Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:19:54 -0500
From: Ronyx <ronyx@woh.rr.com>
Subject: Down the Darkened Path  Chapter 4

The following is a work of fiction. Any similarities to anyone are purely
coincidental. The story is intended for a mature audience. It may contain
profanity and references to gay sex. If this offends you, please leave and
find something more suitable to read. The author maintains all rights to
the story. Do not copy or use without written permission. Write
ron@themustardjar.com with your comments. Ronyx is a prolific Nifty author.
Visit www.themustardjar.com for more stories by Ronyx.



Down the Darkened Path          Chapter 4



The hospital emergency waiting room was packed. The clock read 4:12. People
were still arriving. Their sleepy eyes were filled with tears. Mrs. Neal
was staring absentmindedly at the double doors leading to the emergency
area. Claire was beside her with her arm around her waist.

"Why don't they come out and tell me something?" Troy's mother cried. The
room grew quiet as everyone watched her get up and walk over to the elderly
woman stationed at the information desk. She shook her head sadly at
Mrs. Neal, indicating that there was still no news.

She grabbed the side of her face and began to tremble. Claire ran over and
led her back to her seat. Gentle sobs could be heard all about them.

Mrs. Neal looked at the clock. "I've been here for an hour and a half and
they still won't let me know how he is." She buried her face in her hands
and sobbed. "He could be dead." She lifted her tear-stained face and looked
anxiously at Claire. "I can't live if he's dead." She let out a low wail
and clutched Claire.

Again, loud sobbing broke out. Many were classmates of Troy's. News travels
fast in the age of cell phones. Claire called Allison, who called a
classmate. Despite the early hour of the morning, half the school was
probably aware that Troy had been hurt.

Claire looked up when she heard a commotion at the door. She could see
several people trying to restrain someone. Suddenly, she heard someone cry
out, "No!" She immediately recognized the voice. It was Will.

When he saw Claire and Troy's mother, he broke away from those trying to
comfort him, and ran across the room and fell into Mrs. Neal's arms.

"Is he dead?" He screamed out. Mrs. Neal held him and sobbed. Claire put
her arm around him and whispered softly, "We haven't heard anything
yet. Let's pray he's alright."

"My uncle is a cop," Will sobbed. "He knows I date Troy. He called Dad and
told him to tell me what happened." He began to cry loudly. "He told Dad
that he didn't think Troy would make it." There was a gasp throughout the
waiting room, followed by more sobbing. Claire caught Mrs. Neal when she
reeled back. She and Will led her to the sofa and helped her sit down.

"My God," she cried. "What is going on?" She looked toward the ceiling and
screamed, "Why Troy!"

A nurse walked over to her. Will got up to let her sit beside Troy's
mother. "Are you going to be alright? I can ask an emergency room doctor to
prescribe you a sedative."

"No," Mrs. Neal responded as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I've got
to keep alert. Troy may need me."

The nurse took her hand and held it. "I wish I could tell you something,
but he's still in surgery. The doctor will let you know how he's doing as
soon as he's finished."

"So he's still alive?" Mrs. Neal looked anxiously at the nurse. She shook
her head.

"I really don't know." She squeezed Mrs. Neal's hand tighter. "Let's just
pray he'll be alright." She paused a minute before adding, "Would you like
me to have the hospital chaplain come see you when he arrives at nine?"

Mrs. Neal nodded as she looked around the room at the others sharing her
grief. "That would be nice. He might be able to give us some comfort."

"Yes," replied the nurse as she rose to her feet. "I have to get back on
duty. If I hear anything, I'll try to let you know." She turned and
disappeared through the double door.

People continued to arrive. Claire and Will roamed around the room letting
people know that there was no news of Troy's condition. They were surprised
when Mr Fallingsworth, the school principal came walking in around
6:30. After talking to a few students, he walked over and sat down beside
Mrs. Neal. He took her hand and they talked for several minutes.

Will and Claire watched them for a minute. "No one's going to be in school
today," said Will as he looked around the packed waiting room. Another room
down the hall had also been readied for the overflow crowd. Several
security guards were idly standing around.

Mr. Fallingsworth got up, walked over to Claire and handed her a business
card. "Here's my number. Call me at school as soon as you hear
anything. I'll make an announcement." He looked around the room. "That is
if there's anyone in school today." He hugged Will and Claire and left.

Claire returned to the sofa and sat beside Mrs. Neal. "Are you alright?"

She took Claire's hand and squeezed it. "Alright? No." She replied. "But
I've got to stay strong."

"Where is Troy's father?" Claire asked.

"He's on a business trip in Chicago." She replied. "I called him and he's
booked a flight home." She looked at the clock on the wall. "In fact, he
should be boarding right about now. He should be here in a couple of
hours."

"Good." Claire squeezed her hand.

Mrs. Neal looked up and saw Will standing nearby talking with some
students. She called him over.

"Would you be a dear and go get me a cup of coffee?" He readily agreed. She
asked Claire if she wanted anything, but she said she didn't. She gave Will
some money and he left the waiting area. A directional sign on the wall
indicated that the cafeteria was to the right. He knew it was probably too
early for it to be open, but he hoped it contained vending machines.

As he turned the corner, he saw a black guy approaching. He remembered
seeing him around school, but he couldn't recall his name. One thing he did
notice immediately, however, was his clothes were stained with dried blood.

"Excuse me," he said shyly as he neared Will. "Do you know anything about
the guy they brought in last night who was beaten?"

"You mean Troy?" Will asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "I guess that's his name."

"We don't know anything yet," responded Will. "He's still in surgery."

The boy looked sadly at Will and then started to turn. "Thanks," he said
softly. As he began to walk away, Will grabbed his arm.

"Wait a minute." He turned the boy around and looked at his clothing. "My
uncle said something about a kid staying with Troy until the police
arrived." He looked into the boy's face. "Was that you?"

The boy looked down at the ground and nodded. "Yeah." He then turned and
started to walk away. Again, Will reached out and grabbed his arm.

"What's your name?"

"Jayden Henderson"

"Do you know what happened, Jayden?" He hoped that he could give him some
idea what had happened to Troy. Jayden looked down and shook his head.

Tears appeared in Will's eyes as he asked, "How bad was he hurt? The
doctors aren't telling us anything."

Jayden looked into Will's eyes. He could see the concern on his face. He
knew he couldn't tell him how badly Troy had been beaten. When he held him
in his arms before the ambulance arrived, it was difficult to tell that he
once possessed a handsome face. Jayden wretched when he saw the battered
face. His face was bloodied and swollen. His eyes had been matted shut with
tears and blood. There was a deep gash on his forehead, and his upper lip
was swollen. When he held Troy's head, he could feel an enormous knot on
the back of his head. Looking into Will's face, he knew he couldn't tell
him what he had witnessed. Jayden was sure the horrendous image would haunt
him for the rest of his life.

After the police and medics arrived, Jayden was interrogated. At first he
was considered a suspect since he lived in the neighborhood, but he was
able to convince the police that he wasn't responsible. He told them how he
had looked out his window and saw Troy stumble and fall on the street. He
then told them that he had called 911 and went down and stayed with Jayden
until they arrived.

One thing he did hold back, though, was that Troy had said that guys in a
blue van had attacked him. He knew that his cousins, Tyrone and Anthony,
were responsible for his beating. Before giving the police the information
he knew, he was hoping that Troy would be able to give the police a
description of his attackers; then he could avoid having to turn his own
relatives into the police.

"I really should go." Jayden turned and started to walk away again. Will
grabbed his arm.

"Please?" Jayden could see the tears in Will's eyes. He knew that he cared
deeply for the boy he had helped the night before.

Jayden put his hand over Will's. "Look. I think you should hear it from the
doctor. He was hurt pretty bad. Sometimes things look worse than they are."
Tears began to run down Will's face.

"I have to go." He looked sadly at Will. "I really hope your friend is
alright." He turned and hurried to the elevator. Will leaned against the
wall and cried.

"It took you long enough." Claire got up and met Will when he returned with
three coffees. He looked at the clock on the wall. He had been gone over
thirty minutes. After leaving Jayden, he had gone into a bathroom and sat
in a stall and cried. Even though they hadn't been dating long, they still
were making plans for the future.

Troy and he had spent hours discussing what they'd do after they
graduated. They had applied and had been accepted to the same college about
two hundred miles away. They were in the process of filling out their
housing applications. Freshmen were required to live on campus, so they had
requested to share a dorm room. Since they would finally be having sex
together, Will was looking forward to many sleepless nights.

After handing Mrs. Neal her coffee, he pulled Claire to a corner where they
could talk privately.

"Do you know a guy named Jayden Henderson?" She shook her head.

"I don't think so," she replied. "Is he in our class?"

"Yeah," he said. "Black guy. About my size. Nice looking."

Again she shook her head. Suddenly, she realized who Jayden was. "Wait a
minute," she exclaimed. "I know him. He was in my biology class last
year. He sat at the same lab table as me. As I remember, he was pretty
smart." She gave Will a puzzled look. "Why do you want to know about
Jayden?"

She became worried when she saw tears form in Will's eyes. "He was there
with Troy last night."

"He's the one who beat him up?" Will looked around as several people stared
at them.

"Would you be quiet," he whispered. "No, he's not the one who beat him
up. My uncle told me that a guy was holding Troy in his lap when they
arrived. It was Jayden. I just talked to him in the hallway."

Claire looked toward the door. "Is he still here? I want to talk to him."

"No," said Will. "He left. He wouldn't tell me much except Troy was hurt
pretty bad."

"How bad?"


"I told you," insisted Will. "He wouldn't say."

Claire took Will's hand and they returned to the sofa and sat down beside
Mrs. Neal. People were constantly coming up and speaking to her, so it
helped the time go quickly. Just before seven, the door opened and the
nurse who had spoken to them earlier in the morning walked over to
Mrs. Neal.

She smiled warmly. "Mrs. Neal, can you come with me. The doctors want to
speak to you now. They didn't want to do it out here with so many people
around. I've arranged a conference room."

Troy's mother got up and grabbed Claire's hand. The nurse turned and
stopped. "Only family members can go back." Mrs. Neal gripped Claire's hand
tighter.

"She's my niece," she said. The nurse gave her a skeptical look, but headed
toward the door. Several people hugged them before they left.

They were led to a small conference room and the nurse asked them to have a
seat. "The doctors will be in soon to speak to you."

Mrs. Neal took out a tissue and wiped her eyes dry. She wanted to be
strong, but she wasn't sure she could, especially if the news was bad. She
looked at her watch. Her husband should have landed. He had phoned ahead
for a rental car, and he was coming immediately to the hospital.

Claire reached down, took her hand and squeezed it. "It's going to be
alright." She tried to sound encouraging, but her words were filled with
emotion. She was also wondering if she could face tragic news. Troy was her
best friend, her confidante. The thought of losing him was
incomprehensible.

They jumped when the door opened and three doctors walked in. All had
stoic, unemotional faces, so it was hard to determine what they were going
to say. One doctor sat down at the table across from Mrs. Neal and
Claire. He was tall and thin. He appeared to be about forty. The other two
leaned against the wall.

"I'm Dr. Ramey." He extended his hand and shook Mrs. Neal's. He gently
squeezed her trembling hand. Claire reached over and put her hand on her
knee. He looked up at the other doctors. "These men are Dr. Klein and
Dr. Costa."

"How's my son?" Mrs. Neal asked urgently. Dr. Ramey squeezed her hand
tighter. She pulled away and sat back. "Is he alive?" Tears burst from her
eyes as she took a tissue and wiped them away.

Dr. Ramey looked somberly at her. "Yes, Mrs. Neal, he's alive." A sad
expression appeared on his face. "Barely." Mrs. Neal leaned over and
grabbed Claire. They clutched to each other sobbing.

"Mrs. Neal." Dr. Ramey reached out and grabbed her arm. "There are several
things we must discuss." She pulled away from Claire and nodded as she
wiped her eyes dry.

"Troy was beaten badly," she said. "His injuries are extensive. Our concern
right now is a severe head injury he received. We are treating him for an
edema. I won't go into the medical terms right now, but let's just say he
has tremendous swelling in his brain. The pressure is preventing blood from
entering his skull.

"Will he live?" Mrs. Neal managed to whisper.

Dr. Ramey looked over at the other doctors before answering. "I don't
know." Mrs. Neal slumped down in her seat and began crying once
again. Claire leaned over and tried to comfort her.

She started trembling violently. "I wish Roger was here," she cried.

"Would you like to wait for your husband to get here before we proceed?"
Dr. Ramey reached out and took her hand again. She shook her head.

"No, Dr. Ramey." She wiped the tears from her eyes and leaned towards
him. "I'll be alright. I need to know what's going on with my son."

Dr. Ramey sat back and opened up a chart on the table. "As I said, he's
suffered a severe head injury. We're concerned about the swelling." He
pointed to one of the doctors off to his side. "Dr. Klein is a trauma
surgeon." He nodded slightly. "We are lucky that he was on call last
night. We were able to get Troy to surgery immediately. It may have saved
his life." Mrs. Neal gasped, but quickly controlled her composure. She was
determined to hear what had happened to Troy without breaking down again.

Dr. Ramey pointed to the other doctor. "This is Dr. Costa." We called him
in this morning. He is our resident ophthalmologist." He took Mrs. Neal's
hand and squeezed it. "The damage to Troy's face was severe. It appears he
may have been kicked repeatedly." He squeezed her hand tighter. "Dr. Costa
had to do an enucleation of Troy's right eye."

Mrs. Neal's hands began to tremble. "What's that mean?" She muttered softly
as she looked worriedly at Claire.

"The damage was so extensive, he had to remove it."

"Oh, God!" Claire stood and started screaming. Dr. Costa walked over and
grabbed her, holding her tightly. "Why Troy?" She screamed. Troy's mother
jumped up and held her as they both sobbed loudly.

Just then the door opened and a nurse walked in, followed by Troy's father.

"Dr. Ramey," she whispered softly as she looked at the two women
crying. "Mr. Neal is here."

"Oh, no!" Mr. Neal shouted as his wife turned and fell into his arms.

"Oh, God, Roger!" She cried. Dr. Costa continued to hold Claire.

After several minutes, Dr. Ramey asked everyone to have a seat. "I know
this is traumatic news, but it's not helping your son. I need to finish so
I can get back to him." Mr. Neal threw his arm protectively around his
wife, while she took Claire's hand.

He looked at Troy's father. "As I've explained to your wife, Troy was
beaten badly. From what we've gathered, he was accosted by two men. It
appears they took his wallet and cell phone and then knocked him to the
ground and repeatedly kicked him." He gripped his wife's hand tighter as
Dr. Ramey continued telling them of Troy's injuries.

"There was serious trauma to the brain. We're very concerned about
swelling." He looked over at Dr. Klein. "Dr. Klein was able to surgically
reduce the swelling, but it will be several days before we know if it was
successful. There is a possibility that the pressure could return," he said
as his mood saddened, "and it could be fatal."

Mrs. Neal cried as her husband held her in his arms and rocked her. Claire
buried her head in her hands and sobbed loudly. After a minute Dr. Ramey
continued. "There was also irreparable damage done to Troy's eyes." He
looked at Dr. Costa. "We had to remove his right eye. We also believe he
may have lost the sight in his left eye."

Unable to control his emotions, Mr. Neal broke into tears. His wife took
his hand and attempted to console her distraught husband. Claire walked out
of the room. She could be heard sobbing outside the door.

"We really need to proceed," insisted Dr. Ramey. He looked sadly at the
distraught parents sitting in front of him. "I know this is hard on you,
but you must think of Troy. He's going to need your support. He's looking
at months of rehabilitation." Troy's parents nodded and sat up. Claire
returned to the room and sat down. Mrs. Neal grasped her hand and squeezed
it.

"Can we see him?" Mr. Neal pleaded. "I need to see that he's alright."

"Are you sure you are prepared this?" Dr. Ramey studied their tearful
faces. He looked over at his colleagues before turning back to Troy's
parents. "He's in the intensive care unit. We took him there after his
surgery so he can be closely monitored." He stood and looked down at
Mr. and Mrs. Neal.

"You may see him briefly," he said. "Right now he's heavily sedated. Give
me a minute to go check on his progress." He turned and left the room. The
other doctors left behind him, leaving Troy's parents and Claire alone.

Mrs. Neal grasped her husband's and Claire's hand. She bowed her head and
spoke softly, "Let us pray." They prayed for several minutes until the
nurse opened the door and entered.

"Dr. Ramey asked me to take you to your son," she said. She sat down and
looked across the table. "I must first prepare you for what you are about
to see." She looked over at Claire. "I think you may be too young to go
in."

Claire stood and looked down at the nurse. "I've known Troy since we were
little kids. He's like a brother to me." She looked down at Troy's
mother. "I need to see him. Please?" She begged.

Mrs. Neal took her hand and had her sit. "If you feel you can, Dear, then I
see no reason why you can't be with us." She looked at the nurse who nodded
her head.

"Yes, fine." She said. "Now I need to prepare you. When you go in and see
Troy, you won't recognize him." Mrs. Neal gasped.

"His face and head are wrapped in gauze," she continued. "You must remember
he has just returned from six hours of surgery and he's heavily
sedated. We've bandaged his eyes, and there may be blood present on the
wrappings." She stood and looked at them. "Are you prepared for this?"

Mr. Neal stood and took his wife's hand and helped her up. Claire stood and
nodded at him. "Yes," he said. "I think we are ready."

She led them down several corridors until they came to a room marked
ICU. She led them to an area that had a green curtain pulled tightly. They
could hear talking on the other side. The nurse looked in, and then turned
to them. "Dr. Ramey is with your son."

"Let them in," he said softly. She pulled back the curtain. Mr. Neal led
the way. Soon they were standing in front of Troy's hospital bed. Claire's
knees buckled. The nurse grabbed her before she fell to the floor.

Like the nurse had described, it was difficult to tell who was lying in the
bed. Troy's face was covered in gauze, and tubes were running into his
body. He had a ventilator mask over his face. The only thing that was
visible was a portion of his nose. It appeared red and swollen.

Mr. Neal walked over to the side of the bed and pulled back the covers
until he could see Troy's hand. He took it and squeezed it gently. He then
leaned down and whispered in Troy's ear. "Your mother and I are here,
Son. We love you." Mrs. Neal walked up and put her hand on her husband's
arm. She then leaned down and gently kissed Troy's forehead through the
wrappings.

"I love you, Troy," she whispered softly. "You're going to be alright." She
looked down and saw Troy's hand move as he attempted to weakly squeeze her
husband's hand. Tears started to fall down her cheek, but she kept herself
from crying out loud. She didn't want to upset Troy in case he was aware of
what was going on in the room.

Mrs. Neal held out her hand to Claire. Claire stepped up and then leaned
down and kissed Troy's cheek. "Hey you, Tevye," she said emotionally. "I
love you, Troy." She turned and hurried from the room before she broke down
in tears. Mr. and Mrs. Neal remained quietly beside their son's bed, gently
rubbing his exposed hand.

After several minutes, Dr. Ramey suggested that they should return to the
waiting area. He said they could return in two hours when the ICU opened
for visitors. He said they would only be able to stay for fifteen minutes
each visitation.

When they left, they found Claire sitting against the wall further down the
corridor. She had her head buried in her hands.

"Are you alright, Claire?" Mr. Neal leaned down and lifted her to her feet.

"It's not fair!" She cried. "Troy never hurt a fly. Why did someone have to
do this to him?"

"No one has the answer to that," answered Mrs. Neal as she wrapped her arm
around Claire's waist. "Everything happens for a reason."

"What?" Claire shouted. "What reason was there for this to have happened?"

"I don't know, Dear." She looked worriedly at her husband. "I just don't
know."

***********

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