“Ash, Ash, are you all right? Here, sit down.” Peter took him by the shoulder. The touch wasn’t right. It wasn’t Drew. Oh God, if anything happened to Drew, he knew he couldn’t survive the loss. “No,” he rasped out. “I need to find Drew. I need to tell him something.”
But Drew was still being interviewed by an earnest-looking young policeman, so Ash could only watch him from afar as the thoughts tumbled around in his head. When had this man become so important to him, and why? For so long he’d been alone, and that had been his choice. The frenetic encounters with nameless men suited his uncaring, indifferent lifestyle. But Mr. Frank, as usual, had been right all along. Somewhere along the way, the need for human touch, to feel warmth had returned to his soul.
“Ash? What’s going on?” Stevie’s voice pierced through his internal musings.
“What are you guys doing here?” Ash saw not only Stevie, but Javier hovering by his side, a fierce, protective expression on his face. “Are you two dating?” His lips tugged up in a smile.
Javier scowled. “Don’t make fun, man. It’s all right. We’re having a good time together, right?” Javier took Stevie’s hand, and Stevie blushed a bright red.
Stevie had had a crush on the older boy for several months now, so it made Ash happy that they had finally gotten together. Stevie needed a strong male protector to teach him how to stand up for himself.
“But what’s going on? We were biking by and saw the cop cars.” Stevie surveyed the room. “Did anyone get hurt? Is Dr. Drew okay?”
Ash patted him on the back, happy to notice that Stevie didn’t seem as bony as he had a few months ago. “Everyone’s fine. It’s a brick thrown through the window with a threatening note attached. You remember Keith, right? He called the police to come down.”
Instead of looking scared, Stevie looked thoughtful. “Is Dr. Drew gonna have to close down the clinic?”
“Why would you ask that?” It was a strange question coming from Stevie, especially since the note had mentioned that very thing. “Have you heard something, maybe out on the streets?”
All at once, Stevie’s nerves seemed to get the better of him. “No, I don’t know nothing.”
Ash steered him over to the sofa and sat next to him. “Don’t be afraid of anything. If you’ve heard something, anything, let me know. You should talk to Keith again.”
“Now?” Stevie gulped, his wide eyes darting to where Keith stood, talking to one of the officers.
“Don’t worry,” Ash soothed. “I’ll be right here while you talk to him.”
“O-okay,” Stevie stuttered.
Ash motioned over Keith, and Drew followed from behind.
“Keith, remember Stevie?” Ash took the boy by the shoulders. “He said he may have heard something on the street about the clinic.”
“Sure I do. Hi, Stevie.” Keith smiled, and Ash caught Stevie’s eye and nodded.
“Don’t be afraid. You’ve spoken before, and nothing bad happened to you. Tell Keith what you know.”
Javier moved in next to Stevie and held his hand. “Go on, tell ’em everything you heard.”
Stevie took a deep breath. “Um, well, you know my foster brothers, right?”
Ash was only too well acquainted with those punks. “Yes.”
“I heard them talking about how they didn’t like having so many queers in the neighborhood now. That Dr. Drew should leave before something bad happens.”
Ash’s chest tightened as Keith spoke. “Did they talk about hurting anyone or doing something to the clinic?”
“No.” Stevie tucked his hair behind his ear. “But they keep telling me that Dr. Drew ain’t gonna be around much longer; then I won’t have any friends.”
Javier put his arm around Stevie’s thin shoulders. “Don’t you worry. I’m here, and Dr. Drew and Dr. Jordan ain’t closing down the clinic, right?”
Ash’s nod was emphatic. “Absolutely not. Don’t you worry, Stevie. Go get something to eat, then go home, all right?”
“Okay, if you say so.” Stevie let himself be led away by Javier but kept shooting looks over his shoulder.
“What do you think?” Ash turned back to Keith, who put a finger up in a “just wait” gesture as he finished jotting down notes.
“I think,” Keith said grimly, “the time has come for me to pay these foster brothers a little visit. Child services may not be able to do anything, but maybe I can make them see the errors of their ways.”
“I’ll come with you.” Ash jumped up from the sofa, anxious to get going and confront the bastards who had not only terrorized Stevie, but also may have hurt the people he loved.
Keith walked toward the front door with the police officers, and Rachel was busy cleaning up the glass from the floor. Most of the guests had left after making their statements to the police, and only Drew and his friends remained, along with Esther and Rachel. Ash joined them, coming in on the tail end of an argument between Esther and Drew.
“Nana, look. I have to go to Stevie’s house. I have a feeling it’s those two punks, Stevie’s foster brothers. If they were the ones who hurt you and are planning something against the clinic, I need to know.”
“Let the police do their job. You could get hurt.” Her eyes bored holes into Ash. “Tell him, Asher. Tell him not to go.”
He opened his mouth, only to be cut off by Drew. “Not you too. Are you going to try and tell me what to do?”
Ash had never seen Drew so upset. “Wait, let me talk.”
“No, Ash. You’re as bad as they are, trying to tell me what to do. I won’t let them destroy what I worked so hard for. They’re only a couple of punks. I can handle them.”
Without waiting for anyone to speak, Drew ran out of the apartment, and within minutes, Ash heard a car engine revving up, tires squealing down the street. “Damn it. I’m going after him.” He remembered he didn’t have his car. “I need a ride, please,” he heard himself begging, and didn’t care. Drew had run off, spoiling for a fight, and as hopped up and angry as he might be, Ash knew he wasn’t capable of handling a physical altercation with two teenage punks.
Keith waited by the front door. He was on his phone, calling his partner, Jerry Allen, to let him know what was happening and to meet them at Stevie’s house. Jordan yelled out. “Come on, let’s go.”
Ash bent down and kissed Esther’s cheek. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he comes home safe and sound.”
She held him close. “Please. You children are all I have.”
He hugged her, then broke away and ran after Keith and Jordan.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Drew knew Stevie’s address from the forms the boy had filled out prior to his starting work at the clinic. It didn’t take him more than fifteen minutes to reach Stevie’s foster home in the forbidding area in Red Hook, near the hulking projects. He swallowed his nerves and stormed up the stairs of the ill-kept house. There was no knocker, so he resorted to banging on the door. At eight in the evening, he believed someone should be home.
After several knocks that produced no results, it was apparent he was wrong. No one was home, so he decided to go back and wait in his car. It only took another five minutes of him ignoring several texts and phone calls from Ash before he saw Stevie’s two foster brothers swagger up the street.
He exited the car and met them at the bottom of the steps to their house. “You’re Jimmy and Donny, right?” They looked at each other in surprise, and Drew could see right away Jimmy was the leader of the two.
“Who the fuck are you?” The boy’s hands balled into fists as he swaggered up to Drew.
“I’m Dr. Drew Klein. Stevie works for me.”
Jimmy’s sneering face grew even uglier. “Oh yeah? What’s he do for you, suck your dick? Are you a fucking queer too?” The boy had several inches and about twenty pounds on Drew, and shoved his face up close in an attempt to intimidate him. “We don’t need no more fags, so you need to get outta here.”
Drew prayed his voice wouldn’t shake when he spoke. “I’m not closing down the clinic, and we aren’t going anywhere. So tough shit and get used to it, punk.”
Sirens wailed in the distance. The two young men muscled their way up close to Drew, pushing him until his back pressed uncomfortably into the stairway post.
“Listen, Dr. Queer. We’re telling you to get the fuck out of our hood, or we’re gonna torch the place, and maybe you might still be inside.” Jimmy’s laugh rang out into the night like an evil carnival clown’s. “Maybe we’ll pay your dear old grandma another visit.”
Drew’s blood ran cold, and a red veil of anger descended over him. “You? It was you two who went to her house.” The thought that Nana had trusted them, and they’d almost killed her emboldened him. “You fucking bastards, you dared to put your hands on her? You almost killed her, you sons of bitches.”
Drew never saw the punch coming. A hard, heavy fist connected with his cheek, and he saw stars. Though his head still reeled from the punch, the knowledge that these boys could’ve killed his sweet grandmother sent a surge of adrenaline through him. He charged at the two young men.
He must’ve caught them by surprise, because the quieter one, Donny, got knocked off his feet and sprawled on the ground. Jimmy, however, was a different story. He put his bullet-shaped head down and barreled into Drew, knocking his head against the post. Pain lanced through Drew’s skull. Woozy from the blow, Drew heard a car pull up, doors slam, then shouting from the direction of the street. He thought he heard Ash or maybe Keith, but he couldn’t be sure.
With his head still spinning, he nonetheless shook it off as best he could and began to swing at the two men, trying to hit whichever body was closer. He knew he landed some good hits, but when Jimmy landed two quick punches to his stomach, it sent him to his knees, gasping for breath.
As if in the distance, Drew heard Keith yell out, “Police, halt.” Jimmy, the closest to him, muttered something to Donny. Drew lay on the ground, still holding his stomach, as blood from the gash on the back of his head dripped down his neck. Over his own heavy breathing, he heard Donny pleading with Jimmy.
“No, Jimmy, you can’t. Put it away.”
“Fuck them,” Jimmy muttered.
Drew’s vision cleared, and with horror, he saw a gun in Jimmy’s hand. He heaved himself up and croaked as loud as he could. “Gun. He’s got a gun.”
White-hot pain seared through him, and he thought he heard shots ring out. Then everything went black.
* * * *
A loud beeping noise filled his head, and dull pain radiated throughout his body. His attempt to open his eyes failed miserably, and he groaned out loud.
“Drew, Drew. Do you hear me?”
Where was he? “Ash? Is that you?”
“Yes, baby. How do you feel?” A large, warm palm stroked his cheek. “Can you open your eyes?”
He made the attempt and this time met with success. Ash’s face hovered over his. Drew blinked, and his vision cleared. “Oh, Drew.” Ash kissed his lips and sighed. “You scared me, baby.”
“Where am I?” He sensed movement underneath him.
“On your way to the hospital to get your head checked out.” Ash continued to stroke Drew’s cheek. “You have a nasty cut on the back of your head, and you may have a concussion.”
As if to validate Ash’s statement, an EMS worker appeared from behind Drew with a blood pressure kit. Ash slid back against the wall and allowed the man to take Drew’s pressure. Drew winced as the man’s fingers probed his head, but he had no blurring of his vision nor nausea, signs, he knew, of a possible concussion.
“Lie back, Doctor. You need to take it easy. We’ll be at the hospital in a few minutes, and they can check you out more thoroughly there.”
Drew gave the man a faint smile. “Thanks.” He turned back to Ash, who looked pale and ill.
“What happened? Did Keith arrest Jimmy and Donny? They were the ones who pushed Nana around and threw the brick through my window.”
Ash nodded. “Yes, we know. But they didn’t arrest them.”
He tried to sit up, knowing he couldn’t have heard Ash correctly, but the pain slicing through his head almost caused him to throw up.
“Lie back, please, Doctor. You have to relax and remain still.” The EMS tech placed a hand on Drew’s shoulder, but he ignored it, reaching for Ash.
What the hell? “How could Keith not arrest them? They’re criminals.” Drew’s confusion grew at the sight of Ash’s face, which had paled to an almost unnatural white. A sick feeling of dread crawled up his spine. “What’s going on? There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?”
Ash tried to take his hand, but Drew knocked him away. “What is it? Tell me.”
“They’re both dead, shot by the police. But Drew, it’s Keith. He was shot, and it doesn’t look good.”
Oh God. “No. That can’t be. Keith is with Jordan. There were other police officers.” Drew sat up so quickly he almost fainted from the nausea and pain. “You’re lying.”
“Baby, I’m so sorry. After Jimmy hit you, he fired at the person directly in front of him. Keith had already arrived and didn’t wait for his backup when he saw them attacking you. The bullet hit Keith in the throat.”
“No.” Drew leaned over the edge of the gurney and vomited, heaving violent spasms onto the floor of the ambulance. He stayed in that hunched position, shivering and weeping, as the tech cleaned up the floor. The EMS worker then forced him to lie back down, threatening him with a shot that would put him out unless he complied. Drew gave in, but the pain in his head and his heart remained.
Not Keith. Why? Please God. Help him. Don’t let him die
. All these thoughts swirled around madly through his mind as the ambulance stopped and he was off-loaded into the emergency room. He saw several news trucks on the street before he was whisked past the worried faces of Rachel, Nana, and Mike.
There was no sign of Jordan.
“Ash.” He reached out a hand blindly, and Ash’s familiar large hand grabbed his, squeezing it tight.
“Yes, baby, I’m here.”
“Please. Find out about Keith. I have to know.”
“But I want to stay with you.”
“No.” His voice rang out sharper than he intended. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s only that… Keith. I need to know what’s happening.” His eyes searched Ash’s red-rimmed ones. “Please,” he whispered. “Do this for me.”