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

Chris located the pad and pen, then wrote down the information that Joe dictated.


“Any word about when you’ll be released?” Chris said.


“The doctor was by earlier, but all he said was maybe tomorrow or the next day.”


“That gives us something to plan for. I wish I was off today so I could get started on this, but it’ll have to wait till three.”


CHRIS RETURNED TO his locker and stowed the information in his wallet; then he finished preparing for his shift. He used part of his lunch break to call both George and the Clark sisters. George said he’d look up the necessary information online, and the sisters were excited at the possibility of their problem being solved. Chris was so eager to deal with Joe and Charley’s problem that his shift seemed to go on forever, but finally it was over, and he returned to Joe’s room.


Charley was sitting in the chair talking to Joe when Chris arrived. “Ready to follow me home, Charley?” Chris said.


Chapter 22