Chapter 7: Aggravated Battery

Sunday & Monday, February 18 & 19, 2001

I came to slowly. I was surprised that I didn’t hurt as much as I thought I would, but I couldn’t really move all that well, and things seemed weird. It was warmer than I remembered it being, and brighter, and my sweatshirt and windbreaker were missing. I groaned and tried to move some more. That did hurt, quite a bit, and I tried to find a position it didn’t hurt, and I realized I hurt all over. I blinked my eyes, but only my left eye was working, and everything seemed kind of blurry. I couldn’t move my arms to wipe my face. I couldn’t move my legs, either.

A woman’s voice spoke, and a pair of hands pushed on my shoulders. “It’s all right, Grim. Lie still. Calm down. You’re safe now.”

I blinked my left eye and was able to focus. “Mom?” My mother was holding me down in a bed, but not at home. I could tell I was in a hospital.

“Lie still, Grim, you’re safe.”

“What happened?” I was able to twist my head around and started focusing. For some reason it looked like I was at Matucket General, where Mom worked, probably because I could see the bald notch at the top of Mount Matucket through the window to my left. “Where’s Kelly? Is she safe? Where’s Kelly?” I demanded. I struggled to get up but couldn’t move.

“Kelly’s fine. You’re safe, Grim. Calm down.”

I sagged back into the bed. I think the only part of my body that didn’t hurt was my hair, but I hadn’t had a chance to really check it, so that probably hurt, too. “What happened? Where’s Kelly?”

“She’s safe. She was able to call the police. You’re in the hospital now. You need to rest. I’m going to get a doctor.”

“She’s safe?”

“She’s safe.” Mom moved away, but I dropped off to sleep before anybody returned.

The next time I woke up it was dark outside. Mom was still there. I felt a little more coherent, though I think every bone in my body was protesting. “Hi there, sleepyhead,” she said smiling. “Going to stay with us a bit longer?”

“Yeah, I guess.” I was able to shift around a bit more, and Mom was able to raise the head of the bed up a bit. “What happened? Where am I?”

“You’re at Matucket General. Do you remember what happened?”

“Yeah, I guess, some of it. I was in a fight with Candy Pants and some of his buddies, but that’s the last I remember. How’d I get here?”

“Kelly was able to run to a house and call the police. They got there and called an ambulance. You ended up in the ER where I was working!” she told me.

“You worked on me?”

That got a quick smile. “No, I almost fainted when I saw you. They dragged me out of the emergency room and wouldn’t let me back in. I had to promise not to do anything medical before they let me in here.” She grabbed her purse and pulled out her cell phone. “I’ll call your father. He and the boys will be over in a few minutes. They’ve been waiting to see you.”

“Waiting ... what day is it?”

“Sunday. You’ve been asleep for two days.”

“Two days!” No wonder I was hungry!

About fifteen minutes later Dad came in with Jack and Bobbie Joe in tow. Dad didn’t say much; he just smiled and put an arm around Mom’s shoulder and hugged her. “You did good, Grim,” he said.

My brothers had a different take on it. Jack looked at me and said, “Wow! You look gross!”

Bobbie Joe had a big grin on his face. “Yeah! You look like a zombie!” He mimed walking around like a monster.

They goofed off like this for a few minutes until Bobbie Joe brushed up against my left foot. That caused me to inhale sharply and try lifting up, which caused all sorts of new pain. Dad reached out and grabbed the pair of them. “Knock it off, you two, or you’ll be getting some of what your brother got!” He propelled them towards the door. “Sit down, shut up, and don’t touch anything!” he ordered. They went out into the hallway.

With them out of the room, my parents came closer, and Dad asked, “How are you feeling, Grim.”

I shrugged, sort of. That didn’t seem to be working too well. “You really want to know? I feel lousy! Like I got the crap kicked out of me! What happened?”

“Well, you got the crap kicked out of you. Did Mom tell you that Kelly got away and was able to call the police? They got an ambulance and brought you here. What hurts?”

“Everything!” The worst part was a gigantic headache. I looked over at Mom. “Can I get something for this headache I have?”

“In a minute or two. They aren’t letting me do it. I’ll get one of the nurses in here. Doctor Tolliver will be by in the morning.”

“You’ll also need to talk to the police then. They want to talk to you about what happened,” added my father.

I nodded. That figured. “What happened to me? Why can’t I move around?” My right arm was strapped to my chest, my left arm was strapped to the bed, and my legs seemed to be strapped down, too.

“You’re kind of a mess right now, Grim, but you’ll get better. You look worse than you probably are,” commented Mom.

“Huh?”

She dug out a compact from her purse and opened it, angling the mirror inside so I could see myself. I couldn’t see much, but it looked like my face was a single swollen giant bruise, with some stitches on various parts, and my right eye was bright red and swollen up like an angry softball. I had a bandage around my head and some white tape on my nose. “The guys were right! I do look like a zombie!” I looked at Mom out of my good left eye. “Will I be able to see?”

“You should be just fine. Doctor Tolliver will tell you tomorrow morning,” said Mom reassuringly.

“How come I can’t move?”

“We had to strap you down to keep you from moving around.”

Dad interrupted her at that moment. “Listen, you got busted up, but the pieces are all here and the doctors say you should recover. Your right arm is broken down here...” He pointed on his own forearm. “ ... and your right hand is busted up. You saw what happened to your face. You have some broken ribs, and your left foot has got some broken bones. And there was some internal injury, too. You’ve got some blood in your urine.”

“Jesus!” I exclaimed.

“Watch your mouth, young man,” admonished my mother. “In the condition you’re in it will be easy to wash your mouth out with soap!”

“How am I supposed to go to the bathroom? I can’t even get up!”

“You’ve been catheterized,” she told me.

“What’s that mean?”

Mom looked a bit embarrassed and answered, “A catheter tube has been inserted into your urethra.”

“Huh?”

“They put a tube up your dick,” explained Dad.

“Oh, shit!” I exclaimed. Dad smiled and Mom looked exasperated. “Listen, is that, like, permanent?” I was starting to get to the point where that portion of my anatomy was more interesting than I had originally thought. A tube up there would be a problem.

Dad laughed. “No, but I wouldn’t be planning on dating anybody for a bit.”

“Jack!” Mom protested.

“Just don’t tell Jack and Bobbie Joe,” I asked.

“Mum’s the word,” he agreed.

We chatted a touch, and they let my brothers in for a few moments, then Dad said he would take them home. “Why’d you do it, Grim?” he asked. “Why didn’t you run away?”

“I had to give Kelly enough time to get away. If it was just me, I’d have run.”

“You’re a good man, Grim. Try to stay like that,” he responded. He corralled my brothers. “Let’s get home, you two. Your brother needs some sleep.”

“Is Mommy coming home, too?” asked Bobbie Joe.

Mom looked embarrassed at that. “I’ve stayed here since you came in.”

“Go home, Mom. It’s not like I’m going anywhere,” I told her.

She nodded. “I’ll be back in the morning.” She bent down and kissed my forehead. That hurt, too.

A nurse came in and gave me something for the pain and helped me with some broth later. Mostly, though, I slept. I woke up the next morning when a different nurse came in to check my blood pressure and pulse. She seemed to think I was getting better, but I wasn’t quite sure I believed that. I got some juice and coffee, though that was a bit painful since I had some stitches on my lips. My teeth seemed to be intact, though. I was told they didn’t want me to eat a lot of solids, since my bathroom movements were restricted. That made sense, since Number One was going out the tube up my dick, but Number Two would require a bed pan.

Mom came by while I was working on my coffee, and she brought a bag with a toilet kit and a larger mirror. By then they had released my left arm from the straps holding it in place, so I could help her clean me up a bit and comb my hair. It was going to be a very busy day.

First in was Doctor Tolliver, my regular doctor, who had privileges at Matucket General, whatever that meant. He came in with a copy of the report from the emergency room. He gave me some more specifics on the damages. Both my right radius and ulna were broken down near my wrist, and I had several fingers on my right hand broken as well (‘multiple fractured metacarpals and phalangeals’). “How’d that happen?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I know I managed to get a good punch into the face of somebody, and my hand really hurt afterwards, but then everything started hurting.”

Doctor Tolliver nodded. “That makes sense. Listen, in the future, don’t punch anybody in the face. The head has some of the hardest bones in the human body. Forget that stuff you see on television.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Anyway, that was just the start of it. The report from the emergency room says that there was gravel and dirt ground into open wounds on your hand, so somebody must have been stomping on your hand afterwards.” Mom gasped at that, but we kept going. “Anyway, you’ve also got a couple of broken ribs and another couple that are cracked, lower left side.” He used his hands to indicate where that was. I just nodded in understanding.

“Some internal damage. You’ve got some blood in your urine, and a lot of bruising around your right lower back. Somebody punching you there, too?”

“Yeah, I took a few good shots from behind,” I admitted.

“You’ve got a couple of broken bones in your left foot. That’s going to require a cast for a few weeks, just like your right arm. We’ll have an orthopedic specialist look you over later today or tomorrow, once the swelling is down. I gather your mother showed you your face?”

“Pretty bad, huh?”

He shrugged and smiled. “You’ve got a broken nose, too. Once the swelling goes down and the bruises fade, you’ll be back to normal. You weren’t all that good looking to begin with,” he joked.

“Very funny, Doc.”

“You must have been hit in the back of the head. There was a fair-sized lump back there, but the X-rays didn’t show anything broken. You were unconscious when they brought you in.”

“I don’t know what, but something hit me back there.” I reached up and gingerly felt a lump on the back of my head, now covered with a bandage. “Then everything went blank.”

“That’s probably when most of the damage was done. It’s a lot easier to beat somebody up when they are laying on the ground unconscious,” he commented.

“Well, if I ever get the chance to return the favor, I’ll remember that,” I replied.

“You will do no such thing!” ordered Mom.

I shrugged in response. Doctor Tolliver said, “Bottom line, you’re going to get better, but it’s going to be slow and painful in the meantime. You’ll probably stay here for a few days, until we figure out how bad the internal injuries are. Either things don’t get better, and we have to bring in a surgeon and look around inside you, or the blood will clear up and we can remove the catheter. You’ll be in a few casts, but the orthopedic guy will tell you about that.” He looked over at Mom. “Did they give you a name? I’d suggest Ben Friedell, he’s pretty good.”

“That’s who I was planning on,” she replied. “I called over to his office this morning but haven’t heard back.”

“I’ll call him, too.” To me he finished with, “You’re going to get better, it will just take some time. You’ll be out of here probably by the end of the week. I’ll stick my head in when I do my rounds.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

Mom walked him out of the room and was followed in about ten minutes later with a man in a brown suit. She said, “I just talked to Doctor Friedell. He’ll be in this afternoon to see you. This is Detective Crowley, with the Matucket Police Department. He’s got some questions for you.”

I looked over at the guy in the brown suit and noticed that he had a badge in a holder folded into his belt, and that he had a gun under his jacket. “Good morning, Mister Reaper. I’m Detective Mike Crowley with the Matucket Police Department. I’d like to talk to you about what happened to you. You up for that?”

“Yes, sir.” I glanced over at Mom, who was standing there.

“I want to stay. Is that all right?” she asked.

He nodded pleasantly. “That’s standard procedure in the case where we are interviewing a minor, Mrs. Reaper.” He turned back to me. “You want your mom here, Mister Reaper?”

“Yeah, sure. Call me Grim, everybody does.”

He smiled at that. “Graham Reaper? Yeah, I guess people would.” He pulled out a small notebook and flipped it open. “Let’s get started then, shall we?” With that we went into a bunch of standard things, like my name, age, address, grade in school, and so forth. “Okay, that’s out of the way. Now, I want you to tell me what happened Friday afternoon.”

I basically told him what happened, from the time Kelly and I got to her house and decided to take a walk. Detective Crowley mostly stayed quiet, jotting notes down from time to time, but usually limited himself to asking clarifying questions if he thought I wasn’t being complete. By then I had gone over the story so many times to so many people that I might have begun skipping things. I finished with, “After that I don’t remember anything. I woke up here yesterday.”

“Thank you, Grim. Now, I have a few questions for you. Do you know the names of the boys who assaulted you? You already mentioned Randy Holden. What about the others?”

“Well, I told you one name, Wayne Johnson, I recognized him from school. The other two were Larry and Darryl Something-or-other. They go to Matucket also, but I don’t know their last names. They’re cousins, I remember hearing that about them, but that’s it.”