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yet,” the doctor answered, directly addressing Flynn. “It‟s a good thing you found him when you did.”
    “Can we see him?” Calley asked.
    “I don‟t think that‟s such a good idea right now.” Dr. Isaacs seemed to hesitate, trying to find the right words to get his message across. “He‟s surrounded by a lot of machinery.”
    “I want to see him,” Flynn said in a barely audible voice.
    “He needs to see him,” Calley said more forcibly. “I can wait here, but he needs to see him.” She took Flynn‟s arm to get her point across, and Dr. Isaacs nodded.
    “First, I need someone to sign the permission slip for surgery,” Dr. Isaacs said, standing his ground between Flynn and Calley and the corridor.
    “You can‟t take his foot,” Flynn said flatly. “He doesn‟t want to lose his foot!”
    Dr. Isaacs held out his hand in a calming gesture. “We have no other choice, sir. He has an infection and, with the added injury, his foot isn‟t getting much of a blood supply. The tissue is dying and it‟s sending toxins to his blood stream. He went into shock, and we‟ve had to intubate him and give him medication to support his blood pressure and his heart. He has a high fever, and I‟m afraid that if we don‟t remove the foot, his chances of surviving this are next to none.”
    “But…. You can restore the blood supply! You can patch it up.
    He didn‟t hurt himself that badly!” Flynn knew he was bargaining with the doctor, but he couldn‟t imagine having to tell Gable that he‟d lost his foot.
    Dr. Isaacs looked at Calley in an effort to get some help, but all Calley did was put her hand on Flynn‟s back. “Calm down, Flynn. We need to think about this. Dr. Isaacs, please let us see him. I promise you we‟ll give you our decision after that.”
    Dr. Isaacs nodded, stepping aside to clear the way to the corridor.
    He led them through a series of passages and a locked door, which he 73

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    opened with his ID card. They passed several beds toward the end of the large room until he stopped in front of one particular bed.
    At first Flynn didn‟t recognize the man with the gray complexion, connected to more equipment than he‟d ever seen, even in the movies.
    It wasn‟t until Dr. Isaacs suggested they come closer that Flynn recognized Gable. There were tubes coming out of his mouth and nose and there was a machine making an almost hypnotic sound in the same rhythm as the rise and fall of Gable‟s chest.
    “We‟re breathing for him right now,” Dr. Isaacs explained in a subdued voice. “In fact, we‟ve taken over quite a few of his bodily functions.”
    Calley nodded, but Flynn couldn‟t stop staring at Gable, trying to recognize the man who was his lover underneath all the wires and tubes. He hesitantly reached for Gable‟s hand and then retreated when he noticed Gable‟s hands were bound to the bed.
    “You can touch him if you like,” Dr. Isaacs intervened. “They say it‟s beneficial for patients to be touched by their loved ones, even when they are sedated.”
    “Why are his hands tied?” Flynn asked.
    “It‟s a precaution,” Calley answered. “This isn‟t the first time I‟ve seen him like this.”
    She looked at Dr. Isaacs for help, but he simply nodded and stepped back. “I‟ll leave you for a few moments. Please talk about signing the permission.”
    As soon as he was out of earshot, Flynn turned to Calley. “I can‟t sign for this, Calley. He‟d never forgive me!” Calley sighed. “You can‟t sign for it, but I can. I have his power of attorney. We need to make this decision together, though. Flynn, if we say no, he‟ll die, and I can‟t let that happen!”
    “We don‟t know that! You said he‟d been here before. You said you‟d seen him like this and he pulled through last time. I can‟t let them hack off his leg, Calley!”
    Calley pulled Flynn into her arms and hugged him tightly. “He was never this sick, Flynn. The last time I saw him like this was after he‟d had surgery for his foot. He was sedated then too because he‟d 74

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    cracked a lot of ribs, but he was nowhere near as sick as this.” She let go of him and looked into his distraught face. “We‟ll need to explain to him that it was a matter of life and death. That we would have lost him if we hadn‟t given permission. He‟ll understand.” Flynn knew Gable well enough to know he wouldn‟t understand, and judging from Calley‟s face, she knew