Thanks so much for the feedback! Please keep it coming! Here's chapter 2!
Commissioner Berkley Rose stood in the doorway of Detective Laytner's hospital room, while cold ice blue eyes focused on Ryo's hunched body. The blonde was sitting in the dark, among the beeps and blinking lights of the hospital room, earnestly looking at his lover while stroking a limp hand. He hadn't yet noticed that Rose was standing in the door.
"You know that he has to be questioned as soon as his fever goes down. Otherwise we risk loosing our murderers," Rose said with not so much as an inquiry to how Dee was doing. Ryo's gut wrenched as he found the cold voice belonged to Rose; his boss, and Dee's biggest rival.
"Yes, I am aware of that. Chief stopped by earlier to check on his Detective in addition to telling me that minor detail, although he did it a lot nicer than you." Ryo answered frostily. Brown eyes narrowed suspiciously as Rose took a step closer, his pale hand never leaving Dee's.
"I'm not worried about him half as much as I'm worried about you. How are you holding up? With him in a fragile mental state, who is going to take care of you?" Ryo snorted in disgust as he turned his back to Rose, reaching down instead to brush black strands of hair our of his partner's face.
"Just leave. You should know by now that I am Dee's and nothing, nothing is going to change that. So just get the hell out and stop wasting your time." With a sigh, Rose left the small hospital room, leaving the Japanese-American Detective shaking from barely controlled rage.
"How dare he," Ryo whispered to himself, still trying to restrain the tears that had been threatening to fall all day long. With a shaky breath his tired body turned to glace at the clock. The red numbers proclaimed that it was nine o'clock at night and visiting hours were far past over. Fortunately the nurse in charge of Dee's care knew both of the Detectives well and had bent the rules in Ryo's favor.
JJ and Drake had stayed with him as long as they could, to keep him company, but had to leave to cover the shift him and Dee would not be able to make. Bikky had been called and told to spend the night at Cal's, eagerly agreeing after asking Ryo if everything was alright. He had told the sixteen year old that Dee was in the hospital but he was doing okay, hopefully he would be discharged in the morning.
A shiver ran through the blonde's body as he thought about Dee being brought into the hospital by way of ambulance. When they were halfway there, the frightened man had regained consciousness and started to flail about in desperation and fear. The paramedics were forced to tie down Dee's arms and legs, so that he would not cause any harm to himself or others for the rest of the ride to St. Paul General Hospital.
The older Detective spoke to his lover in soothing tones all the way there, heart wrenching at each little whimper that escaped from chapped lips and every tear that rolled down dirty cheeks. Green eyes focused on nothing and darted wildly around as the paramedics moved around the cramped cab, tired limbs still straining in vain against the leather confines that held them in place.
Once they had reached the hospital, Dee was immediately whisked away for a check-up, in addition to a thorough cleaning. After an hour of waiting, the doctor declared that Dee was fine, except for a few bruises and scratches, the worst of which looked like a stray bullet had clipped his side. The battered Detective had been sedated to keep him calm, with hope the deep sleep would do him a lot of good.
Ryo grimaced as his stomach loudly complained about being ignored for the past eight hours, he hadn't so much as moved from Dee's side since he was settled in his room. Part of him was afraid to leave his lover, lest he wake up and find that Ryo was not there, but on the other hand, he was starving. The bagel and juice he had that morning was not enough to sustain him.
The blonde had resolved to suffer through the hunger for the sake of his lover when a shadow came across the doorway. Brown eyes looked up to see his son holding a bag up with a drink, a wide smile on his face. "Jeeze, I could hear you rumbling from the hallway!" Ryo smiled and accepted the bag from his son, digging in to find a cold cut sub, some chips and a cookie.
"Thank you so much Bikky, you really are a life saver." The Detective quickly embraced his son before attacking the food, polishing it off in ten minutes flat. While Ryo was eating, Bikky crossed the room to look at Dee, his chest tightening as he looked upon his still form, blue eyes softening with concern. Even though the two of them argued and bickered a lot, the teen still thought of Dee as his Dad and it hurt him to see the ebony haired man in such a weak state.
"This is more than a bullet wound isn't it?" Bikky asked carefully, not wanting to pry too much into police affairs, he knew there was always a limit to what his Dads could tell him. Blue eyes looked over to Ryo as the Detective nodded sadly, taking a deep breath before telling Bikky what he knew. The tears that the blonde had been holding in all day finally came out, streaming from sad brown eyes as he told Dee's story. Tan arms wrapped around his shoulders as his words caught in his throat, the soothing voice of his sixteen year old son offering what comfort he could.
"It's gonna be ok Dad, you'll see. Dee has pulled through much worse. Plus, he's got the greatest guy in the whole world to love him, so you know with your love and attention he's going to be himself in no time."
"I know Biks; I'm just scared for him. What he saw….I can't imagine going through that. Children, the youngest being five…it is horrible." Bikky nodded in agreement, knowing how much Dee adored children, and how he would do anything in his power to help a kid in need. "I hope he wakes up soon." Ryo reached over to brush Dee's hair out of his eyes, smiling as the young Detective unconsciously pressed his face against his warm hand.
"Oh don't worry, he will. He'll be back to his loud, obnoxious, bossy self before you know it," Bikky stated with a frown. Ryo laughed at his son's assessment of his lover and punched him lightly in the arm.
"Oh come on, you make it sound like I'm in love with an ogre or something."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, but you are. He's just the rare good-looking ogre," The teen said with a smile, happy to see his father laughing again.
"You should go on home kiddo, I'll be okay." Bikky went out in the hall way and picked up a chair from outside the door, only to place it next to Ryo's.
"Yea, I know you'll be okay. But it doesn't mean I gotta leave. Plus, you might need a midnight snack and I know that you don't want to leave Ogre here by himself," Bikky said as he settled in his chair, trying to get as comfortable as possible. Ryo chuckled and affectionately stroked blonde hair out of Bikky's blue eyes.
"Yea, you're right. Thanks Biks."
"No problem Dad."
Foggy green eyes opened to a rising sun splashing color on a white wall, two shadows falling across the light. Dee turned his head to see Ryo and Bikky huddled together, both asleep and breathing gently. He cautiously checked his body for injuries, puzzled when he found that everything was fine, other than a few sore spots. As the haze from the sedatives faded away, the Detective remembered what had occurred the other day and choked, his test tightening as he fought to breathe.
Ryo woke up as the steady beep of Dee's heart monitor increased sharply, the change in sound dragging him from sleep. He saw his lover sitting up, eyes wide and hands clutched to his throat, small choking noises coming from his mouth.
"Dee!" Ryo thumped the Detective's back as he quickly told Bikky to get one of the nurses. "Oh God Dee, breathe, please breathe!" The young man's breath continued to hitch in his throat, tears streaming from scared green eyes. The nurses ran into the room with an oxygen mask and quickly pressed it to Dee's mouth, ordering Ryo to rub on his bare chest to loosen his lungs. With a gasp Dee took in a lungful of air, his deathlike grip on Ryo's shirt loosening as air flowed through his lungs. Ryo sighed in relief and rubbed comforting circles on Dee's back, grateful that a crisis was averted.
Doctor Gordon walked into the room and smiled at the occupants, checking Dee's monitors before turning to the quiet man. "Hello Dee, how are you feeling today?"
Ryo watched as Dee opened and closed his mouth, making the same small choking noise that had scared him earlier. Ryo worriedly looked at the Doctor as the man sat down in front of Dee, a frown marring his gentle features.
"Dee, look into my eyes, don't look around you, and just look at me." Bikky and Ryo looked confused as the doctor moved Dee's head from side to side with his hands. "Okay, now Dee, I want you to say 'Hello' for me, can you do that?" Just like before, the little choking noises came when words were supposed to flow from Dee's lips. With a sigh the doctor stood up and turned to Ryo, a troubled frown on his face.
"This is worse than I expected. Dee is suffering from a mild form of Conversion Disorder, also known as Hysteria; a highly emotional state due to some kind of trauma. The stress of that event changes the mind, and in turn affects physical functions. Common side effects are vivid flashback moments, alienation, social withdrawal, paralysis, spacey behavior, and in Dee's case, loss of speech." Ryo's brown eyes widened as he quickly turned to look at his lover, who was currently plucking at the thin sheets covering his body. "He may or may not recover his voice, there are medicines to help the effects of hysteria but the cure lies within the patient. Some find the will to fight through it, while others do not. The best thing for him is to avoid agitation but to keep him involved. I also advise that he start seeing a psychiatrist as soon as possible."
Ryo nodded numbly as he continued to look at Dee, mind still not registering the fact he might never hear Dee talk again. "Dee?" The blonde said quietly, hoping that this was some nightmare and Dee would simply say it was a joke and babble away happily.
Lifeless green eyes turned to meet his while restless hands continued to pluck at the sheet. "Oh Dee," Ryo held back tears as he embraced his lover, afraid the young detective wouldn't know who he was. Dee started to shake in Ryo's arms as his mind registered who was holding him. Tan hands slowly rose to grip the back of Ryo's shirt as tears started to flow from green eyes, a need buried in their depths. The blonde placed kisses on Dee's face and rocked him back and forth, including Bikky in the group hug. The trio didn't notice as Doctor Gordon left the room, their attention focused on comforting the broken man between them, and each other.
That's a wrap. I don't know much about Conversion Disorder/Hysteria, so if the symptoms are wrong forgive me. C&C much appreciated!