Riiing, riiing. Cameron dashed down the stairs and snatched the phone up.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Hello, is the Robert Mitchell's household?" a deep voice asked.
Cameron cocked his head. Nobody called him Robert anymore, Cameron was never fond of the name, so he asked people to call him by his middle name.
"Yes, this is he speaking." Cameron answered.
"Hello, Mr. Mitchell. This is police officer Jacob Kyluk and I have a young boy here at the police office that says you are his temporary caregiver. A... Damian McGinty?"
Cameron gasped, and slid down the wall to the floor, clutching the phone to his ear like he would never let go. His best friend Damian had been declared missing from New York four months ago. The police found no clues to his whereabouts, and Cameron had almost given up praying for his discovery, and instead prayed that wherever Damian was, he was safe, that he wasn't in pain. Almost given up. Damian was still the last thing he prayed about at night, the most sincere and intense plea to God. Damian is alive! Thank you, God, thank you so much. Cameron thought.
"Yes, I guess I am his Texan caregiver." Damian lived in New York for school, but his parents lived in Maine, when they weren't in another country. His parents were part of the armed forces, and quite often, Damian had no idea exactly where his parents were.
"Where- how?" Cameron stuttered. "Where was he? How did you find him? Is he okay?"
'"He was being held captive in a house just outside the city. The police had busted his captor for drugs, and found the poor boy in his attic. To be truthful, Mr. Mitchell, he is not in the best condition. I can say with almost absolute certainty that he was being physically abused." Officer Kyluk told Cameron gravely.
"Can I come and see him, sir?" Cameron asked, worriedly.
"Of course. We are at station five, on Julius Avenue. He's being examined by the doctors right now, but he will be in shape to see you in half an hour." Officer Kyluk told Cameron.
Cameron was already in his coat and boots. "I'll be right there, sir. Thank you."
Cameron burst through the doors of the police station fifteen minutes later.
"I'm Robert Cameron Mitchell, I'm here to see Damian McGinty?"
The lady at the front desk nodded and brought a folder of papers out.
"He's not quite through with his examination, but filling out these papers should keep you busy until then. Can I see some ID, please?"
Cameron nodded blindly and showed the lady his drivers license and student ID card. He sat down on the blue bench and took up the pen in his hand. Numbly, he filled out his personal information, and everything he could about Damian. Putting the pen down, he rested his head in his palms and waited in agony for his chance to see his best friend again. It had been six months since the last time he saw him in person. Because they lived states apart, they only visited once or twice a year. The rest of the year, Skype and Facebook kept them in touch.
"Robert Mitchell?"
Cameron's head snapped up from his hands.
"You may see Mr. McGInty now." a man with a lab coat told Cameron. Cameron jumped up from the bench and hurried over to the door. Before he went in, the man rested his hand on Cameron's should gently. "Just be warned, Mr. Mitchell. Mr. McGinty is in a very fragile state right now, physically and emotionally." Cameron nodded impatiently and then pushed through the door. The sight that greeted him almost made Cameron fall to the ground in tears.
Damian was wearing a white robe, eyes close, laying down on the bed. He was hooked up to multiple IVs, and crimson-stained bandages criss-crossing his back and shoulders were peeking out of the robe. His arms and face were covered in old and new scars and bruises of all different colours, from dark purple to greenish yellow. Cameron gasped. Damian's face of joy was now the very picture of vulnerability, his charming confidence had been stripped away to reveal a pained, creature struggling for his life. This former beauty of a young man had been reduced to scarred skin and bones.
Damian heard the door open. A small gasp, followed by silence. In his half asleep, half dead state of consciousness, he barely registered the soft footsteps approaching his bed. But energy seemed to surge through his body, if only for a moment, when a hand reached out a held his own hand. Damian knew this hand from watching it play guitar, from its congratulatory pats on the back after a song sung in Glee Club. Damian mustered all his effort to open his eyes a crack. A pair of teary grey blue eyes met his gaze.
"C...Cameron..." Damian moaned very quietly. Even Damian was surprised at the scratchy quality of his voice. "C..Camer...ron." he muttered again. Damian could feel Cameron's hand graze Damian's face, while the other hand kept hold of Damian's cold hand.
"Shhhhh." Cameron said softly.
Damian sighed at the sound of his best friend's voice - a sound Damian had thought he would never hear again.
"Damo. You're back. You're here..." Cameron took Damian's scarred hands into his own.
"You.. you know, I prayed for you every night. Even though you don't see God. Because I hoped, I trusted that He was with you nonetheless. But to see you like this, to think of the strength it took for you to carry on... I think that's strength of your own." Damian drank in all of Cameron's words, hanging onto every syllable.
"I thought about you all the time, Damian. I thought I might have the worst part of the deal, not knowing whether you were alive or dead or safe or in pain, whether you left voluntarily or against your will. But I see you now, and I know I had the better part of the deal. I wish you didn't have to go through what you did. I would do anything to be in your place right now, to take your pain, Damian." Cameron's tears ran slowly down his face and onto Damian's patched skin.
Damian tried to respond. You don't want to be here, Cam. To be in this pain, to be beaten everyday, and wonder how your friends and family members are getting along, hoping they are okay. Damian thought weakly.
Knowing that you are causing them worry, because you disappeared without a trace. Thinking and knowing that you may never, ever see them again. Thinking about how you never said good bye, you didn't cherish that last moment with your sister, that last hug from your mom, the last smile from your best friend. Knowing that only sheer luck will get you out of the hell you live in, the hell that you are locked in, the hell with no way out. You don't want to be in my place, Cam. You don't. Damian wished he could tell Cameron this, but he could barely open his eyes.
Cameron paused.
"Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light." Cameron said softly.
"That may not mean much to you, but I hope you understand." Cameron let go of Damian's hand to reach up and take his glasses off, wiping tears out of his eyes.
Damian moaned at the cold air hitting his palm as Cameron removed his hand.
"Don't... don't le... lea...ve... Cam.." Damian pleaded. The effort it took to string those words together was tremendous, and nearly wiped Damian out. Cameron widened his eyes and quickly replaced his hand.
"I won't, Damo. I'll stay right here." Cameron promised. They stayed there for a long time, Damian's hand clutching Cameron's and he talked comfortingly to Damian, telling Damian he would make it through. And Damian believed him.
AN: So, this is kind of intense, usually not what I write, if I write at all. I am Canadian, so I spell 'colour' 'neighbour' etc differently! (Btw, I also live in an igloo, hunt seal for supper, and go to school on my pet polar bear. haha jk!)
CAMERON AND DAMIAN ARE STRAIGHT. In real life and the story as well. It sounds like they love each other, but it's only in a brotherly way. This is about two really close friends, and the support and comfort they give and recieve. Yay! Hahaha. At this point, I don't think any of the other Glee or Glee Project people will appear, but we will see. Anyway, this story has a bit of drama in between the fluffy chapters, I will be updating soonish, regardless of how many reviews I get, but reviews are TOTALLY APPRECIATED. I don't write much, and I want to get better :) But I hope you enjoyed reading!