Author's Note: Wanted to write this immediately after a comment Chris made about having to take Dov to the hospital in the new episode. I don't know how good this turned out but I wrote something and it has to be the longest one yet. I hope you enjoy.
He's simply watching some old reruns of The Looney Tunes when disaster strikes. Halfway through the short, where Wile. E. Coyote has just bought himself his third or fourth ACME contraption, he starts to get this off feeling in the pit of his stomach. For the rest of the cartoon he sits, uncomfortable, and all he can concentrate on is the feeling that something is completely wrong.
Wile. E's slingshot malfunctions and he's slammed into the side of a cliff just as Chris' phone starts buzzing. The sound is amplified due to it being placed on the coffee table and he nearly jumps out of his skin. Mumbling something about being a wuss, Chris quickly mutes the television and snatches his cell phone. Seeing Dov's name on the screen causes a small smile to grace his lips and he answers the call eagerly.
"Hey, man! Where have you been? Haven't seen you all day."
The gnawing sense of foreboding returns full force when all Chris can hear on the other end is the sound of ragged breathing. His smile is gone in seconds.
"Dov?" The silence lasts for about another minute then Dov, voice raspy and sounding like he doesn't completely know why he's on the phone in the first place, answers.
"Chris..?"
"Yeah, buddy...?" Chris mentally curses and is already grabbing his jacket and keys off of the kitchen counter on his way to the door. What the hell happened?
"I don't know... where...?"
Ah, shit. Chris quickly slips on his sneakers and slams the door on the way out of the apartment. With the phone still against his ear he can hear Dov's nonsensical babble; something about not knowing where he is, to his head hurting and that there are people staring at him. And there's chips. Lot's of chips. And they're staring at him too.
When he makes it to his car there's a sort of scuffling sound on Dov's end. He hears his friend's muffled protest before someone else, an older woman, curtly asks for his name.
Chris opens the car door, gets into the driver's seat and starts the vehicle before replying.
"Uh... it's Chris Diaz, ma'am. What's happened? Is my friend ok?"
There's a sigh. "I'm not going to lie to you, Chris Diaz, but your friend here looks like he's been beat straight to hell."
Chris takes a moment to let the woman's words sink in. Dov's hurt. Dov's hurt and he doesn't know where he is. The image of Gail's terrified and confused face when they found her in the trunk of the kidnapper's car flashes through his mind and he grits his teeth.
"Where are you?"
www
He manages to make it to the specific 7-Eleven halfway across town in under twenty minutes. The drive over had pushed his frustration up a few levels due to the ridiculous amount of traffic considering the time of night and he's considerably worried when he pulls into the parking lot.
As he exits his car he sees a woman, presumably the one he had talked to on the phone, sitting out on the front steps with whom he can immediately identify as being Dov. The woman looks up at him just as he comes running up to them from across the parking lot.
"Diaz?" She asks, a mixture of uncertainty and hope in her voice. Chris gives her a nod and a small grimace.
"How is he?"
The woman frowns and turns her attention to Dov, who has his head resting on his knees, and speaks to him softly.
"Dov? Dov, honey, your friend's here. C'mon, boy, look at me."
Chris doesn't know what he's expecting when Dov finally decides to look at him but it certainly isn't the amount of blood that's covering his friend's face. There isn't a moment's pause before he quickly kneels down in front of Dov and takes in the full extent of the damage.
"Jesus Christ, dude. What the hell happened?"
Blood is smeared pretty much everywhere, with most of it coming from Dov's nose and a huge welt just above his left eye which Chris can see is swelling rapidly. There's also a split lip to account for along with the horrible bruises marring his jawline and forehead. If there's any other damage, Chris can't see it, but judging from the way Dov is favouring his right side he'd say there's probably something wrong with his ribs.
The older woman sighs and brushes a few stray strands of hair from her face; she's obviously relieved to have Chris here. "He just showed up like that; no idea where he was or what he was doin'. I tried to ask him, but he just kept on muttering to himself. Something about being sorry. Finally got him to sit himself down inside and ask him if he had anyone to call. He muttered your name a few times and tried fiddlin' with his phone."
Chris shakes his head, uttering out a breathless, "Jesus."
The woman places a hand on Dov's back and continues, "Took the phone away from him and found your name. Thought it'd be a good idea if he answered you; obviously I was wrong."
"No, thank you. This... this means a lot." Keeping one hand on Dov's shoulder, Chris reaches out to the woman with the other. She takes it without hesitation and gives it a firm shake.
"Name's Alice." She says, getting to her feet. "You best be getting your friend to the hospital right away."
Nodding, Chris leans down and throws Dov's left arm over his shoulder while gripping him around the waist with the other and hauls him to his feet. Dov's compliance scares him; it's like picking up a rag-doll.
Turning back to Alice, he thanks her one last time. "Again, thank you so much for this."
She waves a hand at him. "Just get that boy to the hospital, alright? He looks like he's dyin' in your arms."
He gives her one last smile before readjusting his grip on Dov, who lets out a groan.
"Easy, buddy. We're gonna get you to the hospital and you're gonna be fine."
"Chris..?"
They make it to the car and Chris carefully lays Dov down in the backseat. "Yeah, Dov. It's me. You got yourself into a real mess, dude. What happened?"
Dov blatantly ignores the question with a weak huff and let's his half-lidded eyes finally close all the way.
www
The drive to the hospital is uneventful up until they make it about four blocks away. The questions Chris has been shooting to Dov in the backseat to keep him awake are suddenly being met with silence that sends Chris' heart-rate skyrocketing again. He'll never admit it but his foot lowers on the gas pedal ever so slightly.
"Dov? Dov, come on dude, wake up."
The hospital's finally in sight and Chris pulls into the parking lot with a squeal of tires and takes the first spot he can find. Wasting no time, he rushes to get the back door open, thinking all the while that this has to be one of the stupidest things his best friend has ever gotten himself into.
"Dov, if you don't wake up right now I'm throwing you over my shoulder." He's getting frustrated again, but that's ok because his threat manages to stir Dov from his sleep.
"No way... in hell..."
Chris smiles and reaches in to help him out, "I will if you don't stay awake."
It's still like carrying a rag-doll, but Dov tries his best to keep his feet underneath him all the way through the entrance doors where, inside, he finally can't keep himself up anymore and collapses into Chris who has just enough time to get a grip on his belt before he lands face first on the floor. Upon seeing the young man with blood smeared all over his face collapse, the waiting area is a flurry of activity.
Someone starts shouting and in less than then seconds they've got three nurses trying to get Dov onto a gurney.
www
One minor concussion and three bruised ribs later, Dov is finally cleared by the doctor to have Chris take him home. He's still extremely quiet, and won't say a word about what happened, but Chris is just glad that a minor concussion and some bruised ribs are all that he's escaped with; he doesn't know how he'd handle finding Dov laying in a back alley somewhere with a knife wound in his stomach.
He knows that Dov will probably open up to him eventually. That's not to say that Chris isn't able to piece a few things together himself, though. The pain meds that the doctor had prescribed are taking their toll on Dov, and during the ride home he's sitting in the passenger seat, half asleep, mumbling to himself.
The name Crystal escapes his lips several times and Chris frowns.