Richard's got bitches (Family harem/corruption)

Richard Milton sat down quietly, the weight of his body on his feet caused him to wince a bit as he eased into the hospital chair but he was young, brave, and more than a bit stupid at times and things like this. For all of his 25 years of living on this planet, he should have come to expect the range of pain and the location of pain he was now sensing and the saddest thing, though, was that he had come to expect it.

Life sort of sucked that way.

"...You okay there, sweetie?" came a soft voice and he smiled slightly at the concerned look of the older woman sitting across the bed from him. Richard was thankful that the Hendersons, Paul and Jolene, had been in his life. They were the kind neighbors next door that often gave him a slight refuge from his family life, the safe haven if you will. They had no children of their own and had become something of a surrogate parent/grandparent to him. Paul was a retired firefighter and Jolene was a retired schoolteacher, well-traveled, and they often spent hours in the afternoon telling him stories of their travels up and down the coast. The way that Paul could spin a yarn while Jolene had promptly fed him her infamous cookies and pies, Richard was very grateful.

"Nothing more than the usual..." he whispered and then grimaced a little, his side had shifted slightly off and the injuries to his ribs caused him to close his eyes for a moment. The look that the two older people shared between them went unnoticed. "Dad lost his job at the mill and mom got back into drinking again. Tom's perpetually unemployed and Melissa's third baby daddy dropped off the edge of the world." He sighed and leaned back in the chair. "Same old same old..."

Jolene sat in the chair long after Richard finished his visit and scampered off to his second job, Paul was laying in the bed equally in thought. "That kid's going to drag himself into an early grave at this point..." she whispered. They had a soft spot for Richard, ever since they had seen a little boy playing by himself in his front yard. Through the years, they had gotten to know the Miltons, all of their disfunctions and problems, and wondered in sheer amazement at how normal and well-behaved Richard was compared to his siblings. Paul had taken the task of teaching Richard how to do things for himself, from woodworking and yardwork to balancing finances and even taught him how to take punches (he wanted to square up on Michael Milton, Richard's dad, when he had seen the older man slam his son into a wall once...he had to settle on taking Richard out for ice cream instead.) Jolene made sure she was always ready to cook for him, anything that he wanted, and it hurt her heart to see him so happy to receive just cookies she had made from the store.

Paul looked at her and tilted his head to the side. "I think it's time we gave him that coin."

She looked at him for a moment and then smiled as the realization dawned on her. "You finally found someone worthy of it?"

"It's good for one person only and it's been calling for him for years. It just didn't get hot to the touch until he picked it up and gave it back to me."

"You did mention that..." Jolene whispered, feeling the excitement growing in her chest. "Oh, this is exciting..."

He lifted his hand up, it was a bit of a struggle with the IV lines and tubes coming out of it, but she slipped her hand into his. "We're doing this thing, yes?" His wife said nothing but nodded. "For Richard..."

"For Richard..."