The Ranch by Miguel Sanchez

The Ranch
by: Miguel Sanchez

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

Chapter 16

Back to the O. R. Part II

I looked at the others and said, "We have another resident coming. Ronnie, I hope the people you hired will be starting soon. I have almost a full house and with school starting soon, coming here for meals will be giving you a lot of extra work. I'm wondering where Alexis is finding all these kids?"

Jay looked at me and said, "Eat up dude, we need to get going."

I finished my breakfast and had my last cup of coffee with Pop and Gwen. I filled them in on what Alexis told me about Carlos on the phone. I also suggested that with our numbers increasing we might consider getting a few vans.

Pop said he would consider my requests and would check with Ronnie about the cooks and additional staff. Jay and I had to get out to the airport so we can meet with Alexis and Emilio. It took us about thirty minutes to get there and the plane was ready to go. Jay and I parked the Hummer and got on the plane and soon, we were airborne.

We landed at ten-thirty and Alexis met us at the airport. Emilio had had additional tests done on him and Jay was reading the MRI report. He was sitting in the back seat trying to read the films as we were zipping along the interstate. Twenty minutes later we were pulling into the hospital parking lot.

I was getting confused because I thought we would be examining him at her office. Alexis looked at me and said, "I thought it might be easier for you to look at Emilio here at the hospital in case there were some additional tests you wanted to run on him yourself. I have a friend on staff here that is letting us use his office. I guess I should have told you when we spoke this morning."

She parked her car and we went to meet our newest resident. When we entered the office, I thought I was looking at an older version of Tito. Alexis showed me where his exam room was so Jay and I went inside and I looked at the films.

There were no signs of a fracture of the vertebrae or any narrowing of the vertebral spaces. While we were looking at the films, Alexis and her partner brought Emilio into the room. I looked at the young man and said, "Hi Emilio, I'm Marco and this is Jay. We're doctors and we are going to see if we can get you back walking again. Would you mind if we examined you?"

He smiled at us and said, "Miss Alexis here has told me all about you and the place where I'm going to live. My Dad did a lot to me so anything you need to do to get me well is all right."

Jay looked at him and said, "I hope we don't need to do anything to you that will cause you any pain. There is one test I would like to do if that is alright with you."

I turned back around to look at Emilio and he was naked in his wheelchair. I lifted him onto the exam table and Jay got a sheet to cover our now naked patient. I said, "I'm not sure we needed you completely nude son."

He just smiled and said, "It's alright, and we're all guys here."

I let Jay take the lead in examining Emilio and I could see there were some things that had me quite concerned. I looked at Jay and asked, "Do you think an EMG is in order here? I know it can be uncomfortable but it might be necessary. I don't like what I'm seeing with his left leg. It's appearing to me that the nerve has been totally severed. If this is true, surgery is imperative and should be done as quickly as possible."

Jay had Alexis call her friend to have him bring an EMG machine down to us. When he heard this he said, "Emilio, I'm going to have to do a test on you to see if there are any nerves that have been damaged from what your father did to you. There are some small needles that I'll have to put into your legs to see if they are working properly. This will tell me what I will need to do when I operate on you. It won't really hurt but it will be uncomfortable."

He looked at Jay and said, "I know you won't hurt me on purpose and there isn't anything you can do that would hurt me worse than what he did. You have my permission to do what you need to."

The EMG machine arrived along with a very skinny teen. Alex told me this was Carlos. I looked at him and took him into the other exam room and gave him a physical while Jay was running the test on Emilio.

When I was finished, I noticed a shower in the corner of the room and I had Carlos get cleaned up before he got dressed again. He had a bag with some cleaner clothes in them so I had Carlos put those on. I looked at the boys' clothes and called Pop with their sizes so they would have a decent wardrobe when they arrived at their new home.

I gave my medical finding on Carlos to Gwen and she was pleased that she had a child who hadn't really been abused. It was still unclear to Alexis why he was on the streets but she would see what she could find out on his past.

The door to Jay's room opened and Emilio came out in his wheel chair and Jay was on the phone. He was speaking to General Hospital making arrangements to have Emilio admitted and scheduled for nerve reconstruction surgery. I also heard he was getting me privileges so I could assist him as well as see him when Jay wasn't with me.

Jay finished talking with the hospital and said, "That's been taken care of and all the arrangements have been made. I scheduled Emilio and Tommy for the same day. I have even arranged for them to share the same room. Are we all ready to go to lunch?"

Alexis pushed Emilio and I helped Carlos to the elevators and we all went to Alexis's car to go to the restaurant. On the way over, Carlos and Emilio began chirping away in Spanish. Fortunately for me my Spanish was better than my Portuguese. I could make out what they were saying and on more than one occasion I had to fight from laughing out loud.

When we arrived, Carlos took the lead and waited on Emilio hand and foot. I could see a good friendship forming. It's a good thing I have an extra bedroom downstairs because the house wasn't built for someone in a wheelchair. I'll have to talk with Pop about this when I get back because this was something that was over looked.

After we all stuffed ourselves silly and had Pop's credit card belch and burp a few times when I paid the bill, Alexis took us back to the airport so we could return home. Emilio wasn't sure about flying but I heard Carlos tell him not to worry about it in Spanish.

I picked Emilio up into my arms and he said, "What does that big M.S. mean?"

I said, "It stands for Miguel Sanchez. He is the man who runs the foundation that owns the place where you and Carlos will live. There are other boys there too and they will be like your brothers."

I got the boys seated and belted into their seats and Emilio was still asking questions. He looked at Carlos and then over to us then back to Carlos before saying, "Marco, are there other boys there who like other boys besides me? Carlos, I want you to know this now so if you hate me; I'll just stay away from you."

When Emilio was saying this, I could see tears start to form in his eyes. I was about to say something but Carlos beat me to it saying, "I don't care who you like amigo, but no one will bother you as long as I'm around. I don't know if I like boys or girls but I've done a few things with guys so I could get some money to eat."

Jay looked at the boys and said, "Well Carlos, it doesn't matter what you've done in the past. You have a safe place to stay with three meals a day. If you are gay, it's all right because there are others there who are and they even have boyfriends. I'm married to a great guy. His name is Ronnie and he works at The Ranch also. He's in charge of all the food and cooking."

While all this talking was going on, the boys hadn't realized that we were now in the air. It only took thirty-five minutes to fly back to The Ranch and on the way home; we stopped at the hospital so Jay could finalize the arrangements on Tommy and Emilio. Tommy's surgery was scheduled for eight in the morning with Jay assisting Dr. Rogers. When Tommy is done, we will go to work on Emilio. The boys will be staying over night then will finish recovering in the dispensary.

We took the boys in and Emilio had his pre-admission testing done so all that was now out of the way and they could have three days of relaxing before they were going to be uncomfortable for a while. I called the main house to let Pop and Ronnie knew we were on our way home and to find out how Tommy was doing.

I found out he was a hit with all the boys and he was sticking very close to Tito. Tommy had asked him where the bathroom was so he took him into the main house. Tito was about to leave when Tommy started crying. Tito went and got Pop to see what was wrong with him. After a few minutes, Pop came out and told us that Tommy was constipated because he had held things to long.

When Ronnie and I were talking, Jay pulled down the road and soon we were all back at home. I looked up and saw we were right at the house so I hung up. We got Emilio out of the Hummer and into his chair when Carlos took over not letting anyone but him wait on him. I looked at Jay and said, "Boyfriends or brothers?"

Jay said seriously, "Definitely brothers. Carlos has spent time on the streets and knows what that’s like. Emilio is in the wheelchair and Carlos knows what happened to put him there. He is five years older than Emilio but wouldn't feel right having sex with him."

I looked at him totally amazed. I asked him, "How did you figure this out Holmes?"

"Elementary my dear Watson, he told me." Jay said laughing. "While you were talking with Ronnie, Carlos and I had a short talk and that's what he said."

All of a sudden, I had this urgent call from my bladder telling me to empty it right away. I looked at Jay and said, "I'd like to stay and talk, but I need the bathroom now."

I hurried into the house and walked quickly past Tommy and Pop. Pop was about to say something to me when I said, "I got to pee now Pop. Hold on please."

Pop looked to Jay and said, "This will be the fastest pee on record. Tommy just took one hell of a dump in there."

I closed the door and realized the air in there was very stale. I held my breath and peed very quickly. I flushed the toilet and opened the door feeling a rush of fresh air. I started breathing while I put myself back together.

As soon as I opened the door and stepped into the hall, I heard more than just a few giggles. Tommy and Pop were standing there with big grins on their faces. Pop looked at me and said, "I was trying to tell you it stunk in there. Tommy was going back to turn the fan on when you had to pee."

I started laughing along with them and said, "Well Tommy, I'm glad you're feeling better. Please don't wait so long when you have to go again. I have something that will help you and you just take it once a day at breakfast. How does that sound?"

Tommy smiled and said, "Thanks Marco. Now where are the new kids?"

Jay had Emilio and Carlos in the dining room and everyone was gathered around and talking with them just as they had earlier with Tommy. The boys were all so busy with our newest residents that they didn't see Ronnie slip into the kitchen. A couple of minutes later he returned saying, "Can I get Tommy, Emilio and Carlos over to the table please?"

Tommy followed Carlos who was pushing Emilio in his chair. One of the boys went to say something when Tito came in carrying a cake. He set it on the table in front of the trio and said, "Welcome to The Ranch, your new home."

All three boys' mouths were hanging open when Tommy said, "We don't know what to say except thank you all very much. I'm hungry."

We were all laughing when Ronnie brought out plates and began cutting slices of cake for everyone. When everyone was served, I talked with him about the cooks. He told me he had staff for both houses ready to start on Monday. Ronnie would be doing weekly menus so everyone would have the same meal. It would be the same when the other houses started opening and no one could complain about bad meals.

It was a beautiful sunny day and several of the boys asked if we could all go to the lake for a swim. Pop came over to me and said that he didn't have anything that needed to be done except to pick up three fifteen passenger vans so we could seat all the kids when we needed to go some place. He would have Gwen and Ronnie go with him and Angel could drive one back since she needed to be there to sign checks to pay for them.

Steven dropped Angel and Stevie off then came in to visit. He was looking around and said, "Man, this place is growing."

He was looking at Carlos and Emilio when Tito came over and said, "Hi Uncle Steven, this is Tommy. He's a new resident and he's cool. I really like him. Is Stevie here?"

Steven was showing Tito where his son was when Carlos and Emilio came over. I could see they were upset so I kneeled down in front of Emilio and said, "What's got you two so down all of a sudden? It looks like you have just lost your best friend. Do you want to talk about it?"

Emilio said, "We heard everyone was going to the lake to go swimming and I can't go ‘cause I'm in this chair."

I hadn't thought about that when I said it was all right for the boys to go to the lake. Then Steven said, "I have Stevie's life jacket in the back of the truck and it would fit him. Someone will have to stay with you young man but this way you will be able to enjoy yourself."

Carlos was beaming when he heard this. "I'll stay with him all the time we're there."

Just then all the boys started coming over and the consensus was that they would all take turns with Emilio so Carlos could swim some in deeper water. When Emilio heard this he was beaming. Ruben walked over and said, "Every boy here is family whether they have been here since we opened the first day or if they just arrived."

I had Mike take one of the older boys over to the house so they could get towels for my crew while Ruben got towels for himself, Stevie and Eduardo. When Mike returned, we loaded the boys into the Hummers and headed to the lake. I will be happy when Pop gets the passenger vans so we can use fewer vehicles.

The boys stripped then got Emilio into his flotation vest. All the boys took turns staying with him then Mike and I brought him out with the boys in deeper water. He thought that was the greatest thing since he learned to swim when he was five.

Emilio was having a wonderful time, then the older boys decided to have water battles. Tim, Mike and Jordan were on the bottom and the other boys got on their shoulders. Ruben got on Tim's, Eduardo got on Mike's and Kevin got up on Jordan's and the wars began. The matches were pretty even until Tim tripped Mike and him and Eduardo spilled over backwards.

Both boys came up spitting water out of their mouths and Mike was going to get even with Tim for his dunking. Tim saw Mike charge him and he took Ruben off his shoulders and ran towards the shore. We all thought this was pretty funny until Tim caught his foot on something in the water and fell hard in the shallows.

At that moment, Tim let out a blood-curdling scream. Mike stopped running when he saw his boyfriend in obvious pain. Jordan went to Mike and stayed with Emilio while I went to check on Tim. I sat him up and looked at his left arm. His wrist was starting to swell, as was his forearm. Mike and I got him to his feet and brought him onto dry land.

By now the other boys had gathered around to see how bad Tim was hurt. I had Tito go get one of the big beach towels and I made a sling out if it. I grabbed my cell phone and called Jay. As soon as he answered I said, "Hey bro, it looks like we've had our first serious accident. It looks like Tim may have broken his arm and sprained his wrist. I'm going to need you to meet me at the dispensary so we can get some x-rays to see how bad the break is."

I heard the screen door slam through my phone as Jay said, "I'm on my way. How long will you be?"

I answered him saying, "I've got Tim in the Hummer now along with Mike and Jordan. Mike is getting the others dried and dressed and he will stay with them until we get done. I'll call him when we know something so the others won't worry."

Jay was almost trotting when he said, "I'm here now. I'll have everything ready for him when you arrive. I'll see you when you get here."

I hung up and took off for the dispensary. I was more than a little concerned since Tim is not one to complain about getting hurt. I've seen him take three boys on playing and be on the bottom of the pile and just laugh. I was hoping for just a simple fracture and a sprain that a cast and time would heal as good as new.

On the way over, I suddenly realized I was still nude from swimming with the others. At this point in time I didn't really care but I knew Jay was going to enjoy the scenery. I got to the dispensary and brought Tim over to our x-ray room. Jordan and Mike had got their clothes on and helped Tim put his shorts on.

When Tim was dressed I brought him inside and heard a voice behind me say "Oooo, nice view."

I was slipping the sling off Tim's neck when I said looking back towards Jay, "You perv. Is that all you think about?"

I got Tim's arm on the table so Jay could take the x-ray when I felt a hand between my legs and feel my dick when he said, "No, not always. Sometimes I think about this too."

With all this going on, my dick started to plump and Tim was smiling at our antics. I stood up and looked at both Tim and Jay saying, "Both of you guys knock it off and behave."

Jay started working with Tim and I turned to get dressed and try to recover some of my dignity. I closed the door behind me and went to Mike and Jordan. Mike handed me my underwear and Jordan was holding my jeans. I slipped my clothes on when Jordan asked, "How bad is it Marco. Mike feels awful he caused Tim to get hurt."

I lifted Mike's chin with my finger and said, "This wasn't your fault, Mike. Tim tripped on something in the water and fell. It could have happened to any of us whether walking or running. I will go back out there and remove what ever it was Tim tripped on so it will not happen again."

Jay was supporting Tim's arm as they went over to the cast room. I was feeling a little better since they were going there instead of the door. Mike saw his boyfriend and ran over to him signing `I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'

I walked over to the film reader and looked to see just how bad it really was. I was pleased to see it was a simple fracture of the radius and ulna. I next looked at the wrist and saw nothing was broken there so it was just a matter of putting on a fiberglass cast and controlling his pain.

Jay went to put gauze and cotton on Tim's arm when he let out another scream. I quickly examined his shoulder and felt nothing wrong so I got Tim something for the pain. I went back and gave him the injection in his hip. He hollered again but this time I knew he'd be feeling better. We waited about ten minutes and began to set his arm again. This time things went smoother and we were finished in about half an hour.

Jordan had called Mike and told him Tim's arm was broken and we were on our way back. Mike was the first person to sign Tim's cast saying I'm sorry my love. Please forgive me. Tim looked at what he wrote and kissed him.

I got everyone into the Hummer for the short ride over to the main house. As soon as the boys heard us, they were surrounding us wanting to see Tim's cast. Mike helped him out of the vehicle just as Pop and the others arrived with the new passenger vans.

He saw Tim with a cast on his arm and said. "Well, I wondered who our first casualty was going to be and now I know. How did it happen?"

I explained how it happened and Mike came over and told us the others had found what Tim tripped on and removed it from the water. He also said they walked the lake to see if there were other hazards we couldn't see and they found several more that they removed as well.

Tommy came over and hugged Gwen saying, "I'm glad you're back. I missed you."

She kissed him on the head and said, "I missed you too little one."

Tommy then said something that gave us all a start. He said, "When we were swimming, I saw this big kid on the other side looking at me and it looked like he was playing with his dick. He made a gesture to me saying he was going to get me and stick his thing in my butt. Please don't let him do it Pop. Please."

I took Tommy into my arms and calmed him down. I got Jordan to watch the others while we adults went into the main house to have a meeting. I wasn't to upset by Tommy's announcement that someone was watching us skinny dip but when he threatened to rape him, I was more than a little pissed.

I got Tommy a soda and asked him, "Son when you saw this, why didn't you come and tell me?

Tommy belched and said, "This happened when you were taking care of Tim's broken arm."

I looked at him and said, "Alright son I understand but you should have told Mike. He is a staff counselor here and he would have known what to do. Please son, the next time you see something like this happen, let someone know right away. Do you promise me you will?"

Tommy started to cry until I kissed him on the head and he said, "I promise Marco. I didn't know Mike was a counselor. We've talked a couple of times and I like him. He's cute."

We all laughed when he said that and Mike turned several shades of red. I was determined to find out who this creep was and make sure he knew that if he ever tried to hurt anyone here, he would pay dearly.

I got Jay and a few boys to saddle their horses so we could take a ride back over to the lake. In about twenty minutes we were on our way back to our favorite swimming hole. We were about to come out of a wooded area when Tito noticed a kid heading our way. I had the younger boys go back into the woods so they couldn't be seen as Jay and I took our lassos off our saddles so we could catch this kid and see if it was the same person Tommy saw.

When I was certain he couldn't get back to the lake before we got to him I bolted out of the woods. Apollo broke into a full gallop heading right for this kid. He took a few more steps then froze when he saw my black beauty heading right for him.

I brought Apollo to a halt and dismounted in front of our uninvited guest. I looked at him and said, "Do you know you are on private property?"

He tried to play tough and said, "Yeah, so what about it?"

About that time the others came out of the tree line all heading right for this kid. I looked at him and said, "Were you down by the lake earlier today?"

Before he could answer Tommy shouted, "That's him Marco. That's the guy who was doing the nasty stuff towards me."

The kid went instantly from red to green. I thought he was going to spew right on the spot. I looked back at this kid and said, "Would you care to explain yourself?"

He said, "I was just watching you guys have fun in the water. I didn't know you all were in the nude until that kid fell. I heard him scream and I got scared when he was holding his arm. I was trying to tell that kid there I hoped it wasn't broken."

He made that same gesture again and Tommy said, "That's what he did Marco. He wants to hurt me."

"What?" he said. "I'd never do anything to hurt anyone."

He started to get upset when he said that. I looked at Tommy and said, "I think you misunderstood what he was trying to tell you kiddo."

Then the kid said, "Someone hurt me last week and I can't get my step dad to do anything about it. It's as if he don't give a damn about me at all. I wish I could get out of there."

I looked at the kid and said, "Have you seen a doctor?"

He hung his head and said "No sir. I couldn't talk about that; he'd think I was queer or something."

I smiled at him and said, "You just did son. That guy there and I are both doctors here at The Ranch. If you want to talk to us anytime, come up to the house through the clearing and ask for Marco or Jay. Here is a card of someone who can help. Call her anytime, alright?"

I put my arm out to him and he fell into it before turning to leave. I mounted Apollo and we went back home. On the way, Jay looked at me and said, "Do you think he'll come back and talk some more to us?"

I thought about it for a few minutes and said, "He just might bro. He opened up pretty quickly before he knew we were doctors. I just wonder what all happened to him? How old did he look to you?"

Jay thought about it and said, "I've never been a great judge of looking at someone and guessing their age. I'm not sure. He is a big kid though."

Jay and I talked more on our way back and soon we were at the stables. We took the saddles off our mounts and I gave Apollo a good brushing before letting him walk around in the corral.

I talked briefly with Pop before taking Carlos and Emilio to see their new living arrangements. The boys had new wardrobes hanging in their closets so I knew this would surprise them both. Carlos carried his young charge into the house and Jordan opened his chair. I showed him to his bedroom and he was in awe of his new surroundings. I was going to have Kevin and Tommy show Carlos to his room upstairs when I noticed Pop had put his things in this room also.

Emilio started crying and through his tears said, "I don't deserve all these nice things. I'm not worthy of all your kindness."

Kevin went over to him and said, "You're not worthy of this stuff? You should hear all the things I used to do before I got here. I wanted people to do stuff with me so I could find a boyfriend. I learned that I wasn't a bad kid either and now I have a great guy who cares about me and me him. We all care about you."

While Kevin was talking to Emilio, Carlos was looking around and said, "Marco, can I really sleep here with Emilio?"

I smiled at him and said, "Well who else is going to take such good care of him. You realize that Monday he is having surgery so he will be able to walk again don't you?"

Carlos smiled and said, "Oh yes, I remember. I can't wait to be able to see him run and swim with all of us. When is dinner Marco, I'm hungry."

I looked at my watch and said, "If you all get your hands and face washed, we will go and eat."

When that was finished, I loaded my crew into one of the new vans and went over to the main house for dinner. I could tell that Ronnie was glad new cooks would be at my place Monday morning. I asked Pop if he would take care of my boys while Jay and I were at the hospital and I got my butt chewed royally for asking that question.

The rest of the weekend went smoothly and come Sunday evening, both Tommy and Emilio were getting antsy over their upcoming operations. Tommy came downstairs after taking his shower and hopped onto my lap. The others were coming out one or two at a time and they began heading off in different directions to find things to do amongst themselves.

Carlos wheeled Emilio into the family room and Emilio asked, "Marco is there room for me too?"

Tommy scooted over and said, "Sure there is. I'll even get down to make more room."

Carlos lifted his friend onto my lap and soon I was covered with two of my young charges. I saw Kevin and Eduardo walking down the stairs hand in hand and they both stopped at my chair. Eduardo said, "This reminds me of when we first arrived with our Dads. We would cuddle for hours in their laps."

"Tommy, do you want to sleep with Tito tonight?" Kevin asked with a sly grin on his face.

"If that's all right with you Marco," he answered. "I'm scared about tomorrow. I don't want to hurt back there again."

I brought Tommy's head to my chest and whispered to him, "You might be a little sore son but nothing like you were before. Dr. Rogers and Jay are going to fix you up good as new. You'll spend the night in the hospital with Emilio here then you both will finish recovering here in the dispensary."

Tommy smiled and said, "That won't be too bad I guess. Can Tito sleep with me when we get back here?"

"Not for a day or so," I said to a now pouting child. "We need to be sure nothing happens but you can as soon as you are back here."

"When will I be walking again, Marco?" Emilio asked looking somewhat alone.

I thought for a second then said, "Well son, I have to do several operations before that's possible but I promise you will be walking real soon. Once I've done what I need to, a physical therapist will come here and start exercising your legs."

He looked at me smiling and asked, "Is that who will get me walking?"

I kissed his head and nodded. Both my little covers started yawning and I noticed it was a few minutes shy of nine. I knew I was going to have a very full day tomorrow, as were these two. "Tomorrow is going to be a very big day for all of us and I suggest we all get some sleep. I know Tommy wants to sleep with Tito and Emilio wants to sleep with Carlos but they can stay up another hour. How about you both sleep with me? Is that alright?"

Both boys lit up like Christmas trees and were nodding their heads ninety miles an hour. Tommy hopped down off my lap and I stood up with Emilio in my arms and we headed off to my room.

I laid Emilio on the bed and started getting him undressed. He looked over at me and asked, "Can I sleep nude? I can't sleep any other way."

Tommy piped up saying, "Me too Marco? Mommy's boyfriend wanted me to sleep that way also."

I was out numbered and I wanted them to get a decent night's sleep. I said, "Alright boys. That won't be a problem. I will set hot rod here on the toilet then Tommy, I want you to go when he's finished then its bed time."

Once everything was done, it was lights out. Within a few minutes I had two sleeping angels. The next thing I remember was when the alarm went off. I looked at the clock and it read four forty-five. Ugh, it was early.

I got out of bed and quickly took a shower. I'm glad the boys had theirs last night. I had just slipped my jeans on when I heard the front door open. I stuck my head out and saw Pop standing there and Jay looked like he was barely awake.

We went down to the kitchen as Pop got Emilio and Tommy dressed. After two cups of coffee each, we were finally awake enough to operate. I picked Emilio up and strapped him into the Hummer. The rest of us got our belts on and it was off to the hospital.

After we arrived, Gwen was there and signed the papers for the boys. She stayed with them in pre-op while Jay and I got changed. We came into the room in our green scrubs and Tommy started laughing. He said through his giggles, "Gee Marco, you look funny."

I looked at him and said, "Sorry dude but this is what we wear in the operating room. We wanted to stay with you guys until you went to sleep."

A young male nurse came in to start IV lines on the boys. As soon as he came into view Tommy smiled and Emilio giggled. They mouthed to each other that he's cute. Oh great, now my guys are checking out the hospital staff. He said, "Hi there. Which one of you wants to be first?"

They both stuck their arms out so fast the guy almost got punched. Tommy won and while he was getting stuck, Dr. Rogers came in. The three of us talked and decided if Tommy's operation was routine, Jay could come over and we would get to work on Emilio early to save time.

Tommy was wheeled into the operating room and the anesthesiologist put him to sleep. Tommy was rolled onto his side and Dr. Rogers did a quick rectal exam and said, "This will be a very straight forward procedure. The sphincter muscle is minimally torn and repairing it will be very easy. I have an assistant scrubbing and we can be done in about an hour."

Jay looked at me and said, "Very well. We don't know how long we're going to be working on the other child."

We went out of the OR and quickly rescrubbed while Emilio was being put to sleep and positioned onto his stomach. We entered the operating room and began the procedure. I quickly began dissecting through the muscles of his lower back and worked my way to the spinal cord. Once there I saw something the MRI had missed.

"Jay, take a look at this," I said in total amazement. "What did the EMG show?"

Jay thought for a second then said, "There was a cross firing that I just attributed to crushed and severed nerves in the spinal cord."

I said, "Crushed and severed yes but spinal cord no. I can separate the crushed nerves but it's going to take several hours. Do you see the severed one?"

Jay looked through the microscope and said, "Yeah, I do. This is going to be tedious work dude. If we get this done, Emilio can be walking in a few months once his leg muscles get stronger."

Five hours later, Emilio was being wheeled into post op. Tommy was still there not wanting to leave without his new friend. Jay and I shed our gowns and gloves and went to see Tommy and Gwen. I looked at them and said, "The operation was a success. The scan missed something and it worked out fantastic. It will take about a couple of months for his leg muscles to get strong, but he will walk again."

To be continued...

Posted: 07/25/08