We Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 31
The Platelet Transfer

We went our separate ways and Jacob announced, “I'm going to the hospital to relieve whoever is there.  There’s nothing much else I can do, and that way, I won’t be tempted to eat some of Ramsey’s food.”

Ramsey looked like he wanted to say something different but instead said.  “You can eat all you want, just make sure that there’s something left for us starving orphans.”

As Hank and I were driving back to the ranch, Hank looked at me.  “We need to find out more about Ramsey’s background and why he was in the home in the first place.  I can’t believe he was ingenious enough to be able to survive for nearly two months on his own.  His report card was one that any parent would be proud of.”

“What is Brent going to do if the DNA tests do indeed prove that  Chris and Chase are his offspring?  This entire situation is unreal.  No one would ever believe everything that has been happening since you and your sons took over my life.”

“Yeah, go ahead and blame me and the boys.  We’ll need to discuss this in bed tonight, and I need to teach you a few facts of life.  Just make sure you don’t cry too loudly.”

Cowboy and I had just gotten into bed when their was a knock on the door.  Hank called out, “Come in.”

Kevin came in, “Dads, I’m worried about Jake and Danny.  Their going to be okay aren’t they?  David cried himself to sleep because of them.”

Hank sat up, “Kevin, Jacob should be fine.  We just need to pray for Danny’s body to accept the platelets from Jacob’s body.  It will probably be several weeks before we know if the transfer was successful.  Until we know if Danny’s body accepted the platelets from Jacob’s blood, we need to provide as much comfort as we can and be very positive when we talk about the situation.  Danny’s situation is causing a lot of stress for everyone.”

“Dads, I know.  What’s going to happen to Ramsey?”

I hugged Kevin, “Son, we were talking about that on our way home.  We may need your help solving that problem.  You’re the person who found him.  I think you are the person to find out his version of why he was in a home and why he ran away from the home.  If anyone can crack his shell, it will probably have to be you.”

Kevin fell against me, “So, now I’m the shell cracker, am I?”

“Dads, I have one other question.  What’s going to happen to Chris and Chase if Mr. Farway proves to be their father?”

Hank hugged Kevin, “For a teenager, you should do ask a lot of complicated questions.  Chris and Chase are eighteen so they can pretty much control what happens to them.  I’m sure you realize that Chris especially is very bitter about what happened to him.  Chase is a little more laid back.  Quite frankly, Kevin, I wish we knew the answer to your questions.”

Kevin stood, “Dads, please do what you can to make sure everyone is going to okay.  I’ll worry about David, and you take care of everyone else.”

With that pronouncement, Kevin departed.

I hugged Hank, “Cowboy, let’s go to sleep.  We are going to need all our strength to get through the next couple of days and perhaps even longer.”

Cowboy snuggled back against me, “Stevie, you’re probably right.  Just hold me as tight as you can, so you can make everything all better.”

When I awoke the next morning, Hank was gone.  When I got to the kitchen, Kevin and David were eating.  David informed me, “Poppa, Grandpa just left for the hospital.  He said he would call you when he had a chance after he checked on Danny and Uncle Jacob.”

We were joined by the rest of the gang who were at the ranch.  I looked around, “Where are Ross and Rosa?”

Dusty answered, “We moved their things to the other house yesterday while you were playing in the pool.  They’re going to be making sure that the other place is ready for us to move into this next weekend.  They were going to rest this morning since they are going to go relieve Dad Hank this afternoon.  We figured we could take care of things this morning.”

Kevin looked at the clock, “Come on, David, we gotta go or we’ll be late.”

“Wayne and Dusty, we should be going to.  Chase, you and Justin get to do the dishes today.”

Chase pretended to complain. “I ain’t going to ruin my lily white hands washing no dishes.  Who knows what dreadful diseases you have left on them.”  He looked at Justin, “Come on boss, we’ll put on rubber gloves and throw these dishes away. and Mr. Michaels can bring us some new ones for the next meal.”

I thought to myself, ‘It’s a good thing that Hank and Kevin aren’t here or they would be all over Chase’s butt.’

When Dusty and I walked into the office, Cynthia was waiting for us, “Don’t you know that you are supposed to bow and kiss the hand of the Queen Mother?”

I answered for the two of us, “Queenie, we were watching the news and it didn’t say we had to bow to the Queen Mother.  In fact it said you had to cover for assistant today since he is guarding the company interests elsewhere.”

I turned to Dusty, “Mr. Summers, if I can be of any help today, please let me know.  Queen Mother, I would like to visit with you in my office when you have time.”

Cynthia followed me into the office.  I looked at her, “Cynthia, I think perhaps you had better sit down.  This is probably going to wow you even more than Jennifer winning the Miss America Crown.”

I explained to her what had happened  with Mr. Farway and Ramsay and she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry.  She looked at me, “Where is Chris, anyway?”

“He’s at the house on the hill watching the packers.  Chase is supposed to be there with him.  I guess I need to make sure they get some lunch.  Justin is at our old house protecting our interests and Mr. Farway and Mr. Phillips are going to help him.  Hopefully the three of them can fend for themselves.  I need to go check on the Cowboy to see how the platelet transfer is going.  Call Wayne if there is a problem.  I’ll take my cell phone with me if you really need me.”

I went to talk to Dusty, but he wasn’t in his office.  He was in the main work area talking with some technicians who were installing the new equipment.  I decided not to bother him. 

I went to the Med Center to see how Hank was holding up.  He was sitting with his laptop.  “Steve, they won’t let me in with the guys.  Doctor Harrison was here a few minutes ago and said the transfer was going well.  Danny will be in the recovery room for several hours after the transfer.  If all goes well, he will be placed in an ICU room for at least two days.  During that time no one can enter the room except medical personnel.  We can talk to him through the speaker system, but that is as close as we can get.  The first forty eight hours are critical.”

He wasn’t done, “Jacob is to have a very inactive schedule.  He is forbidden to take part in any physical activity and certainly not participate in any swimming or basketball for the next forty eight hours or until his body can adjust to the loss of the materials that were transferred to Danny.”

“I guess we are going to have some very unhappy campers on our hands.”

Doctor Harrison stepped into the room we were in, “Mr. Michaels and Mr. Rodgers, the transfer has been completed.  Both boys are resting comfortably.  I would estimate that Jacob will be ready to leave in about two hours.  He should not drive under any condition for the remainder of the day.”

Dr. Harrison looked at us, “Gentlemen, I don’t know what your religious affiliations are, but pray that the deity you believe in will be watching over Danny to make his body accept what Jacob gave him to work so that we cure this illness.”

“I need to go check on the boys.” Dr. Harrison said as he hugged us.

Hank had tears in his eyes, “Steve, I’ll stay with the two boys.  Go check on everyone else and let them know the procedure has been completed.  Make sure that people who are guarding the packers in the two houses get something to eat.  When Jacob is released, I’ll take him to the house on the hill and come back to stay with Danny until someone relieves me.  I’ll call if there are any changes.”

I stopped at a Subway shop and got five sandwiches to go.  I stopped at a convenience store and bought some soft drinks and a several packages of a variety of cookies.  I stopped at our old house first and Justin, Brent and Jeremy were sitting eating with the packers.  I started to laugh, “It looks as if you people have everything under control at the this house.  I guess I’ll just take the sandwiches I bought to the guys at the house on the hill.”

Jeremy shook his head no, “Steve, I already delivered food to them.  They are worse than a mother hen guarding her chicks.  I swear they even follow the packers when they go to the bathroom.”

Brent chuckled, “Just take the food to the house.  Ramsey will make sure that the food doesn’t go to waste.  Ramsey even fixed eggs and bacon for breakfast.  He wasn’t very happy when I insisted that we drive him to school.  He screamed like a banshee when I gave him money to buy lunch.  He said he wasn’t going to accept any charity.  I informed him that if he didn’t do what I requested him to do that, I would tell Mr. Rodgers and he might well be living somewhere else shortly.”

“Guys, I need to go.  The procedure has been completed, so now it’s a matter of wait and see.  I’ll stop by and check Chase and Chris   and leave the food off at the house.  See you later.”

I stopped to check on the company house, and Chris and Chase were sitting eating with the four packers.  Chris looked up, “Hi boss, it sure was nice that Mr. Phillips brought us something to eat.  You should have seen Ramsey this morning.  He’s real whiz in the kitchen.  You should've heard him yell when Mr. Farway gave him money for lunch.  He was complaining because people were just feeling sorry for him.”

I stopped any more talk, “I’ll see you all later.  I need to drop some things at the house and get back to work.”

I decided to take a couple of the sandwiches back to the office in case someone might not have eaten.  When I arrive at the Cowboy’s house, he was pulling in with Jacob.  “Hi guys, I have some sandwiches if you need something to eat.”

Jacob looked at me funny, “Dad, Dad R. stopped and bought some sandwiches.  He’s going to baby-sit me for awhile.  Uncle Dusty is at the hospital with Danny.”

I handed two of the sandwiches, the cookies and the sodas to Hank,  “Here, Brent suggested that I drop these off for Ramsey.  He and Jeremy had already bought everyone, including the packers, food.  I’ll take three sandwiches back to the office.  I’ll talk to you guys later.”

When I got back to the office, I offered a sandwich to Cynthia.  She shook her head, “No thank you, Wayne grabbed us some soup and  sandwiches at a deli.”

“I give up.  No one wants the food I bought.  I guess I’ll just have to eat the sandwiches myself.”

Cynthia snickered, “Everyone was warned that you were a carrier of the mad cow disease.  Here, read the these messages while you sulk.  How are the boys doing?”

“Jacob is at the house on the hill with Cowboy.  When I left the hospital, Danny was still in the recovery room.”

I ate part of one of the sandwiches while I read my messages.  I made some calls and scheduled several appointments for the next day.  It was about 1:30 when Dusty returned and reported, “They’ve moved Danny to his room.  He was able to talk to me through the speaker system. He wants to go home.  He can’t understand why we can’t go into his room.”

I hugged Dusty, “This is going to be a rough couple of days for all of us.  We’ll have to make sure that we take David to talk to Danny.  We also need to make sure that Danny knows we love him, even though we can’t physically be in the room with him.”

It was about two thirty when Elaine Graham called me, “Steve, is there any way that you can get in touch with Chris and Chase and Brent and have them meet me at the Med Center so we can get the DNA testing taken care of today?” 

“Elaine, all of them are in town at the present time.  I’ll make sure that they meet you at the Med Center at four o’clock if that will work for you.”

Elaine answered, “I’ll be there.  I want this situation resolved as soon as possible.  I’m sure that Brent, Chris and Chase do also.  I also need to talk to you and Mr. Rodgers about Ramsey sometime soon.”

“Elaine, let’s deal with one thing at a time.  Talk to you later.”

I went into the reception area, “Dusty and Cynthia, I need to go round up some people so they can have their DNA testing done.  Keep the home fires burning.  I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

I went to pick up Brent first and told him what was happening.  I was on my way to get Chris and Chase when my cell phone started to ring.  I handed the phone to Brent, “This is Brent Farway.”

Brent held the phone so we could both hear, “Brent, why do you have Stevie’s cell phone.”

“Because he handed to me to answer since he’s driving”

“Hank where are you?”

“I just arrived at the house on the hill.  Ross and Rosa are at the hospital with Danny.”

“Good, meet Brent and me at the house next door so we can substitute for Chris and Chase, so they can go have their DNA testing done this afternoon.”

“Whatever you say, Mr. Michaels.”

When Brent and I arrived at the house next door, Hank was standing there talking to Chris and Chase.  Chris turned to look at us, “Mr. Farway, if the test prove that you are indeed the person who sired us, would you have a problem if we had our last name changed to Farway?”

I looked at the guys, “Let’s cross that bridge when we need to.  I think everyone involved should be involved in the discussion.”

Chris looked as if he was about to cry, “But Mr. Michaels, I never want to be referred to as Christopher Jenkins again.  I want nothing to do with that name.”

I hugged Chris, “Look, let’s take this one step a time.  You need to go with Mr. Farway to the Med Center while Cowboy and I substitute for you.”

After Brent, Chris and Chase had departed, Hank started to laugh, “It’s a good thing our sons didn’t hear you talking like that, or you would be in big trouble.”

One of the packers approached us.  “The other two gentlemen that were here said we could help ourselves to the snacks and drinks.  Do you have a problem with that?”

Hank smiled at the young man, “Not a problem at all.  You’ve been working very hard, you deserve a break.”

“Sir, we may not get completely done packing today, and we were told that the movers will be arriving in the morning.  We may have to return in the morning to finish packing.  You people sure have a lot of beautiful things here.”

Hank shook his head, “We don’t live here.  My house is next door.  This house belongs to Mr. Michaels’ company.  We’re going to be selling most of the items at auction.  His company has already sold the house, so we have to get the things out and the new family can move in.”

The young man had disappeared into the kitchen with the other three packers.  Hank and I were standing outside talking when the car pulled up, and Ramsey jumped out, “Why did you have to pick me up when I was getting off the bus?  Everyone is going to think I’m hooker now.”

Chris was appalled, “Ramsey, why would people think you were a hooker because we picked you up?”

Ramsey wasn’t backing down, “Some of the people on the bus know that my Mom was a hooker and that’s how she got shot, and that’s why I was placed in the home that I ran away from.  No one, and I mean no one, is ever going to use my body for money.  I watched what it did to my Mother.  She went from a beautiful woman to a drunken person who didn’t care about me anymore.”

I decided to stop the discussion, “Ramsey, there are some snacks in the other house.  We’ll continue this discussion later.  I need to get back to work.  Go make sure that Jacob is okay.  He’s supposed to be resting.  Did you understand what I said, Captain Hook.”

Ramsey dropped his backpack, “So now you’re accusing me of being a fairy like Peter Pan?”

I hugged Ramsey, “Ramsey, I was trying to be funny.  I guess it backfired.  I’ll talk to you later.  Take the Cowboy back to the house and don’t use the window to get in.  Come on, Mr. Farway, I need to get back to work.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  Well at least the transfer has taken place.  I sure hope that Danny's body accepts the platelets. It always hurts when someone who is so young is taken ill with something as devastating as what Danny has. 

It looks to me as if Ramsey is a bit fed up with the way he has had to live.  I can't say that I blame him though.  The funny thing is that I don't think that he is in any way a bad person.  He is just badly traumatized by all the situations that he has been through.  I think that he is going to turn out to be one fine young man.  The only difficult thing will be convincing him that he is in fact going to have a family who will care about him, and it isn't charity, it is love.

Steve and Cowboy are certainly bonding and becoming very close.

I hope we get a new chapter very soon.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 03/27/09