Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2001 15:07:09 +0100
From: Lange <lange.ruegen@t-online.de>
Subject: betrayed love - chapter four

umm, don't read this if:

~you are younger than 18
~you are homophobic or you just generally don't like this sort of stories
~this is forbidden where you live
= that means, read if you're sure you can risk it.

thanks to William Watts for editing this ... I think the story would look
not too good if he didn't do it ... not that I'm convinced of my writing
ability. :) thanks to Silvia for 'helping' me with the story line.

ahh yeah, my homepage is http://home.t-online.de/home/lange.ruegen
go there if you're interested in other stuff I write.

forgot about this the last time: tis story is copyright my n-c-g [that's me,
btw :-)]. All rights reserved. ... uhh, doesn't that sound dumb? :)

so ... I hope nobody is offended by this chapter and you can enjoy it and
please mail me if you like or dislike or whatever the story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~
~~

chapter four - ex-friend turned enemy

Tommy did everything to ignore that weird feeling and concentrate on being
angry again. He couldn't believe that Jason, his former best friend, had done
this to him. He glared at Jason, with a cruel expression etched on his face,
and pushed him backwards with such force that Jason stumbled and finally
landed on his back. The crowd moved closer, until they stood in a circle
around Jason, and they looked down on him in disgust. All he could do was
look up and into their hate-filled faces.

As if reacting to a secret sign, about five of them, including Tommy and
Steven, attacked Jason, who was still lying on the ground. The others made
approving comments while these five kept hitting and kicking every
available part of Jason's body. Jason did not do anything to protect himself.
He knew he had no chance against all 500 of them and he assumed that it
possibly would be better if he just let it happen. When they didn't notice any
movement from him anymore, they stopped their attack and everybody
strolled from the campus to go home.

Steven had a smile on his face, probably content with himself that they 'took
care of that sissy'. Tommy knew he should feel really good having shown
Jason what happens to fags, but his feelings were more or less a jumble of
conflicting emotions.  He felt that he had done what he had to do, but he
didn't understand why he didn't feel good about what he had just done.  Eric
was the first one to go and check on Jason. He felt for his pulse and thought
it to be normal. He then took his cell phone out and called an ambulance.
With one last quick glance, he also left the yard.

Jason did realize all of this as he lay there. He had been conscious during the
whole thing and he had felt every single kick and punch they delivered, but
that was not what had disturbed him so.  What really had surprised him was
the expression on Tommy's face. He had
halfway expected him to be this hateful but, when he had pushed him, it was
more forceful than he expected.  He had thought that Tommy's reaction in the
detention had been bad, but his first reaction had been mild in comparison.
On the other hand, he had been very surprised, to say the least, to find the
expressions on Tommy's face had not been what he had expected and he
couldn't be sure what emotions he was actually feeling at that point. Was it
was a look of apology, regret, or maybe even pity? But it wasn't just the
look, there had been something else about it, something that he didn't
understand. This look was what had distracted him from the attacks of the
others, but now, as Eric had gone too, he began to feel the extent of his
injuries, which he hoped wouldn't be too severe.

Speaking of Eric, he was a mystery to Jason, too. Jason knew that Eric was
very good friends with Steven and, because of the basketball team, he was
also very close to Tommy. That in turn obviously meant that they had a lot of
common views on different issues.  Indeed, Eric had been standing directly
next to Tommy and Steven, the ones who had, as it now looked, organized
this attack. Still, Eric had not hit him even once and he had even called the
ambulance for him.  What was it with that boy? Maybe he was gay-friendly
despite Steven and Tommy's feelings about it. But why had he been there in
first place? He could have walked home with friends ... Maybe, just maybe,
he could even be friends with Eric, but he did not believe that Tommy would
be too happy with either of them then.

Tommy, well he really had not expected this reaction from him. Of course,
he had suspected it as a possible reaction, but to be honest, in his heart he felt
that it had less of a chance of happening than his mind was willing to accept.
He had not wanted to admit that it would have been possible, and now this.
He had lost his best friend, his only friend for that matter, and even now,
laying in the dust and hurting all over, he still could not believe it.
Everything would have been better if he hadn't told Tommy. Everything had
been okay two days ago.

When he thought about the past few days, the tears fell again. He had already
spent the previous night crying his eyes out and he couldn't even tell his
mother when she kept on asking what had happened or what was the matter.
How could he possibly tell her. Well, now that the whole school knew about
it, it wouldn't be long until his family knew about it as well. His sister went
to the same school and she would soon know also. They would all know ...
and it wouldn't be because he had told them. Everything was so messed up ...

With that he drifted into unconsciousness and did not notice the ambulance
coming a minute later. They drove him to the hospital, but the E.M.T's in the
ambulance had already determined that his injuries were not as severe as they
could have been. Still, the boy who lay in front of the medics looked pretty
bad with bruises all over his body and blood still pouring from some of the
wounds.

In the hospital, Jason was examined by doctors, but they did not find any
severe injuries, like internal bleeding or ruptured organs, which would have
lead to an operation. Jason had been quite lucky. Besides a severe
concussion, he 'only' a lot of cuts and bruises. The concussion was what had
caused him to slip into unconsciousness, but it was not life threatening. They
put him into a hospital bed[,] after dressing him in a typical hospital gown
and wheeled him into a private room. A nurse then called Jason's parents.
Luckily for them, the boy who had called the ambulance had also given them
the phone number of Jason's parents.

"Hello... Yes, this is she."

"Mrs. Matthews, I must tell you that your son's been brought to St. Lawrence
hospital a few minutes ago."

"Oh my God!  Is he all right?  What happened to him?  Is he hurt badly? I
was really worried when he didn't get home on time.  Are you sure he's all
right?"

"He is relatively fine. Do you know what has happened?"

"Not really. My daughter told me he had been in a fight, but she didn't stay
to see what happened.  When Jason didn't come home afterward, we weren't
sure what to do.  My husband thought it was no big deal and said that we
should wait until he or someone else called us. I'm glad you did. Thank you.
"

"That's my job."

"We'll be there immediately. Good bye."

Barely throwing the receiver on the hook, the parents jumped to
their feet and fetched their coats. They told Jason's sister to stay at
home to answer the phone.  Being 15 they didn't think she was too young,
but somebodyy had to stay at home to field any other calls that came in. In
the car the conversation moved to *the* topic again.

"Do you think it's true what Tania said?" his mother wondered.

"That Jason was beaten up because he's gay? I sure think it's possible," his
father answered, looking concerned.  " Now don't be upset or feel bad about
it. We have suspected it for quite some time now."

"Yes, you're right, but I guess I've never wanted to admit to myself that he,
indeed, *is* gay. It has always been only a possibility, but now it looks like
it's also reality. I'm only a little sad that he has not talked about it with us. It
could have made a lot of things easier for him. We could have been there to
help him."

"Natalie, stay realistic, we could have never protected him from those kind of
things happening to him. We surely could have supported
him emotionally, though, and he would have known that we care for
him, no matter what happens." With that said, he pulled the car to a stop in
the parking lot of the hospital.  Hand-in-hand, the parents went into the
building to face whatever awaited them.  It was also to give themselves the
strength they would need to get through their talk with Jason and the courage
it would take to face their injured child.

They first stopped and asked a nurse for the number of the room that Jason
was in.  She told them the number, but suggested that they wait a little while
and maybe sit down until the doctor had time to speak with them.

Mrs. Matthews sat down in the waiting area while her husband went off to
buy some coffee, to calm both of their nerves. She didn't understand why her
husband thought that drinking coffee would help them, but she was too
exhausted to argue with him right now. He sat down next to her, gave her the
cup of coffee he had bought, and then he took her free hand again. They
really felt the effects of the shock of what had happened setting in now. It
was now that they fully realized what had been happening to Jason and it
began to dawn on them to what extent Jason's forced coming out would
influence their daily life. It was scary for both of them, but they did not feel
angry with Jason and they were sure that it must be even worse for him. They
continued this line of thought for several minutes, until the doctor arrived and
spoke to them.

"Mrs. And Mr. Matthews, I suppose?"

"How's our son doing, doctor?"

"Well, he's relatively fine, considering what has happened to him. I don't
know how much you've been told? "

"Our daughter has told us that Jason had been in a fight, although ... she had
not been there herself."

"Oh, I see. Anyway, you son's not suffering from any internal
injuries, he's 'only' suffering from some treatable medical conditions.  He's
got many bruises and some cuts[,] which were probably caused by some
stones on the ground. He also has a severe concussion, probably from kicks
to his head. He's not hurt very badly, but the concussion has caused some
problems and he's been slipping in and out of consciousness since he was
brought in.  I don't believe it's anything to be overly concerned about and I
can assure you that there will be nothing left of these injuries in 3 months and
nothing, absolutely nothing is life-threatening. You may go in to see your son
now, but it'll take another 24 hours until we can even consider if he is ready
to leave the hospital. His room is number 162, but I guess you were already
told that. You can reach it by going down the hallway to my left."

"Thanks, Dr. ..."

"Mulligan."

"Thanks, Dr. Mulligan."

"It's my job." Smiling, Dr. Mulligan vanished through some doorway
opposite the information desk, while Jason's parents made their way to their
son's room, holding hands the entire way. They looked at each other for a
brief time before opening the door to Jason's room, taking that moment to try
to read what the other was feeling.  When their eyes locked on each other,
they could see the fear and confusion, but they could also see the love and
feel the strength and determination the other had to help them all get through
this.  They would support Jason the best they could and they would be there
for each other. The reassuring nod from her husband encouraged Mrs.
Matthews to open the door and go in.

When they entered the room they couldn't see anything besides dark shadows
and slightly lighter shades of darkness where the sun could peek through the
curtains. The sight in front of them slowly became clearer, as soon as their
eyes had adjusted to the darkness in the
room. Mrs. Matthews made the first tentative steps into the direction of the
bed, longing to see her son. When she had reached it she was shocked by
what she saw and the first tears fell from her eyes. She couldn't believe how
bruised Jason looked. Her baby had been hurt this badly by some bullies and,
if they could believe Tania, it was not just a group of kids who didn't know
him or like him either. It had included Tommy, his best friend, who had
initiated the whole fight. They had always seemed so perfectly fine together,
but Jason's coming out had obviously changed everything they had shared.

She couldn't see any recognizable expression on Jason's face. She couldn't
say that he looked perfectly content, but maybe peaceful was the right word
for it. When she'd completed that thought, she broke into tears, as she'd
realized that she had been thinkingabout him as if he were dead. Mr.
Matthews went to her side and gently cradled her in his arms. They stayed by
Jason's side through the rest of the afternoon and they were still there as
evening arrived. Jason was still slipping in and out of consciousness, never
really aware of what was going on, and he was like that when the doctor
came into the room again, around nine.

"Mr. And Mrs. Matthews, I guess it would be better if you were to go home
now.  Jason won't know what's going on until sometime tomorrow afternoon
and it won't help anything if you don't get a good night's sleep. He'll need
you strong and alert when he does come to. "

"Can't we stay here?"

"You could, but I really don't recommend that. Trust me. Besides,
I'm sure that your daughter is worried about you, too. You should be with
her."

"I really don't want to leave Jason here alone."

"Well, you know that we'll take good care of your son and both of
you are tired. Come back tomorrow as early as you want to."

"If you really think so, doctor ..."

"Please, it'll be the best for you."

"Yes, you may be right."

"Thanks doctor. We'll be back here by early morning. Thank you for
everything."

"Of course. Now you go home and try to sleep, okay?"

"We will."

They took one last look at their son and then they left the room and walked
down the already silent and darkened hallways, hand-in-hand.