Stay With Me

- Scars of Yesterday, Tears of Today -

By: Lil' Amethyst Angel

Warnings: Slight swearing, shounen-ai, and abuse.

A tingling sensation flowed through his body. He was numb. A moan escaped his mouth and his eyes opened slightly.

"Ah, you're awake. I'm Dr. Brenton. You're in the hospital. How do you feel?" JJ looked at the kindly man in front of him.

" 'm fine." JJ slurred sleepily. "Actually, I can't really feel anything."

"That would be the pain medication kicking in. You have two severely bruised ribs, multiple lacerations on your arms, backing, and chest. You'll probably have quite a headache for a while. You hit the back of you head quite hard, but the most dangerous wound was the bump to the side of your head. It sent you into a coma." Seeing the panicked look on JJ's face, he quickly continued, "Don't worry. You were only out for two days."

JJ took a moment to process this. He looked down at his arm, which had an IV sticking out. He could see white bandages, which were barely a contrast to his pallid skin. Sean had hurt him, really hurt him, this time. And then…and then what? JJ couldn't remember.

"What happened? I can't remember."

The doctor nodded. "Yes, that's probably because of your concussion. You were brought in by an ambulance the other night. Three men followed them here and they say they are you coworkers. There names…hmm…Dee, Randy, and Deacon or Drew or something…"

"Drake-sempai…" JJ whispered quietly, more to himself than the doctor.

"Oh yes, Drake. That was his name. Anyway, they've been quite worried about you. I'll go tell them you're awake."

The middle-aged man left JJ before he even had the chance to protest. JJ sighed. He didn't want to see anybody right now, especially not Drake or the others. How pathetic they must find him. He was a police officer, a male police officer, and he couldn't even protect himself. JJ's frown deepened when he remembered Drake questioning him about his bruises, asking if it was Sean who caused them. He had denied it, and even yelled at Drake.

'Drake-sempai must hate me. I lied to him. You're never supposed to lie to your partner. I lied flat out, right to his face, and even got mad at him for accusing Sean.' JJ thought miserably.

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'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.' Drake accented each thought with banging his head against the pop machine he had waged war with. A string of curses flew out of Dee's mouth and his glare hadn't left the poor plant he had chosen as his outlet of anger. Ryo sat with his head in his hands. Dee's reassuring arm around his shoulders was probably the only thing keeping Ryo together. It was probably the only thing keeping Dee together, too.

"You're going to be the one with a concussion if you keep that up." Dee finally said.

"I deserve it." Drake mumbled to himself, but Dee caught it.

"No, you don't. Don't say shit like that." Dee growled.

"Well JJ sure as hell doesn't deserve to be in here!" Drake snarled. He knew Dee was only trying to help, but Drake needed something to take out his anger on, and Dee was, well, there. And as much as Drake was ashamed to admit it, he was angry with Dee. Dee was the one who had always shot JJ down harshly. He rejected him without taking his feelings into account constantly. JJ is a sensitive person and Dee knew that.

Dee looked down at the floor. Drake sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, man. I'm just really worried about my partner." Drake said. If there was one person Drake was even more angry with than Dee, it was himself. Drake was absolutely furious with himself.

"I know. We all are." Dee said, allowing the pain to seep into his voice.

After a few moments of silence, Ryo spoke for the first time in what seemed like forever. "He's not going to be okay." Dee started in surprise and Drake's eyes widened. Dee bowed his head and brought Ryo closer to him. Drake squeezed his eyes shut and clutched onto the edge of the vending machine. No, JJ would not be 'okay', and they all knew it.

Their angsting was interrupted when JJ's doctor entered the waiting room.

"Your friend is awake. You may see him now, if you like, but only one at a time. It would not be wise to overwhelm him." All the men nodded solemnly.

"You go, Drake. He's your partner." Ryo said softly. Drake nodded. He didn't need anymore encouragement.

Drake followed the doctor to JJ's room. Drake stood in front of the door for a few minutes, refusing to move, too scared to even touch the door handle. The funny thing was, he didn't even know what he was scared of. Drake finally realized standing out there was totally pointless, took a deep, and pushed the door open.

His heart almost broke in two when he entered the hospital room. There was his partner, his JJ, lying in a bed in a stuffy hospital room. Blankets pooled around his slender body, bruises coloring his delicate skin. An IV stuck out of his arm and his hair fell limp around his face, sticking to his forehead with sweat. There was no teasing smile on that bright face. JJ's eyes were what upset Drake the most. They were empty, so very empty. Drake clenched his jaw. How could anyone do this to another human being? How could anyone to someone as wonderful as JJ?

Drake struggled and found his voice. "Hey." Drake cursed himself for how shaky his voice sounded.

"Hey," was the quiet reply.

Silence engulfed the room. Drake found it odd. Usually, if JJ was in the room he would be incessantly chatting away. Silence was something Drake had never associated with JJ, especially not this kind of silence, this dead silence.

JJ's face was turned away from Drake, his blank gaze focused somewhere on the wall.

"I'm sorry." Drake suddenly blurted. JJ looked at Drake, surprised.

"I-I should've acted on my instinct. I suspected something was happening, but I didn't do anything, and I let it get this bad." Drake finished in a hushed tone.

"It's not your fault, sempai. Please don't blame yourself." JJ comforted.

"But-"

"I asked for it." JJ interrupted. Drake looked at him in shock. "I stayed because Sean loves me. I deserved what I got."

Drake stared at JJ in horror. "No! Just because you want love doesn't mean you should be punished." Drake choked back a sob. 'What did that bastard do to you, JJ?' Drake thought to himself.

"He didn't love you, JJ. If you were with me I would show you my love with kisses not fists." JJ gave Drake a slightly surprised and confused look.

"You deserve better." As JJ started to shake his head 'no', Drake placed a hand on JJ's tender cheek. "You do deserve better. So much better. If you were with me I would never hurt you." Drake whispered, never breaking eye contact with his partner.

An awkward silence was shared.

After a while JJ asked, "What's going to happen to Sean?"

"Don't worry, we're going to arrest him." Drake tried to reassure.

"No." JJ stated firmly.

Drake bit his tongue, so as not to yell at JJ. Why was he sticking up for that asshole? Sean sent him to the hospital, why would he still want to protect him?

"He hurt you, JJ." Drake's tone was aggravated.

"He didn't mean to." JJ spoke meekly, even though he knew Sean had, in fact, meant to.

"How can you say that? You were crumpled on the floor in a bloody pile when I found you! He's going to do it again. You know that." Drake sighed when he got no reply. A hush once again befell the room. Minutes passed by, but neither moved. JJ was staring at the hospital blanket and Drake was examining every inch of his partner's face. He memorized every bruise and silently promised JJ that for every bruise he had Sean would receive double that.

"You're hand is warm, Drake-sempai." Drake visibly jerked at JJ's voice. It wasn't until then, that Drake realized he had never let go of JJ's face. He mentally cursed himself for acting so foolishly and slowly pulled his hand away. Drake noticed JJ's almost-closed eyes and realized JJ was half-asleep.

"We'll talk later. Get some rest." Drake mustered the best grin he could, which came out as an unsteady half-smile.

Drake failed to hear the soft plea JJ had unconsciously called out as he left the room. "Please, don't leave me."

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Drake walked back to the waiting room to update his two colleagues. They stood up at his arrival.

"He fell asleep." Ryo nodded in turn.

"Is he okay?" Dee asked, uncharacteristically anxious.

"He's…he's really messed up. Sean screwed with his mind. He got JJ thinking it's all his fault this happened. That it was the price for being loved." Drake growled. Dee grit his teeth and Ryo's hands clenched into fists.

'Let's go find that bastard and lock is sorry as up!" Dee yelled as he started to head for the door. Drake grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"No. JJ said he didn't want us to arrest him." Ryo and Dee looked at their fellow officer in disbelief.

"Why not?" Ryo asked angrily.

"He's not thinking straight. I don't think it'd be wise to upset him right now."

Dee and Ryo nod grudgingly in understanding.

"It's just not fair. Why the hell would someone do this to him?" Dee rumbled.

"The real question is how could none of us notice?" Ryo added quietly. Silence followed as all three men reflected on their neglect of their younger friend.

"I have something I gotta check out. I'll be back soon." With that, Drake left the two male cops to his car.

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Drake, after breaking a few speeding laws along the way, made it to JJ's apartment in no time at all. He charged up to JJ's apartment and banged on the door.

The door creaked open and a very pissed off looking man stood in the doorway.

"What the hell do you w-" Sean was cut off when Drake slammed him into the wall.

"I need to have a little chat with you, Sean." Drake spit, shoving Sean into the apartment and stepping in behind him. Sean looks up at the officer with fearful eyes. Drake smirked. 'Good. He should be scared.'

To Be Continued

Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your reviews. Sorry this chapter took a while to get up. School's a bitch. Plus, I'm working on opening an anime business.:) Anyhoo, please continue to read and review. Thanks a bunch!

DragQueenLover- Umm…violent. oo I'll have to be sure to make things better for JJ, if only to avoid getting my ass kicked by you…