After the death of their mother, Chris Bottoms adopted his little brother Ted, and Chris and his partner Mickey settle down to raise him. Through paperwork left by his mother, Chris learns his brother has a deeply troubled past.<br><br>During a Thanksgiving visit with Chris and Ted’s maternal grandparents, they find out Chris’s grandfather allowed his friends to abuse Ted, so Chris severs all ties with that side of his family.<br><br>Through his job at a hospital, Chris hears of a surgeon at the Mayo Clinic who has developed an ileostomy reversal technique that has proven successful in cases like his. When Chris enters the clinic for preliminary testing, he learns he is a good candidate for the procedure and schedules the first of two surgeries for the beginning of January. A visit from estranged relatives while he’s in the hospital leaves him wondering how many secrets one family can have.

Bottoms Out

“Hi Joe, you’re hanging in there I see.”


“Yeah,” Joe said. “What else can I do?”


“Not wonderful, but not terrible either. Now that I think about it, it’s not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.”


“It almost never is, Joe. The problem is, your brain can be your worst enemy, conjuring up all sorts of horrible images of the unknown.”


Chris chatted for a minute with Joe and Charley; then he said, “Charley, have you got a pen and something to write on?”


“Good. I’ll give you my phone number in case Joe needs to talk about what he’s going through, and maybe when he’s better, we can get together some time. I’ve met six couples in the time I’ve lived in Jacksonville, and Mickey and I don’t have a lot of spare time to go out and meet more people.”


“Mickey is your boyfriend, right?” Charley said.


Chapter 16