He sits on a chair close to the bed, but not too close. He keeps tugging on the short sleeve of his t-shirt, wiping his palm down his trousers while struggling to find were to look at. Where is the cool and collected man I've been rolling around the sheets with? That always so seem in control of both himself and his environment. He looks as if he doesn't know what to do with himself.
I ignore him and turn my attention back to my bandages body. I look like fucking Frankenstein experiment. Fuck this shit. Fuck this. I can't even move my fucking leg without almost been blinded by pain. I can't even sleep without been attacked by the memories of what happened. I'm trapped in my mind, in the realization of what happened.
"I can't believe this happened to me." I whisper, feeling my heart race again. The building. "I can't believe this happened to me!" I say louder this time, as I'm assaulted with series of memories I'm desperately trying to bury down. "ah!" I scream, my head feeling both hot and stuffy, as if it has become too small for my mind. I'm unraveling. I try getting up through the pains I'm feeling, but something is holding me back. "no! No!" I struggle with my uninjured hand, trying to break free and get up, but I just seem not to be able to. Was I fucking tied to the bed or something?
"Hey T, you need to calm down."
"no, leave me alone!" I struggle the more as it seems something is holding me down, something does not want me to go. No, someone, someone does not want me to go. They kick me, and they press me down on the bed, no ground, not bed. He hold me down as they tear at my clothes. "no stop!" I shout as I struggle the more to free myself but they wouldn't let me, they just would not let me go. They pull my clothes off and sneered at me. "you gay right? A dirty fag huh? You think we do that over here?" they kick at my ribs and I groan. "please" a hand pull up my head and whispers close to my ear. "do you know what we do to fags who like getting fucked in the ass?" he moves back before returning with something that he moves towards my line of vision. A bat. "they get fucked in the ass."
There's a light tap on my cheeks. "hey come back to me baby." Deep voice pulls me out of the darkness my mind fell in. I come to consciousness to see Mal holding against his chest. His hand brushing my cheek and smoothing my hair back. I moved my head to look up to see his face filled with pain. Why does he look in pain when I'm the one with injuries.
Moving me from the previous position to this awoke places that was numb before. I try to adjust a bit to see if I can get comfortable a little bit. Mal must have read it as me not wanting his arms around me anymore so he move to remove his hands but I quickly hold him close, not wanting to miss the warmth and safety he exudes. I was a fool earlier for trying to push him away because I am ashamed. I am a fool.
I snuggle closer as best as I can with pains until I am close as possible. "I'm sorry for earlier."
He must have understood what I said because he whispers. "its okay. You have nothing to apologize for."
I nod. "where are my parents?"
"I asked them to go rest. They haven't left here since I brought you here three days ago. I told them I and your sister will watch over you."
Oh. They didn't leave me. "okay."
"okay." I feel someone come closer and I flinch.
"Shhhh, it's okay. It's just the doctor."
I relax into him while the doctor probe my body here and there. I feel a sting that I realize later on is an injection, probably for sleeping because seconds later I'm dozing off.
The next day, the doctor came to speak with me. He told me what happened to my body, the injuries I suffered and how far they've gone in treating me.
Apparently, I have a broken rib, dislocated nose and arm, my right hand I fractured, that's why I have multiple bandages on it. The sides of my mouth wear stitched back up after the tear it suffered, and I have a tear in my anus that have been operated on. According to the doctor, the damage there was not too severe that they can fix. With time I'll fully heal and be back to normal. Normal. Fucking shit.
All this happened all because I wanted to save a child. The one good I've ever tried to do comes around and bites me in the fucking as. How the fuck did the people know to wait for me there? Was I betrayed?
Mal walks in immediately the doctor left, I couldn't let him hear what the doctor had to say. I am about moving to let him on the bed so I can snuggle against him when the door opens again and both my parents and sister walks in. Shit. I've been snuggling against Mal since the previous day when I felt how good it was.
My sister rushed to my side. "Tobi." My name is a pained whisper on her lips.
"I'm alright." I force a smile.
"no you're not, stop lying" she cries. I sigh in frustration. Of course I'm not alright. Everyone can bloody see I'm not alright.
My parents walk to Mal standing close to my bed side. "we can't thank you enough doctor. If you didn't go look for him, only God knows what could have happened." My mom says sadly.
"I'm glad I got to him on time."
"I didn't even know you were friends." My mom says, looking mildly curious.
Mal shrugs, looking at loss for what to say.
"of course we're friends, weren't you the one pushing for it before?" I chip in purposely forgetting the fact that we've certainly done what just friends don't do.
"Well, I'm glad for that."
Titi is still crying beside me with her head on the bed. So I move my good hand to stroke her hair. "I'm fine Titi. I'll be alright and back to normal in no time." I try to reassure her but she only cries harder. I can't blame her though, she has always been protective of me, and I know it just breaks her that she couldn't help me when I needed it which is a tad silly because how could she have known that I needed help. I continue stroking her hair while she cries.
They left a while later and I finally have all the time to curl up against Mal so I pull him down to the bed.
"you know what happened?"
His body freeze up a bit, probably worried his answer is going to upset me. I've gotten over the initial shock of seeing him inside here and it's foolish of me to think he doesn't know what happened when he was the one I called to come help me. There's no way he didn't know, with me naked and bloody on the ground of the warehouse. If he even did not know there, he's bound to find out in the hospital here from his fellow doctors and nurse who attended to me. "its okay." I reassure him.
"yeah I know." His voice sounds hoarse. He rubs up and down my shoulder as he continues. "nothing could have prepared me for the way I saw you that day. Even forewarned, I wouldn't be able to prepare myself T."
I stay silent.
"why did they attack you T?"
I sigh. "I trusted the wrong person, took on a project that I only realized now that it's more than what I alone can do…. And they found out about us. They know I'm bisexual."
"Jesus Christ."
"they…. Th-they.." my throat close up.
"shhhh, I know. I know what they did and they will definitely pay for it. They will suffer for what they've done." His voice takes on a darker and growly tone. I look up to see his face, his blue eye is burning with anger so unhinged I gasp. I place my palm on his cheek to calm him down. He probably also have demons he's struggling against. "they will pay." He whispers.