The Transplanted Heart Chapter Two
Jimmy spent almost two months in the hospital, and the doctors told him he would need another two months of physical therapy and special aerobic exercises before he could return to work.
Roger was there every day, unless his church duties called him away. He made sure to minister to Jimmy's emotional and spiritual needs. The two pastors created their own little prayer service and performed it every night before Roger went home.
Peter was there every day also. He ministered to Jimmy's physical needs and between Roger and Peter, Jimmy was flourishing. He grew stronger every day and every morning when he shaved, the face in the mirror seemed to grow younger and more handsome. The heart which beat within him was transforming the rest of his body and all of his soul. He had never been so happy, and he would start to cry tears of joy at odd times and unexpected moments.
When the time came for Jimmy to leave the hospital and begin physical therapy, Roger insisted that he stay with him until he could return home and live an independent life. Jimmy offered no resistance. His gay heart was so in love with Roger, he would have done anything to be with him.
When the doctor came to speak with him prior to his discharge, he bombarded Jimmy with instructions, diets, exercises etc.
"Any questions?" the doctor asked.
"Yes, doctor. How soon can I have sex?" The doctor broke out laughing.
"Any time you want to play, go right ahead. But just like anything else in life, perform in moderation and don't overdo. May I ask if you and Father Roger are finally going to do the deed?"
Jimmy turned beet red. He would have fled and hidden if he could have, but his brave new heart smiled at the doctor and he nodded his head. The doctor gave Jimmy a hug and admonished him to call anytime if he had a problem or needed answers to questions.
About an hour later, Roger came to take Jimmy home. All that was available for Jimmy to wear was what he was wearing when he was admitted to the hospital. The suit was now ill fitting. Jimmy was 25 pounds lighter. "I think I've got stuff at home that will fit you," Roger said. "If not we'll go on a shopping spree."
The two men were very nervous. They realized that when Jimmy walked into Roger's apartment their lives would be different forever. They were looking forward to it, but nevertheless they were two nervous Nellies. They didn't speak to each other in the car at all until Roger pulled into his parking space.
Jimmy turned to Roger and said, "I love you, you know, with all my heart and soul. I know God brought us together and he approves. I am so sorry for how I used to curse gays." He started to cry.
"Hush, love," Roger said. "That's all in the past. Let's look to the future and plan for it."
"I'm scared. I want to make love to you, but I don't know how."
"We'll have so much fun while I teach you," Roger laughed. They entered the apartment building Roger lived in. In the lobby and on the elevator, they encountered several people and everyone said hello to Father Graham using his name. Jimmy knew that none of his flock ever greeted him, and these were just neighbors, not congregants. It seemed that everyone loved Roger and the heart inside of Jimmy was pleased.
Roger had a one bedroom apartment with a queen size bed. Jimmy had slept alone all of his life and he wondered how he would manage. The rest of the apartment consisted of an eat-in kitchen and a living room. There was only one bathroom. Laundry facilities were down the hall.
The walk across the parking lot had tired Jimmy so Roger sat him down on a reclining chair in the living room. He took Jimmy's suit jacket and hung it in the bedroom closet which had plenty of room.
"Just relax," he told Jimmy. He took a big plastic bag that the hospital had given him and emptied the contents on the kitchen table. There were at least a dozen pill bottles on the table. Roger read the labels, and placed the bottles in neat piles on the pass through ledge between the living room and the kitchen. They were sorted by the time of day each pill was to be taken. Then he took a batch of prescriptions from his billfold and put them in the cabinet above the pills. When he was done he took a glass and placed four pills in it. Then he filled another glass with orange juice and brought both glasses to Jimmy, who was looking at Roger and smiling.
"You're due for these now," Roger told Jimmy. Jimmy swallowed the pills, drank all the juice, and handed the glasses to Roger.
"I'm so sorry to be such a bother," Jimmy apologized.
"This is how much of a bother you are," Roger said. He leaned down and kissed Jimmy rather sensuously on the lips.
"Wow!" was about all Jimmy could say.
"Are you comfortable there baby or would you like to go to bed?"
Jimmy was still nervous about the sleeping arrangements and wanted to delay things so he said he was just fine. "This way I can watch you doing your household chores," Jimmy joked.
Late in the afternoon the doorbell rang and Roger went to answer. There stood Peter with a bunch of roses. "I'll bet you thought you were through with me," he said, and he ran over to Jimmy and the two men embraced.
"In fact, you'll see a lot of me. After spending so many hours chatting with Father Roger, I decided to attend his church. I'm a regular now and I'm not going anywhere. Rog introduced me to his secretary, Ellie, and she knocked me out. We've been dating for a while now."
"Why you old coot," Jimmy said. "Good for you." Jimmy wondered if Roger's secretary was white or black and was about to ask when he suddenly realized that he didn't give a damn. That issue was between Peter, Ellie and God, and none of his damn business. When Jimmy realized that he didn't care, you could have knocked him over with a feather.
"Stay for dinner?" Roger asked Peter.
"No thanks. Ellie and I are going to see the new James Bond movie tonight, but I'll take a rain check."
"Before you go Peter, there's something I want to show you and Jimmy." He went to a bookcase and retrieved a picture album. "About six months ago several of our local churches had an interfaith service at Joey's temple, and I took some pictures. I believe Robbie Cutler is in one of them."
Once again Jimmy was flabbergasted. He could not conceive of an interfaith anything. Roger flipped the pages until he found a picture of the Temple Choir taken during the service. He showed the picture to Peter and Jimmy. "There," he pointed, "in the back row." There was a visible gasp from both men. The face looking back at them could have been Jimmy's younger brother. Before his heart attack, Jimmy could say that he looked nothing like Robbie, but he knew that he had been transformed in body and soul and now the resemblance was uncanny.
"He was a good looking kid," Peter said, and Jimmy started to cry.
"Life is so unfair," he sobbed.
"Please don't say that," Roger said. "Robbie died a martyr so that you could live, and so that we could be together. There's a reason for everything."
"If I ever preached that," Jimmy answered, "I didn't believe it until now."
After Peter left, Roger made a simple dinner, a salad of greens and tomato, chicken broth served with Ritz crackers, and black coffee. After dinner, they watched TV for a while, and then Roger suggested they turn in. Jimmy's heart skipped a beat in anticipation, but he still tried to delay.
"I need to make one phone call to the President of my church board. I have to find out if I still have a job. Nobody has attempted to contact me and I haven't attempted to contact them either."
Jimmy took out his cell phone and found Dan Sommers in his speed dial. Some part of him hoped Dan wasn't home, but he really wanted to get it over with. Dan answered after the second ring.
"Dan," Jimmy said cheerily, "It's Pastor Winningham. I'm finally well enough to call you. I had a heart transplant and as you can imagine it's a slow recovery process. I was released from the hospital today and need another two months of physical therapy before I can return to work."
There was silence for a while and then Dan answered. "Gee, Jim, we hadn't heard if you were alive or dead so we hired us a young man just out of seminary. He's from Florida and has been with us for two weeks already. I am so sorry, man." Dan expected to hear a few expletives, but what he heard shocked him.
"It's really all right Dan. It's about what I expected. I was never popular there anyway. I've changed a lot. Could I ask one favor of you, please?"
Please! Dan couldn't believe that Jim had actually said, please.
"Sure, I'll do what I can."
"As soon as I'm able, I'll be coming home to pack up my clothes and stuff. When I do, will you let me say a few words to the congregation? It will be short and sweet, I promise. I really need to apologize to them and undo some of the injustices I committed."
Dan had no idea what Jim was talking about, but he felt that the congregation owed Jim that much. After all they had pulled the rug out from under him so to speak.
"Of course, Jim. Just let us know when."
"Thanks Dan. I'll be in touch." He hung up and looked wistfully at Roger.
"Well, I kind of suspected it, but I am currently unemployed."
"I heard what you said about one last word to your old flock. I've got a vacation coming up. We can go get your stuff then and you can preach your last sermon at that church. I sure hope it won't be your last sermon anywhere."
"Yes, we'll talk about it, but it won't be a sermon, just a little speech. I'm tired now and I think I'd like to go to bed." Jimmy winked at Roger as he said that and Roger smiled back.
Jimmy's heart was beating so fast, he thought that he might reject it, but Roger put his arms around him and slowly he calmed down. He returned Roger's hugs and felt Roger starting to undress him. He helped Roger along and then he started to undress Roger. They hung their clothes neatly in the closet. They put their socks, shirts and underwear in the hamper and for the first time faced each other naked.
Jimmy was scared and flaccid, but Roger was hard. Jimmy took note. Roger was about six and a half inches erect and uncut. Jimmy knew that he was about seven inches hard, and he was circumcised. He was shaking like a leaf. Once again Roger embraced him and calmed him down. Jimmy could feel Roger's hard member against his thigh and he began to erect. Roger smiled and kissed him gently on his lips.
"Come with me," Roger instructed, and he led Jimmy into the bathroom. He turned on the taps in the shower and waited to enter until the temperature was adjusted to his liking. He entered the shower and Jimmy was about to follow when he stopped.
"Roger," he said, "I have a confession to make. I'm a virgin."
"I know that," Roger said and I promise to be gentle and go slow."
"No, I mean I'm really a virgin."
"You mean you have never been with a woman either? My God, you're pushing forty."
"I know. It just never happened for me before. Maybe I've been gay all my life and never knew it. I just wanted you to know how happy you make me. I truly love you."
Roger grabbed Jimmy in a bone crushing embrace and walked him into the shower. "Let me do all the work," he said to Jimmy. "Just follow my lead." Roger took the bar of soap and proceeded to soap Jimmy wherever he could. He didn't hold back. He washed every opening in Jimmy's body except his mouth. When he inserted his finger into Jimmy's ass hole, the poor man almost fainted and cried out in joy.
"Tonight," Roger said, "we are going to mutually masturbate each other, and that's it. We have a lifetime to explore our bodies and give each other the ultimate of all pleasures, but for now I want to go slow." He then turned Jimmy around so that his back nested against Roger's chest. Jimmy could feel Roger's hot, hard cock probing against his ass hole, but Roger made no attempt to enter. Jimmy wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved.
Roger soaped his palm and reached around Jimmy. He wrapped his fist around Jimmy's cock and slowly and rhythmically began to stroke.
"Roger honey, that feels so good. I don't think I'll last long. It's been weeks since I whacked off."
"Let yourself go, sweetheart. Don't hold back."
Jimmy didn't hold back. Seconds later he was spurting all over the shower wall, and gasping for breath. Roger became concerned.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Never better sweetheart. It's just that it's been so long." Jimmy turned around and began to kiss Roger with deep passion. Then he grabbed Roger's cock and started to stroke it. He had never held another man's penis in his hand before. If he ever thought it would disgust him, he was very mistaken. He got so lost in how good it felt, he almost missed the signs that Roger had cum. They were facing each other and Roger's cum was spurting all over Jimmy's chest and belly. They remained that way a long time, kissing each other and fondling until they were beginning to look like prunes.
They slept naked, of course, and fell asleep holding onto each other's rods.
In the morning, Saturday morning, Roger gave Jimmy some casual clothing to wear. He served juice, coffee and toast for breakfast, and made sure that Jimmy took his morning pills. Jimmy was very silent so Roger was prompted to ask, "Are you all right this morning after having gay sex last night?"
"Yes, teacher. Let me assure you, I'm just fine. I can't wait for your next lesson. After what we did last night, I still feel like I'm a technical virgin."
"Good! I was a little frightened that you would be grossed out," Roger said.
"No way! Let me assure you that Robbie's heart was elated."
Roger put his arms around Jimmy. "I have to visit three people at the hospital, and then I have to get to the church and fine tune my sermon for tomorrow. Will you be all right?"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I intend to spend the day on the recliner watching television. But tomorrow is different. I want to go to church with you."
"That will be wonderful darling. I'll be able to show you off to everyone. Just remember that your pills are all laid out. Don't forget to take them when due."
"I promise. Now you promise not to worry about me."
When Roger left, Jimmy dozed off on the recliner. He began to dream. In his dream Robbie came to visit him. Jimmy was a little annoyed at first because Robbie was wearing clothes that could be worn by a boy or a girl, but no real boy would wear that. Robbie smiled and the clothing issue was dead. The beautiful face smiling at him warmed him from head to toe. I am so proud of you, Robbie said. You are consumed by love and it is a joy to look upon your face. You are so lucky that Roger loves you. Please be open to his needs, and I don't mean only physical. Fulfill his spiritual needs as well.
"I will. I promise. I love him." Jimmy felt someone's lips on his. Robbie was kissing him. God has blessed you, the apparition said, and disappeared. Jimmy woke with a start. He remembered everything about the dream and concluded that it was no dream at all.
God has blessed you, the ghost had said. Jimmy's whole body warmed as he remembered those words. He remembered to thank God as he fell fast asleep again.
He was awakened by the ringing of the telephone. He picked up the receiver. He expected to hear Roger, but it was a parishioner looking for his pastor. Jimmy introduced himself as Roger's friend and was prompted to say, "Maybe I can help you, I'm a pastor too."
"I don't know," the man said. "I know that Pastor Roger is gay and I can speak freely with him."
Again something prompted Jimmy to say, "I'm gay also. Roger and I are friends."
"Wow, OK then, here goes. I'm 22 years old, pastor, and I have never given much thought to my sexuality. I figured that someday I'd meet the right girl, get married, have kids, all in that order. But so far I haven't met the right girl and I have never been with a woman. Do you think that's strange in this day and age?'
"Not at all, young man. You should never do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Age is not a factor."
The youth continued. "Recently I met a guy at a party. We hit it off real good and started hanging out together. I began to realize that it was always just the two of us. He never asked me if I would like to double date or anything, and I am content that it is just the two of us. Last night he came out to me. I was pretty shocked. He told me that he had feelings for me and he wanted me to know because if I didn't feel likewise, it would be best to go our separate ways."
"How do you feel about it? Would you like to pursue it further or are you sure you are straight and want to squelch it."
"That's my dilemma. I always thought of myself as straight, but ever since I met this guy, I fantasize about him when I am whacking off. Oh, excuse me pastor."
Jimmy laughed. "No need to excuse yourself. Pastors whack off too."
"I suppose," the young man said glumly. "So how do I find out?
"Well," Jimmy said, "it's not uncommon for a gay man to experiment with a woman or a straight man to experiment with a gay man. You'll either love it or get grossed out, but at least you'll know. If you like this guy, don't give up on his friendship even if sex is out of the question for you. Continue to hang out with him and see how it goes. When you are ready, if you ever are, have sex with him and find out where your heart is, but don't push anything. Let whatever happens, happen." As he said that, his own gay heart skipped a beat.
"Would God condone my sleeping with a man if I turn out to be straight?" the young man asked Jimmy.
"God loves you and I am sure he loves your friend. That's all that matters. I hope I have helped."
"Yes Pastor, yes you have."
"Please let Roger and me know the outcome."
To be continued......