Welcome to Beaconsfield

by DJ Manly

  * * * *

  Ray came over and put his arm around his shoulder. Silent tears streamed down his face.

  Then Cory stiffened as he saw Evan coming toward them, his face full of rage. “Was that who I think it was?” He yelled, grabbing Cory and dragging him in the direction of the back door.

  * * * *

  Gian was just about to get into his car when he heard yelling and swearing. He paused and then ran across the street and around to the alley.

  “Please, honey,” it was Cory’s voice. “He came in by accident, police business, nothing more. He wasn’t here to see me, honest. It’s over between us, really…please Evan…”

  “Don’t Evan. He’s telling the truth,” Ray was pleading. “There is nothing between them anymore.”

  Gian walked steadily down the alley, his footsteps echoing on the pavement.

  Ray turned around. “Thank God,” he said, running up to him. “You got to stop him. He’s gone mad. You got to stop him,” he said frantically, pulling on Gian’s arm.

  Gian gave him a look which said, be still. Ray backed up to the wall and stayed there.

  Cory was on the ground, his mouth was bloody. His shirt was torn open, his pants undone.

  “I can do you in a way that you won’t remember him no more,” Evan slurred with his drunken voice, trying to turn Cory over on top of a heap of garbage bags as he continued to struggle against him.

  “I don’t think so,” Gian said loudly, his voice echoing in the alleyway.

  Evan paused. He turned around, releasing Cory. His pants were open, his eyes bloodshot. He swayed on his feet.

  “I think you’d have to be damn good at it for him to forget about me, and looking at you now and at the size of that dick, I’d say you didn’t stand a chance.”

  “You son of a bitch. I’m going to finish you off,” he growled. “Sniffing around what belongs to me, eh? Go find your own whore!”

  Gian laughed. “Come on, Evan, come and get me if you’re man enough.”

  Cory stood and wiped the blood off his mouth. “Gian,” he warned. “Don’t. Just go home and…”

  Evan took out a knife. The steel glinted in the moonlight.

  Gian laughed. “Ooooo….I’m scared now.”

  “You’re a cocky bastard, aren’t you?” He made a threatening move toward Gian.

  “You’re hurting my feelings, Evan. You do realize that if you come at me with that knife, you are attacking a police officer. You can go to jail for that.”

  “Well what about murdering a police officer, can I go to jail for that?” He screamed and made a lunge for him.

  * * * *

  Cory turned away, clutching Ray’s arm. “Call the police.”

  Ray ran inside.

  Cory saw the blade swipe through the air. There was blood and lots of grunts and curses as the two men rolled around on the pavement together. They struggled with the blade back and forth. Blood flew through the air and as Cory tried to move closer to see what was happening, it splattered all over him. Cory screamed into the silent night. People from the bar were outside now, watching.

  “Someone, do something,” Cory pleaded, but no one moved. And after what seemed like eternity, there were sirens. Evan staggered to his feet while Gian lay still on the pavement. Blinded by tears, he tried to find his way to Gian, but Ray grabbed him and pulled him back.

  “No,” he cautioned.

  Suddenly, he saw Gian move. He reached out and grabbed Evan’s ankle. With a grunt, he pulled him face down on the pavement. He was on top of him now, pulling his arm tight across his back, holding him still.

  Police were running down the alley. They pulled Gian up off Evan who had now lost consciousness. “Get an ambulance,” one officer called.

  Cory put a trembling hand over his mouth as he saw the pool of blood spreading out over the pavement. At first he thought it was coming from Evan, but then he realized as they lifted Evan into the ambulance that it wasn’t. He gasped as he looked over to where Gian was standing with a police officer. His face was covered with blood. His forehead was coated with it and it was even in his eyes.

  Bobby Denardo pulled up now to the curb and came racing down the alley. “Gian,” he cried out. “Christ, are you all right?”

  Gian nodded, leaning against the wall.

  Cory and Ray came over to stand beside him.

  “Gian,” Cory said, taking off his shirt, “you should sit down or something.” He started wiping blood off Gian’s face who was protesting that he was fine. As soon as Cory had wiped the blood away, his face was covered in blood again.

  Bobby Denardo stepped closer to Gian. “There’s too much blood,” he said.

  “Where’s it coming from?” Cory demanded frantically, looking at Bobby Denardo, who was inspecting Gian’s head.

  Denardo checked his forehead, then his eyes widened. “Jesus, Gian, we got to get you to the hospital.”

  Cory saw that he had a gash in his head filled with blood that just kept pouring out of the wound in thick sticky drops. Cory’s heart beat wildly. “Fuck, fuck,” he said.

  “I’m fine,” Gian said weakly. He took a step, but then fell to his knees.

  Cory went down beside him. “My God, My God, baby,” he whispered. He rolled up the bloody shirt he had been wiping his face with and pressed it to his head. “Where’s the ambulance?” he cried out. “Why in the hell didn’t they do something when they were here?”

  Bobby sucked in some air. “Because this guy here thinks he’s immortal and probably told them he was okay.” He pulled Gian up onto his feet. “Keep the pressure on his head, Cory. I’m taking him to the hospital. He’s losing too much blood. He could go into shock.”

  They half carried him to the car. His head hung limply back. He was weak, but he was still conscious. Cory supported his neck and shoulders as Bobby Denardo took the second half of him.

  Cory got in the back seat, pulling Gian with him. Bobby pushed the rest of him in. Cory laid Gian’s head on his chest where he kept pressing his shirt to it. The blood was pouring down his face again now.

  “Keep him talking. Don’t let him pass out. He’s lost a lot of blood,” Bobby told him from the front seat. He threw the siren up on top of the car and peeled out into traffic.

  Cory cradled Gian’s head against him. With one hand, he stroked his hair that was now matted with blood and pressed the shirt against his head with the other. Cory wiped away the streams of blood that ran down his face. All that blood scared him. He couldn’t remember being this scared before. He wanted to pray, but he didn’t know how. He couldn’t think.

  He pressed Gian closer, kissed his cheek and rocked him like one would a small child. “Now, Gian, stay awake,” Cory insisted. “Don’t pass out on me.”

  He heard him mumble, “I’m okay.”

  “Good. You’re my tough boy, my hero…my love.” He kissed his head. “I love you so much,” he whispered hoarsely, trying not to cry. “Did you hear me? I said I love you….I can’t live without you, so don’t you die on me, you bastard. Talk to me.” He shook him a little, crying now. Cory was now covered in his blood.

  Gian half opened his eyes. “You say you love me and that I’m a bastard in the same breath. Which is it?” he insisted, his voice barely audible.

  “Both,” Cory looked down into his face. He held him tighter, rocking him in his arms again. “You do love me, don’t you, Gian? Don’t you?” He saw him nod a little, but he couldn’t talk anymore and then he lay very still. “Gian, Gian,” he said. “Bobby,” Cory cried. “He’s not moving. He’s not talking.”

  “Hold on, hospital is around the corner. Don’t die on me, Gian! Don’t you die on me!” Bobby was shouting, pounding the steering wheel with his fists as he peeled into the hospital parking lot on two wheels. “Jesus,” he yelled, almost colliding with an ambulance. He jumped out of the car and yanked open the door in the back seat. ‘‘Get somebody to help me.”

  A few minutes later, Gian was on a st
retcher being whisked into the emergency.

  Cory couldn’t move. He sat there in the back seat of that car, thinking about all the time they had wasted. Gian had said he loved him, at least he’d nodded when he asked him. Now, he was going to lose him, all because he had gotten involved with that idiot Evan.

  He took a breath and got out of the car. He walked into the emergency room as if in a dream. Everything swam around him. Nothing seemed real. He sat on a bench and put his face in his hands. He knew he must have been a sight with no shirt on, his chest and pants covered in blood. People looked at him in horror. But he didn’t care. His whole world was coming to an end.

  Bobby Denardo came down the hall a little while later.

  Cory stood, anxiously. “How is he? Was he conscious?”

  “I don’t think so,” Bobby said, shaking his head. “At least he wasn’t when they brought him in.”

  Bobby Denardo’s shirt and pants were soaked with blood, too. Cory noticed that there was a trail of it down the hallway. A janitor appeared suddenly with a mop and a pail and began to clean it up.

  Cory sat back down.

  Bobby sat beside him, putting his head back, closing his eyes. “Do you mind if I ask what’s been going on between the two of you?”

  Cory heard his voice suddenly and it brought him back to the present. “The first time I saw Gian,” Cory said, “was at Beaconsfield, which of course you would know right, since you worked on that case.”

  Bobby opened his eyes and leaned forward. “I know where you know him from, but what’s happened since then?”

  “He hasn’t told you?” Cory looked at him.

  “He doesn’t talk about his romantic involvements with me. He did introduce me to Jeremy once but—”

  “Who’s Jeremy?” Cory asked, blinking.

  “A fire fighter he was involved with for awhile. Jeremy lived at his place most of the time, but it didn’t work out and he moved out.”

  “Do you know why?” Cory asked.

  “I think it’s because of the job. It’s very hard to have a steady relationship with anyone, gay or straight.”

  Cory thought about that for a minute. “You’re right. It must be tough. Was he in love with him?”

  “With Jeremy? I don’t know. Like I said, Gian doesn’t say much. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not in the closet, he just doesn’t bring it up. Everyone on the force knows he’s gay. It took a lot of guts for him to come out like that, but he’s a tough guy. You got to respect him. He grew up rough.”

  “Wasn’t he adopted by the police captain?”

  “Later in life, but he was getting into trouble left and right when he was a kid. He lost his parents young and was taken in by his uncle. Guess it didn’t work out there.”

  “His uncle molested him,” Cory said.

  “How do you know that?”

  “He told me. He used to come into his room when he was eleven and that’s why he was acting out. He talked about it when we were…well, seeing each other.”

  “So there is something going on.”

  Cory nodded. “We were lovers for a while, then he just said he didn’t want to see me anymore.”

  “Why?”

  “It could have been because of what I do, but he swore that didn’t bother him. I would have given it all up if he’d asked me.”

  “But he didn’t?”

  “No.” Cory sighed. “Now I could lose him. I love him, Bobby,” Cory looked at him, fighting the tears. “I love him.”

  Just then, he saw the Captain come down the hall followed by a middle-aged blonde woman.

  “Where is he, Bobby? Where is Gian? Is it bad?” Clint insisted, glancing at Cory.

  “They’re working on him now.”

  “What happened?” Sam urged. “He wasn’t even working, was he?”

  “No. He was off,” Bobby said.

  “How bad is he, Denardo, be honest?” Clint insisted.

  “He has a head injury, he’s lost a lot of blood and he was unconscious by the time we got him here.”

  Sam started to cry.

  Clint hugged her. “Who is responsible for this? Who did this?”

  “He got into a fight with a guy at a bar. He…”

  Cory stood, his knees weak. “He was protecting me from my boyfriend. Evan had a knife and—”

  “Who in the hell are you?” Clint demanded, not recognizing Cory.

  “Don’t you remember the Beaconsfield case, Clint?” Bobby urged.

  “That was a long time ago. Are you working the streets now?” He demanded.

  Cory nodded, ashamed.

  “And what in hell was Gian doing at the Stud Bar? He doesn’t hang out there now, does he?” Clint barked.

  “It’s hard to explain. I don’t really know, Clint.” Bobby shook his head.

  Clint took his wife’s hand. “Come on, we’re going to try and find out what in hell is going on.”

  They took off down the hallway.

  Cory sat back down, Bobby beside him. They said nothing. There was nothing left to say.

  The night turned into morning and Cory paced the hallway. He went to the chapel and tried to ask God to save Gian, but he didn’t know how. In the end, he simply said, “Please.”

  The Captain and his wife sat still without speaking, in the waiting room. Bobby fell off to sleep at one time, then woke up and went to get coffee for everyone.

  Clint called his daughter early in the morning on his cell phone. She was finishing her last semester in law school. He told her not to panic, that he would keep her informed.

  Cory could hear her crying on the other end of the line from where he stood several feet away.

  Finally at around nine o’clock, a doctor came down the hall. “Are you the family of the young police officer with the head injury?”

  Clint stood, Sam with him, her knees trembling. “Yes. Is he going to be all right?”

  Bobby and Cory came closer.

  “The upside is that we managed to stabilize him. He lost a lot of blood. We repaired the gash to his head. The danger was that he would go into shock, but he’s a really tough young man. Unfortunately, he’s still unconscious.”

  “What does that mean?” Sam asked, her eyes narrowing.

  “We’re not sure. We will have to wait and see.”

  “Is he in a coma?” Clint demanded anxiously.

  “We don’t know if we can call it that yet. He’s…ah…just not awake yet.”

  “I don’t understand,” Sam insisted. “Are you saying he might not wake up at all?”

  “It’s too early to tell,” the doctor shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

  “Can we see him?” Sam asked.

  “In a couple of hours,” the doctor said.

  Cory walked away quickly. He ducked into a bathroom and cried. He could hear Clint, his wife and Bobby Denardo talking low, trying to reassure each other. When Cory came out of the bathroom, Clint was on his cell phone calling Kayla again.

  Cory left the hospital five minutes later, walking and walking. He didn’t even know what happened to Evan and he didn’t wait to find out. When he arrived at the apartment, he packed all his clothes and went back to the hotel where he had stayed before. He sat in his room all day, trying to decide where to go from here. He knew one thing, this was a turning point in his life. He was getting out of the business and he was going to take that counselling he’d been offered before. He also knew that he didn’t want to live his life without Gian and that no matter what, he was going to stay by his side.

  He changed his clothes, took a shower and went back to the hospital.

  When Cory asked if he could see Gian, he was told it was family only. He waited in the hallway. No one came to tell him anything and he had no right to ask. But he was going to stay here in this hallway for as long as it took.

  Clint and Sam went in and out of intensive care. They didn’t say anything to him, but they noticed that he had been there all day and half of the evening. Cory not
iced that sometimes they were crying when they came out. This upset him.

  Finally he got enough courage to approach the Captain. “Can you tell me how he is please, Sir?” Cory enquired, wringing his hands in anticipation.

  “He’s weak and he…” he paused, taking a breath. “He hasn’t opened his eyes.”

  “What do the doctors say?” Cory urged.

  “The doctors think he will wake up eventually, but they can’t say for sure. For now, we have to wait and see.”

  “He’s not in a coma, is he?” Cory asked, searching Clint’s face.

  “They’re not calling it that but…” Clint shook his head, unable to go on. He put up a hand and walked away, disappearing down the hall.

  Cory sat down. He had a terrible headache. He just needed to see him, to make sure he was all right, but that was impossible right now. Suddenly he looked up to see Gian’s sister running down the hall. She had a flight bag slung over her shoulder. When she saw Cory, she said, “Where is he? Where’s my brother?”

  “Down the hall in Intensive Care. Your mother is with him now.”

  She continued on past him, running.

  Cory got up and paced again. It was almost midnight. A few minutes after Kayla went in, she came out crying.

  Cory asked her if she was all right.

  She wiped her eyes and nodded.

  “How is he?”

  “He just lies there. He doesn’t open his eyes. Doctors don’t say anything.”

  She looked at Cory. “What happened?”

  “He got into it again with Evan. You remember the first time?” Cory asked her.

  Kayla met his eyes. “What in hell is wrong with you? Why are you still with that guy?”

  “I’m not. I left him,” Cory hung his head.

  “Why was he fighting with him this time?” Kayla demanded. “I thought it was over between you?”

  “He was trying to protect me. Evan was drunk and he was trying to rape me in an alley. It was my fault, Kayla, my fault that he was even there at all. He came to give me back the money.” Cory ran a hand though his hair, tears standing in his eyes. He was exhausted and drained emotionally. He felt like curling up in a corner somewhere and just dying.