Coach Assistant

By: Tim
(© 2015-2016 by the author)

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

Chapter 51  

It had been a few very strange days.  I was brought to the hospital straight from the hotel.  Although I told them I was all right, they didn’t believe me and, to be honest, looking at myself, I must admit that I wasn’t all right at all … but during those first few days, all I wanted to do was nothing.  Not think, not listen, not eat, nothing … I just wanted to just be left alone.  But that was, of course, not what happened.  Maybe, if I look back, that was OK as, during most of this time, I was smothered by the concern of my family and friends who surrounded me.  But I guess that wasn’t what helped; I simply got more and more to be more self dependent.

On the third day, a police officer came into my hospital room and tried to find out what had happened.  I think they thought that I might talk with a stranger more easily than to my family.  But, for the time being, I’d shut off my memories.  Not that I could do that, not after what happened … but at least I didn’t think about it at all and just tried to live.

I know that, most of the time, Francis was in the room with me.  He was kind and understanding but, when he thought I wasn’t looking, very worried … more worried than the others in whom I saw a lot more anger, too.

When he’d come closer to me that first time in the hospital, he stopped the moment he saw me start to shake.  He knew it wasn’t a good idea to go beyond that point.  He stayed and gave me the warmest smile I’d ever seen him give, and he said something along the lines of “we can do this later.”  We talked a bit more, mainly about his dad and his mom.  I somehow managed to keep away from the Mike story.

I didn’t ask how they’d found me.  I had no idea what had happened.  They must have found out that Mike had been there with me and that should have been enough but … well, they knew what happened, they’d seen the effect it had on me.  I was still very shy when it came to getting undressed in front of others, but the nurses … oh, even a male nurse … didn’t want me to take care of myself.  They were all too afraid I might hurt myself by fainting as I had on the first day.

But I knew I just had to hang in there.  I knew the doctors were ready to let me go home, so I just wanted to do that, leave it all behind and get on with my life.

What I didn’t know was that rumours about what had happened were circulating around, even in my home town.  I’d asked so see some newspapers but, so far, they’d only brought me the one which described how we’d won the championship.  Oh, that felt like so long ago, although it had happened only a few days ago.

When Francis and I were together on my second day in hospital, we talked about what had happened with his mom and dad, and it seemed as if that, at least, had gone all right.  I knew that it would probably come to a trial and the reason why Francis left home … being gay and all … might come out.  But when I asked him about that, he said they would try to avoid it.  It all depended on how willing his dad was to cooperate.  They’d filed charges but not talked with the prosecutor about it.

After a long talk with the doctor who tried to talk to me about what happened, I was discharged on the Thursday afternoon.  He discharged me with the promise that I would go and visit my shrink as soon as possible.  According to him, the worst shock was still to come and I was scared, so scared, that he was right about that.

All the fussing around me so far had kept me going.  I hadn’t had to think about what would happen in the future, not even sleeping with Francis … Francis, who’d been the most caring boyfriend you could imagine.  The first time I saw him, I was afraid he might want too much, to hear what had happened but, so far, he hadn’t pressed the issue.

What I definitely was not prepared for was the fuss outside the hospital.  I was brought back home in an ambulance … I guess that was done more out of safety concerns than anything else.  There were reporters from three or four TV stations around and I looked at my dad to see what this was all about.  He just nodded at me to carry on and get into the ambulance, which is what I did.  Francis and David would go by car together with Alexei, who had stayed until then.  I knew he’d have to leave the next day as he had some obligations.

“Dad,” I started, “what was that all about?”

“I’ll tell you when we get home, OK?”

“Were they all there because of what happened to me or because of the championships?”

“I guess both,” he answered.

“Why is that?”

“Well, you know that there was that reporter who came in during the party, after which we held the press conference?”

“Hmmm, yea, something Alexei arranged, I think.”

“Maybe he did but, if he did, I’m sure he’s regretting that now.”

“The reporter stayed behind that night and, during that Sunday, he somehow became aware of the fact that one of the team members was missing.”

“Oh!”

“I guess that was the start of something that was NEWS, with big capitals, so he stayed around and somehow it was also picked up by the local news hounds down here.”

“Damn!  What do they know?”

“More than you want them to know, Nick, but not enough to be able to put it all together, I guess.”

“Will they be waiting for us at home, too?”

“Probably.  We’ll have to deal with them at some point.”

I know he looked at me, waiting for an answer on that point … but there was no way that he was luring me in talking about what had happened.  I just looked and tried not to think of all that had happened.  There was no way that I was going to say anything to anyone.  I’d never dare to show my face on the street if it became common knowledge what had happened in that room.

My dad had been right: there were quite a number of people around the house, waiting.  I was carried inside real fast and put on the sofa.  I then opened my eyes to see who was there.  I saw David and Francis and Alexei ... James was there, and Brian and Andy … all wishing me a warm welcome home.  There was some talk about the last few days but somehow most of it came back to the championship and what happened during that day.  Somehow they acted as if the championship had happened just yesterday and everything else hadn’t taken place.

It took a few hours before they all cleared out and only my own family stayed behind.  Alexei had joined Brian and Andy, and James (I guess) had gone with them.  David and Francis were sitting beside me and somehow I guess I felt what was coming.

“Are you happy to be home, Nick?” David asked.

“Yea, better than in the hospital, with all those nurses fussing over me.”

“Oh, I thought you liked that … especially that young male nurse.”

I blushed a bit but didn’t answer.

“You don’t want to talk about it, do you, Nick?” David asked.

I looked from David to Francis and back.

“What do you think, David?”

“Well, I thought you might want to, with dad not around.  You know you can trust us and we won’t say anything to others if you don’t want us to.”

I looked again.  “Sorry, guys, but I don’t think I’ll ever share any of this with anyone.”

I saw the worry on Francis’s face and also a bit of … well, let’s say, not being happy … with that last statement.

“Don’t you think that talking would help, Nick?” Francis asked this time.

“No, Francis.  This is something that I want to forget and talking about it won’t help me forget it … so why don’t we try to just move on and pretend those last few days didn’t happen?”

“I don’t think it will work that way, Nick,” David said “and you know it,” he added.

“Well, it will,” I said shortly.  “I’m sure it’s all locked up, so let’s change the subject.”  My subconscious told me I was wrong about that.  To start with, the urge not to talk about it was just a sign of what was going on inside me.

It seemed they had worked up to this as David continued despite my request.

“They have arrested someone, you know.”

I looked at him and just nodded.

“They can’t charge him with anything if you don’t report to do the police.”

I lost it then.  “Never!” I said.  “That is just what you all want, get it out onto the public.  Don’t you Know what would happen if I did?  It would be all over town.  I’d never be able to .…”  That was all I could say as I started to sob quite loudly.  I felt Francis throw his arms around me but I pushed him away.  I didn’t want him to touch this filthy body.  He deserved better.

What I didn’t catch was the look between Francis and David.  I knew this was the first cry I’d had since I’d gone into hospital.  I just sat there, not sure how long I went on before I was offered a glass of water to drink.  What I do realise now is that they had planned this all very carefully as they brought me to bed afterwards and it only took me a short time before I fell into a deep sleep.

“Damn, David, how is he ever going to get past this?”

“I know it looks terrible but, for the time being, we just have to keep up with him.  You know what the doctor told us: he has to deal with this in his own time and manner.  We can’t push him and the best we can hope for is that he’s able to talk with the shrink about it all.  He’d made so much progress, you know.”

“I know … but still ... I hate to see him in such pain and, so far he’s not even let me touch him without trying to get away from me.  He knows he can trust me, doesn’t he?”

“Well, Francis, I think it’d be good for you to talk with the shrink as well … not to find out what happened, as I think Nick is right about that, if he’s ever going to tell you, it has to be of his own free will ... but more so, how to act around him, what to do and, especially, what not to do.  Hmmm, now that I think about it, I imagine we all could do with a session about that.  I’ll talk with my dad about it.”

“Well, I’m sure he’s had cases like this before … so he knows how to deal with it.  Do you know what will happen with Mike?”

“The last I heard, he’s not admitting to anything in jail.  He’s been arrested but, if no charges are filed against him, there’s nothing they can do about it.  They’ll have to let him go in a few days.”

“Damn!  Do you know what he did to Nick, David?”

“You were there when they found him.”

“Sorry, Francis.  I know you want to know, but I don’t feel like talking about it.  I’m sure that Nick was glad you weren’t around to find him … although I’m not sure that he knows that.  Maybe telling him will be of some help, too.”

“You think he’s ashamed of it all?”

“Oh yea, Francis, very much so.”

“But why?  It’s not as if he liked being kept tied to the bed.”

“Well, to be honest, Francis, I’d guess he does like that sort of thing.”

“Against his will, David? That’s sick!”

“Well, not entirely against his will … but I’m sure you’ve heard about people who like to be humiliated and do stuff in a sort of master/slave relationship.”

“You think Nick is one of those people, David?”

“I don’t know, Francis, but he could be.  Didn’t you ever talk about it after what had happened with Mike and the doctors before?”

“Hmmm, no … we had an appointment for next week with the shrink.  I’m not sure if it would have come up in that session.”

“Well, it might be one of the subjects you’ll want to talk about with the shrink, if such a meeting is possible.  You could also discuss what you could do to help Nick with his feelings.”

“We’ll see but, for now, I guess it’s time to sleep.  We’ll be facing a few difficult days.”

“I know, Francis.  But if you ever want to talk, just let me know.  I know this’ll be hard for the both of you and you might feel the need to talk about it before he does.”

“Thanks, David.”

While Francis walked towards his bedroom, David walked downstairs to see how his father was doing.

“Dad?” he said to get his attention as he walked in.

“David, how’s he doing?”

“Well, he didn’t want to talk about it and I think you’re right … he’s very afraid that any of this will come out.”

“I think I would, too, if I were him.  I hardly saw him while the doctor was preparing him for the examination, and I heard what happened as he was trying to take a shower the first time.  The doctors warned me that it could happen again while he was at home … especially when he forgot to take his painkillers … but we’ll have to wait and see how it all turns out.”

“Well, let’s just hope that the shrink can help him.  He did a good job last time.”

“I guess so.  How is Francis coping?”

“Hmmm, I’m not sure.  I don’t know him well enough to catch the nuances of his reaction.  He seems to be OK.  I hope he’ll be able to have enough patience with Nick.”

“Have you heard anything from his father?”

“Yea, Francis told me on the way home that he’ll be released, on condition that he promised to be in contact with neither his mom nor him until they wanted it again.”

“At least that is something good to come out of all this.”

“Did you talk with Keith, dad?”

“Hmmm, you want to know if Mike has said anything yet?  Apparently he hasn’t.  Keith thinks his lawyer told him to keep his mouth shut and wait to see if Nick would press charges or not.”

“Does Nick have to do that or is there another way of getting that bastard behind bars?”

“I don’t know yet, David.  I’ll go have another talk with Keith tomorrow and I’ll probably see my own lawyer, just to consult with him about it all.  I have no idea what Nick wants, but it’s all up to him.  The lawyer though might know a bit more about what will happen and I think Nick needs all that information before he decides.

“And can’t Brian help?  They somehow knew that Nick had been there with Mike.”

“Yea, somehow it seems someone contacted them and they did tell Alexei about it.  He promised he’d go to their place tonight before flying home to see what it was all about.  He said he’d call me at some point if their information would help.”

“Oh, OK.  I could go and talk with Brian and Andy myself.”

“Well, you’d better not, and you’d better not tell any of this to Francis, either.  If Alexei’s response isn’t satisfying, we’ll see how we’ll proceed.  It’d be best if we found a way for Mike to spend some time in prison without Nick having to testify but I don’t think that can happen.”

“Damn!  Do you think that the doctors were involved again?”

“Hmmm, I’m not sure.  So far it seems that it was a one-man operation carried out by Mike.  There were no traces to be found in the hotel room when it was searched … not even of Mike, strangely enough.”

“It looks like he covered his tracks quite well then, dad.”

“Yea but, for now, I think it’s better if we go to sleep and see what tomorrow brings.  You don’t have to go to school yet.  I’ve arranged another free day tomorrow for the three of us.  We might need to go in tomorrow afternoon for an hour or so to meet with the team as I think they want to know what is going on as well.”

“Well, good night, dad.”

“Good night, David.”

[The coach narrates]

I saw my son going to bed.  I’d tried to be calm and reasonable with him, but I felt more like throwing things around the house.  Just when things were starting to brighten up for the family, something like this had to happen!  I decided to watch some TV and let my mind go numb for a while.  I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t do that first.

[Meanwhile, back at Brian and Andy’s place]

“So Peter and Andrew knew all along and even participated in it?  My god, Brian, you should have told the coach about this days ago!”

“I know, Alexei, but I couldn’t!  You see, I told them that I’d find a way to keep them out of it.”

“Well, I don’t think that’s possible any more.  It seems that Mike’s not talking.  There’s no physical evidence left and Nick … well, I can’t see him pressing charges within the time required for these kinds of proceedings.”

“I know.   I thought about that for a long time, and after the talk I had tonight with the coach, I came to that same conclusion … but, still, it won’t be easy for them.”

“I know but they just can’t let Mike get away with it, can they?”

“No, I don’t think so, and I think they know that, too, otherwise they wouldn’t have come to us to talk about it.”

“You think they’re willing to come over?  I still have about two hours before I have to leave for the airport.”

“Yea, I think they will.  They wanted to talk with you about it anyway, as you know Nick the best of all of us.”

“OK, go and give them a call then.”

Brian left the room to give Peter and Andrew a ring.

“What a mess, Alexei!” Andy said.

“Yea, and you know what bothers me the most?  I can’t stay.  I have to leave.  I don’t have any appointments to go back for, as I cancelled all of them until next Monday.  But with the reporters on a crusade, I have to leave or else they’ll start to get really suspicious … well I guess you know all about it, Andy.”

“Yea, I know what you mean.  Did you know that officially Brian is my chauffeur, living in the room above the garage?  We make sure that every evening the lights go on and off, just in case anyone suspects that anything is going one between us.”

“Damn!  I didn’t realised you went that far.”

“Yea, I had to.  You must know that all up and coming athletes these days have to be without any secrets from their past.  I had to make sure that one of my former friends, who was not so willing to keep his mouth shut, was convinced to do so.”

“You think it would have damaged your career if you’d have come out, Andy?”

“Definitely.  Back then, I wasn’t ready to deal with it all, and the press would have been just too much for me then.  Nowadays, I think I could cope, as it doesn’t matter to me so much what others think.  But back then, you know what it’s like: trying to reach the top, dealing with the press, and growing up.  It wasn’t easy.”

“I’m happy that gymnastics is a lower-profile sport, Andy.  I’m not under that kind of intense scrutiny.”

“Yea, you’re lucky.”

“But still …..”

Did I understand correct that James’s mother found out about you two?”

“Yes, there are no secrets there any more … but she seems reasonably happy about it now.  I think we might even get her to let him come with me to Europe in four weeks.”

‘Ahhhh, you think that Nick will still want to come, too?”

“We’ll just have to wait and see.  I’m sure that, for those three guys, a scholarship won’t be a problem as they fulfilled all the requirements with their performances in the championship.”

At that point Brian walked back in.  “They’ll be here in 15 minutes.”

“You told them that I was here?”

“Yea, I did.  I needed to convince them that it’d be OK to come over.”

“OK, we’ll see.  Is there somewhere I can take a shower in the meantime?  I rather want to feel freshened up by the time I leave.”

[In a plane in flight]

I’d been very lucky to get a flight this fast.  The speed of my departure has prevented me from contacting Alexei, but I knew he was still there.  I’d left him a message on his phone but, so far, there’d been no response.  I hoped he’d gotten it and left a message in reply.  I’ll know the moment I land, but I’ll have to be patient until then.

I wasn’t that shocked any more.  I guess I’d more or less come to my senses about it all.  I found it hard to believe that it was real, what I’d seen, but still.  Alexei probably knew more about it all.  If it was real, then this was the chance we’d been waiting for.

[Back at Brian and Andy’s place]

“Come on in, guys,” Brian said.

“Is he still here?” Peter asked.

“Yea, he’s upstairs, showering.  He should be down in a minute.”

“What was his reaction, Brian?”

“I guess he’s angry that neither you nor I told him anything before, Andrew.”

“Oh,” they both responded.

“But maybe he might find a way out of it … although I’m not sure he’ll be able to keep the two of you out of it.”

“Hmmm, to be honest, Brian we thought he wouldn’t be able to.”

“Well, we’ll see.”

They followed Brian into the living room and, a moment later, Alexei came downstairs.

“Hi, guys!”

They didn’t answer and weren’t looking at him, either.

“I heard you were having some problems?”

“Yea,” they both said quietly.

“Well, don’t worry about it.  I’m sure we can come to some solution of all these problems.”

“You think so?  We’ve been discussing going to Nick’s dad or the police but, to be honest, we’re afraid that it would become known we’re gay.”

“Yea, I thought that that would be the problem.  Well, it is ultimately your decision, but I’m not sure that it’s a good idea to keep silent.  If everybody does that, then Mike will be free in a few days.  I don’t think they can keep him much longer after the weekend unless someone speaks up.”

“Damn!  Well, we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.  We don’t want him free again.  He has to be punished for our blackmail and for keeping Nick hostage.”

“Why didn’t you try to free Nick and get away, Andrew?”

“We thought he was there of his own free will, Alexei.  At least, that is what Mike kept telling us.”

“Didn’t you talk with Nick, then?”

“No, we weren’t allowed to say anything and, while we were there, Nick had a blindfold on all the time.”

“Damn!  But he must have done something to resist it all?”

“Hmmm, not that I saw, Alexei,” Andrew said.

Alexei looked at Peter and he was just nodding as well.

“Shit!  And you let Mike continue torturing Nick all that time?”

“Hmmm, well … he had some device on, but Mike didn’t use it while we were around.  We thought it was only a threat, nothing more.”

“Oh, well … maybe he used it after you left?”

“Hey!  Whose phone is that?” Andy asked as a mobile phone started to ring.

“Mine,” Alexei said as he took it out and answered it.

They looked at Alexei, who was concentrating on his phone call.  He was hardly saying anything.  But it took some time and then he finished, saying, “OK, come down here.  I’m with Brian and Andy.”

He then hung up the phone and cursed.  “Damn!  It only gets more complicated!  But maybe we have a way out for you two now.  Let’s wait till he arrives.”

“Who?” Brian asked.

To be continued...

Posted: 07/15/16