In Death He Lives Read online

  In Death He Lives

  By:

  John Charles

  Copyright and Legal Notice:

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Manifest Vision Publishing - Smashwords Edition 2014

  Copyright © 2014 John Charles. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

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  ISBN 978-1-882598-07-6

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  A personal message from the author

  Chapter 1

  The soft leather seat hugged Alex’s body and the new car smell attacked his senses as they drove the deserted highway. The only sound in the car was the gentle roar of the engine as Reade shifted gears. The country road wound through the hills creating the perfect proving grounds for Reade’s new sports car. In rain or snow, this was a treacherous path, but tonight it was clear and dry allowing Reade to accelerate on straight sections and test the car’s road handling on the sharp turns. He was having fun.

  Reade loosened his tie and collar with his free hand, “I don’t know why dad insists that everyone dress up for these parties. It would be much nicer if he allowed us to come in casual clothes.” Glancing at the man sitting next to him he saw the sad, sorry look he had seen so many times before.

  Alex looked out the side window not responding to Reade’s statement. There was no need for an answer, not now or anytime that this or other similar statements were voiced. Reade would do whatever his father wanted him to do. He never questioned. He never disagreed. Never spoke his mind.

  Alex felt more than heard Reade’s hand reach to turn on the radio. Catching his hand before he reached the button, Alex asked, “Do I embarrass you?”

  “No! Why would you ask that? You don’t embarrass me Alex. I love you.”

  “Really? Then why didn’t you even acknowledge my presence tonight? It was as if I wasn't there.”

  “Are we doing this again? We’ve been through this so many times. You know I can’t and you know why.”

  “I can’t do this anymore,” said Alex in a whisper as he looked out the window. “It’s too much.”

  “Alex, come on. You know I can’t. Dad will have a fit if he finds out I’m gay. Why now, Alex? Why?” asked Reade as he shifted gears to navigate the turn in the road?

  The silence was almost deafening. Neither spoke for what seemed like hours. “No more Reade. I will not be part of your life when it’s convenient for you and a stranger when your father or someone from your precious company might find out we're a couple.”

  “What do you mean were, Alex? We are a couple!”

  “No Reade we are not. We never were. If you really loved me, as you say you do, you’d find a way to make this work. It’s over Reade. I want you to move out. The apartment was mine before you moved in and I want you out - Out of the apartment and out of my life.”

  “No, I’m not letting you go that easily. We’ll work this out,” said Reade looking at the back of Alex’s head. “Look at me! Stop turning away from me!” he screamed, pounding his fist on the steering wheel.

  Every time the subject came up, Reade managed to control his temper for a few minutes before he became angry. He didn’t want the conversation and couldn’t understand why Alex harped on him coming out. Things were just fine the way they were. He abruptly shifted the car as he entered another curve, causing Alex to slide forward in his seat. “Take it easy or you’ll kill both of us!” shouted Alex as Reade’s driving became erratic.

  “Reade, pull over and let me out. I’ll walk home,” said Alex as his hand went to the seat belt buckle. “Pull over Reade!” he shouted.

  “Don’t be stupid Alex. You can’t walk home from here.”

  Alex had already opened the seat belt and was reaching for the door handle. “Pull over Reade. I’m not asking you again,” he said as he opened the door.

  “Are you crazy Alex? Close the door before you fall out. I’m not kidding, Alex, close the door.” Reade reached toward Alex attempting to reattach his seat belt, but Alex had let it slip off his shoulder.

  “Watch out!” The shout brought Reade’s attention back to the road. In front of him were headlights of an oncoming car. He swerved, barely missing it as he drove across the highway into the embankment on the other side. Everything moved in slow motion as the car hit the dirt and rolled onto its side. The sound of Alex’s screams, glass shattering, and the high-pitched roar of the engine as it accelerated out of control assaulted Reade’s ears. His vision blurred. Darkness crept in from the sides as he lay in the heap of what was his new car.

  Alex felt the car swerve as Reade overcompensated trying to avoid a head on collision. He tried to pull the door shut, only to find the open door pulling him from the car as it raced across the road. I’m going to die out here. His body became airborne as he was ejected through the open door. The heavy growth along the roadside ripped his skin as Alex tumbled down. The sky was replaced with shrubs, then sky, then shrubs as he continued to tumble. He heard screams so loud they hurt his ears, only to realize they were his own.

  Blindly, he tried to find something to stop his fall to no avail. Boulders broke bones, branches ripped skin, and his new suit was in pieces. He tumbled out of control until his head slammed into an unforgiving boulder. The rolling stopped. Unable to move, he lay there wondering if he was going to die. He could barely see out of one eye. The other was swollen shut from the impact.

  Breathing caused sharp pain in his chest and sides. He could not feel his arms or his legs. It was as if his body and his mind were no longer connected. The night sky was filled with brilliant stars. He imagined he was in Reade’s arms lying on the grass in the park as they often did during hot summer nights. What a way to die!

  His vision blurred as darkness closed in to consume the sky. His mind seemed to shut down as if he were falling asleep. Yes, let me sleep. Everything will be better in the morning.

  Darkness consumed h
im.

  Chapter 2

  Fire rescue and paramedics arrived; a state trooper interviewed the driver whose car had almost become one with Reade’s. “He seemed preoccupied when he came across the yellow line. I flashed my lights, blew my horn and moved over as far as I could to avoid being hit. Then he suddenly swerved and ran off the road.”

  The night was dark with no moon. Blue and red flashing lights reflecting off the trees created an eerie setting. The rumbling fire truck engines and shouts of the firefighters as they removed their equipment, echoed in the otherwise still night. Organized chaos thought the driver as he witnessed the scene unfolding in front of him. Suddenly the entire side of the road was engulfed in light as the firefighters turned on huge spotlights.

  As the trooper and driver talked about the accident, paramedics reached through the opening where the windshield used to be, attempting to assess Reade’s condition. His car rolled down the embankment crushing the roof and breaking all the windows. Twisted shreds of metal hung from various openings waiting to catch an unsuspecting arm or leg. “We need to get him out of the car,” said a paramedic to the fire chief, “or he’ll soon be dead.”

  The driver felt sick to his stomach when he saw Reade’s mangled body as the paramedics and firefighters pried open the driver’s side door. Suddenly he turned his gaze from the horrific wreckage encasing Reade’s lifeless body and shouted to the trooper, “What about the other guy? I know there were two guys in the car.”

  “Two?” replied the trooper as he assessed the scene. Then yelling at the fire rescue team he said, “There is another guy who may have been thrown from the car. Start looking where it careened off the road.”

  What initially seemed chaotic now became an orchestrated beehive of activity as people started methodically searching from the point the car ran off the road. Armed with flashlights and more powerful searchlights they combed the area, looking for another body. Brush, shrubs and tall trees lined the embankment that became a deep gully along the side of the road. Unfortunately, for Reade and Alex, their car careened off the road at one of the steepest locations.

  Finishing his interview of the driver, the trooper jogged to his car to radio in. Just as he got to his patrol car, he heard “I think I found him. Look down there. Is that a body?” He ran to where the rescue team was shouting and saw what appeared to be a body at least 50 feet below them. “Shit, that was a long fall. How could anyone survive that?” said the trooper as he surveyed the area below him.

  Fire trucks in this area served two duties. Like most fire trucks, they were used in typical building fires as well as search and rescue vehicles. Everyone on the team had to graduate an advanced search and rescue program before receiving full-time status. The men in this company were dedicated professionals who knew their jobs and did them well.

  A fire truck pulled to the edge of the road and aimed spotlights down toward the body. “Set up the ropes so we can get to him,” shouted one of the rescue team. Within minutes, a firefighter and a paramedic were repelling down the embankment. Pieces of clothing and splashes of blood covered the path his body took as he rolled down the hill. “It’ll be a miracle if he survived this fall,” said the paramedic as he began his assessment of the body before him.

  “Oh my God, he’s alive. He’s really bad though,” shouted the paramedic. “From what I can see, he has numerous broken bones, major head trauma, and probably a pierced lung. He needs hospitalization immediately.”

  “Jason needs a backboard and straps down here,” radioed the firefighter. Looking up the hill, the spotlights blinded him as he attempted to see the trucks on the street above.

  An additional firefighter scaled down the ravine with the requested supplies. The firefighters secured the lifeless body on a backboard, while Jason administered an IV to stabilize his blood fluids.

  Jason trained as a paramedic as part of his pre-med schooling. He not only loved his job, he intended to incorporate his training into his medical practice possibly working as a fire company doctor in a rural town or community.

  With ropes attached to each of them and the backboard, the men carefully inched up the embankment as firefighters on the road held their ropes to prevent them from slipping back down the ravine. Two ambulances were already on scene, waiting to carry the victims to the hospital.

  Once they reached the road, Jason rechecked the man’s vitals. “He’s alive, but barely,” he told his chief. “I’m going to the hospital with him if that’s alright with you.”

  “Any ID on him?”

  “Not that I can see. It could be someplace down there,” said Jason pointing down the embankment.

  “Give him the attention he needs. We’ll have the other guy in route in a few minutes,” said the chief. “One of us will get you when we’ve cleaned up this mess. Now go and do your magic.”

  The fire chief told the trooper about the missing ID. “Can you put some people on it in the morning?”

  “Definitely,” said the chief. “I’ll get a truck and some newbies out here to rake the area.”

  A few minutes later, firefighters cut the roof off the car, allowing paramedics full access to the body inside. Fortunately, a second paramedic arrived on scene to assist with the rescue attempts. He administered the necessary immediate care Reade required allowing the firefighters to extract him from the crumpled car.

  A firefighter found a wallet in his pocket and turned it over to the trooper. “His name is Reade Calan. You want to call it in while we transport him to the hospital?” The trooper radioed the update on the two survivors as he followed the ambulance with lights and sirens blasting.

  The pieces of Reade’s car were neatly secured to the wrecker and taken to the impound, leaving the firefighters to clean up the spilled oil and gas from the road. Two hours later the area looked as if nothing had happened. A closer look would reveal tire treads, shards of glass, and broken tree limbs where the car rolled down the embankment.

  Jason had accompanied numerous victims to the hospital as his duties required. This time it was different. There is something special about you. I don’t even know your name but I have the feeling there is more to you than what appears on the surface. The man on the gurney was near death. Having sustained so many injuries in the crash his body was shutting down. Jason pulled out all the stops to keep him alive.

  Onlookers might think emergency rooms were chaotic, but everyone had a job. Severe accident victims required specialized trauma screening to assess their conditions. Jason quickly recited everything he knew about the man in his care. Nurses cut the remaining clothes off his body as doctors checked his injuries.

  Normally Jason would take whatever medical equipment he brought and wait for a pick up. This time, however, he went with the doctors. He wanted to be with this man. I have no idea what is drawing me to you, but I’m staying with you, so please live.

  A few minutes later, the second ambulance arrived with Reade and the scene repeated. Doctors worked on both young men as the rescue team and paramedics secured their equipment and finalized arrangements to return to their base. “You ready to head back Jason?” asked a firefighter looking in on the trauma team busily preparing Alex for emergency surgery.

  Jason didn’t hear the question, his focus totally on the activity in the trauma bay. Doctors had Alex connected to a heart monitor, several IVs inserted, and intubated. One doctor monitored the pressure in his head. Blood squirted from his side as another doctor inserted a tube into his chest to help restore his collapsed lung.

  “We don’t have time for full x-rays,” said the trauma team lead as the portable x-ray machine was wheeled in. “Just do his chest for now so we can see how many ribs are broken.”

  As Jason suspected, not only did the young man have a collapsed lung, X-rays showed most of his ribs were broken as well. Everyone agreed his legs were broken just by looking at them. Of major concern, though, was the head trauma. He had a fractured skull and his brain was swelling. He needed emergency
surgery to implant a shunt into his skull to relieve the pressure. If he lived, they would begin the task of setting his numerous broken bones.

  Reade fared better than Alex did. Though he was unconscious, he didn’t have life threatening injuries. He had a concussion, several broken ribs, a fractured right arm, and lacerations to his face and chest. He too, was prepped for surgery.

  The police dispatcher contacted Harrold and Ellissa Calan, Reade’s parents, advising them of the accident and that Reade would be at County Hospital.

  Nurses searched through the other man’s clothing in an attempt to find his identification or any other information that might help them discover his name. Their efforts turned up keys and some money, but no wallet or other identification.

  The Calans were told what happened when they arrived at the emergency room and that Reade just went into surgery. The nurse asked if they could identify the other person in Reade’s car. Jason’s fellow firefighter stayed by his side as the young man was wheeled out of the trauma bay to the operating room. Ellissa Calan’s hand went to her mouth in fright. “It’s Alex, Harrold.”

  “Was that fag with my son?” asked Harrold. Before the nurse could respond he said, “I don’t give a damn about that kid and I would appreciate if you’d not mention him again.” Everyone in the emergency room heard Harrold’s outburst. Jason looked at Harrold and couldn’t believe what he just heard.

  Before anyone could stop him, Jason was at Harrold’s side. “That, sir, is no way to talk about a person who is near death. We need his name and address so we can contact his relatives.”

  “His name is Alex Newfeld,” said Ellissa much to the annoyance of her husband. “My son Reade and Alex share an apartment together. I don’t know any of his relatives and I don’t even know if his parents are alive.”

  “Enough Ellissa, I will not have you talking about that fag as if he is one of your friends. He’s corrupting our son and I will not stand for it any further.” Harrold grabbed Ellissa’s arm and led her to the elevators.