Chapter 38
Beau
“This is so fucked up!” Drew swore as he paced back and forth in the waiting room of the hospital. He was making my head hurt, trudging in and out of my line of vision the way he was, but I understood how keyed up he was. We were all keyed up, and I was worried as hell about Gordon and Ollie. Gordon had opted to be in surgery with the boy because Ollie had asked him to. Drew, who had arrived at Eric’s house just as we were leaving, had escorted us to the hospital with his siren blaring.
He had taken one look at Ollie’s naked and bruised body and understood the gravity of the situation.
“What monster would do such a thing?” I had been asking this question over and over. As someone who had been on the other end of Ian’s wrath one time too often, I knew this would be devastating to Ollie. It was a shame that never entirely went away, but one that you always had to live with. It was the fear and anxiety that went with it every time something triggered the memory.
“I need to use the bathroom,” I told Drew and jumped to my feet. I hurried to the visitor’s bathroom just down the corridor off the waiting area on this block. I had barely gotten into the cubicle when the first bout of nausea hit me. When I finished, I dry-heaved a few times before flushing the toilet. Bracing against the wall with my arms, I let the scalding tears run down my face. For those who knew how badly Ian had beaten me the last time, I’d never given them the full extent of it. Of what he had done to my unconscious body. I barely remembered it since the moment had been locked away in my mind, but seeing Ollie, everything had returned full force.
I doubted I would ever get over it. Worse, it was someone who I had loved and cared for. The same with Ollie. He had grown up with Eric all his life. If he had run to the other man when he argued with Gordon, it only showed the level of respect and trust he had placed in Eric. And he had that trust yanked from under his feet. He would lose his equilibrium for a very long time, but I would help him as much as I could to live through it. I knew there were days he would not want to open his eyes to see another day, and that would be the hardest part of his recovery. Not giving in to those feelings.
When I had my feelings back under control, I washed my hands and my face, wiping them before I went back into the waiting room. Ollie had already been in surgery for an hour. It had to be terrible for Gordon being with him and watching the procedure, but Ollie had begged him not to leave him.
“Anything new?” I asked Drew, reclaiming my seat.
He sat beside me. “Eric is supposed to be on duty tonight, but he never showed up.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “A team of investigators is now at the house taking a sample of everything. There’s no escaping this for him. He’ll spend a long time in prison for this."
I shook my head. “I’m confused. If he’s so anti-gay as he portrays why’d he…” I trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
“I’ve no idea, Beau. Only he can answer that one.”
It didn’t make sense to me at all. If Eric had just beaten up the boy, I would have understood. But what he did next just didn’t add up.
“What do you suppose happened?” the policeman asked me.
I shrugged. “He obviously learned Ollie was gay. Maybe the boy told him. Knowing what we do about Eric that would be big enough to send him over the edge.”
“I can’t help feeling responsible,” he told me. “I should have known how far he would go after what he did to you and Beau. We shouldn’t have that nutcase wearing our uniform. If I had reported what he did then, he would have been exposed and wouldn’t have had the chance to hurt anyone else.”
“I could say the same. If I’d not been too much of a coward about losing my contract, I would have pressed charges for being wrongfully detained and assaulted.”
“Did he try it with you that night I found him punching you?”
I shook my head. “No. No, he didn’t. Maybe you interrupted it right on time.”
We fell silent then and waited. I was grateful for him being here with us even though he didn’t have to. He could have gone home after calling the police to the site of Eric’s home. Instead, he had chosen to stick around and offer his support.
“Beau.” Since I was staring down at my feet, I didn’t see Gordon enter the waiting room. Drew squeezed my knee to get my attention and I glanced up. I got to my feet immediately upon seeing Gordon. He looked defeated. At that point, looking at him, the age gap between us showed more than ever. I opened my arms to him, not giving a damn if the few people in the waiting area saw.
Gordon walked right into them, and I held him tightly to me. He started shuddering and couldn’t stop. I held him and rubbed his back, not saying anything because there were no words of comfort I had to offer. I knew what he wanted was to confront Eric.
“How is he?” I finally asked, loosening my hold on him.
“The surgery went okay,” he answered. “It was tough to watch, but I had to be strong for him. I wanted to leave, but I promised him I would stay.”
“You’re a strong dad,” I said in encouragement.
Drew’s phone rang, and he excused himself to take the call.
“I want to kill him, Beau,” Gordon gritted out. “I want him to feel everything my kid had to go through because of him, and then I want to end his miserable life, so he can’t do that to anyone else.”
“The law will take care of it,” I assured him. “Right now, Ollie needs you, and Charlie needs you. I need you."
He groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I need to call my mom and let her know. I haven’t called her yet. I don’t know what to say. What do I tell Charlie?”
“We have to tell her the truth,” I answered. “We don’t have to go into details, but those who are close to Ollie should know how they’ll have to deal with this situation in a fragile manner.”
“What time is it?”
I checked the phone in my pocket. “It’s some minutes after three.”
He grimaced. “Still too soon to call. We’ll give it a couple of hours when they’re awake. No sense calling them at this time. There’s nothing they can do anyway.”
I squeezed his hand and pulled him into the chair beside me to sit. “You look worn. Sit for a minute.”
“I keep thinking that I brought this monster into their lives.”
I squeezed his thigh closest to me. “What I’ve heard tonight is everyone taking the blame for what happened. But the truth is that it’s not our fault. The one responsible must be fully accountable for this, Gordon. That’s not you, me nor Drew over there. Yes, maybe if we had done things differently, he would not have had the opportunity to hurt someone else, but the sole blame is Eric’s. He did this, and he deserves every punishment thrown at him by the law.”
“Guys!” Drew announced, walking up to us.
We both turned to acknowledge him, and I knew from the look on his face, he had relevant news.
“They’ve got him,” he said. “They’re taking him to the police station for questioning.”
“Questioning?” Gordon fumed. “What kind of questioning? He should be locked up behind bars.”
“He will be, but we have to make a formal case.”
Gordon rose to his feet. “I want to be there.”
Drew frowned at him. “You’re not in a rational state to be allowed to confront him now, Gordon. I promise he’s not getting off this case.”
“I’m not asking you, Drew. There are only two options. Either I ride with you, or I’ll drive my car.”
“I’ll drive you,” I answered. “I’m not letting you drive yourself in this state.”
“No,” Gordon said. “I need you to stay here with Ollie. He’ll be taken to his room to recover, and I want you to sit with him until I get back.”
“Your son needs you more than you need to confront Eric right now,” Drew stated.
Apparently, he didn’t know Gordon as I did. Nothing on earth, short of his kids being in trouble, could prevent him from confronting Eric. He knew I would do anything to keep his kids safe if he wasn’t around.
“I guess I’ll be driving then,” Gordon declared.
I groaned, holding onto the car keys tightly. “Please take him,” I begged Drew. “I can’t have him driving himself there while he’s this upset.”
Drew sighed. “Okay, but we have a strict protocol to follow, Gordon, and if there’s any disturbance, I’ll have to get you out of there.”
“Fine.”
Gordon turned to me. “I’ve listed you as an emergency contact on Ollie’s file, so you should be able to see him without any trouble. If anything changes, call me.”
I took him by the neck and kissed him swiftly. “I will take care of him.” I released him and turned to Drew. “Take care of him for me. Will you?” Gordon had a gleam in his eyes that I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
Shortly after they left, the doctor appeared to let me know Ollie had been situated with little fuss, and I could see him. I was advised he was heavily medicated, so he might not recognize me for another hour or so. I thanked the doctor and went to do my duty. The kid hated me, but I would hope in this situation he would allow me to be there for him.
I entered his room with caution, planning to sit quietly with him while he slept. I was so sure he would still be out from his medication, but he wasn’t. His head turned in my direction as soon as I attempted to close the door behind me. I didn’t know what to expect, probably for him to ask me to leave. When he didn’t, I entered the room and moved closer to his bedside.
“Hey, I promised your dad I’ll sit with you till he gets back,” I told him. “But if you prefer to be alone, I can sit on the outside.”
He didn’t look at me but up at the ceiling. His color was returning, but he had several stitches and sported a bandage around his head. His nose was in a nasal cast.
“I don’t want to be alone,” he mumbled from his swollen lip. He had stitches there as well.
“Okay. I’ll sit right here. I won’t leave. You can take a nap.”
He didn’t respond, and I thought he was doing that, taking a nap. But then he said, “I can’t sleep. I tried, but each time I close my eyes, the nightmare continues.” He sucked in a painful breath and added so softly I almost didn’t hear. “Except it feels real.”
I tried not to show my surprise that he was talking to me. From my own experience, talking to a stranger about my ordeal had been a better idea than my family.
“I’m sorry this happened to you,” I told him. “It shouldn’t have to happen to anyone. Not me. Not you.”
He turned his head then, wincing a bit. “You?”
I nodded and stared at my hands, gripping each other. “Yes. Me. The boyfriend I had before your dad was not as kind and loving.”
“But-but you seem fine.” He sounded bewildered.
“It’s a process to get here,” I answered with a smile. “In the meantime, cry if you want. Get mad at the world if you want. You don’t have to be strong. You can let the people around you who care about you be strong for you. Be broken if you need to be. The ones you love will catch the pieces and help you put them back together.”
No sooner had I spoken the last word than I heard his sob. I didn’t reach out to touch him in a comforting way. The last thing he would need was to be touched, especially by a stranger. I didn’t say anything else, just sat there and waited with him through his pain.