“Yeah, ’cause last night proved how that goes, right?”
Dane closed his eyes and turned his head away.
“They are upping your meds. But when you start feeling this stuff, you have to reach out. Don’t just think you can work through it on your own.” Tommy waved his hand at the room, barren and boring as it was. “The point of all this is for you tonotdo it on your own. To have support twenty-four seven.”
Dane knew Tommy was right. He should have called or even requested the on-call therapist the second he began to feel like he had to move. The thoughts that made him hurt himself could have been better handled. Maybe then he wouldn’t be strapped to a bed.
Tommy’s phone buzzed with a text. He pulled it out of his pocket, stared it for a minute, before groaning.
“Fuck.I’mgoing to go crazy.” He got up from the chair. “I’ve gotta go downstairs. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. I just know Ru and Adam are here with Bas.”
“He didn’t try to kill himself again, did he? He promised me he wouldn’t.” Dane felt fear turning in his gut at the thought. Crap, this was a horrible time to be strapped to a bed.
“Just like you promised me you wouldn’t go crazy with the exercise again?”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Well, maybe you should work harder on only doing things you intend to.” He sighed heavily. “I gotta go find out what’s going on. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“As soon as you know, tell me please.” Dane knew he’d worry until he found out something. Was Bas okay? He glared at the bonds. Here he was unable to help again because he’d been too focused on himself.
“I will. Hang tight.” Tommy left, and Dane couldn’t help but send up a prayer. He shut his eyes and focused on the sounds coming from the hallway, only responding when the nurses asked him direct questions. He thought about the pony show and the cupcakes he’d made. Everyone had smiled and enjoyed them. And dinner had been well received, though he had to admit he enjoyed baking more since it took focus and time.
He must have been in a half doze when the nurse came in again, because the noise of a wheelchair being pushed in startled him. He groaned internally at the idea of having a roommate but knew the empty bed would have to be filled eventually. There had been enough voices in the hall to let him know that the ward was packed.
“These rust-color outfits actually make you look pretty good, despite all the bandages you’re sporting, sunshine. But they’re not really my style.” The voice was low and gravelly, and Dane couldn’t help but open his eyes to stare at Bas, who was being wheeled in by a nurse and followed by Ru, Adam, and Tommy. Bas looked like he’d been on the losing end of a fight. His face was mottled with bruises, and his neck was one big purple wrap of discolored flesh.
“What the hell happened to you?” Dane asked. “Did those assholes who raped you before come back to try again?” He pulled at the bonds. “I’m going to rip them apart.”
“Was I the only one whodidn’tknow about the rape?” Adam looked at Bas.
“I already told you why I didn’t tell you, Adam. And calm down, sunshine. What you see before you is a gift from my little brother. Just reminding me how much he hates me, as if I’d forgotten somehow,” Bas said as he hopped from the chair to the spare bed. He wore the same brown-red scrubs Dane had been given. No one tried to strap him down.
The nurse left, and the rest of the guys just stared at them. Bas sighed heavily.
“It’s fine. Go. It’s barely after two. Maybe you can still make something of your day. I’ll be fine. You can pick me up sometime tomorrow. I promise. It’s just a 24 hour hold. Nothing I haven’t done before.” He waved them off.
Tommy looked from Dane back to Bas. “The way the two of you never ask for help is so frustrating.”
“I asked for help,” Bas said. “That’s why I’m here. My MMPI score was high and I have a history of attempts, so I’m on watch for twenty-four hours. I know I’m depressed. I know I’ll get through it. You even got me a hot ginger into bondage for a roommate. What more could a queer boy ask for?”
Adam grabbed Bas in a hug.
“It’s okay,” Bas told him. “Really. It’s just a bump in the road. I’m fine.”
“Don’t you dare leave me.”
“BFFs, runner boy. You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried. Pick a day. We’ll go get matching tattoos or something butch like that. Now go snuggle with your hot singer boy and leave me to get some rest. My throat hurts like a bitch. And I’m not talking the blond kind with stiletto heels.”
Tommy made noises about staying for Dane, but Dane just shook his head at him. He wasn’t going anywhere. And he wasn’t alone. Funny how that worked. The one guy they’d picked to ground him needed grounding himself. Once everyone had gone, Bas lay back on the bed, eyes closed, breathing heavy. It gave Dane a good chance to look over his friend and the obvious battering he’d taken.
“Your brother did that to you? That’s fucked up.”
Bas turned his head slowly toward Dane, eyes watery and red. He looked defeated, worse than Tommy, like the world had just stomped on his puppy for the last time and he couldn’t take it anymore.
