Always - 9. The First Day of School, The Last Day of Fear

“Gun!” I yelled at the top of my voice.

Holy crap! Hannah the Horrible is standing in front of the class with a gun. I throw myself at Billy and Noah and jump down behind the platform that we are sitting on. Only thing is, as we are diving the bitch fires her gun. Fuck! She shot me! The pain in my side is ridiculous!

“Fuck! She shot me!”

Apparently, Miss Garner hit some kind of alarm because we hear the lock-down alarms, and in just seconds, the police come running into the classroom.

“Put down the gun! Put down the gun!”

Billy was holding me with his hand pressed into my side. From what I understand, Hannah turned to face the police officer and pointed her gun toward him. We heard a gunshot, and several of us drama kids screamed out loud.

The police officer told us to stay where we were. It was Noah who shouted out that I had been hit. I heard the police talking on his radio thing that they needed two ambulances. Two students were down. I was able to see through the space between the platforms that the other student hit was Hannah. Only the front of her top was covered in blood.

Holy fuck! They killed Hannah!?! I mean, she is totally an uber-bitch but kill her? What the fuck? She wasn’t moving. The police officer came around behind the platform to find me. He asked Noah, Cal, and Billy to move so he could look at me. Billy told the cop that he was applying pressure to the wound and would not let go. And he didn’t. He is now my life-saving hero!

I could hear the sirens from a shitload of cars pulling up to the school. I hope one of those is an ambulance. Hannah needs help bad, I think.

The medics came in, and one group went to Hannah while another group came to me. They finally convinced Billy to let go of me, and they bandaged me up with a compression thing and stuck a needle in my arm. They got me on the gurney and started rolling me out of the classroom. Billy told the EMTs that he needed to go with me, but they said only one family member could do that.

Noah told them he was my brother, which they thought was a joke. He explained that I was his foster brother and that he needed to go with me and contact his parents so they could meet us at the hospital. When the other guys verified that Noah was telling the truth, they let my brother come with me in the ambulance.

Holy shit! When they wheeled me out of the school, there were cameras and reporters all over the place! The EMTs asked Noah to help shield my face and to keep his own face down. They didn’t want anyone to identify either of us.

I asked the EMT guys (who were awfully nice, by the way) how Hannah was. They couldn’t—or wouldn’t—tell me anything. We pulled out of the school parking lot and headed to the hospital. Noah asked where we were going, and they told him to St. David’s South. He got on his cell and called Pop. Of course, I could only hear one end of the conversation.

“Hey Pop.” (pause) “We’re okay.” (pause) “Yeah, it was Hannah.” (pause) “She shot Nick, but it doesn’t seem too bad. We’re in the ambulance, and they’re taking him to St. David’s South.” (pause) Yeah, we’ll see you there. Call Dad, will you? (pause) “Yeah, Pop. We love you, too—and I promise we’re okay.”

We got to the hospital in about ten minutes, and I’ll be damned if there weren’t even more reporters all over the place! I was starting to feel a little woozy and remember Noah telling me to hang on and that Pop should be there soon. I was beginning to hurt—and I wanted to go to sleep.

A nurse came in to take Noah out to the waiting area. He wanted to stay until Pop got to the hospital, but the nurse said even he would be asked to leave so the doctors could work better. Then they took scissors—fucking scissors—and cut my new shirt off! I liked that shirt, too! At least they took my skinny jeans off normally, even though that was probably harder to do than it would have been to take my shirt off normally!

They had me naked on the table and started looking at my wound. I didn’t understand a lot of what they were saying. I heard spleen. Something about a rib and bone fragments—I heard the word surgery. Then I heard Pop’s voice. They covered me with a blanket and let Pop in to see me.

“It’s okay, Nick. I’m here. Andrew is on his way. They’re going to take you up to surgery, and we’ll all be waiting for you when you get out.”

“Billy?”

“I called the police, and they said the school is still on lockdown. As soon as the kids are released, Billy will be here. I’m talking with him through text. He loves you, Nick. He’s so scared.”

“I love him, too Pop. More than you’ll ever know. He saved my life today.”

“I think it’s the other way around. As soon as you saw the gun, you pushed Noah and Billy back and down behind the platform. You were hit as you were dropping down. But the doctors are going to be able to fix you up as good as new. By the time you wake up, we’ll all be here with you.”

I smiled at Pop. He made everything better just by being with me, holding my hand, and talking to me. So this is what it’s like to be part of a family, huh? Sure feels good!

“Thanks for getting here, Pop. I love you.”

Oh fuck, I made him cry. I’m such an idiot!

“Those are the three most beautiful words I’ve heard in a long time, Nick. You do realize that Noah, Andrew, and I love you just as if you’ve been a part of our family since the day you were born. If we were ever to lose—” And then he just started sobbing.

“Don’t cry, Pop. I don’t want to make you cry!”

“You didn’t. It’s the thought of things being a lot worse than they are. Scares the shit out of me!”

“Uh, Pop—language?”

Yay! That made him smile! Just in time, too. A bunch of people came in and told Pop that they were going to take me up to surgery now. They squeezed something into the tube going into my arm, and I don’t think I was awake even thirty seconds.

* * * * *

The next thing I remember was lying in a bed with my upper body raised up. I heard a strange voice talking, saying something about how they needed to run a scan to make sure they got all the bone fragments and shrapnel before they closed me up permanently. He said I would be in the hospital a total of one or two days. Then I heard Noah say, “I think he’s coming around. Nick? Buddy? Can you hear me?”

I opened my eyes and saw my brother looking awfully worried. “Noah? You okay?”

“I am now that you’re awake. But I’m supposed to ask you that, aren’t I?”

I looked past Noah and saw the dads talking to another man in a white coat. Must be one of the doctors. Then my stomach growled.

“I’m hungry!”

“Hi Nick, I’m Dr. Jameson. I was the one who fixed you up in surgery. I can’t have you eat any solid food quite yet because we might have to have one more surgery tomorrow. I can get you some soup if you’d like.”

“Anything would be good.”

“I’ll order some for you as soon as we’re done here.”

“Can you tell me what happened to me?”

“Well, son. I would say that you are a fortunate young man. The bullet hit your 8^th rib and damaged your spleen to the point where we had to remove it. Now, you can live a fairly normal life without your spleen, so you don’t have to worry about that. The only side effect of not having a spleen is that it puts you at risk of developing infections. To prevent that, we will put you on a schedule of vaccinations to take care of any infection threats that your spleen would have typically handled.

“The reason we are considering another surgery is that we want to make sure there are no bone or bullet fragments left. We’ll be doing a CT scan later this afternoon to make sure we got everything. If not, we’ll go in first thing in the morning and take care of anything we find.

“If you don’t need another surgery, you should be able to go home tomorrow. If you need another surgery, we can probably let you go the next day. Any questions?”

“Well, I have a couple, but they’re not about me or my surgery.”

“Maybe someone in the room can answer those questions. I’m going to go and order that soup. How about a double order?”

“Sounds great!”

The doctor left the room, and I was surrounded by my family. My real, honest-to-God family! But God—I wanted Billy there so bad!

“Where’s Billy?”

Noah looked at his phone and said he had to go home with his mom after they let him out of school. “They had to talk some before she would let him come here. He should be here in about ten minutes.”

“Dad? Pop? What happened to Hannah?”

Dad took a sigh and answered. “She was in surgery at the same time you were. I’m afraid it doesn’t look good for her. She’s in ICU and in a coma.”

That made me sad, in a weird kind of way. “That’s terrible. I mean, sure—she needed to pay for the things she had done, but I don’t want her to die because she doesn’t like me.” I took a deep sigh, and the tears started. “No one should die because of me. It’s not worth it.”

Andrew came over, sat on the side of the bed, put his arm around my shoulder, and leaned into me. “Son, you have to understand that everything Hannah has done, she did because she is a sick girl. If it wasn’t you this morning, I promise you it would have been someone else next month—or next week. But the fact is, you saved about thirty lives this morning. You yelled out when you saw that gun being pulled from her purse. You took Noah and Billy down behind the platform with you, and she could only get the one shot off.

“All three of you boys are extremely lucky. Things could have been so much worse. Luckily the campus police officer was in your area of the building when the alarm went out. As soon as he saw where the alarm originated, he ran to the drama classroom. He told Hannah to put down the gun, but instead of doing that, she turned and pointed the gun at the officer. He had to shoot her. She was shot in the chest. It’s bad.”

“I understand all that. It’s just—”

“Nicky! Are you okay?”

“Billy!”

Finally! My Billy was here! Noah got out of the way, and Billy immediately leaned in and kissed me. Ow! He tried to hug me, too. That’s not gonna work!

“No hugs, baby. Hurts too much!”

“Oh, God! I’m sorry! I’m just so glad—so happy—you could’ve—”

Oh shit. Billy just put his face in his hands and started sobbing. I’m glad Noah was there since he was the one to pull Billy up off the chair and stood him up, facing him.

“Billy. Stop. We’ve talked about this before. You can’t go through life freaking out about what could’ve happened. The fact is, you have a boyfriend who pretty much saved your life—mine, too. Yeah, he got injured, but it’s not serious. We should be happy about that, not freaking out over what could have happened if Hannah actually knew how to aim a gun.”

Pop interrupted us, saying he just got a text from Kevin, the neighbor, saying we should turn on CNN since they were going to cover the shooting after the commercial break.

He flipped on the television and found CNN just as they were coming back from the commercials:

“Welcome back to CNN. We have breaking news from Austin, Texas, where there has been yet another school shooting. This one is quite different from the others we keep reporting on. The shooter, in this case, was a sixteen-year-old girl. As you can see from our overhead cameras, students are being escorted out of the building with their hands in the air. They are being led to school busses, where they will be taken to a pick-up location away from campus. We are going to go live to Ben Hamilton. Ben, what is the current situation there in Austin?”

“It’s yet another school shooting and the second one in Texas in just the last few months. Only this is a rather unusual incident in that the shooter was a sixteen-year-old girl. The girl was shot by a school police officer when she pointed her gun at him. We don’t have many details other than she is now out of surgery and has been listed in grave condition.

“Another unusual twist to the story is the young hero. A sixteen-year-old boy was the first to spot the gun as she began to pull it out of her purse. He shouted “gun” and then dove at two other students, pulling them to safety. His quick action caused all of the students in the room to dive for safety, saving what could have been several lives. We are told this young man was hit by one of the shooter’s bullets. He is also out of surgery and is in good condition. He is expected to make a full recovery.”

“Ben, this is Jake back in the studio. We are told that the entire event happened very quickly. What is it that this particular school did that made things come to a resolution so fast?”

“Jake, this is the first day of school after Spring break. During the break, every teacher’s desk was outfitted with a panic button. We were told that the button sends an immediate lock-down alarm and opens the intercom between the office and the classroom. The teacher, Miss Maria Garner, said two words—“Active Shooter,” and in less than twenty seconds, one of the school’s police officers was in the room with the shooter, the teacher, and the students.”

“It sounds like this is a school that proactively planned for such a tragic event. What’s happening now? We see students being led out of the building and onto school buses.”

“Yes, Jake. Students are being taken to the school’s football stadium, which is several blocks from the main campus. It’s a very slow process and has been going on for at least 45 minutes now. Parents have been contacted and told they can pick up their children at the stadium.”

“Ben, sorry to interrupt, but we have a press conference coming up from the front of the high school. We’re going to go live to the conference right now.”

“Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez, and I would like to first apologize for the lack of information the last time we spoke with you. We do have quite a bit of information for you this time.

“At 8:04 a.m., a female student, her name is Hannah Webster, entered her theatre class late. When the teacher asked for her late pass, the student reached into her purse, and instead of a pass, she pulled out a gun.

“Another student, a Nicholas Jacobs, saw the gun as she pulled it out of her bag and shouted a warning to the other students in the classroom. Mr. Jacobs then leaped toward and grabbed two other students and pulled them to safety. The other students also hid behind tables and chairs.

“Mr. Jacobs was hit by one of Miss Webster's bullets and was taken to the hospital. Soon after Mr. Jacobs was struck, one of the school’s resource officers entered the scene and told Miss Webster to put down her gun. She did not follow orders and turned to the officer, pointing the gun at him.

“The officer fired one shot, hitting Miss Webster in the chest. She was also transported to the hospital and is reported in grave condition after emergency surgery.

“I’m now going to turn the podium over to Sally Peterson of the Eanes Independent School District.”

“Thank you, Sherrif Hernandez. I’m Sally Peterson, spokesperson for the Eanes Independent School District. I want to say that despite the tragic event that took place at Westlake High School this morning, I would like to thank the school officials for making sure the preparations that have been taking place helped everyone involved handle the situation in a most proficient way.

“We conduct lockdown drills several times during the school year, so our students knew exactly what to do when the alarm sounded this morning. In addition, special panic alarm buttons have recently been installed on each of the teachers’ desks. When activated, the button immediately triggers the lockdown alarm, and communication is opened between the classroom, the office, and the police officers’ communication system.

I asked the dads to turn off the television. I’d heard enough. I can’t believe they’re trying to make me a hero out of all this. Billy took my hand and kissed it. “I’m proud of you, Nicky. You may not think so, but you really did save my life—and Noah’s.”

“All I did was push you out of the way—or try to.”

“And that bullet could have hit any of us. I can’t tell you how much I hate that it hit you. I wish it were me in that bed right now.”

“I can move over!”

“Yeah, I don’t think the nurses would like that too much! But hey, I need to tell you something.”

“Uh-oh. I always hate hearing that sentence—and somehow, it seems like it might be worse since it came from my boyfriend.”

“No. No. No. It’s not that bad. But when Mom was driving me home, she couldn’t understand why I was so freaked out and worried about you. So, I had to tell her it was because you were my boyfriend.”

“Oh, Jesus. I hope she didn’t drive off the road or anything.”

“No. I was surprised. Mom said she kinda figured it out already. Told me moms know these things. She said it was the look on my face when I would talk about you. Or the goofy look on my face whenever I would get a text from you. Then she said she was almost 100% sure something was going on by the way I got so excited about the sleepover.”

“So now—when I finally meet her, she’s going to look at me as the boy who plays with her son’s dick?”

“Watch the language, Nick.” Andrew tried to be serious, but he couldn’t help but laugh.

“No. But Mom and Dad want to come by and see you tonight.”

“Oh, great!”

“No. Stop that. They want to thank you for saving my life.”

“Dad. Pop. I don’t want to be a hero. I’m just a kid who tried to help his brother and boyfriend get out of the way.”

Just then, a nurse walked in with a tray holding two bowls. Yay! Lunch!

Boy! Was that a disappointment! I was given two bowls of chicken broth and a few saltine crackers. The nurse said that would tide me over until I had my scan, and if everything is clear on that, I can have a regular dinner.

Dad asked why they were doing a CT scan instead of an MRI. She said that since there was a slight chance that there might still be bullet fragments in my body, they couldn’t do an MRI because of the high-powered magnetic fields that were used.

Well, I was hungry enough that even plain, boring chicken broth tasted awfully good.

Billy and Noah’s phones chimed with a text message. It was from the school. There would be no school tomorrow because the cops had to finish their investigation. That was all good, but I just realized I didn’t have my phone. I think it’s still in my backpack back at the school. Shit! My laptop was there, too!

Andrew said he would call the school office now that things seem to have calmed down a bit and see about getting my things. He said he figured they would do whatever they could to make their hero happy. I gave him a look of disgust, but I think he figured it was about my not-so-delicious lunch.

The nurse came in and told me my CT scan would be in about two hours and suggested I rest before then. The dads decided to go downstairs and get some coffee and a snack. I begged for Billy to stay with me, and they allowed that, promising to bring him a cup of coffee when they returned.

Now it was just Billy and me. My dear, sweet Billy.

“I love you so fucking much, Nicky. The thought of losing you literally tore me to pieces today.”

“Hey, but that didn’t happen, so stop worrying about that, okay?”

“You really did save my life. You were amazing.”

“You know something, Billy? You have saved my life.”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything.”

“You don’t get it, do you? A week ago—can you believe it’s only been a week? Anyway, it was a week ago when you kissed me for the first time. Me! This scared—no terrified—foster kid who had no clue why these people wanted me in their lives. I was a boy who couldn’t figure out why such an amazing boy like you would want to kiss me—or do anything with me.

“But then something happened. I found that the more I spent time with you, I discovered things about myself that I didn’t even know existed. Somehow, I found confidence. I saw things about me that weren’t so bad after all. But the most important thing I found was that I was a much better person with you standing next to me.

“I also found out that I never really knew what real happiness was until you came along. I love you with all my heart and soul. And no matter what happens in our lives, I know that even twenty years from now, it will always be you who made me someone that people actually wanted to hang with.”

“Wow! That’s—that’s—so much! But I have to tell you that you have brought so many changes in my life—besides the sex stuff! Nicky, you helped me find myself. Even more important—you helped me accept myself. You see, no matter how insecure you were about shit, you were always so fucking cool about your being gay. You made me realize that it really wasn’t any more relevant than the color of my hair or eyes.”

“So I guess what you’re saying is that we’re pretty fucking awesome together, huh?” And then I yawned one of the biggest yawns in the history of mankind. “Damn, Billy. I’m really sleepy. Did that nurse put something in my IV?”

“Yeah, I saw her shoot a needle of stuff in there. Maybe something for pain?”

“Well, I’m not feeling any pain. Could you do something for me, babe?”

“Whatever you want, Nicky.”

“Will you rub my head while I fall asleep?”

And those fingers lulled me to sleep in about ten seconds.

The next thing I knew, I was being lifted out of bed and onto a gurney. I was groggy as shit, but my guys were sitting on the other end of the room. I heard someone say they would be there when I got back. I think it was Dad. Maybe Pop. Maybe the fucking president. I don’t know. I just knew someone would be there when I got back.

The scan didn’t take all that long, and the dude that was doing everything told me they should have the results in an hour or so. God, I hope I can go home tomorrow!

So it was back on the gurney. Only this time, it hurt like Hell where I had my staples. Maybe the nice nurse with the good drugs will be there to make me feel good again!

It didn’t take long to get back to the room, and when they moved me back on the bed, it hurt even worse—and they knew it from the groans I was making. The orderly said he would send the nurse in to give me something for pain.

As soon as I was settled, Billy pulled a chair up, and Noah sat on the foot of the bed. Noah was looking a little down, so I asked him what was bothering him.

“We were watching the news while you were gone—and—(sigh)—Hannah didn’t make it. She died. It’s weird. I’ve never known anyone who died.”

“Noah, I hate that anyone had to die—even Hannah. But she did this. She pointed that gun at a cop. A cop will always shoot if they think there is a threat. And they have a lot better aim than she did.”

“I know. The sad thing is that we had a lot of good times, Hannah and me—but now, when I think about her, all I can see and hear is the hateful stuff she said and did. And it sucks that those are the memories I’m going to have of her.”

My favorite nurse came into the room. “Gentlemen, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. There are a couple of police officers that would like to speak with Nick. Nick, I’m going to go ahead and put some morphine into your IV. It won’t be as much as the last dose, and you’ll probably want to fall asleep in about twenty minutes—just long enough for the police to get what they want and get out.”

Billy stood up from the chair and kissed me goodbye! In front of the nurse, even! Everybody left the room, leaving me with my nurse.

“You boys are fortunate to have each other. It makes me happy to see you be so natural with your feelings. I wish my son were as comfortable within his own skin as you are.”

“You have a son who’s—”

“Gay. Yes. He’s twenty-four and is still trying to keep this big secret. He’s so worried about what everyone else thinks that he doesn’t allow himself to accept who he is.”

“Well, sometimes, all it takes is the right boy to come along. That’s how it was with Billy and me. He had always dated girls until we met.”

“I don’t think he’s going to go back to that. I’ve never seen so much love in a boy’s eyes as I see in his. You’re very lucky—and so is he. Now, let me get those officers in here so they can talk to you and get this done with.”

The nurse left, and two cops came into the room. What surprised me was Dad came in with them. He told them he was my attorney, and he just wanted to be there while they spoke with me. Andrew fucking rocks!

The female cop was really nice. She asked if she could record our conversation so they would be sure to get everything right. I didn’t mind. It wasn’t like I had anything to hide.

The dude cop—who was kinda hot in an older dude kind of way—asked me to tell them what had happened at the school. I told them what was being said on TV was exactly what happened, but he wanted me to tell it in my own words. So I told them exactly what everyone had already heard on TV.

Then it got interesting. The female cop asked why I thought Hannah would want to do such a thing. I looked over at Dad and just nodded. So I told them about moving into the house, how Noah was so awesome, spending time with me, and making me feel part of the family.

I told them how Hannah was jealous of the time Noah was spending with me. I told them about the name-calling and how Noah had canceled her invitation to San Antonio. I told them about Hanna painting “fags burn in hell” on our garage door and how she was arrested for that.

The last thing I told them was about the Facebook comments she had posted about our pics from Six Flags. And then I told them that was all I had.

The dude cop looked at Dad and asked if there was anything to add, and he said there wasn’t. By the time he had turned around to me, I was starting to doze off. “Officers, my son has had an incredibly stressful day, and as you can see, he’s about done with the questioning. Do you mind?”

“No, sir. We have all we need right now. We’ll be in touch if there’s anything else.” And that was the last thing I heard.

It was the doctor who woke me up. He wanted to check me out and find out how I was feeling. So I told him my side hurt. Why did everyone think that was so funny?

So the doc says my CT scan showed no fragments of any kind and that I would be able to go home in the morning! He also ordered me a normal meal for my dinner! With no school, that means I get to spend the day with my boys!

Uh-oh. Doc then tells me I need to stay home the rest of the week. No strenuous activity and I have to keep my staples dry for at least a week. I motioned for the doctor to come close. I didn’t want the whole room to hear what I needed to ask.

“What about sex?”

“Son, you’re 16 years old. If that’s not a strenuous activity, then we have a whole other set of problems that need to be addressed.”

Fuck! Did he have to say that out loud? Poor Billy, if he turned any redder, he would catch on fire! The dads were trying hard not to laugh, and Noah just kept sniggering.

“Now, let’s talk about pain management once you get home. I have prescribed a minimal amount of opiate painkillers while you are here in the hospital. However, I will not be prescribing any for you to use at home. Is it possible to get Nick to acupuncture on a daily basis?

“Yes, I’m sure we can. I’ll be able to get Nick wherever you need us to be.”

“We have found acupuncture to be extremely beneficial for pain management, and it also helps the incision heal about 20% faster, in some cases. Along with that, I will be prescribing a non-opiate analgesic that will work as a pain blocker. Do you have a family doctor?”

“Yes. Dr. Kevin Moreland. He’s our next-door neighbor as well.”

“Oh! Well, that’s convenient. I know Kevin quite well. I’ll give him a call. If the acupuncture therapy goes well, I’ll see if he would be willing to remove the staples over the weekend so you can go back to school next Monday. Otherwise, I will have to do it Monday afternoon, and you would start back Tuesday. Any questions?”

I looked at the doc and smiled. “Thanks for taking such good care of me. I don’t have any more questions—especially since you announce the answers to the world!”

He looked at the dads and high-fived Pop as he turned and walked out the door.

By now, it was 4:00, and everyone wanted to watch Ellen. The show was great, but I had to hold a pillow to my side to help with the pain when I laughed. At least there was one show I would like watching while everyone was at school or work!

Just as the show was ending, Principal Harmon knocked on the door. He was carrying my backpack with my phone and laptop! “There he is! How are you doing, Mr. Jacobs?”

“I’m a lot better now that I have my backpack back!”

“Well, I just wanted to thank you on behalf of the entire school for your quick thinking and bravery. Whether you believe it or not, you saved a lot of lives this morning.”

“Thank you, sir. That’s what everyone is saying, but I just don’t get it.”

“Well, I just want you to know that we don’t usually plan that much excitement for a new student’s first day of school. It’s generally a pretty peaceful place. How long will you be out?”

“Doc said I should be able to go back to school next Monday. I guess I’ll have Noah and Billy pick up my homework and help me stay caught up.”

“That should work fine. Nick, I just wanted to drop your backpack off and check and see that you were doing okay. I’m glad to see that you are.”

He went over to the dads and shook their hands, “Guys, I think you have a definite keeper with this one!”

It was Pop who told him they did. Damn! That just felt so good! I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing those little things that tell me that I’m wanted, loved, and cared for. It’s such a new feeling for me—and I like it—a lot!

Dinner came in a few minutes later, and the guys all decided to head down to the cafeteria for a bite. Wow! Pork chops, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, a small (REAL small) salad, and watermelon cubes.

Okay, it looked a lot better than it actually was. I would say hospital food is about a click above school food. At least it’s a balanced meal and kinda healthy. I just finished my iced tea when there was a knock on the door.

“Mrs. C.! Wow! You didn’t have to come here!”

“Of course I did! I’ve been worried about you all day, seeing you all over the TV and all!”

“Oh, God—I wish they would stop trying to make me into some kind of hero that I’m not. It’s really embarrassing. I mean, when I saw the gun, I just pushed Noah and Billy out of the way. Anyone would do that. They say I shouted ‘gun’ when I saw it but I don’t remember doing that.”

“But you did do that. And that gave your teacher the extra seconds to hit the panic alarm and all the other students a chance to take cover. That makes you a hero in so many people’s eyes. And you know something? In a crisis situation, people hope and pray that there will be a hero to save the day. They need you to be their hero, Nick—and because of you being their hero, they will sleep better tonight. Because they have a hero, many of them will be able to return to school and feel safer.”

“I still don’t think I’m a hero, Mrs. C.”

“You know, most heroes don’t think they’re heroes. You’re doing it exactly the way you’re supposed to.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

“Enough of this hero talk. How are you feeling?”

“I’m a little sore—probably will be for a few days. But I’m going home tomorrow. So that’s good.”

“I know you weren’t there long, but how was going to school today? I know you were pretty nervous about it.”

“You know, believe it or not, I was even excited to start. I had my three best friends, and they had my back. That was pretty awesome. And one of them is my boyfriend. Why wouldn’t I be excited?”

“Oh, my dear boy. I’m so proud of how far you’ve come and how well you are adjusting to your new home.”

“It’s more than a new home, Mrs. C. It’s a new life. Thank you for everything you did to make this happen. You know—you are my hero.”

“Oh, nonsense, my sweet boy. I was just doing my job. It doesn’t always work out, but sometimes—it’s just perfect.”

“See? You’re doing the hero thing pretty well, too.”

Mrs. C. leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “I’m so relieved you are okay and doing well with the Whites.”

“Speaking of the Whites—”

The gang came back into the room, and everyone said their ‘hellos.’ I took Billy’s hand and introduced him to Mrs. C.

“Billy, this is Mrs. Cranston. She ran the group home I lived in before I went to the White’s. She’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a real mom. Mrs. C., this is Billy McCallister—my boyfriend.”

“Well, it’s certainly nice to meet you, Billy. And I want to thank you—no, all of you for giving Nick everything he needed to become the remarkable young man he has so quickly become.”

Noah took his place at the foot of the bed and said, “We didn’t do anything, really. All we did was love him—easiest thing in the world to do, by the way.”

“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” She gave me that mom smile again.

Well, I should be getting back to the home. Mary Grace agreed to stay on a bit so I could stop by and see you. Gentlemen, I’m so happy things seem to be working out for all of you. And Nick, don’t be a stranger, okay? You’re practically family to me, and you don’t get to just disappear on me!”

She gave me another kiss on the forehead and walked out of the room. Mrs. C. is so fucking cool. Like I said, she’s the closest thing to a mom I ever had, and I’m happy as fuck she wants to stay a part of my life.

We kinda chilled a bit, and the dads decided they would be going home. Pop said he would pick me up in the morning and get me checked out. He’d be at the hospital around 9:00 in the morning. Dad, Pop, and Noah all kissed me on the cheek and told me they loved me. I started to get fucking choked up—just from all the love I was getting.

Billy stayed with me since his parents were going to be by soon. About ten minutes after my family (hehe—I like that!) left, he got a text from his mom saying they were there and on the way up to my room.

I was getting nervous, and Billy was just smiling at me. He told me to relax—that his parents were just as cool as my dads—and just as he gave me a kiss, they walked into the room. Of course, Maddie was the one to make a smart-ass comment, “Do you boys need us to wait in the hall for a few minutes?”

Yeah, I wanted to die. Billy just giggled.

“Hi, Maddie.”

“Hey, sis!”

Mr. And Mrs. McCallister walked in, and Billy’s mom was the first to speak. “So this is him—the boy who saved my children’s lives.”

I looked up, and she nudged Billy out of the way and took my hands. Mrs. McCallister was a pretty lady. She wasn’t real tall and was kind of smallish. She had blond hair and blue eyes.

“Nick Jacobs. You are a beautiful young man, and now that I know why Billy’s been walking around all goofy and crazy for the last several days, I just want you to know that his dad and I couldn’t be more proud to have you a part of the family.”

Billy’s dad walked up behind his mom and said, “Nick, what you did this morning was incredibly brave. I understand all this attention’s been a little hard for you to take, and that’s okay. Things will calm down in a week or so, but just know that our family will forever be grateful to you—not just for this morning, but also for helping our son find what truly makes him happy.”

“So, you’re okay with Billy and me? I mean, that we’re—”

Billy’s mom squeezed my hand. “Of course we are. Billy’s father and I strongly believe that when it comes to our children, we love them unconditionally. It’s not for us to try to make them into the type of people we want them to be. It’s for us to nurture, encourage, and love them. When I saw how happy Billy has been in the last week, I know he found something incredibly special.”

Fuck me! I was so confused. Parents aren’t supposed to accept their gay children—unless they’re gay themselves, but that didn’t seem to be the case with Billy’s parents. I looked up at Billy, and he just had the biggest smile on his face. I just smiled back as Maddie watched our little exchange and said, “I just freakin’ love you guys!”

Billy’s dad had been holding a vase filled with flowers, and he set them down on the table next to my bed. “Nick, these are from the entire family. We just wanted to leave you with something to let you think about your second family every now and then.”

“Thank you, Mr. McCallister. They’re really nice!”

“No. No. No. Please call me Mike, Nick.”

“And I’m Catherine—none of this Mr. and Mrs stuff, okay? It makes me feel so old!”

“Okay, I’ll do my best, but it might be hard to do right off, okay?”

We chatted things up for another ten minutes or so when Mr. and—oops—Mike and Catherine said they were going to head back home. Maddie convinced them to let her stay and ride home with Billy. That was cool. I really do like Maddie.

Billy, on the other hand, wasn’t all that thrilled. What? Like he was gonna sit on my cock and have hot boy sex with me in the middle of the hospital? He did ask Maddie if she would go down to the lobby Starbucks and get a Café Mocha for him, a Peppermint Mocha for me, and whatever she wanted. What the fuck? There’s a Starbucks in the lobby?

When she left, Billy leaned down and gave me a good and proper horny boyfriend kiss. Yup, everything was still working, as Billy discovered when he reached down and squeezed my hard cock. “Wanna quick blowjob?”

“Billy, the doctor said no sex until Friday. I’m not allowed to do anything strenuous, or my staples could pop out.”

“Okay. Damn. I was hoping—” He looked into my eyes, and he started bawling like a little baby, even though he tried so hard to hold it back.

“Dammit, Nicky. When I think how close it got to me losing you, it freaks my shit out. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you in my life now.”

“Hey babe, you gotta stop thinking about that shit. It didn’t happen that way, so you gotta let it go. That’s like me freaking out every time you get in a car and thinking about what would happen if there was a terrible accident. If we worry about the ‘could-have-beens’ in our lives, we’re gonna go batshit crazy!”

“It’s just—”

“Shhhh. Stop. I tell you what—tell me what happened after they took me away this morning.”

“Miss Garner kinda freaked out. But why not? Two of her students got shot in her classroom. But we were on lockdown, and once they took you guys away, we had to sit until they cleared each classroom to go. We were the first to get cleared to go, but I think that’s so the cops could do their thing—you know, crime scene and all.

“Once we got out, they made us get on a bus, and they took everyone to the football stadium. We had to sit together by classroom. Once we were there, we were allowed to call our parents to let them know we were alright, and they could pick us up.”

“Didn’t they let you get your car?”

“No, they said they would let us know tomorrow when we could get them. So I’m driving Mom’s car until I can get mine back.”

Maddie came back with our coffees, and boy, did they ever taste good! She was afraid I was gonna be up all night and got us all decaf. They still tasted good, but really?!? What’s the purpose?

Maddie thanked me again for being so awesome this morning. I asked her to make that the last time—that I was ready for things—well, at least us—to get back to normal.

Billy and Maddie left a short time after, with Billy promising to be back in the morning. I told him he could just come to the house around lunchtime, but he wanted to have breakfast with me. He also promised me breakfast tacos from Rudy’s BBQ. Okay, good food always wins out, right?

So, I have just one question. How the fuck does anyone get well in a hospital? They woke me the fuck up every two hours to check my temperature, or some machine, or whatever. It’s 8:00 Tuesday morning, and Billy texted me that he was on the way with breakfast.

The hospital brought me some crap that was supposed to be eggs, and I just couldn’t bear even to try them. I had a banana and drank my so-so coffee. I texted Billy and asked him to stop at that Starbucks in the lobby and get us some good coffee. He texted back that he was doing just that and would see me in a few.

Sure enough, Billy was walking into my room a few minutes later. He got some sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast tacos and had the gooooooood coffee with him. Breakfast was excellent, and I’m guessing that sharing it with my Billy only made it better!

Pop walked into the room about thirty minutes later and had a fresh change of clothes for me. He said the Vans I was wearing yesterday had bloodstains, and we’d get a new pair later in the week. I got out of bed, slipped on my fresh underwear under my hospital gown, and then took it off to finish dressing.

Pop brought my regular jeans, my other Vans, and a plain gray tee-shirt. I felt almost human again, except for the soreness from my staples. I went into the bathroom and pulled my hair up into a bun since it looked like Hell right now.

The doctor walked in, and I took off my t-shirt again. Damn, that was a lot harder than putting it on! He said everything looked good. He handed Pop a bunch of papers and said that was everything I needed to know about aftercare. He said he had sent a copy to Kevin since he was our family doctor.

Then they made me sit in a wheelchair to leave the hospital. Stupid-ass rules! Billy carried my flowers, and Pop had the bag with my personal shit. I asked him if he had to sign stuff or pay something, and he said that he and Dad took care of everything yesterday.

The orderly pushed me out the front door and told me I could get out of the chair. I was on my own now! Pop got the SUV and pulled it to the front. Soon we were on our way home.

Home. For the first time, I thought of home, and it was just that—home. My home. With my family. When I think of where my life has come in the past week, I know I’m the luckiest boy in the world.

Hell, I just got shot. There’s not much more to be afraid of. Not with a boyfriend and family who will always love me, no matter what.

Always—funny how the meaning of the word is different everytime I think of it.

Always.