Almost Famous

By Ryan Bartlett

Chapter 16

Unfortunately Halloween fell on a Thursday, which meant Wiley had to get up early the next morning in order to meet Benji for his training session. When he woke, he was careful not to wake Cameron as he climbed out of bed. Wiley couldn’t help chuckling when he looked down on his sleeping boyfriend; he’d tried on Wiley’s Robin mask the night before and was still wearing it when he’d drifted off to sleep. Wiley kissed Cameron on the forehead then put on his pajama bottoms so he could go out to the kitchen and make coffee.

Wiley yawned and stretched when he entered the living room and muttered “Good morning,” when he found someone standing in front of the entertainment center. He was used to finding strangers in the apartment; Bobby often entertained overnight guests, and Tucker always seemed to have friends visiting from out of town. He wasn’t concerned until the individual turned to face him.

“You, I know you,” said Wiley as he wracked his brain to remember where he’d seen the chubby bespectacled face.

“I-I wasn’t going to hurt anyone,” he stuttered.

“You…you’re that guy from the convention,” Wiley exclaimed.

“I-I…”

“Don’t move,” said Wiley as he slowly backed away. He turned his head for the briefest moment and shouted down the hall, “Cam, call the police!”

Nathan knew he was in deep trouble and started sweating the moment Wiley walked into the living room. He began to panic, and while Wiley’s head was turned, Nathan made a break for the door.

“Stop!” Wiley shouted.

“What’s going on?” Tucker yawned. He stepped into the hall just as Wiley started moving towards the door.

“Someone broke in. Call the police,” Wiley shouted as he sprinted out the door.

“What the fuck?” asked Bobby, sticking his head out of his room.

“Call the cops,” said Tucker. He reached into his room, grabbed a baseball bat beside the door and chased after Wiley.

Nathan didn’t have much of a chance; he was out of shape and began panting as soon as he started to run. Wiley was a professional athlete who ran miles on the tennis court each week; he closed the distance rapidly and grabbed Nathan around the waist, tackling him on the front lawn.

“I didn’t do anything,” Nathan whined as he squirmed and tried to break away.

Wiley was furious. Not only had this weirdo frightened Cameron at the convention, but now Wiley was sure he was also the one who had stolen his boyfriend’s underwear. Sure, he said he wasn’t there to hurt anyone, but who knew what he would have done if Wiley hadn’t walked in on him. Nathan rolled on his back and tried to wiggle out from under Wiley. Wiley drew his fist back, and as his punch connected with Nathan’s jaw his shoulder erupted in pain.

“AHHHHHHHHH,” Wiley screamed and rolled away.

Nathan tried to get up but Tucker had caught up to them and pushed the intruder back to the ground.

“Don’t even think about it,” Tucker threatened with his bat.

“Oh God, oh God,” Wiley moaned through clenched teeth. His shoulder felt like it was on fire. When his fist impacted with Nathan’s face, it was like something ripped in his shoulder. The pain was excruciating.

Bobby came running out on his phone, talking to the 9-1-1 dispatcher. Cameron was woken by all the shouting in the apartment and came running out as soon as he was able to pull up his pajama bottoms.

“What’s going on?” asked Cameron. He panicked when he saw Wiley on the ground and quickly knelt beside him.

“Coyote said someone broke in,” said Tucker. “He chased this guy and something happened when he hit him.”

“Get an ambulance,” said Wiley through gritted teeth.

“What happened?” Cameron cried. He still didn’t know what was going on, but Wiley was clearly in pain and Cameron’s emotions took over.

“Guy from the convention,” Wiley hissed. “Found him in living room.”

“Oh my God,” said Cameron as he took a second to glance at Nathan. “That’s the guy who grabbed my arm at the meet and greet!”

“Cops and paramedics are on the way,” said Bobby.

“Did he hit you, did he hurt you?” asked Cameron.

“My shoulder, something ripped when I hit him,” said Wiley.

By now neighbors throughout the complex had heard the commotion on the front lawn and had begun to gather. One of them was an off duty MP in the California National Guard who went back to his apartment and returned with his Berretta 9mm to make sure Nathan didn’t get away while they waited for the LAPD.

University Medical Center was only a few blocks from the apartment and the paramedics arrived before the police. They pushed their way through the gathered crowd and had to gently but firmly pull Cameron away so they could tend to Wiley.

“What seems to be the problem?” asked the paramedic. It was hard to get Wiley’s attention; he was in so much pain he was starting to go into shock.

“Shoulder, something torn,” he groaned.

“Try and relax. It’s going to be alright,” said the paramedic.

The police arrived as the paramedics ran back to the ambulance to get the gurney. Tucker spoke to them while the medics tried to move Wiley.

“This guy broke into our apartment,” Tucker explained. “He assaulted my roommate a few weeks ago in Anaheim. Our friend caught him in our living room. He hurt himself trying to keep this asshole from getting away; the paramedics are working on him now.”

“Alright,” said the officer, pulling out his notepad while his partner went to handcuff Nathan. “Start from the beginning, take it slow, tell me exactly what happened.”

“Call Benji, get Doc,” said Wiley as the medics strapped him to the gurney. “Emergency contact.”

“I’ll come with you and…” Cameron started.

“No, no,” Wiley moaned. “Doc is emergency contact. Has power of attorney. Legal shit.”

“Ok, ok, I get it,” said Cameron. “What else?”

“Ohhhh,” Wiley groaned.

“We’re going to load him up now,” said the medic. He kept talking as they pushed the gurney to the ambulance. “We don’t have anything strong enough to dull his pain; he needs a doctor.”

“Alright,” said Cameron. “Let me run in and get my phone so we can get out of here.”

“No time to wait, bud,” said the medic.

“But I’m coming with him,” Cameron insisted.

“Are you family?”

“No, he’s my boyfriend,” Cameron explained.

“Then I can’t take you with us. I’m sorry…”

“Legal shit,” Wiley groaned.

“Ok, ok, where are you taking him?” asked Cameron.

“University. We’ll have him there in a few minutes.”

“Alright, you hear that, Wiley? I’ll be right behind you.”

“Get Doc!”

“I will. I promise I will,” said Cameron as he turned and ran for his phone.

It took an hour for Cameron, Bobby and Tucker to make it to the hospital. Cameron ran inside and called Benji as the ambulance was pulling away. He was so full of adrenaline, speaking so fast, he had to explain things twice before Benji understood what was going on and said he’d call his dad and meet them at the hospital.

Cameron didn’t bother changing. He put on a t-shirt and slippers with his pajama bottoms, grabbed his car keys and ran out the door, but the police stopped him. In order for them to prosecute Nathan the police had to get all the information they possibly could. They understood that Wiley had been hurt, but they needed to get the information while it was fresh, before any details might be forgotten. Cameron had to repeat their story several times before the police were satisfied they had all the necessary facts. By the time the guys reached the hospital Cameron was nearly hysterical.

“I need to see Wiley Grace, he was brought here by ambulance about an hour ago,” said Cameron as they ran up to the intake counter at the emergency room.

“Are you family?” asked the nurse on duty. She was a stern grandmotherly sort of woman who voiced her question as though she was irritated by the disruption of her morning routine.

“He’s my boyfriend.”

“I’m sorry honey; if you’re not immediate family I can’t let you in or release any personal information. You’ll have to wait until...”

“You have to!”

“I know how you feel but it’s the law.”

“Fuck the law!” Cameron shouted.

“Sir, I understand you’re upset but if you can’t get ahold of yourself I’m going to have to call security,” she replied. She was as fixed to her position as the Rock of Gibraltar. She wouldn’t budge.

“Come on,” said Bobby, putting his arms around Cameron and pulling him back from the counter. “Let’s take a seat and wait.”

“I have to see him, Bobby, I…” Cameron cried.

“I know, buddy, but he’s with the doctor now. Let’s let them do their jobs, ok?”

Cameron nodded and let his friends take him over to the waiting room. They weren’t sitting there long when Benji came running in, still dressed in his tennis togs. He got stuck in the morning rush hour traffic and cursed every red light between the hospital and the Beverly Hills Tennis Club.

“Cam,” said Benji when he saw him. “What happened?”

“He, he…” Cameron stuttered.

“He caught some asshole breaking into our apartment,” said Tucker. “He hurt his shoulder when he hit the bastard.”

“Did you get ahold of your dad?” Cameron sniffled.

“Yeah, good news is he was already here visiting one of his patients. He said he’d meet the ambulance. Bad news is I’ve been calling but haven’t been able to get him on the phone again since I first spoke to him,” Benji explained. “What are the nurses telling you?”

“Nothing, they won’t let me see him,” said Cameron breaking into fresh sobs.

“They said because none of us are immediate family they can’t let him in or tell us anything,” said Tucker.

“Fuck that,” said Benji. He left the guys and marched over to the nurse’s station but returned a few moments later. They wouldn’t tell him anything either. “What a bunch of bullshit.”

“Told you,” said Tucker, shrugging his shoulders.

“So, some guy broke into your apartment?” asked Benji as he took a seat.

“Same guy that hassled Cam when we were at Playlist Live,” said Bobby.

“Oh, the arm grabber?” asked Benji.

“That’s him,” Cameron confirmed.

“Man, Wiley told me about that. What a fucking psycho.” Benji sighed.

“Ewww,” Bobby groaned.

“What?” the guys replied in unison.

“That’s probably who stole your underwear,” Bobby explained.

“Oh God, you’re right. Ugh,” said Cameron then hid his face in his hands in disgust.

“What’s this?”

“Someone stole all his boxers from the dryer in the laundry room at our complex,” said Tucker. “It stands to reason it was this Nathan asshole.”

“That is too creepy.”

“I don’t even want to think about it.” Cameron sighed then changed the subject. “I don’t understand why they can’t tell us anything.”

“It’s bullshit,” Benji agreed. “But I’m sure he’ll be alright.”

“He was in so much pain when they took him away,” Cameron shuddered.

“Yeah, but he’ll be ok,” said Bobby.

“But what if…” Cameron started but got choked up in mid-sentence.

“Hey, he didn’t get shot, he didn’t get stabbed,” Tucker reminded him. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but whatever it is it can’t be life threatening.”

“I guess so, I just, seeing him like that…”

“Yeah, I was scared too,” said Tucker, finishing Cameron’s thought as he reached out to pat his friend’s back.

Bobby spent the next half hour comforting Cameron as best he could and he was finally able to calm him down. The group of friends sat quietly, each thinking about Wiley; hoping he’d be ok. No one really understood what had happened to him. Tucker was right; it’s not like he’d been shot or stabbed or something. All they knew is he’d hit the weirdo and started screaming in agony.

“Dad, over here,” Benji shouted when Doc came out to the lobby and looked around for the guys.

“Is he ok? What’s happening?” Cameron demanded.

“Calm down,” said Doc, putting a fatherly hand on Cameron’s shoulder.

“I need to see him. Please Doc…”

“I know, I know, soon,” said Doc.

“What’s happening?” Cameron repeated.

“Has Wiley been having problems with his shoulder lately?” asked Doc.

“Well, it’s been sore. He’s come home complaining about it after practice every now and then. I’ve been massaging the kinks out,” said Cameron.

“He injured it in Dubai,” said Benji. “I told you about the incident after the banquet.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Cameron, remembering. “It was causing him problems at the charity tournament too. I nagged him about seeing a doctor, but he said it was just part of being a tennis player.”

“Stubborn ass,” Benji swore and shook his head. If there was one thing that annoyed Benji about his best friend it was his tendency to be so thickheaded.

“Right, ok, that explains that.” Doc sighed.

“Explains what?” Cameron demanded.

“It looks like Wiley tore his rotator cuff when he hit that punk who broke into your place. That’s why it took me so long to come out and talk to you guys. They’re taking x-rays and had an orthopedic surgeon come down to consult,” said Doc. “It’s a pretty bad tear. The surgeon thinks the injury stems from a preexisting condition, and all this recent shoulder pain backs up that hypothesis.”

“Oh shit.” Benji sighed. As an athlete himself he knew how serious an injury like that could be in terms of one’s career.

“Is he ok?” asked Cameron.

“He’s in a lot of pain, but they’re dealing with it with some pretty powerful medication. He’s going to have to have surgery tomorrow to repair the damage,” Doc explained.

“I want to see him,” Cameron sniffled.

“I know you do, and he’s asking for you too, but they’re moving him from the ER to a room right now. I’ll take you up as soon as they get him settled, ok?”

“Ok,” Cameron agreed, then blew his nose on a tissue Bobby offered him.

“Hey, he’s a tough kid,” said Doc, pulling Cameron in for a hug. “He’s going to be fine, so dry those tears. He needs us to be strong for him, ok?”

“Yeah, I’m ok,” said Cameron, straightening his back and wiping his eyes.

“Good boy.” Doc smiled then went to check with the nurses on the status of Wiley’s transfer to the pre-surgical ward.