15:29 9 Oct Mike offered, "I'm going down to the cafeteria to get a Coke. Wanna come with, Deb?" His face said, "Come with, we gotta talk." Debbie replied, "Yes, thanks. Want us to bring anything back for you Mister Tucker?" Bill shook his head. "No thanks, I'm fine." Once Mike and Debbie were on another floor Mike said, "Deb, don't tell Tuck's family anything about Travis. Anything else but that." "They don't know?" "Amy and Susan do, his parents and brother don't. Tuck was gonna talk to 'em, at least his Mom and Dad, about that Saturday at his therapy session. What, but probably not who, so keep it quiet. Can I use your cell to warn the Pack not to talk about Travis?" "I'll take care of it; I have their pager and cell numbers. I'll have Lisa tell Travis about what happened." "Oh, God. We gotta warn Dobson, too. Me and, and Val had dinner with him and his wife and Travis was there. Oh, shit." "*Dobson?* And his *wife*?" "It'd take too long to explain, but yeah." "Okay, I'll take care of it if I can." "Thanks." Mike was silent for a while. "Deb, I've thought about it and I think that Valerie's been good for him. You know about his physical problems, right?" Debbie nodded. "Doing Valerie gave him the, uh, social skills to cope with his body turning into Valerie for real, you know? If he wants to stay Valierie, I mean." 19:22 9 Oct Tuck drifted up to consciousness. *Oh, Ghu, I hurt. Chest, side...* A nurse at his bedside clicked the morphine drip and he slipped back. 21:05 9 Oct *Oh, Ghu, this sucks. Vent, chest, side.... Fuck, NG tube and catheter, too.* I managed to open my eyes a little. It looked like I was in the ER or a recovery room. A blurry face appeared. "Hello there," it said in an inappropriately cheerful tone. "Are we awake?" *No, you're a particularly revolting dream.* I nodded a little. "Don't try to talk, we have you on a respirator." *Gee, I never would have guessed.* I tried to move my hands and frowned when I realized that they were restrained. Cheerful Tone said, "You kept trying to pull things out so we restrained your hands. Another face-like thing appeared. This one said, "I'm Doctor Hastings." He did all the normal prodding and poking things, most of which hurt, then he took his stethoscope out of the liquid nitrogen and put it here and there. That hurt, too. After we got done with the "follow my finger with your eyes" thing he sat back. I looked down as far as I could gave him the most piteous, pleading expression I could manage. I moved my right hand a little against the restraints. *Untie my fucking hands, you fucking nitwit. I'm not suicidal but you are making me _homicidal_.* Doc Hastings caught a clue and said, "Eugene, we can remove the restraints as long as you don't try to pull anything loose." I nodded. *Untie me or I'll pull something of yours loose the first chance I get, Doctor Dimwit.* Doc Hastings nodded to Cheerful Tone and she untied my hands. I moved them a little to check for things stuck in them or on them. I nodded and signed, They didn't get it, so few people do. 21:20 9 Oct Doc Hastings said, "You're doing well and there shouldn't be any permanent damage. Your father, brother and wife are waiting outside to see you." *Wife? I don't have a wife. Somebody is seriously deluded here and I don't think it's me.* "I'll let them in for a few minutes and then you need to rest. Don't try to talk." *Yeah, being intubated really interferes with that, you jerk. But, _wife?_* I could hear several people enter the room but I couldn't see who they were. Dad and Mike came into my field of view. Dad said, "We'll make this quick. Who beat you up after you got your pack from Mike in the gym? We know that the cheerleaders weren't the main ones." I signed, having to spell the names. Mike said, "Don't worry about that. Cheerleader coach saw 'em follow us into the gym. They'll fall apart when the cops question 'em." I signed, I had a vision of Dad, Mom and Mike, and maybe Brian and Susan, "collecting" those four, torturing confessions out of them and causing them to "disappear." I pointed a forefinger and mimed shooting. The black, red and violet auras of rage that I felt from Dad and Mike were almost visible. Dad calmed down quickly and nodded. "Yeah, we'll let the cops handle it. I reserve the right to get involved if they fuck it up, though." I raised an eyebrow. Mike cut Dad off before he could say anything. "I'll stay here to translate, Mister Tucker. She doesn't know ASL." Dad said,"That sounds like 'Go away and give 'em privacy.' Okay, just don't let him get upset," then left the room. I signed. "Tuck, don't get upset. Somebody fucked up my car and she gave me a ride here, okay? Claimed she was your wife to get 'em to let me treat you. Just be cool, okay?" "Hello, Tuck," Debbie said. After the shock of seeing her so close but before the panic really set in she touched the back of my right hand. "Chill. Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you." I signed moving my hands slowly enough that she was able to maintain contact. Mike translated and Debbie sighed. "It just seemed the thing to do, you know? Probably like you jumping off the stairs." I nodded. "You're welcome, Tuck." Debbie laughed and held up her left hand. "Cubic zirconium and silver, on sale. Useful for getting rid of guys." I smiled as well as I was able and nodded a little. I heard Cheerful Tone say, "Sorry, Eugene needs his rest. You can come back later." "Well, we oughta go." Debbie left and Mike and I locked up. "Gotta go. Rest and get well." I heard a clicking noise and the world dissolved. 22:48 9 Oct *Ghu, this still sucks. Vent's still there, chest, side, catheter....* My left nostril burned, which meant that they took out the NG tube. I was able to breathe in without triggering the breathing assist that always made me feel like a balloon. *If I'm breathing on my own maybe they'll take this damned thing out.* I cracked an eye open to see what unpleasant surprises waited for me. It looked like I was in a regular room. A honeysuckle-and-magnolia voice said, "Welcome back, Eugene. I'm Doctor Williams. You've been breathing quite well on your own so I think we can remove the intubation tube." *Yes, please. Sometime I've gotta dress up as a Suth'n belle and try that accent on Travis.* 22:51 9 Oct Doc Williams said, "Now, don't try to talk yet. Let's get you propped up a little, your mother and brother are here." Mom said, "Eugene, the doctors say you're going to recover. Bill's been talking to the police about what happened and they wanted to know if there was anything that you or your friends did to precipitate it. He has a letter from a District Attorney that none of you will be charged with anything as long as it didn't directly harm anyone." She was quite calm and I suspected a certain amount of modern chemical help. Like two or three Valiums. "There's nothing that could excuse this and the District Attorney is considering charging the animals that did this as adults." Mom stalled out and Brian held up Dad's laptop. "All of your wierd friends wound up at the house. We ordered pizza for everyone an' Dad plugged in a webcam and recorded 'em." He put it down on a bedside table and turned it on, then turned it toward me as the video played. The Pack was there, and the Boyz, and Rachael and Lisa, and *Travis?* Mom noticed my reaction. "Eugene, we played your voicemail messages to see if anything would be of interest to the police, like threats or harrassment. Travis had left a message for, for Valerie. He sounded pretty upset, so I invited him to come over. I told him that I'd appreciate it if he referred to you as 'Eugene' or 'Tuck,' and not to discuss any, ah, any relationship that you might have." She broke down a little but recovered. "This isn't the time for that." 08:04 10 Oct Dobson's voice came over the speakers, "Students and faculty of McAllen, it is my sad duty to report that one of our students, Eugene Tucker, was assaulted yesterday. He was transported by TraumaFlite to the hospital where he is in serious but stable condition." The announcement ignited an undercurrent of conversation, most variations of "Oh, no," and "Poor guy," with a few "Yeah, faggot," mixed in. The conversations were cut off as Dobson continued, "This sort of behavior is unacceptable in a civilized society and the perpetrators of this assault have dishonored all of us. In light of that I am cancelling all extracirricular activities until further notice, including the homecoming game tonight. I have ordered Coach Grigsby to contact the opposing team and forfeit the game." Screams of "He can't *do* that," were overridden, "I cannot cancel the homecoming dance tonight due to the number of commercial contracts involved but I would do so if it were possible. Those who attend should think about their fellow student who is unable to join them. "You may have heard that many of the cheerleaders have been suspended for their possible involvment. This is correct. Further suspensions may be forthcoming, both of cheerleaders and other students. "Anyone involved in this incident may be charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to kill, and criminal negligence. In addition, this assault seems to have been motivated by Eugene's perceived sexual orientation. *Whatever his orientation may be* this makes it a Federal crime and the FBI and others will be here to investigate. It is highly likely that the prosecution will try the perpetrators as adults. "Students questioned by the authorities retain their Constitutional Rights and may have their parents present during the questioning. Lying to the investigators would be exceedingly ill-advised and will leave the liar open to Federal charges of perjury, knowingly making false statements and interfering with a Federal investigation. "Anyone with knowledge of this incident is encouraged to come forward. An anonymous-tip hotline number is posted in the lobby." *** The lead agent knocked and the door was answered by a tired-looking woman wearing an apron and drying her hands on a towel. "Yes?" "FBI, ma'am. Mrs. McPhearson?" "Oh, my God. What's this all about?" "May we come in, ma'am?" "I guess...." The woman moved back and the three agents pushed past her. A young man was watching television and came to his feet as the agents entered. The lead agent said, "Bobby McPhearson?" "Yeah? What do you guys want?" The agent took Bobby's arm. "Mr. McPhearson, you're under arrest for attempted murder, assault with intent to kill, criminal negligence and violation of the Equal Rights Act. You have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right anything you say can be recorded and used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one and attorney will be appointed to defend you. Do you understand these rights?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's this all about?" "Eugene Tucker is in the hospital." "You can't be serious. All this over one little faggot? Them cheerleaders musta beat him up pretty good." He tried unsuccessfully to throw off the agent's hand on his arm. The agent's grip on Bobby's arm became tighter as he said for Bobby's ears alone, "Come along quietly. They told us we could subdue you all we wanted as long as we didn't leave any visible marks. Give me any trouble and you'll be pissing blood for a week." . . . . . "Tom Lenich, you're under arrest...." "Rob Walsh...." "Kyle Dawson...." "Frank Donner...." "Mannie Walker...." "Drew Lewis...." "Larry Meyers...."