Page 80 of Heal
"I don't know about that. I'm okay if they don't. That's not something I'll push for, but I admit, I'd love it if they do someday." Beau reached over and rested his hand on Parson's thigh. "What did you tell your parents about us?"
"Nothing." Parson laughed. "Last they know of was those pictures of us someone snuck at the hospital. I haven't mentioned much about you since. I did confirm tonight that we are still seeing each other, but pretty much told them to back off and I'd introduce you to them at the fundraiser."
"Which, by the way, has already hit our financial goal. I'm hoping maybe we can double what we hoped to make. We've had some very big names donate, and the list of VIPs willing to sit in for a picture and autograph session is growing. If I'd known it was this easy to throw a fundraiser together, I would have been doing it years ago," Beau said.
"That's fantastic. I feel bad I haven't been more helpful." Parson hated that their time apart had pushed Beau to handle almost everything on his own.
"It's okay. I didn't mind. It gave me something to keep my mind busy while I was cut from the team."
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you through that." Parson ran his hand over Beau's thigh. "Tell me how you got working with the team."
Beau covered Parson's hand with his own, linking their fingers. "I was working at the hospital. We had a group of kids come in. There were seven of them. All had been held as sex slaves for several years. The kids were messed up. Not just physically. I was able to put everything aside while I was working. I don't know how, but when I'm in doctor mode, I can disconnect from everything and just do my job, but once I'm done… One I take a step back and breathe, then I start to think about what I just saw. That night, I walked outside to get some fresh air, the images of those kids' injuries playing through my mind over and over again. I lost it. I started screaming, slamming my fists against a wall. I was a mess. I couldn't stop crying." Beau took a breath as if the memories were too much for him even now. "I was young. I'd just finished my training in how to care for sex abuse victims, how to collect rape kits and all that. Usually, nurses gather the rape kits, but that night, the injuries were so severe we were treating them and collecting evidence at the same time." Beau closed his eyes. "I had a complete meltdown. Once the kids were treated, I couldn't stay disconnected. I lost it."
"What happened?" Parson didn't even want to try to imagine the things Beau had seen in his career.
"I was about to punch the wall again, my knuckles already bleeding, when a guy came up behind me and gently touched my arm. I had no clue who he was. I turned around, ready to tell him to fuck off, but there was something in his eyes that made me pause. It was a look of understanding. As far as I knew, he had no clue what I'd just seen, but something in his eyes told me he knew, he understood. He grabbed my wrists, holding them gently and told me to breathe. Said he was just as angry as I was about what happened to the kids and he needed my help to make it stop." Beau released Parson's hand so he could reach up and rub his eyes.
"You don't have to tell me this. I don't want you reliving all that pain." Parson hated seeing the emotion this was drawing out of Beau. He'd never seen him look so upset, so fragile.
"No, I want you to know. I can't give names, but you can know the information." Beau looked at him. "The guy said they had a team of men who would go out and find the scum who hurt the kids. Not just the kids I'd seen, but kids all around the area. The team would take down the ones who the courts had failed to. Those who had been arrested and released only to go right back into hurting kids. The men who lead the trafficking rings, the ones who made and sold the pedophile pornography. He had my attention. I wanted to know more." Beau leaned back, resting his head against the couch, staring at the ceiling. "Had he come to me at any other time, I might have refused, but he'd caught me when my emotions were raw, when all I wanted was justice, maybe even vengeance. He said the team needed a doctor to join them. Someone who wouldn't get his hands dirty other than helping with any injuries that might happen to the team. He warned me it could be anything from cuts, knife injuries, to bullet wounds. All they needed was someone who could keep their secret and who was willing work outside the hospital setting so they didn't bring any attention to the team."
Parson nodded. "After seeing what you just had, I can see why you'd agree to doing it."
"I had questions, and some he answered. I found out his daughter had been kidnapped several years before. She didn't make it out alive. She'd been fourteen when they killed her because she was too old for what they were using her for. They'd found her body in a mass grave with six other girls around the same age."
"Fuck." Parson wasn't sure he wanted to hear this, but he needed to. He needed to understand why this team did what they did.
"This guy quit his job and went about gathering people for a team. He met up with another member who was interested. From there, they found people somehow who they knew had the motivation to do this. I don't know how they know who to pick, or who won't turn them in. I mean, most people wouldn't have the stomach for what they do, but they find them."
"How many on the team?"
"Nine right now, though one of them works apart from us, handling more minor offenders. He doesn't castrate. He actually works with the police to have them arrested. These would be your first-time offenders, those who get online and decide they want to meet a minor for sex or those who haven't as of yet shown the severity of abuse that the others the team goes after have. It's like giving them a chance to change their ways before the team has to step in and do it for them."
"How do they keep the police from knowing?"
Beau laughed. "Oh, the police know of us. They just can't track us down. Honestly, I'm not sure how hard the police are working to catch us. An inside source says they are in full support of what we are doing. They do their best to keep it out of the media so there isn't mass panic, but as far as I know, they don't have anyone really searching for us. Even if they did, we cover our bases well. They would have a hard time tracking the team down. We've worked hard to make sure no one can find us."
Parson was glad about that. It meant the chances of losing Beau to an arrest weren't high. "So after talking to this guy, you joined the team?"
"I told him I was interested. He set up a meeting with me and a few of the other team members. There were only three of them back then. It was like an interview, I guess. They all had to approve me joining them. Once I was in, I was able to set up a room at the main headquarters with everything I would need. It's a make-shift surgical suite, pretty much. It's nowhere near as sanitary as the hospital, but it works to get the job done. Usually it's minor injuries, but there have been a few where it's been serious." Beau smiled. "Now the team also calls me for their minor shit instead of going to the hospital. I'm always taking care of a sprained ankle or something they get from a basketball game or something."
"You're all close. You'd have to be." Parson was starting to understand the whole concept of what the team did.
"Closer than family in many ways. That's why it was so hard when I was cut from the team for those couple of weeks. It was like having your family cast you out. Unlike my own family, this one I want to keep."
Parson leaned his head on Beau's shoulder. "I'm glad they took you back."
"So am I." Beau smiled.
"Did the team get the men and women who hurt us?"
Parson sat up straight at the sound of Lisa's voice, dread filling him at what she might have just heard.
Beau sat up, not looking at all upset that Lisa had been listening. He patted the space beside him on the couch. "Come sit with me."
She walked over and sat down, smiling at Parson. "Hi."
"Hi." He smiled back, trying not to worry about the conversation that was about to happen. "Happy Thanksgiving."
