His Only Happy Ending Part 2
His Only Happy Ending
Part 2
"Always, the world pounds us down at our highest points, reminding us who is in control."
Markus lay on the ground for several minutes before he even attempted to move. Tears still in his eyes, he pushed himself onto his feet and abruptly fell once more in a crumpled heap. His leg hurt terribly and was bleeding at a worrisome rate; he knew he wouldn't be able to walk on it well. His only consolation was it wasn't broken and he managed to crawl his way from the underpass. Knowing he'd never make it home at this rate, the only thing he thought to do was crawl his way up the hill and hope someone on the road would stop to help him.
As he made his way slowly uphill, all he could think about was Matt and what had happened. Why had he done that, kissed him? He wondered if Matt had always harbored that forbidden desire and if so, why had he reacted so strongly afterwards?
Gripping the top of the guard rail with both paws, Markus hauled himself up and over onto the side of the road. Huddled under a lonely streetlamp, he attempted to flag down a passing vehicle. Car after car passed him by with little notice and he wasn't surprised. People didn't care about anyone anymore and certainly didn't have time to stop and help an injured stranger.
As he lay there, Markus attempted to staunch the bleeding wound by removing his sock and tying it tightly around his leg. He watched the white cotton slowly turn crimson as it soaked up the blood, fascinated. Finally, after having his fill of being ignored by the passersby, Markus hoisted himself up by the streetlamp.
Hobbling into the street, Markus waved his arms over his head, fully illuminated by the lamp above. The next approaching vehicle had no choice but to stop to avoid hitting him. Taking his chance, he limped to the driver's door and knocked on the window. To his pleasant surprise the window lowered to reveal an elderly cat lady with a cross hanging from her mirror. He called on all the manners he had learned as a child and deliberately forgotten as a teenager. "Please ma'am, you have to help me; I need to get to the hospital."
The woman regarded him with a shocked expression for only a moment before unlocking her doors. What a merciful sound it was to the injured teen.
"Get in quickly child, I'll take you there."
"Thank you, thank you so much!" Markus could barely contain the emotion he felt toward his rescuer.
As soon as the door closed the woman stepped on the gas and sped down the road; much to the relief of those backed up behind her. For several minutes she drove in silence as Markus lay across her rear seat, the sock around his leg nearly saturated in blood.
She broke the silence after rounding a corner, "What are you doing way out here in the middle of the night son?"
Her voice contained no judgment or condemnation, which surprised Markus to some extent, so he was not worried about being truthful. "I was out here with a friend, doing drugs."
His answer did not surprise the woman, "I take it that ended badly."
Markus sighed, "Yeah, we had a... falling out you could say, and I hurt myself."
The woman looked back at him through the mirror, "Are you sure that's what happened?"
Markus nodded with grim certainty, "Yes ma'am, I fell and cut my leg on some debris."
The woman smiled, "Protecting your friends is an admirable trait young man, the Lord Jesus teaches that. Have you ever given thought to the teachings of Christ?"
The rest of the drive to the hospital passed as a blur to Markus, who only half listened to the woman's ensuing discourse on Christ's teachings. The truth was he had once believed but lost faith when he experienced the horrors which took place in the world. As he lay there he began to feel rather tired, more so than before, and slowly shut his eyes. A few blocks from the hospital he lost consciousness, the bloody sock dripping onto the seat.
Pedaling as fast as he could, Matt powered towards home, rage seething inside of him at what had happened. How dare Markus force himself onto him and then try and call him the faggot. It was all he could do to focus enough to keep going in the right direction, though he didn't really care if he ever made it home.
However, he swerved to a stop beside his house minutes later, breathless from riding so hard. Carefully, he scaled the latticework leading up to his window and slipped inside; he was home free. At least he thought so until the light flipped on and in the doorway stood both his parents, looking none too pleased.
Matt could think of only one thing to say, "Ah fuck."
After enduring the drawn out lecture on rules, responsibility and the importance of respecting authority, his parents finally left, after grounding him another month of course.
Lying on his bed in the dark room, all manner of thoughts bumped around inside Matt's head. Having convinced himself on the way home it was all Markus' fault, he now contended with the possibility that it wasn't. His conscience weighed heavily on him as he fought to remember exactly what had happened. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he could only remember the moments after the incident, when he screamed at Markus and ran off. He had this strange feeling though, had he enjoyed it?
"No! NOOO! I'm not a fag!" He screamed and threw the lamp off the nearby nightstand. Seething with rage once more, he suppressed the urges of his conscience, quickly undressed, and went to sleep with no thought as to Markus' current condition. Just as he fell asleep, the sky outside thundered and a crack of lightning pierced the darkness as a storm rolled in.
EMTs quickly loaded Markus onto a gurney and rushed him into the hospital and out of the rain, which had started only a few minutes previous. They were worried about not knowing how much blood he had lost and that he was unconscious. The old woman expressed her desire to stay until he was awake to a nurse, who escorted her to the waiting room as Markus was pushed into Emergency. It was over an hour before a doctor came in to speak with her, informing her he would be alright. She gave the doctor a smile, declined to see him, and left the hospital.
"What's your name son?" The doctor who had fixed his leg asked.
He was still a bit out of it but answered, "Markus sir, Markus Dixon."
"Well Markus," the doctor replied, "I'm Dr. Thomas, and you are a very lucky young man."
Markus didn't quite understand, "Sir?"
Dr. Thomas continued, "You came within millimeters of severing your femoral artery; just nicking it would have caused you to bleed out if you hadn't made it here. You required twenty two stitches and a unit of blood but you'll be alright."
He wrote something on a clipboard taken from the end of the bed and checked Markus over once more before a nurse walked in.
"Nurse Croft will take down your information and contact your parents. I need to see to my other patients and will return when your parents arrive to get you." He left without another word, leaving Markus in the company of the rather attractive Nurse Croft.
The nurse smiled at him as she pulled up a small stool and sat down by the bed. "Alright Markus, since you don't have any records filed with us I'll just need your phone number so we can call your parents. We'll take down the rest of the information when they arrive so you can get some rest, how does that sound?"
Markus smiled, it had been quite some time since he'd smiled but this night was an unusual one. "It sounds fine Ma'am; my number is 248-555-7396."
Nurse Croft wrote down the number before flashing him another bright, yet tired looking, smile and standing. "I'll be in to check on you now and then until your parents arrive, and you don't need to call me Ma'am, my name is Debra."
She turned to go but Markus suddenly remembered something and spoke up, "Debra, wait a second, is the woman who brought me here still out there?"
Debra shook her head, "She stayed until Dr. Thomas told her you were alright, and then she left without leaving a name or anything." She gave him another smile before leaving him alone in the room, where he quickly fell asleep.
Markus was jolted awake by a sudden, very loud cry and he instantly knew what it was. He didn't remember falling asleep but he must have because his parents had entered the room and his mother had a death grip on his paw.
"Oh Markus, oh my baby what happened to you?" His mother's tone surprised him; she seemed genuinely concerned with his wellbeing and was actually crying. His father had a far less forgiving look on his face and Markus knew he would not get a pass simply for being injured.
"It's alright Mom the Doctor said I'll be fine, can we just go home now?" Markus was tired, achy, and desperately wanted to curl up in his bed and sleep for a day or two.
"Yes, we're going home baby, and Momma is going to take good care of you." She hugged him tightly and Markus wondered if she thought he was dying.
It was thirty minutes before the check-out process was complete and Nurse Croft was pushing him out to the car in a wheelchair. He'd insisted he was alright to walk but there was no arguing with hospital policy. Everything seemed to go by in a blur and before he knew it he was being helped up the stairs to his room by his mother.
"Really Mom I'm fine, please stop worrying you're freaking me out." Markus had had just about enough of his mother's craziness and was relieved when she finally went back downstairs and he was alone. Five minutes later Markus had pulled the covers over himself, nestled snuggly and comfortably in his bed.
Despite being profoundly tired however, Markus found it difficult to fall asleep. Something very much bothered him that he just couldn't quite put a finger on. It took many minutes for the realization to hit him, and it frightened him more than anything in recent memory. His father had not said one word the entire time. In the pit of his stomach, Markus knew that hell awaited him on the morrow.
End of part 2