Bryce felt the warmth and comfort that the darkness around his mind brought, it wrapped around him like a large blanket. The peaceful silence was disrupted when he heard a faded laughter, calm and collected. It was natural, not quite a while prior, well known, a current chuckling, one that shook him to the core.. "Ohm?" a voice called out, it was his. Through the dark he spotted him, Ryan, he was standing underneath a single spotlight and he…he was talking to a good looking nurse…
A healthier version of Bryce rushed into view holding Ryan's glasses, but the latter seemed upset. During the commotion, the nurse with long, black hair disappeared, Ryan turned away from him and the spotlight shrunk to only cover what was left of Bryce…
A loud noise went off next to him, successfully pulling him into a conscious state of mind and causing the noise to grow louder. Bryce blinked rapidly and turned to face the heart monitor, well tried to before he noticed the tube going down his throat. His eyes widened and he immediately tried to take it off, not liking the increasing discomfort. A sun-kissed hand was placed over his own, stopping his movements. Bryce's line of vision was drawn to the owner and a pained gasp was drawn from his lips, his eyes tearing up. There right next to him was Ryan, a deep frown set on his face, silently staring at him as if he was hideous.
Bryce took in a deep breath as best as he could and slowly removed the hand from its place before going back to removing the tube from his mouth slowly. Once it was removed, he noticed how incredibly dry his throat was and started coughing like crazy, but as if fate was trying to tempt him, Ryan held up a water bottle. Bryce stared at the bottle for a moment before he looked up at those light hazel eyes, the silence between them was starting to drive him up the wall. In between coughs he tried to grab the water bottle, but only managed to knock it out of Ryan's hands.
Scared, Bryce quieted his coughs and retracted his hand from the older man's reach, waiting for a reaction. He hid his hand by placing it close to his chest and curling into himself, away from the other, on the bed. Tears started to fall from his empty, light blue eyes and there was a sharp pain in his arm. Still not getting a reply from Ryan, Bryce's heartbeat spiked and he could hear the heart monitor going crazy right next to him. Ryan calmly placed a hand on Bryce and the effects are almost instantaneous, the heart monitor slows down considerably.
Ryan's eyes soften at the sight of the poor boy, awoken by a nightmare in a hospital, but he was still upset at what he did to get himself in here in the first place. He did feel a little bit guilty, seeing as it was his fault. Ryan managed to destroy what was once a ray of sunshine and turn him into dust, only to be blown away by the wind. All he really wanted now was to hold him close, protect him from people like…him…
Bryce slowly uncurled himself from the fetal position and faced Ryan. He was in deep thought, a scowl adorned his face but his hand still resting lightly over his thigh. Bryce blankly stared at the hand as the heart monitor slowed down even further. Dark thoughts started to plague his mind again and in a silent blind rage, he tore off the IV in his arm, causing it to pop a vein. The anger dissipates as pain erupts through his arm and both of them are brought back into by the screams.
A nurse quickly bursts inside with both Michelle and Krism in a flurry of panic. The nurse immediately checked on Bryce's IV and saw that his arm was turning a deep purple. A sigh escaped her lips and she began treating the popped vein, making sure everything was in order. Soon after, she finished and began scolding Bryce that what he did was very irresponsible, he would have to be kept in the hospital one more day. Once he was cleared to go, he could sign himself out at the front desk.
As soon as she finished, she gave Ryan the stink eye for causing all the commotion seeing as he was the only one in the room at the moment of the incident. Ryan's eyes widened and tried to explain before she got the wrong idea of what happened, but she calmly walked out of the room to retrieve the cart she was hauling around. Ryan followed her out still trying to explain the situation and the door closed behind them, and soon an awkward silence settled between Michelle and Bryce.
A sudden loud thud hit the wall next to Bryce, so he let out a little scream and all of a sudden he could hear muted voices. Listening closely, he could recognize the voices. He turned away, tears glazing his eyes. A sniffle escaped his mouth, making Michelle zero in on him. "Bryce-" Michelle was interrupted by the door opening and more of Bryce's friends coming in and checking if he was alright. The first ones to his side were Jonathan and Mike, behind them were Luke, Anthony, Steven and Evan, all of them had some kind of gift with them.
Jonathan practically shoved the plush teddy bear into his face before clinging to his neck, so Luke tried to gently pry Jonathan off. It didn't work seeing as he only squeezed harder causing Bryce's heartbeat to picked up. Bryce tried to push Jonathan a little in order to breathe and this time he cooperated, tracks of tears barely noticeable on his face. Bryce gave him a small smile and nearly suffered another bear hug from Jonathan if not for Evan. The room was quiet for a while, nobody knowing what to say.
The silence was soon interrupted by the sound of the door clicking behind them all, it was Michelle with a tray of food. Nobody had noticed her leave before, only Krism who had stayed quiet the entire time. Michelle brought forth the tray and shooed Jonathan and Evan away as she gently placed the tray on Bryce's lap. Both males retreated back towards Luke and turned towards Bryce once again. He didn't have the slightest idea to what Michelle was trying to do, but he stared down the bowl of chicken soup in front of him.
Michelle cleared her throat, successfully catching the attention of everyone in the room, including Bryce's. "Guys, I need to talk to Bryce, and if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to talk to him alone… please." She directed her gaze towards Bryce on the bed and everyone followed suit, Bryce feeling self-conscious immediately. Questions showed in everybody's faces, but they left the room nonetheless, giving the two people the privacy they wanted. Bryce knew what was coming, Michelle was the first one with questions since the whole thing started and now she was going to get answers one way or another.
"Bryce." was all that came from Michelle's lips and Bryce started shaking, terror running through his veins. He always thought he'd be dead before he'd get caught doing what he was doing to himself. "Bryce…" Michelle repeated softer, less strained. "Look I just want you to talk to me about it, nothing more, nothing less. I want to know what you're thinking right now. Everything you want me to know depends on what you give me right now, so give me something to wrap my head around." Her English accent became thicker as she struggled to keep her voice up.
Bryce's eyes became teary as the water welled up, but Michelle swiftly moved closer to him, holding one of his hands in hers. He lets out a soft sniffle before he starts to sob loudly. Michelle wrapped him in her arms and softly kisses the crown on his head, managing to provide a small bit of comfort to the younger boy. It took him a while to finally calm down from the small attack he had internally and to find his voice. The sound of Bryce's voice was soft and sad, a melancholic tone that stuck to Michelle like glue from the moment she heard it.
"I Love Him Michelle…"
Her eyes widened as she heard the words, as if she could feel the weight that was on his shoulders hit her in the face. What a hit it was too because he didn't stop talking there, he retold what he has been through. "Michelle, I don't know why I defend his actions but he means the world to me. I knew him before and after, I can see the pain he has when he uses me. Like he can't handle what he does to me slowly, like he's afraid to fall in love. At the beginning it was impossible to see, he would turn up randomly, catch me wherever, whenever at home and pound into me to relieve stress."
Weeks of him coming in and out for a quick fuck changed into lingering moments where he took the time to watch him fall asleep from exhaustion…they changed from a quick fuck to some emotion. "It may just be that I'm young and very, very reckless, some say stupid, but I know what I feel and what I see. I want to try, I want to try and unravel this mystery that is Ryan, I don't want to be a fuck-buddy anymore, I-" Bryce let out a sigh and quickly ate something from the bowl in front of him. As he placed the spoon in his mouth, the door opened to reveal the devil himself, covered in faded lipstick stains. Bryce muttered a nevermind to his motherly friend and looked towards the window.
Ryan's smile faded as he walked into the room and notice the tense and awkward atmosphere of the room. His eyes darted towards Bryce, hoping the taller boy had eaten something, but the bowl looked fairly full. Ryan now wore a crooked frown, hoping that Bryce's friends would of helped him eat something, if anything. Approaching the hospital bed, he reached for Bryce, but got turned down by Michelle who couldn't resist anymore. She slapped Ryan's hands out of the way, the look of frustration replaced by one of silent anger as her face went back to normal.
Ryan was startled by the sudden pain that shocked his system and shouted very loudly, "Hey! What was that for?" He turned to Michelle whose face was pale, posture confident, and eyes set to search and destroy. He swallowed thickly as he stared at her longer, a silent war going on between them, everyone else in the room be damned. "Will you quit eyeing her, you're only agitating her and besides she has her lover," Bryce spoke suddenly, eyes glued to the glass as the sun had finally gone down, the light of day had gone away.
"Bry-" Ryan began to tell him but Bryce simply put his hand, signaling to save it. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Bryce interrupted him again, "Michelle, I'm tired. I'm going to take a nap okay? Sure I'll finish my food and then do that, but if you can, I want to be alone." Michelle nodded and began walking away from the bed, but Ryan was persistent and tried once again to get the younger boy's attention. "BRYCE, I-" Bryce snapped and finally turned to stare Ryan down, "ALONE OHM! Sorry, I meant Ryan."
Shocked at the sudden outburst, Ryan slowly nodding, his face was crestfallen as he turned to leave. Bryce simply began eating the bowl of food in front of him, looking down into it, anger radiating off of him. Michelle took a hold of Ryan's forearm and dragged him outside, "You and me are going to have a small talk outside." Ryan was still silent and let Michelle drag him out of the room, not sure if he would be able to move on his own at this point. Before he left the room completely, Ryan could hear the faint sounds of quiet sobbing coming from the boy on the bed.
"You hurt him." was all Michelle told him immediately when they stepped out of the room, away from Bryce's listening ears. Ryan finally looked up to stare at her with wide and lamentful eyes, "I-" he began to explain, but Michelle was quicker. "Whatever the reason, whatever motive you have against him, please just stop or I'll make you stop. By the way, the lipstick stains is what triggered Bryce back there, might want to clear those off before you ever go near him again…if I allow it…" Finishing off that sentence, Michelle began to walk off, Krism patiently waiting at a chair nearby. She stopped in the middle of the hall, remembering one last thing that she was going to tell the other.
"Oh yeah…I think it'd be best for Bryce if you don't ever show your face around him again. It'd mess with him recovery…"