Finale

Tor and I take Monday to go with Luc and Stephan to take Sergei to the hospital. He's trying not to show it, but I can tell he's scared.

"You know we wouldn't make you do this if we didn't love you, Sergei. When it's over you'll have a new leg so you can run and play soccer, and it won't hurt." Stephan reassures him.

"Did you have to have your leg cut off again?"

"No, because I was older than you when I lost my leg and arm. You won't have to be in the hospital as long this time, and it won't hurt as much."

"Can Andy come see me?"

"I think so. I'll ask your nurse. If she says yes, then I'll bring him every day."

We'll come see you, too, babe," Tor tells him, "because our offices are close to the hospital."

I happen to think of a website I stumbled across one night while trying to find some information on soccer for Mike when he was young. "Sergei, when you get home, I'll have something to show you on your computer. I think you'll like it."

"What?"

I have his attention now, so I smile. "It's a surprise for your being brave about your operation."

"Sergei like surprises."

Since he's sitting in the backseat with Tor and me, I hug him. "You're getting to be quite a young man, Sergei. Tor and I are proud of you."

"We certainly are, Sergei. I'm glad you're Andy's best friend. He's going to miss you a lot, so we all want you to come home quick."

"Sergei will, Tor." He gives us a little smile. "Mike says Sergei can play soccer when Sergei get new leg, so Sergei got to practice hard with Andy so we'll both make the team."

Tor hugs him. "That's right, babe. Your dads want you to have your stump fixed now so by the time school is ready to start again, you'll be really fast on the field."

"Tomorrow, you'll go to sleep, and when you wake up your stump will be all fixed."

"Was that how it was with you?" He asks me.

"Unh, huh."

"Did it hurt a lot?"

I take his hand in mine. "It hurt for a little while, but then it didn't hurt at all."

"Did you have a new leg when you woke up?"

"No. I had to wait."

"Dad said when Sergei wake up he have a new leg."

Stephan turns so he can see us. "That's right. The doctor will put one on your stump while you're still asleep. When you wake up it'll be there."

"Can Sergei run then?"

"No, it's going to take several days before you can walk on it without it hurting. It'll be a temporary one. When your stump has healed you can get a really good one."

"Sergei be glad, he hate crutches."

"Why?" Tor asks.

"The other guys at school are always running off with them."

"When you get your good leg, you can kick some ass."

Sergei grins. "Yeah! Just like in soccer."

"Tor!" Stephan says with mock irritation, "You shouldn't be putting ideas like that in Sergei's head."

"Why not? I had to do some of it when I was his age. All school kids do."

"Did they try to take your hook?" Sergei asks.

"Couldn't, because I didn't have one then, but they teased me because I have only one hand."

"Oh."

The doctor has done all the preliminaries, so entering Sergei takes only a few minutes. The moment he's in bed he's playing with the control, making it go up and down.

A few minutes later two doctors come in. The younger takes the control from Sergei and lowers the bed. "Okay, buddy. Dr. Sims is going to look at your stump because he's the surgeon that's going to fix you up."

I suppose it's because Sergei's leg was amputated under what could have been considered war-time conditions, but his stump has always been unattractive, rough and poorly shaped. As he's grown, it's gotten plain ugly. The doctor lifts it and examines it carefully, shaking his head.

"Young man, when I finish you're going to have a smooth tapered stump that will look nice and feel good when you wear your leg."

"Will it look as good as dad's?"

Sims smiles. "How about I make it look better?"

"Yeah." Sergei smiles back.

Sims turns to Stephan. "This is a simple routine matter that won't take long, but I'll do a little plastic surgery so what I told Sergei is true. Jack tells me he's a soccer player."

"He is. He has a good chance at his school team this fall."

"The exercise will do him good. I'll have a prosthetist in the operating room to advise me so we'll get the best results."

"That's unusual, isn't it?"

"A little, but I hate amputating a child's limb. With a prosthetist, I can shape the stump for maximum utility and minimum pain after. He'll fit a temporary prosthesis while Sergei is still in the operating room. I expect he will be able to use it the second day, though it will be a little painful. The more practice he gets the better, and the faster he will heal."

The younger doctor takes over. "Sergei, the orderly will be here in a few minutes to shave your stump, then the nurse will give you something to make you sleep. Doctor Sims will do your stump right after lunch."

"Not tomorrow?" Luc asks.

"He had a cancellation for this afternoon, so by doing it today this young man won't have time to build up any anxiety. Are all of you planning to stay?"

Luc turns to us. "You guys have plans? If so I can take you home and come back."

"No, indeed. We'll stay with you."

"Then I suggest you get some lunch in the dining room after we take Sergei in. I don't anticipate it will be much over an hour, if that long."

"Fine."

About fifteen minutes later the orderly comes in. He's big, and I can tell from the way he prepares to shave Sergei he's heavy handed. He's already scared Sergei. When he roughly lifts Sergei's stump, Sergei cries out.

"All right, goddammit! That's it!" Tor yells. "Get the hell out of here."

"Who's gonna stop me?"

"I will. Think you're man enough to take me on?" Tor demands icily.

"Yeah."

"Two of us at once?" Luc snaps. "That's my son. You touch him again and your ass is going out the window."

He slams the pan and other items down on bed table just as the nurse comes flying in. "What's going on here?"

"He hurt our son." Stephan says.

"Get out, Roscoe," she snaps.

He leaves grumbling.

"Who's going to shave him?" She asks. "Roscoe is the only orderly on the floor at lunch hour."

"I'll do it," Tor says.

"You know how?"

"All of us shave every morning, what's so hard about that?"

"Nothing, I suppose. You'll have to go well above the knee, and wash the area thoroughly clean afterward."

"I think I can judge that. My stump was shaved when they made a new mold for my leg," I tell her.

"Oh. Be sure not to miss any areas, then. I'll be back shortly."

"Okay, babe, will you let me do it?" Tor asks Sergei.

"Sure, Tor."

Tor is slow and painstaking, but Sergei seems to find it funny. "You tickle, Tor."

"Good. But hold still, I don't want to cut you."

He's done, except for one deep crease on the end of Sergei's stump. He stops and looks at Luc. "Come see if you can spread this open enough for me to shave in there."

"That hurts, daddy," Sergei says when Luc uses his hands to spread the skin on either side.

"I'm sorry, Sergei, but Tor has to shave you there. If he doesn't you might develop an infection and you want to be home fast, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, all done, Sergei. That wasn't so bad was it?"

"Unh,unh."

"You're a brave man. I'm proud of you." Tor leans over and kisses him on the forehead.

Sergei wrinkles his nose. "Mush."

"You think so?" Luc kisses him, too, followed by Stephan and me.

Sergei rubs our kisses off with his fist. "That's girl stuff," he informs us.

"I don't care if it is," Stephan says. "You're my little boy and I'll kiss you if I want."

"Oh, shit."

"Sergei! Where did you learn a word like that?"

He grins. "Us guys say it at school."

"I hear it again, and I'll paddle your behind," Luc says.

"Then I'll say fuck, like Uncle Mike."

"You'll get your mouth washed out with soap, too," Luc says.

"Sergei hungry."

The nurse hears Sergei as she comes in. "I'm sorry, but you can't have any lunch. I'm going to give you a little pill and you'll go to sleep. You can have dinner tonight. How about that?"

"Sergei guess so."

We wait until Sergei is asleep. A different orderly comes in with the nurse to take Sergei to the operating room.

"You may all wait in the lounge just down the hall. I'll let you know as soon as Sergei is back from recovery."

"We're going down to get something to eat."

"Fine. If you're not back by then, I'll send someone for you."

Stephan and I fill our trays with food, but Tor and Luc don't choose much. "Aren't you guys hungry?" I ask.

"Not very," Luc says.

Stephan looks at me. We know they're more anxious about Sergei than we, because we've been through this. "Look, I know you're worried, but Sergei's got the best, and this is routine stuff. Go ahead and eat, because you're going to want to be with him when it's over."

We've just gotten back to the floor when the nurse comes over to us. "You can see him now. He's back in his room and asking for you."

"Hi, babe," Luc says. "How you feel?"

"I thought they was gonna do it."

"They did. You didn't know?"

"Unh, unh."

"Look," Stephan says, flinging the sheet back. "You've got a new leg."

"It looks funny."

"This is a temporary. Your new one will look high-tec if you want."

"Wow! Like the Terminator?"

"If that's what you want."

He grins. "Yeah. It'll be cool."

The younger doctor comes in to check on Sergei. When he's finished, he looks at Sergei and asks, "How would you like a roommate?"

Sergei is in a semi-private room, because this is what Luc's insurance from the college covers for dependents.

"How old is he?" Luc asks.

"Thirteen. I wouldn't ask, but we're a little crowded on the children's wing. Besides, I think Sergei might be of some help with him."

"Why?"

"They're about the same age, and Sergei has adjusted so well to the loss of his leg." He shakes his head. "Sims is taking the boy's arm as we speak. He got it mangled in a farm accident." He looks at Stephan and Tor. "I wish you would talk with Deke's parents. They're almost hysterical."

"Of course."

"They're in the lounge. I'll introduce you."

Deke's mother is sobbing in her husband's arms when we walk in. Dr. Weston introduces us to the Athertons. Deke's father looks lost for a moment until he sees Tor's and Stephan's hooks, then he sits down hard. Stephan walks over and sits beside the man.

"I know what you're going through, but your son can have a full life with one arm."

"H … how do you know?" His mother asks.

Stephan smiles at her. "I was in high school when I lost my arm and leg. The first year or so was hard, but I learned a lot and I've had a great life since. There's not much I can't do. I'm a librarian at Trinity College, and Tor is head of the school of marine science at the university.

"The reason we're here is because my son, who is in the room Deke will be in, is a leg amputee. He has a good chance of being on the soccer team at his school this fall."

"He'll be playing soccer?"

"He has since he was six. He started growing so much this year, he needed revisionary surgery on his stump."

"How long has he been …"

"Since he was five. Believe me, it doesn't slow him down a bit. He used to run me ragged, trying to keep up with him."

Deke's mother looks at Tor. "You don't mind your ho… I mean arm?"

Tor smiles and holds up his hook. "My hook? No. I was born without my hand, so I've never missed it. This may be ugly, but it's very useful. If it's appearance you're concerned with, I'll wear my myoelectric arm tomorrow for you to see. It looks good, but it's not as useful, at least to me."

Deke's father stands. "Thank you for giving us hope." He shakes his head. "I don't want Deke to think he's going to be a cripple for the rest of his life."

"He is, but it's all a matter of accepting it and getting on with his life. I'll tell you now that you're going to have to treat him just as you always have. It'll be hard for you not to try to do everything for him, but if you do that he'll start to think of himself as cripple and that's exactly what he'll be.

'My partner lost his leg just as he was about to start college. We were living together and I didn't cut him any slack. As soon as he got to the point we could tease and laugh at each other, it was fine. Drew nor I even think the word cripple."

"The same with Luc and me," Stephan says. "He's wonderful, and a good father to our son."

"But … ," Deke's mother, "what about your wife?"

"There's not a wife. Luc and I have lived together ever since we were in college. We adopted Sergei seven years ago."

She looks puzzled for a moment, then her expression changes to one of horror. "You … you're queer?"

Stephan smiles. "The word is gay. Yes, Luc and I are gay. Our son probably won't be."

"Drew and I have two sons," Tor says. "Neither of them is gay, and we have a beautiful grandson. He and Sergei are inseparable."

"But … ,"she shakes her head. "Oh, dear, I'm so confused. You don't prey on young boys?"

"Of course not. That's a common misconception. We'll be bringing Andy to see Sergei tomorrow. I don't think you'll find happier kids than those anywhere." Tor smiles. "If I know Sergei, he'll have Deke laughing tomorrow. What this place had better look out for is when he starts walking again. I expect he'll have Deke into all sorts of mischief, especially if Andy's around."

Stephan stands. "Just think of what we've told you about Deke, and don't let him see you cry. As much as possible, he needs to feel he's the same boy as before. We'll see you again."

"We'll try."

Sergei seems perfectly comfortable and content to watch TV, and knowing that after dinner he will be given a sleeping pill, we take our leave.

"Be nice to your roommate," Luc tells him.

"I hope he's gonna be cool."

"Don't count on it. He's going to have a hard time, so you talk to him when you can."

Stephan looks at Luc with a grin. "Have you ever known Sergei not to talk?"

"Maybe I'd better tell you not to talk him to death, Sergei."

"Aw, come on, dad."

Tor and I go by to see Sergei the next morning on our way to the U. As predicted, Sergei is yacking at Deke a mile a minute about his computer. He looks up when we come in.

"Drew, Tor, where's Andy?"

"He's coming with your dads. We've got to go to work in a few minutes."

"Cool. Hey, Deke, this is Tor and Drew. They're Andy's grandads."

Deke manages a shy smile.

"Show Deke your arm, Tor."

Tor walks over to Deke's bed and holds out the arm. Deke looks at it, then at Sergei. "So what? It's real."

Sergei grins. "Naa, it's a fake. Show 'im, Tor. Be real quiet, Deke, and you can hear it."

Tor opens the fingers and Deke's eyes grow large. "What's the noise?"

"Little electric motors that make the fingers move." Tor slips off his jacket and lets Deke see the entire arm.

"Wow! I thought you'd have a hook."

"I do. It's a lot more useful to me. I used to work in the water a lot, so I couldn't use this. But I told your mother I'd let you see it."

"You can see my dad's hook when he comes. Hey, look," Sergei gets out of bed and takes a few faltering steps. "Sergei can walk already."

"It doesn't hurt?" I ask.

"Some, but they let me try last night. They told dad I can go home this weekend if nothing happens."

"Great. We're proud of you, babe." I say.

Andy comes running through the door. "Sergei!" He yells, and almost knocks Sergei down when he hugs him. You'd think it had been a month instead of just a day since they've seen each other.

Tor grabs him. "Easy, Andy. Sergei's not too steady yet."

Sergei points to the other bed. "That's Deke."

Andy looks over and waves. Unconsciously, Deke lifts his stump, but quickly lets it drop with a grimace of pain.

"Gee, they cut your arm off," Andy says.

I see tears start down Deke's cheeks. Andy walk over to him. "It's no sweat, dude. Tor and Stephan don't have but one arm either."

"You don't care?"

"Naa. They're cool. We have a lot of fun. My daddy don't have no feet."

Deke's eyes get really big. "You're kidding."

"Naa. He never had any." Andy grins. "He's got two fake feet. You can't even tell."

Luc and Stephan come in. "Alright, you guys, simmer down. We could hear you down the hall."

"And we've got to get going. We'll see you tonight if we can, Sergei."

"Cool."

Friday morning we find Sergei and Deke wandering around the hall when we drop by. "Hey, Drew, take us down to the coffee shop so we can get some ice cream?" Sergei asks.

"Can you and Deke make it that far?"

"Sure."

"Okay, then."

Sergei's still walking slowly, and occasionally winces, but doesn't falter. Now that he's standing, Deke is as tall as Andy. With his black hair and nice features, it's easy to see he's going to be a handsome young man. They immediately start looking at the magazine rack in the coffee shop. Sergei takes out a computer magazine and flips through it. I see Deke start to reach for one with his stump, then lets it drop and uses his left hand. Poor kid was right handed. He's going to have a tough time learning to use his left for everything.

"You guys want those?" Tor asks.

"Yeah," Sergei says. "Deke's got a computer, so we're gonna e-mail each other when he goes home."

"Good. Get your ice cream. Drew and I will have coffee," he tells the clerk. "And the magazines the boys are looking at."

"Me, too."

I turn to see Andy, Luc and Stephan behind him.

"Okay. Luc, you and Stephan want some coffee?"

"No, thanks. We came by to take Sergei home. Weston said he'd release him today."

"Sergei going home? Great!"

"I'm gonna miss you, Sergei." Deke says.

"Yeah. I'm gonna miss you too. Don't forget to send me some mail soon as you get home."

"I won't. I wish I could come see you sometime."

Sergei looks at Stephan and Luc. "Can he?"

"Of course. Where do you live, Deke?"

"Forest City."

"That's just an hour or so from us. I hope your parents will bring you over as soon as you're healed. These two guys play rough."

"Cool."

That evening about ten, Tor gets a call from Luc. We both go over to see what he wants. His face carries a look of utter frustration when he open the door.

"Do either of you remember how to wrap a stump?"

Tor smiles. "I should. I've wrapped Drew's plenty of times. You having trouble?"

"Damn right. Steph's forgotten how."

Stephan is a study in frustration, Sergei's laughing, and there's a wad of bandage on the floor.

Tor pushes Steph to one side and sits on the floor. "Okay, guy, hold your stump out."

Stephan hands Tor a fresh roll of gauze. It takes Tor only a couple of minutes. "There you go."

"Thanks. Dad was getting' pissed. I'm gonna come over every night and let you do it." At last Sergei has started to use I unless he's excited.

"Okay by me, if it's okay with your dads."

"Thanks, Tor. Sorry we bothered you."

"No problem."

"Drew, come show me that surprise you said you had for me."

"Okay, babe."

We go to his room where I type in amputee soccer. In a few seconds, the site is up, and I show Sergei the pictures of the guys playing. "When you get older, maybe you can find a team like this if you want to play."

"Mike said I could play regular soccer when I got my new leg."

"You can. But adult soccer is faster and rougher. When you grow up, you might want to play with a team like this."

"Could Deke play?"

"Sure. One of the best soccer players from South America had only one arm. He played with his national team. But he could also play amp soccer because their goalkeepers have one arm instead of one leg."

"Cool."