Life Struggles (Life Stories Book 1)

by Mark Treble

“Where's Alex?” That was the only thing I needed to know.

  “We don't know.” I started crying. “But, we don't think he was kidnapped. His girlfriend was found by some campers north of here in the bayous. She said something about Lex and lost and gas and that was it.

  “Could this Lex be Alex?”

  I'd heard Monica call him Lex. “Yes. She calls him Lex some times. Go find Alex.” That was all I was interested in.

  “We'll find him. Some lawyer has put up a hundred thousand dollar reward for his return. Can't be too long.” Finding him wasn't enough. I wanted him found alive.

  Danny left and I asked Cheryl what had happened to me.

  “Wait a minute, I'll be right back.” Shit, that's not what happened to me.

  Cheryl returned in less than a minute with the guy called Barney. He didn't look like a dinosaur. I looked questioningly at Cheryl.

  “Ethan, I've been prohibited from functioning as a nurse in your case. If I do I lose my license. It's all good; I would have done the same thing with any other nurse under me. I am a visitor with no more rights or privileges than any other visitors. I'm here only as your friend. This is Barney Clayburn, he's your doctor.” Huh, Cheryl is my friend. I knew that, it's just the first time she'd ever said it. I reached for her hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back, then stopped when she saw me grimace.

  Doctor Dinosaur spoke. “Ethan, we're going to start at the head and go down. You have a pretty bad concussion. Your face is badly bruised and your lips are still very swollen. You're missing three teeth. Your jaw is broken, but it's just a hairline fracture. You were stabbed in the shoulder. Four ribs were broken. The worst injury is the tear in your abdomen. It looks like you were stabbed and the knife was twisted and then torn side to side. Nothing is beyond repair, but you've got a couple more surgeries coming up.

  “Your genitals are badly bruised. In fact, if you still had a foreskin we would have to circumcise you to get a catheter in. The catheter comes out tomorrow. You were stabbed in both legs, but the arteries were not cut. Your right foot had gangrene, so we're using a new device, a miniature hyperbaric chamber with 99% oxygen on it. Do you have any questions?” Do I have any questions? Lots.

  “Where was I?” That's a good place to start.

  Cheryl took over. “The police had an ‘observe and report’ order out on the car you were driving. Belongs to a friend of Luke's. You were in a city garage and had been left for about a day. You had lost a lot of blood, your foot was gangrenous, and if you had been found four hours later I'd be at your funeral.” Cheryl's eyes were glistening. She was either super-horny or trying not to cry. Or, knowing her, both.

  “Where's Blowjob? He did this.” I wanted revenge.

  Cheryl laughed. “Detective Flint told me you had nicknamed Bob Cerone ‘Blowjob,’ which is why you got the beat-down. Bob Cerone is in jail facing a list of charges that would barely fit in the city telephone directory. Stiletto, Skinny, Sarge and the rest of the crew are also in jail. The feds are doing something with the D.A.'s office, I don't pretend to understand it.”

  “Who's looking for Alex?” I needed to know that.

  “Detective Flint assured me that three county sheriff's departments, the state police, a couple of other organizations and Fish and Wildlife are combing the woods. And, the lawyer's gotten seventeen tips from people looking for the money. Another tip came in this morning and Luke said something about a birthmark and took off for the bayous.” How fucking stupid could I be? I forgot to tell anyone about the birthmark on Alex's left ankle. It looked a bit like the state of Florida.

  “Birthmark? Is it Alex?” I didn't realize I had Cheryl's arm in a death grip. A word of advice to the uninitiated: Never put a trauma nurse's arm in a death grip. I quickly let go and had another pain to add to my list.

  “Luke took an off-duty nurse trainee with him. We should hear something later today.” Cheryl was smiling. I was agonizing.

  Cheryl whispered in Barney's ear and he nodded. He left and about two minutes later another nurse walked in. She scanned my patient ID bracelet, scanned some sort of container, entered some information into a computer, and then put something into my IV. I was asleep in less than a minute. Bless you, Cheryl.

  I woke up to see Marcus and some white guy standing next to my bed with a laptop. When did Marcus start working at the hospital? This was getting awfully complicated.

  Marcus set up the computer on my tray-table and hit a button. Luke's face was there and he was beaming.

  “I think we've found Alex alive. It looks kind of like him and he has the birthmark. And he called me ‘Uncle Luke.’He's really sick and the student nurse is a miracle worker. The EMT's should be here in a few minutes. When he's able to travel I've hired a private ambulance to take him to St. Swithin's. Ethan, it isn't over yet, but I think we're getting close.”

  I couldn't see or hear anything more. I was crying my eyes out. Marcus held me and I clung to him as hard as I could. Somebody tried to untangle us but neither I nor Marcus was having any of it. Meanwhile the unknown white guy rubbed my back (except for the broken ribs it didn't hurt too badly) and made soothing sounds.

  Marcus told me that he had spoken to Alex the day before he disappeared. Alex didn't know how to approach me. He confessed that he did really like me, but he'd been an asshole since his mother died and if he stopped he'd be admitting to his assholishness. I could understand that.

  When I was eighteen I was always right. Even when I found out I was wrong I still pretended I was right. Admitting that I'd been wrong about something wasn't difficult, it was impossible. I'd need to talk with Alex. Of course, eventually I cried myself out and went back to blessed sleep.

  They woke me up to take a tube out of my upper chest, the side without the stab wound. Somebody said I had to lie flat for thirty minutes. Best news I'd had in ages. Then Cheryl was at my side with a spoon. “Ice chips,” she explained. I let her feed them to me one by one. Best tasting fucking ice chips I've ever had.

  After the half hour I was allowed to sit up. I couldn't have anything but ice chips for the rest of the day, but tomorrow I would start on clear liquids. I mentioned that vodka was a clear liquid. The nurse laughed. Then she said all visitors had to leave.

  I looked at Cheryl and she said she was just a visitor here to see her friend. She called me her friend again. I waved good-bye to her and to a black shape I think might have been Marcus. Then my arm felt cold again and I fell asleep.

  The next morning Danny came in with Marcus and I got a little bit more of the story. The gay black man repeated the story about Alex really liking me but being too proud to retreat from his asshole attitude. I told Marcus what I planned to do and he thought it was a good idea. Of course it was a good idea, I had thought it up.

  Marcus was staying at my house until I could come home. Somebody named Lucy (intern from the paper?) was spending the nights while Marcus handled the days. Marcus said that Lucy was real nice, but she had a crush on Marcus and he didn't know how to break the news to her.

  “Tell her you suck dicks, Marcus. That ought to do it.” I wasn't well enough to be polite. Danny had put out an ‘observe and report’ order on the car I was driving. An off-duty cop working as a security guard at the city lot called it in and looked in the window. There was a body and a lot of blood in the back seat. He broke the window and called 911. I knew the rest of that story.

  “Why were Alex's clothes by the road?” That was what had started all this shit. I wanted an answer.

  “We're not sure.” Danny might not be sure, but he was looking hopeful. “Monica's across town at another hospital. They're going to bring her out of a medically-induced coma shortly, and there's a detective standing by to talk with her.”

  I fell asleep again until Danny woke me up. I hate that man. Let me sleep.

  “Monica told Detective Goldberg that she picked up Alex next door to your house. She told him she was going to a Rave party with her cousin and asked if Alex wanted to
go. You know the Rave parties with all the drugs where the kids all get naked and fuck? Yeah, that's a Rave party.

  “Anyway, Alex didn't want to go because of the drugs, but Monica told him there would be plenty of beer. She wouldn't let him get in her car because his filthy clothes would get the seats dirty. So he took off his T-shirt and cut-offs. Then, being eighteen years old, suffering serious testosterone poisoning and looking forward to beer and sex, he just forgot them and got in the car.” I will kill that kid. Right after I hug him.

  Danny continued with the narrative. The Capelletis are pretty well finished. One of their enforcers is trying to make a deal on six murders. Yes, it was Rufus Yardley. I asked which murders and Danny named them. Hmmm, didn't include the liquor store one. I asked to talk to the D.A. handling the case. “Later.”

  I told Marcus that I would pay Luke's friend to have the back seat cleaned or replaced.

  “Already taken care of. One of my cousins has been trying to set me up with his wife's gay nephew, but the nephew is only 23. Too young for me. So, I agreed to three dates with the guy if my cousin's auto detailing shop would take care of the Chrysler.

  “The nephew had as much interest in me as I did in him. Zero. I took him to Whiskey Festival and he hooked up. The next night I took him to Dorothy and he hooked up again. The final date was to Tucson/Hawk. I left him there after thirty minutes. The next day he showed up at the house at 6:00 a.m. holding a plastic bag in front of his nuts. Otherwise he was naked. And grinning. My cousin told me the nephew was on Cloud Nine and talked non-stop about half a dozen guys, none of whom was named Marcus.

  “Anyway, the car is as good as new. Thank God, because Mike lets me drive it, and I don't know what I'd do without wheels.” Marcus smiled and tried for a fist-bump. He missed. Oh, well. Who was Mike?

  After more ice chips I took a little nap. When I woke up Danny was in the room with me.

  “It's Alex. When he could talk he called him ‘Uncle Luke.’ That cinched it. He's in a hospital upstate and will be here some time tomorrow. I offered to arrange a city ambulance but Luke refused. He's riding down with Alex in a private ambulance and the nurse is bringing back Luke's car. Alex isn't out of the woods completely, but the doctors say he's going to survive.” Danny was smiling.

  “What's wrong with Alex?” I hoped it wasn't serious.

  Danny looked concerned. “Well, dysentery for one. And West Nile virus. The state health people are all over that one. And some sort of parasite that's going to take another few weeks to get rid of. And a couple of things the doctor said that I didn't understand. Ethan, he's one sick boy. But he's alive.” Sick Alex or dead Alex? That was an easy choice.

  The next morning Barbara came to see me along with the managing editor. I didn't think that Mr. Pryce knew who I was. Well, he probably didn't.

  My job at the newspaper was secure. Lucy had started writing the Life Continues column with heavy editing support. It would appear every other week until I returned. Her first column was an inside report on the takedown of the Capelleti family. She turned down a book offer but said she'd help me write it. Barbara added that Lucy actually had a scoop. Everybody figured the Capelletis were Italian. You know, mobs and shit. They were originally from Norway.

  Then Luke walked in. I hugged him until he couldn't breathe. Alex was downstairs and, if I behaved, I could go down to see him. I promised to be on my best behavior.

  “Luke, the paintings, you …” He wouldn't let me finish.

  “They're still in storage and are not needed. Anyway, it's just canvas and paint.” He paused for a few seconds.

  “Now, are you going to behave?” I nodded yes, then stopped when my head hurt.

  A nurse I recognized from the ward came in with a wheelchair. Luke and the nurse helped me out of bed, and while the nurse was untangling the wires and tubes Luke grabbed another hospital gown to drape it over my backside. It was a nice gesture, but I didn't really care. By this time all but three people in the time zone had seen me naked, and those three were way to the north and living in an igloo.

  The trip to the elevator took forever. The nurse had to recruit an assistant to help keep the cords and tubes untangled. Luke offered to help and was told to fuck off. He just grinned.

  It was only one floor, but I thought I was going to be released to go home before we finished riding down that short distance. I was wheeled into a private room (Cheryl has some real clout at that hospital) and I saw a curtain around a bed. I could hear a young woman's voice.

  The curtain was pulled aside and the woman was in a nurse's uniform with some sort of pin on it that said “In Training.”And then, there he was. Thin and sick, but most importantly alive.

  “Alex”

  “Douchebag.” But Alex was smiling.

  Chapter Thirteen

  After a couple of days they let me visit Alex for a whole hour. I told him I was sorry for being so hard on him after Dana's death. I hoped he could understand that I missed her so much, and didn't give enough consideration to the fact that I hadn't just lost my wife, he had lost his mother. I asked him to forgive me.

  Alex forgave me. He said that he might have been a little hard on me, too, and that we should both try to get along better. Then we cried together until the nurse came and told me to get the fuck out.

  Alex and I were released on the same day a week later. Cheryl recruited “volunteer” nursing students to cover the daytime and she spent the night. Every night. Before long I was ready for that blowjob. It was worth the wait.

  We cleared up a few details. Veronica, the nursing student who had gone with Luke, was a star. She said the dysentery was easy (for her, anyway). The parasite was also easy since she had just taken a course on parasitology. The fact that a worm was poking out of Alex's ass didn't hinder the diagnosis.

  “What about the West Nile virus?” That was Cheryl. “Early stages look like a million other things. I seriously doubt I could have made that call.”

  “Well,” started Veronica, “he had all the symptoms of a million other things, but most of them the medics and the hospital would be ready to treat. Headache was bad, eyes were photosensitive and he had a rash. That still could be dozens of other stuff that they were prepared to treat. So, I called West Nile because they should be ready. I just got lucky.”

  “Lucky my ass.” That was me. “What did you do?”

  “Well, first I had Luke put something under his feet and legs.” She turned to explain to the ignorant one; that would be me. “That pushes blood and other fluids toward the core and the brain. Then I had him pull some willow bark and start turning it into powder. See, neither one of us had remembered to bring aspirin or ibuprofen or anything.” Cheryl glowered at her and she bowed her head for a moment.

  Finally she resumed her story. “Luke alternated producing powder and massaging Alex's legs to increase fluid flow. He had bought a coke with crushed ice, so I had him bring me that to feed Alex ice chips. I put small amounts of willow bark powder under his tongue every two minutes.” She shrugged. “Anybody could have done that.”

  “Yeah, if anybody is you or MacGyver,” contributed Cheryl. “Willow bark was an inspiration. It slowed down the developing encephalitis, reduced his fever and helped with some of the pain. As for running off without the right supplies, consider yourself severely chastised.”

  “So, the next time I'm sick I need to go into the back yard and chew on some tree bark?” Actually, Alex's question was the same one I had.

  “Willow bark contains a salicylate, just like aspirin. I thought everybody knew that.” Veronica's opinion of ‘everybody's’ breadth of knowledge sure exceeded mine.

  Alex, with Cheryl's support, had won the epic Battle of the Pants. Monica had started spending the night the second day Alex was home. I was too tired to deal with it. Alex had stopped wearing clothes, and I wasn't too tired to deal with that.

  “Go put on some fucking clothes,” was my response. Alex disagreed.

  “It's my
house and I'll wear what I want.” When he was well enough for it I was going to kill the punk.

  “We have Cheryl and Monica here,” I told him.

  Alex was ready for that. “Cheryl's a nurse and Monica's seen me naked more than you have.”

  Cheryl actually supported me on the anti-nudity stance. “Alex, I've seen more dicks than everybody else in this room combined. And, I'm sure Monica has seen you naked plenty of times. The issue is household accidents. I see them every week in trauma. Some guy is running around naked in his house just because he can, and winds up in the ER with a burned, bruised, cut – or worse – penis. And the damage to the testicles is no picnic.”

  Alex wore tighty whiteys after that. I tried to object, but Cheryl shot me down. “Have you seen MTV? Looked at a clothing catalog? Seen Marcus go to the market in his boxers? Give it up, Ethan. You won the on the naked thing.”

  So, when Veronica showed up Alex was in his underwear. It was a good thing Monica wasn't there, because she would have had a meltdown. Alex was smitten.

  He kept getting up to go stand by her, touching her, doing everything but throw himself at her feet. Alex told her his nipples felt abnormal, and grabbed her hand to “examine” them. He asked her to give him a complete physical and she laughed.

  “Alex, the important part is one I'm not qualified to examine. That's your pre-frontal cortex. In most other ways you're a man. For the next four to eight years your pre-frontal cortex will still be that of a boy. And there ain't shit you can do about it.

  “As the pre-frontal cortex matures so does the person. I'm sure you can father babies, and I have no doubt you're a veritable God in bed. But you're still a boy. And I'm a woman.” Veronica looked sorry to have let Alex down. Alex looked even sorrier because he was let down.

  But now I had my trump card: Your pre-frontal cortex is still a boy, so I who am a man have said no. End of discussion.

  I asked Alex about his feelings toward Veronica. He said that he and Monica were really just friends with lots and lots of benefits. I cautioned him about sex without love.