Editor. But it will be known it was your idea
and you were the one that put this together." the Major added.

"Thank you, Sir. You won't ever regret it. We can make this program
shine. Maybe we could even use it as a recruiting tool as well."

"I like the way you think Jake. Get it together and we will go from there"
said the Major, ending the conversation.

I caught up with the class outside. They were in formation getting ready to
drill. I was really starting to enjoy this class. I would have never
thought I would in a million a years.


TO BE CONTINUED...


{Now with Jacob out of the hospital looking to be in the clear health wise,
there still is many unanswered questions. Will he go back to his core and
do what is right? Will he testify against the shooter and those who almost
killed him? Or will he just stay on the down low and let the guilty go
free? We have seen the relationship between Jacob and Joey get even
closer. Will Ralph and his friends ignore the promise they gave to David
and try to get Jacob for David? Will Jacob's idea about a new news letter
for the ROTC program get off the ground? There is still so much going on in
Jacob's life and more to come in the weeks ahead.  There is a lot to answer
in the chapters to come. Stick around and keep reading the future chapters,
and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at
jacobmillertex@aol.com, Thanks!}