I could see him thinking.I could see him thinking. He turned back. "Do you know anything about what happened to him?" I looked up in surprise. "Huh? No! I picked him up on the freeway and brought him straight here. He didn't say anything. Just getting his name was a problem. He did say one thing though." "What was that?" "He said something about men trying to kill him," I answered. "The boy has been sexually assaulted," the doctor said quietly "Oh God!" I breathed out in shock. "There are some very bad anal fissures. The tears in the boy's anus are the type that result from intercourse. He might have been raped. It's hard to tell if it was forced," the doctor added. "Is it bad?" I asked. "No, not really. I would say it happened a few days ago. By the end of the week there won't be any sign. The anus heals very quickly. Even in a young boy like, uh, Rafael, there is a great capacity for the anal muscles to stretch. The damage to his rectum usually isn't that serious. The rectum is remarkably tough. Unless there is excessive force the worst damage is a fissure or two. We're treating him with just a protective coating of Zinc Oxide. That kind of damage doesn't happen if he's been with another boy. It's very likely to have been caused by a grown man." The doctor looked at me curiously. "There's also a lot of old bruising around the boy's anus. I'd say he's been sexually active for quite a while. He might have been hustling, though he's a bit young for that I would say. Still, you'd be surprised how much of that we get around here. Maybe the boys just get bored and the money's good with the tourists. I must see a case like this every month or so." I nodded. "It sounds like New York City," I said. "The boy should have an Aids test in about four weeks. He might be positive." I nodded again. "I've also given him a Hepatitis B injection. He might have already been inoculated though he's too old to be on the standard program. We've started a program nationwide for children that play sports and for newborns. |