It had all happened so quickly. The panic from everyone deafened the room. Brian had lost a lot of blood from his stomach and the Ambulance had arrived just in the nick of time. Any later and he may have been a goner. Stewie thanked his lucky stars that Brian had only passed out. He travelled with him in the back of the Ambulance holding his hand all the way, never wanting to let go. It was only until Brian had to be wheeled into the Emergency room that Stewie was left standing at the double doors that swung backwards and forwards until they eventually stopped, and Brian was no longer in sight.

Brian woke up to see nothing, his eyes closed, too painful to open just yet. The first thing that gave a hint that he was in hospital was the smell. That awful anti-septic funk that let your nostrils shrivel up and take a backwards turn. The second hint was that his nose and mouth were covered with a mask and that something was poked into the back of his hand. He decided to try and open his eyes.

The light of the sunlight that filled the room was enhanced by the blinding white walls. He could barely see anything in detail. He closed his eyes again and put a hand up to shade them then he tried opening them again. That was better. He took a moment to peer slowly round the room he was in. His sight ended up on the first person he wished to be there. Stewie was engulfed in a magazine that had been left there months ago, and had to take a second look to realise that Brian had woken up. Abandoning the magazine, Stewie rushed over to his better half still in the shirt and jeans he'd worn the previous night.

"Oh Brian!"

"Hey Stewie…"

Stewie grabbed his hand tightly "I thought that you were dead"

"Nah you can't get rid of me that easily…"

Stewie smiled and leant in for a desperately needed kiss. At that point Lois, Peter, Joe walked into the room.

"Brian! You're awake!" Lois made her way over and gave Brian a peck on the cheek leaving the traditional gift of flowers and grapes on the side table.

"Hey guys"

"Jeez Brian you really gave us a fright! It was even scarier than when Vince Vahn took me too his house!" Peter mulled on a flashback while Joe wheeled himself towards the bed.

"Hey Brian, I thought you ought to know that Braden's been sent down for a very long time. Turns out five of the girls he'd kept in the building were trafficked in from abroad"

Brian turned to Stewie then back to Joe

"I'm still going to have to get a statement from you though, who knows he might even get longer, but right now, he can't hurt you, or you" he said looking at Stewie "you're all under police protection now"

"Well Brian we're all glad you're alright. We'll leave you two alone, see you later, and we'll see you downstairs, Stewie" Lois called as she, Peter and Joe left.

"Uh, I thought they'd never leave…" Stewie groaned out loud

Brian smiled "So what did you tell the police?"

"I told them the truth, that Braden had tricked me into working for him, that you and I had left home because of an argument with Lois, that I had sought a home from him for the time being, and that he had threatened me to stay or he'd kill you and my family."

"What about the guns in your room, how did you explain that?"

"I didn't have too, Lois said she'd hid them before the police came, but she told me that I would have to get rid of them"

"That seems fair"

"Yeah…so what are you going to tell them?"

"I'll tell them the truth too, that I had fallen in love with a rather attractive man who I'd never leave, a man who'd I'd stick by through thick and thin, live through life's trials and hostage situations, a man who'd I'd spend the rest of my life with no matter what…"

My name is Stewart Griffin, and I am an ex-male prostitute.

I used to wait during cold nights in outer-Quahog in women's clothes to be picked up by men I barely knew so that they could use me for their own pleasure. The money I used to earn used to pay off my College funds and a house that I was living in that belonged to my Pimp Braden, a man who I would never come to like, especially those times when I was hit for not bringing enough money back. I now have more than enough money from my prostitution days and from the new job I got working at a clothes retail store to pay for a house near my parent's that me and my partner Brian live in. The clothes store can get busy sometimes, and I'll have to work late, but when I come home, I only come home for him, to please only him. He pleases me, not just through sex, but now that he's working too as a bartender on weekends, he can afford to buy me my necessities. Speaking of which I've been deprived of my conditioning spray for too long!

Sticks and Stones

May break my bones

But words will never hurt me

END