Whatever It Takes

Chapter 1

Dr. Brian Kinney was sitting in his office at Allegheny General when he heard a knock at his door.

“Come in.” He called, without looking up from the file he was going through.

“Hey, Boss. Dr. Samuels told me to tell you we got another one in. He’s being transferred to the fifth floor now and should be ready for you in about an hour.” Cynthia told him, watching for signs of acknowledgement.

“Thanks, Cynthia. I’ll be up there in a while. Will you get all the information together for me? I really want to finish with the Bradford file before I go up. With the holidays coming, I really need to get ahead a bit. Otherwise, I will be spending Thanksgiving right here at my desk.” Brian gave her his puppy dog eyes, knowing she could never resist them.

“Sure thing, Boss, and save those eyes for another time. I’m your assistant. It’s my job to get you ready for your patients. You’ll need them the next time you ask me to go out shopping for your son’s birthday.” She replied with a chuckle before walking out of the office.

“Bitch!” Brian called after her in a teasing manner. In reality, Brian didn’t know what he would do without Cynthia. She was the one who held him together when it seemed like his world was falling apart.

Brian had just graduated from medical school and was about to start his career when the mother of his son committed suicide. Her partner slipped into depression over the loss and Brian needed to be strong for his son, despite his agony at losing his best friend. He met Cynthia during that time and the two became fast friends. Once they realized that they had a love for the human mind in common, they decided to form a partnership in hopes of saving the lives of people suffering the despair that Lindsay had suffered before deciding to take her own life. That had been five years ago and since then things seemed to fall into place. His son’s other mother, Melanie had recovered from her depression and taken on her role of single mother wonderfully. His son was a thriving ten year old, who received straight A’s in school and excelled in all sports. He saw his father every other weekend and seemed to be a well adjusted fifth grader despite losing his mother at an early age. Brian and Cynthia put everything they had into their efforts to help other’s and Brian had received awards for his motivation and dedication to his studies. Things were good and he owed it all to Cynthia for supporting him through his crisis.

An hour later, Brian walked off the elevator on the fifth floor and was greeted by Cynthia, who was waiting for him.

“Right on time, Boss. Here’s the scoop. Justin Taylor, age eighteen. He slit both wrists and was found by his best friend in a tree house they shared when they were children. His parents were notified of what had happened, but they refused to come in. It seems they had a falling out and Justin was forced out of the family. The friend, a girl named Daphne Chanders, was so distraught by what happened she was unable to comment on what could possibly have caused him to try to take his own life. Her parents had to be called to come and get her. Justin is still unconscious, but Dr. Samuels feels that he should be waking up soon. I listed everything I know in his file. All you have to do is wait for him to wake up.” Cynthia explained, handing the chart over for Brian’s inspection.

“Thanks, Cynthia. Why don’t you take off for the night? It’s late and I know I’ve been working you too hard. I can handle things from here.” Brian told her, already lost in the file she handed him.

“Thanks, Boss. I’ll see you in the morning.” She answered, knowing that warning him about staying too late would fall on deaf ears. Knowing Brian, he wouldn’t leave the hospital until midnight, returning again at dawn to continue his work. Unless he had his son for the weekend, Brian spent most of his free time at the hospital, trying to help others in a misguided attempt to ease his guilt over missing his friend’s warning signs.

“Yeah, see ya.” Brian mumbled as he headed towards the room that was occupied by Justin Taylor.

He entered the room, and was shocked by the vision he saw. Even in his unconscious state, Brian could see the innocent beauty that the boy possessed. His blond hair, disheveled from his ordeal, was fairly long falling slightly over his forehead. The blanket thrown over him was unable to hide the well toned body that lay underneath. As Brian approached the bed he noticed the fair, unblemished skin and the perfectly shaped mouth. Feeling a tightening in his groin, Brian shook his head, trying to dislodge the thoughts that were invading his mind. He mentally chastised himself for thinking about his patient in a sexual way and sat down in a chair by the bed to wait for the boy to wake up. He didn’t have long to wait.

“Welcome back.” Brian said softly, so as not to startle the boy.

“Where am I?” Justin asked, looking around in confusion.

“Allegheny General. My name is Dr. Kinney. I’m a psychiatrist on staff. How are you feeling?” Brian asked.

“Like shit. Why am I here?” Justin asked, his voice weak.

“You don’t remember what happened?” Brian asked, wanting to see if Justin remembered what he had done.

“I know what happened. I meant why am I here? I’m not supposed to be here anymore. I don’t want to be here anymore.” Justin declared, unable to look Brian in the eyes.

“Justin, I know that sometimes things don’t always go the way we plan them to, but that isn’t any reason to take your own life. Your friend Daphne found you and called 911. She was very upset.” Brian told him, watching for signs of remorse. He saw none.

“Yeah, well she’ll get over it. Look, you came in and talked to me. You’ve done your job. Now why don’t you leave me alone? I’m sure you have better things to do.” Justin said defensively.

“Actually, I don’t. Besides, it doesn’t work that way. You see, since you attempted suicide, it’s procedure to have an evaluation done by yours truly. Then it’s my job to decide if you are a danger to yourself, and by the size of that chip on your shoulder, I’d say that you are. I’m going to recommend that you be watched carefully for a couple days while we get to know each other.” Brian explained, hoping to get some kind of reaction.

“Look, Dr. Kinney, I appreciate your concern. I’m fine, really. I promise not to do anything again. Now, can you just sign my release papers so I can get out of here?” Justin asked, trying to put on his most innocent face.

“Nice try, Justin, and you can call me Brian. I have a feeling we are going to be spending a lot of time together. Now, why don’t you try to get some sleep. You must be exhausted from the day you’ve had. I will be here first thing in the morning and we can talk then.” Brian said as he rose from the chair.

“You’re really going to keep me here? I’m eighteen years old and I have a right to say whether or not I want to stay in this hell hole!” Justin exclaimed, getting anxious at the thought of being kept against his will.

“Your age has nothing to do with it. We have an obligation to our patients to do what we have to do to keep them safe. I don’t believe you will be safe if you were to leave here. Until I feel otherwise, you might as well make yourself comfortable. I will see you in the morning. Sleep well.” Brian replied, walking out the door before Justin had a chance to reply. As he walked towards the nurses station, he could hear Justin calling out, but ignored the calls. This patient was definitely going to be a handful. Brian could feel it already. He gave the night nurse instructions and then headed back down to his office to think about the meeting. He had to figure out what had caused the boy to slit his wrists. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to get any help at the moment.

Justin stared at the door to his room, cursing the man who refused to let him leave. What right did he have to decide that he wasn’t able to go home? The fact that Justin no longer had a home to go to had nothing to do with it. He laid in bed, thinking back to the events that led him to where he was at the moment. Everything had been good in his life until he decided to come clean with his parents and tell them that he was gay. He had never seen that much anger and disappointment in his father’s eyes. He watched in horror as his father threw some of his belongings in a bag and ordered him out of the house and out of the family. He was told that his disgusting lifestyle was not welcome and when he came to his senses he was to give them a call. Justin grabbed his bag and walked away without looking back.

After walking around town for a couple of hours, Justin knew what he had to do. He was a disappointment to his parents and at eighteen, had no one to turn to. Daphne was getting ready to move to LA, starting college as a mid-semester transfer, and would be living in an all girls dorm. There was no way he could go with her. He had no job, no money, and no place to live. Ending his life seemed to be the best solution for everyone. No one would even miss him. Damn Daphne for finding him before it was too late. Now he was going to be forced to open up to some stranger about what happened and Justin was definitely not looking forward to that, no matter how hot the doctor was. That thought made Justin think more about the man that had just left. As mad as he was over the confrontation, he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the man was. His hazel eyes and brown hair were burned into Justin’s memory. He began to laugh out loud at his thoughts. Dr. Kinney was his psychiatrist, at least until he was able to find a way out of the hospital, and the man was probably as straight as they come. Justin rolled over and let himself drift off to sleep, thoughts of his doctor running through his mind.

Brian was sitting in his office when his phone buzzed. He reached for it, while continuing to go through Justin’s chart.

“Kinney.” He said into the phone.

“Oh, Dr. Kinney. I’m glad you are still there. There is a Daphne Chanders on the phone. She said she’s a friend of one of your patients and that she needs to speak to you. She’s on line one.” The receptionist explained.

“Thanks. I got it.” Brian said, pushing line one. He was anxious to talk to the girl.

“This is Dr. Kinney.”

“Dr. Kinney. My name is Daphne. I was the one who found Justin Taylor this afternoon. The doctor in the emergency room said that you would be the one treating him. I called, trying to find out how he was doing, but no one would give me any information. I need to know how he is. I am leaving for LA tomorrow and I can’t go unless I know he’s going to be alright.” Daphne could hear the desperation in her voice, but she didn’t care. She needed to know that her friend would be okay.

“Daphne, I can’t give you any details, but I can tell you that he is okay physically. I am really worried about him, though. Do you know what caused him to try to kill himself today? I tried speaking with him, but he didn’t seem to want to talk about it.” Brian explained, knowing he was understating the truth.

“I have no idea, Dr. Kinney. I talked to him last night and he never said a word. He seemed fine. We even talked about him flying out to visit me during Christmas break. Something must have happened since then, but I have no idea what it could be. Did you talk to Mr. And Mrs. Taylor? They could probably explain things better than me.” Daphne told him, wondering why he was even asking her.

Brian realized that Daphne obviously didn’t know about the rift between Justin and his parents and decided not to mention it since he didn’t want to break any confidences. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to them yet. I just figured since you were on the phone, I would ask your opinion. Have a safe flight, Daphne. I’m sure Justin will call you when he feels up to talking.” Brian assured her.

“Okay. Thanks Dr. Kinney. I feel better knowing that’s he’s okay for now. Please take care of him. This incident is so out of character for him. He’s usually a very happy guy. He’s always the one cheering me up when I am down. I don’t think I have ever heard him say a negative thing in my life and we’ve been best friends since grade school.” Daphne wanted to make sure the doctor knew this wasn’t a normal thing for Justin.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Have a good night.” Brian replied, before hanging up the phone. He sat there for a few minutes, wondering what to do next. Justin Taylor was becoming a mystery. In the span of twenty four hours he apparently went from being a happy, well adjusted young man to a angry, and bitter boy with no one to support him. Brian shut down his computer and closed up his office, preparing to head home. It was late and he was exhausted, but he somehow knew that sleep would not come easy. His thoughts were consumed by the beautiful blond with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and Brian knew he would do whatever it took to help his patient find himself again.


End of Part 1
10/20/03

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