Page 11 of Caged
Marshall stared at the bolt cutters. "What are those for?" They weren't the largest pair he'd ever seen, but just the fact they were being carried by a doctor in the emergency room was enough to cause him alarm.
The doctor set the cutters on the counter beside the small sink. "I think Danny needs to let me know what he wants you to know before I answer that." The doctor was older, probably in his fifties.
Marshall glanced at Danny, finding him beet red with embarrassment, or maybe it was shame. "What is it?" He tightened his hand against Danny's.
Danny closed his eyes.
"If you don't want me to know, I can wait outside the room while you talk to the doctor." He was curious as hell, but he wasn't going to put Danny in an uncomfortable position.
"No, don't go. I'm not sure I can do this without you here to help me."
"It sounds and looks worse than it usually is." The doctor gave him a supportive smile.
Danny bit his lip, then released it and looked over at Marshall. "He forced me to wear a cage on my…" His cheeks reddened again.
"It's okay," Marshall assured him. "I know what a cage is. I'm guessing there isn't a key?"
"I don't know where he kept it." Tears appeared in Danny's eyes.
"That's okay. The doctor knows what he's doing. While he does what he needs to, you and I are going to focus on each other." Marshall glanced at the doctor. "What do you need to do?"
"I'm going to ask a nurse and another doctor to assist me. Looking at it, I think we can simply cut the lock, but the worry comes from the long-term placement of the cage. I can't tell how severe the damage is, but it looks as if the skin in one area has rubbed raw and regrown several times. I'm worried the skin might have grown to the metal. I'll go slow and do things in steps so not only can I see the damage, but I also want you to let me know the moment there is any pain." The doctor acted as if this was something he saw every day.
Marshall nodded. "You okay with that? Still want me to stay?" He'd seen worse online, but being in the same room with someone who was facing such a thing made it harder. He wanted to be sick. How long had he been forced to wear the cage? Surely not twelve years.
Danny nodded, then looked to the doctor. "Just get it off."
"Give me a moment to get some assistance and we'll do just that." The doctor stepped from the room.
Danny wouldn't look at Marshall.
"Hey, it's okay. This wasn't your fault. This was forced on you, right?" He prayed he hadn't asked for it.
"He made me wear it because he was afraid I'd have sex with the boys when he wasn't around." Danny sat up straighter. "I would never. I couldn't hurt the boys. I couldn't do what he did to me to anyone."
"I know. I believe that. Most of us could never do what Larry did." Marshall was so pissed at Larry that he was tempted to ask the team to let him come along on the sting when they found the fucker.
The doctor walked back in followed by two other men. One was a doctor, the other a nurse. Once the door was shut, he focused on Danny. "Okay, remember, this should be easy, but any pain and you tell me."
Danny nodded.
"Okay, this is what you and I are going to do." Marshall stood with his back to the doctors, trying his best to block Danny's view of what they were doing. "Give me your other hand." When he held both of his hands, he smiled. "You're going to stare up at me and not break eye contact. You're going to imagine that we're back at my house on the couch and just talking like friends do."
He was aware of the doctor removing the sheet, and as badly as he wanted to look, he kept his gaze on Danny. "Did you ever do anything stupid like I did when you were younger like jump off a roof?"
Danny's grip against his hands was tight, but he gave a slight smile. "Bruce, he was my best friend back then, we used to build these ramps in my backyard and ride our bikes off them. They weren't very big, but my mom freaked out when she saw us. We never got hurt though."
"We did that too. My friend Jeff took a hard fall and ended up with stitches in his chin." Marshall watched Danny's face closely for any signs of pain.
"Okay, we got the lock off. Now I'm going to need you to lift your legs and spread them a bit for me. I'm worried about an area under your testicles." The doctor's voice was calm.
Danny tensed.
"It's okay. No one will hurt you while I'm around. I promised, remember? Let the doctors do their job." Marshall made a mental note to praise Rani for being a doctor and for dealing with things like this. Definitely something Marshall couldn't handle.
"Okay, things look good. There's a small area that is raw from the rubbing of the metal, but it's not large. It might be tender as I slide the cage off you. Stop me if it's too bad."
The doctor must have been looking at Danny because he nodded before looking back at Marshall.
