Julio
 by: Miguel Sanchez

© 2005 by the author

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

Chapter 6

Esteban looked up at me and put his arms around my neck. He gave me a big, wet kiss on the lips and said "Thanks Miguel. Thanks for everything." Then he whispered into his ear "I Love You" and drifted off to sleep.

Luiz woke with a start. "Huh," he thought. "Where am I? How did I get here?" It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to dim light coming from the night light Miguel had left turned on in the bedroom. Then he remembered where he was. He looked at his watch and it read 6:30 AM. "6:30," he thought "It's to early to get up." He lay there for a few minutes until his bladder made him move. He got out of bed quietly and looked into Miguel's room. The sight he saw made him smile. There was this thirty year old man sleeping like a baby between the two boys Ronaldo, and Esteban with their arms and legs wrapped around him. The look of pure contentment on his face told him everything. He quickly walked to the bathroom before he made a mess and two minutes later; Luiz was back in bed. The next thing he knew, it was day light. Luiz saw the sun trying to come through the dark curtains covering the window, so he got up and put a pot of coffee on for Miguel and himself. While the coffee was brewing, Luiz went and took a shower and put on some fresh clothes. He found some more of Miguel's things when he was a boy for Ronaldo and Esteban.

At nine o'clock he heard the phone ring. It was the doctor asking to speak to Miguel. Luiz informed him that he was still sleeping and he would have him call as soon as he awoke. When Luiz started fixing breakfast, he heard the first sounds of life coming from Miguel's room. He heard someone laughing and he recognized the high pitch voice of Esteban. He saw Ronaldo run past the kitchen door towards the bathroom. Esteban quickly followed and Miguel was right behind the smallest child. A short time later, the toilet flushed and the shower was running. Miguel put the boys in for quick clean up. Ronaldo took care of things in the shower while he got his coffee.

Within ten minutes, two clean and nicely dressed boys walked into the kitchen. Luiz had fixed plates for each of them along with a glass of milk.

"What's this?" Esteban asked.

"Breakfast." Luiz replied. "You two sit down and start eating"

Esteban walked over to Luiz and wrapped his little arms around his leg and hugged him. "Thank you, Uncle Luiz" he said.

I roared with laughter when I heard that.

Luiz told the child he was welcome and shot a look at me that said "That quite enough!"

When I had stopped laughing, I saw a smile come from Luiz's face; he told me that he really wasn't mad. How could someone be mad at that cute child, he thought. Luiz told me about the call from the doctor and I said he would be going to the hospital shortly.

As I was putting his coffee cup in the sink, Esteban ask if they were all going to the hospital to see Julio. "No, Esteban." I said "I need to talk to him alone."

Esteban started to cry and I picked the child up and said "I'll be back. This is something I need to handle myself." As he wiped the tears from the child's face, he carried the child towards his private office.

"Where are we going?" Esteban asked.

"I need to look at your bottom." I told him. "You told me that man hurt you and I need to see how bad it is. Besides caring about you, I have a responsibility to care for you. If there is something wrong with you, I need to know it so you stay healthy. I am a doctor, you know?"

"Really?" the child asked.

"Yes, I am." Look at this." He showed the boy his diplomas from medical school and his licenses to practice medicine in Brazil and in the United States.

"Wow," Esteban said. "This is cool. You can look at my bottom, put please don't hurt me."

I looked at the child and said, "I would never hurt you. Hop up here on this table and let me see you bottom."

The boy crawled up on the table and pulled his underwear down and lay on his stomach. I gently spread his cheeks apart and quietly gasped when I saw the damage done to the boy. I touched the inflamed tissue that surrounded his rectum. The boy winced as he felt me touch him but didn't move. I walked over to a medicine cabinet and took out some ointment. I told the boy not to move that this would not hurt but it would be cold. I took a swab and dipped it into the jar of ointment and put it on the little boy's inflamed rectum. Esteban said, "It's cold." But remained still as I took care of the injured boy's bottom.

"There." I said as I pulled up the boy's underwear. "All done. I'll need to put this on your bottom twice a day. Your butt will heal in time and the damage should be minimal."

Esteban stood on the table and hugged me as he said "Thanks Miguel. That didn't hurt at all. Are you my daddy now?"

That question took me by surprise. "No, I am your guardian. Why do you ask if I am your daddy, would you like me to be?"

"Yes," the boy said in a soft voice. "You know I don't have anybody and when I told you last night that I love you, I meant what I said. Don't you love me?"

"Yes," I replied "I love you. I thought you were saying that because I had helped you when you were in trouble. I know you don't have any family and I am getting things done so I can adopt both you and Ronaldo."

Just then another voice said, "Really, you mean it?" Ronaldo said walking over to us by the table. "You really mean it? You want to adopt me as well?"

I replied, "Yes, I want to adopt both of you and Julio as well." Miguel lifted Ronaldo up and set him on the table and took Esteban and put him down on the floor. I told Ronaldo I wanted to check his bottom out since he'd told Esteban he had been hurt back there just like Esteban had. Ronaldo lay down on his stomach and I took a look at this blonde god's butt. He wasn't as torn up, as Esteban was but there was damage done none-the-less. I put some of the same ointment on Ronaldo's rectum and set the boy down beside Esteban. I told the boys I had to take care of some business at the hospital and they were going to stay here with Luiz.

Since it was going to be another hot day, I told the boys they could go swimming in the pool outside. They were happy at that. I took the boys back into the kitchen where Luiz was finishing the dishes. I asked Luiz if could find some swimming trunks for the boys so they could have something to do while I was at the hospital. Luiz nodded his head and I went to the bedroom to get ready to leave. The boys followed me like lost puppies and their eyes told me they didn't want to be away from the person they had grown so fond of in such a short period of time. I told the boys I would be back as soon as I could and would let them all know how Julio was doing.

Ronaldo asked if Julio would be coming home today. I told him that I wasn't sure but it would most probably be tomorrow before he was allowed to leave or the next day since he didn't have anything broken. They hospital needed to be sure he didn't have any problems from the blow to his head and that he didn't start suffering from headaches. I unlocked a drawer in my desk and took the gun out and put it on my belt. The boys didn't like me having to carry that thing but they both knew that if I hadn't had it with me yesterday, things would not have turned out the way they did.

When I put my suit jacket on and headed for the door, I saw the two boys standing there with sad eyes. I kissed them both and said, "Hey, cheer up boys, I'll be back as soon as I can. You both have something to do so you probably won't even know I'm gone."

The boys hugged me and said together "We'll know you're gone. We feel empty and alone when we're away from you even for the shortest amount of time. We love you, Miguel"

I looked at the boys and replied, "I love you, too."

That was the first time I acknowledged the fact to either child so when they heard that their faces broke out into smiles. I ruffled their hair as I headed for the door. I walked out to the garage and opened the door. Since I was driving, I decided to take the Blazer instead of the limo. As I pulled out of the garage, I saw both boys waving at me and I waved back as I drove away.

As I drove towards the hospital, I remembered I'd forgotten to remind Luiz to get those papers in the mail. I quickly got the cell phone and called the house. Luiz answered and I told him not to forget to go to the post office. I also told Luiz to include a list of things he wanted my cousin to get for the new house. Luiz said he would take care of it and he also said the boys missed me already.

I had been gone less than fifteen minutes and already the boys were missing me. I couldn't see how I had made such an impact on their lives in less than twenty-four hours. I began to think about how I was going to tell Julio his mother had AIDS, and had granted me custody of her only remaining child. How, in all likelihood, she would end up dying. I remember the smile I had seen last night and wondered would it be gone when I gave Julio the news. I worried what Julio would do and say after he learned that his world would soon be turned upside down. I also worried, since the boy had been selling himself to survive, if he had AIDS. As I pulled into the hospital parking lot, I quickly found a space and pulled my Blazer into the space. Esteban and Ronaldo had both been lucky enough to have me present when the situation got out of hand. They put their trust in me and now felt safe and secure. Julio had not been that lucky since he had nearly been killed. If Julio could see that it was I who had brought him to the hospital and was concerned about his welfare and that I would do all in my power to help him. Then I was sure he would be willing to let me take him under my wing.

As I stepped off the elevator, I saw the doctor who was taking care of Julio. I quickly took him by the arm and led him into the waiting room. "Doctor," I asked? "Have you done an AIDS test on the boy?"

The doctor nodded his head and replied "Yes, I have and the test was negative. I had them repeat the test to make sure it was in fact negative and it was. There is no sign of the disease at all in his system. I just left his room and the smile on his face was just as it was when you left last night."

"I hope it's still there when I tell him everything I have to. You may hear a lot of yelling, but I need everyone to stay out of his room. This is not going to be easy and I'm not sure if it will upset him."

The doctor asked? "What do you have to say that you think he will react in such a negative way?"

"Several things," I replied "First, his mother has AIDS and she signed custody of him over to me because she can't take proper care of him. Next, she refuses to quit her work to get treatment so she will probably die. Last, the man he never knew as his father had raped his mother and that is how he was conceived later he blew his brains out. She gave me this letter to give to him and I have read what she wrote. I hope this will take some of the sting out of everything. This tells him everything I was going to tell him but it comes from her point of view. If he can understand where she is coming from, he shouldn't take it so hard, but I really don't know how he'll take it. We will soon find out."

I turned and walked out of the visitor's lounge and headed for Julio's room. I stopped outside the door. As I thought about what to say, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. After a few seconds had passed, I opened the door and went in.

"Hi, sport," I said trying to sound very upbeat and cheerful. "How are you feeling today?"

"Hi, Mr. Sanchez," Julio said, smiling back at him.

I said, "Hey, enough of that Mr. Sanchez stuff. Mr. Sanchez was my father, and he passed away. I'm Miguel. OK"

"OK," Julio replied laughing at him for how he sounded. "How about I call you Dr. Sanchez?"

"How did you know I was a doctor?" I asked with a very puzzled look on my face.

"Remember last night?" the boy started. "You were shouting so loud at that old battle-axe that the whole word could hear you"

"Sorry," I replied "When I saw that needle she had in her pocket and who it was intended for, I just lost it. You know who that needle was for, don't you?"

"Nnnooo," he said, in a very shaky voice "Who?"

"You." I answered "She was going to kill you. She has this warped belief that people who don't live in a house, have money or live according to her standards don't deserve to live."

Tears began to fall from Julio's face so I sat beside the boy and handed him some tissues to wipe his eyes and blow his nose. I breathed in deeply and suddenly wished I hadn't. This boy stunk to high heaven. While he was out cold, they'd never bothered to give him a bath.

Julio looked at me and saw how I reacted to his odour and said, "Sorry man, I guess I'm a little ripe."

"Ripe," I said, "That's the understatement of the year. You wait here and I'll be right back. I'm giving you a bath. I'll see if they have any deodorant I can get for you too."

Julio tried to sit up and suddenly said "Ouch, what's this?" as he reached his hand under the covers and felt a tube coming out the end of his penis.

I walked over to the bed and said "Move your hand." As I lifted the covers he tried not to let me see his little manhood and I told him "Look guy, you ain't got nothing that I ain't ever seen before, so move your hands. Do you or don't you want that thing out of you?"

Julio smirked and said "That will be 5 Reals mister."

I played along with him and replied "Look, for what I've paid out for your care already, you will be showing me that thing for free for the next thousand years."

Julio's eyes got wide and said "You have paid the bill here? Why?"

I sat beside and told him as I pulled the covers back. "First, you were hurt. Second you needed medical care and finally, I wanted to. No pity, charity or anything like that." My eyes got wide when I saw his penis. It was red with a yellow discharge coming out of the tip around the tube.

I pushed the call bell and a voice replied "Yes, Dr. Sanchez. What can I do for you?"

I answered "Bring me the following. Two basins of warm water, soap, two wash cloths, a clean gown, sterile gloves, a 5cc syringe, a circumcision kit, a syringe with 100 mg of Demerol, 500 mg Keflex iv, and sterile dressings. I also want to know who put this boy's Foley in him?"

"Does this hurt?" I asked Julio as I touched his infected penis.

"Yes," he winced. "It hurts like hell."

"Listen carefully," I told him "You penis is badly infected. This Foley hasn't been changed or taken care of properly and that's why your penis is infected." Just then a nurse came into the room pushing a cart with a load of supplies.

"Here are the things you asked for Doctor." The nurse said. "The Keflex is coming up from the pharmacy. Oh, by the way, that nurse you fired last night was the one who put in the child's Foley. What's wrong?" Her face went pale when she saw the child's infected organ. "Oh my God," she exclaimed, "I'm sorry Dr. Sanchez. I should have looked at this myself when I was on duty. She told me she had cleaned him up during her shift and I never gave it another thought. I'll pack my things right away."

"For what?" I said. "You took her at her word. I would have probably done the same thing had I been in your position. You're not leaving. You're the best nurse here I know. I need a new charge nurse and you would be perfect for the job. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Charge nurse?" she asked

"Yes," I said, "You care about the patients here. Your work is excellent and you should have been in this position from when you were hired. The only reason she got the job was she was a charge nurse at her last hospital and I wasn't here at that time. I was away on vacation."

"Thank you," she said, "Do you need some help."

Julio looked at both of us and said "Oh no, no woman is looking at my dick."

"Hey," I snapped "watch your language around a lady. "You don't need to talk like that and besides, she seen you before. Yeah, when you were taking your 24 hour nap, remember?"

"She what!" he hollered "She's seen me?"

"Yes I have," the nurse replied "do you think I have never seen a penis before? I am a nurse."

"OK," Julio said, realizing he lost this battle. "Is this going to hurt?"

I answered "This might, as I took the syringe and withdrew the sterile water from the Foley and started to take it out."

"Oh shit," Julio screamed "That hurts. Stop, please stop. It hurts,"

"OK," I said, "It's out." I put the rubber tube in the trash, removed my gloves and put my arm around the crying boy. "I'm sorry, Julio. There was no easy way to do that. I had to take it out and I new it was going to hurt so I just did it. Look. I'm going to have to circumcise you. You penis is so badly infected, the only way to clear it up is to do a circumcision on you. You will be asleep while I do it and you will be sore for a few days, but I don't foresee any problems when you're healed. Is it OK with you?"

Julio sniffed "What choice do I have?"

"Well," I said "We could try to clear up the infection without doing the procedure but I don't think it will really work. Also, your going to be in a lot of pain during that time and..."

"OK, You win, doc." Julio interrupted. "Just do it. I'm tired of hurting."

"Do you trust me, Julio?" I asked. Trying to lead up to what I really had to talk to him about.

"Yeah," the boy replied "Why'd you ask that"

"Well," I swallowed hard "I think you should read this," I said handing him the letter. "It's from your mother."

"Is she OK?," he said, reaching for the paper.

"Yeah," I said. "She's doing fine." I watched and waited for him to read the letter his mother sent him.

"Nurse," I said. "Bring me another bag and a half of D5. And take you time."

"Yes, doctor." she said as she headed for the door.

I looked at Julio who, by now, had tears starting to form in his eyes. I sat down beside him and put my arm around his shoulder. He looked up at me and he shook his head in disbelief.

"Is this true?" he asked. Is she going to die? How long does she have left. Isn't there anything you can do? You're a doctor, can't you help her? Why, why why..." He turned his head into my chest and cried. He cried like he never cried before. Tears flowed for a good fifteen minutes. Till there were no more tears left in his body, he asked, "What's going to happen to me?"

I reached into my pocket and handed him the paper his mother signed yesterday. I looked at his face as he read the custody agreement. "Your mother signed that yesterday and I sent it to a family court judge I know," I began. "After you heal, you will be staying with me at my place. I will get you boys' registered for school in August. And before you say anything, you will go to school. I'll have to take all of you out and get new clothes and shoes for school."

Everything was fine until he heard me say the word "school." He hated that word more than when I took the Foley out of his penis.

"School?" he said.

"Yes, school!" I replied. "You will go to school. When you get home, I will sit down with all of you and see how far behind you have fallen in your studies. When was the last time you went to school?"

"Two years ago," he said "Mom made me go. When she started getting sick, I quit going so I could take care of her. She started getting so sick I didn't know what to do or what she needed."

I replied, "Why didn't you bring her to my clinic? I don't care who comes in and I don't ask questions. If you're sick, I help. No questions asked. You know Ronaldo, he came here once and you were with him. I know this because my partner told me he saw you with him. So I know you know how I work."

"I tried," Julio said. "I tried to get her to come here. She wouldn't. She said she wasn't going to take charity."

"You should have come by yourself," I said. "One of us would have come out to her."

He sat there shaking his head no. "She wouldn't let anyone see her. She was to proud." Julio started crying again. "Now she is going to die and it's my fault."

I interrupted him "Hey, son. It's not your fault. You can't force an adult to take what they don't want to take. How do feel about being my foster son?"

"Can I see my mother?" he asked.

"When you're healed and the infection is gone," I answered "I'll take care of you myself if you want."

"Look," I said. "I know you don't trust adults and I understand why. There are two grown-ups that you can trust. One is Luiz the other is me. He is like my second father. He helped papa raise me. You see, my mother died just after I was born so papa had Luiz and his wife Elaine, God rest her soul, help take care of me. As I grew, Luiz loved me just as much as my papa did. I called Elaine moma because I thought she was my mother. When I was four, my father told me the truth about what happened and who Elaine really was. I was upset a little, even though I never knew who my real mother was. The one thing I knew for certain was my father loved me and nothing would change that. I want you to know one thing, Julio. I will never do anything to hurt you. I ask only one thing though, if I ask you something...you tell me the truth. I will do the same for you. When you ask me something, you will get a truthful answer. Is that fair enough?

"Fair enough," Julio replied. "But you didn't tell the truth just now. When you took that thing out of me that hurt like hell."

"I'm sorry." I said. "There was nothing I could do about that. Look at yourself. See how red and swollen it is? The only way to take care of that now is to circumcise you. Your penis will look a little different from other boys, but at least it will still work. Have you seen Ronaldo naked?"

"No, why?" Julio asked.

"Well," I told him. "He's been circumcised. The only difference between you and him is you have that extra piece of skin around the head."

"That's it?" Julio said. "That's the difference. Heck, I've seen kids like that before. I think it looks alright. What are you waiting for? Let's get going and get me fixed and healed. Come on, doc."

"OK," I said. "Hold onto your britches. When the nurse gets back here I'll get started. You shouldn't feel anything while I'm doing this. First I'll give you medicine in your IV. You will start to get sleepy then I'll numb up your penis with this stuff here. When the stuff I give you in your IV wears off, everything will be done. You will be sore for a few days and you will be getting antibiotics through this tube. By the end of the week, you should be able to come home and finish recovering there. Do you remember the smaller child that was here visiting you last night?"

"I've seen him before," Julio said. "And I heard a john I was with say how he did him in the ass once. That pissed me off so I bit his dick real hard. While he was screaming his head off I kicked him in the nuts and took off. It makes me mad when people hurt the little ones."

"You care about the other kids?" I asked him.

"Sure." Julio said. "What do you think I am, some heartless asshole? I never said I didn't care about other people, I just don't trust grown-ups."

I smiled at him and said, "You're not such a bad kid after all."

"Hey, watch what you say," Julio laughed. "I've got my reputation to protect."

I laughed and said back "OK, Mister Bad Ass. Your secret is safe with me."

Just then the nurse knocked on the door and asked if it's safe to come in.

"OK," I said "Come on in and lets get this boy taken care of."

She came in and hung the new bag of fluids along with the antibiotics. After she did that, I had her hand me the syringe of Demerol and told Julio he was going to get sleepy and when he woke up, everything would be done. I inserted the needle into the port and slowly pushed the plunger on the syringe. I looked at Julio and before he closed his eyes, I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. He smiled at me, closed his eyes and dosed off to sleep.

It took me thirty minutes to complete the operation and Julio slept like a baby the whole time. While he was asleep, I restarted his IV in the other arm to be sure Julio would not get another infection. I wrote orders on Julio including IV pain medication. I gave the new charge nurse instructions to call me at home if there were any problems. I told the nurse that I wouldn't be back there until Friday, the day after tomorrow. If Julio started asking for me, they were to let me know and I would come to see him. I wanted him to rest because his penis would give him a new meaning for the word "pain."

After I'd done all my paperwork and signed my doctor's orders, I headed for my Blazer and back to the house. I wonder how mad the boys were driving Luiz?

To be continued...

Posted: 06/06/08