The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation - 43. A Whole New Set of Problems

I retuned home with the boys on Wednesday. The drive back had taken a lot out of me, so I was glad I’d waited to make the trip. As tired as I was by the time we’d left Ghostly Mansion, I’m afraid I might have fallen asleep at the wheel, if I hadn’t taken this precaution.

It was past noon by the time we reached the house, and as soon as we pulled in the driveway, Joshie came racing out to greet us.

“Papa, I’ve missed you,” he yelled.

“I’ve missed you too, little man,” I told him, as I scooped him into my free arm. “I’m sorry we couldn’t take you with us this time, but I didn’t think you’d have had much fun. I don’t believe you’d have been interested in most of the things we did, since it was primarily stuff for the older boys.”

“It’s okay, but can we go swimming now?” he wanted to know.

“Why? Wouldn’t your daddy and poppy take you in the pool while we were gone?” I asked in return.

“Yes, but it’s more fun when you and the boys are here to go in with me,” he replied.

I think the boys were touched when they heard Joshie make his comment. They all grinned, grabbed their bags and quickly dragged them inside. Joshie’s not so subtle hint definitely had an effect on them, because they hurried to their rooms and put on their swim trunks. They figured the least they could do was to go in the pool with Joshie, since he hadn’t been able to go on the trip with them.

“Damn, I’m glad you’re back,” Dion greeted me, after Joshie had gone upstairs to get his swimsuit too. “He’s been driving me crazy asking where you’d gone and when you’d be back.”

“I believe he was more interested in when the boys would be back, not me,” I confessed. “He’ll be better now, because the others are changing so they can go in the pool with him.”

“Good! That will give me a breather,” Dion responded. “By the way, Danny’s got something he wants to talk to you about. He didn’t give me the details, but it sounded kind of important.”

“Do you have any idea what it’s about?” I asked.

“I think it has to do with something Brandon and he have been doing the past couple of nights,” Dion replied. “They didn’t elaborate, but they went out a few times and I got the feeling it was urgent. I think it all started when Danny got a call a couple of nights ago from one of the doctors who’s going to move into the health center.”

“Damn, I hope it’s not a problem with the building or he isn’t backing out of moving there,” I offered. “Things have been going very well for them so far and they certainly don’t need a setback now, especially before Danny opens his office.”

“Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that myself,” Dion agreed.

I was extremely curious now, but I didn’t want to call Danny at work and bother him just to discover what he wanted. I decided it would be better if I waited until he got home to talk with him about it. If it really is a crisis of some sort, as Dion suspects, it will take time for him to explain it and for us to determine what we should do next. I don’t want to disturb him for as long as that might take, especially while he’s working. I’m sure he’ll tell me as soon as he walks in the door – at least I hope he does.

I have to admit, it was hard for me to concentrate on anything from that point on. I was definitely curious and anxious to find out what was going on, but as it turned out, I didn’t have to wait for Danny to come home. I got an inkling of what this was all about when Brandon filled me in briefly, after he got home from work.

“Dad, I’m so glad you’re back,” Brandon announced, the second he saw me. “I don’t want to go into all of the details right now, but there’s another boy that needs our help. He’s a little younger than Elliot, but he’s going to be an orphan soon and will need a place to live.”

“So he’s not an orphan yet?” I responded. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“No. His mother is dying of cancer and is only expected to last a few more days,” he explained. “She asked her oncologist if he’d help keep her son out of the foster care system by finding someone nice to take him in, so he turned to us. He heard we worked with a foundation that might be able to assist him with this problem, so he called Danny and talked to him about it.”

“I understand,” I agreed, “but do you guys think you can handle taking in another boy right now? You have a lot of irons in the fire and things are quite hectic for you at the moment. It might not be a good time for you to make a move like this right now.”

“Danny and I realize this won’t be easy and we’ve already talked about all the issues you’ve brought up,” Brandon confessed. “That’s why we wanted to talk to you first, because we think we can do it, but we’ll need your help to pull it off.”

“I think we’ll need to sit down and talk about this in detail,” I suggested. “Let’s plan to hash this out later, once the boys have gone up to their rooms for the night.”

Brandon agreed and said he’d advise Danny that’s what we were going to do. He’d tell him about this privately, after Danny pulled in, since I told him I thought it would be best if the boys didn’t know about this until after we’d made a decision. We certainly didn’t need them pressuring us one way or the other.

While Danny was parking the car, Brandon went out to greet him. They talked briefly first, before they came inside, so when they entered, Danny came over and assured me we’d talk later.

During dinner, the boys filled everyone in about what we’d done and seen at the Hall of Fame. I had previously let them know not to mention the other things we’d done in front of Joshie and they’d agreed. I’d done this, because I didn’t want him to hear about the amusement park or the haunted house and then get upset that we hadn’t taken him too.

I had left Joshie behind for two reasons. First, I didn’t think he’d be interested in seeing the Hall of Fame, and second, I knew it would create problems at the amusement park. Since I was the only adult and didn’t want to leave the others to go off by themselves, we’d have had to spend time on the kiddie rides with Joshie, which would have limited the amount of fun the others would have had on the other rides. Not only that, but one of us would have had to sit out on the rides that Joshie wasn’t old enough or tall enough to go on as well.

Fortunately, since Joshie wasn’t very interested in the things he heard the boys telling the others about the Hall of Fame, he wasn’t pouting about missing out on the fun.

As soon as we finished our meal, Danny and Brandon asked if we could possibly have our conversation now, because they didn’t want to put this off any longer. Even though I thought we should wait until the boys went upstairs, I eventually gave in. I then went to ask Jake to join us, but he told me he’d been briefed already, while I was gone. Instead of going over the same information again, he offered to make sure the boys didn’t interrupt us or try to eavesdrop on our conversation. Since that was settled, the three of us went into my bedroom to chat.

“Okay, Brandon gave me a hint concerning what this is about,” I began, “but I think I need the rest of the details. From what I’ve heard so far, I’m not convinced taking on more responsibility would be in your best interest right now.”

“Dad, let me start at the beginning and bring you up to date, because I think what we have to tell you will change your mind,” Danny suggested. “Sunday, after you left with the boys, I got a call from an oncologist I’d been negotiating with about opening an office at the health center. Since there won’t be enough of a demand for him to work there full-time, he was thinking he could do this a couple of days a week or possibly just two afternoons to start, so he would also be able to keep his current practice too. He has another office that isn’t very far from the hospital, but his practice deals primarily with adults, as you can imagine.

“Well, I guess this all began when he was talking to some other people at the hospital about a situation he’d found himself involved in,” Danny continued. “After explaining his problem to them, one of the others told him that our family had founded the Castaway Foundation and it helps kids in tough situations. That’s why he called me, so he could ask if we could help him with this problem. He said he got dragged into it through one of his patients, well actually one of his patients and a former patient.”

Danny paused at this point, so I decided to say something to fill the awkward silence.

“Okay, I take it this is leading up to why we need to take this boy in,” I urged.

“Yes, and I’m getting to that,” he confirmed. “It seems the oncologist has a female patient who’s in the final stages of breast cancer. She was in the late stages already when he first examined her, so there wasn’t much he could do by then. She hadn’t sought professional help sooner, because she didn’t have any health insurance or the money she would need to pay for treatments. He only saw her after she collapsed in a grocery store and the employees called for an ambulance and had her taken to the hospital. Once she was there, they quickly discovered her problem and the oncologist was brought in to consult on her case.

“When he asked her why she hadn’t taken care of this matter sooner,” Danny continued, “she informed him about her reasons. She also reminded him that he had treated her husband a few years earlier, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. That’s when the oncologist finally made the connection. He remembered her husband had also put off being seen until he was in the latter stages of cancer too. Her husband had shrugged off the early symptoms as something minor, but he also failed to go in for regular screenings, even though he had reached the age when he should have. Although the oncologist did everything he could to save the man, he still wasn’t able to do much for him and the guy died.

“It was a tragic case, because he could have survived, if the cancer had been discovered sooner,” Danny explained. “What the doctor didn’t know at the time was that his death set into motion a bunch of other circumstances that now contributed to this woman’s situation. When her husband died, their health policy lapsed, because the coverage was through his job. If that wasn’t bad enough, while they were doing their best to save his life, the couple also used up all their savings to cover the doctor and hospital co-payments, as well as to pay for the prescriptions he needed during chemo.

“This leads us back to the present situation,” Danny continued. “The oncologist confided to me that he feels she only has a few days left to live. She has an eleven-year old son whom she’s worried about, because she doesn’t know what’s going to happen to him when she’s gone. They have no family and her friends aren’t able to take him in, because they can’t handle the financial burden of another mouth to feed. Since she and her husband spent all the money they had trying to cure his cancer, there is nothing left to give to someone to help raise her son.

“Out of desperation,” he continued, “she turned to the oncologist and asked if he’d be willing to adopt her son. She figured she had nothing to lose and thought he probably would have enough money to be able to take care of him. The problem is, the oncologist has just gone through a rather messy divorce and is finding it difficult enough to arrange visitations with his own children. That’s why he turned to us, after he heard about the Foundation. Dad, this kid is in desperate need of our help.”

“Danny, I understand the boy’s problem, but might you just be compounding it if you take him in?” I asked. “You two have enough on your plate already and won’t be able to devote the time needed to give him the attention he’ll require. Not only that, but you both need to concentrate on your practices right now, so they don’t fail. If that happens, you’re going to quickly discover that you won’t have the funds necessary to do what you want. Don’t you think you might be risking not just your future, but Elliot’s future too, just to help one more boy? What will happen to both boys if you fail?”

“I don’t think the situation is that dire and we believe we can pull this off, but we will need your help,” he stated. “We just can’t turn our backs on this poor kid and we’re already kind of involved. We went to see his mother in the hospital Monday night, so we could get some more information from her. We also got her permission to meet with her son on Tuesday, so we could see if we thought he’d fit in. Dad, we really need to do this. His name is Noah and he seems like a fantastic kid, but he’s quite shy and looks pathetically sad. I think that’s to be expected though, since he’s been through so much already. Dad, he desperately needs our help and we’ve just got to take him in.”

“Did you discuss the gay issue with them?” I wondered. “I’m only asking because it might become an issue for either of them.”

“We explained this to his mother, but it didn’t seem to bother her,” Danny answered. “She just wanted to make sure we were nice guys who would take good care of her son and treat him well. She also wanted to make sure we had the financial resources to do this with.

“As far as Noah is concerned,” Danny continued, “we didn’t discuss the gay issue directly. We merely told him that he would have two dads and two grandfathers. Since he didn’t react badly to this news, we moved on to other things.”

“That’s good to hear, but what about his mother’s funeral expenses?” I asked next. “Will there be any insurance money to cover the cost or will you have to pay for that too?”

I know this comment probably seems a little cold and calculated, but it is something else they’ll need to consider. They’ve pretty much tied up all their resources in the health center and that coupled with the reduced income they’ll have coming in while they establish their practices might be a concern. That’s why they need to look at all potential factors.

“She’s going to be cremated,” Danny quickly answered. “She says she doesn’t want to be buried in her current condition, since she’s had both of her breasts removed trying to stop the spread of the cancer. She’s said she’d rather have her body burned than be buried looking like she does now. Since she doesn’t have life insurance either, the oncologist has agreed to pay for the cremation, if we’re willing to take the boy to live with us.”

“Well, it appears you’ve covered all of the bases then,” I observed. “I’m also getting the feeling that you’ve already made up your minds too. Therefore, I guess there’s nothing left to discuss.”

“But there is, Dad. Brandon and I realize we won’t be able to do this without your help,” he told me. “You did a lot to assist us with Elliot and you’re still doing it even now, like taking him on this trip with the other boys. If you can help us with Noah and do those types of things for him as well, then Brandon and I want to take him in and provide him with a loving home. He’s going to need that, once his mother is gone.”

“You’ll love him,” Brandon jumped in. “He’s cute as a button, although he doesn’t smile much right now, but I think we can all understand why. The poor kid has already lost one parent and is about to lose the other. He shouldn’t be too difficult to handle, because he’s pretty quiet and kind of shy. The big thing is that he’ll need someone to help him cope with his mother’s death and then to adjust to living with us. Since you helped Elliot through a similar transition, we figured you’d be perfect for the job. What do you say? Will you help us with Noah?”

“I have a feeling Jesse and Elliot will be able to help him more than I will, since they’ve both lost parents too,” I admitted, “but I’m willing to do what I can.”

“We couldn’t do this without you,” Danny reiterated, “and we’re convinced this will be the best possible solution for Noah too.”

“Well, I guess since you’ve put it like that and are certain you want to take on more responsibility, I’ll do whatever I can to help you with him,” I agreed. “So when will I get to meet him?”

“We’ll set up a time soon,” Danny offered. “The oncologist has arranged for someone to stay with him right now, because he didn’t have any other option after his mother had to be admitted to the hospital, except for putting him in foster care. For now, the boy stays with one of his mother’s friends during the day and with the oncologist at night, but the oncologist is not prepared to deal with the boy on a long-term basis. He’s told me that whenever he looks at Noah, he thinks of his own children and it reminds him that he doesn’t get to see them very often any more, which makes him depressed. He feels that once Noah isn’t there any longer, he won’t be reminded about missing his own children on a daily basis and then have to deal with his remorse.”

“Okay, we’ll make this work then,” I agreed, “and you can start setting things up. Are you going to tell the boys about this?”

“Not until we know for certain when he’ll be coming here,” Brandon added. “We’ll fill everyone else in about it then, so they can help us out when he first arrives.”

I still have some concerns about this, because there’s just so much going on at the moment. I understand we don’t have any control over the situation or a choice about the timing, but I’m not sure if we need another distraction right now. The thing is, I’m also not about to turn my back on a kid who desperately needs our help. Damn, I suddenly remembered something else.

“Have either of you heard from Kevin and learned how the pharmacy opening went?” I asked.

“Yes, I went over to see him during my lunch break on Monday,” Brandon answered. “Kevin was beaming and there was quite a bit of traffic in there already. I imagine most of the people were just curious and checking the place out, but I did see quite a few people making purchases too.”

“So he’s hired the employees he needs to cover the other areas?” I followed.

“Yes, he’s hired a half-dozen or so cashiers, who will also help stock shelves,” Danny responded. “He also hired a couple of women to help him at the pharmacy counter, as well as a couple of retired cops to handle the security. He has enough employees to cover each of the shifts he needs to fill throughout the week and he’s also arranged for a cleaning company to come by every morning to take care of the floors.”

“Well, it sounds as if he has everything covered then, so I hope he can make enough money to keep it afloat,” I responded. “I’ll check with him this weekend, to see how the first week went.”

“I think he’ll do fine,” Brandon assured me, “especially once all the offices are open at the health center.”

“And how’s that going?” I wondered.

“Great!” Danny answered. “The contractor’s nearly finished with the work and should be out of there in a week or two max. Some of the offices are already up and running, so I’m thinking maybe I’ll be able to open up my office in September. I might try to keep my job at the hospital on the weekends for a while, so we have some guaranteed income coming in until I build up my patient list.”

“So you’re planning to work seven days a week?” I countered. “Damn, don’t kill yourself doing this.”

“Dad, I’ll probably only be working part-time during the week, at least until I get enough patients,” Danny explained. “When I have enough to work full-time there, then I’ll quit the hospital altogether.”

I guess his plan makes sense, but I’ll watch him to make certain he isn’t biting off more than he can chew.

My mind was spinning for the rest of the night. I was thinking about this new boy moving in with us, concerned about Kevin doing well at the pharmacy and worried about Danny and Brandon taking on too much. I hope they know what they’re getting into and aren’t setting themselves up to fail. They’ve taken a big enough gamble with the health center and starting their own practices, but now they want to take in another kid. I guess I can take most of the responsibility for Noah off their hands for now and give them some breathing room, but I’m wondering if that will be enough. Elliot’s pretty much settled in and doesn’t need a great deal from us right now, except for the usual attention, so that will help too.

On top of everything else, we’re also going on our family vacation next week and my older children will be coming here to join us in a couple of days. If that isn’t enough, Dion and Trey’s new son should be joining us sometime in the next couple of months as well. There is a lot going on, so I hope we can make it all work.

The next morning, I got up and fixed breakfast for the boys when they came downstairs. After that, we began discussing what they wanted to do today. Since Dion and Trey had gone somewhere with Joshie and the only vehicle here was the Suburban, Jesse and Elliot asked if I’d drive them down to school, so they could see if their new class schedules had been posted yet. They felt that since we’ll be on vacation next week and the school will open a week after we return, they don’t want to wait until the last minute to see what classes they will be in and what teachers they’ll have. This way, they can call their friends and see if they’re in any of the same classes before we leave on our trip.

About an hour later, I drove them to the high school and they picked up their schedules. They were happy about most of their classes, but both were grousing about at least one of their teachers. Once we got back, Elliot called Hayden, and Jesse called his friends to compare notes. They wanted to see how many classes they might be sharing this year.

When the phone rang a short time after the boys made their calls, I assumed it was for one of them, so I let them answer it. Before long though, I heard Elliot calling for me.

“Papa, the phone call is for you,” he stated.

I went out and took the receiver from him. Elliot then took off to find Jesse, so they could talk more about their schedules. He was hoping Jesse could give him a bit of information about some of his teachers.

“Hello, this is Josh Currie,” I answered.

“Mr. Currie, this Captain Dalton. I’m the troop M commander for the Pennsylvania State Police,” he began. “I’m sorry to have to inform you about this over the phone, but your son, Frank, was wounded on duty today. He’s presently in surgery at the Allentown Hospital.”

My heart felt as if someone was squeezing it and it had just skipped a few beats. I wasn’t able to speak right away, so it took a few seconds for me to respond.

“How seriously is he injured and is it life threatening? Can you give me any other details?” I wanted to know.

“He was shot while making a traffic stop,” Captain Dalton explained. “I was told he was hit in the femoral artery of his left leg and lost quite a bit of blood before the emergency vehicle arrived on the scene.”

“But he’s alive, right?” I pressed.

“Yes, he’s alive and in surgery,” the Captain reiterated. “I thought you might want to make arrangement so you can come and be with him. I’m so sorry that this happened and I’ve had to tell you about it over the phone. Frank is a fine young man and an up and coming officer. I pray that he’ll recover completely from this incident and will be back with us before long.”

Once he finished, I asked him for the name and address of the hospital, and he gave it to me. I told him I’d be there as soon as I could, but it would probably take me a few hours to drive there. Once I hung up, I went to tell Dion and Trey first, and then I began making a few phone calls.

“Jake, it’s Josh,” I announced, when he answered his cell phone. “I just got a call telling me that Frankie was shot. He’s in the hospital and I’m going to Allentown to be with him.”

“Oh, my god,” Jake responded. “Look, wait for me to get there. I’m going to tell my boss I have to leave now and I’ll be home shortly. That way, you can drive the car to Allentown and leave me the Suburban. If we do that, I’ll be able to bring everyone else to see him this weekend.”

“Oh, damn,” I uttered, when another thought crossed my mind. “Everyone will be showing up tomorrow for our vacation. Will you call and tell them I won’t be able to go now. They can use the reservations I’ve made or you can call and cancel everything, if they’re not interested. I can’t believe this has happened on top of everything else. Just get here as quickly as you can, because I need to go be with Frankie.”

Jake agreed, so I called Danny and Brandon and left messages for them too. They’d need to know because of the boys. Dion and Trey can keep and eye on them during the day, but I won’t be around to watch Elliot for them for a while.

Once I’d left them both a message, I went to my room and started throwing some clothes in an overnight bag. I was just putting the final items into my shaving kit, when Jesse and Elliot walked past.

“Are you going somewhere, Dad?” Jesse asked.

“Yes. Frankie’s been shot and I’m going to the hospital to be with him,” I answered.

“The hospital where my dad works?” Elliot asked next.

“No, this hospital is in Allentown,” I told him. “Frankie is in surgery right now and I’m leaving just as soon as Jake gets here with the car.”

“Why don’t you just take the Suburban?” Jesse asked.

“Jake wants me to leave it, so he can bring the rest of you to Allentown this weekend. I just hope Frankie’s injuries don’t turn out to be too serious,” I responded.

“Wasn’t Frankie the one who was shot in the army?” Elliot wanted to know.

“He was hit with shrapnel from a grenade,” I corrected. “I hope this isn’t a pattern he’s starting to follow, or I’m going to insist he change professions.”

Jake showed up a little while later and I greeted him at the door.

“Thanks for getting here so quickly and for taking care of everything else,” I told him. “I’ll call you, once I learn anything.”

I gave Jake a kiss, grabbed my bag and jumped in the car. It would take me a few hours to get to Allentown and I had a whole lot of my mind at the moment.