Chapter Eight: I'll Keep You Safe
WARNING: I sadly don't own QAF:(
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the last chapter!:( I hope you guys have enjoyed it:) as of right now I'm not making a sequel because only one person has asked for one. But I'll still consider one if more people ask for it:) it'll probably be up either during or after my QAF crossover though:)
"Talk"
'Thoughts'
Dreams
Chapter Eight: I'll Keep You Safe
Justin's POV:
I woke up feeling more safe than I had in the past two months. Slowly I opened my eyes to see Brian sleeping in the hospital bed with me. I smiled at him and snuggled more into his warmth.
'Thank God this isn't a dream. I don't think I'd be able to go on if it was.' I thought to myself and tensed when the door slowly opened. 'Please don't let it be Stockwell, please!' I silently begged and sighed a little in relief when Stockwell didn't come through the door. Instead, a tall, though a few inches shorter than Brian, olive skin man with shoulder length light brown hair and what looked to be green eyes came into the room and smiled at me.
I tried to bury further into Brian when he looked at me but he just kept smiling and didn't move. "It's alright Justin, I won't hurt you. My name is Laurence Haven, I'm your doctor." Laurence said and I still clung to Brian and eyed him wearily as he got closer to the bed and started to look at the machines. "Seems like you're still healing with no problems. We've got you on medicine for the cuts that were infected, though the one that has more the most worried is the brand." he said and I stiffened at the mention of the brand on my left side. Instinctively I covered it up and looked t Laurence as if to dare him to come near me.
Shock by my reaction Laurence backed up a little and held his hands out in front of him. "Easy there Justin like I said I'm not going to hurt you, I was simply going over everything I had with your family here since you were asleep when I told them." he said and I looked around and finally noticed the others asleep in random places throughout the room. Debbie was asleep in the chair by the door; Ben, Mikey and Hunter were curled up together on the floor at the foot of the bed; Carl was leaning on Debbie's chair asleep; Ted was curled up on the window sill; the girls and Gus were also curled up together on the floor just a few feet from Mikey; and Em was asleep half on the bed and half on the other chair to my right with his right hand reaching for me slightly indicating he was probably holding my hand before he fell asleep.
I smiled at them all and looked back at Laurence. "How long have they been here?" I asked him and he smiled when I finally talked, even if it was a little hoarse.
"They haven't left your side since they came into the room. I had told them to remain quiet when visiting hours were over and I made sure I was the only one that checked on you through out the night so they wouldn't get caught. Though I think Brian would've murdered the person who tried to make him leave you. You're pretty lucky to have someone like him." Laurence said and I smiled at Brian.
"I am pretty lucky to have him aren't I? I'm glad I got to see him and the others again. There were times that I honestly just wanted to fall asleep and never wake up again. It was so horrible there." I said in a whisper and looked at the floor, missing Laurence's sad filled gaze. I looked back at Brian when I heard him moan and smiled when he went to pull me closer to him. He opened his eyes and stared at me for a few seconds before breaking out into a big grin and pulling me to where I was half laying on him and he hugged me tightly to him.
"I wasn't dreaming, thank God! For a second there I had thought that us finding you was a dream." he whispered into my hair and I snuggled closer to him.
"I'm glad this isn't a dream either." I whispered back and closed my eyes as I took in his familiar scent that always made me feel safe whenever I caught a whiff of it.
Just then Brian a glimpse at Laurence and smiled at him. "How's everything looking with my baby? Will he heal without problems?" Brian asked and I smiled a little when he called me 'his baby.' I've always loved when he called me 'his baby' or 'his Sunshine,' shit, I just love it when he calls me his.
I snuggled into him and listened to his and Laurence's conversation, "Like I was telling Justin I think he'll heal just fine. With all the medicine helping with the infected areas that caused him to get sick and if his wounds are cleaned properly, I'd say he should be completely healed within a month and a half, minus the broken ribs, collar bone, and arm off course." he said and smiled at Brian.
I looked down at myself in shock. 'How the hell did I miss the cast on my arm and the bandages everywhere?!' (How are broken ribs and broken collar bones wrapped? Are they just wrapped tightly in bandages? Well, for this story they're going to be lol) I thought to myself and looked up at Brian who was smirking at me.
"Just realized that you're all wrapped up huh?" he asked in a playfully tone and I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Sorry for not keeping track of my injuries and when they're wrapped." I said and pouted making Brian laugh and kiss me which I immediately deepened as best as I could given my current state. We pulled back and smiled at each other and Brian placed a hand on my cheek and I instinctively leaned into it and he smiled brighter.
"I've missed being able to hold you like this Sunshine." he said and I smiled at him and snugged even closer, if that was at all possible, and sighed contently.
"I've missed being in your arms and feeling safe." I whispered and his arms tightened around me. Before he could respond though Em made a noise beside me and sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes while he yawned. Once he was done he looked at us and smiled when he saw that I was awake and smiling a little.
"Good morning baby, glad to see that you're OK." he said and I smiled at him and grabbed his hand that was still reached out to me and squeezed it a little.
"I'm glad to see you." I said and he smiled and leaned over and hugged me gently before sitting back in his chair and started to talk to Laurence.
A few minutes later everyone else started to wake up and they all came over to the bed and smiled at me.
"Glad to see you up boy wonder, I honestly thought you'd be the only one still asleep. But I'm glad I'm wrong." he said and I smiled at him.
"Papa!" I heard coming from Mel's arms and before I knew what was happening I had my arms full of a four year old. "I'm glad we got you back Papa! Mama said a mean guy wouldn't give you back but we got you back from him! I'm happy Papa's back!" Gus said and hugged me tightly. I smiled at him with tears in my eyes and hugged him back just as tightly and never wanted to let him go. I did, however, loosen my hold a little on him when he accidently hit a painful spot.
"Ouch!" I hissed out and Gus looked at me in surprise and everyone else looked like they wanted to spring on me and ask what was wrong and Brian tightened his hold on me slightly.
"Did I hurt you Papa? I'm sorry." Gus said with little tears coming into his eyes. I smiled at him and pulled him closer.
"You didn't hurt me Gussy, my side got hit in a weird way and that's what hurt. You didn't do anything." I told him to reassure him while also telling the others what was wrong and where I was hurt. They all stiffened when they understood and Brian and Em looked ready to kill.
"Gus honey why don't you come to me and let others see Papa." Linds said and Gus looked at her sadly.
"OK mommy." he said and slowly got out of my lap and gave me one more hug before he went over to Linds who picked him up and held him. Hunter then came up and smiled at me.
"Glad to see you back with us Uncle." he said with a smirk and I laughed at him.
"Glad to see you still calling me that." I said and he smiled at me. One by one they all either came up to me or placed a hand on my leg, arm, or hand and told me how glad they were to see me. I was so caught up with everyone that I missed Brian climbing out of the bed and silently walking out of the room following Laurence and missed Em's worried gaze that followed them before he looked back at me.
A few minutes later I did noticed that he was gone and I started to get a little scared. "Where's Bri?" I asked and everyone, but Em, looked around the room to try and find him.
"When the hell did he leave and how did none of us catch it?! I mean he was sitting right beside boy wonder!" Mikey said loudly making me flinch and curl into a ball. Mikey looked at me sadly and walked up to me. "Sorry boy wonder, I didn't mean to scare you like that." he said and tried to place a hand on the top of my head but I flinched away from him and curled into myself more, ignoring the pain my ribs, collar bone and side.
The others looked at each other with worry and Deb came up to me and tried to place a hand on my knee but I flinched from her too and whimpered a little in fear. Deb backed up from me and everyone looked at each other in worry, though I missed the looks. "Where's Brian?" I asked again only my voice came out as a whisper this time.
"We don't know honey, but I'll send someone to go find him, OK?" still not fully there with the others I turned to the voice that I recognized and looked to see who it was.
"Em?" I asked in fear and he smiled at me and nodded. He reached out to touch me but I threw myself at him and buried my face into his chest. For some reason I always felt safe in Em's arms too, though not as safe as I feel in Brian's arms, I know nothing will get me in them like Brian's.
Em was a little shocked at first but he slowly wrapped me in a tight embrace and looked at the others, "Will someone go find Brian. I think it's a little obvious that he'll have some mental healing to do as well and it may be longer before he's himself again. It's also obvious he can't be away from Brian for long periods of time, so can someone please go find him." Em said though I wasn't really listening. I was more focusing on not going back to that place and keeping myself in reality.
Mikey left and not a half a second later Brian was running through the door and straight to me. "What is baby? Are you OK?" he asked with worry in his voice. I didn't give him an answer, instead I got out of Em's arms and threw myself at Brian and sighed happily when his arms went around me tightly. I looked back at the others and smiled at them feeling a little embarrassed.
"Sorry I scared you guys." I said and everyone stared at me and gave me a little smile.
"Don't worry about it sweetie, we're just glad you're OK again. Though we do need to make sure Brian's always close by in case you get scared again." Deb said and I smiled at her and snuggled more into Brian who moved me to sit on his lap while he leaned against the head board. The family, being the awesome people that they are, instantly changed the subject away from my little scene and turned it to a welcome home party they were wanting to throw for me. I smiled and listened to them and before long I was getting tired and I fell asleep with Brian running his hands through my hair.
Brian's POV:
I looked down and noticed Justin had gone to sleep. 'Good, now I can tell the others what Laurence had told me.' I thought and looked at the others and cleared my throat softly to gain their attention but not wake up my baby. When they were all looking at me a began.
"The reason I wasn't in here was because Laurence, who went to go check on another patient a minute before Mikey found me, had asked me to sneak away to tell me something." I said and looked at Justin to make sure he was still asleep.
"What did he tell you?" Em asked and I sighed and looked at the others with sad eyes and continued to run my hand through Justin's hair.
"He wanted to tell me that we was worried about the brand. I know he keeps telling us that but now he's given me a reason behind his worry." I said and Debbie spoke up.
"What's he worried about?" she asked and everyone looked at me with worry in their eyes. I sighed and continued.
"Before I begin again I need everyone to promise not to interrupt me, OK." I said and they all nodded, "Laurence is worried because he's had it since the begin of these two months and it's not healed right at all. To top it off that was one of the things that was infected, it was actually the most infected thing on his body." I paused and saw their eyes widen. "He had said that before the 'S' was branded onto him Stockwell had carved it into his skin, apparently he had used a rusted knife to make it more painful and to make it get infected quicker and do damage on the inside. Laurence thinks he had switched blades with the one he used for the other cuts." I said and Mikey interrupted me.
"That son of a bitch! I'll kill!" I yelled and I glared at him.
"Shut the fuck up Michael! Not only did you interrupt me when I asked you not to, but you could've woken Justin up!" I hissed and he lowered his head in shame. I sighed and looked at him again. "Though I am happy you're so protective of Justin, thank you." I asked and he smiled at me. I smiled back before going on, "As I was saying, that's what he thinks. He's worried that it'll cause Justin some problems down the road since it didn't heal properly and is looking like it never will. He's worried that'll cause him to get very sick in the near future." I said and brought Justin closer to me at the thought of him having to go through more shit.
The others when shocked into silence. Each of them taking it in and trying to make since of it. "So you're saying, that Stockwell not only branded him, but made it to where he could very well die even if he doesn't kill him there. He still technically does if he gets sick?!" Ben whispered yelled voicing everyone's thoughts. I nodded sadly and looked at my Sunshine who was still sleeping in my arms.
'I get you back from that bastard only to probably still lose you to him. That bastard's gonna die!' I thought to myself and pulled him even closer. We sat there in silence for awhile. Some crying or fighting back tears, others wanted to hit something, namely Stockwell, and some just sat there in shock. Gus had no idea what I meant by that and was confused as to why we were all sad, and no one had the heart to tell him why.
"We're not going to tell Justin about this." Em said surprising us all.
"And why not? Shouldn't he know what's going on with his body so he can be more careful from now on?" Deb asked him with annoyance in her voice. The annoyance quickly turned to sadness when Em looked up at her with tears in his eyes and anger.
"If we tell him, then his mental healing may take longer which may affect his physical healing. The bastards already done so much to him, we don't want to add more onto Justin's plate to worry about. We'll make sure he's more careful and watch him for any signs that the brand is bothering him. Since it'll never heal properly it will always bother him if he does something to aggravate it. No one's to tell Justin, got it." he said and everyone nodded in understanding. Em turned and started to pet Justin's hair while he silently cried and the others fell back into silence watching our Sunshine with sadness.
A few minutes later Justin whimpered slightly and we all looked at him with worry. That worry quickly turned to fear when he started to scream and wail his arms everywhere.
Justin's POV:
Brian and I were relaxing at the loft after just making love on the couch. I snuggled into his said and sighed when his arm tightened around me. "I love you Sunshine." he said and I smiled up at him and leaned up to kiss him on the lips.
I love you too Bri." I said and he smiled at me and we went back to watching the movie. About thirty minutes later Brian's arm that was around me tightened more to where it was kinda painful. "Bri, loosen your grip! You're hurting me!" I said without looking up at him and he loosened his grip. Ten minutes later he tightened it again and hit the brand on my side painful. "Ouch! Brian what the fuck was th-" I stopped when I finally looked up at him only to see that it wasn't Brian.
I was Stockwell.
I tried to push him away but his grip tightened making the brand throb and making me winch in pain and he laughed evilly at me. He leaned down close to my ear and spoke in a whisper.
"You will always be mine. This brand proves it. No matter where you go you will always be mine." he said and looked back at me and smirked before pulling his hand back and punching the brand as hard as he could making me scream.
I kept screaming and wailing my arms trying to get him to let go and to quit punching the brand. But hands kept trying to hold me down and I was getting even more scared.
"JUSTIN! Baby wake up, it's only a dream! I'm here baby, I'm right here! He can't get to you anymore! Justin, please wake up!" I heard Brian beg making me stop my struggles and breath hard.
"B-Brian?" I asked in a hoarse voice and opened my eyes slowly. I looked up and saw Brian's worried face looking down at me.
"Thank God you're awake." he sighed in relief and pulled me into his arms. I started to sob and he held me even closer to him.
"I-I was s-s-so scared Bri! S-Stockwell s-s-said that I w-was his a-and would always b-be his. H-he kept punching the brand to p-prove that I was h-his." I said between sobs and I heard the others gasp and Brian's hold tightened making me feel very safe despite my fear at the moment.
"You're not his baby. You never were and you never will be. You're mine and mine alone! I'll make sure he never sees you again and I'll protect you no matter what!" he declared and I looked up at him and smiled and snuggled more into him and felt my eyes getting heavier.
"Sleep baby." he said and I looked at him a little.
"What if I have another nightmare?" I asked and my fear rose slightly. Brian smiled and placed my head back onto his shoulder and held me and tight as he dared to.
"You won't have another nightmare, I promise. I'll chase every single one of them away. So go to sleep baby, I'll keep you safe." he whispered and I smiled and finally allowed my eyes to close.
Taking in Brian's warmth, love, comfort, and protection.
'As long as Brian's always here I know I'll always be safe.' I thought and fell into a dreamless sleep.
And there you go! The last chapter in I Will Find You! YAY!:) Thank you to everyone who had read and/or reviewed my story:) I'm planning on posting the crossover after I finish my HP story!:) also if you guys want a sequel let me know. I've set it up to where I can have one if you want one but to where it's also finished if I don't (At least I think I ended it that way lol)! So let me know if you want one cause right now its looking like I'm not making one lol:) be on the look out for the crossover! I'm pretty sure none of you will guess what I'm crossing QAF with and I'm pretty sure no one's done it either lol:) hope you guys liked the ending of the story and the story in general!:)