Author's note – Okay, we're nearly there. Many thanks for all the reviews. You guys are the best! - Swordy

Somewhere in Between

Chapter 24 – Game Over

Ryo felt like his eyes had been glued shut, the lids were so heavy. It seemed like every ounce of his willpower was needed to force them open and even when he succeeded, his vision was blurry and all but useless. He swallowed and grimaced, noting a strange taste in his mouth. A noise at his shoulder caught his attention and his energies were now concentrated on turning his head. Through his milky vision he saw Tyler, although he had no idea what she was doing. What he did know, however, was that he felt like shit.

"Tyler, what's… happened to me?" he asked, his voice sounding as if he'd just finished the New York marathon. With his memory as fuzzy as his sight he had no recollection of how or why he'd ended up in bed.

"Shhhh, it's okay." The girl leaned over and stroked his cheek tenderly. "You don't need to worry. I've called work and told them you're too sick to come in…"

"I'm not sick…" Ryo protested, making a more concerted effort to sit up. Little force was needed from the hand on his chest to keep him on the bed.

"Rest, my love. I'm here for you and I'll take care of everything so we can be together."

Something snapped into place in Ryo's mind, bringing with it the recollection of the conversation they had had. Was it earlier today or several days ago? He couldn't remember.

"Tyler… please. I'm sorry if… I've given you the wrong idea. I love Dee. He's the only one I want."

He was disturbed to see that her response was a smile. "You don't need to lie to me, Randy," she said, her voice upbeat despite his rejection. "I've known for a long time that you're only with Dee because you feel sorry for him, what with his diabetes and his abduction and all. If none of that had happened, you'd have realised that you were too good for him and ended your relationship." She sat on bed beside him, her hand never straying from his face. "I now realise that you're too nice a person to tell him it's over because you want to be with me, so I've sorted it for you. You don't have to do anything. Soon, we'll be together where no one can bother us."

Ryo swallowed hard, concerned by how much effort the supposedly reflex action took. "I… I don't understand."

She stroked his hair away from his face and smiled. "I've given you some pills. Soon you'll fall asleep forever, but don't worry, I'll be taking some too so we can move onto the next life together. I've left a note explaining that we couldn't bear to be apart, but we didn't want to hurt anyone, which is why we've done this. They'll understand, I swear. We have to do this, darling. We'll never be together otherwise."

Real fear pricked the haze that had become Ryo's mind. No wonder he felt like shit – he was dying. He swallowed again, the action laboured and sluggish. He considered appealing to her conscience, but decided it was pointless. The only alternative was to try and win her over.

"Please, Tyler. We don't need to do this. We… we can be together in this life. I'll tell Dee it's over. We can… move away."

She looked at him like he was an idiot, a sad, sympathetic smile painted across her face. "Believe me, Randy, I wish it were that easy. I've tried for so so long to get you away from Dee, but it won't happen. Moving away isn't enough." She stopped and her features grew angry. "He'll find us and ruin everything, just like he's been ruining everything for us for the past few months."

Oh God, she's crazy, Ryo thought, trying to gain control over his mounting panic. This wasn't about them starting a relationship – she genuinely believed they'd been having one for God knows how long. How could he appeal to anyone who thought that? He tried to move again but found his limbs would not obey him. All he had were words, increasingly spoken by a mouth that felt stuffed with cotton wool.

"There is no 'next life', Tyler… if we want to be together… it has to be here. It has to be now. Please… call an ambulance for me… we can talk… properly then. I don't want to die... and I don't want you to either."

"Randy, you're so sweet, but there's no need to be scared." She leaned towards him and kissed him gently on the lips. "I'm not scared and I'll be right beside you. We'll go together. Now shhhh, you rest and let the pills work their magic."

She stood up to leave and Ryo knew that if she left the room, this might be the last time he ever saw her, such was his diminishing grip on consciousness. This was all wrong – his occupation left him open to more danger than the average man on the street, but he'd never imagined he'd die like this,

"Tyler." He was relieved to see that she turned and approached him again. He wanted her to listen – if these were his final words he wanted them to be something worth saying.

"I told you to rest. What is it, love?"

Ryo forced his eyes open and met her gaze. Her smile faltered at his cold, penetrating stare. Even she could see there was no love there. "You're crazy. I don't love you… I never have, never will… so you need to get that into your twisted head. If there's a 'next life'… I promise you now, it'll be Dee I'll be waiting for once I'm there."

Her face contorted a thousand ways – her shock and anger at his confirmation of the facts she had chosen to ignore for so long.

"No!" she yelled as she slapped him hard across the face. "You don't mean it! Take it back before it's too late!"

The drugs numbed the sting of the blow and he almost felt like laughing. He turned to face her once more, determined to maintain the quiet dignity he'd decided would be his parting shot since last minute heroics had gone out the window the minute he'd realised that his body was outside his control.

"I do mean it… because I love Dee with a depth you couldn't possibly understand." His voice barely had any substance, but the words carried their own weight. "And even if we both die here… Dee will know your letter is a lie… he'll know because we're soulmates… and nothing you can do will change that."

She was shaking her head now, extremely agitated. His words had obviously hit a nerve. "No… No… you're lying! Why won't you admit you love me, Randy?"

Now he did laugh since he figured he may as well go out with a smile on his face. "I'd never love a crazy bitch like you."

Her snarling features loomed above him and she struck him hard across the face. Again the blow didn't hurt, but his head snapped over to the right, removing her from his line of sight. It was his ears that told him she was leaving the room, and with her left his calm acceptance of his situation. Only with his consciousness fading did he begin to experience a deep sense of sadness, brought on by the thought that he would now never get the opportunity to reconcile with his lover.

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Dee ran until his lungs felt like they were on fire. Even then he didn't stop, his legs carrying him towards Ryo despite the protestations from the rest of his body. People stared at him as he weaved through the crowds on the sidewalk, occasionally darting into the road when his route became impassable. Several cars sounded their horns, startled by the near miss, but he didn't stop. He could hear his cell ringing in his pocket, no doubt Drake or Delaney trying to tell him to wait, but aside from the wasted time of stopping to answer the call, there was nothing they could say to stop him going in alone.

"Hey, watch it!" a teenager called out angrily as Dee ran past, his arm catching the boy's shoulder causing him to spill the drink he was holding. "Jerk!"

The voice was soon in the distance – probably a good thing since he wasn't in the mood for confrontations with indignant strangers. He rounded the corner, his feet finally hitting the street where they lived.

Please be okay, Ryo, he thought as he sprinted for the stairs inside their apartment block, figuring they would be quicker than the elevator. Luck was on his side however - the elevator doors pinging open causing him to sharply change course. The doors had almost slid shut when he spotted a middle aged man hurrying towards him.

"Hold the elevator!" he called out, his face crumpling when he saw that Dee would do no such thing. "Jerk!" he yelled as the elevator left him behind. In any other circumstances Dee would have smiled at being called a jerk twice in the space of about five minutes.

The ringing of his cell phone reverberated off the walls of the cramped carriage and in the absence of anything else to do until he reached his floor, he answered it.

"Dee? Are you there?" It was Drake.

"Yeah. I'm about to go in. I'm not waiting, Drake."

"I know. I just want you to turn on the wire before you go in. Set it recording."

"Drake…"

"Evidence, remember? Not just for hurting Kelly, but for you." He paused, hoping he was wrong about the next part. "And maybe for Ryo too."

"Fine," Dee replied reluctantly as he flicked the switch on the device secured around his back. "It's on."

"Great. We'll be with you as soon as we can. Be carefully, buddy."

"Sure." He ended the call as the elevator reached their floor. He didn't know what he'd find, but he sure as hell wished he still had his gun, the weapon frustratingly locked away at the precinct until he was deemed fit to carry it again.

There was no one in the corridor, but as he passed by he could hear televisions and the sounds of conversation from several of their neighbours' apartments. As he reached the door to his own home, there was no sign of life. A part of him found himself praying that she did truly love Ryo – surely then she couldn't bear to hurt him? He found his key and let himself in, expert eyes and ears alert to any potential danger as he opened the door slowly.

The apartment was in darkness, despite the fact that it was still daylight outside. Every curtain was drawn, every blind down. The light switch for the main living area was next to the door, but when he flipped it nothing happened. Mentally he added his powerful police-issue flashlight to the list of items he wished he had on him. He listened for a moment longer, trying to gauge whether any sounds he heard were significant or not. Then came a noise to set his heart racing – a moan from the direction of their bedroom, which was unquestionably Ryo. He didn't sound in pain, but neither was it a moan of pleasure. Somehow she had succeeded in stopping Ryo leaving for work, and he doubted if it was simply by the power of persuasive argument.

Slowly, cautiously, he proceeded into the main living area, eyes picking out dark shapes and quickly dismissing them as furniture. His path was halted suddenly by a crunching sound underfoot and he bent slowly, his fingers coming into contact with the shattered remains of the light bulb that had once hung overhead. He moved around the couch to the doors that led out onto their balcony, currently blocked from view by the floor-length set of curtains – an ideal hiding place. His first instinct was: she's here. He approached cautiously, keeping a safe distance and a clear escape route before, in one sharp movement, he pulled one of the curtains back, flooding the room with the daylight that had previously been banished behind the heavy drapes.

Nothing.

He let out a long calming breath as he studied the room, arriving at the conclusion that if she was anywhere, she was in the bedroom.

With Ryo.

And the safe where Ryo's gun was kept.

He could curse the loss of the weapon, but he had to check on Ryo. He hadn't moaned since and Dee didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. He'd obviously been in discomfort, but at least it had confirmed that he was still alive. Eyes flicking everywhere, he made for their bedroom, satisfied that she was not in any of the rooms he passed. A hopeful thought occurred to him that she might have fled, perhaps aware that someone would come looking for Ryo when he didn't turn in for his shift, despite the message she had left on his behalf. When he reached their bedroom, he paused to listen for ten seconds then flung the door wide, knowing the game would quickly be up if she was hiding behind it. When it hit the wall with a resounding thud he moved inside.

The curtains were drawn here too, but there was no possibility of her hiding behind them, the material ending long before they reached the floor. One of the bedside lamps was on, but even its gentle glow could not lift the pallor of his lover's skin as he lay on their bed unmoving. He wanted to call out, but he needed the silence to listen for any potential danger. His first reaction was that he was dead and it threw his well-honed instincts into disarray.

As he stepped forward he recovered slightly, suddenly remembering that he needed to stay alert. Ryo's closet was where their gun safe was kept. It also represented another excellent hiding place, unlike his own closet which was stacked high with junk and clothes. He threw the door open to find Ryo's typical orderliness staring back at him. He glanced back over his shoulder as he crouched to open the safe, amazed at the relief he felt once he had that the familiar steel in his hand. Tucking the weapon into the waistband of his jeans he now turned his attention to Ryo. Before he approached the bed, he dropped to his haunches to check Laura was not under it, his police instincts colliding with the horror movie lover in him.

There was plenty under there - too much in fact to allow a person to hide successfully and he frowned, idly wondering when Ryo had allowed him to harbour so much clutter under there. Feeling confident that he could now approach the bed he did so, but not without a huge sense of trepidation. While he didn't touch or look too closely there was still hope and he was loathed to let that hope die because Ryo had.

Now he called out his lover's name and shook his shoulder, just as their annual basic life support training had taught them to do. Ryo was dressed for work, indicating that he'd had every intention of going before Laura had intervened. Worryingly he noted a large reddened area on one side of Ryo's pale face – a hand slap with all certainty.

"Ryo? Baby? Are you okay?"

God, please be okay. Time seemed to drag its heels until Ryo's head turned towards the source of the sound, and his eyes blinked open with heavy resistance.

"Dee?" It was only one syllable, but Dee knew it had taken everything his lover had in him to utter it.

"Thank God…" He held Ryo's face in his hands, alarmed by how heavily the deep brown eyes were glazed over. They seemed to focus for a second before they fell on something over Dee's left shoulder.

"Dee… she's…"

In that split second Dee had his epiphany. Suddenly he understood why there was so much junk under their bed. It was his junk, all from his closet, which now it was removed enabled someone relatively compact to hide in the normally cluttered storage space. His revelation unfortunately came a split second too late.

The closet door swung open and from it burst Laura, her face contorted in a mask of fury.

"Bastard!" she shrieked as she came at him, arms and knife outstretched. With no time to react he threw himself to one side, twisting during the movement so he was facing her. He felt the gun jolt free from his waistband and skitter away somewhere behind him, but there was no opportunity to scramble for it as she fell upon him brandishing the knife. The long weapon aiming for his face, sunk deep into his left wrist that he had thrown up to protect himself. The blade touched bone and as she pulled it out – presumably for a second attempt – a long arc of blood spatter captured the knife's journey as she raised it again.

Despite the sudden onset of pain and blood, Dee kicked out, his strong strength of self-preservation needing very little time to get warmed up. The kick caught her in the leg, but it was only a glancing blow and it didn't stop her advancing again. This time she slashed with the knife, opening up defence wounds on his other arm, and stabbing him in the thigh as he raised his leg to try and kick her again. This time his foot found its target proper and he sent her stumbling backwards, opening up the chance he needed to find the gun. Sensing the distance he had put between them put him out of immediate danger, he turned and made a grab for the weapon.

Certain she could not have reacted as quickly as him, he swung back to face her, gun outstretched. But she had. His kick had pushed her back towards the bed and instead of attacking him again, she had opted for strategy. To his horror, Dee found that she was now stood beside the bed, one hand on Ryo's hair, the other – still holding the knife – at his throat. Dee swallowed hard. This fucked everything big time.

"Put the gun down," she growled, turning the knife so Dee caught the glint of the blade. "Put it down or I'll cut his throat."

This was insane. She was killing him anyway, but Dee knew that with help on the way, there was a chance Ryo could be saved before the drugs she had tricked him into ingesting did too much damage. With a slit throat on the other hand, he didn't have a prayer.

"Okay, you win." Dee slowly laid the gun on the floor in front of him. He could only watch helplessly as she pulled the weapon towards her with her foot, then quickly squatted and scooped it up. Tucking the knife into her belt with her left hand, she pointed the gun at Dee with her right.

"Now get out. I don't want to have to kill you in front of Randy. He's too beautiful to witness your ugly death. Walk slowly with your hands in the air and don't think of trying anything."

He glared at her, trying to struggle to his feet. "You stabbed me in the fucking leg. I don't think slowly is going to be a problem."

"Always with the smart mouth. Just do it, okay?"

Keeping a safe distance she followed him from the room with the gun pointed at his back. Stall her, was all he could think knowing Drake and the others couldn't be far off now.

"You know there are other cops on the way," he said following her instruction and sitting down on the floor, his back against the wall once they were in the main living area. "Even if you kill me, they'll get here in time to save Ryo. Then you'll never see him again."

She kept her eyes on him as she backed over to the doors that opened out onto their balcony. Sliding them open she stepped out and approached the edge. For a brief second Dee hoped she was going to jump off, but all she did was look over quickly to check for the presence of cops down below.

"You bastard," she spat, knife in hand when she came back inside, leaving the doors open to listen out for approaching sirens. "Why couldn't you just lay down and die like you were supposed to?"

"What d'you mean, like I was supposed to?"

Her movements were hyperkinetic, but her wild eyes never left him. He was just one more bastard trying to control her, trying to stand in the way of her happiness. The look she shot him was one of pure hatred.

"I tampered with your insulin, you dumb fuck. You were supposed to fall asleep and stay asleep, but luck always seems to come your way, doesn't it? Everything I did – even early on, came to nothing because you have the luck of the devil."

Dee frowned, alarmed by the blood pumping from his left forearm despite it being pressed to his side. "It was you. You told the Welfare Department that I was abusing Bicky, didn't you?"

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Of course it was me! But Randy wasn't supposed to believe you."

"But he did," Dee replied, suddenly feeling triumphant, "because he loves me and he trusts me."

"No he doesn't. He pities you, that's all. He doesn't love you but he doesn't know how to end it. The first time we met, when he got my bag back for me – I could see the way he looked at me. We clicked, there and then, but he just hasn't had the courage to tell you."

Dee shook his head, a humourless smile pushing at his lips. "I know it's stating the obvious, but you're fucking crazy."

She cocked her head to one side, offering him a sickly smile of her own. "I'm not the one suspended from my job while I undergo psychiatric treatment. Maybe you're the crazy one, did you think of that?"

Dee snorted. "I've got a long way to go before I reach your level of crazy, you freaky bitch."

"Shame you'll never have the chance." She levelled Ryo's gun at him, holding it amateurishly with two hands.

There was a good chance she'd miss, Dee knew that, but luck had got her this far and there was no guarantee that it would run out now. And she thinks I'm the lucky one!

All he could do was throw himself to one side and hope that if she did hit her target, it would only be damage to the periphery – an arm or a leg maybe. He was tensed and ready to act but suddenly any evasive action became unnecessary.

The turn of events that followed, Dee would later realise, all took place within the space of a single minute, but as they happened he was certain they had been reduced to a series of slow motion sequences in the style of a Hollywood action movie. The front door, which he'd left ajar for his backup, suddenly burst open in a hurricane of white and brown fur. Both in the room turned to see Bright bounding into the fray. Dee expected the dog to come to him, but the canine had set his sights on Laura, as if instinctively knowing his master's life was in danger because of this person.

"Don't!" Dee's plea for clemency for his beloved pet was lost in the gunshot as she fired the weapon at the dog, her almost phobic reaction to the animal engulfing her previous control over the situation. The shot went wide allowing Bright to press on and not wanting to risk the dog getting any closer, Laura turned and ran for the nearest sanctuary – the balcony.

Terrified by the snarling hound, whom Dee would later confirm was uncharacteristically aggressive at that moment, she jumped onto the outer wall, hoping she could stay out of reach.

"Dee!"

Drake, hotly pursued by the detectives from the Fourteenth and a uniformed cop, burst into the room, his eyes flicking quickly from his injured but alive friend to the scene on the balcony. Bright's clawed feet had just reached the balcony when he let out a low, menacing growl. The sound seemed to bring a new wave of fear to the terrified girl, who looked to Dee, expecting him to call his pet off. Bright didn't move any closer, but his current proximity was enough to ensure that Laura felt she was in danger. She tried to inch away – but lost her footing and fell.

It wasn't a scream that she emitted – more of a surprised squeal that firm ground was no longer beneath her feet, and unlike in the movies, there was no sickening thud as she hit the ground many floors below - any sound was completely drowned out by the ebb and flow of the tide of New York City. Drake and Delaney were first onto the tiny balcony, pushing past the dog that now wagged his tail at them. They only needed a quick glance over the edge to confirm what they already knew. Drake didn't linger. Dee needed him. He hurried over and knelt beside him as Delaney and Mazowski began to mobilize their uniformed backup to deal with the body in the street.

"Dee? You okay? Where's…?"

"Our bedroom. Get the paramedics to him. I think she's given him some kind of overdose."

Drake nodded, his eyes looking Dee over. "You're bleeding. What happened?"

"She stabbed me, but I'm okay," he replied, his features pinched, obviously in pain. "Just help Ryo, please." He grabbed his friend's arm. "Don't let anything happen to him, Drake."

"I'll do my best, buddy."

Then he was gone.

Dee closed his eyes for a moment, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. If Ryo was okay then nothing else mattered. His rest was rudely interrupted by the sensation of wetness on his face.

"Drake," he grumbled, wondering why his colleague was splashing him when he clearly wanted to sleep. When it didn't stop, he reluctantly opened his eyes to find not Drake, but Bright licking his face and wagging his tail expectantly.

"Hey, boy," he said lazily raising his hand to pat the dog. He grimaced at the bloody streak he left across the canine's white head. Suddenly Bright growled. Over the noise, a man introduced himself as Brad, a paramedic.

"Bright. Down." Without looking he knew the dog had obeyed him as the growling stopped and the paramedic was able to approach. "Go and see to Ryo." Dee held the newcomer with his forceful gaze. "He needs you more than me."

"It's okay, my colleague's in with him now." When his patient looked about to protest he continued, not prepared to delay treatment with an argument. "Now it's Dee, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well let's get you bandaged up so we can get you to the hospital."

He went to work, encouraging Dee to keep talking to him while he dressed the slash and stab wounds on his hands, arms and right thigh. There was a lot of blood, and the lack of movement his patient was reporting in his left hand was a big concern but clearly the other man – Ryo – was all Dee was prepared to worry about. While he was finishing bandaging Dee's leg, Ryo was rushed out on a stretcher. Brad had no idea about the reason behind the large police presence within the apartment, but he was fairly certain it had something to do with the body of a young woman lying in the street, many floors below.

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Despite his own injuries, Dee would not leave Ryo until he was certain that his lover was going to be okay. He knew his own injuries were serious – the numbness in his left hand was not down to the painkilling drugs he'd been given on the way to the hospital. All the wounds had stopped bleeding and the patching up that the paramedic had done was enough to ensure that Dee wasn't about to get treatment for himself anytime soon.

"Detective McLain," the doctor had said after finding his patient's bed empty and the patient himself, still fully dressed, keeping a vigil outside his partner's room. "We need to examine your injuries. If you have nerve damage to your left hand then you'll need surgery."

Dee had met his gaze, his green eyes reflecting his conviction. "It can wait."

"Waiting may reduce the effectiveness of the repair."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning any numbness or lack of mobility may end up being permanent."

Dee looked down at his bandaged arm resting in a sling and then through the window to where Ryo was being treated. If anything happened to Ryo while he was gone... "Sorry, but I'll have to take the risk."

The doctor had looked annoyed, but Dee had returned to watching Ryo again, indicating that the matter was no longer up for discussion.

"Fine," the medic had responded in defeat before he left the room. "But don't say I didn't explain the risks."

Dee sighed heavily, wishing that time passed more quickly. Twenty minutes ago he had been observing the less than pleasant sight of Ryo having his stomach pumped. Gastric lavage, the nurse had called it when he had enquired why Ryo was reluctantly having a long, flexible tube inserted into his nose. He'd wanted to go in, make them stop since it looked like they were hurting him. Ryo seemed to be resisting, and it had taken two nurses to hold him down while the third fed the thin tube up his nose, into his throat and down into his stomach where the contents were suctioned out and then doused with water to prevent any more of the drugs being absorbed. Ryo was then allowed to rest while the doctors took blood in order to assess the damage.

"Mr McLain?" The voice at his shoulder startled Dee slightly from his memories of the last hour. He turned to face the nurse.

"Dr. Bailey says you can go in and he'll come and talk to you about Randy. Then he wants you to allow him to examine you."

He was through the door before she could say anything else. Ryo awoke as Dee took his hand and squeezed it. He smiled when a gentle kiss was placed on his forehead, wishing he had the energy to get up and do the same.

"Hey, baby. How you feeling?"

Ryo swallowed hard. "Like my throat's had a fight with a cheese grater and lost."

Dee chuckled, relieved to see Ryo's sense of humour hadn't deserted him. "I was watching. It didn't exactly look like fun."

The other man rolled his eyes. "Great. I'm glad you saw me at my best." He looked at Dee's arm resting in its sling. "Are you okay, Dee?"

The detective followed his gaze and shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a few scratches, nothing to worry about."

Any attempt Ryo was about to make to interrogate his lover was cut short by the arrival of the doctor. The man, who looked to be in his early fifties, smiled as he smoothed down his tie with one hand while quickly glancing at the notes he carried in the other.

"Well, Mr McLain," he said addressing Ryo, "You've been extremely lucky. It appears that you were given a smaller amount of drugs than we first thought. Most of the vials found at your apartment were empty, which obviously concerned us greatly, but then we received a phone call from a police officer still at the scene to say they had found two glasses of water and a large quantity of medication, which someone had started to dissolve into them. Your assailant obviously just wanted to incapacitate you initially, but beyond that, well…"

Ryo nodded gravely, understanding only too well that Laura had intended to make good on her threat to take them both to the grave.

"We'll run some other tests in a while to check the function of your liver and kidneys, but everything appears to indicate you'll make a full recovery."

Ryo looked at Dee who was grinning broadly.

"That's great news," the dark-haired man said, giving his lover's hand another squeeze. There was a pause where Dee knew Dr. Bailey was looking at him. Now that Ryo was okay it was time to make good on his part of their agreement.

"Uh, baby? I've just gotta go for a bit so they can patch me up properly, okay? I'll be back soon, I swear."

Ryo frowned. "Are you sure everything's okay, Dee?"

"Sure." He leant in and gave Ryo a quick kiss and a reassuring smile. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

"Okay."

Dee and the doctor left together. "Thanks for not saying anything then," Dee said as they entered his own room.

"I just hope you don't come to regret it," the medic replied, before turning to the nurse waiting at the empty bedside. "Please help Mr McLain into bed and remove his dressings. I'll be back shortly."

With the nurse's assistance, Dee got into the hospital gown and climbed into bed. At least he could relax, knowing Ryo was out of danger. That was everything – nothing else mattered. The doctor returned and performed some simple tests, asking Dee to make movements with his damaged limbs. The slash wounds and defensive cuts on his right arm and thigh were deemed unserious and were bandaged back up once they had been stitched. It was his inability to make a fist or move the fingers of his left hand with their usual flexibility that was of greatest concern to the physician and Dee found himself being prepared for surgery without delay. His last thought as he drifted off into a drug-induced slumber was he hoped he wouldn't have to miss his dinner date with Ryo.

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Bicky and Cal hurried through the hospital until they reached their destination, finding Drake waiting for them, just as he had promised when he had spoken to Bicky, fresh off the bus from camp.

"What's going on?" Bicky demanded to know, foregoing any form of greeting. "You said they were okay. Where are they? What's happened?"

Drake raised his hands to halt the barrage of questions. "Yes, they're okay, both of them. Ryo's sleeping and Dee's recovering from surgery on his arm where she stabbed him."

Bicky's face clouded with rage. "And where's she, the psychotic bitch? Is she here too or have the cops got her?" He glanced at Cal who had obviously read the look on Drake's face.

"She's dead, isn't she?" she asked quietly.

Drake nodded.

Bicky looked stunned. "Dead? How? Did Dee or Ryo…?"

"No." The detective shook his head. "She fell from the balcony at your apartment. It was an accident."

"Jesus." Bicky slumped into the seat beside Drake, Cal taking the chair opposite. "What the hell happened?"

"We're not exactly sure yet," Drake replied, not wanting to go into detail before he knew how much Dee and Ryo wanted the teens to know. "But she obviously flipped out and tried to hurt them both. We won't have the details until they're ready to tell us."

"At least they're both okay," Cal said, taking Bicky's hand as she tried to get him to focus on something positive.

"Yeah," he replied gruffly, then shook his head. "I shouldn't have gone to camp. We knew something was wrong."

"You weren't to know she'd do something like this," Drake said, turning mid-way through the sentence as the door opened behind him. The doctor's eyes fell on the newcomers, prompting Drake to explain.

"This is Randy's son, Bicky and his girlfriend, Cal. Is there any news?"

"Well, Mr McLain – Randy," he added, remembering he was dealing with two patients with the same last name, "received an overdose of prescription medication, but we've pumped his stomach to clear as much as possible. The blood test results are back and everything is looking good. He's not suffered any permanent damage and we've given him medication to help counter the drugs already absorbed into his system. We'll keep him in overnight, but he'll probably be discharged tomorrow."

Bicky nodded, relieved. "And Dee?"

Dr. Bailey smiled. "He's awake and the surgery appears to have gone well. You can go and see him if you want."

Drake looked to Bicky who nodded emphatically. "You go. I've gotta call the precinct. They're waiting for an update."

"Cool." Bicky stood, looking to Cal to indicate that she should come too, then they followed the doctor as he led them to where Dee was resting.

"Hey." Dee smiled at the two teens as they entered his room, glad to have some company at last. "You know, they've said if I turn up here one more time I'm gonna get a wing named after me."

Cal chuckled as Bicky shook his head. "You're an idiot," the boy responded, although he too was smiling. "How you feeling?"

Dee glanced down at his heavily bandaged upper limbs before he answered. "Like I have no idea how I'm gonna tie my shoelaces. Other than that I feel okay. Have you seen Ryo yet?"

"No." Bicky shook his head. "He's sleeping, but the doc says he's okay too."

Dee nodded. "I know. Since they wouldn't get us a double room I've demanded regular updates. I don't think I'm making myself very popular, but I don't care. The doctor only agreed to keep me posted because I threatened to discharge myself and go and sit with him."

"You wouldn't actually have done it, would you?" Cal asked.

Dee grinned back at her. "Hell yeah, but then I figured Ryo would have killed me. You know how he gets when he thinks I'm not taking care of myself."

Bicky looked away suddenly, struggling to keep eye contact with Dee as he spoke to him. "Dee… are you uh - are you and Ryo going to be okay?"

It didn't take a genius to work out that he didn't mean physically. Dee waited until the boy looked at him and offered him a confident smile. "I think we are, Bic. Everything that's happened over the last few months is starting to make a lot more sense, and even if we can't get all the answers now we can still move on. I think we can make it work."

He suddenly looked past the boy, Drake's appearance at the door commanding his attention. Sensing the man was waiting for an invitation to come in, Dee gestured to him with his less injured hand.

"Hey, buddy." Drake greeted him with the warm familiarity of long-time friends. "Just thought you'd want to know that Ryo's awake and asking after you."

Dee looked pained, knowing he had promised his lover he would be back as soon as possible. He turned to the teenage boy. "Bicky, will you and Cal go and see him? I said I'd go back but I can't. Tell him I'm okay, I don't want him worrying."

"No probs." Bicky headed to the door, realising Drake would probably want to talk to Dee alone. Besides, he wanted to see Ryo, check he really was okay.

"And Bic?"

He stopped and looked back at Dee, whose face had broken into a wide smile. "Tell him I love him, and miss him…and…"

"And?"

The smile grew into an all-out grin. "Tell him being hospitalised doesn't get him out of our date."

TBC…