A New Story
The Story of Todd: Behind the Scenes of Babylon.
Summary of the story: Todd is only a shadow behind the scenes at Babylon, but there is much more when you can see him in a new light.
This story is my contribution to the challenge made by Annie Eliza at the Live Journal community PlotorClaim : http://plotorclaim.livejournal.com
The challenge was as follows:
Theme: The life of Todd ( "Hey, Todd! How's it going?") involves more than just fucking, believe it or not.
Characters needed: Todd
Length: 1000 or more words
Necessary objects: a photograph, a fork, and whiskey.
I thank my Beta, Predec2, for helping me with another story.
I thank Marny the beautiful banner that made for this story.
Thanks to Annie-Eliza for the plot bunny for this story.
Disclaimer: QAF and its characters do not belong to me (unfortunately), I just borrowed caught occasionally to my stories.
Chapter One: Hey, Todd! How's it going?
Chapter Outline: Sometimes it takes a tragedy for us to see the light.
Text
Dr. Donald Walker questioned the paramedics about the young man who had just arrived at the emergency room of Allegheny General Hospital, having immediately noticed the wide band of gauze wrapped around his head that was now shaded crimson by the young man’s blood.
"What have we got?" he asked. Dr. Walter noticed the tension radiating from the two paramedics. He had known them well, especially Constance, for a long time now, and the strained expressions he observed on both of their experienced, professional faces served as a warning sign that the young man’s situation was very grave.
“Caucasian male, 18 years old, severe head injury allegedly caused by a baseball bat. Subject sustained major bleeding that is presently under control. He suffered a cardiac arrest in the ambulance on the way here, but was successfully resuscitated. He’s had an IV drip of adrenaline administered. Pulse is thready and weak, and he’s been on continuous O2 since being transported. Patient is allergic to several drugs; we have a list provided by his companion.”
Dr. Walker listened carefully to the explanations being given by Roger, the other paramedic. As he had already surmised, the young man’s physical state was definitely quite precarious. He felt a lump rise in his throat as he tried to imagine what this young man might have done to warrant someone attacking him in the head with a baseball bat. God knows he already knew how people could be cruel to others. He had endured his own experience to remind him of that very fact, but 13 years had passed since he had been in a similar position. Sadly, however, he feared that things had not changed much.
The doctor began to examine the young man. Now was not the time to lament the injustices of the world; now was the time to save a life. He placed the stethoscope against the pale boy's chest, and realized that his condition was getting worse. His vital signs were failing, and his body was going into shock.
"His lungs are failing, and there is a drop in pulse. Prepare another dose of adrenaline,” he barked out an order to his staff.
Here he was in charge. Lives depended on him and his decisions. He had no options. He could not fail. The price to pay for his failure was much too high.
"Yes, Doctor.” Sam Jones, one of the nurses on his team, hastened to fulfill what he had asked of her.
“His pulse is weakening!” one of the other nurses called out grimly in warning. “We’re losing him!”
"Hurry up, damn it, and inject the adrenalin!” the doctor commanded. He knew from what the paramedic had told him earlier that he had already gone into cardiac arrest in the ambulance. If they had to resuscitate him again, it would be extremely hard on this boy.
Suddenly, the sound from the heart monitor stopped, and a straight line danced across the screen.
"Crash cart, now!" Dr. Walker called out as a sense of urgency filled the room.
Nurse Jones wheeled the cart containing the defibrillator over and quickly handed him the paddles as she adjusted the machine to the correct voltage.
"Gel," Dr. Walker ordered as he lifted the paddles so Nurse Roberts could squirt transparent gel on them. He rubbed them together, spreading the substance evenly, as the whistle on the machine confirmed that he had reached the necessary point.
"Clear! " He shouted before placing the paddles against the immobile chest of the young man. The body lurched as the shock was administered; the line on the heart monitor briefly seemed to flicker to life before it became straight again.
Dr. Walker pursed his lips together in frustration. This was not good. He was losing the patient. He was still a boy, but someone had decided he did not deserve to live. “No,” he whispered to himself as he studied the silent form before him. He would not accept that; he was going to fight to save this one.
"Again!" He demanded. A few seconds later, the defibrillator whistled once more, indicating it was recharged properly.
"Clear!" The doctor repeated the process by placing the paddles on the boy's chest and administered the shock. The body shuddered as he held his breath, waiting....waiting...until - at last - the heart monitor began to beep again in a steady rhythm.
Sighing in relief, the doctor verified what everyone already knew. "He's back!" He exclaimed. As he handed the paddles back to the nurse and she wheeled the cart out of the way, he studied the still form lying before him. “That’s it,” he told him quietly but firmly. “Don’t let them fucking beat you." His own heart skipped a beat then as he had a better chance to study his patient, and he realized for the first time that he knew this kid. It was Justin Taylor. The recently appointed King of Babylon; the twink of Brian Kinney. “My God,” he whispered in shock. What the hell had happened?
Dr. Donald Todd Walker recalled the first time he had laid eyes on this same boy as he studied the broken body in front of him. This boy - this person who had radiated such a golden, bright aura whenever he strode into Babylon to dance with Brian and his friends in tow - looked so different right now than he normally did. The Justin Taylor he was used to seeing always had such a huge smile on his face, and was so happy and full of life; so much so that he almost appeared to glow. Walker - Todd to his friends who knew him well - remembered perfectly the extremely sensual, gyrating pole dance that Justin had performed for the King of Babylon competition; the one that had earned him his royal crown approximately two weeks ago. It was a memorable performance, one that had further aroused the desire of all the men who had had the privilege of witnessing it. He quietly studied his patient, wondering who, then, could have done such a thing to this sweet, smiling boy who always went out of his way to be kind to everyone.
"Doctor, the patient seems to be stabilized. Is it okay to prep him for surgery now?” Nurse Roberts inquired softly beside him as she awaited his orders.
Todd nodded, knowing time was critical to his patient’s survival, and surgery was needed immediately. “Yes. Thanks, Helen. Please notify Dr. Cooper that the patient seems to be strong enough now for surgery.” As the nurse nodded back at him and turned to leave, he felt just a bit of the previous numbness dissipating momentarily, but he knw Justin was not out of the woods yet.
"You will talk to the family?" Helen asked as he turned around briefly to face her, unaware she was still standing there."The family is waiting for word about his condition.
He peered over at her in surprise. “The family is out in the waiting room?”
Helen confirmed the information with a nod.
Glancing back at his severely injured patient, he fought for professional control. He was good at what he did; he had saved countless lives over the years since he had first started practicing here at the ER. And he had counseled numerous families on the condition of their loved ones. But it still didn’t make it any easier to have to advise a family that their loved one was in danger of dying from his injuries. As much satisfaction and fulfillment he found in his job, he would never get used to that part of it.
He cleared his throat, noticing the nurse silently waiting for a response. "Yes. I'll talk to them. Thank you, Helen. And...thank the staff for a job well done,” he told her, as he reached out to briefly touch her shoulder and give it a squeeze. He and Helen had started here at the hospital at approximately the same time, and they had quickly developed a bond between them, one that existed to this day. He had grown to respect both her wisdom and her competence. Giving her a tired smile, he turned to leave the examination cubicle as he headed down the garishly lit hallway toward the exit.
As he opened the doors leading into the waiting room area, he was surprised to see Brian Kinney sitting in a hard, plastic chair, covered in blood, with a similiar bloody scarf around his neck, visibly shaken and being supported by Michael Novotny. He did not expect to see the two friends there. The fact that Brian Kinney was here - and that his attire seemed to complement the clothes that his patient had been wearing - made him wonder just what their relationship truly was; this did not appear to be a casual relationship that he had come to expect from the so-called Stud of Liberty Avenue.
He recalled the clothes Justin had been wearing when he had been brought in by the paramedics. The boy was wearing a tuxedo, and so was Brian. The paramedics had told him that someone had assaulted Justin with a baseball bat to the head, and from the crumpled-looking, bloody tuxedo that Kinney was presently wearing, it appears that he had been there when it had happened.
He needed to talk to Brian to inform him about Justin’s conditon, and he also needed to know more about what had happened. Was Justin also the victim of a hate crime, much like he had been more than a decade ago? He also knew the police would no doubt be questioning him about the circumstances surrounding his patient’s injuries, and he did not like to be uninformed in those situations.
"Brian ... Michael ..." He called out quietly to the two men. The reaction he received from each of them was quite different. While Brian continued to sit there immobile in a near catatonic state, Michael jumped up instantly as he peered over at him with obvious surprise.
"Todd? What are YOU doing here?"
It was always like that when someone who knew him from Babylon encountered him in his work. Here he was a doctor, a person of authority, while in the club’s backroom he was the most subservient of all its visitors, the one always willing to take it up the ass for anyone who demanded it. The irony of his present situation was not lost on him as he gazed down at the broken shell of a man who always commanded such respect at Babylon and was the consummate top, while he was normally the submissive one. For this moment, in an odd twist of fate, their roles appeared to be reversed. It was also ironic as well as tragic that once again young Justin Taylor had managed to reunite two men who represented different sides of the same coin; this time, however, it was under the most unfortunate of circumstances.
Walking over to them, he explained, "I'm a doctor here, Michael. Dr. Walker.” He ignored his look of astonishment as he directed his next comments toward Brian. “I’m the attending physician for Justin,” he explained. “It was touch and go for a while, but his condition is stablized enough now that we can proceed with surgery. As soon as it’s concluded, I’ll come back out and provide you with an update.”
"H-He WILL be all right?" Michael inquired hesitantly, the anxiousness clearly heard in his voice.
Todd hesitated. How do you tell someone that their loved one - their son, their parents, their frend - might never be the same again, that they might not even see him again at all?
In response to Michael’s question, Brian at last seemed to emerge from his stupor as he raised his head and peered up at Todd, his face awash with shed tears. The expression on his face caused Todd to shudder. He had never seen such pain and agony clearly etched on anyone’s face before.
But he was not going to lie or mislead his friends as he replied, “Hard to tell for now. It’s going to depend upon how he comes out of surgery. But he’s in very good hands,” he added in reassurance as he focused his attention on Brian. “Dr Cooper is the best neurosurgeon we have, and Justin has youth and strength in his favor as well.” His eyes widened when Brian abruptly rose from his chair, almost causing it to topple, his eyes flashing with fury.
"This is not a fucking game of Russian Roulette!” he snapped “It’s his fucking life! You have to fix him and put him back the way he was!” All of a sudden, he found himself pushed roughly against the wall as everyone else in the waiting room stared over at the commotion.
“Brian!” Michael shouted urgently in fear as he and two male nurses hurriedly separated the two of them. “This isn’t the time! Stop it; it’s not his fault! He’s not the bad guy here!”
“Calm down, Sir!” Lucy Johnson, the head nurse, boomed out in her authoritative voice. “Either control yourself, or you will be escorted out of here. Do you understand?” she sternly warned a struggling Brian, who continued to be restrained by a couple of male nurses.
“Brian...” Michael pleaded as he walked closer to his friend and embraced him, talking so quietly in his ear that Todd couldn’t hear their conversation. But his influence on his best friend was apparent as Brian’s demeanor slowly changed. The aggression he had displayed moments before was gradually being replaced with the same sort of numbness he had felt earlier.
Reassured that their visitor was no longer a threat to their doctor, the two male nurses released Brian as he turned to slump back down in his chair, placing his elbows on his knees as he held his head in his hands. After a few moments, he lifted his head to gaze over at the far wall before Michael sat down once more beside him in silent support and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. He peered up at Todd apologetically.
“Todd, you know Brian’s under a lot of stress right now, and didn’t mean any harm. He’s been through a lot tonight.”
Todd sighed before finally nodding. "Yes, I know, Michael. I understand.
but at some point, I'll need to talk with both of you to find out exactly what happened.” Glancing down at Brian, however, he decided perhaps now was not the best time. “I’ll make sure you’re kept informed about Justin’s condition.”
Michael gave him a grateful nod before he quietly withdrew to leave the two friends lost in their thoughts of pain and suffering.
Todd walked out to the hospital parking lot and lit a cigarette. He would have loved to have had something stronger - like a good dose of whiskey or one of Anita’s pharmaceuticals. But he was on duty, so he would have to wait at least a few more hours before he could forget about all this in the pulsating beat and backroom of Babylon, losing himself in a mixture of drink, drugs, fucking and oblivion. It was his usual remedy, often tested and approved.
Todd could see that Brian was distraught and shaken by what had occurred. He knew Justin was important to Kinney. He had seen it. Anyone who saw them together would realize the importance of this boy to him. Everyone who knew Brian could tell that the blond twink was different somehow to the Stallion of Liberty Avenue. Brian would never have allowed a simple trick to remain so close to him for so many months; not if he was truly just a casual itch. No, this young man must be really important to Kinney. Todd had finally realized that maybe, contrary to popular belief, Brian Fucking Kinney actually had a heart, and a beautiful blond twink with the most perfect ass that had ever been viewed in Babylon had somehow managed to capture it.