The E.R.

 by: Miguel Sanchez

© 2005-2008 by the author

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

When he was full, he helped me clean up the kitchen and put the dishes in the dishwasher. We went in and watched the local and national news then I found a movie for us to watch. I got comfortable then TJ surprised me. He curled up on the couch and used my lap as a pillow. I put my hand on his shoulder and he looked up at me and said, “Thanks Mike. I’m sorry I mouthed off to you in the hospital.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I have patients yell at me all the time. It comes with the territory.”

TJ fell asleep during the movie so I let him sleep until it was over. I was nodding off myself so it was time to call it a day. I got TJ his evening pill and helped the sleepy teen to his room. I tucked him in and kissed him on the cheek. “Sleep well son,” I said.

He returned the kiss and said, “Love you Mike.”

I turned off the light and said, “Love you too kiddo.”

Chapter 2

I did my nightly business then curled up in bed and fell asleep. I was up at seven and I checked on TJ. He was still out like a light. I went and made my coffee and then grabbed the paper off the front porch. I set it on the kitchen table and then got my first cup of go-go juice. I was just fixing my second cup when TJ came in with a noticeable bulge in the front of his briefs. He came over and gave me a hug and said, “Morning Mike.”

His woody was pressed against my stomach as he hugged me. I returned his hug then said, “Morning kiddo. Don’t you think you should make a pit stop in the bathroom?”

He looked down and said, “Yeah, I guess I should.”

He went to the bathroom to relieve himself and while he was doing this I fixed him some cereal and got him his morning Doxycycline. He finished his breakfast and while putting his dishes in the washer he started digging at himself again. “Argh Mike,” he said. “This damn rash is driving me up a wall.”

“Come here sport,” I said. “Let’s see what’s going on.”

He walked over and pulled his undies down and his skin was as red as his pubes. I looked up at him and said, “I hate to say this son but the only way you’re going to get this to heal is your pubes are going to have to be removed.”

“Oh well argh,” he said as he started scratching again. “I can’t stand this so let’s do it.”

I finished my cup of coffee and took TJ into my bedroom and said, “Take your briefs off and sit down while I get some things I’ll need for this job.

I went into my bathroom and got a basin with warm water, my razor with a new blade, two towels and the shaving cream. I laid the towel on the bed and TJ crawled up and settled down. “Just be careful Mike,” TJ said whining.

I trimmed his hair prior to shaving so it would be easy on him. I wrung out a washcloth and set it on his pubes to start getting them soft in preparation for their removal. I removed the rag then spread on some shaving cream. I wet the razor then started shaving TJ. It took about ten minutes to remove his bright red bush then I took the steroid cream and rubbed it into his skin. He relaxed and after a few minutes said, “Ahhh, finally it’s stopped itching.”

I took everything back into the bathroom and cleaned up just as the phone rang. TJ came running into the bathroom with the phone. “It’s Detective Pat,” he said.

I dried my hands and took the phone. Pat said, “I got your message. I’m heading over to your place now. I should be there in about fifteen minutes.”

I hung up and had TJ get dressed and clean his room while I made my bed and put on a pair of shorts. TJ stuck his head beck in my room and said, “Am I gonna have to tell him everything again?”

“I don’t know son,” I said. “I’m going to tell him how it happened as you told me. I would like you out there with us in case Pat has some questions.”

We continued to talk while I went into the kitchen and made a fresh pot of coffee. As soon as it was done, I heard the doorbell. TJ went opened it and Pat was standing there with a dozen donuts. TJ let him in and said, “Mike Pat’s here. He even brought police food.”

“He brought what?” I hollered from the kitchen.

“Police food,” he said again. “You know donuts.”

Pat reached around TJ and picked him up tickling him on his stomach. “Hehehehehe no fair,” he said laughing. “Why hehehe is it hehehe I see hehehe so many cars there?”

“I don’t know,” Pat said setting TJ back onto his feet.

I poured two cups of coffee and got TJ a soda and we sat at the kitchen table. Pat looked at me and said, “What was this in your message? This was deliberate?”

“From what TJ tells me it is,” I said. “You don’t dock with someone when you have gonorrhea, and you know when you have this disease.”

“Dock, what’s that?” Pat asked looking at me then TJ.

“It’s called docking,” I said. “It’s when a guy who isn’t circumcised put his penis against the head of a guy who is and starts to masturbate pulling his foreskin over the head of the other person’s. Both people get off but it will also transfer the infection from one person to the other. In this case it happened multiple times and the last few times he wore rubber gloves. If he didn’t know he was infected, why the rubber gloves?”

Pat was making notes as I told him about docking. He looked at TJ and said, “How many times did he do this with you?”

“Three or four” he said looking down at the table.

Pat rubbed TJ’s hand and said, “It’s alright son. No one is saying you did anything wrong. When did you first meet him?”

 

“Maybe the next day after I was put out of my Uncle’s house,” TJ said. “Not quite sure.”

“Did he always do this docking thing with you?” Pat asked, still making notes in his book.

“Umm no,” TJ said trying to remember exact events. “He sucked me a little then he jacked me off. Then he would give me 10 bucks and buy me dinner.”

Pat made more notes then asked, “When did he start docking with you?”

“Couple of weeks ago,” he said. “It was the last week that he started wearing the rubber gloves.”

“Can you describe him for me?” Pat asked.

TJ looked at me then Pat and then back to me. Pat stood up then I did and TJ said, “He’s a little shorter then Mike, maybe an inch or two. He’s a little heavier and he has dark hair, almost black. He has brown eyes and his dick is about 6” uncut. Oh, one more thing. He smells kinda nasty.”

“Pat rubbed TJ’s head and said, “I don’t want you to worry about anything. I’ll get this information over to Vice and we’ll be looking for him. He can’t bother you any more.”

“Thanks,” TJ said, still upset that he had to go through it all over again.

TJ fixed himself a glass of milk then helped himself to some donuts while I walked Pat to the door. As we got there Pat said, “I checked with a couple of free clinics and they said they haven’t had any new cases of STD’s but I’m not sure. They might talk with you or TJ though.”

Pat had a thought. They would talk with me considering I was a nurse if I told them all I knew. “Thanks Pat,” I said shaking his hand. “TJ and I might check out a couple this afternoon.”

It was almost eleven when Pat left. I walked over to the table and TJ had inhaled five donuts and was working on number six. ‘So much for lunch,’ I thought grabbing one and wolfing it down.

“When you’re done stuffing your face,” I stated. “Go and grab a shower. There are a couple of places we need to go to.”

TJ stuffed a good third of a donut into his mouth and nodded his head acknowledging my request. I went into my room and took a quick shower and shaved. I was putting my shirt on when TJ came out of the bathroom wearing his towel. He pulled it off and said, “I’m not itching as much Mike and it looks like the redness is starting to go away.”

I kneeled down and looked at his crotch. The redness was getting better but I knew this was just the beginning of a long two weeks. It would take at least ten days for the infection to clear up so he wouldn’t be so irritated. “I think shaving you was the right call. At least the ointment will keep things under control now. Get dressed so we can go. We’re going to a couple of clinics to talk with some people.” 

I went out to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of sodas. I turned around and there was my boy. He walked over and put his arms around me and gave me a hug for no apparent reason. “Thanks Mike for putting up with me.”

I kissed his cheek and said, “Hey kiddo, I’m starting to get fond of you. I don’t want anything else bad to happen to you either. You have a home here as long as you want to stay and put up with me.”

TJ kissed me on the cheek as we headed out to my car. I asked TJ to show me where abouts he stayed when he was on the street. He showed me several places where the man had found him. It was just past noon and there weren’t any boys hanging around so we couldn’t find out if this guy was back out trying to infect any others.

We stopped at a burger place and got our lunch to go so we could continue our rounds. Our next stop was to the downtown free clinic. I had to agree with Pat that they wouldn’t talk to a cop except to give him a basic yes or no answer if there had been any kids in that were seen for STD’s. I knew how important it was for them to be able to come there and remain anonymous. It was also important to find them if there was someone treated. I parked out front and TJ and I went inside. The place was empty so I didn’t have to worry about being overheard as I said, “I need to ask you a few questions and no, I’m not a cop. I’m a nurse.”

She raised her eyebrows when she heard I was a nurse. “Yeah, what can I do for ya,” she said.

“Is there a place where we can sit and talk for a few minutes,” I asked moving to the office door.

She nodded her head so we went into the back and she led us to a room that looked like a small kitchen or break area. I reached into my wallet and took out my license and showed it to her and said, “Look, I need some information and it’s not to get anyone into trouble. Have you seen any boys in here in the past say week that have been treated for gonorrhea?”

“Now I can’t give you that information,” she said. “Besides, half the ones that come in here don’t use their real name anyways.”

“I know that,” I said. “By the way, this is my foster son TJ and he’s being treated for it. He was on the streets for about a month and some guy deliberately gave it to him. This is why it’s so important. I know these boys aren’t gonna say they got it from a guy who paid them so he could masturbate them.”

“So what do you want from me then?” she asked looking at TJ.

“Just have you had any boys in complaining of a rash that itches like crazy around their groin and gonorrhea?”

She went over and looked at their sign-in sheet and shook her head. “Nothing here,” she said. “Let’s go talk with the Doc.”

We got up and went into the treatment area where there was a middle aged woman writing notes in a chart. “Doc, this guy wants to know if you’ve seen any boys with a bad itchy rash on their groin.”

She looked over at the nurse and said, “I’ll have to.”

She turned her head and looked at me and I said, “Holy shit, small world.”

“Mike Cummings as I live and breathe,” she said smiling. “How the hell are you?”

“Not bad Maggie,” I said walking over and giving her a big hug. “How goes life?”

“Can’t complain,” she said. “I have a thriving Peds practice and it gives me the money to run this place. Boys with itchy balls huh, let me see but I don’t think so. What’s going on?”

I filled Maggie in on what happened to TJ while she checked her charts. Seems there haven’t been that many boys in within the last week to ten days. I told her they would be between the ages of maybe 12 and 16 and she shook her head no. I explained the importance of finding this guy and she knew Pat Moreland. I handed her my card from the hospital and said, “Look, if you get a boy in like this, call me. My home number is on the back if it’s after say 4 in the afternoon.”

TJ started digging at himself and said, “Damn Mike, not again. Did you remember my cream?”

I reached into my pocket and said, “Yeah, I have it. Drop em and I’ll put some more on you.”

TJ dropped his britches and lifted his shirt when the nurse said, “Ooo child that’s a mighty fine looking butt you have there.”

TJ turned as red as his hair when he heard that. I grabbed a rubber glove and rubbed some cream into his skin as Maggie came around to look at the rash. “Shit Mike,” she said. “That is some bad stuff he has there. If I see anyone with anything like that, I’ll be sure to call you. You said someone did this on purpose?”

TJ leaned down and pulled his pants back up and said, “Yeah. This guy pretends to be your friend then gives you this disease.”

TJ was getting upset and I reached my arms out to him. He fell into them and just started crying. I think this was the first time he really let it out. “Let it out son,” I whispered onto his ear. “You’ll feel better.”

“Why Mike,” he said through his tears. “What did I ever do to him? I didn’t go looking for him, he found me.”

“You didn’t do anything TJ,” I said holding him as he cried. “I swear we’ll find this guy and see to it he’s punished.”

Maggie picked up the phone and called her friend at the other free clinic and they talked for a few minutes while I continued to hold and comfort TJ. Maggie hung up and said, “I talked with my friend at the uptown clinic and she told me she would let me know if any boys came in with any rash. That’s about all we can do for the time being.”

I shook Maggie’s hand and we headed out the door to my car. We left the clinic and I asked TJ, “Where is it he took you to eat son? What it the same place all the time?”

“Yeah mostly,” he said. “Sometimes we would go to Burger King or some other burger place but mostly though it was an old run down diner a few blocks over.”

“You wanna check it out and see if he’s there?” I asked not really knowing what I would do if he was.

“Uh ah well sure,” TJ stammered looking out the window.

I took my time heading over there, then stopped. I put my hand on TJ’s shoulder and said, “Are you really sure about this son? Because if you’re not we’ll just forget this and go home. What do you want to do?”

He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “Can we go home Dad?”

This totally took me by surprise. He knew I was his foster father but he always called me Mike which was fine with me. I put the car in park and took my seatbelt off turning to face him when he removed his belt and almost jumped into my arms. It seems that all the frustration and hurt he’d been going through was finally coming out.

I’d had foster kids before and I cared deeply for every one of them but TJ was really digging a place into my heart. I must have held him for a good twenty minutes when I finally said, “You OK now kiddo?”

“Yeah,” he said hugging me one more time. “I hope you aren’t upset I called you Dad. I really feel comfortable around you and it’s great you accept me for who I am. What’s gonna happen to me?”

“First things first,” I said putting my seatbelt back on then putting the car in gear. “We need to get this infection cleared up then I want your Uncle in jail. I also want the guy that gave this crap to you found and punished before he gives it to some other boy.”

We drove home in silence as TJ was trying to make sense of why some stranger would want to give him gonorrhea. I pulled the car into the driveway then we went into the apartment. I was about to start fixing dinner when TJ asked, “Can I call Freddy?”

I felt like such a fool. I wanted TJ to call his friend last night but with everything else going on, it just plain slipped my mind. “Sure you can son,” I said grabbing a soda out of the fridge. “Tell him he’s welcome to have dinner with us and spend the night if his parents agree. Tell him if he can stay the night, I would love to meet one of his parents.”

I looked at the newspaper while TJ was on the phone with Freddy. I wasn’t paying their conversation any mind when I heard a loud WHOOP and TJ hugging me around the neck. He kissed me on the cheek and said, “He can spend the night and tomorrow night too.”

“Tomorrow,” I said in a very surprised tone. “Tomorrow is Sunday. I don’t think having a sleepover on a school night is a good idea.”

“Daaaaad,” TJ whined. “Monday is a school holiday and they’re closed.”

“How’d you find this out?” I asked, trying to salvage a little pride.

“Freddy told me when he said he could stay on Sunday,” TJ said.

I looked at TJ and asked, “Do Freddy’s parents know he might be gay?”

“I don’t know Dad,” he said. “The day everything happened, Freddy split. I was just trying to get my ass out of there without it getting beat, which it did several times. I wanted to go and see him but I was afraid, Dad. I didn’t know if my Uncle said anything to his parents or not.”

“Think I should talk to his parent when he gets here?” I asked.

“Let me talk with him first,” TJ said.

“Alright TJ,” I said. “I’ll follow your lead here.”

To be continued...

Posted: 06/20/08