Sorry!  I had to go through and edit it again... found too many mistakes.  I know there are more there you will just have to see them and shake you're heads and message me about them later... Please Enjoy!!!

Chapter 4

Dennis winced as he opened his eyes again. They burned. He could smell the familiar pleasantness of wood smoke from the glowing embers of the fire. He took in a deep breath in as he lifted his head, struggling to see around him. He could see the outline of a figure… a boy… a somewhat tall boy seated next to a sleeping form. He was gently running his long digits through the silk like tresses of her hair. He looked like he was lost in thought as he smiled gently at the young girl snuggled tightly up in the thick sleeping bag. The boy must have sensed something because he looked up at the struggling officer.

"Hey… hey stay still." Grant swiftly moved over to where Dennis was trying to sit up.

"Need… to… go out…" Booker fumbled with his words as he pushed himself upwards.

"No… you're not going anywhere." Grant pushed the officer gently back onto the mattress.

"I need to…" Booker looked up at Grant desperately. He had drunk enough water that nature had decided to call rather loudly.

"No… oh… uh… hang on." Grant must have realized why the injured officer was so desperate to get to his feet. "I think we can do this without waking Tina." Grant jumped to his feet and tip-toed over to an old chair by the fire which his jeans and black leather jacket hung shapelessly over the back of.

He gathered the items in one swoop of his mighty hands, checking them for dampness. He turned and walked back over to where the officer was leaning on his side watching with his one good eye.

"I'm sorry I had to cut you're shirt off of you man. Your hand was in pretty bad shape…" Grant apologized as he handed the rinsed and dried clothing to the injured officer.

Booker reached out slowly and grasped the stained clothing with his uninjured hand. He struggled to grasp the waist of his faded denim jeans. He looked at them and then at the dingy white socks and his combat boots which were at the side of the makeshift bed and then let out a shameful sigh as he looked up at Grant.

New low Dennis… can't dress yourself. Gotta ask for help… how old am I again?

"I… I can't do this." Dennis swallowed hard as he looked up at Grant who shifted to the right uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry. I forgot what it was like the first time I wrecked my car." The boy gathered the items needed to dress the man and then shyly set out to help. "I ran mine into a telephone pole; I didn't roll it down the side of a cliff or anything." Grant tried to laugh at the rather uncomfortable situation he was now in as he took Dennis's jeans and began the awkward battle of trying to dress an injured stranger who just happened to be a cop also.

--

It took some time and after some exhausting struggles and hidden tears on the part of the battered officer; Dennis had his jeans in place, his shoes on his feet and his leather jacket on his good arm and wrapped around his damaged shoulder. Grant then wrapped Bookers good arm around his own shoulder and with a deep groan hefted the older man to his feet. The two then strained to make their way to the door without waking up the sleeping girl and then outside into the brisk night. Dennis let out a gasp as the cold air cut through his exposed flesh like frigid razor blades.

"You alright?" Grant asked while watching the ground in front of him. His breath danced around in a circle in front of his mouth.

"Y-Yeah… it got… even more c-cold." Dennis shivered.

"I know… Tina was pretty worried about getting clothes off of you and all I wanted to do was get a fire started to get you warmed up." Grant panted under the strain of the injured man.

"I-I th-think I want t-t-to go b-back in." Dennis tried to smile as they made it to the outhouse behind the cabin.

"Fat chance." Grant laughed. "Tina'd eat me for dinner if she caught me out with you or if you filled a bottle in the cabin. She's a little off like that."

"I need a cigarette…" Dennis huffed as he struggled along beside the tall teen.

"I could have probably helped you with that… about a year ago… Tina made me quit." Grant was starting to sound out of breath. "Guess they're… bad for ya or something…"

"I guess…" Booker pouted as they approached the ancient wooden structure.

--

The rustic oblong wooden box was nestled between some very large oak trees. Their branches hung low so that the two would have to duck painfully underneath them. Booker let out a curse as he smacked his head on one of the low hanging branches because his cracked ribs prevented him from bending over far enough to miss the limb.

"You alright man… I heard that hit." Grant asked as he stopped and looked at Booker's head concerned about another possible injury.

"Yeah… didn't loose anything… I'd miss later. Booker tried to laugh as he reached up with his good hand to check the new goose egg forming on his head.

Dennis struggled to make the best of the worst situation he could possibly think of. He stood in the small, dank unpleasantly aromatic shack with an unknown kid holding him up so that he could relieve himself. The night couldn't be much better for him. Grant stared uncomfortably up at the ceiling as Dennis finished his business and then with his one hand tugged and pulled until his worn jeans were back in place. Booker then began to fumble with the button and then the zipper. He grunted and then he let out another frustrated sigh.

"Need help?" Grant asked quietly.

"Yes." Dennis answered just as quietly as he rolled his eyes.

Grant swallowed and hastily fastened the button on the young officer's jeans and then rapidly zipped them. He looked at Booker who looked nervously back at the young man.

Wait Booker… you just sunk lower… a kid his to fasten your britches for you. You're a little kid again! HA! That's funny… you go around acting like a high school kid for a living and now… you're a five year old again.

"It's okay Officer Booker; I had to pee in a jug for a week after my wreck. I broke both legs." Grant tried to lighten the mood a little as he though about the dreadful weeks he had spent in the hospital. His parents neither one made time to see him after that. They were to busy with their own bickering, arguments and drinking to be bothered with their trouble maker of a son who had wrecked his car and caused their insurance go up again.

"Grant…" Booker began as they exited the putrid smelling building.

"Yeah." Grant responded in a labored tone.

"You just dressed me… watched me… go to the toilet… and then had to button and zip my jeans. Please call me Dennis or Booker. Officer Booker… makes me… sound as old as my Captain. " Booker's request made Grant blush and then laugh as he struggled beneath the weight pushing against him.

--

The two made their way back to the cabin with Dennis gasping for breath. He nearly doubled over from the pain in his ribs. He winced as his extremities warmed from the exposure to the cold. He gasped painfully from the exertion of the few feet they had walked to and from the outhouse. Grant gently pushed the door open and helped the trembling officer across the threshold gently closing the door behind them. He glanced to the floor noting the still sleeping form of his young girlfriend.

"Let's get you back into that bed before she catches us both. I really don't want to challenge that temper of hers." He stated quietly as he helped the now profusely sweating officer to the mattress on the floor. Booker laid his head back on the mattress and closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He could feel Grant unlacing his boots and pulling them off followed by his socks. He opened his eye when he felt Grant tugging at the sleeves on his leather jacket.

"Can you sit up?" Grant asked in a hushed tone.

After a hard swallow Booker shook his head. Grant reached his hands around the shoulders of the injured man and quickly pulled the black leather jacket off of him. He took the jacket back over to the chair where he draped it over the back again. He then pulled a pot off of the fire and filled a cup with steaming hot liquid and walked back over to Dennis while glancing down at the peacefully sleeping teen on the floor. He then slid down the wall, sitting on the floor next to Dennis. He held in his hands the steaming mug and offered the contents to Dennis.

"Coffee?" Grant asked.

Booker looked at the fluid and though of how much a cup of Joe sounded good but his stomach disagreed. He closed his eyes as the smell started to make his stomach churn. He swallowed down again as he tilted his head forward. He thought about throwing up, he wrapped his right arm around his midsection as he doubled over. He gritted his teeth and could feel a cool hand on his back as his body began to rebel.

"Dennis… Dennis… are you gonna be sick… can you hear me…" The near whispered words of Grants sounded like they were coming from a tunnel far away from him. He felt like he would be sick but there was going to be nothing coming up but burning, acidic bile.

It didn't take long before the assault on his body began to subside and he was able to sit up again. He could feel Grant's large hand on his forehead as he slowly caught his grip on reality again.

"Good Lord… you're on fire." Grant spoke up urgently.

"I'm fine now. I… I just pushed… too hard a little bit ago." Dennis responded weakly.

"You sure?" Grant sounded unconvinced as he pulled the large quilt up over the officers body.

"Yeah… I'd like to… have some water." Dennis panted still holding his side as he lay on the bed.

Grant reached over behind him ad pulled out a plastic bottle taking the cap off. He leaned over Dennis with the bottle.

"You need help?" Grant offered.

Dennis started to say no and then rethought his answer.

You wrecked your car… your beloved car… broke you're wrist and you're ribs… best not be proud or you'll likely wear the water and wind up sleeping in it too.

With a deep sigh Booker nodded his head and answered "…probably better."

"Dennis… it's okay. I've been there." Grant tried again to offer some reassurance to the injured man who seemed to be getting lower each time he couldn't perform a simple everyday task.

"I… feel like… a helpless five year old kid…" Dennis muttered.

"Don't… I mean I understand. I was the same way when I broke my legs. Trust me. It all works itself out in the end. I'll help you and then… well you may not get to help me… but someday… you'll help someone else out."

Booker looked puzzled at the kid beside him holding a plastic bottle in his hands the clear liquid was inviting to him. He looked at the boy. He looked so young. He began to wonder to himself if he was ever that young. He had dimples on his cheeks when he smiled. His teeth were perfectly straight. He had a full, generous mouth. His strong, pronounced chin sat perfectly in the middle of his deep square jaw line. His golden brown eyes twinkled in the soft glow of the warm firelight.

"Where did that come from?" The officer asked the young man as he helped Dennis to take a long pleasurable sip from the plastic bottle. The cool contents slipped easily down the back of his parched throat. He drank quickly before the bottle was taken away.

"Better slow down… don't want you sick or cramping up on me." Grant smiled.

--

Booker lean his head back against the wall as he looked over at the youth watching over him. "So where did that… sudden wisdom come from?" Booker asked clearing his throat.

"Something she, Tina beat into my head." He answered as he settled back against the wall. "You see, she was a Candy Striper at the hospital I was stuck in. Mom and dad… hell they might as well not even have a son. I was always the time sucking leach for them. I was the biggest mistake… no… the last time I saw my mother she told me I was the worst mistake of her life. That was after she found out the family of the boy who was with me when I wrecked the car was probably going to sue us… them… me. I was on my third week in County and nobody… I mean nobody bothered to come see me. Then there was this fourteen year old girl who got stuck delivering a tray of food to me one day. She smiled at me and talked to me about the color of the sunset through my window. Up until that day I had never noticed it. The next day she came in with a video player for me to watch to pass the time. She spent so much time with me. I think she may have gotten in trouble a couple of times for it but she never seemed to show it."

"So how did you two wind up out here?" Booker asked diverting attention from the story.

"Her mom and dad told her we couldn't see each other… so we left. I don't bring in enough money as an unwanted tax break for my parents." Grant responded blankly. He looked down at the mud flaking off of the bottom of his shoe.

"What… you ran away?" Booker looked at Grant questionably.

"Uh, if my parents were parents at all they would have reported me missing. Instead I'm eighteen and she is fifteen. The missing poster says that she was abducted by her eighteen year old boyfriend Grant Archer. You know… tall lanky boy… bout my height brown eyes. Thing is I was willing to wait for her to graduate, this was all her idea. She couldn't handle her parents the Duke and Duchess." Grant blindsided the officer.

"What missing poster?" Booker asked wide eyed.

"There's one hanging on the wall in a café about five miles down the road. We saw it when we were out getting food a week ago." Grant responded. "I never kidnapped her Dennis. I promise I didn't. I mean I'm not the cream of the crop or anything, but I'm not stupid."

"You have to go back Grant… me knowing this much could get you…"

"NO! Were not going back Officer Booker… were getting the hell out of this place and moving on with our lives… together." The boy ran his hand nervously through his hair and then looked back towards his sleeping girl.

Dennis looked distressed at the young man. He then looked past him towards the girl sleeping soundly on the hard wooden floor.

Booker… you have to help these kids. They're screaming for help from you…from anyone! There has to be a way that doesn't involve hauling them both into a jail. DO SOMETHING!

More later... Please review!  I'm excited to hear what you have to say!