Chapter Two-Hundred and Ninety-Six

Ryan pinched off one of the IV leads that was connected to John's veins, disconnecting it so that he could move John to take him to get an MRI done and a few x-rays to make sure his neck was healing correctly. "You ready, Sport?" He asked, helping John out of his bed and into a wheelchair.

"Let's just get it over with." He glared at nothing as Ryan wheeled him through the halls to the MRI room.

Ryan placed a heart monitor on John's finger, steadying him as he moved to lay on the MRI table. "You're alright?" He asked, noticing the spike in John's heartrate when he started to roll him into the tube.

John nodded, letting Ryan adjust the detached IV lines in his arms. "Just don't like tight places." He pushed the memory of Jacob locking him in a closet for days on end to the back of his brain. "That's all"

Ryan bit the inside of his cheek, able to see that John was fighting a demon at his door. "Do you want a sedative?" He asked, praying that he wouldn't have to force a medication into him when the attack did take over. Usually John could keep them at bay, but with his mind and body so weak at the moment, he probably wouldn't be able to fight this one.

"No." John closed his eyes, letting Ryan pop a tape into the player for his headphones. "I don't want any more to do with those." He let Ryan put the headphones on his ears, focusing on his breath as he listened to the music play.

Ryan started the MRI, watching John's heartrate spike on the screen. "Shut it down." He ordered, standing and filling a syringe with Propofol and quickly injecting it into John's IV. He sighed in relief as John's heart evened out, returning to the monitoring room to keep an eye on him. "That should keep him under for a little bit."

Clarissa rung her hands in her lap, watching as the clock ticked in the waiting room. She counted the seconds, minutes, and hours that John was kept from her. She knew he was safe, but it seemed like every time he needed to be put under, that he was that much closer to death. It was unsettling to see him so still. At home he was always moving, always causing trouble, always finding some way to drive them all batshit crazy… but when he was sedated… all of that went away.

Ryan stepped into the waiting room, smiling as he laid eyes on Clarissa. "He's recovering just fine." He sat beside her and Thomas, excited to share the news. "He can go home as soon as he wakes up all the way."

Jessica snuck into John's hospital room, grinning when she saw that he was still out cold. She stepped closer to him, combing her fingers through his hair before she leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. She ran her hand down his chest, feeling every cord of muscle and scar tissue in his body. She paused at his left hand, able to feel his ring on his finger. She pulled the jewelry off of his hand, before she moved lower on his body. She teased his member with soft fingers, kissing his lips, cheek, jaw, neck, throat, chest, abs, and every part of him she could before she was pulled away. "What the fuck?" She asked, glaring at Clarissa as the older woman pushed her out of the room.

"Give me his ring." She ordered, taking the silver band from her. "Go home." She turned on the teen, marching back into John's room to wait for him to wake up.