When I next awoke, I was laying in a small hospital bed in a curtained off cubicle, totally alone.  I groaned and looked at my surroundings, feeling pain slowly ebb it's way into my conscience.  Gods…everything was a glaring shade of white that made my head ache, the beeping of the equipment attached to me was too loud, and the rough material of the blankets was too warm.  I frowned and sat up, instantly feeling a wave of nausea wash over me, but I ignored my bodies' protests and fumbled around the side of the bed for the nurses' button.  I pressed it and then let myself fall back on the pillows, sighing in complete pain take-over, closing my eyes in submission. 

Several minutes later, a frumpy looking nurse came in, looking quite disheveled and out of breath. 

"You called?"  She asked, her voice sounding like it should belong to a smaller, less drab woman.

"Yeah…why…where, is my mom here?"  I finally decided on a question to start with, and waited for her to answer.

"Your mother…she's in the waiting room, and she's accompanied by a man, your father I would presume?"  I groaned.

"No, my father's dead.  That bastard isn't my father."  I emphasized my words with a slight jab at the blankets, and then started to cough, blood dribbling down my lip and chin. 

"Wait there, I'll get the doctor to check on you…and I'll get your mother too."  The fat woman hurried off, her shoes squeaking ever so slightly on the polished floors. 

"Where could I go anyway…" I taunted after her quietly, smiling despite the pain I was in.  I couldn't quite remember what had happened; all I could recall was floating blissfully through darkness and blessed quiet. 

"Here he is mam'."  I recognized the nurses' voice from before and left my eyes closed, fairly certain that it was my mother who the nurse had shown in.  When I opened my eyes, I confirmed my guess, and frowned to see HIM sitting down in the chair by my mother, holding her hand and trying to comfort her.

"Oh honey! I was so worried about you!"  She cried, her face still covered with fresh tears, her eyes red and swollen from gods knows how many hours of sobbing. 

"I'm fine mom."  I assured her, glaring as best I could at HIM, before forcing myself to sit up again.

"No! David, sit back down, you'll hurt yourself!"  I winced at her loud voice and followed orders to make the ringing in my ears stop.

"Mom…I'll be fine really."  I tried to make her stop crying, to make her understand that I wasn't in that much pain.

"Boy, you had us worried.  Damn, what did you do, go and get yourself fucked up like that?"  I glared at Ben openly, gripping my blanket with white knuckles. 

"Shut up."  I said below my breath, watching his face contort in anger and then a mask of calm replaced it. 

"You won't be protected by the hospital forever boy, remember that."   I swallowed nervously, but still glared defiantly, and he eventually got up and left the room.  I sighed in relief and relaxed, taking in my mother's thrown-together appearance. 

"Mom.  You should go home and get some rest, I'll be fine for the night, alright?"  My mother nodded, but then started to cry again.

"I can't leave my baby boy all alone in the hospital!"  I rolled my eyes.  This was getting ridiculous.

"Mom…honestly, I'll be alright."  I assured her, smiling even, something I didn't do often, especially around her.

"Are you sure?"  She asked, her voice sounding as if she felt she was betraying me for even voicing the question.

"Yes."  I answered, sounding completely confident.

She nodded slightly and reached up to take my pale hand in hers, squeezing it gently before walking hesitantly from the room. 

"I promise, I'll be back first thing in the morning, alright honey?"  She asserted, looking anxiously at my face for any sign of disapproval.  I nodded my consent and gave her a crooked grin.  This finally convinced her and she made her way from the bright room, the sound of her high heels fading as she walked farther and farther away. 

I let myself settle deeper into the blankets and pillows despite my annoyance at their heat, closing my eyes once again and letting my entire body relax.  'Gods know how long I'm going to be in here…' I whispered to myself, letting my mind off of it's chain to think about anything and everything…the first object of attention being Christian.  How disappointed would he be if he knew that I was just a little whore to my mom's boyfriend?  Would he leave me then?  I sighed and looked down at the IV's jabbing into my skin, a clear liquid flowed into my veins, making the surrounding area cold and uncomfortable.  I shook my head lightly, clearing what I could of the pain and then finally, mustering enough courage to do so, I let myself slip into un-consciousness once again.

When I woke up again, my eyes were met by a deep dark, disturbed only by little dots of green and red lights on the equipment in the room.  I sighed, my body was numb and cold, and there was no one else in the room with me.  I let my eyes adjust so that everything was outlined with simple gray hues, and then I sat staring at the wall.  There wasn't anything else to do.  I let my mind drift and watched as the moonlight broke through the shades slightly, lighting some of the room, including the far side, where on a table sat a menagerie of metallic instruments that gleamed dully in the midnight light.  I nearly smiled as I saw the familiar edges looking so inviting. 

The opening of a door drew my mind away from the knives and I gasped as I saw Christian walk in…shit…

I'll write more if you want more.  As you can see, I'm starting to run dry already….

~Armand