The Judge's Blessing (boyxboy)

Let's Make a Deal (Late October, 12th Grade)

As the weeks passed, Asher began to put back together his relationship with Danny. He knew going in that he would be challenged to right things. He had screwed up and in the process almost lost the thing he most prized: his boyfriend. Danny understood the situation, and noting the efforts Asher made, was all too glad to help. He wanted Asher—badly—and he needed the Asher that he knew, the one he fell in love with a few years ago. Danny was prepared to give Asher some leeway—he knew it was not easy for Asher, but he felt the onus was on Asher, not him. With each passing day, though, it became clearer to Danny just how far Asher was prepared to go to redeem himself in Danny's eyes. Reassured by Asher's efforts, Danny understood that he could ask for nothing more than what Asher was already doing.

With the approach of Halloween, the temperatures in the city began to drop. The leaves began to change color and fall. The winds picked up, whipping up the colored reminders of autumn and the approaching winter. As the autumnal rains made their appearance, Alan noted that the gutters at his house were full of leaves and the rain didn't drain from the roof properly. He had asked Asher to clear them out, but between football practice and Asher's efforts to repair things with Danny, Asher never seemed to find the time. The leaves remained in the gutters. Finally, Alan decided one Saturday late in October that the task couldn't wait any longer. He took the ladder out of the garage and placed it on the backside of the house. Ascending the ladder, he wanted to finish the task and get back to work he hadn't finished during the week.

It took Alan no more than a half an hour to clear the gutters in the back, and as he moved the ladder to the side of the house, he felt a pain in his chest, as though an elephant had suddenly sat on him. His breathing became labored as he felt a shooting pain down his left arm. He immediately collapsed into a pile of leaves, his face taking on a pale appearance, his mouth open in a desperate effort to bring more air into his lungs.

Later in the afternoon, Asher returned from a movie date with Danny. He saw that the garage was open, and the ladder was gone. His father must be using it somewhere outside of the house—probably in the back, where Asher couldn't see it from the street.

As he went around the side of the house in search of his father, Asher saw the ladder. But it wasn't until he approached the ladder that he saw his father unconscious and almost hidden amongst the leaves. At first Asher thought his father had died; he let out a scream that was heard around the neighborhood. Approaching his father, he saw his father's chest rise and fall—his old man was still alive! Beads of sweat across his forehead and his upper lips suggested to Asher that he had been working vigorously using the ladder, but in that case, the coldness of his skin made no sense. Alan failed to respond to Asher's repeated efforts to arouse him. Asher quickly surmised that he needed an ambulance to get Alan to the nearest hospital. He dialed 911 and gave the operator his home address. Then, in a panic, he texted Danny to come help him as his father was barely alive.

Danny came running out of his house, galloping as fast as he could, looking for Asher and the ladder. Dale followed right behind him. Recalling his first aid training, when Danny found Alan and Asher, the first thing he did was to ask Asher for a blanket. Asher went inside to get one as Danny and Dale began to minister to Alan. When Asher brought out a blanket, Dale immediately put it on top of Alan. Within a couple of minutes, an ambulance arrived. The EMTs put Alan on a stretcher, gave him some oxygen, and took him to the hospital.

At the hospital, diagnostic tests showed that Alan had had a heart attack. Though significant, there were steps taken to minimize the damage to Alan's heart. During the time Alan was in the hospital, Asher was in a state of shock and despair. Seeing this upon arriving at the hospital, Danny texted Bethany to let her know the news. Word traveled fast among the Clifton Heights High student population, and soon, Asher was receiving messages from everyone asking for information and expressing concern for Alan. It was more than Asher could handle, and for the first time since transferring schools, he turned off his cell phone.