I Was Broken and Lost- Chapter 3

By: Rogal Ursus

Well everyone, here is Chapter 3. This is a really intense chapter with a lot of emotion and eventually a small bit of violence. The instance of violence that occurs here is between the apprentice's father and the Master. Unfortunately, when trying to intervene, the cub is hit. I do not condone any form of child abuse or domestic violence. I felt that I owed it to the characters that the reaction took place. This is also a bit longer than the previous chapters. It does appear that this series will end in Chapter 4 and begin with the next series, I was Broken and Lost and You Found Me.

I awoke to the nurse lightly shaking me awake. Once I woke up fully, she motioned that she wanted to remove the IV from my arm. Holding my arm outward, I winced as she removed the line from my arms and dabbed up the small amount of blood that appeared.

"He'll be asleep for a while. He had a bad reaction last night and had to be sedated. Let's get you back into your bed," she calmly stated.

I leaned down and kissed my master's forehead and jumped down from the bed and hopped back into mine. The nurse tucked me in and drew the curtain. I was asleep in a matter of minutes. My sleep was not restful though. My dreams, if you call them that consisted of running through arguments I have with my master and arguments with my parents wanting me to remove me from his training.

I awoke with a start and began sobbing. Master heard my cries and called for me. "Come here cub. Something is on your mind. Let me hear all about it." I got out of my bed and went over and sat down in the chair next to his bed. "Now what is going on my cub?"

I looked into his eyes and saw the concern and sadness in his face. "They're going to take me from you. I don't want that to happen."

"Nir, we have an idea of what happened. We would never do that to you. You are old enough to make your own decisions and as long as you are certain this is what you want, we will not stand in the way." A voice called out from the doorway. I looked over and saw the doc standing there with my parents. He then smiled and came over, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I heard Master chuckle. I looked back at him. He was smiling and stretching out his hand. I placed mine in his and he shook it briskly. "Nir, so that's your name huh? Very nice," Master replied smiling. "Well, since introductions are out in the open, my name is Caleb."

The doctor smiled and walked over to the other side of Caleb's bed. "I'm going to check the bandages now Caleb. SO this might hurt a little bit, but I will give you a quick shot of painkillers "The doctor steps over to the IV stand and places a needle removed from his pocket and puts the needle into the port on the IV and injects the liquid. Within seconds, Caleb sighs and begins to fall asleep again. The doctor then begins to cut off the bandages wrapping around Caleb's arms.

"His wounds are healing up well. In fact, now that I know that this is an isolated incident, I am confident that he no longer poses a danger to himself. Once he comes out of the meds, I will have discharge paperwork ready." The doctor turned to my parents. "If you could, would it be possible for you to take care of him for few days? I'm sure both Nir and Caleb would welcome some major rest and relaxation."

My parents replied with a yes and were thanked by the doctor as he left to make the arrangements. My parents came over to me and hugged me for several minutes. "We have known Caleb for a while son. That is one of the major reasons why we decided for you to train with him."

Although, they knew about my injury, they did not realize what it was from. "Mom, dad, not only am I gay, but Caleb and I are lovers. It was after our first session that Caleb tried to kill himself."

My parents looked down at me with concern and understanding. They hugged me again and kissed my forehead. "We figured as much, but it's ok now. We're not going to take you away from him, Nir. The decision to leave is between you and him. It's not our place."

I looked up at them, smiling. I then started crying. "I love him. I want to be with him"

"I want to be with you too cub." Caleb replied groggily. "Let's right now worry about recovering, and then we will deal with the other outstanding things going on huh? Shall we get out of here and going for home? Again thank you folks for taking me in."

"You are welcome Caleb. We'll be glad to have you. With Nir staying with you, the house is kind of empty and we would welcome the company. Tell me, are you currently working on anything of importance? We could have Nir bring some of your tools from the shop?"

Caleb shook his head. "Not anything right now. Nir just finished up a major project restoring a set of books. The client needs to be notified that they are finished and ready for pickup and payment." He looked at me and smiled. "Nir, I bestow the title of Master upon you. I feel you have successfully completed your training and to be honest, you have surpassed me in all aspects. Half of the business is now rightfully yours."

Both my parents and I gasped. "Caleb are you sure about this? We are talking about a great sum of money."

I looked at Caleb in disbelief. "Half of the company is mine?"

Caleb looked at me briefly and then to my parents. He started to sit up in the bed. I helped him get to his feet so he could stand up. "Folks, the binder are just one of my companies. The other is the bookstore in the center of town."

A look of shock appeared on my parent's face. My mother was the first to speak. "That bookstore has been in my family for three generations. Although Nir is not my heir by birth, he has proven himself worthy of it through his hard work and devotion to my craft. That store is worth several million dollars per year. This is why I train apprentices. That is the only type of work I prefer to do. It has been a while since I have been able to perform the craft personally."

The nurse came back in with a new set of scrubs for both Caleb and I to wear home. She apologized but informed Caleb that due to our injuries, our clothes were destroyed. On one hand, I was glad for that.

We were both wheeled out of the hospital to my parent's car and the nurse helped both of us into the car. The drive back to my parent's house was quiet, almost somber. Every time Caleb looked over at me, I kind of winced a little and he turned away.

Once we arrived at home, mom helped me and dad helped Caleb out of the car. Guiding us to our rooms, not a word was said until we sat down on the respective beds. My mom left the room closing the door, leaving the both us with my dad. Once he was sure she was out of earshot, his expression changed to anger as he looked down at Caleb.

"Nir, go downstairs and wait until I call for you. I need to talk to Caleb alone." My dad growled. The expression on his face and the tone of his voice made me jump a bit.

I got up and stood between him and Caleb. Looking into his eyes and gritting my teeth, I bared my canines. "I know what you're going to do and I won't let you."

SMACK! I was thrown to the ground. My dad had struck me. I looked up, his fists clenched at his side. "No, you aren't going to hurt him. This is my entire fault Caleb." I tried to get up and my dad threw me down again.

"This does not concern you son. He will pay for what's he's done." He stepped towards Caleb and landed a punch across his muzzle. Caleb groaned in pain, but did not react, even after another punch landed squarely across his muzzle.

"Stop it dad! Now stop it!" I screamed, getting to my feet and running in between Caleb and my dad. My dad growled and slapped me hard, knocking me to my feet again, this time I saw stars and tears in my eyes. "Mom! Help! Mom, he's attacking Caleb!"

The door opened quickly as my mom stepped in just as my dad was laying another blow to Caleb's face. She reached back to restrain him, but he broke away. He turned towards her with anger and sadness in his eyes. "You know what he did don't you? He has to pay for what's he's done!"

A loud roar echoed through the room, startling everyone, including me. "As if the wounds I carry now aren't proof enough. As soon as I realized how hurt he was, I made sure he was ok, gave him something to help him sleep and did THIS!" Caleb ripped the bandages off his arms and practically shoved them in my father's face. "You want to see the penalty I have paid? Look down at my arms and see what I have paid. Flesh for flesh Sir." He looked at my mother and bowed slightly. "Although the hospitality is welcomed, we will be unable to accept. We are going home. Come Nir." He lowered his arms and walked over to me. "You ok?"

I nodded and stood up as he wrapped his arms around me and picked me up. "A father should never react in anger in front of his son. Although I have never had a son of my own, it is something I learned from my father." In his arms, we left the room, went downstairs and out the front door.

"Nir, wait! At least let me drive you two back home. You two should not be exerting yourselves," my mother called out from the door running towards us. "Besides, you shouldn't leave on an empty stomach. I'll make lunch and tend to your injuries and then drive you home." She stopped in front of us and hugged Caleb and I. She looked back at the door and saw my dad standing there. She walked back towards him and stopped about halfway.

"You, I don't care where you go but you get the hell out of here. I will tell you when you can come back home. How dare you pull a stunt like that, and especially against our own son? Give me a reason why I shouldn't call the police right now."

Caleb pulled me closer to his chest and I felt a small weight in my pocket. Reaching into it, I found my cellphone. I smiled and looked at Caleb who growled slightly, getting my mom's attention. She smiled in almost a wicked grin as she nodded in agreement. I opened the cellphone and dialed the emergency number. The dispatcher picked up rather quickly.

"Emergency dispatch, what is the nature of your emergency," the dispatcher asked.

In my calmest tone, I began to speak, "Yes. My name is Nir Virsen. I live at 1357 Rollings Street. I require police assistance. While recovering from recent injuries at my parents' house, my father attacked both me and my Master."

"Is anyone there seriously injured?" the dispatcher asked.

"No officer; just some minor cuts and bruises. An ambulance will not be required," I replied, shooting an angry glance back at my father, who had now sported a look of shock on his face. Looking back at my mother, she was smiling.

"Ok Sir. I have police en route. They should be there within a few minutes. Are you somewhere safe," the dispatcher asked.

I smiled and nuzzled Caleb's face. "Yes officer I am. I hear the sirens. Thank you for your help." Hanging up the phone and nodding to my mother, she came over and hugged both of us again.

The police car pulled into the driveway and Caleb let me down on my feet as the officer got out of his car. He looked at me and asked if I was the one who made the call.

"Yes I am officer. I would like to report two cases of assault. Both were at the hands of my father. This is Caleb, my Master who was struck several times and myself struck several times as well," I replied pointing to Caleb and then to my father.

"Are there any witnesses to these alleged crimes," the officer asked.

"I was witness to the assaults against my son, I am his mother," my mom stated.

"I was witness to the assaults against my master Caleb and state that I was assaulted without provocation," I stated.

The officer removed a set of handcuffs from his belt and walked over to my father and ordered him to turn around. He then stated that he was arresting my father for assault. _(Insert Miranda rights here) _ "All of you will have to come down to the station to provide an account of the incidents that have occurred. Ma'am if you could make sure that happens?"

My mother nodded and took us back inside and after taking care of our injuries, both current and previous, prepared a wonderful lunch for us, got us cleaned up and drove us to the station. After providing our statements to the officers, we were thanked for our cooperation and left.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality Mara. I'm sorry this had to happen, really I am," Caleb spoke after a long period of silence.

She sighed after that. Stopping the car, we noticed that we were in front of the binder. "Well, let's get you two inside and relax a bit. I'll make some tea. Nir, help me with Caleb please?"

Getting out of the car, I walked over to Caleb's door and put a paw out. Not realizing my own strength, I was able to pull Caleb fully out of the car and support his weight. We slowly walked into the house and into the living room and got Caleb into his chair. I cleared a spot for mom on the couch and when I was done, she stopped me.

"Go and get the tea started Nir and get to bed. I must speak with Caleb privately," she stated, reaching into a small bag and pulled out a small bottle of pills. Opening the bottle, she handed me two and told me to take them. "The doctor sent the prescription home with us. After everything that's happened, you need a good night's sleep. Night son." She kissed me on the forehead and I went into the kitchen and started the kettle. Grabbed a glass of water and took the pills. I went into the bedroom and within minutes I was asleep.

Mom got the tea once the kettle started whistling and poured two cups and brought them out to the living room. Handing one to Caleb, she took the other one and sat down.

"Caleb, I am much more understanding than my husband. I know everything that happened."

Caleb's head dropped in shock. "Oh gods. You're going to take him away aren't you?"

She shook her head. "Let me explain Caleb. When he called us to tell us about what happened, he explained everything. He loves you Caleb, we are sure of that. In fact, if I was to take him away from you, he would most likely do something as bad as you did, maybe even worse. We've known that you and him are more than teacher and student and I have no issues with that. In fact, I would expect that you would want him to stay as much as he does."

Caleb sighed, tears streaming in his eyes. "Mara, of all the apprentices that have come through here, Nir is special to me. He has become more than just a student to me. I have a deep love for him, a love I have never had. I want him to stay, but it has to be his decision."

Mara nodded. "That is all I wanted to hear Caleb. As long as you believe it, that's all that is important. Shall I help you to your bed? You need some rest as well. I will stay here in one of the other rooms tonight to make sure you two are ok." She stood up and helped Caleb up off the couch.

Caleb chuckled. "Now I see where your cub gets his strength from"

Mara helped him to the bedroom and opened the door. Curled up on the bed was her son. Both her and Caleb smiled. "Thanks Mara, for everything, for bringing us together." She helped Caleb into bed and covered him with the covers. She then walked over to the other side of the bed and lightly lay a kiss on the forehead of her son and left the room, closing the door.

Caleb rolled over and wrapped his arms around the cub...his cub. A smile drifted across both their faces as Caleb fell asleep.