“Yes. Dr. Fitzpatrick’s on the Upper West Side, please.”
On our drive to Dr. Fitzpatrick’s office, I explained to Ryder that the medical facility we were going to was one that our doctors use for off-site evaluations. When we arrived, we were taken back right away and led to the exam room at the end. Dr. Fitzpatrick was waiting for us and stood when he saw us.
“Hello,” I said as we stepped into the exam room.
“Mr. Christos, good to see you. This must be your Ryder.”
My Ryder.
“Yes, this is Ryder Smith, all the way from sunny California,” I said. “Ryder, this is Dr. Fitzpatrick. Usually he’s on the Omniacampus, but as mentioned earlier, this is one of the facilities the academy uses for entrance evaluations.”
“Hi,” Ryder said as he shook the doctor’s hand.
“You’ll love your time at Omnia, Ryder. I had a blast while a student there.” The doctor closed the door and went to the sink to wash his hands. “Let’s get some of the easy stuff out of the way first and get your height and weight. On the table there is a paper gown; go ahead and remove your clothes and put the gown on.”
Ryder nodded and moved toward the exam table. I stepped out of the way and went to stand near Fitzpatrick by the counter to give Ryder a sense of privacy. Ryder stood with his back to us and fidgeted around to delay the inevitable. He needed to get over the uneasiness of being naked, because he was going to find that nudity would be a commonplace thing over the next four years. Ryder’s shirt came off, and the amount of discolored skin came into sight, and I closed my eyes for a moment. While I was prepared to see some bruising, I didn’t think there’d be this much. I opened my eyes and glanced at Fitzpatrick. His eyebrows were narrowed as he looked at Ryder’s back.
Ryder’s head was bent down, but he turned it to the side slightly and asked, “The boxers too?” It broke my heart to see how red his cheek was with embarrassment. I believed it was embarrassment due to the bruises rather than modesty.
“Yes, Ryder,” Dr. Fitzpatrick said.
When his jeans and boxers were lowered, my stomach felt as though I’d swallowed lead. Belt marks decorated his ass and the back of his legs. Fitzpatrick and I looked at one another, and I knew what he was thinking. No other Omnia student had entered the school in this shape. Ryder toed off his shoes and stepped out of his jeans and underwear. His head was still bent as he reached for the flimsy paper gown, exposing the cut on his neck to us even more.
I walked over and stood in front of him, but he didn’t raise his head. Instead, he kept himself busy with trying to open the damn paper gown. I glanced at the front of his body and then focused on his head. I could still see some of his red face. I took the paper gown from his nervous, shaky hands and opened it for him. I held it open for him to put his arms through the arm holes and then I slid it up onto his shoulders. I placed two of my fingers under his chin and nudged his chin upward until his face was level with mine. His eyes were still cast downward.
“Look at me, Ryder.” I waited until his eyes met mine, and then I smiled at him. “All Omnias hold their heads up.”
“Okay,” he said quietly.
“This isn’t your doing, Ryder.” He searched my eyes, perhaps looking for evidence that I was lying or simply trying to make him feel better. But I was dead serious. “Believe me.”
Ryder’s care was my sole focus now. I was confident that Roger Craig would get what was coming to him in due time.
12
Ryder
December
Atlas has been really cool and has taken care of pretty much everything for me. He set me up in a posh hotel and made sure I had some clothes and food. Just as he said he would, he was able to arrange for me to take the final exams for my classes. The community college sent my final exams to NYU, and I was able to go there and take them in a room with a student teacher. The material was easy, and I felt confident with my answers. At least that hadn’t fallen apart.
Since arriving in New York, I’d spent the better part of each day with Atlas, and I really enjoyed being around him. He took me to dinner a few nights with two former students, Aiden and Luca, but mostly it was just the two of us.
The start of the school year and my new life was a little over a week away, and I was excited and very nervous. Mostly I was nervous about the sex, but I was really trying to get on board with it. I’d had lots of bi friends in high school, and while I might have been part of some circle jerks, that was really all I’d done.Why? I really didn’t know. I’d watched some of my friends mess around, and it never bothered me, but I never participated. In an effort to help in that area, I was spending my evenings before bed watching some bi porn.
“How did you sleep?” Atlas asked when we sat down for breakfast.
“Good.” I couldn’t prevent the corners of my mouth from turning upward as I thought back to the porn I’d watched the night before that made me blow my load.
“What are you all smiles about this morning?”
“Nothing.” I spread some butter on my toast and glanced at him. He was stirring sugar into his coffee as he studied me. I could tell he expected an answer. “I watched some exciting videos last night.”
“Do tell.”
“It was supposed to be some early settlers venturing to a new land. Early explorers, I guess. So these two men and their wives were traveling on this ship to the new land. Anyhow, when the women went to sleep, the men met up on top of the deck and sucked one another off. It was hot.”
Atlas nodded as he laughed.
