The Web of Deception
 

 by: Hankster

© 2023 by the author

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

hankster@tickiestories.us

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

Prologue

Millionaire John Silver could easily be tagged the luckiest man in the world.  Fifteen years ago, he was flying from Chicago to New York in his private jet.  The plane lost an engine, and crashed somewhere in Pennsylvania.  The pilot was experienced enough to land the plane on its belly in an open field.  Notwithstanding the skillful landing, the pilot, co-pilot, two of John’s business associates, and his wife were killed.  John was the sole survivor, but he lost an arm in the disaster.  He also developed a bad case of pleurisy, resulting from inhaling toxic gases at the scene of the wreckage.  Fortunately, John’s sixteen-year-old son, Michael, was not on board.  He was a junior in a fancy prep school at the time.

John spent several months in a hospital, and was fitted with a prosthetic arm.  As a result, everyone called him Long John Silver, behind his back.  He ran his business from his hospital bed.  Upon his recovery, he showered all his attention on his real estate development business, and on his son.  Carefully and methodically, he groomed Michael to take over the business.  It was lucky for John that Michael was well suited for the responsibility.  He was never forced to become an executive in Silver Real Estate and Development.  He loved his work, and he really wanted to run the company.  To Michael’s credit, he knew how blessed he was.  He took nothing for granted.

Unfortunately, besides the lost arm, John was cursed with recurring incidents of severe pleurisy, and had to be hospitalized for several days with each bout of the disease.

Fifteen years after the accident, on Michael’s thirty-first birthday, John decided to semi-retire, and Michael took over the reins from his dad.  Now, John could spend his winters at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, but he always went home from Thanksgiving to Christmas to spend the holidays with Michael.  They both chose to celebrate the new year with friends, so John always returned to Florida sometime between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.  Michael took over his dad’s multi-million-dollar apartment, and John stayed with him, when he was in New York.

The very first Christmas that John spent in New York, following his retirement, he was cursed by a recurrence of his pleurisy.  Michael called 911, and his father was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.  This time, the attack was very debilitating, and the doctors informed Michael that John would be hospitalized for at least two weeks.  Whenever John was hospitalized, he registered in the hospital as John Foster, his mother’s maiden name.  He didn’t want the hospital staff to know how wealthy he was.

-1-

John’s day nurse was a handsome, young, thirty-year-old man, named Terrance (Terry) McMahon.  John was more than impressed with Terry’s skills, and how much TLC he showered on him, without knowing that he was wealthy.  They became good friends, more than friends, more like a father and a son.  Terry came by often, after his shift, and the two men played gin rummy for a couple of hours until Terry went home.

After a game one evening, John said, “I wish I had a daughter to fix you up with, but I only have a son, Michael.”

Terry laughed.  “It wouldn’t do you much good.  I’m gay.”

John laughed also.  “Shit,” he said, “Michael’s straight.”

One time, when Michael came to visit his father, Terry was in the room, and the two men finally met.  Two hearts melted.  Terry was out of the closet, but Michael was keeping his secret from his dad.  He didn’t want John to hate him for being gay.  Foolish Michael.  John knew that Terry was gay, and it didn’t bother him at all.  It didn’t deter him from becoming fonder of Terry the more he got to know him.  If not legally, John adopted Terry in spirit, as his son.

When Michael came into the room, Terry’s stethoscope was in full use.  He was listening to John’s lungs to determine if the fluid level was receding.  If it didn’t, John would have to undergo a bronchoscopy.  Michael assumed that Terry was John’s doctor.  When John introduced his son to his nurse, he just said, “Michael, meet Terry.”

They shook hands, and Michael said, “Nice to meet you, Doc.”

Many people called Terry Doc, so he didn’t think anything of it.  He just said, “Please, just call me Terry.  It’s a pleasure to meet you also, Mr. Foster,” Terry said.

Michael knew that his father was incognito, and he didn’t correct Terry.  He just asked Terry to call him Michael.  He was so smitten that he dared ask, “What time do you get off duty, Terry?”

“I’m off now.  I was just visiting with your dad.”

“Great.  Please let me take you to dinner.”

“That’s not necessary,” Terry said.

“I’d like to show my appreciation to you for taking such good care of my dad.”

“It’s my job.”

“I know, but I’d really like to have dinner with you.”

Terry was just as smitten as Michael was, so he reluctantly agreed to have dinner with him.  It was just an act.  He couldn’t wait.

Terry looked at John.  “No gin rummy tonight, John,” he said.

John just smiled.  He was taking it all in, and he wondered if he should clue his son in that Terry was gay.  He knew instinctively that Terry would not do anything inappropriate, so he decided to say nothing.

*****

Michael and Terry stood in front of the hospital deciding where to go for dinner.  Michael would have taken him to some posh, very “in” restaurant, but he didn’t want to risk being recognized, and he didn’t want to blow John’s cover.  One thing Michael knew for certain; there was no doubt in his mind that Terry was gay.  His gaydar told him so.  His conviction that Terry was gay, made him bold, and he took a big risk.

“Do you know The Watering Hole in The Village?” he asked.

Terry’s face lit up.  “Yes, I do,” he said.  “I’ve spent many happy hours there, socializing.”

Now, Terry knew something important about Michael.  He was gay, and he was not out to his father.  John had informed Terry that his son was straight.

Michael grabbed Terry’s hand, and dragged him to the curb.  He hailed a cab to take them to the restaurant.

During dinner, the two men could not stop smiling at one another, and clasping their hands together.  At last, Terry decided to find out a little something about Michael.

“Tell me,” he said, “you know what I do for a living.  What do you do?” Terry asked.  

Michael thought that Terry was a doctor.  He was mistaken in knowing what Terry did for a living.  He had no idea that he was a nurse. 

Michael couldn’t tell Terry the truth without exposing his dad, so he lied.  “I’m an administrative assistant at Silver Real Estate and Development.”  Michael has a female assistant, and he figured that if Terry asked questions, he knew exactly what his assistant did for him.

“Anything else you’d like to know?” Michael asked.

“No, I just wanted to find out if you were after me for my money.”  Terry laughed his sides off when he said that, so that Michael would know that it was a joke.  “Please don’t pay for my dinner,” Terry continued.  “We’ve just met.  Let’s go Dutch.  I’m sure I’m not in your budget for tonight.”

Inwardly, Michael sighed.  Terry truly believed that he lived close to his vest.

“Not on your life, Doc.  I asked you out.”

“And please, I asked you just to call me Terry.”

When they were finished with dinner, Michael insisted they go to the bar for an after-dinner drink, and to socialize.  That’s when things got sticky.  Michael heard his name being called.  Fortunately, whoever it was, only called him by his first name.  He turned to see who was calling him.

“Dougie,” he said.  “Nice to see you.”  It was not nice for Michael at all.  He hoped Doug would not use last names.  In fact, he immediately introduced Doug to Terry, first names only.

“Doug’s an old friend,” Michael said.  “We went to college together.”

“Yeah, those were the days.  Weren’t they Mikey?”

‘Well, they were wild for sure,” Michael answered.  He was glad that Doug did not identify the college as Princeton University.

Michael and Douglas spent four years rooming together thinking that the other was straight.  It was the most frustrating four years of their lives.  Then shortly after graduation, they ran into each other at The Watering Hole.  They began a frequent, lust filled, affair, but it wasn’t love as far as Michael was concerned.  Doug, on the other hand, thought that they were mated for life. 

At some point Michael told him to take it slow.  “I’m not ready to settle down,” he said. 

Yet, in just a few hours, he knew that he would never say that to Terry.  He wanted desperately to leave, and go someplace to make love with Terry.  Douglas just hung around, and did not seem inclined to leave.  He was waiting for Terry to leave, but Terry wasn’t going anywhere either.

Michael couldn’t take Terry to his extremely upscale apartment, so finally he said, “I’m sorry Doug, but Terry and I have plans for tonight.  We’re leaving now.”

“What about me?” Doug asked petulantly.

“We’re going to Terry’s apartment, just the two of us.  You’re not included.  Let’s go Terry.”

Terry took Michael’s arm and led him out of the restaurant.  Doug grew insanely jealous, and very pissed off at Terry. 

*****

The minute they were inside Terry’s apartment, they stripped rapidly.  Love was in the air.  For just a minute, it bothered Michael that Terry’s place was a very humble, one-bedroom, furnished, apartment, but he rationalized that Terry was so young, he was probably still an intern.

They stood and stared at each other.  They were both about five inches flaccid, but they didn’t know that.  At the moment, they were both eight, hard, hefty, inches of cut manhood.  Terry’s cock pointed into the air, and Michael’s pointed straight ahead.

They fell into each other’s arms, and began to make love as if it was something they had been doing with each other for years.  They showered first, and sucked and rimmed each other.  Before vacating the soothing, cascading waters, they gave each other golden showers.  They dried themselves, and took their love making to bed, where they alternated giving each other trips around the world.  They did not omit their toes.  They sucked back and forth until they knew they had to stop or they would cum.  Then they fucked each other in the missionary position.  They used plenty of lube, but neither gave a thought to using condoms.  Finally, they fell asleep, completely wrapped up in one another’s arms.  They slept until morning.  When they woke, they were content and happy. 

Not so, Douglas.  He was as angry as ever he got.

*****

The only thing that Doug knew about Terry was that he was a doctor at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.  Michael knew that Terry didn’t like to be introduced by his title, so he waited until Terry went to the bar to refresh their drinks, and he told Doug that Terry was his father’s doctor at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.  He didn’t even tell Doug what Terry’s last name was.  It’s not that it was a secret, but Michael was getting angry at Doug for not leaving him and Terry alone.

Doug wanted very much to confront Terry, and tell him to make himself scarce, OR ELSE.  He called the hospital early the next morning, and told the personnel director that he needed to reach one of the doctors who was tending to Mr. Silvers.  He knew his name was Terry or Terrance, but he had forgotten his surname.  “It’s a matter of life and death,” he said.  “Can you help me?”

In a hospital, if it’s a matter of life and death, people pay attention, just in case the observation is real.  The personnel director excused herself.  After a brief absence, she informed Doug that there was no patient in the hospital just now, who was named Silver.  Likewise, there was no doctor with the first name Terrance, working at the hospital, but there was a nurse, Terrance McMahon.”

“Do you know where I can find him?” Doug asked.

“He should be on duty right now, on the Pulmonology Ward.”

“Thanks,” Doug said.  “You’ve been a big help.”

Doug ran to the hospital, and asked for pulmonology.  When he got there, he stopped at the nurse’s station, and asked for Nurse McMahon.

“He’s in Room 204 with Mr. Foster,” one of the nurses said. 

Doug darted to 204, and got two shocks.  204 was a private room, and the man in the bed was Michael’s father, John Silver.  He wondered where Mr. Foster was.  The nurse attending him was Terry.  Doug had no idea that Michael was in the closet as far as his father was concerned. He tugged at Terry’s arm, and yelled, “You son of a bitch, you told Mikey that you were a doctor.  You sorry excuse for a man, you’re just after his money.  I’ll give you a thousand bucks to get out of his life.”

“What are you talking about?” Terry asked.  “I never told Michael that I was a doctor.  Besides, Michael doesn’t have enough money for me to go after. Take your filthy money, shove it up your ass, and get out of here.”

“No.  You get out of here.”

“I can’t do that.  I’m on duty,” Terry said.  “I’m sorry, John, I’ll get you another nurse.”

“Don’t you dare leave,” John said.  “Doug, you miserable snake, how dare you try to bribe Terry.  If you’re not out of here at the count of two, I’ll call security, and have you evicted.  Furthermore, if Michael sees you anymore, I’ll disinherit him.”

Doug ran out.  As he left, he yelled back, “Wait until I tell Michael about this.”

“Come here,” John said to Terry.  He took Terry’s hand and sobbed.  “I had no idea that Michael was gay.  I must be a terrible father if he felt that he couldn’t tell me.”

“Don’t beat yourself up.  You’re a great father, and a wonderful human being.”

“Give me the phone, please,” John requested. 

He called Michael, and said, “Wherever you are, come right to the hospital.  I need you.”

“What’s wrong, Dad.  Are you all right.”

“Yes, I’m fine, but I need to speak to you before that slimy friend of yours, Douglas, does.  If he gets to you before you get here, do not speak to him, or listen to him.  That’s an order.”

-2-

“I swear, John, I never told Michael that I was a doctor,” Terry sobbed.  “He must have assumed it.  Now he’ll hate me, and I’ve fallen madly in love with him.  We spent the whole night together, and now he’ll never want to speak to me again.”

“That’s why I’ll clear the air.  I love you both, and I want you guys to be happy.  When he gets here, go tend to another patient, and close my door.  I want to be alone with my son.”

“Yes sir, whatever you say.”

When Michael came rushing into the room, he and Terry nodded at each other, and Terry left, closing the door behind him.

“What’s wrong, Dad?” Michael asked.  “What’s the emergency?”

“I’m so angry at you right now, I don’t know where to begin.”

“Please tell me what happened.  Did you find out about Terry and me?  Let me fix it.”

“Yes, I found out about you and Terry, and I’m pleased as punch.  I can’t think of a better companion for you.  I’m angry at you for not telling me that you’re gay.  Did you think I’d love you less?”

“I was afraid of how you would take the news.  Did Terry out me?”

“Of course not.  It was that miserable friend of yours, Douglas.  I never liked him.  Somehow, he traced Terry down, and found out he’s not my doctor, but rather, my nurse.  Doug came to the hospital, and in my presence, he offered Terry a thousand dollars to get out of your life.”

“What did Terry say?”

“He told him to shove his money up his ass.”

“Terry lied to me, Dad.  He told me he was a doctor.”

“I think it’s more accurate to say that you assumed he was a doctor.  I love you, Michael, but sometimes you can be an awful snob.  You believed what you wanted to.  As far as I can tell, from something Terry said to Douglas, he still doesn’t know how rich you are.”

“I lied to him, Dad.  I told him that I was an administrative assistant.  He’ll never talk to me again.”

“We both lied to him.  Go to him, and tell him the truth.  Blame me for wanting to stay incognito.  He told me that he’s crazy in love with you.”

“I’m not a snob, and I’m not ashamed of him.  Nursing is a noble profession.  I’d be proud to tell people that he’s a nurse, and a damned good one.  I love him, Dad.  I’ll give it a try to make things right.”

“Here’s another thing you should know, Son.  He lives very frugally.  He’s saving every cent that he can to be able to afford medical school soon.”

“That explains his furnished apartment.  We can help him, Dad.”

“Forget about it.  He’s too proud to accept help from us.  I’m sure he wouldn’t even accept our money, if I made it a tuition loan.”

“Jane Austin taught us the folly of too much pride,” Michael said.  “I’ll convince him to bury his pride for the sake of his future.  I’ll make him see that he should accept help, so that he can spend his life doing what he really wants to do.  I’ll show him how happy I am doing what I like to do, but I’ll have to expose our wealth to him, Dad.”

“Then so be it.  Go! Go find him. He’s an exceptional human being.  Don’t let him get away.”

Michael ran to the nurses station to inquire as to Terry’s whereabouts.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” one of the nurses said.  “He told us that he didn’t feel well, and he had to take a sick day.  I believe he’s gone home.”

Michael’s heart fell, but he knew where Terry lived.  He told his father where he was going, and John told him to shake his ass getting there.

-3-

Michael reached Terry’s front door and started pounding.

“Who is it?” a weary voice asked.

“It’s Michael.  Open the door.”

“Go away, please.”

“If you don’t open the door. I’ll call the police and tell them that I suspect you might be dead in there.  That’ll create a big scene with your neighbors, when the cops are breaking down the door,

“Okay,” the weary voice said, and Terry opened the door.

Michael couldn’t believe what he saw.  Terry’s eyes were red and swollen.  He looked like he hadn’t slept in days.  Now Michael began to cry.

“Go away, please,” Terry begged.  “We have no future together.”

“On the contrary.  I have no future without you.  The only future I can envision is with you at my side.  I’m crazy, madly, in love with you.”

“That’s because you think I’m a doctor.  I’m not.  I’m a nurse.”

“Yes, I know,” Michael said.  “Doug outed you.  The idiot thought it would make a difference in how I felt about you.  How could it possibly?  Another thing you must know, my father’s name is Silver, not Foster.  Foster was my grandmother’s maiden name.  My dad and I are immensely wealthy, multi- millionaires to be honest.  I want to finance your medical school expenses, and I won’t let your foolish pride stand in the way.”

Now both men were bawling like new born babies.  They looked in each other’s eyes, and fell into each other’s arms.

“About that,” Terry said.  “I’ve had second thoughts about going to medical school.”

“What do you mean?”

‘Well, as a nurse, I have a hands-on relationship with my patients.  I’m with them daily.  I can see them healing, and getting better every day.  A doctor sees his patients for a few minutes at intervals.  Nowadays, he might only see them on Zoom.  If a patient has an office visit, it’s more common today for the patient to be seen by a nurse practitioner than the doctor.  The closest relationship the present-day doctor has with the patients, is through the scrips he writes.  I think, no, I know, I’d rather be a nurse.”

“I knew it,” Michael said.

“You don’t approve of my decision, do you?” Terry asked, very much dismayed.

“No, dufus.  When I said I knew it, what I know is that you are a goody two shoes.  I knew it from the moment we met, and you just proved it.  I’ll be proud to be married to a nurse.”

“Married?  Isn’t it too soon to talk about marriage?”

“Not at all.  I want to put a chain around you.  I’m not letting you get away.  And if that’s not enough, my dad told me that you’re like a son to him already.”

“Wow.  My folks disowned me when I came out.  I already imagined that John was my dad.  That’s why I spend so much time with him.”

“As much as I’d like to jump into bed with you, right now, I want you to wash your face, and we’ll go tell my dad the good news.  He ordered me not to let you get away or he’d disown me.  We can have dinner at my city club.  I want to show you off.  Then we can make love all night.”

“Would you mind if I called your father, Dad?”

“Hell no, and I know he’d love it.”

“My mind is boggled,” Terry said.  “We have so many things to work out.”

“Don’t sweat it.  We’ll have plenty of time to make plans, after we move you HOME tomorrow.”

“Let’s get going, then,” Terry said.  “I’ve wanted to hug John ever since I met him.  In a fatherly way, of course.

Epilogue

After John was released from the hospital, Michael and Terry took some time off, and the three men flew down to Palm Beach.  The young men were married in John’s country club. 

Most of the members of the country club attended the wedding.  The gifts were substantial enough to pay Terry’s way through medical school.  It didn’t matter anymore, so Terry and Michael donated their wedding gifts to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.  They specifically ear marked it for the Children’s Ward.

When they made that decision, Michael kissed Terry on his cheek, and murmured, “Goody two shoes.”

Posted: 08/25/2023