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...

Chapter 1

I pulled into the hospital parking lot ready to start another shift at County Memorial’s Emergency Room. After being there for 15 years I was made the Head Nurse. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Mike Cummings and I’m 38 years old. I started here right out of nursing school and been here ever since. I started in the ‘unit’ as we call it here, that’s ICU or Intensive Care Unit to those of you who have never been in a hospital before. I was there for five years then went over to my favorite place, pediatrics. I loved working with children and several of the doctors liked the way I worked with them so they were always teaching me one thing or another. After being on the floor for two years I was made charge nurse of my shift and the following year I was made head nurse. Two years later, I had the chance to become head nurse in the emergency room and I took it.

After signing in, I looked at the patient board and there were a few familiar names. Mrs. Rosenblat was having another migraine, Mr. Finley’s back was acting up and Mrs. Winston’s monthly visitors had returned to her bedroom. I took the report from the off going charge nurse then looked at the charts. Neurology had been down to see Mrs. Rosenblat and they ordered her usual medication. I went in and gave her her injection and let her go home with her husband after twenty minutes. I was waiting on Ortho to see Mr. Finley and Psych was backed up so Mrs. Winston was going to have to wait.

Things were really quiet so I told one of the nurses that I was going to the cafeteria to get a large soda. There were a few people in the waiting room so I really didn’t pay much attention to the young man sitting across from a family reading a book. On my way back, I took a different route and went in the staff entrance. I got another chart handed to me and when I went out to call the person back, I noticed that the boy was still sitting there.

I called the patient back and got him settled in a room, then went out to see what was up with this young man. I went out and sat across from him and said, “Hi.”

He looked up at me and said, “Hello.”

I smiled at him and said, “I’ve noticed you’ve been sitting here for some time now.”

“Err ah yeah,” he said trying to think fast. “I’m waiting on a friend who’s back there.”

“What’s your friends name and I’ll see how they’re doing?” I said knowing full well who was back there.

“Ah well,” he started stuttering.

I looked at him and I could tell he was panicking a little so I said, “It’s OK. You wanna tell me what is going on? Do you need to see a doctor?”

He turned red when I asked him and he said, “Ah well sorta but I don’t have any money.”

“Let’s not worry about that right now, shall we?” I said patting him on the knee. “What’s your name?”

He looked up and said, “TJ Preston. It’s short for Terrance Jerome but I hate it so I just go by TJ.”

I thought to myself, ‘If I had two names like that I’d go by TJ too.’

I stood up and extended my hand out to him then asked, “How old are you TJ and where are your parents?”

TJ was a little tall for what I thought his age actually was. He looked up and me and said, “I’m 18. My birthday was 2 months ago.”

“OK,” I said. “Let me see your ID and we can get you registered.”

“Ah,” he started to say.

I lifted his chin up and said, “We can help you here TJ but please don’t fib to me. I’ve been a temporary foster parent for too many years now and there isn’t much I haven’t seen or heard.”

He dropped his head to the ground and said, “I just better go. Every time someone gets around me, bad things happen.”

I wrapped my arm around him and said, “Come on with me and let’s talk.”

“Why are you being so nice to me Mike,” he asked.

He was looking at my name tag and I couldn’t believe I never told TJ my name. “I care about people TJ, especially children. That’s why I became a foster parent. Now what’s going on?”

I pushed the ‘In Use’ sign on the door so we wouldn’t be disturbed and TJ started telling me what was going on in his life. I got him a soda out of the refrigerator and set it in front of him as he said, “Sorry I lied to you Mike, I am really 14. I don’t have any parents. They died about six months ago and I’ve been living with my Uncle. It’s strange because I never remembered my folks telling me about him. Well, last month my friend Freddy and I were playing at my place and we sorta started fooling around and my Uncle caught us. He got real pissed and said he ain’t having no fags in his house and to get our queer asses out. He took off his belt and started swinging and he missed Freddy but he got me several times before we got out of the house. I looked at him and asked him what he expected me to do and he said I could peddle myself for all he cared.”

By now, TJ was almost in hysterics. I finally got him calmed down and said, “It going to be alright TJ. One thing about being a nurse is we have friends with the police.”

As soon as TJ heard the word police he stood and tried to leave the room. “NOOOO,” he said. They’ll put me in a home.”

“Calm down,” I said. “No one is going to put you in a home, unless it’s a good foster home. How did you survive on the street?”

“I let men do things to me,” he said softly.

“TJ, I’m not judging you,” I said lifting his chin. “But how long did that happen?”

I was watching TJ and I was noticing that he was constantly digging at himself. “Not too many times. There was a guy who would come around and offer to jack me off and pay me then buy me dinner.”

I had watched him for a good fifteen minutes when I said, “TJ, what’s wrong? Why are you digging at yourself?”

“Nothing really,” he said. “I just itch.”

“Stand up,” I said. “Let me take a look.”

He stood up and lowered his jeans and underwear and his crotch was red and inflamed. “My God TJ,” I said in shock and horror. “How long has this been there?”

“I dunno,” he said. “A week, maybe a little longer.”

“Pull your pants up,” I said. “You need to see a doctor.”

“Why?” He asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said standing up. “You may have an STD.”

“What’s that?” He asked rubbing his crotch again.

“STD means Sexually Transmitted Disease,” I said leading him into the department. “The only way you can get it is to have sex with someone who is infected.”

“I didn’t have sex with no one,” TJ whined.

I took him into a room and he sat up on the table. I called out and had a staff member come back and register him. I also had her call my friends with the Police and Children’s Services. Dr. Miller came in and I thought TJ was going to have a coronary. “Mike, I’m not dropping my pants for a girl.”

“That’s OK Mike,” she said trying to bait him. “I probably wouldn’t see anything any way.”

“HEY,” he yelled. “I’ve got one. I just don’t like showing my doink to women.”

I looked at TJ and said, “She’s seen a penis before. It’s just another day at the office. We all wish we didn’t have to but we do. Now stand up and drop em.”

“Alight,” he said as he stood up and lowered his jeans and underwear.

“Mike, I need a swab test for gonorrhea,” she said. I handed her the kit then said, “TJ, this I going to hurt son. She’s going to have to insert that into the head of your penis and spin it around. Do you want to hold my hand?”

I saw him swallow hard then say, “Ye…yeah.”

I took off my rubber gloves then held my hands out to him. I moved in behind him and took his hands and held him. I saw Dr. Miller pick up his penis then said, “Hold on tight but don’t kick.”

She inserted the swab and spun it and poor TJ screamed bloody murder. When she removed the swab, TJ turned around and wrapped his arms around me and cried. “Eeeeyow, shit that hurts Mike. Make her stop,” he said.

“I know,” I said comforting the teen. “But we need to know what is it you have so we can start treating you.”

TJ calmed down and I drew blood for a VDRL and an AIDS test. TJ was sitting in the room when Detective Pat Moreland came into the department. I took him back to meet TJ and I explained to him that the officer was here to help him and not cast judgments. TJ told him what his Uncle did and said to him and that he’d been on the street for the last month. I told Pat it’s looking like someone out there gave TJ an STD and we’re looking to identify it and treat him. Pat said he would check with the free clinic and see if there were any cases of teens with STD’s.

The next person to arrive was Jenny Moore from Child Services. Jenny was a case worker who was “way to by the book” for me. I saw her walk in and she said, “Where is the child Mr. Cummings?”

“Room 2,” I said. “I think there is something you should know.”

“I have the report from the admissions person,” she said. “You have a homeless street tramp in there.”

“I’ll not let you badger and belittle him,” I said. “That boy was beaten and then put out of his house by his Uncle and made to fend for himself.”

“That’s not my problem,” she said. “He’s going to go into a shelter.”

“Like hell he is lady,” I said and took my license out of my wallet and showed it to her. “I’ve already talked with your supervisor and you’re to process him with me as his foster parent. I’ll not allow you to add any more to his plate.”

“Very well Mr. Cummings,” she said. “You can have the boy.”

She filled out the paper work and TJ was now officially my foster son. I went in to see TJ and give him the news. He looked up and said, “I heard what the lady said. Is she gonna take me?”

“Nope,” I said rubbing his red hair. “I am. I’m your foster Dad.”

“What?” He said not believing what he just heard. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because you deserve a decent break,” I said sitting beside him. “I also don’t want you back on the street but rather in a home where you can be a kid.”

It was almost noon and I was getting hungry. I looked at TJ and he said, “Mike, I’m hungry. Could I borrow some money?”

“Don’t worry about it son,” I said smiling. “Let’s go to the cafeteria.”

I told the charge nurse I was going to lunch. I got another eye opening experience of a teenage eating machine. TJ was eating so fast I had to tell him to slow down so he didn’t make himself sick. He told me the last time he ate was two days ago when his friend jacked him off and fed him. I noticed when he was telling me this he seemed ashamed. I looked at him and said, “TJ, you only did what you needed to in order to survive. Did you perform oral sex on anyone or do anything else?”

“No Mike,” I never did that. “This guy would come around every couple of days and would jack me and give me ten bucks and buy me dinner. I guess the longer I was on the street, I started to get gross because he started wearing gloves.”

I didn’t give what he said a second thought and said, “Well that’s now in the past and something you’ll never have to go through again. Have you been able to contact your friend Freddy?”

He shook his head no and said, “I didn’t dare go back there in case my Uncle might have said something to his parents.”

“When we get home, would you like to try to call him?” I asked hoping he could at least have one friend.

TJ looked at me and said, “Yeah. I really miss him.”

We went back to the department and I put TJ back in his room. I found Dr. Miller and said, “Have the lab reports come back yet?”

“Yes they have and we’re going to have to notify the Health Department,” she said reaching for TJ’s chart. “He has gonorrhea but it will respond to antibiotics.”

“What about the skin irritation?” I asked.

“We can try a steroid cream and see if that will help,” she said as she wrote orders into his chart. “It was his first round of antibiotics to be given to him by injection. Can you take care of that?”

I nodded my head and took the chart to see what antibiotic she had ordered. I gave him his injection of Rocephin and TJ didn’t seem to take it too badly. I put a band aid on the site and he asked me, “Mike, why doesn’t it bother you that Freddie and I were fooling around?”

“Why should it?” I asked. “Were you hurting anyone or were you forcing him to do something he didn’t want to do?”

“No,” TJ said. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” I said not really knowing where this was going to go.

“Do you like guys too?” He asked not batting an eyelash.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do,” I said. “We can talk more about that when we get home.”

TJ’s steroid crème came down from the pharmacy and I put some on his rash. I checked back on him a few minutes later and he said the itch finally stopped.

We started getting busy so I had TJ sit out in the waiting area while I finished my shift. I signed out at 3:30 and TJ and I headed to the store to get him some clothes. I got him some jeans, shirts and accessories then took him to my apartment.

The first thing TJ wanted to do was get a shower. I showed him to his room and then the bathroom. I took an old plastic trash can and put a plastic bag in it to use as a laundry basket for him. I wanted to wash his clothes as soon as I could so I said, “Go into the bathroom and get those clothes off so I can wash them.”

I was going to leave and give him his privacy when he said, “Here you go Mike.”

 

I turned around and he was holding his clothes in his hands. I took them and let him have his shower. I had a back brush hanging on a hook so I didn’t get the call to wash his back.

While TJ was in the shower I started fixing a meatloaf for dinner. I peeled some potatoes and put them around it and put it in the oven. I went through my mail then TJ came out and joined me. “How is your penis kiddo?”

“It’s a little sore and hurts when I pee but it’s not too bad,” he said.

While TJ was in the shower, I was thinking about what he told me about the man wearing gloves when he masturbated him. I had seen TJ and other than being really red, there wasn’t any sign that he was unusually dirty. I decided to see if TJ could tell me more about how he was masturbated.

I got him a soda and we sat at the table as he told me what happened each time he and the man got together. He took a big mouthful then said, “We would go to the mall and walk around then he would take me to the bathrooms. We would go into a large stall and he would have me take my pants and underwear down. At first he would suck me for a little while but later on that stopped. When I was hard he took his pants down and put his penis against mine then pulled his foreskin over mine and started jacking. It felt really good and soon we would both shoot.”

I now understood more than I did before but I still had a few questions. “How long were you out on the streets before you met him?” I asked.

“Not very long,” he said. “Just a couple of days.”

This was all making sense to me now. This guy knew what he was doing and I wanted this guy off the streets. I called the station but Pat had gone for the day. They said they would have him call me in the morning.

I let TJ watch some TV while I finished fixing dinner. I put some frozen biscuits in the oven then cooked some green beans. TJ put a good size dent in the meatloaf as well as the potatoes. I was hoping once he was eating three meals a day his appetite would settle down.

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.”

To be continued...

Posted: 06/20/08