A/N: I hope you will enjoy it.

Thank you for reading.

Reviews are gladly appreciated.


Chapter Seven

Steven walked around the edge of the car park untill he found the main entrance and hurriedly went inside. As he entered, the first thing he spot was the bustle. After several minutes of waiting he headed over straight to the reception desk.

He cleared his throat and put his trembling hands out of the pockets. "Hello, 'ere my name's Steven Hay." The receptionist raised her eyes and looked at him. "I'm here to visit the patient, who was brought in this morning...umm.. "

"Name, please?" She asked already going through the papers in front of her in search.

"Joel Dexter."

"Oh." She said. "Could you please take a sit, while I'll see if you can see him now."

"Course." He nodded.

Steven waited impatiently for all of about twenty minutes. He had no idea what happened when Brendan had gone the previous day. And then at six o'clock he got the message:

Hospital. Joel. Need you. - B

He ran there without thinking.

He was still breathing heavily, therefore the receptionist woman came to him on time, as he was about to pass out. She patted him on the shoulder worryingly.

"I, uh, well...it's okay. Really."

"Are you sure?" She glanced around the reception area in case to call for help.

"Yes."

"Alright. Follow me then." She said, lightly cupping Ste's arm and guiding him away from the desk to the destination he'd asked for.

After been led through several corridors, they finally reached the private room. The receptionist pushed open the door a little and poked her head round, then pushed it fully open and gestured for Ste to go in. "So, I'll leave you alone now." She said and closed the door.

For a moment Ste just stood there, afraid to enter the room any further. After some minutes he took a deep breath, pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed in which Joel Dexter was currently unconsciouness. He looked down at him, observing his clean face with evidently seen bruises and scratches. He could hear him breathing slowly. He was sleeping.

Joel looked small and fragile lying beneath the hospital blue blankets, his upper torso bare and he could see the small cut on it. In spite of everything, Joel was human, just so Ste was. He saw the hurt boy, nothing else.

Several minutes passed and Ste started drifting off to sleep. The room was filled with silence and warm, his eyes shut and he was half asleep when a soft, familiar voice startled him awake.

"Steven."

Ste turned his face to see the shadow of his lover, standing in the doorstep. "Yer here, I'd expected you wouldn't want to come. I couldn't be on my own.." Brendan scrubbed a hand over his face. "I was talking with the doctor..he said it'd be worse, if he... it's hard... can't say that...he was a target, you know... the snippers.." He breathed.

Brendan came closer to him and fell to his weak knees, burrying his head on boy's chest.

"So how's he doing?"

"He..'s a tough lad, is doing fine, but.."

Steven started stroking Brendan's hair.

"But?"

"He's sleeping at the moment...they had to sedate him, some meds..novocaine...he's drifting in and out."

"What's happened? Truly happened?"

Steven could hear in his ears Brendan's pounding heart and feel the warm of his lover's body through the thin fabric of shirt. His ragged breaths made him shiver.

"He was trapped, nowhere else to go ...he had nobody...except...he crossed the line and he paid for it. He's done something wrong..."

"But they..." Steven raised his arm to point towards the door where were imaginary people.

"They would never let him get away wit' it." He paused briefly. " Anyway, I'm not gonna leave it like this. I won't...won't...won't..." He closed his eyes and was murmuring his mantra again and again.

Steven's hands went down, to Brendan's face, his neck. He wanted to sooth his pain, to wash it away.


"B...Brendan.."

He stood up and crept slowly towards the bed and bent down.

"Joel...it's okay, I'm here, 'ere ...shh kid..." He took his hand in his own and squeezed it gently.

"Waterr..."

Brendan turned his face to Ste and the later shuffled around to the far side of the bed and poured a glass of water from the jug on the bedside table. Brendan held the glass to the boy's lips. When he finished, Brendan laid lad's back down.

"Slowly..okay.."

"Thank you."

The silence filled the room. Joel's eyes remained closed. He'd fallen asleep again. Like a child he was gently snoring a bit.

"I've been with him all day."

"Bren..we.."

"Steven, the kids..you have to go."

"They are with Leanne..we can manage together, don't" Steven put his arms around Brendan's shivering shoulders and breathed the smell of his cologne. It's always calmed him down.

"You should go, Steven. I will stay here. It was my fault...he got hurt because of my harshness...boy, I cannot leave him here, ..won't..." Brendan muttered under his breath.

"Alright."

Steven gently cupped his lover's bitter face and left a tender kiss on his lips.

Brendan didn't response, nor break the touch.

At last he brushed his cheek, and headed over to the door.

Before he closed the door he'd seen as Brendan laid down on the bed and carefully embraced the boy's fragile figure, shutting his eyes tightly.