I'll warm the soup up."I glanced at the clock as Karen was welcoming him, 9:45. "Hi Hugh. You're early." Danni," he almost squealed, "lovely to see yo... again." He strode over to me and gave me a big brotherly hug and kiss. "I'll not be long, just give me a minute to shower and get changed." He made his way upstairs while Karen busied herself in the kitchen. I wandered in with our two glasses and the remains of the wine. I reached for another bottle from the fridge and filled a clean glass for. From a nearby floor chest, Craig got out a leather collar and leash, returning to the man on his knees to fasten them. He yanked up on the leash suddenly, and pulled John to the couch, making him crawl faster than he could on the hardwood floor.John loved the aggression from Craig but tonight it seemed excessive.“Get my belt,” demanded Craig. “I’m going to spank the hell out of that pert white ass before fucking it.”Though it was not unusual for John to get paddled, the tone of Craig’s voice. She was justabout to explain to Jim that she had nothing in the car for him to siton for him to get a better view, when she saw Dr. Berk coming toward thecar carrying something.As he came up behind the vehicle, Andrea shot out the door and stoppedhim away from where Jim could see them."What is THAT for?" she whispered. "Hospital policy, Andrea. We have to supply this to anyone checking a...um, human of his size out. In fact, if you don't use it, we are requiredto report it to the authorities.". I care for them too much. Besides, the doctors don't think I could even make it through all the operations. The cancer has spread to my other organs."On the way home, I thought about how unfair it was for someone like Tom to die an early death while someone like me lives on. A month later, I got a call from Marci saying she was taking him back to the hospital. I went over to get the boys and take them to my house.We went to see Tom in the hospital the next day. The boys were crying on the way.