The Castaway Hotel - 4 - 40. Chapter 40 - Shadows In Our Future

Pat continued to heal nicely throughout the week and didn’t seem to be in too much discomfort. His brothers continued to keep him company and take care of him better than a private nurse ever could, and he wrote each of them several messages of thanks. In addition to some of our extended family stopping by to see him, a few of his friends from school also came by, including the boy who caused the accident initially. He told Pat that he was glad to hear that he got his sight back in the one eye and hoped this operation took care of most of the problems with his face. He also told Pat he was looking forward to seeing him again in school in the fall, after which Pat wrote him a thank you message, letting him know he was quite moved by the visit. Pat admitted he didn’t expect to see him like this and held no hard feelings about what had happened.

The boy seemed relieved and satisfied after reading that message and told Pat he’d come back to visit, if Pat didn’t mind. Pat jotted down a quick note explaining he’d like that, so the boy told him he’d come by again next week. When he left, I walked him to the door, thanked him for his concern and informed him he was welcome to visit our home anytime. He thanked me before he left, but not before confirming that he planning to return next week, and then he walked down the driveway and out of sight.

When Saturday arrived, the day for Frankie’s party, Pat informed me that he preferred to stay in the bedroom, rather than go out and take the attention away from Frankie. Even though I tried to explain to him that he’d draw a certain amount of attention anyway, no matter what he did, he thought he could limit it by staying somewhat secluded. He announced this was Frankie’s day, so it should be Frankie enjoying his time in the spotlight. I gave in and told him I’d bring him what he needed, so he wouldn’t miss out, but I also warned him to be prepared for a steady stream of visitors, regardless of how he handled this situation. He confirmed he understood and thanked me for ‘giving in’ to his request, before I went out to make sure everything was ready.

As the guests arrived, they each wished Frankie a ‘Happy Birthday’ and chatted with him for a few minutes, but they also made sure to stop by to see Pat too and inquire as to how he was doing. As the day progressed, I began to agree that Pat was most likely correct in his assessment and he probably would have drawn more attention away from the real reason of this get together, if he had joined in. However, I was fairly confident it wouldn’t have bothered Frankie, since his primary focus was on just one person – the girl clinging to his left elbow. Not that the rest of us didn’t matter to him, but she seemed to be monopolizing most of his attention.

The party started off pretty much as usual, with the boys going out to play their games in the side yard, and I almost backed out when they began to choose up teams. I was thinking it would be best if I stayed out of it, so I could take care of Pat, but then I realized this would be unfair to Frankie, since I’d always participated at the other boys’ parties. I finally conceded there were other people around who could help Pat, if he should need assistance, so confident with that knowledge, I went ahead and joined in with the others.

After the game ended and while the others were cooling down, I stoked up the grills and then went to get the meat, so I could begin barbecuing. While I was doing that, everyone else was moving around and talking to the others present, but some of my sons decided they’d rather focus on more intimate forms of socialization with their current significant other. I noticed a few of them disappearing into the house or going for walks in the woods behind our house, but everyone returned by the time everything was ready and I started to serve it up. Eagerly, the entire group surged toward the food table and began to load up their plates, with some quickly returning for seconds, or even thirds.

Pat ended up with numerous plates being brought to him, as several of his brothers thought it was their duty to take care of him. He laughed when I came in carrying my offering and pointed at the collection of food that was already there. After sorting through the different plates and letting him take what he wanted, I took some of the remaining items back with me, thinking others might benefit from what Pat didn’t need.

Everyone seemed to have a healthy appetite and the boys made sure that none of the food went to waste. After the meal was finished, Frankie opened his presents, as was the custom, and thanked everyone for the lovely gifts he had received. After that, all of us sat around and chatted for a while, until we were ready for the cake and ice cream.

A short time after we finished our desserts, some of the adults began to say their good-byes, but not before wishing Frankie ‘Happy Birthday’ one more time and thanking us for the wonderful day. Eventually, only my sons and their dates remained, so I grabbed a few of the younger boys to help me clean up and carry everything back into the house. As it started getting dark, my macho studs took their girlfriends out for a little stroll under the stars, while also utilizing the more than adequate illumination from the light of the three-quarter moon to see by. I tried not to think about what might occur along the way.

The boys didn’t take the girls home until between ten and eleven that night, with Danny driving them around to drop them off. Each boy took some time to exchange a personal farewell with his girlfriend before they parted, and my boys arrived back home shortly after eleven. Once they were all back, the older boys gathered in the recreation room, which just happens to be next to my bedroom, to compare notes. Ironically, because it had been a nice breezy day, the windows in both rooms were open, so I was able to overhear their conversation, without even trying.

“Well, Frankie, did you get any special presents tonight?” I heard a voice ask. I thought it sounded like Dustin who spoke, but rather than focusing on the speaker, I was wishing I could have seen the look on Frankie’s face when he was confronted like that. I could only imagine the smug, cat-that-ate-the canary expression he flaunted as he gave his response.

“Yeah, I did,” he admitted. “Remember when we disappeared into the house? Well, we went up to my room and she let me do her, telling me that was her birthday present to me. How about the rest of you? Did any of you guys score?”

There were various tales told about how each of the boys had made out, and Dustin seemed to be a bit dejected when he announced his girl was ‘on the rag’, so he only got a blowjob. Some of the other boys had a good laugh about that, but then I was surprised when I heard a voice I wasn’t expecting to hear from. Needless to say, I was quite floored when I heard Dion announce that he’d gotten laid too.

He told his brothers that he and his girlfriend took a walk back into the woods earlier and ended up at the old tree house. He explained that after a little coaxing, they climbed up where it would be safe and no one could see them, and she finally let him do what he wanted. He had taken a rubber out with him, hoping for such an opportunity to ARISE, along with his dick, so there was no hesitation on his part. She had explained that she wasn’t scared off by his ‘size,’ like his old girlfriend had been, and that’s when his brothers wanted the details of what he thought of it.

“So, how was your first pussy, little bro?” Ricky wanted to know.

“It was good and I got off okay,” Dion announced. “I think she enjoyed it too.” Even though his words said one thing, I think I caught a lack of sincerity in what he told them. Maybe it wasn’t quite as good as he’d anticipated.

“I’ll bet she did,” Frankie came back, “riding that big old hog of yours. She’ll probably be very disappointed if she ever tries it with another guy now.” All the boys were laughing and teasing Dion about that, and Dion was playing right along with his brothers.

For my part, I didn’t think he was telling the whole story. I wasn’t sure if Dion hadn’t enjoyed what he had done earlier or if he was merely uncomfortable about telling his brothers the details, but none of his brothers seemed to pick up on the same cues I had. After a few more minutes of this banter, the boys called it a night and headed up to their rooms, so I heard no more about what had gone on with them earlier.

Sunday, after church, Graham came up to me and asked if I had talked to Brent or spoken with Jimmy’s family yet. I explained I hadn’t yet, but I would do both things this afternoon. Although he was somewhat disappointed I hadn’t already done this, my comments seemed to make him feel a little better. When we got home, I called Brent into my room to explain my concerns.

“Yeah, Dad, what do you need?” he responded, cheerily.

“I don’t need anything, Brent,” I told him. “I just want to talk to you about your upcoming vacation with Jimmy and his family. I’m concerned that something might happen on this trip and I want you to promise me you’ll be extra careful while you’re away. No going swimming without his parents there to watch over you, I don’t want you showing off or taking any foolish chances and I don’t want you going off without the adults. You’ll be in a strange place and you won’t know anyone there, so I want you to do whatever Jimmy’s parents tell you. Will you promise me that?”

“Sure, Dad, but why are you so worried?” he wanted to know. “I CAN take care of myself.”

“I know you can and I can’t explain why I’m so troubled about this,” I told him. “I just want you to be extra careful and not take any chances. I’m letting you go enjoy yourself, but I want you to come back to me in one piece. All right?”

“Okay, Dad. I’ll be careful,” he agreed. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Thanks and I appreciate the fact that you’re going along with me on this one,” I told him. “I want you to have a good time, but just be careful.”

“I will, Dad,” he confirmed, before leaving the room.

After that conversation had ended, I drove down to Jimmy’s house and spoke to Jimmy’s parents. I just told them that Brent could sometimes be a risk-taker and a daredevil, so I was a little concerned he might get carried away or do a little showing off. They told me they would take good care of him and watch over him the entire time. I thanked them for their assistance with this matter and said good-bye, but not before asking them not to mention to Jimmy what we had discussed. They assured me they wouldn’t and I left.

When I returned home, I intentionally didn’t say anything to Graham about having spoken to everyone involved, as I preferred to wait and see if he brought the subject up again. Nothing more was said that day, so I thought my chats may have taken care of the problem.

Monday afternoon, I took Pat down for his follow-up examination, so the doctor could judge if the healing process was progressing as he hoped. When Pat was called back, I got up to go with him, but the nurse told me the doctor wanted me to remain in the waiting room for a little longer. She explained she would come back and get me when the doctor was to a point where he wanted me to join them, so I sat down again. I was slightly confused about this, although I didn’t say anything, and picked up a magazine instead, to help occupy the time.

I wasn’t used to being relegated to the waiting room in this manner, as my boys usually wanted me to be with them whenever something major was happening. Although this wasn’t an earth-shaking exam, I had to wonder why I was being left out. After sitting and mulling it over in my mind, I came up with a few ideas. First, the doctor might have been planning to test Pat’s skin sensitivity or something of that nature and didn’t want me unintentionally giving him signals or reacting at the same time. Second, it was possible he was worried about how I might respond when seeing Pat’s face for the first time since the operation.

The doctor had insisted I leave Pat’s bandages alone until after this exam, since he didn’t want to risk any sort of infection. He did have me use the drops in Pat’s eyes, to keep them from drying out, but told me the cream was only to be applied if Pat complained that the skin under the bandages was irritated or itched so badly that he might be tempted to try scratching where it itched. Otherwise, he wanted the area to remain covered and not exposed to germs. Although I still wasn’t certain of his reasoning, my best guess was that Pat’s doctor most likely decided it best to see him alone first, to prevent anything out of the ordinary from happening. .

In continuing this line of thought, I also figured that after the doctor had finished with Pat, he would then try to prepare me about what to expect, before I came into the room, that is, if the situation warranted it. A few minutes later a nurse came out to get me and led me back to the examination room Pat was in. As she opened the door to let me in, I could see Pat seated on the table. This was the first I had seen his head without the bandages since before the operation, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Although I wasn’t surprised by his appearance, I guessed it looked worse than it actually was. His face was still slightly swollen and discolored, but there were only a few red marks on his face, indicating where the stitches joined the skin together. I knew the redness would disappear relatively quickly, so I hoped the other issues would follow suit.

When the doctor looked up, he called me over and explained about each area to me. Before he finished, he also pointed out the one patch he would need to smooth out with the laser later, but assured me that process would eliminate the last of the obvious damage.

Pat was still holding a hand-mirror the doctor had given him, so he could see everything as it was being described to me. I told the doctor he had done a marvelous job, not only to stroke the doctor’s ego, but to hopefully build Pat’s confidence as well. After thanking me for the compliment, the doctor instructed me I would now have to start applying the creams over the scars, along with continuing to put the drops in Pat’s eyes. I assured him I had no problem doing either, and then he asked us to make another appointment for the following week. As he was doing that, he was also applying smaller coverings over the areas he had operated on, instead of having the larger bandages cover most of Pat’s head, as had been the case since the surgery.

Once Pat was ready, we walked back out to the reception area, made another appointment and then strolled out to the car. Pat was quite excited on the way back and announced he was pleased with the results of his latest surgery. He was no longer worried about being ugly or anyone calling him scar face, because it looked as if hardly anything would be visible, once the laser treatment was completed. I agreed and Pat had to fight to not break into a huge grin, as he was still worried such an exaggerated movement might cause a problem.

When we arrived back home, Brent asked me to assist him with his packing, as he would be leaving for his trip on Wednesday. He wanted me to help him decide what he should take with him, as he didn’t want to get there and then discover he’d forgotten something he needed. While we were alone, I also reminded him to wish Kevin a ‘Happy Birthday’ before he left, since he’d be missing Kevin’s party on Saturday. We both knew Kevin wasn’t too pleased about Brent going without him in the first place, but the fact that he would also be missing Kevin’s party was almost too much for Kevin to deal with.

After I brought this up, Brent informed me he had already purchased Kevin’s card and gift, and was planning to give them both to him tomorrow night, before he left. I told Brent I was pleased he had planned ahead like that, and when I happened to look up, I saw Graham standing in the doorway, just gawking at the two of us together. He didn’t say a word, but he had a very strange look on his face, and he called me to his room shortly after I’d finished with Brent, making it clear he wished to talk to me once more.

“Dad, your telling him to be careful and warning Jimmy’s parents to watch over him hasn’t changed anything,” he announced, nearly panicked. “You both still have those shadows around you and I just know something bad is going to happen. Please don’t let him go. I know I’m right and we’re never going to see Brent again, if you don’t keep him here.”

Seeing how worried he was about this, I pulled Graham against my chest and hugged him tightly, in an effort to reassure him. Once I release my grip on him, I sat down on his bed and pulled him onto my lap, so we could discuss this further. “Honey, I can’t just tell Brent he can’t go,” I tried to reason. “I know you think what you see is real, and it just may be so, but there’s also a chance there might be some interpretation problems here. I don’t see how Brent and I can both be harmed if we aren’t going to be together. We’ll just put him in our prayers and ask God to watch over him, but I know I’ll hurt him deeply, if I suddenly tell him he can’t go now.”

Graham argued with me for several more minutes, trying to convince me to change my mind, but I couldn’t ruin this trip for Brent without having something more reliable or substantial to base my decision on. I’ve always tried to teach the boys that life is a series of risks and we have to make choices, and as long as those decisions are not made hastily or without careful consideration to the relevant facts, they should be just fine. I wasn’t going to make any of us withdraw from life and hide over some dream or vision, or just because one of us suspected something might go wrong. I would need something more substantial than that to base those kinds of decisions on. Graham was mad at me for not supporting him on this, and spat out that I’d regret this later. After calming down a bit, he did tell me he still loved me and hoped I was right about everything, but confirmed he still thought this whole trip was a huge mistake. I think we both went to bed that evening with Brent’s departure weighing heavily on our minds.