Jacob Finding His Way - 11. Chapter 11

(JOEY’S POINT OF VIEW)

We all stood there watching the EMT’S try to help this poor guy stay alive. They were able to finally get him on a stretcher then into the ambulance. They sped off down Schuster. The cops started asking if anyone saw anything. Of course no one did. The bell rang, so I headed off to fourth period.

When I got to class, I sat down at my desk. Several minutes later David came in and sat at his desk. The bell rang, and still there was no sign of Jacob. I was getting really worried by this time.

The class went by fast! All you could hear was whispers on who it might have been out there in the back of the school. Several of my classmates said it was Jacob. It couldn’t believe that. I won’t believe that!

The bell rang, David and I walked out together.

“Hey Joey, I’ll fix this thing between Ralph and the guys I promise. Also I see the look on your face, it wasn’t Jacob! You know that he doesn’t hang out over there! So don’t worry about the rumors.”

I nodded as he went his way and I went mine. I got across the street to the ROTC building. You could still see several police cars on top of the side walk where the poor guy’s body was at.

We did roll call, then headed to the shooting range. We were to do formation outside, but due to the police presence, Sergeant Haney decided best to do it in the range. Jacob wasn’t in this class either. I was really getting nervous by now. So far after lunch, Jacob has not been in none of his classes.

As we were going through the squads reporting in, Major Moore walked in. His normal self slapping his paper work against his leg, biting down on a tooth pick as he walked.

He talked to Sergeant Haney, and then Sergeant Haney walked over to me.

“Major Moore needs to see you in the office right now son. Go ahead and fall out and head on over to the office.”

“Yes Sir!”

I got out of formation, and headed to the office. When I reached Major Moore’s office, I knocked on the outer door.

I heard a quick “Come in!”

I walked into the office, and stopped, my stomach dropped. I couldn’t move any more. Standing in the office are several police officers.

“Joey, please come in, and come closer to my desk son.”

I just couldn’t move. I knew right there and then, there was something wrong. I felt in my bones since lunch time, there was something wrong. Something happened to Jacob, I know something happened to Jacob.

One of the officers spoke up; “I understand you are good friends with Jacob Hernandez, is that correct?”

“Yes sir, he is my best friend!”

I stumbled around my words, couldn’t even get them out.

“You two were attending Austin High last year, is that correct?”

“Yes sir!”

“Jacob along side of you witnessed the drive by shooting that happened in front of the school last year?”

“Yes sir we did!”

“We need to keep you safe Joey. The student Jacob picked out as the shooter’s court date is in two weeks. The other guys in the gang he belongs to, are trying to knock off the witnesses of that shooting.’

“I didn’t see who they were, nor did Jacob. We shouldn’t be in any danger sir!”

“Sorry to tell you this, but Jacob did see one of the shooters. He then picked him out. He was promised protection if this went to court. We didn’t even think it would have gone this far. We hoped he would have pleaded out, but he hasn’t.

Now we know why he hasn’t. He’s sent his friends to clean up his mess. The student that was beaten up at lunch today is Jacob.”

I fell to the seat near the door. I couldn’t believe my ears, it was Jacob. For being a good human being, he gets beaten up for it.

“Joey, please son, we don’t know who they are after. We think due to you two being friends, they might think you know something as well. We need to keep you safe.”

“Where did they take Jacob to? Has his mother been called yet?”

“He was taken to Columbia West emergency room, and yes his mother has been informed moments ago. I believe she is on her way over to the hospital now.”

“Have you all called his doctor yet?”

“That I don’t know son. I figure whatever doctor is working in the emergency room will treat Jacob right now. We need to get you safe now as well.”

“I won’t go anywhere except the hospital. I need to be with Jacob and his family. Why in the hell didn’t you guys protect him, why?”

I started crying at that point. Jacob is hurt again, and the stupid cops didn’t keep their end of the deal.

“Settle down please Joey. Since we already have officers posted at the hospital, I don’t see why you can’t go over there.”

We walked outside to an unmarked police car. I got in, and we drove off to the hospital. It was only ten minutes from the school, just down Schuster. I couldn’t believe all this was happening all over again.

(DAVID’S POINT OF VIEW)

As I left Joey I was burning up. I was mad as hell. How could Ralph and the guys do this to Jacob? Jacob never did them any harm. As I was getting to my locker Ralph and the guys were there.

“Hey guys please tell me what I just heard isn’t true!”

“What’s up man? If it’s about a girl, yes, it’s true; anything else, no way!” Ralph stated.

“No Ralph it isn’t about a girl. Did you guys corner Jacob last Monday and throw rocks at him? And, then tell him not to get near me or Joey?”

“Come on David you know that prick doesn’t deserve your friendship.”

“That’s for me to decide not you or anyone else for that matter. By the way, that prick as you call him, is the strongest person I have ever met. If any of us have gone through half of what he has gone through already in life we’d all have given up.”

“Come on David, we were just trying to get him to leave you and Joey alone. We know you like Joey and Jacob in the picture, you won’t get him.”

“I never had him for starters. Joey belongs to another, and I will never get his heart. Do not ever decide on your own who I can and cannot hang around with. Do you guys understand what I am saying to you?”

At first they didn’t say a word. I was getting madder by the minute. I pulled Ralph from his collar and slammed him against the locker.

“Did you hear me or not? I want to keep my friendship with all of you and Jacob. But if it means that someone gets hurt in the long run, I don’t want it. So let me ask you again…”

“I understand David and promise I will not do anything like that again to Jacob!”

I let go Ralph and looked at the other guys. Almost at the same time they said:

“We won’t do anything again to Jacob as well. You’re our friend David! We were just looking out for you.”

“I understand that, but I want to keep all of my friendships, including Jacob’s.”

“Do you still like Jacob as you did before?” Ralph asked.

“If you mean do I love him? Yes I do! Although I know now I will not get him. Even if he would give me a chance, his heart belongs to another. It will never work because of that.”

“Do you know if he is even gay?” Ralph asked.

“That I can’t answer for sure. I think in time we all will find out if so. Thank you, guys. We have been friends since elementary school. I want to stay friends for years to come. I just want to make my own decisions; that’s all.”

“We understand, and nothing will ever destroy our friendship David!”

Ralph stated, and the other guys were shaking their heads. I was happy on what we settled. We bumped fist and headed our different directions. As I was walking to fifth period class, I started to hear whispers that the guy that was beaten up in the back of the building was Jacob. That just cannot be true! I need to find out for sure.

(JOEY’S POINT OF VIEW)

I got out and went into the emergency room. When I walked in, there sitting in the seats was a really shaken Ms. Hernandez. As I was walking over to her, she saw me.

As I reached her, she started crying. I held onto her tight as I could, and then started crying along with her. We stayed like for a long while.

I felt someone pat my shoulder, I got up, and it was Dr. Whitmore.

“Ms. Hernandez, Joey, I just heard. I rushed on over here a quickly as I could.”

“Have you found out anything about my son Dr. Whitmore?”

“Just a little, Ms. Hernandez. Jacob was shot six times, one time in each arm and leg, once in the shoulder, then somewhere in the upper chest. At sometime through the shooting, before, after, or during the shooting, Jacob was beaten really badly. They broke both of his hands, most of his fingers. As well it looks from the report, they took the butt of the gun they were using, hit Jacob over and over and over again in the face.

If you want, I will take over the surgery of Jacob.” Dr. Whitmore offered.

“Yes please Dr. Whitmore, help my son again. Please…..”

Ms. Hernandez started crying again. I held onto her as Dr. Whitmore walked away. I had so hoped to never see the inside of an emergency room again.

We had already been sitting in the waiting room for almost two hours, when the principal from Austin High School came in. Along with him were Irene and some other people.

“Ms. Hernandez I am so sorry to hear about Jacob. When I heard what had happened to him, I got on the phone with the district attorney. I feel this is my fault. I promised your son this wasn’t going to happen. I promised.”

“Ms. Hernandez, I am district attorney Sanchez. I am really sorry for what has happened to Jacob. I cannot begin to say…..”

Jacob’s mom stopped Mr. Sanchez saying; “Don’t you dare come in here saying that you are sorry. You failed my son, you failed him. You promised him that no one will know it was him that picked that son of a bitch out. That piece of shit sent someone to kill my son. You were supposed to be protecting him.”

“Ms. Hernandez, we made a mistake. We don’t know how they found out it was your son that picked out our suspect. I will find out how they did it. I will be adding more charges to the guy we have in jail, and we will get those who did this to Jacob, I promise.”

Irene pulled on my shoulder. “How are you Joey? How are you taking this?”

“I’m fine Irene, thank you for asking.”

“I know you and Jacob mean a lot to one another. I will stay here with you until we find out the good news.” Irene stated in a solid show of support.

“What do you mean good news Irene?” I asked somewhat blankly.

“Someone that has a big heart and soul like you and Jacob will not be taken off this earth. The doctors will come out here and tell us he will be fine.” Irene said without a hint of doubt in her manner or words.

We all just sat there in the waiting room. It has been six and half hours now since Jacob was rushed into the emergency room. We still haven’t heard a thing about him. Around eleven Dr. Whitmore came out.

“Ms. Hernandez I have some news for you. As before Jacob is fighter, this guy won’t let anything take him down. As I said before, he was shot six times and beaten up really bad. We are still doing surgery on him as we speak…”

“Dr. Whitmore I thought you said it wasn’t good to keep anyone in surgery for a long time. You have had my son in surgery now for over ten hours at least.” Jacobs’s mom asked with more than a hint of terror in her voice.

“Yes ma’am you are right, I said that. Your son condition is bad. The shots to his legs and arms are bad, but not as bad as the shot to his shoulder and chest. But we have removed all bullets from his body.

Where we are working at now is your sons face. Whoever did this, beat Jake badly? They broke his jaw, almost all of his front teeth out. We are worried he might have swallowed a few of his teeth. They broke his cheek bones. His left eye was actually out of the socket. They cracked, but not broke, his skull in several areas.

We are working right now on his face, and trying our best for him to come out looking the same as he did when he walked out of your house this morning.”

“What about the last surgeries? What about his back and cancer?”

“We are paying a lot attention to the last surgery, more so to his back. It won’t happen in this surgery, unless we have to, but we are going to need to go in and redo the surgery to his spine. When they were beating him, they did re-damage his spine.

We will work on it all Ms. Hernandez, and again your son is a fighter.”

“Thank you Dr. Whitmore, thank you!”

Dr. Whitmore left us sitting there in the waiting room. The hardest part is just sitting there and not knowing what was going on. Will the person in surgery make it, or not? We cannot ever think of the negative, I just can’t. I cannot think of a day without Jacob, I love him so much. He will make it; I know he will.

(JACOB’S POINT OF VIEW)

I heard a lot of noise all around me. People were talking and moving around. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t see a thing. Then I heard:

“Hey kid, do you hear me kid? If you hear me, try to squeeze my hand.”

Then I heard another person talking to the one asking me questions.

“Look at the poor kids hands. Even if he could hear you, he can’t squeeze your hand.”

“Hey kid, stay with us man, don’t go anywhere. We are doing everything we can. It’s up to you though; it’s up to you.”

I went out at that point. Then I felt like someone pulling out my heart. At least it felt like that. I tried to open my eyes again.

“We got him back again. We need to get him to the hospital, if we have any chance to save him.”

“We don’t even know the extent of his injuries at this point. He is so bloody, to move him, could kill him!”

“We already have his neck supported. Let’s put him a hard board and tie him down. Then get on the stretcher and move him out of here. He is losing too much blood, through too many areas of his body.”

“Go ahead then, get him on a hard board. Let’s move him out of here.”

The next thing I knew I was being moved to my side. When I was moved back to my back, I was on some kind of wooden bed. Then they threw ropes over my body and tied me down. I couldn’t feel a thing. I was numb at this point.

I blacked out again when I was lifted into the air. Once again I felt the pain in my chest as if someone was pulling out my heart. I woke up gasping for breath.

“We got him back. Let’s move him now before anything more goes wrong!”

The next thing I knew, I was being moved quickly through the dirt. I saw the top of what I could only think was an ambulance. I was thankful for this! I couldn’t believe I was being saved.

The door shut to the ambulance, then the sirens went on and we started moving. One of the guys there was talking on a radio, I think to a doctor.

“We have a teenage boy, maybe fifteen or sixteen. He was shot six times in the body. One shot in each leg and arm, shoulder and upper chest. He was beaten really badly in the face, by the looks of it, by the butt of a hand gun. Hands and fingers look broken.”

“What are the patient’s vitals at this time?”

“They are week, but there. We have already had to shock him back three times. When we arrived on the scene, he didn’t have a pulse.”

“And now, is the patient stable?”

“He is stable at this moment. The patient has lost a lot of blood.”

At that point we arrived at the hospital. They pulled me out of the ambulance. As the stretcher was pulled out of the ambulance, it was surrounded by nurses and doctors. Including the EMT’S that were working on me. They started throwing numbers at the doctors and nurses.

I couldn’t even see clearly at this point, all I knew was that I was safe. All these unclear figures were moving around me, talking at the same time. I went out again.

(JOEY’S POINT OF VIEW)

It is already eight in the morning, and no one has come out to talk with us. You could see everyone waiting for an answer was getting nervous. I got up and started walking back and forth in the waiting room.

By the third or fourth round, David and several other kids from school walked through the door. “Joey it isn’t true man, is it? Is it Jacob? Was Jacob the one that was beaten up yesterday?” David asked, his voice trembling.

“Yes it was Jacob!”

“Why? Who wanted to kill him? He never did anything wrong to anyone!” David cried out.

“No your right, he never did anything wrong to anyone. Just last year at school, he witnessed and remembered the shooting in front of the school. He was able to ID one of the shooters. The guy’s court date is in two weeks, so he wanted Jacob dead before then!” I informed all who were within earshot.

“You got to be kidding me. This doesn’t happen here in our town. We are too small. We don’t have gangs like LA or New York.” David said with disbelief.

“We are not as small or insulated as you think. They say we are the fifth largest city in Texas. Jacob and I lived on the wrong side of town last year. You have always lived on this side of town, but we lived on the side of town where gangs are an everyday part of life.”

“I just cannot believe this is happening. Jacob was trying to do a good deed and he gets shot and beaten for doing so.” David said.

We walked over to Jacob’s mom. David said hello and hugged her. The rest of the kids did the same thing. Then we all sat there waiting for some kind of answer.

It was almost ten when Dr. Whitmore came out. As he walked over to us, he had a team of doctors with him including Dr. Mitchell. Poor Dr. Whitmore; he looked tired.

“Ms. Hernandez, I’m sorry for not coming out here since last night. I know you had to be really worried. We had several complications in the surgery. I had call in Dr. Mitchell to help in the regional injuries your son had.”

“Just tell me what is going on please!” Jacobs’s mom pleaded.

“As I told you last night, the gun shots were the least of our worries. I know that sounds weird, but they were. The gun shot in your son’s chest was the worst of the six. We don’t think the gun that was used was working properly. If it was, your son would have died on the scene. The bullet didn’t have the power behind it as it should have had. It lodged into your son’s rib cage.

The injuries we are worried about are in his face. Several parts of his face were almost collapsed in. We had to begin reconstructive surgery to parts of his face. As we were working on that, I was still worried about your son’s spine.

So I called for Dr. Mitchell to come in. When he arrived and looked at the scans, we had to stop what we were doing. At that point Dr. Mitchell took over. Dr. Mitchell, please explain what you saw.”

Dr. Mitchell stepped forward a bit; “Ms. Hernandez your son spine was weak already as it was. Both you and Jacob knew that when the bullet was removed from his spine then we put in the screws for support. His spine was a fixed as long as he didn’t put more pressure on the spine than normal.

By the looks of the damage, someone sat on your son that was over two hundred pounds. He crushed your son. The weight actually broke a couple of ribs plus re-damaged his spine. I went back in, took out the screws, and put in metal braces in the spine.

What these braces are supposed to do is completely support your son’s spine. Allow it to heal and get stronger. He will be able to walk and move his arms. No need to worry about the therapy like last time. He will be walking with a cane for support for a while.

The good news is that he won’t need to relearn how to walk again. The bad news is the pain is going be worse than before. The pain medicine we will be putting him on is going to be strong. The metal braces along the side his spine will never be taken out. Dr. Whitmore?” Dr. Mitchell deferred to his colleague.

“After Dr. Mitchell finished, we went back to work on Jacobs face. There is no question about your son Ms Hernandez; he is in critical condition, but is stable. In a couple of hours we will be moving him into his own room.”

“So he is going to live then?” Jacob’s mom asked, daring to have some hope.

“Yes Ms. Hernandez, Jacob is going to live. That boy hangs on; he’s one hell of a fighter!”

“Thank you guys so much, I can’t believe it. You did it again, you did it again.” Jacob’s mom emoted.

“Ms. Hernandez, no thanks needed. When you go up and see your son, please do not be shocked with what you see. Both of his hands are in a sling in the air, bandages on your son’s legs and upper arms. As well there are bandages on his shoulder, chest, and spine. His face is wrapped in white gauze, and will be like that for weeks.

When he wakes up, he will be in pain. As well very confused about what had happened and where he is. Work with him, don’t pressure him at all. Let him recover at his body’s own speed. Support him and he will get through this again.” Dr. Whitmore said, finishing his report.

“Thank you again doctors! When and where can we see Jacob?”

“Right now he is in recovery, only family can see him in there. He will be moved to the sixth floor for in a couple of hours, and then any of you can see him then.”

“Dr. Whitmore and Dr. Mitchell I don’t know how I am going ever repay for all you have done for my family. Thank you so much!”

“Ms. Hernandez your thanks is all we want from you. The state will pay this bill. They dropped the ball on your son. If I was you, I would sue the state for not protecting your son as they promised to.” Dr. Whitmore said in a mentoring tone while looking over his glasses that were perched low on his nose.

“Thank you again, that is something to think about.” Jacob’s mom said reflectively.

We all got up to head to the sixth floor when Ms Hernandez grabbed on my arm.

“You are family Joey, you should come with me!”

I looked at Ms Hernandez and tears started going down my face. I couldn’t hold it in any more. I hugged her, and thanked her.

“Also for now on Joey please call me by my first name Gloria. Don’t call me Ms. Hernandez any more, you’re family.”

“Yes ma’am, thank you!”

I told Irene, David and the rest what was going on. They headed to the sixth floor. Jacob’s mom and I went into recovery. We stopped by the nurse’s desk to find out what room Jacob was in.

“Jacob Hernandez is not in recovery any more. We have already moved him to his room.”

“What is his room number then?” I asked with surprise.

“He is in room six twelve, on the sixth floor.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

We grabbed the elevator and went up to the sixth floor. When the door opened, David and the rest were just standing there.

“What’s up David?”

“We just saw them wheel Jacob off the elevator, Joey. He is in really bad shape man. I know the doctors warned us, but until you see it firsthand, you can’t imagine. It is ugly man, it is ugly.”

“I know David, let’s just support his family.”

We headed to Jacobs room. I walked in and Gloria was already in the room by Jacob’s side. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He looked like a mummy; he really did. The only good thing coming out of this, he didn’t have tubes coming out of his body. Just the IV’S were connected to him.

I walked over to the other side of Jacob. I looked down at him, just barley being able to see his eyes through the entire wrap. He was breathing on his own, I was happy about that. I took a seat when David, Irene, and the rest walked in.

When they looked at Jacob, their jaws dropped open. You could tell they were stunned at the sight before them. But they didn’t say a word, just took seats on the remaining chairs and floor.

It was almost one when we heard movement from Jacob’s bed. I got up right away and moved towards him. Jacob’s eyes opened up. They were badly blood shot. He looked at me and I could see a smile. I laughed with tears coming down my face. I was so happy to see Jacob is fine.

He looked over to his mom, and smile at her. Gloria started to cry and went down and kissed Jacob on his wrapped forehead. The rest of the guys got up and looked at Jacob.

For the first time Jacob spoke: “Hey guys, why this unhappy faces?”

We all started to laugh. To hear Jacob’s cracked voice made us all so happy.

“Man we were so worried about you, Jacob. We are glad to see you are alright.” Dave interjected.

“They just can’t put a good person down.” Jacob crackled.

Jacob tried to laugh a little. You could tell it hurt him to laugh or even move for that matter. He already knew what to do for the pain. He pushed the button that gave the pain medicine. He was asleep soon afterwards.

“Joey, I need to get home and make sure Marie is ok. I called her last night, and she was crying on the phone.” Gloria said speaking softly.

“Go ahead Gloria. I will stay here with Jacob. I had planned to stay anyways.”

“Thank you Joey. And thank you all for staying around to make sure Jacob made it through it all. Joey I should be back in a couple of hours.” Gloria said as she leaned down and kissed me on my forehead. Then she left. David got up and sat on the chair where she had been sitting. Irene and the rest said their goodbyes. Irene promised she would be checking in on Jacob until he leaves the hospital.

As they were leaving, I saw the uniformed police officers posted at the door. The district attorney wanted to make sure Jacob nor I got hurt or killed. I figure better late than never.

(JACOB’S POINT OF VIEW)

I had this banging in my head I couldn’t get rid of. I opened my eyes. It was dark in the room. When I got a clearer sight, I was confused on where I was at. I jumped, but couldn’t move much. I tried again to jump, and still found I was unable to move.

Then I felt a set of hands on my shoulders, which scared me even more. Then I heard Joey’s voice; “Calm down Jacob, you are safe now! Don’t be afraid, we are here with you.”

I couldn’t see Joey at all. I heard him talking to me, but I couldn’t see him. I was getting freaked out, why I couldn’t see him.

“Joey is that you? I can’t see anything but darkness.”

“Jacob everything is ok. Just settle down. Calm yourself.” Joey said in mellow tones.

I started to breath in and out, calming myself. Within a few moments, more and more I was able to see. Finally I saw Joey’s face looking down at me, his hands on my shoulders. I smiled up to him.

“You see, everything is going to be fine. You just need to be calm. You took a pretty serious beating and it will take your mind some time to do things right now.” Joey said in an informative fashion.

I looked around the room and didn’t see anyone else. As I turned to my left, I saw David standing there on my side.

“What’s going on David? Is everything alright?”

“I should be asking you the same questions. I am doing better now that you are out of danger. Why didn’t you tell any of us about this joker?” I asked.

“I didn’t even know I was being hunted. Trust me if I knew, I wouldn’t have been alone where those guys would be able to get to me.”

“Well we now have your back. We won’t let you out of our sight for a moment.” Joey stated with assuredness.

“Thanks guys, it means a lot to me.”

Saturday and Sunday went by pretty quickly. I was asleep most of the time. When I was awake, the same people were in my room. I was happy that Joey didn’t leave my bedside for anything. He even had food delivered for himself.

When I woke up on Monday morning, there wasn’t anyone in my room. I figured that school and work had to be kept up with. It was around nine when I saw Dr. Whitmore for the first time. I looked up at him when he walked in with his team of students and doctors.

“Jacob my man, didn’t I tell you to stay out of trouble?” Dr. Whitmore laughed as he patted my shoulder. He was explaining to his med students who I was and why I was in the hospital.

Then Dr. Michael came in with his group of students. “I see Dr. Whitmore and I brought our team of experts. Jacob how are we feeling this morning son?”

“I am doing ok. I still can’t move much and I think I don’t have any front teeth.”

“In order for you move Jacob, it will only take a couple of days this time. Now your teeth are another story. But before you leave this hospital, you will have all your teeth back.” Dr. Michael declared confidently.

“Thank you!”

“How does your body feel Jake? From head to toe, don’t leave out your spine.” Dr. Michael inquired.

“I feel like pins are poking me all over my body; numb, but mainly I can’t seem to move anything right now.”

“Just like Dr. Michael said, it will take a couple of days for your movement to return. We are concerned about your face though.”

“Don’t worry about my face doctors. It was ugly to begin with. They couldn’t do much more damage to anyways.”

Everyone started laughing in the room.

“Don’t say that about yourself Jacob. We will use every means to get you back to normal. When you leave this hospital, no one will be able to tell. Not a scratch will be on your face.”

At that point, several other people walked into the room. I have never seen these people before. Dr. Whitmore and Michael looked at them as well.

“Are you Jacob Hernandez?”

“Yes I am. Who are you?” I said with no small amount of irritation.

“I am District Attorney Sanchez and these are my assistants. We are here to see if you are able to speak with us for a few moments.”

“Hi there, my name is Dr. Whitmore and this is Dr. Michael. I really don’t think you should be talking to Jacob for several reasons. One, he is recovering from a major surgery. Two, he is a minor and his mother is not here. And three, I really don’t think he can take questioning at this time.”

“Doctors, I do understand your concern, but we do need to speak with Jacob. We have already spoken with his mother, and she has given us permission to speak with her son.”

“If you don’t mind then, I would like to stay while you question Jacob.” Dr. Whitmore said in a very paternal and protective tone.

“I don’t mind, as long as Jacob doesn’t mind.”

“I don’t, I rather he does stay here if he can.”

“That’s fine with me then. Could the rest of the doctors in this room go if all their business in here is done?” DA Sanchez more stated than asked.

Dr. Whitmore pulled his team out, and then came back. Dr. Michael followed right behind them.

“Ok Jacob, let’s get started now. Do you remember anything from the events of last Friday?”

I just stared at the DA. I really didn’t want to answer any of his questions. I don’t want to be shot again.

“It’s ok Jacob, you won’t be hurt anymore. You can tell us anything.”

“Sorry to say this, I do not trust you guys anymore. You gave me that promise already before, and look where I am. So the answer to your question is yes. I can pick the guys out. I remember all five of them, but I won’t do so. This time I am going to keep my mouth shut because I want to live. Also I do not want to be called to court on the other matter. If you do, I won’t say anything on the stand that will get me killed.”

“Jacob we can force you to testify if we need to. You know that don’t you?”

“You can force me to go to court, but not to talk on the stand. I fear for my life, you didn’t protect me like you said you would. So I will take the fifth on any questions you ask me.”

“Jacob the fifth is for those who might say something that would get them in trouble with the law. The fifth doesn’t work for you. We can put you on the stand as a hostile witness, if we needed to.”

“You can, but it wouldn’t look good for you all. You will be forcing me to answer questions where I fear for my life if answered. For that reason alone, I will keep saying that while I am on the stand.”

“Jacob we need your help. We need to get these guys off the street for good. If you don’t testify on the regional case, we will lose it. He will be set free, and nothing will stop him from going after you again. At that point, the police detail will be gone. You don’t want to be looking over your shoulders every minute of every day, for the rest of your life, do you?”

“Mr. Sanchez, I am very tired now, the pain is getting to me. So I am going to push the button for the pain meds. It normally puts me to sleep. You have a nice day and take care.”

I touched the button for the pain meds. The district attorney reached over and pulled away the unit from my mouth. Dr. Whitmore grabbed onto him.

“You cannot touch this patient or any tubes and wires going into his body. You know that.”

“Dr. Whitmore you better never touch me again, or I will have you taken out of here in hand cuffs. I need this smart ass to answer my questions sooner rather than later.”

“He is in pain, he cannot do so.”

“I believe he is hiding in that excuse.”

“So besides being the district attorney, you’re a doctor now?”

“No I am not a doctor. I just need Jacob’s help that is all.” Sanchez said through clenched teeth.

“When he has strength and can stay awake longer, I will recommend to Ms. Hernandez you can come back for a visit. I will also tell her what you called her son and threaten his life. I will recommend to her that you don’t visit again until I release him.”

“I never threatened his life, never.”

“Sir, yes you did when you said there wouldn’t be any police protection and he will need to be looking over his shoulders all the time.”

The DA realized he’d been caught and said; “Dr. Whitmore I was not threatening him. When he is able to talk again, please have Ms. Hernandez call me then. When I get back to my office I will be calling her and letting her know you were in the way today.”

“Why wait until you get back to your office, let’s call her now on my phone. That way you can hear everything I tell her.”

Dr. Whitmore and Mr. Sanchez were talking all the way out the door. I don’t know if they called my mother or not. All I do know, I will not be stupid again, and tell them what they want to know. I want to live and they cannot protect me. Before I knew it, I was out.

When I woke up again the room was empty and quiet. I looked around and saw for the first time I was in a single room. Last time I was in a double and let me tell you I had several roommates.

I stayed awake this time for awhile. The only people that came in when I was awake were nurses to do their checks. As evening came, no one came down to visit. I figured that was going to be the case.

As the week wore on, I had no visit me. I got used to the quiet room. Since my hands were in a sling, I couldn’t even turn on the television to watch and that sucked to say the least. Dr. Whitmore is the only one that came around to visit on his rounds.

By Friday I was bored out of my mind. Joey came walking through the door around five. I was so happy to see him. He leaned down and kissed me on my lips that stuck out of the dressing on my face.

We talked a while about this and that. I was getting restless being there in the hospital and not going to school. I think Joey realized it in my voice. The officers were still posted at my door for protection. I felt weird having them there just standing at the door. I felt they could be doing something else with their time and the tax payers’ money.

Joey and I really couldn’t do much, due to my injuries I had. Later that evening my mom and sister came down and stayed for a couple of hours then left. Joey stayed the night with me. This time he had to sleep on the chair. I really wish he could be in bed with me.

The rest of the weekend went pretty much the same way. My mother and sister came to visit on Saturday and Sunday for a couple of hours each day. Joey never left my side except to eat and clean up. When Sunday evening rolled around, Joey said his goodbyes, but you could tell he didn’t want to leave.

As the weeks wore on, it was the same routine as it was in the first week. There were no visitors during the week, but when the weekend rolled around from Friday to Sunday Joey stayed with me. My mom and sister visited me for several hours each day during the weekends.

Finally on the fourth week in the hospital Dr. Whitmore came in on that Tuesday morning. He told me I was going to be taken down to get some x-rays. Sure enough the nurses came in and took me down.

Several hours later Dr. Whitmore returned to speak with me.

“Jacob I got your x-rays back. It looks like everything is healing pretty well. What I want to do right now is to start taking your bandages off of your hands and see what kind of movement we have.”

I didn’t say a word, I wanted it so. So Dr. Whitmore and some of the nurses started taking off the bandages on my hands. When they removed the last of the bandages, Dr. Whitmore instructed me to try to move my hands and fingers.

At first I couldn’t move anything. I kept trying then finally with every ounce will power in my body I was able to move fingers on both of my hands. It hurt like all hell, but I did it. Dr. Whitmore was happy with what movement I did.

“Now Jacob what we need to do is take off the bandages around your face. We need to see how it is healing. I need to warn you; at first it won’t be a pretty sight. The bandages being on your face for four weeks does a toll on the skin. Then the damage to your face was bad so you will have a lot of scaring. Remember though Jacob, this scaring we will be getting rid of in the next week or so through plastic surgery.”

“Yes sir, I do understand what you are saying. When you take off the bandages from my face, will they stay off?”

“It all depends on the healing of your body. For now I am hoping we can keep the bandages off. Let’s just take it a step at a time.”

Dr. Whitmore started to take off the bandages carefully from my face. Within a few minutes they were off. He started looking really close at my face. After poking at certain areas of my face for a few minutes, he finally stepped back.

Smiling he said; “Jacob it looks really good. We will leave the bandages off. Now again, before I give you a mirror to look at yourself, the scaring will not be there after the plastic surgery. Give me time to do the surgery.”

“Yes sir. I understand!” I said with more than just a bit of trepidation in my voice.

He gave me the mirror and I slowly moved it up to my face. When I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror for the first time, I was stunned. My face was still very puffy. Scars were coming down in all directions all over my face. I looked like a science project gone really wrong. My nose was bent. It looked like my eyes were not centered at all. It just wasn’t a site anyone would want to see.

“Once again Jacob, after plastic surgery, most if not all this, will be corrected. You won’t be able to even tell you went through this.” Dr. Whitmore said as convincingly as he could.

“I believe you doctor, just I have to live with what I see in the mirror for now.”

Dr. Whitmore left, and I stood there looking in the mirror. How in the world is Joey going to look past this? I’m like a Frankenstein monster now. I put the mirror away and started moving my arms. I still was unable to.

The next day when Dr. Whitmore walked in, I had to ask.

“Dr. Whitmore, when am I going to be able to move my body from the neck down?”

“Jacob you still have this unit in your neck that keeps you from moving from the neck down. The main reason we put it in was for managing pain. We didn’t want you to be in too much pain.” Dr. Whitmore said.

“What about the pain I am feeling now, sir?”

“That pain you are experiencing now is mainly from the injuries you sustained to your face. If we didn’t put that unit, the pain would be unbearable right now.”

“Ok, then when will it be taken out? I can’t even watch television because I can’t hold the control.” I said with no small amount of frustration coming forth.

“I just don’t want you to be in pain. The metal braces that were put in, to support your spine, will be very painful.” Dr. Whitmore admonished.

“I understand that, Dr. Whitmore I really do. Please Dr. Whitmore, sooner or later I would need to go through that pain anyway.”

“Ok then Jacob. I am warning you, the pain is going to be bad. You’re more likely be asleep most of the time due to the pain medicine we will be giving you through the IV and the morphine drip you will be on. I will have the nurse pick you up in a couple of hours and take you down.”

“Thank you Dr. Whitmore. I just want to get through this as quickly as possible. I am getting tired of being in the hospitals.”

“I understand that Jacob, I do. Just be ready my boy. I will also schedule you for plastic surgery in the next couple of days.”

Within a couple of hours I was taken down to the third floor to have the unit removed. At first I didn’t feel any different. I still couldn’t move from the neck down. Plus there was no more extra pain going on.

I was taken back to my room. No one was there when I arrived. The nurse came in and hooked the IV into the machine that would be feeding me the morphine. Soon after that, about an hour later, the pain hit and it hit me hard. I was in so much pain I was yelling. I pushed the button so many times for the morphine, and all it did was dull the pain.

The nurse came in and gave me a shot. That did the trick, I was out. The rest of the week I was asleep more then I was awake. I knew it was the weekend because when I did wake up for the few minutes and I saw Joey.

When I saw him sitting on the side of the bed, I tried to cover my face with the cover. Joey stopped me as I was yanking the blanket over my face.

“Jacob, don’t do that please. No matter what you look like, I love your heart and soul, not your looks. Looks is a plus…”

He laughed, trying to make me laugh. Instead I started to tear up. He made me cry with what he said. I really love this guy and I wish I could scream it to the world.

The next time I woke up I saw my mom and sister was there. My mom came up to me when she noticed I was awake. Brushed my hair back and kissed me on my forehead.

I thought to myself, I should have listened to Dr. Whitmore. On Sunday Joey was there, but I had more people visiting me. At first I was in such a blur I didn’t know who they were. Then it got clearer, it was David, Irene, and several other friends. The one that surprised me was there was my old friend Chase. I haven’t seen him since we moved from the central side of town.

Monday rolled around and Dr. Whitmore introduced me to the plastic surgeon. I was so out of it, I didn’t catch his name. Later that day I was wheeled down and went through first of many plastic surgeries of that week.

By the end of the week, I had four plastic surgeries. I was all wrapped up like a mummy again. As time was passing, I was able to handle more pain each day. This means I was able to stay awake even longer.

By my sixth week in the hospital, I was mostly off the morphine drip. I was glad about that. I moved around a lot more. My hands and arms were ok. My fingers were still little swollen, but worked. I was able to walk on my own, but with help of a cane. I was glad it wasn’t a walker again.

On Monday of my seventh week, Dr. Whitmore came in and took off the bandages on my face. When I looked up to him, the smile on his face told me a lot. He gave me a mirror to look at.

As I was bringing the mirror up, I was scared at the same time. As I looked into the mirror, I was stunned. My face was pretty much back to normal. There were no scars or signs of my face having been beaten in. I think the only really big change was my nose, lips and the size of my eyes. Other than that, I was very happy.

I was released from the hospital that late Wednesday evening. No one knew except my mom and sister who came to pick me up. At least I thought so. As I was sitting on the bed waiting for them to come, Joey came walking through the door.

I was so happy to see him. I got up and hugged him. I hugged him so tight not wanting to let go.

“Jacob let me see! Man did they do a great job with your plastic surgery. They put back your ugly mug just the way it was.”

He laughed and punched me on my shoulder.

“That’s the mug I fell in love with. I would never trade it for another in the world.” Joey said with joy lilting in his voice.

“Thank you Joey. That means a lot to me.”

I was about to lean in and kiss Joey, when I heard the door. It was my mom and sister walking in. It was the first time they saw me since the plastic surgeries. They were stunned to say the least.

As we were leaving to go to the elevator, I saw Dr. Whitmore. I asked the nurse to stop and she did. I got up and walked over to the doctor, I hugged him.

“Dr. Whitmore, I don’t know how you put up with me, but thank you. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be here today.” I said with more than just a bit of a check in my voice.

I was hugging him as I was talking. I started to cry. All my emotions came to the surface.

“Jacob you are like a son to me. I never want to see you in here again. I couldn’t stand another phone call that you were hurt.”

At that point the hug was broken, but Dr. Whitmore kneeled down holding both of my shoulders as he was talking.

“You listen to me Jacob; you be careful. You do not need to do anything you don’t want to do. That includes testifying in court. They didn’t take care of you as they promised. If you do decide to testify in court, you are a better man than many. Just promise me that you will take care of yourself. I mean it Jacob, you’re like a son to me, I cannot have another call that you are hurt again.” The good Doctor said with much emotion.

“I promise Dr. Whitmore. I will make you proud of me. The work you did will never go to waste, I promise you that!”

“Thank you Jacob, and call me John. Here is my card. It has my home and cell number on it. Call me any time. Please keep up with your medicine. Don’t call just for the pain but as for the other things as well.”

“I will John. I will be calling you if for no other reason than just to talk.”

Dr. Whitmore messed up my hair as I walked back to the wheel chair. On the way home we stopped in the McDonalds and grabbed dinner. We just sat there talking. At first I didn’t know why people were staring at me, then it dawn I me why. It was the officers that were there with us. I got so used to them at the hospital. It was like second nature to me having them around.

Joey’s uncle and aunt let him stay the rest of the week at my apartment. When we got home, Joey and I went to my room. It was great to be back in my room again. I was happy to be home and to be with Joey again.

We sat on my bed and watched television. As my mom headed to bed, she yelled through the door.

“Boys you need to go to bed now. You have school tomorrow.”

“Yes mom we will turn off the television and hit the hay.”

We did turn off the television but we didn’t go to bed. We waited to hear my mom’s door shut. I looked into the hallway to see where my sister was. She had already gone to bed. I shut the door quietly, and headed to bed.

I sat down on the bed and started to kiss Joey. It was great to be kissing his lips again. I moved down his neck, kissing every inch I could. We took off our shirts at the same time, as I was kissing his neck, he was kissing mine. Whatever I was doing to Joey, Joey was doing to me. I started to suck on his nipples, then kiss up his arms. Then I started to kiss back down his chest to his belly button.

At this point, Joey would repeat what I was doing. We decided for the first time to get into the sixty-nine position. We both unbuttoned our jeans at the same time and pulled them off each other. Then we pulled our underwear off at the same time.

I went down on Joey like never before. At the same time, Joey was going down me. I was on cloud number nine. I was going up and down on Joey’s cock, while he was sucking on my balls. I don’t know how he did it, but he started to rim me as I was still sucking him off. It felt so awesome, I was about to blow my load. By focusing intently on pleasing Joey, I was able to hold off. I wanted us to blow our loads together. It didn’t take long when I heard Joey whispering he was about to cum. At the same time, we blew our loads all over each other. It was one of those orgasms that is never to be forgotten.

We sat there breathing hard at first, and then we calmed down. We cleaned ourselves up, but didn’t bother to put any clothing on. We crawled under the blankets together, and snuggled with each other. It felt awesome having Joey’s naked body tight against mine. Feeling the heat coming from his body got me recharged and all horny again.

I reached around back to feel for Joey’s dick, I found it. He was hard as well. I started to jerk him off, and then moved his cock between my butt cheeks.

“Jacob, please don’t. I don’t want to do this unless you are ready and truly want it.”

“I love you so much Joey I want to give myself to you. You are the only one I ever want. I want it, and I want it to be you!”

At that point I moved his cock head down to my butthole entrance. It felt so good having his dick there. Joey moved in closer to me, we used his pre cum to wet his dick. At first it didn’t hurt when his head entered. Then, as his dick slowly made its way in, it started to hurt. Joey stopped and let me adjust and get used to his size. Then inch by inch he went in until I felt his hair touching my butt cheeks. He rested there for a few moments to allow me to adjust fully to his presence inside me.

Once I adjusted, he started going in and out. At first the rhythm was really slow, then faster. It felt so damn good, I don’t know what he was doing or hitting when his dick went all the way in, but it made me so harder and sent new and wonderful sensations throughout my entire body and being. Joey picked up the speed even more, I was just out there. I heard Joey breathing heavily.

“This feels so damn good Jake! I don’t know how much longer I can hold off!”

“You’re going to make me cum without me even touching my dick Joey! Keep going man, it feels so damn good. Push in harder, further. I don’t know what you are doing to me, but, I’m loving it all!”

“I am going to cum Jake! I can’t hold it any more man. I am cuuuuuumming man, oh shit Jake this feels so damn good, I cummm…….”

“Joey that feels so damn awesome, I about to, oh shit, I cuuuuuummming as well man, oh shit man!”

I could feel Joey releasing inside of me, flooding me with his warm semen. I realized he was giving me his very essence, making a bond that was the ultimate. I started to cum all over the wall and my belly. Having Joey's semen shot inside me felt awesome. I couldn’t breathe. When Joey and I finished, we stayed there, still coupled, coming down from our high. Joey’s dick slowly slid out of me. As it slid out, his cum started to leak out, running down my butt and balls.

Joey pressed our bodies together and we cuddled. We fell to sleep in each others’ arms. When the alarm went off in the morning, I woke up in a mood I cannot explain. I was so damn happy. Here I was, cuddled up with my Joey. We just had the greatest night of sex together. I then recounted it all and realized that this was so much more than just sex. We had joined our bodies and, at the same time, we had linked our souls on a new and higher level. I turned to face him. He was awake already. I started to kiss him on his lips.

“Jake we need to get up and clean ourselves. In other words, take a shower.” Joey said, snapping me back to reality.

He laughed and kissed me again.

“You first Joey, I want to stay here a little longer!” I said with my voice in a somewhat dreamy tone.

Joey got up, his beautiful bubble butt bouncing. He slipped on his underwear then his jeans and t-shirt he was wearing the day before. He headed out of the room to the shower. Soon after, I followed suit.

When I got back into the room, Joey already had the bed made. He was dressed and combed ready to go. I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around him. Kissing his neck from behind, smelling his scent. I started to kiss the top of his head when he turned around. We started kissing, just touching one another all over.

“We’ve got to stop Jake,….. now. If we don’t, we will never get to school.”

I finished getting dressed. We had breakfast and headed out. When we walked out, there was an unmarked police car there waiting. They explained they had to take me to and from school until two things were done.

First the guy I pointed out was the shooter last year is tried and convicted. Second the guys that almost killed me are caught and convicted. Until these two things are accomplished, I had better get used to having and ever present a shadow.

They drove us to school. When we got to school, Joey and I headed to grab breakfast. For the first time this year when I sat down to eat, I had someone to eat with. As we were eating, David showed up. “Hey Jake it is good to see you back. Man you look good!”

“Thank you David. I think that’s why all these eyes are looking at me.”

“Don’t worry about that man. They will get tired after a while. Remember you are a folk story here. You almost died. Since you lived, you were supposed to look like Igor or something like that,” David observed.

We all laughed and David took a sit next to Joey. To my surprise, I wasn’t mad about it. I knew Joey was mine and no one will ever take him from me. As we were talking, everyone in the cafeteria was looking at me, staring actually, and talking about me.

Then David’s friends came up. Ralph was the first to speak up: “Hey Jake the man. Please accept my apologizes. I am very sorry for what I was part of at the beginning of the year. You’re David’s friend, and you’re our friend. We will never try to screw with the friendship again.”

The other guys chimed in; “Yeah Jake, we are very sorry as well. We should have never done what we did.”

“Don’t worry guys. It is in the past now. David and I mended our fences already, and you are his good friends. I want to be friends with you guys as well.”

All the guys said at the same time; “Thanks Jake!”

We shook hands, and they sat down evenly on each side of the table. The bell rang, and we headed to class. As I walked down the hallway with Joey and David, people were just staring at me. I suppose I’d better get used to this.

As we passed the office, the principal called out for me.

“Hey guys I will see you in class. Yes sir, how may I help you?”

“It’s good to see that you are back and in one piece. First do you need anything from us here in the office?”

“No sir I am doing ok. I am walking now without any assistance. Yes, I am in pain a lot, but that’s what the medicine is for.” I said in an informative manner.

“Does the school nurse have your medicine and know when and how much you need to take?” the Principal inquired.

“Yes sir she does.”

“Dealing with your classes, we are going to just let you finish the semester off. Whatever you earn, here on out, will be you average. You missed the first six weeks of school. Also if you need anything, you feel you are being bothered, followed, or anything, you let me know. I know you have police protection for right now, but that isn’t in the class rooms.” He stated with obvious concern.

“Yes sir, I will. Thank you very much sir.”

“Ok then, head onto class and be careful.” He said, concluding the short conversation.

I shook the principal’s hand, and walked to first period class. When I walked in, everyone looked up at me. I handed the teacher my slip to return to class, she wrote something down in her grade book. She indicated for me to take a seat next to Joey and David. I was happy for that.

The rest of the morning went the same. When I walked into class, the students just stared at me. They finally would get tired, and go back to their groups.

When I walked into fifth period class, the entire class clapped as I walked to my seat. Sergeant Haney and Major Moore walked out of their office and started clapping when they saw it was me who the class was clapping for.

It felt good on getting a greeting like that. All day I had been getting nothing but stares and whispers. Here I was given a warm welcome back.

After roll call, Major Moore came up to speak with me. “Mr. Hernandez it is good to have you back with us. How are you feeling son?”

“I’m feeling great. Not like when I first woke up in the hospital, like I was ran over by a train.”

He laughed at what I had said. “Well Mr. Hernandez I am glad to have you back. Nothing has changed and you still have your position. Also, I did give some thought to us having our own newsletter. What you were telling me makes sense. We don’t get any kind of print in the school newspaper. So go ahead and put it together, and let me know. We will go from there.”

“Thank you sir, I will get right on it.”

“You have to understand this though. You will get some kind of title on the news paper we print, but I think the editor should be a senior student. What do you think?” The Major more stated than inquired.

“I think whoever is appointed Editor, the person earns the position. I agree it shouldn’t be a ninth or tenth grader. They might be taking the class like I did a first, for the PE credit. You want a cadet that will be here for long haul and is dedicated to the program.”

“Yes Mr. Hernandez that is what I meant. Next year, I have no problem putting you up to being the Editor. But it will be known it was your idea and you were the one that put this together.” the Major added.

“Thank you, Sir. You won’t ever regret it. We can make this program shine. Maybe we could even use it as a recruiting tool as well.”

“I like the way you think Jake. Get it together and we will go from there” said the Major, ending the conversation.

I caught up with the class outside. They were in formation getting ready to drill. I was really starting to enjoy this class. I would have never thought I would in a million a years.

TO BE CONTINUED…………..

{Now with Jacob out of the hospital looking to be in the clear health wise, there still is many unanswered questions. Will he go back to his core and do what is right? Will he testify against the shooter and those who almost killed him? Or will he just stay on the down low and let the guilty go free? We have seen the relationship between Jacob and Joey get even closer. Will Ralph and his friends ignore the promise they gave to David and try to get Jacob for David? Will Jacob’s idea about a new news letter for the ROTC program get off the ground? There is still so much going on in Jacob’s life and more to come in the weeks ahead. There is a lot to answer in the chapters to come. Stick around and keep reading the future chapters, and enjoy! Please email me and let me know how I am doing at jacobmillertex@aol.com, Thanks! I have a home page for you to see what the characters look like or what the places look like. If you want to walk in their shoes, please go to: http://jacobmillertex.com/}