DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING

Hey, I'm back! Sorry for the wait!

This chapter is going to be mainly just Oz thinking. No warnings. This was also rewritten after a common suggested I bulk it up. I'm sorry for the disappointment and I hope that this version is better.

Enjoy!

.o.O.o. (Oz's pov)

The very next day Zai disappeared from the couch. It at least gave Oz a bit of relief knowing the man was alive. He had given next to no evidence of his departure except for a note taped to the fridge.

Oz pulled it off the fridge and read it to himself. It said, 'I'll be gone for awhile, but I'm not sure how long. I left some cranberry juice; drink half a cup in the morning and again at night.' He opened the fridge and saw four bottles of cranberry juice.

He found himself smiling at the small provision. While it seemed like an odd thing to leave for him, Zai had actually been fairly considerate. For the past few days he had been developing a nasty UTI and both of them knew it. While he refused to bring the boy to the doctor for obvious reasons, he knew that cranberries stopped it from getting worse.

Oz drank some of the juice before immediately going back to sleep. He didn't get much of it anymore, and whenever he got a break he gratefully took it. He slept until night, getting up only to use the bathroom and get something to drink.

Oz had had a UTI before, and knew they were no walk in the park. They were actually quite painful, but he'd never experienced one just as bad as the one he had right now. His stomach was always on fire, whether he needed to pee or not. The pain only worsened when he needed to go, and became almost unbearable when he used the bathroom. Because of this he had begun to hold it, trying to postpone the pain despite knowing it wouldn't help his condition.

The boy continued the routine of sleeping most of the day away for about 4 or 5 days, leaving little space for him to feel lonely. He was feeling quite the opposite, because in his dreams Gil was always there. Unfortunately he could never remember anything they did, but he always saw the man's face when he awoke.

The dream world mirrored his life with Gil perfectly, making it seem more real than reality. More accurately, he felt that reality was just a sick dream he couldn't wake up from. Nothing more than a dark phantom haunting his mind. It brought his hopes up a bit, imagining that his pain, his loneliness, his suffering was all a dream.

That came to an end when he had caught up on his sleep. He wished he could continue to sleep until Zai was back, it sped things up and he prefered the dream world much more than the one of reality. Instead he spent a majority of the days laying on the couch downstairs, staring at the ceiling and thinking.

For most of the time, the two thoughts that continued to battle in his mind were those of hopefulness and hopelessness. Gil would come and get him, he was sure of it. However, compared to that one hope, the negatives seemed impossible to not drown in. He knew he was sick, what if he got worse? What if Zai shot Gil when he came for him? What if Zai never even came back at all?

Thoughts of abandonment always took hold in his mind while his father was away, but they were harder to endure this time around. For years, loneliness was all he knew. After being with Gil again, he had known something other than that; he had known genuine happiness and love. Knowing there was something much better than being alone made abandonment a much harder reality to swallow.

After a week of being left by himself Oz felt the weight of loneliness beginning to bear down on him harder than ever. It always manifested as boredom at first, slowly transitioning to an overall depression as time went by. There was a tv to occupy himself, to try and fill in the void, but he didn't want to. He'd always watched tv with Gil, it would feel off doing it by himself.

So he just laid around whenever he was awake. He had begun to loathe moving from the couch, as walking was quickly becoming a painful task from the mounting pain in his stomach. Laying down was when it hurt the least, and even then it felt like a dagger was being twisted inside him. In comparison, just standing alone felt more akin to swallowing hot lava.

When was Gil going to come get him? It had been….a little over a two weeks now? He knew the man was going to find him at some point, but he was growing impatient. Maybe he would have been more patient if it weren't for the chronic pain he was enduring. Either way he just wanted Gil.

Part of him was already thinking about what it would be like when he was finally back with Gil. He feared that after being abused and raped again he wouldn't be able to feel comfortable around him. It broke his heart to know of the possibility their relationship could be compromised because of this.

The other part of him was anticipating the day he was reunited with him wholly. He couldn't wait until they could do anything together again; anything other than sitting around all day with nobody or nothing to occupy the passing time.

To be completely honest, he didn't blame Gil at all for what happened; but he knew that Gil blamed himself. It was his fault if anything for not telling him when he saw the figure in the window even after he checked. Or maybe he should have followed Gil to his room; maybe it would have stopped Zai from breaking in.

At the same time he knew that it wouldn't have done anything but put Gil in danger. That being said, he was happy how that night played out because he knew Gil was safe. It made the wait easier not feeling guilty because the man was hurt for his sake.

.o.O.o.(Gil's pov)

After Gil had been told he couldn't do anything for the time being, he went home and slept, trying to regain a bit of what he had lost after Oz had been taken. He reluctantly went to work today after day, always ready to leave in seconds if Deborah called him. Gil's day had become a simple routine: wake up, eat, work, eat, sleep, repeat. It was killing him, having to wait on someone else to find someone so important to him.

Gil noticed that the most noticeable change after Oz was taken was the atmosphere of his house. It became a dull, boring place, and he hated being in it. The four walls had become a nagging presence, constantly reminding him of his profound loneliness. He no longer had anything to do to occupy himself now that the boy was gone.

It was all his fault. He should have noticed Oz was nervous and he should have said something. Then he'd still be here, not back with that monster that called itself his father. He was always so worried for the boy, worrying about what he must be going through. One of his worst fears was that Oz blamed him for what happened too, and he wouldn't blame him for it.

He only hoped that he would forgive him, and even then he wasn't too hopeful for that. He certainly couldn't forgive himself, so he didn't expect Oz to either. Gil just wanted to have Oz back; to know he was safe.

.o.O.o. (Oz's pov)

Now it had been close to a month. This had to have been one of the longest times he had been by himself. It was really wearing down at him, being isolated for so long. The pain in his stomach had become like hot lava all the time, regardless of what he was doing. Whenever he used the bathroom he cried. To make matters worse hunger was always gnawing at his stomach, adding another level of discomfort.

Over the past few weeks he had lost all the [healthy] weight he'd gained while he was with Gil. He could feel his awareness slowly but surely fading every day, coming and going depending on the amount of pain, discomfort, and depression he was in.

Where was Gil?

.o.O.o.

It was sometime in the middle of the night when Gil finally received a call from Deborah. Ignoring his exhaustion, the man immediately drove to the police station she told him to meet her at.

They had found Oz, and were ready to make a move.

Deborah greeted Gilbert when he arrived, bringing him to a small conference room where they could talk. Getting right down to business, she said, "As you already know, we know now where Zai has been keeping Oz."

Gil nodded. "Yes. What are you guys going to do?" He questioned, unable to wait until he could see Oz again. He missed him so much.

Deborah answered, "Zai is away at the moment, so once morning hits we are going to send a team of police officers over to retrieve him." She paused for a moment. "We've decided you can come along if you want, but you have to stay back in case anything goes wrong."

"Okay, thank you I'll be there." He said gratefully. "Have you decided whether or not he can stay with me or not?"

"We will decide once he is safe based on his reaction to seeing you again. If he seems happy to see you, there's a good chance he can go home with you." She promised.

Done. This was not as long as I wanted, but I'm not going to drag it out and make it boring.

Hope you guys enjoyed and thank you for reading. Please leave a review, praise or flames, both are gratefully accepted and encouraged.

I feel so bad for Oz, I just wanna hug him! I can't wait until they rescue him cause he needs it right now.

Until next time!