Brian’s stillness frightened Michael. He had seen his best friend in a wide variety of moods over the years, but nothing came close to this one. Brian was literally like a living statue, bloodless and inanimate… all except for the slow trickle of tears from his eyes to the front of his blood-spattered shirt. There was no question that Brian was in a state of shock and had shut down, probably to keep from losing his sanity. It wasn’t that Brian hadn’t seen violence before. He certainly had in his younger years. Michael recalled the time that he and Brian watched a bloody fight behind the school’s gymnasium between two fellow students who wanted the same girl. The bigger boy had all but killed the smaller one, drawing blood from nose, mouth, ears, and even eyes. A few years earlier they witnessed the result of a gay bashing in the alley off Liberty Avenue and reported it to police. It was obvious that this was different, and all because it was Justin who had been hurt.
Michael didn’t know all the details yet. He wasn’t sure how bad Justin was injured, but by the looks of Brian, it had to be severe. Michael could still remember how it felt when he got that call from his mom. He had been rushing to get on the plane where David was waiting for him. His cell rang. At first, he thought about ignoring it, but saw it was from Debbie. His mom was eager for him to start a new life with David, so he knew she wouldn’t call him at a time like this for something inconsequential. It had to be important, so he answered. Just the sound of her voice alerted him that she had something bad to tell him. He braced himself but was still totally unprepared for what came next.
Michael dropped his baggage at his feet, leaned against the wall, and tried hard to absorb what Debbie was having so much trouble telling him… Justin had been attacked at the prom dance and was in the hospital fighting for his life. Even more shocking, Brian had been with him at the dance and was now at the hospital holding vigil all alone. She quickly told Michael that Brian needed him now more than ever. She told him which hospital they were in but had no time to say more. She had a lot of people she wanted to contact to tell them what had happened, so they too could lend support for Justin. Michael didn’t hesitate. David would have to leave without him, and hopefully he would understand and forgive him. Michael’s only thought was for Brian. He didn’t even think to call David on his cell and update him as to why he hadn’t boarded the plane.
While Michael was rushing out of the airport terminal and catching the first cab he could, Debbie was living up to her word. She had been stunned by the news, and it felt as if her heart would break, but she knew at that moment she needed to keep it together. Brian had trusted her enough to know what to do, so he gave her number to hospital personnel. She wasn’t able to answer all the questions they threw at her, but quickly gave them the phone number for Justin’s mom, Jennifer. Her next call, after speaking with Michael, was to Jennifer to check on her welfare.
When she answered, it was no surprise that she sounded as if the whole world had caved in on her. Jennifer had spoken to the hospital while Debbie was on the phone with Michael and was obviously in very bad shape. Debbie insisted on her staying put while she and Vic came to pick her up to take her to the hospital. Although reluctant to wait on them, Jennifer sensed it was the right thing to do. Her whole body was shaking with fear and she could barely see straight. A cooler head needed to be behind the wheel. While she waited, Jennifer placed a call to Craig, her future ex and Justin’s father. All kinds of thoughts circled around in her head as she waited for him to answer. After half a dozen rings, he finally answered, sounding irritated.
“What is it, Jenn. Do you know what time it is? Can’t whatever you need wait until morning?”
“Craig, just shut up and listen! I just got a call from the ER room at the hospital. Justin has been admitted there. I thought you would want to know so you could come be with your son. He needs both of us now, more than ever.”
“What the Hell are you talking about? What happened to him?”
“I don’t know all the details yet. All they could tell me is that he was badly injured when he was attacked at the Prom Dance tonight. I think it was that kid who kept bullying him at school… Hobbs something or other. But like I said, I don’t know all the details. Look, my friend, Debbie told me that he is all alone at the hospital, except for the man who was with him when it happened. He needs his family. Are you coming or not?”
“Yeah, sure. But wait, what man? I thought you said he was going to the Prom with Daphne Chanders. Where was she when this happened?”
“I don’t know, Craig! Damn it! All I know is that he was with Brian Kinney when this guy who had been bullying him suddenly attacked him. I’m sure Kinney can fill us in when we get there.”
“Are you fucking kidding me! It sounds to me like this bastard Kinney is responsible for what happened. He probably provoked the kid. I warned Justin to stay away from Kinney, and you can see I was right.”
“You idiot! Are you saying that our son is responsible for what happened to him?”
“Sounds like it to me.”
“Craig Taylor, why don’t you just keep your fucking ass right where you are? My son doesn’t need any of your negativity around him at a time like this. If you show your face, I swear to God I’ll have a restraining order placed on you so fast it will make your head swim.”
The next sound Jennifer heard was the click of Craig’s phone disconnecting. She was in such a fury that her eyesight blurred. She would have cried, but she was too angry. She would save her tears for later. All she could do now was wait for Debbie and Vic. While waiting, she placed a call to a friend’s house where her daughter, Molly, was staying over for a pajama party. She quickly explained her dilemma and got an agreement from the other mother to keep an eye on Molly until Jenn knew more about Justin’s situation. Finally, after long minutes of stressful worry, she heard a knock on the apartment door. Rushing to open it, she fell into Debbie’s arms. Tears finally let loose and the two women did their best to comfort each other.
*****************************************
Daphne’s father held her tightly in his arms and let her tears soak the front of his shirt. He still couldn’t comprehend the full scope of what his daughter had told him when she called, begging him to pick her up at the hotel where her Senior Prom Dance was being held. At first, he was totally confused. She was supposed to be with her long-time best friend, Justin Taylor, and a limo had been provided for the young couple. It was supposed to pick them back up after the dance, but Daphne didn’t know or care what had happened to it. When she first called, she could barely speak, and it took a few minutes for her to finally get across to him that something bad had happened to Justin. All she wanted was for her Dad to come and get her. Apparently, whatever had happened was bad enough for the young man to be on his way to the hospital. When she had managed to get that part of the story out, Mr. Chanders didn’t ask any more questions. He told her he was on his way, and he was in a matter of minutes.
When he first arrived at the hotel, he tried to park in the underground parking garage, but it was cordoned off with police tape. His anxiety for his daughter grew with the sight. He finally found a place on the street to park and hurried into the hotel. Finding the ballroom where the dance had been held, Mr. Chanders searched the faces of the crowd still gathered inside the large room. They were scattered all over the place in little pockets of a half dozen or so. Most groups of young people also included at least one adult. Finally, he spotted Daphne sitting at a table surrounded by several of her classmates. Although not among the most popular cool kids in the class, she did have a number of good friends, and they were now doing their best to keep her calm. They thought they had succeeded, until she spotted her dad walking briskly towards her. She lost it. She rushed into his arms and started sobbing.
“He tried to kill him, Dad,” she barely got out between sobs.
“Who? And why did he try to kill Justin? Justin’s a very nice young man.”
“Chris Hobbs,” she answered. “I told you how he was always bullying Justin. He just took it further tonight than we ever thought he would.”
A fresh torrent of tears fell as she explained how she heard about the commotion in the parking lot of the hotel from all the whispers going around the room. She had been waiting for Justin to return to her after accompanying Brian to his car. She never doubted he would return and would not leave her stranded all alone, no matter how much he wanted to be with Brian. As soon as she heard that something bad had happened in the parking garage, a sick feeling came over her. She shook it off, thinking how silly she was being, but hurried to join the now growing crowd who were trying to find out why there were ambulances and police cars in the parking lot. Finally, she managed to push herself in front of the folks being held back by police. That’s when she spotted Brian climbing into the back of one of the ambulances. Her heart sank. If Brian was leaving in an ambulance, that could only mean one thing… Justin was the one who was hurt. Finally, she heard someone say that they saw Chris Hobbs being put into the other ambulance. She didn’t need to hear anything else. That’s when she returned to the ballroom and called her Dad. All she could think was that she had to get to the hospital. She had to know just how badly Justin was hurt.
*******************************************
Mel and Lindsay stood looking at each other in a state of shock. Lindsay had just put baby Gus back in his crib after giving him another feeding. Mel patted her side of the bed, inviting her partner to return to the warmth of their covers. That’s when the cell phone on the side table began ringing. It caught them both by surprise. It was a little late for phone calls, especially when everyone they knew was fully aware that they had an infant in the house, who probably would be sleeping. Mel had placed it on speaker. Their irritation vanished the moment they heard Debbie’s voice. There was no disguising the fear in her voice. Their immediate thought was that something bad had happened to either Vic or Michael… a heart attack or a plane crash. But they never expected what she started telling them.
“It’s Justin,” Debbie began with tears in her voice.
“Justin? What happened to Justin?” Lindsay asked.
“He… oh, God! He was attacked when leaving the Prom. I don’t know all the circumstances, but it’s bad! They rushed him to the hospital. I’ve called his Mother. Vic and I are leaving to go pick her up. She will not be in any shape to drive herself. I know how much you girls love that kid, so I knew you’d want to know,” she concluded, her voice catching throughout her explanation as she tried to stay in control.
“Oh my God, Deb, thank you for telling us. We’ll have to contact one of our friends and see if they can watch the baby, but we’ll try and get there as soon as we can. If you learn anything new, please let us know. By the way, have you told Brian? I know he likes to act like he doesn’t care about anyone but himself sometimes, but I KNOW he cares about Justin,” Lindsay asked.
Debbie caught her breath. “Brian already knows. He was there when it happened. He’s the one who gave the hospital my number. I don’t really know much more than that. I’m sure we’ll hear the whole story once we get there. I hope you can come. I think Justin is going to need the support of all of us, and Brian probably needs us too.”
Before hanging up, Debbie gave the girls the necessary information as to where they had taken Justin. She was glad that was over, but still had one more call to make before leaving to get Jennifer. She placed her next to Ted, knowing he would be calmer than Emmett. She gave him the same information she had just given Mel and Linds and asked him to get in touch with Emmett. Although he was totally disturbed by Debbie’s news, Ted did keep a cool head and quickly called Emmett. Unsurprisingly, Emmett freaked out over the news. He had been enjoying the company of his latest one-night love affair when the call came in, but it took him no time at all to hustle the man out, so he could get dressed and be ready when Ted picked him up to take him to the hospital. The one thing on everyone’s mind as they made arrangements to get to the hospital was… why? Why was Justin targeted for an attack, and why was Brian with him at the time?
************************************
No one said a thing, but then what could they say? The waiting room was filled to capacity with faces registering everything from fear to shock to anger. Occasionally someone would look over at Brian. He sat as still as a marble statue in the seat that Michael had led him to in the larger waiting room, after Justin’s surgeon came out to announce that he had survived the surgery and would be taken to the ICU. It didn’t take long after that for the others who cared about Justin to begin showing up to join Brian and Michael. Debbie, Vic, and Jennifer were the first to arrive. Debbie started to approach Brian, but could see from the vacant look on his face that he wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened. Luckily, only a few minutes passed before two police detectives arrived to check on Justin’s status and talk to his mother.
Finally, the gist of the story came out. They tried to be gentle with Jennifer as they informed her of how a fellow student, Chris Hobbs, had attacked Justin with a bat when he was leaving the prom dance. They weren’t able to give all the underlying details as to what provoked the attack, other than to tell how some of the other students mentioned how angry Hobbs was when he saw Justin dancing with an older man… apparently a boyfriend. Jennifer now understood why Brian was the first to be with Justin and why he looked so shell-shocked. Debbie had heard the entire conversation, so she was able to explain the circumstances that put Justin into the hospital to Mel, Lindsay, Ted, and Emmett as each arrived to wait for news too.
Daphne was the last to arrive, her father insisting on taking her home first so that she could change and gather her wits about her before leaving for the hospital. Once she arrived, she was able to confirm what the detectives had told Jennifer. She went even further, and with tears in her eyes she described the dance that had obviously made Hobbs’ blood boil. Her voice cracked as she described how beautiful Brian and Justin were as they danced together, much to the delight of some and the horror of others.
“I don’t think I have ever seen Justin so happy,” she cried.
Throughout all this, Brian didn’t move a muscle. His facial expression never changed. Jennifer wanted to talk to him, but couldn’t bring herself to do it just yet. She sensed that Justin would not want her to blame Brian for any of this, but a part of her did. Maybe in time, she would think differently, but for now she simply couldn’t. Everyone else in the room knew the significance of Brian attending the prom just to be with Justin. If anyone doubted before that Brian cared deeply for the young man, those doubts vanished forever.
Soon, a nurse came to the waiting room to let them know that two people at a time could come to the ICU to see Justin, but only for a brief time. Naturally, Jennifer, accompanied by Debbie, was the first to follow the nurse. The hearts of both women twisted at the sight of Justin, with his head swathed in bandages, a tracheal tube down his throat, and needles attached in several places. He was paler than he had ever been in his life, looking almost bloodless. They were informed that he was in a medically induced coma to help in the healing of his brain. Debbie held Jennifer up as she touched Justin’s fingers and nearly swooned. The visit was brief. Two by two, everyone else spent their limited time with Justin before being ushered out. Each took their turn to offer encouragement for the young man they had grown to love. Brian and Michael were the only ones left who had not made the trek to the ICU. Debbie stepped in front of Brian and finally got his attention.
“Brian? Brian? You can go in and see Justin, but only for a few minutes. I truly believe he will feel your presence and it will help him heal faster.”
She could see the war that was going on behind eyes that stared up at her, as he tried to absorb what she was telling him. A part of him wanted to simply disappear and never be seen again. His feeling of guilt for what brought Justin to the hospital was almost too much to bear. He wasn’t sure he had the balls to face the result of his actions. But then he heard Debbie say something else.
“Brian, Sweetheart, I know what you’re thinking. But ask yourself what Justin would do if the situation was reversed. Would he walk away and do nothing to try and comfort you when you needed him most? You know the answer to that. Is he more of a man than you are?”
Brian blinked hard twice, forcing himself to focus on his surroundings. He had been locked inside his head to the point that he hadn’t even been aware that all those who loved Justin as much as he did, had gathered in the waiting room with him. Michael laid his hand on Brian’s shoulder.
“Will you go in and see him? I’ll go with you.”
“No,” Brian told him in a hushed voice. “I want to be with him alone.”
Michael was about to protest, but a warning look and strong hand on his shoulder from Debbie stopped him.
“Alright. We’ll wait for you and take you home when you’re ready,” Michael promised.
As Brian left the room with the nurse, all eyes in the room followed him out. There was a hint of anger in Jennifer’s eyes. Compassion filled the eyes of several others. Curiosity was also evident in the looks being given. No one spoke. No one knew what the morning would bring. But everyone was willing to stay for as long as they could in hopes of hearing something positive about Justin’s prognosis. Each and every person there made a silent vow to avoid questioning Brian about anything for now. They only prayed that both he and Justin would come out of this ordeal intact, both mentally and physically.
*************************************************
Brian looked down on the unconscious form of the young man he discovered only hours earlier was more important to him than he had ever dreamed possible. Pain and fear gripped his heart and squeezed tight, just as it had the moment he saw that ugly bat swinging down on Justin’s head. A moment of burning anger almost made his knees buckle, but he held himself upright. He took one of Justin’s hands in his and bent down to kiss it. He bent down closer and placed a kiss on Justin’s cheek. A single tear fell against that pale cheek, and Brian brushed it away.
“You have to come back to us, Sunshine,” he whispered in Justin’s ear. “I promise I’ll never leave your side until you are safe and sound. But you have to wake up and fight. I know you’re not a quitter. You won’t let that bastard win. Come back to us… to me!”
There was no reaction from Justin, but Brian prayed he heard him. As he left the room to join the others, Brian reminded himself that he would give Justin space once he was better, but he would also keep his other promise. He would never leave Justin’s side for too long until he was back to his old self. What would happen then could not be foretold, but as long as Justin came back to the people who loved him, Brian would be satisfied with that. After all, no one deserved love more than his Sunshine.
The End (But Not Quite)
