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

“I’ll repeat myself just once; then I’ll call one of my friends, who just happens to be high up in the sheriff’s office,” Chris said. “You can choose between being charged with kidnapping or bringing my brother to this office immediately, along with his backpack and any other personal belongings. The choice is yours—you’ve got three minutes to decide.”


The headmaster gave Chris a dirty look, then picked up his telephone and issued the appropriate instructions.


“You’re making a mistake,” he said, when he’d finished the call.


“No, Sir,” Chris said. “It’s you people who’ve made the mistake. I wonder how many other parents and guardians you’ve bamboozled into letting you drug their children?”


Neither the headmaster nor the teacher chose to respond, and the three of them sat in stony silence until an aide walked through the door with Ted in tow.


“Papa,” Ted said. “What are you doing here?”


Chapter 42