JC shrugged. “Just tell me. I’ve been refused haven’t I?”
George gave him a playful shove. “The good news is they said yes. “
JC gazed over to him. “And the bad news?” he asked apprehensively.
“The only vacancy they have is tomorrow. That means that they need you in tonight for tests.”
JC jumped up, pulling at his hair. “Tonight! I can’t. I’m not ready.”
George came up behind him. “I know what you are going through, really I do. But the thing is if they don’t do it this week, they won’t be able to fit you in for another year.”
JC sat back on the couch, shaking.
“Josh I told you the waiting list is enormous. Men come from all over the world to have this surgery and implantation. The only reason they can fit you in is because they had a cancellation. The guy got stopped at the airport cus he didn’t have the right visas, the idiot.”
Simon sat down opposite JC. “What do you want to do Josh? It’s your decision completely.”
George sat down next to him and took JC’s hand in his. “It could be your only chance. I had to give them your name. If you turn down a spot they may decide that you are not suitable and will regret having the surgery.” George squeezed JC’s hand. “I have to phone them right back or they will refer to their list for another person.”
The two con artists stared at JC waiting for his decision. He gave a half sob and nodded.
“You know it makes sense Josh.” George gave Simon a triumphant smile and went back upstairs to make the arrangements.
JC moved in a daze. He handed over his credit card to the clinic receptionist, signing the slip, barely registering the amount written. George and Simon had driven him out of the city and to the secluded mountainside clinic. They had stayed for a while, just till JC had been signed in and his card charged. Then they had been asked to leave. George promised to come back the next day to see how he was going. Now he was sitting alone in a bare hospital room. A nurse had been in and given him a hospital robe to change into, smiling reassuringly as she took away his clothes. He crossed his arms protectively over his body and sat down on his bed, wishing he had a window he could look out of. He seemed to be waiting hours. He couldn’t tell because they had taken his watch and there wasn’t a wall clock for him to use.
His watch wasn’t all they took. They took all his personal items, promising to return them as soon as he was recovering. He had to beg and beg to be allowed to keep his Leo pendent, explaining that he had never taken it off and never would. Eventually they agreed to tape it to his chest during the operation.
The door opened and a middle aged man came in. his thick black hair was slicked back and a pair of spectacles sat on the end of his nose, behind him was the nurse that had taken JC’s clothes earlier. This time she was pushing a trolley that was covered in a white cloth.
“Mr. Chasez. How nice it is to meet you. I‘m Dr Phillips.” The doctor held out his hand for JC to shake. “It’s a bit short notice I know but its best not to procrastinate over such things. Make the decision and do it, that’s what I say.”
“Sin in haste, repent at leisure.”
The doctor lowered his glasses, “I’m sorry young man, what was that?”
JC picked at the skin around his badly chewed nails. “It’s something my partners mom always says.”
“And your partner, he’s happy for you to do this?”
JC nodded lying. “He said it was my decision.”
“Good, good.” Phillips clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Now young man we have a few tests to complete before we can proceed.”
“Tests?” JC repeated nervously, pulling his knees up closer to his body as if they would protect him as he eyed the covered tray. He almost swooned as the nurse uncovered the tray revealing a syringe and a selection of vials.
“Just a few blood samples so that we can get a cross match in case you need a transfusion. Also just to check for things such as hepatitis and HIV or any other infection that you might have.”
“ I don’t have Aids!” JC exclaimed, shifting his body further away from the impending injection.
“Of course you don’t, but we have to sign a form saying that you were tested. That reminds me, consent forms.” Phillips clicked his fingers and the nurse produced a pile of paperwork from her pocket. The doctor put them in front of JC. “Sign here, here and here. It’s basically saying that you have had the relevant information and understand the risks.”
“Risks!” JC looked up from finishing signing his name. Phillips snatched the papers back before JC could change his mind.
“Every surgical procedure has risks Joshua. Now bloods.”
Phillips picked up the syringe and JC blanched. “Are you alright young man?” JC’s eyes widened and he backed further up the bed. The doctor chuckled and lowered the needle. “Do you have a fear of injections?”
JC nodded not trusting himself to speak. He tried to judge the time it would take him to jump out of bed and out of the room.
“No problem, I’ll prescribe you a mild sedative to relax you, we’ll get your bloods later.”
The nurse left the room and came back a few minutes later with a plastic cup. “Hand,” she demanded, and JC automatically held his hand out. She tipped a small blue pill into his palm then passed him a glass of water. JC stared down at it then popped it into his mouth and washed it down.
“Now Joshua, lets get you into bed. That will start to work in a few minutes.” She urged him under the covers and pulled them up to his chin. “Close your eyes then.” She ordered. JC blinked and did as she asked.
The nurse stood holding his wrist, taking his pulse. She let his hand go and it flopped down to the bed, indicating that the powerful sedative she had given him had indeed worked and JC was out cold.. Concentrating she tapped at the back of his hand till she brought up a vein then she inserted an IV plug, securing it firmly. She drew a couple of vials of blood for cross matching and other tests. Then left him to sleep.
*
“Where the hell is he?” Justin was pacing around JC’s living room raking his fingers over his scalp.
Lance looked to Chris not knowing what else he could say. They had been over and over where JC could be. Chris had even phoned Joey in Orlando in case JC had turned up there. As soon as he heard that one of his best friends was missing, Joey had wanted to catch the first plane to Los Angeles but Chris managed to persuade him to stay where he was in case JC was still in transit and turned up later.
He hung up only after making the older man promise to keep him informed. Now they were playing the waiting game. The clock crawled agonisingly slowly towards midnight and Justin was getting more and more agitated.
Chris flopped down on to the couch. “Are you sure you can’t think of anyone else?”
“I told you NO!” Justin yelled, spinning angrily on the founder member of the group.
Lance sat next to him, fiddling with the hem of his shirt, staring off into space, deep in thought. His eyes rested on the laptop tucked down the side of the chair opposite him. “You said JC had been visiting websites, do you know which ones? Maybe there will be a clue to where he is in there.”
“Or in his emails,” Chris added. “I’ll access his pc.” He left Justin and Lance with the laptop and went up to JC’s office. “What’s his password J? “ he shouted.
Justin looked blankly at Lance and shrugged. Lance sighed. “Just see what sites he’s accessed lately. Maybe we can find an address or something.” He opened JC’s laptop and it logged in automatically. “God love him, he has it on remember my id. Remind me to yell at him about that.”
Justin collapsed in the nearest chair. “I just hope to god that we get the chance to yell at him again.”
The sadness in Justin’s voice cut Lance’s soul. The baby of the group was hurting so much more than he was showing.
Justin continued sadly. “We’ve been fighting so much lately and over such stupid stuff too. I should have listened to him Lance. I should have seen how badly this whole pregnancy thing was effecting him.”
“It’s not your fault Justin. You can’t hold yourself responsible for everything JC does. He’s a grown man. What’s this?” Lance swivelled the laptop so Justin could see the screen as well.
“Looks like a chat room” Justin peered at the screen. “Kick Inside? Weird name.”
Lance tried to log into the forum and a box popped up. A slow smile spread over Justin’s face. “A baby.” At last they might be getting somewhere. Lance began to type, his fingers flying across the keyboard. babyblues . The chat room formed in front of him and he was welcomed straight away. The two men sat just reading what was being written. Another person joined chat and Chris shouted from down the corridor. “Guys I found a chat room.” Lance looked up from the fast moving board. “We’re in there, babyblues, who are you?” “Irishmist,” Chris shouted back. “Try joining in the conversations, see what we can find out.” Lance got up and grabbed his car keys. Justin looked up. ”Where are you going?” “To get those pamphlets out of the car. I wanna mention the clinics name see what happens.” miraclemaker: hey babyblues, you’re new here. Welcome. Justin hesitated, looking over to the door that Lance had just gone out of, willing him to come back. “Chris someone is talking to me!” “Well talk back idiot.” Chris shouted irked at his band mate’s lack of common sense. babyblues: hi, miraclemaker: so what brings you in here. We don’t get a lot of new members? babyblues: just feeling a little lonely. Justin hated to lie but he would do and say anything to find JC again. miraclemaker: I know what you mean. life isn’t fair is it? babyblues: no it’s not. My boyfriend just left me because he wants a family. He wants to screw me but not be with me. I couldn’t do that. miraclemaker: I can understand that. I would have felt the same way. A pm started to flash in the corner. Irishmist: Lance you should talk to this guy that just pm’ed me. babyblues: it’s Justin, Irishmist: I’m talking to this guy who says the whole baby thing is a scam. You need to talk to him. Another pm box pm opened. miraclemaker: I thought we could talk privately. babyblues: that’s cool. What do you want to talk about? Yet another pm box opened. Lostforeva: don’t believe what miraclemaker says he’s lying. Irishmist gave me your email, sign off. Don’t trust miraclemaker he’s not a he, he’s a she. Sign off and I’ll tell you everything I know. Justin signed off immediately, looking up just in time to see Chris come charging into the room, Lance just behind him. “Did lostforeva contact you?” “Yeah, I’m waiting for him to email me. What the hell did he tell you to get you so spooked?” “He told me miraclemaker killed his lover.” Justin slumped back in his chair. “Did he say how?” Chris nodded and looked at Lance for support. The younger man had moved to the baby of the group’s side and put the pamphlets into his hand. “Chris filled me in. The clinic is a front. They are conducting experiments on men. Chris has arranged to meet this guy in thirty minutes. We thought you’d like to come.” “They’re experimenting on my baby boy?” Justin was close to tears. ”Where is he Lance, where is my Jaycee?” * The three best friends sat in the back road diner waiting for lostforeva to show up. “What if he doesn’t show?” Justin asked dejectedly. “He’ll show. I told him about JC and that was when he told me about his lover.” Chris shut up suddenly and slapped Justin on his arm, nodding towards the door. Just inside, looking around was a twenty something man with short blondish hair. He had a sadness about him that could only be from the loss of a loved one. Lance stood up, approaching him carefully. “Are you lostforeva?” he asked. The man looked him up and down. “Irishmist?” “No I’m Lance, Chris, that’s Irishmist is sitting over there with babyblues” The man looked around him nervously. “Did you find your friend yet?” “No. do you know where he is?” Lostforeva gave a sad sigh as he let Lance lead him to where the others were sitting waiting. Justin reached out clutching the man’s hand in his. “They got my lover, please if you know where he is.” “I don’t know where he is but I know what they will do to him.” Justin leaned forward squeezing the man’s hand tighter. “Tell me,” he demanded. “My name is Brice. Just over a year ago my partner Kristian stumbled across this Website and he began chatting in there on a regular basis. I didn’t mind, sometimes I even joined him. At the time we had just been turned down by an adoption agency so the chat room was a release.” Brice paused to let the three men digest the information he was giving them. “About three months ago he started chatting to miraclemaker, George or as I later found out Georgina. He - she conned us. She pretended that she was a man - a pregnant man. She persuaded Kris to have the operation that he said he himself had. It took all our savings but we had seen the results. George was pregnant. She took Kris to a private clinic, I wasn’t allowed to go. The next time I saw him, he was dead. They found his body just dumped in a parking lot. All his insides had been butchered and a artificial womb forced into the new cavity.” Tears started to roll down Brice’s face as the painful memories consumed him. “ They said he’d lived for two weeks and that he would have been in terrible agony. He was so beautiful. I miss him so much, I miss him.” The man buried his face in his hands and began to sob uncontrollably as he relived the loss of his lover. “We have to find Jace,” Justin cried jumping to his feet. He grabbed the grieving man by his coat. “Where did they take him. You must have some idea? “ Lance and Chris pulled Justin off the hysterical young man. “Stop it Justin,” Lance said pulling his band mate away. “Just stop it.” Justin sunk back in his chair and started to cry. “Jace! Oh god Jace.” Lance comforted him while Chris did his best to console Brice. “Brice,” he asked softly. “Isn’t there anything you can tell us? Just a place to start looking.” Brice sniffed and rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “George said once that his partner worked at a printers and his name was Simon. I met Simon once and his fingers were stained with ink. It’s not much I know but it all I have.” Brice stood up and held out his hand for the three friends to shake. “I hope you find your lover before its too late.”