The men sat on a park bench. One was a small older man. His companion was about thirty five or so but it was difficult to accurately tell his age. His eyes were unfocused and blank. It was clear he had not bathed or changed clothing for a long time. His clothes were in rags and were filthy. His hair and beard were matted with filth and debris.
The older man looked him and shook his head. He stood and took the younger man by the hand and led him toward the mission. The younger guy followed docilely along. As they crossed the street a large car braked to a stop and the driver stared at the two derelicts crossing the street.
Jason Brooks grabbed his cell phone and pressed a speed dial number. The phone was answered, he said, "Betty, Honey, has Samantha heard anything about Jonathon lately?"
"Not yet, they are still searching for him."
"Well I would swear I just saw him going into the Christian Mission down on Canal Street. He looked terrible if it was him."
"Oh! My God! I'll call Samantha right away."
"I'm going to park here and watch to see if he leaves. Tell her to hurry."
Jason parked and watched the Mission door. Several people went in and out. The two men he had see had not come out. After about ten minutes a Police car pulled in in front of him. One of the officers walked back to Jason's car. He asked if he was Jason Brooks. He said he was and that he hadn't seen Jonathon Mitchell leave. The officer asked if he would accompany him in the mission and point Mr. Mitchell out to him. Jason agreed.
They entered the building and saw a large room with people seated eating. Jason spotted the two men he had seen and pointed them out to the officers. They watched as the older man took food from the younger man's plate and ate it. Then he would take some food and put it in the younger man's mouth. The police asked him if he were sure the younger man was Jonathon Mitchell. Jason said he couldn't be positive, but that he was pretty sure it was him. The three of them approached the two men at the table. Jason Looked carefully at the younger man. He said, "Jonathon, is that you?"
The younger man stared straight ahead and showed only one sign that he had heard. Tears ran from his eyes. Jason looked at the officer and nodded his head. The officer asked the older man if he knew the younger man's name. He said he had heard someone call him Johnny one time, so that was what he called him. "He is a nice guy, is he in trouble?"
"No, he is lost and needs help. Can he talk?"
"Never heard him say a word except one time some guy had a bottle and I gave him a shot. He said some woman's name and cried like a baby. Only thing I ever heard him say."
Jason said, "Was the name Samantha."
"Yeah! That was it. Samantha."
Jason looked at the officer. "His wife's name is Samantha."
The officer looked at the other cop. "Ted, I'm going to call the EMTs and have them pick him up. They are better equipped to handle him, besides I don't want him to stink up the car. Damn he stinks." He took the microphone for the radio he wore on his shoulder and called for Medical Assistance and gave the location. He looked at his fellow officer, "Boy! He is a big one. Thin, but still big."
"Yeah, I hope he ain't violent or anything."
The older derelict looked up at them. "He don't never start nothing'. But a few weeks back some guys tried to take my cigarettes and were beatin'on me. He tore into 'em like a wild man. Just kicked the living shit out of five big guys. Nobody messes with us now."
"Can you control him?"
"Yeah, most of the time he does whatever I tell him."
"How about you go to the hospital with him. You'll get a decent meal and a bath out of it. Maybe some clean clothes."
"Why not. Been a long time."
Samantha Mitchell sat in the chair beside Jonathon's bed. She wiped her eyes for the hundredth time in the last hour or two. She was going to need a new box of Kleenex pretty soon. Every time she looked at the sleeping man she burst into tears. She just couldn't help it. He looked much better now, He was clean, his hair cut and washed and free of mats and tangles. He beard was gone. She hadn't been sure it was him when she first saw him in the hospital, he was so dirty and tattered. Now he looked like a bare shell of his old self. He was almost eighty pounds lighter than he had been when the walked out of her life that fateful day, the worst day of her whole life.
She heard a step near the door and turned to see Adam Mitchell walk in the door. Adam was a giant man. He stood six foot ten inches tall and weighed 320 pounds. He looked down at Jonathon and his face contorted in pain and tears ran down his cheeks. He looked skyward and clinched his fists, "Dear God, what have I done to this man, the finest, truest person I have ever known, the best brother anyone could ever have. What have I done?" He turned and looked at Samantha. "I'm so damned sorry, Sam. Let me know if I can help in any way." He sobbed and walked from the room.
Samantha thought again about that day. It started out well enough, Samantha and Jonathon had gone to meet some friends at Adam's house for a Bar-B-Que. The afternoon had gone very well. Sam had worn a cute pair of white short shorts and a small yellow halter top. She wore a lace jacket and a pink ball cap with her long blond ponytail through the hole in the back. She knew she looked good. She had just turned thirty two years old and looked easily ten or fifteen years younger. Her body was gorgeous, large breasts, narrow waist, trim hips and lovely legs. She dearly loved her husband and everyone there knew it. She was never far from him and didn't seem to be happy or relaxed unless she was touching him. He never seemed to take his eyes off of her. His brother Adam flirted with Samantha shamelessly and had everybody including Jonathon and Sam laughing at him.
Samantha , Adam and Jonathon had known each other all their lives. Jonathon and Sam had been sweethearts since the grade school. They had married right after High School. Adam, two years older than Jonathon, went off to play football at Miami and then to the Denver Broncos.
Jonathon stayed home and attended the local Community College with Samantha. He got a part time job as a claims adjuster with a large insurance company. He was very bright and friendly with everyone. Soon he was working full time and doing college part time. He was doing better financially and he and Sam bought a mobile home on three acres. Sam loved it. She was studying Interior Decoration and was interning at various large store during the summer.
Adam was making millions and offered to buy a house for Jonathon and Sam, they refused and told him to invest and save his money. Football couldn't last forever. Jonathon attended classes and seminars about the claims business and was soon running the local office for a large nation wide Insurance company. He worked up a presentation for presentation to the parent company and presented it to ten different Insurance Companies as well.
Eight of the ten signed contracts with The Mitchell Insurance Adjusters and Claims Company. They did well and soon Samantha was running the office and Jonathon had to hire several adjusters to work with him. They had more work than they could handle. Soon he represented over thirty Insurance companies. They opened Small branch offices in six cities. These were started as one woman and two or three man operations. The branch offices were all tied to the main office by computers. Most of the small offices only gathered information and forwarded it to the main office. The main office processed the information and did all the paper work and all the billing and payouts.
Then Adam suffered a career ending knee injury. He returned home and bought a big house. He talked Jonathon into expanding even more with ten new offices. He became a partner in the business.
The Bar-B-Que was over just after dark. Jonathon was not much of a drinker. He almost never touched the stuff. Samantha enjoyed a drink now and then. Samantha noticed Jonathon nodding in his chair and had Adam help her carry him to a spare bedroom. Sam removed his shoes and covered him with a blanket. She went out and sat on the patio and talked with Adam. She said she would have one more drink and then go to bed with Jonathon. Adam was feeling no pain by then and begged her to dance with him because he hadn't had a chance to dance with her all day. Adam was a smooth dancer and Sam enjoyed the dance. He held her close and she dreamed she was dancing with her Jonathon. They kissed and she felt his hands on her body, they felt lovely and gentle as Jon always did. The kissing was more and more passionate and delightful. She felt him push her back on the couch. He moved her legs and entered her. She held him tightly to her body and moaned with pleasure.
The came the yell that shocked her whole world.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE. OH! MY GOD! SAM, ADAM, NO, OH! God NO, Noooooooo!"
She looked up in confusion and saw Adam pulling his cock from her vagina. She turned and saw Jonathan running out the door. That was the last time she had seen him until today.
She was devastated by what had happened. Adam was in shock too! They sat up all night waiting for Jonathan to return. After daylight she drove home. She waited until a couple days went by then filed a missing persons report with the police. Adam called her four or five times a day to see if she had heard anything. He hired private investigators but they never found a thing. Jonathon never used his credit cards, No ATMs were used. Nothing. He had left on foot wearing jeans and sneakers and a plain white t-shirt.
Over three months had gone by and then her friend, Betty had called that afternoon. Betty told her about Jason's call and she immediately called the police. She was very surprised when Jason called her and said the police had Jonathon, he was being taken to Memorial Hospital.
She stared at him. The doctors at the hospital had not been able to find out what was wrong with him. Physically he was in rough shape, mostly from malnutrition and dehydration. Mentally he was in really bad condition. They said he had evidently suffered a shock he was unable to handle and his brain had just shut down to lessen the pain. There appeared to be little or no cognitive function. The psychologists and psychiatrists were not yet ready to start a treatment. They wanted to get him in better physical condition before the tried anything. It was difficult to diagnose some one who wouldn't or couldn't talk.
The IV feeding tubes, the cannula in his nose and the wires attached various places scared her. She wouldn't let herself dwell on what had happened. She knew it was her fault. She knew what Jonathon had seen but she didn't understand how it had happened. She knew neither Adam or she would ever do anything that could hurt Jon. They both loved him dearly.
She thought she saw his eyes flutter. She watched carefully. Then she saw his eyes pop wide open. He stared straight ahead. She said, "Jonathon." His didn't move for several moments. Then he turned and looked at her. His eyes grew wide. He screamed "NOoooooooo! At the top of his lungs.
