Medical Emergencies

Brian and Justin were awakened early in the morning by crying. They were watching Gus for the weekend while Melanie and Lindsay went on a retreat to work on their relationship. They were trying to get back together, again. Brian commented that Mel and Linds were the only people he knew that could break up and get back together four times in as many years. He had, however, agreed to watch Gus for them since he’d vowed to spend more time with his son.

They both got up and went into the living room where they’d set up a little bed for Gus. Brian was trying to make it so Gus could come over more often and he knew he’d have to change the loft and add a room for his son, he just hadn’t had the time yet. Brian sat down on the cot with Gus while Justin went into the kitchen to get him some water.

“What’s the matter, sonny boy?” Brian asked, moving Gus’ hair back from his forehead. He frowned, then leaned forward and kissed Gus’ forehead.

“What’s wrong?” Justin asked as he came over.

“He’s burning up. Can you get the thermometer?” Brian took the glass of water from Justin and Gus drank it greedily while Justin went into the bathroom. He came back with the ear thermometer and took Gus’ temperature, then looked worriedly at Brian.

“It’s 102,” Justin announced. Brian was in action immediately.

“Get dressed,” he said to Justin and started to get some clothes together for Gus. He wasn’t taking any chances. He was taking Gus to the emergency room. After Gus was ready, Justin held him while Brian got dressed, then everyone piled into the car and headed to the hospital.

Brian was about to explode. They’d been sitting there for almost two hours and no one had even looked at them. Gus’ temperature kept getting higher; Justin having brought the thermometer with them, and Brian was really starting to worry. It only made things worse when Gus fell asleep. Brian walked over and grabbed a nurse.

“Can we get some fucking help here please?” He indicated Justin and Gus sitting in the waiting area.

“What’s the problem, sir?”

“We’ve been here for two fucking hours, my son has a temperature of 104 and climbing and no one is even looking at us!” Brian was almost yelling.

The nurse looked over at a doctor that had just come up from the back.

“Take him to exam three,” the doctor said.

“Thank you,” Brian said with a slight sigh of relief as he motioned to Justin. The blond got up, carrying Gus as they both followed the nurse. It was only a few minutes before the doctor came in with Gus’ file.

“He’s been here before.”

“A couple of times,” Brian responded. The doctor examined Gus, then looked at the file again.

“So...” Brian asked. Justin sat quietly holding Gus.

“I won’t know anything for sure until I run some more tests but he’s starting to exhibit the symptoms of meningitis.” The doctor looked at Brian.

“So run the fucking tests.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” the doctor said. Justin looked confused.

“Why the fuck not?!” Brian yelled.

“It says here that Gus’ legal guardians are Lindsay Peterson and Melanie Marcus. I can’t conduct any testing or treatment without their permission.”

“I’m Gus’ father and I’m giving you permission.”

“But you’re not his legal guardian, Mr. Kinney,” the doctor said calmly. Brian wanted to rip his head off.

“So I’ll get Mel and Linds on the phone...” Brian started to pull out his cell.

“They have to be here to sign paperwork....” the doctor started.

“They’re out of town,” Justin said.

“I’m sorry, it’s hospital policy.”

“So you’re telling me that, even though I’m his father, because his mothers are out of town and not here to sign paperwork and because I’m not Gus’ legal guardian he has to sit there and get sicker and sicker and possibly die all because of fucking hospital policy?!” Even though Brian was appearing completely angry to the doctor, Justin could hear the tiny waver in his voice. Brian was attacking the doctor because he was scared, not because he was really angry.

“If I allowed you to sign for his care, his legal guardians could sue the hospital.”

“Let me sign for his care or I will sue the hospital,” Brian threatened.

“There’s nothing I can do, sir. I’m sorry.”

“Fuck this shit!” Brian said, grabbing Gus from Justin. “There’s bound to be one hospital in the fucking city that will help us.” He stormed out of the room, down the hall and out to the parking lot, tossing the keys to Justin after unlocking the passenger side door.

It took three tries before they finally found a hospital that would help them without Mel and Linds actually being there in person. By that time Gus’ fever was almost at 105 and Brian was really worried. When it reached that high in adults it caused brain damage or even death. He could only imagine what it was doing to his little boy. After pacing worriedly for several minutes, finally he had to go outside and have a cigarette. He didn’t know what he was going to do if Gus had permanent brain damage. He cursed himself for signing over his rights. If he hadn’t done that, Gus could have gotten the care he needed right away. There had to be something he could do about that without hurting Mel and Linds. He was going to have to figure something out.

It was two days before the hospital released Gus. It wasn’t meningitis but his fever had gone high enough that they wanted to keep him just to be safe. Brian and Justin picked him up from the hospital, then headed over to Melanie and Lindsay’s house, getting there just as the girls were pulling up, having just gotten back. They were smiling and happy until they saw Brian with Gus, then their worried faces came on.

“He’s fine,” Brian said.

“It was just the flu,” Justin told them. Both sighed with relief.

“Let’s go inside,” Lindsay said. Everyone nodded and went into the house.

Brian took Gus upstairs and put him down for a nap, then came back down and sat next to Justin on the couch. Much like they’d been when asking Brian to sign over his rights, Mel and Linds were sitting in chairs across from them. Justin took Brian’s hand and laced their fingers together. Brian smiled a little, looking down at their clasped hands. Mel and Linds exchanged smiles before looking at the two men. Brian sighed.

“What happened the other night was ridiculous. Not being able to get Gus medical treatment because I’m not his legal guardian. It’s fucked,” Brian said.

“I know it is,” Lindsay sighed. “Something serious could have happened.”

“How many kids do they see a day that don’t have their parents with them and they treat them anyway?” Justin asked.

“Plenty,” Melanie agreed. They sat there in silence for a few minutes.

“We have to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Brian said softly. Justin nodded. Lindsay and Melanie both tensed. They were afraid of what Brian was going to say next. Brian looked up and looked Melanie in the eye. “Isn’t there something that you can do that can make it so that I can take Gus to the doctor if he needs it?”

“I....I’m not sure....”

“Calm down, I don’t want my rights back. I signed them over to you for a reason. I’m just saying some kind of power of attorney or something like that. Some documented proof that I am his father, even if it’s not legal.”

“Well, yes, actually. I can file paperwork showing that you are allowed to get Gus what he needs, regardless of what that is, while he’s in your care.”

“It’s that simple?” Lindsay asked.

“Yeah. You just draw up some forms expressing what exactly Brian is allowed to do for Gus while he’s watching him. It’s really quite simple,” Melanie answered.

“You should do that then,” Justin said to Brian.

“We should,” Brian responded.

“What?” all three asked together.

“Justin is with Gus as much as I am, sometimes without me. If something happens and I’m not around, Justin needs to be able to get Gus medical care as well. Especially if it’s something that can’t wait for one of us to show up. I don’t want to take any chances.” Brian looked at Justin and smiled a little. Justin let loose his sunshine smile and Brian kissed him.

“I’ll have the paperwork drawn up right away,” Melanie said, both she and Lindsay smiling. They saw it for what it was. Not only Brian’s concern for his son, but taking him one step closer into partnership with Justin.

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