The Last Phoenix

Three hours and ten thousand dollars later the forty new boys had a complete new wardrobe from their toes up and their skin out.  The staff had been extremely helpful once they finally got into the spirit of the thing. It felt like Christmas.   The boys' department had been pretty much decimated by the shopping spree, but everyone was quite happy. 

Tom was originally going to have everything delivered, but the boys didn't want to let it go.  So they went back and dropped everything off at their rooms before they left for dinner.

Leo was returning as they entered the lobby.  He approached Lee and Linda, "I'm sorry, but Mitch refused to leave Lou, and Travis of course, refused to leave Mitch.  Lou is scheduled for surgery in the morning so I thought it best to leave them with him."

"You'd think those two would have had enough of hospitals." Lee commented.

"Well, with their abilities, I am sure that Lou is in great hands.  Mitch seems to be able to communicate with him, I've never seen anything like that kid, first Travis, now Lou.  He should be a doctor someday." Leo said.

"Give us directions and we'll go check on them after dinner." Linda said.

Oliver, the bus driver, said, "I'll be glad to drive you.  It will give me something to do."

Everyone loaded into the bus and they were off to the restaurant Tom had reserved for them.  The boys had a real blast. It was an "All you can eat" buffet.  When the boys realized they could get all they wanted and even go back for more, it was like watching a feeding frenzy in shark infested waters.

When Tom paid the bill, he added on a 50% gratuity for the staff.  That left the manager much happier with the state of his decimated buffet.

Back at the hotel, everyone except Lee, Linda and Oliver went to their rooms.  Soon Oliver dropped off Linda and Lee at the hospital entrance; he gave them a small pager, "Just push the button and I'll meet you here." Oliver explained, then drove off.

"I could really get used to having a driver." Linda commented.

"Oliver is super with the boys, too.  Did you see what he did with Travis right off?  That was a beautiful thing." Lee said.

"I hope he will stay with the kids, I think they need an adult that can interact with them on their own level." Linda commented as they came to the room Leo had told them the boys were in. 

Upon opening the door, they found the three boys cuddled on the bed watching TV.  Well, Lou was stroking Mitch and Mitch was holding him in his lap while watching the TV.  Travis was flipping through the channels.

"Mom, Dad!  We didn't expect to see you tonight." Travis said, when he noticed his parents standing there.

"With three of our four boys here, of course we came."  Lee stated firmly.

Linda sat on the edge of the bed, "How's my little Lou?"

"Mooommmm!  Don't call him that, he'll hate it." Mitch whined.

"I'm sorry, so how is he doing?"

"Well, he is kind of  afraid I will leave him.  He's never had anybody that even cared slightly for him.  He's really smart, but no one has tried to communicate with him until today.  I've tried to explain what is going on, and I think he is excited and yet he's scared too."  Mitch was comforting Lou, who was now clutching onto him even more tightly, since he sensed others in the room.

"Will he let me hold him for a few minutes?"  Linda asked.

Mitch was still for a few seconds, "Okay, he says he'll try."

Linda held out her arms and Mitch passed the small fragile boy to her.  At first, he was as stiff as a board and he kept trembling.  Once he realized that this adult wasn't going to hurt him, he slowly relaxed and snuggled into Linda's embrace.  Linda instinctively began to rock him and talk softly to him.  He couldn't actually hear the words she was muttering, but he could feel the vibrations of her speech and it was very soothing to him. It wasn't long before he actually began to smile.

Mitch got up and went to the bathroom, Travis went with him.  Lee and Linda heard the boys arguing about something, but when they returned they were smiling, although Travis's smile seemed forced.

After an hour or so, Mitch and Travis were yawning, and Lou was sound asleep.  Linda gently laid Lou on the bed and covered him up, giving him a sweet gentle kiss goodnight.  Mitch started to get on the bed with Lou, but Travis grabbed his arm and pulled him to the other bed.  They undressed and climbed in under the sheets.  Lee and Linda kissed them both and told them they would be back to check on them in the morning.

When the adults had gone, Mitch started to get out of the bed to go to Lou.  "No. You can't, Mitch.  You need to build back your strength.  If you give the little guy any more, you will be sick.  Let me help YOU, tonight, he'll need us both tomorrow.  And you need to heal YOUR diaper rash."

Mitch gave up and crawled back up into bed with Travis. They snuggled together, holding one another in a loving embrace, and the twins slept.

* Back at the hotel *

Neal was making another round, checking on the boys.  In one room was an eleven year old named Aaron and a fifteen year old named Glenn.  When Neal knocked on the door, he heard a lot of movement then a, 'come in' before the door opened.  Aaron was propped up on one bed and Glenn was standing by the door. 

"Hey, guys, I'm Neal, and I don't think either of you were in Juvy when I was.  I just wanted to get to know you better, if that is okay with you guys."

"Hi, Neal, I'm Aaron." The thin boy on the bed said.

"I'm Glenn.  I'm good buds with Aaron, and I kind of watch out for him.  I understand that you know what happens to the ten year olds."

Neal nodded, "Yeah. Believe me I do; I nearly died.  I managed to get away, but it was real bad for awhile."

"Yeah, well, Aaron came in about a week after me.  As a new guy, they did me, rough, then when Aaron came they made me do him every night for a week, and they did him too.  I finally got him as my roomy and they left him alone, thinking he was now my property.  I never did it to him again after that.  I mean I like girls, not little boys, and forcing is just so damn sick."

Aaron was crying as Glenn told the story.

Neal sat on the bed, "It's okay now, Aaron.  You are safe, and I promise that no one will ever force you to do anything, except go to school, and some chores.  If anybody gives you a bad time, you just let me or Glenn know. We will take care of it.  Okay?"

Aaron nodded, "You were mean to Jason, today.  He shouldn't have said what he did, but..." Aaron took a deep breath and coughed, then continued, "He helped Glenn keep the others away from me.  He and Glenn were the only ones to be at all nice to me."

Neal looked to Glenn who nodded, confirming Aaron's comment.  "Jason didn't do the other thing either.  He was big enough to be left alone.  He had his good points, but control of his big mouth was not one of them.  He used to mouth off to impress the others, then later apologize for what he said.  Weird, huh?"

Neal shook his head, "I wish I had talked to you guys before I blew up at him, or that he had given us some little bit of a chance to help him.  Well, I promise I'll look into it a bit more." Neal shifted a bit and changed the subject.  "What else do you guys need?"

Glenn shook his head and Aaron whispered, "What's going to happen to us now, Neal?"

"Well, Doc Leo is going to check everyone out, real thoroughly, and then we are going to leave here and we're going to my house and stay there until your house is all ready for you." Neal explained.

"My house?" Aaron asked.

"Well, not just yours.  It's actually this really big kewl place called Phoenix House." Neal began.

"We're going to Arizona?" Glenn asked.

Neal laughed, "Noooooo, Pennslyvania, First we go to my house. It is about six hours drive from here.  It's like an incredibly huge mansion, and we each can have our own room, and there is a really nice cook who makes real great meals for us, and a special chef guy to make desserts you will just die for, and then there's 'Philip'; He's this super kewl computer that lives with us, and he knows like... everything."

Glenn and Aaron were laughing at how excited Neal was, telling them about Haven, of course they thought he was either making it all up... .or that he was just plain nuts or something.

After Neal left them, he headed towards his dad's room.  He knocked softly on the door and Tom answered, pulling a robe on over his boxer-briefs.  "Shh, Leo is asleep and has to get up real early to be at the hospital."

They started to walk down the hall to Neal's room when the elevator opened and Lee and Linda returned.  "What's up?" Linda asked them.

Neal replied, "I need to talk, but I think you need to hear it too, Aunt Linda."

Sheriff Henry heard the voices in the hall and opened his door.  "Come on in here.  I just checked in with the State Police, and they are short one kid."

"Who?" everyone asked at once, sounding like a flock of owls. {I know, I know, it's a parliament of owls. Look it up, I did.}

"They don't know yet.  They did a nose count and found out that everyone that was there had one, sorry about that. They came up one kid short, but the paperwork looks complete.  Unfortunately, this kind of screw-up is kinda hard to undo.  We need to check our crew to be sure we didn't pick up any extras." Eric said.

Neal sighed, "Uncle Eric, we only got the ones we should have, I just finished checking on everybody here and making a list of who is in what room.  I need some advice from you guys though."

Tom rolled his eyes and clutched his chest, "Oh my God!  Neal is asking for advice. Who are you and what have you done with our Neal?" He chuckled.

Even Neal giggled at that, "I think I made a big mistake today.  That older guy, Jason, well, when he talked like that to Aunt Linda, well... I kind of blew up at him. I'm afraid I might have been wrong."

Everyone was staring wide eyed at Neal. Lee said, "No, Neal, I thought you were right on with your comments, I wanted to flatten the little shit, myself.  Talking to my wife like that... I better not go there."

Tom reached out and put his hand on Neal's knee.  "Son, why do you think you were wrong?"

"Well, I was just talking with a couple of the guys, and the little one had been though kind of what I had, and well... Jason helped Glenn protect Aaron.  Glenn also said Jason mouths off to act tough in front of the other bullies, then later comes and says he's sorry." Neal was very upset and all the adults could tell.

Linda said, "Neal you are a very caring person and I'm glad you realized that sometimes people say things they don't really mean. I've wondered about him some today too.  If I'm not mistaken, he was crying when he left the room.  I think maybe tomorrow, we should check up on him and have a little talk with him, and maybe we can make a fresh start."

Neal was noticeably relieved.  "Thank you. Aunt Linda, I love you.  I would hate to not give a deserving person a chance.  If what Glenn and Aaron say is true, I think we should give him one."

* 4:00 AM at Children's Hospital *

Dr. Turnman entered the room where the three boys slept.  Travis was alone in one bed, and Mitch was holding Lou in the other bed.  "He's really scared, Uncle Leo." Mitch whispered. "I've tried to reassure him that it will be alright.

"I'm sure he is scared.  This kind of thing is bad enough when you understand what is going to happen, and we can't communicate with him at all." Dr. Turnman answered.

"I explained as much as I could to him.  He doesn't understand what seeing or hearing is, so it seems totally scary to him."  Mitch was stroking down the boys back.

"We need to get him ready for surgery now, Mitch.  I'm going to give him some medicine in his IV block, so he doesn't even have to wake up." Doc Leo said.

"Oh, he is awake." Mitch informed the doctor.

"Okay, will he let me have his arm, please?"

Mitch's gaze drifted off for a second, then Lou tentatively stretched out his arm.  His little hand was shaking with fear, but he still held it out. He trusted Mitch, now.  Leo gently took the boy's arm and held it for several seconds. Then he flushed the block, injected the sedative and flushed the block again.  "He'll be asleep in about a minute, then I'll get the catheter in him and we'll move him down to the O.R."

"Is that the tube in his..." Mitch's voice trailed off.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so.  I definitely wanted him out for that."

"Well, he's out now.  Can I hold him while you do that?" Mitch asked.

"Sure."  Dr. Turnman removed the diaper.  "Mitch!?! His diaper rash is gone!"

A sleepy Travis replied from the other bed, "Damn it, Mitch, This isn't funny!  Oh, God, I hope your's is worse than what you gave me!"

"It is, Travis, don't worry.  He had way too much else going on.  It was the least we could do for him." Mitch said.

Dr. Turnman smiled, "I don't know how you do that, but it sure was a nice thing to do for Lou, but you know you have to be careful.  Please don't try this with the surgery, it could reverse the process."

"I don't think so, our circumcisions didn't reverse." Mitch protested.

Dr. Turnman met Mitch's gaze, "Please, Mitch, let's not tempt fate on this.  Okay?"

Mitch reluctantly nodded.

Leo had just finished getting the pediatric catheter inserted when the gurney arrived to transport Lou to the O. R..  After he was gone, Mitch climbed back into bed with Travis and cried himself back to sleep.

At six thirty, Tom called the restaurant and found that they did indeed have a breakfast buffet.  It took him a few minutes to get them to realize that he was serious about needing food for forty five boys and seven adults in an hour.  Then he headed down the hall, knocking on doors to wake up the boys.

About half of the boys had left their doors propped open.  Tom had noticed that most of the doors at Juvy had been removed, even the stalls in the bathrooms had no doors. These boys had not been allowed any privacy at all.

In one room, there were three boys clinging together in one bed.  The oldest in the middle, and a younger one on either side.  The oldest looked to be about Monty's age and the youngest about Moe's age.  The three had the same shade of beautiful brown hair, and judging by their looks they definitely had to be brothers.  On the counter next to the TV were the name tags they had gotten yesterday. Ethan and Zach's tags were written in blue, and Caleb's was written in black.  So they were orphans and Caleb was the oldest and he was more than ten years old.

Tom gingerly sat on the bed, and gently touched Caleb's shoulder to wake him up.  Caleb's eyes shot open and there was real panic in them.  Tom held his finger to his lips to tell Caleb to stay quiet.  Then he whispered, "It's okay, Son. Don't worry.  You haven't done anything wrong. I can see the family resemblance.  I just wanted to let you know that breakfast is at seven thirty.  I'll let you get your brothers up.  I'm really glad you guys got together again."  Tom leaned over and kissed Caleb on the forehead, then he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Caleb (AKA Hairy by his brothers, because he had grown some) shook his brothers awake.  They jumped out of bed when they realized it was morning and they were all still cuddled together. 

"Oh, shit, Hairy.  We gotta go.  If they find us all in here, we'll get punished for sure." said Zach, the nine year old.

"You ain't gonna believe this, but we were caught, and he said he was glad we were together.  He acted like Dad would have." Hairy then held out his arms and his brothers rushed to him for a big hug.

When everyone was assembled, the elevator ride to the lobby floor began.  The cooks had, in fact, taken the warning to heart, because all of the trays in the steam table were heaping full.  About half way through the boys, the trays had to be replaced, and then once more before the adults went through.  Kids went back for seconds, and a few brave souls had thirds. 

Tom had asked for the use of a small conference room after breakfast, and when everyone was finished, he led the way.  The room was set up with a wireless microphone and chairs were assembled in a big circle.  Tom sat on the far side of the circle with Neal on one side and Brian on the other.  Lee and Linda were by Neal, and Martha and Nick by Brian.  Sheriff Henry and Jim sat by the door and not in the circle.

Tom waited for everyone to find a seat.  It was obvious that the boys were nervous as cats, and didn't know what to expect.  He clicked on the microphone, "Good morning, boys.  I'm Tom Richards, and I want to let you know just what is going on now, and what you can expect from now on."  He had all their attention.  "All of you are now in the care of the Phoenix Youth Foundation, Inc..  I know, that is a big mouth full just to say that you are now safe.  No one will ever be forcing you to do anything you don't want to, except; going to school, helping with chores, and keeping your own rooms reasonably clean."  Looks of disbelief showed on most of the boys' faces.  "Now, I would like to turn this meeting over to one of the owners of Phoenix, Mr. Neal Huxley Richards."  Tom handed the mic to Neal.

There were looks of surprise when Neal didn't pass it down, but started to talk.  "Hey.  Well, ah, some of you may remember me.  Well I lived in Juvy for about a year, and then I ran away.  Well, then my Dad rescued me and then he got Brian out of there.  There was another kid, Travis, who was kidnapped out of there before I arrived, but he knew Brian and we met up through Scouts.  Anyway, a few weeks ago, Brian over there and Travis, were talking about how they wished they owned Juvy so they could save all you guys.  Well, to make a long story short, we do own it now, and we did save you."

There was stunned silence for a few seconds.  Then one of the older boys said, "I'm Jordan Geiger, I know, you can always count on me to open my mouth, but are you telling us that a couple of kids did this?" he asked, in total disbelief.

Neal giggled, "Well, actually, we had some help.  When it comes down to the big decisions, there is a board of directors that has to approve everything.  That board consists of; Me, Brian, Travis, his twin brother Mitch, Dad, Uncle Lee and Shorty, who looks just like Santa."

Jordan responded, "More kids than adults?  No way."

Lee took the mic from Neal, and everyone tensed up.  "Now Jordan, what made you think there were ANY grown-ups on the board?  If we were so adult, we wouldn't be this crazy, would we?"  A few of the boys laughed before they caught themselves.

Lee sighed, "Okay guys; this is what is happening right now.  If there is any personal property you want to get from that place, we can go collect it.  If not, we need to have some physicals done and get a whole bunch of paperwork taken care of, to be able to carry all you guys across state lines to your new home.  First of all, we will be going to Haven Manor, so we can get you started in school, and until Phoenix House is remodeled to house all of you."

"Why!?!" asked fourteen year old E. J. Rossman, who was sitting across the circle with his four year old clone, Jacob, sitting in his lap. {No, it's just his little brother, and they look very much alike.  They are not, I repeat NOT really clones.  That's another story... By Dan Kirk, by the way. Damn, Did I just promote a story by someone else?}  Before anyone could answer he continued, "Okay, what's in it for you?  Is it like that fat guy that came late at night?"   Several of the older boys gasped that EJ mentioned that.

Neal snatched the microphone back, stood up and walked to the center of the circle.  "God, guys, I don't know how to convince you, but, Scouts' honour, I promise you that that will absolutely never happen to you again.  Anybody that even tries to force anybody to do that stuff will be in like such huge trouble, he will wish he was dead.  I don't know what the grown-ups might do, but ultimately the problem ends up with me, Brian, Travis and Mitch making the decisions.  Remember, we were in the same place you guys were, or worse.  We will do everything we can to put a stop to it.  Believe it or not, we have some pretty kewl and pretty influential friends that can make a lot of good things happen."  Neal took a couple of deep breaths to calm down.  "Now, this is something I had trouble with and so I'm going to explain it. Here goes.  Okay... we're boys and we've got dicks.  Dicks get hard, and they are really fun to play with, and that is okay.  We ALL do it."  Neal suddenly remembered that Aunt Linda and Aunt Martha were sitting right behind him, he blushed but then continued.  "It's fine to explore your feelings with a friend.  As long as both of you want it, then it's okay. No one and I mean NO ONE will object to you doing that.  If you are doing something and the other person says stop, or no, then you gotta stop. There is nothing else to do. I know, that can be a real hard thing to do..." Realizing what he said because the adults were snickering, Neal blushed again.  "Jeez, give me a break here; this isn't easy to say, Cripes."

Tom stood and came over to Neal and patted his shoulder.  "You did a real good job, Son. I couldn't have said it any better. In fact, I don't think I could have put it as well as you did."  Tom looked around, and smiling he made eye contact with each boy in the room.  "Okay, now, I noticed something this morning when I was waking everyone up, that I want to tell you about.  Your rooms have doors on them, and you are allowed to close them and even lock them if you want. You all can have complete privacy. We will get the key cards for your rooms before we go back up."  Tom looked at Jim who smiled and left to do just that.  "Now, here are the rules that will be in effect as long as you are staying with me. They are quite simple and they will be enforced."

"Oh, boy, here it comes." someone said, loud enough for them all to hear.

Tom grinned, "I am sure that you can all see just how bruised and abused Neal and Brian are."  Neal turned and stuck his tongue out at Tom.  "So if you don't want to end up in as bad a shape as they are you need to pay close attention to what I am going to tell you." Tom took a deep breath, to give them time to think, then he continued, "First and probably the most difficult rule: don't lie.  Second: you have to go to school and do your best.  Third: Help with chores.  That means that you will be expected to keep your rooms clean, help cook or wash or maybe  cut the grass and stuff.  I'm not real sure just how much there will be to do at Phoenix house.  Are there any questions?"

"What about the little guys?"  this was from a nine year old named Brett.

Brian stood and answered, "Even the littlest guys can help out with something.  This new place is your home, and you need to help make it yours.  It's like my Dad could hire someone to do everything for us, but then it would be his, he makes us do things for ourselves, so now it's ours.  I know it sounds funny, but you'll see."

"What if somebody is real sick?" Glenn asked, looking at his friend Aaron.

Linda looked concerned when she noticed that Aaron didn't look well.  Tom noticed too.  "If you're sick, then you can't do chores and everybody understands that.  The important thing is to get you well again.  We have a doctor that lives right at heaven with us."

EJ gasped, "No!!!!!!!! not him!?"

Neal replied, "No not that slimy creep.  You'll never have to see him again. He's dead, by the way. The doctor that lives with us, we call Daddy Doc, or Uncle Leo.  He's really pretty kewl for a grown up."

"Gee thanks Neal." Tom said with an exaggerated hurt look that got a couple of giggles.  "Okay guys, if that's all, then I guess we can head back up to our floor.  Jim will be bringing up the key cards for your rooms.  Be sure you have it with you when you leave, so you can get back in.  We will be coming by to fill out these darn forms to get you transferred to custody of The Phoenix Youth Foundation.  If you think of any more questions, feel free to ask any of us and we will try our best to answer them for you."

All the boys made a mad rush for the door, and Sheriff Eric just managed to get out of the way before being trampled by the stampede.  Tom and Linda converged on Glenn and Aaron who were the last to get to the door.  "Can we talk with you for a little bit, boys?"

Aaron grabbed onto Glenn, "I guess."

After everyone else had left, Tom motioned to the nearest chairs.  "You guys are?"

"I'm Glenn VanSchoonhoven Parker, I'm fifteen."

Aaron looked up nervously, "I'm Aaron James Christopher, I'm eleven." Aaron then coughed.

"So, Aaron, are you sick?" Linda asked, gently.

"You gonna make me leave?" he asked back, tears starting to form.

Tom reached out and took hold of Aaron's hands, "No, honey, you are here with us for good, I promise.  We will not send you away for any reason."

Aaron squeezed Tom's hand in his, "Yes sir, I'm real sick.  I think I'm dying."  With that he lost his control and started crying buckets.

Glenn looked lost, "Dying?  Aaron, what are you talking about?"

Aaron let Tom pull him onto his lap. Tom hugged the little guy and started rubbing his back gently.  "Poor little guy, why do you say something like that?"

"Well, before I got sent to all those foster homes, they told me I had HIV and now I'm dying, look."  He held up his shirt and there were dark brown moles all over his chest.  "These things started, and I'm coughing a lot, and feeling bad, and I can't hardly eat much.  They stopped the HAART stuff right after I got in juvy, and I did okay for about a year, then this.  I'm so sorry Glenn, if you don't want to be my friend anymore, I understand."

"Oh man, you got AIDS?  I hope all those ass holes that raped you got it too." Glenn said, vehemently.

"But Glenn, they made you do it too."

"Oh shit, I guess that might mean I'll get it too."

  "I don't want you to die, Glenn. I love you." Aaron burst back into tears.  Tom wrapped the little guy in his arms and let him cry it out.

Linda whispered "When is Leo getting back?"

"I have no idea, he is staying there through the surgeries.  We didn't think it would be a problem."  Tom continued to stroke Aaron's back.

Aaron calmed down a little, and looked up at Tom, "You don't hate me?"

"Oh for heaven's sake, no sweetheart, we couldn't possibly hate you.   Didn't we say we wouldn't?  Our big concern now is to get you back on treatment.  I don't know a lot about this thing, but I know that things have been changing.  I've heard of HAART, but I don't know anything about it, not even what it stands for."

Linda said, "It stands for Highly Active AntiRetroviral Therapy.  We have to coordinate with the Health Department to be sure that kids don't get lost in the system.  I don't understand how Aaron, here, got out of the program."

"So how urgent is it to get him to the hospital?" Tom asked.

Linda replied, "Well, it's not a 911 call or anything like that, but today sometime, I would think.  Let's go up to our rooms now, and I'll make a few calls. Aaron, we will do all we can to get you better, I promise. I swear, that I will do everything I can to make sure that you are not going to die."

*  Children's Hospital - Lou's room  *

The twins woke up and enjoyed a few minutes of closeness.  Travis hugged his brother, "You really did do a nice thing for Lou, but next time please ask, okay?  It wasn't fun waking up with severe diaper rash."

"I'm sorry Travis, but he really needed the help. He was really sore, and I just couldn't let him keep hurting like that. He was so scared. I figured if I did that for him he would see that we were going to help him.  I sure hope everything is going okay."  Mitch worried.

As if on cue, the door opened and the day nurse came in carrying two loaded breakfast trays.  "Good morning boys, my name is Sunshine, and don't say it; my parents were really dyed-in-the-wool hippies, and well, I'm Sunshine."  She put the trays on the bed table and wheeled it into place.  "It is really cool that you stayed here last night with your little brother.  I wish more families would do that.  Oh, here is the cream Dr. Turnman ordered for you.  He said you could apply it yourselves."  Sunshine handed the boys a large tube of generic diaper rash cream.  "I just heard from surgery and they said your brother did great and he will be in recovery until after lunch, then he will be brought up here.  So you guys have the morning to yourselves. I'll leave you alone now.  If you need anything just press the blue button.  Bye, bye."  She waved and was gone.

The boys giggled, her name really did fit her.  Mitch slowly peeked under the tray cover, afraid of just what this hospital passed off as food.  "Hey, this actually looks good!"  He removed the top, revealing three pancakes, with butter dripping down them, a container of imitation maple syrup (sugar free of course, well you can't win them all), two lean bacon strips, a fresh cup of fruit, a very cold carton of milk and a cold grape juice.

"Wow, kid food!" Travis said, and the two boys dug in and finished off everything, then found some old cartoons to watch, Road Runner and Bugs were always good.

*  Back on the 27th floor  *

The adults were going room to room getting all the forms completed, and the kids settled.  They found three sets of brothers and heard more than they really wanted to know about how bad things had been run at Juvy.  It sure was not going to be like that, now.

Sheriff Henry was waiting for Linda, Nick and Neal as they returned to their rooms before lunch.  "Come on in and have a seat, I have some bad news."  {Man, this would be such a good place to end the chapter.}  Jason is the missing kid.  I called to find out where he was, and they didn't have a record of him.  My guess is that, he hid somewhere in the building until we all left."

Neal gasped, ran out of the room and straight into Tom's room where he climbed into the startled man's lap and started to cry.  He finally said, "You got to take me over there right now.  I got to find him.  I yelled at him and he ran away, it's all my fault.  I didn't know how he was, and what he had done for Aaron.  Please Dad, please!"

"Whoa, there.  Take a breath and back up and go slow.  Where do I have to take you?' Tom began.

"Jeez, Dad, Juvy, of course.  That boy, Jason, that I yelled at yesterday, ran away and he might still be there.  I got to go find him and talk to him and tell him I'm sorry I was so mean to him, and get him to come back with us." Neal said in one breath.

Linda and the rest came to the door and Tom said, "Okay, Neal, we'll make a run over there and check.  Can the rest of you handle the gang till we get back?"

"Sure," Nick said,  "I'll just take them on a little walk, down the street to the nearest fast food place, and we'll get them a burger, fries and a shake."

"Sounds like a plan.  Come on Neal, let's go see if Jason is still there."  Tom stood Neal up, and they left, heading for their van and Juvy.

Author's Notes:
This is NOT a Cliffhanger, I repeat; This is NOT a Cliffhanger, really.  There are two scenes coming up that deserve their own chapter.  One is Lou opening his eyes and seeing for the first time, and the other is Neal confronting Jason when he finally tracks him down.  I hope you are enjoying this story and in the next chapter we should finally get the answer from John and Becky.  Is there any doubt that they will take the job?  I wonder how long everyone will have to stay at Haven.  Poor Mrs. Johnson cooking for ALL those boys, Do you suppose she will get any help from Martha, Linda and/or Nick, and will 'Philip' be able to keep tabs on them all?
Let me know what you think so far.
Str8mayb

Editor's Notes:
Wow what a chapter. There was a lot happening in that one. I agree, there was no Cliffhanger there. I did use a lot of Kleenex, but hey, with Str8 you should always have at least one box handy just in case. Never under estimate the amount of tissue necessary to read one of his chapters. I learned that a long time ago.
I hope someone caught the pun that I sneaked in there.  I do hope they don't start reporting me to the Pun Police.
Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Author's Grovel:
Special thanks to The Phone, who took time out of his busy day to edit and find the boo boos that TSL usually does.  It looks like he did a wonderful job on such short notice.  Thank you.