Getting Trist clothed into blue green scrubs and into a wheelchair took a frightfully small effort. The slender man moved when guided to but not on his own and through it all, he gave no indication that he was aware of anything. The bruises, the few scratches and cuts Val found, set a burning anger into him that had him snapping at nurses and doctors alike. They tried to get him to sign Trist into their care, he refused. They tried to talk him into having Trist restrained into the wheelchair, again, he refused. Even the nurse that walked him down to the ER exits who tried to help push the chair and unresponsive man, Val pushed aside.

Val wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing, he just was reacting, moving. He knew he had to get Trist out of the hospital but he wasn’t thinking much further ahead then that. It wasn’t until they were down to the ER level that Val knew what he had to do.

The man that walked by was one of the better paramedics Val knew. Dark hair shaved military short and going white at too young of an age, Tom had seen more horrible things than most men really in the military. They’d become casual friends when Val worked with Tom’s suicidal younger sister a few years back.

“Tom!” Val called out and the dark head spun around.

A smile, bright and dazzling broke the medic’s face, it was the smile that got the man so much attention from the fairer sex. “Hey Val, what’re you doing over here?” But his eyes slid to where Trist was slumped into the wheelchair.

“Are you heading over to Mercy? I need a transport.”

Tom’s smile slid away a fraction. He took in the flustered nurse and the raw anger in Val’s tone and face as much as the patient being wheeled out before he nodded. “Sure, rigs out here. I don’t think Jerry’ll mind at all.” Tom came over and brushed the nurse aside and took pushing the chair away from Val.

Val paused near the ambulance bay doors and turned to the nurse. “My lawyer will be in touch, you’d better figure out how a helpless man was beaten under your care.” He didn’t wait for her answer, just gripped the medical records closer and followed Tom into his ambulance.

There was a pause while Tom spoke with Jerry, a cute blonde woman in her late twenties. It was obviously Jerry’s day to drive and she tossed a few glances toward Val and Trist before nodding and climbing in behind the wheel. Tom took over and Val let him, it was the medic’s world and his say was law, but as the ambulance pulled away, heading from one hospital to another, Val found himself with nothing to do.

“Friend of yours?” Tom asked as he ran a few routine checks on Trist. He moment they’d gotten Trist onto the gurney, the man had curled up again.

“Yes, his cousin is an OR nurse at Mercy, he’s been shot. I’m going to have him transferred over as soon as he can be moved.” That was a must, Gavan would get better then the best care. A hospital always took care of their own.

“Psych patient?” Tom asked nodding to Trist.

“It’s complicated, his care is specialized, Bently screwed up.” He watched Tom carefully checking the still form for broken bones. “Anything?”

Tom shook his head. “Nothing obvious but someone worked him over. Mercy will take care of him.” Tom soothed the tangled hair for a moment, tender with patients so obviously in need.

“He’s not staying, I just want to make sure he’s okay before taking him home.”

“You know, I heard something from last night. Two white males, one was shot the other was catatonic. Meg and Alan were on the call.”

“I haven’t heard anything yet.”

“Apparently the one shot up was pretty bad, how’s he doing now?”

“He’s going to be fine.” Val knew he was being wishful by saying it but it was okay. Gavan would be fine, end of story, because there were no other options.

Val wished he was like Trist and a nail biter or, maybe, that he’d started smoking to be a rebel as a teen. Either habit would give him something to do while waiting for Dr. Steve Watchson to finish his exam on Trist. It had only taken a moments consideration to agree to Steve’s request to keep Trist sedated while being examined, Val figured it would be easier for Trist to be totally unconscious instead of in the near comatose haze he appeared to be in.

He’d kept himself busy for the first hour with mindless tasks. He’d spoken to Gavan’s co-workers in the OR and arranged for him to be transported to Mercy as soon as possible. There was the issue of Trist’s personal items, bagged up when he‘d arrived at Bently. Val dug in them to get Trist’s set of keys out, to check to make sure wallet and watch and such were not missing. It was all little things and they were almost enough to fill the time but not quite.

It’d left him pacing in a waiting room, the lighting low and sedate, wishing he could bite his nails in nerves.

“Val?”

“Steve.” He spun around at the soft spoken doctor’s entrance. “How is he?”

“We’re taking him down for a scan, just to be safe, but he should be okay.”

The breath Val hadn’t known he was holding rushed out. “Good.”

“You’re his legal caretaker?”

“Apparently.” Val fished the paper out of his pocket. Notarized and signed by both Trist and Gavan, a copy had been on both men. It gave Val proxy to make choices for either of them in an emergency. The trust they’d placed in him was shocking.

Steve waved off seeing it. “As you requested, I checked him over. I documented everything, Val, they beat him after he had the straight jacket on. There’s bruises from where the buckles were pressed into his skin. There’s a cut on his foot, it’s several days old but I cleaned it properly and glued it shut, it’ll heal faster now and I had to put three stitches in a laceration on the back of his head. He was mildly dehydrated but we’ve fixed that with in IV drip and his body temp was low but he’s warmed up now so there’s no worry about that. There doesn’t appear to be anything broken, the scan will confirm it though. His pupils are reactive, or as reactive as they should be with the sedatives in his system.” Steve smiled gently but Val stayed tense. “I checked him for sexual assault.”

The idea hadn’t even occurred to Val but the mention made his heart freeze. “And?”

“Negative, however, there’s evidence of scarring from a previous incident. It was medically treated but there’s no record of it in his medical files, just thought, if you’re his head shrinker, you should know.”

Val’s heart started again. “Thanks Steve.”

“Anyway, it’ll be a little while before he’s done with the scan, I’ll check it over right away and you can get him home. In the meanwhile, there’s some police officers here, they want to talk to you about what happened. I told them, they had to wait until I was done with you.” Steve smiled and let his eyes drag over Val a bit to intimately for it to be friendly.

If Val hadn’t been so stressed and worried he would have blushed. “Thanks, Steve.”

“When this blows over, you can buy me coffee to thank me.”

“Sure.” He nodded and ignored the implications of being hit on by another man.

The doctor left and the pair of police detectives joined the room. They were brief with what had happened, saying only that Trist and Gavan had been walking between stores across town and been mugged by unknown assailants. Gavan had been shot, though no one around had reported hearing a gunshot. They’d been called because of Trist’s screaming, that had drawn attention.

“So, Mr. York, what’s your relationship to them?” The one officer asked, the one Val had pegged as the good cop because it was pretty clear they pair had a well practice method of which one asked which questions.

“I’m…” What was he to them. “I’m a friend.”

“You sure?” Bad Cop asked, frowning at Val’s hesitation.

Val sighed and figured damn the torpedoes, cops would learn everything in time anyway. It was always better to be honest right away so when they learned the truth it didn’t make it suspicious. “No, we’re friends but Trist and I are more.” Were they? Did one night make them more? Val knew Trist meant more to him then just a friend, it didn’t seem to matter now if Trist returned those feelings or not.

“He’s your patient?” Good cop asked gently.

“Not really, my background helps dealing with him but Trist and I have been… more.” He couldn’t quite bring himself to say the word.

“He’s your lover?” Good Cop asked.

Val just nodded. “Not formally, we’re just friends.”

They asked if there had been any fights lately, any troubles in their relationship and it made Val blush but he answered honestly as much as he could. They wanted to know where Val had been Friday and he’d told them he’d been in their own stations the entire day and at a local diner at the time of the shooting. They asked about Wally, if maybe Val was more then just friends with Gavan and maybe Wally hadn’t liked the idea. On and on the questions came, questions Val hadn’t even wanted to think about, let alone talk about, concerning what may or may not be between them. When the Good Cop let the Bad Cop know they were done, Val felt exhausted. Worn out by embarrassment, stress and nerves, he just wanted to get Trist home.

 

Trist’s scan came back clean and Val was allowed to sign him out but getting him home was no small task. The sedatives were wearing off but Trist was still un-reactive. Stuck between trying to get Trist into a cab or begging help from another ambulance, Val took the ambulance. Fortunately, Gavan had a lot of friends all over the hospital and it wasn’t difficult to find someone willing to help Val out.

Fortunately, by the time they reached their apartment building, Trist could stand on his own and if lead he’d walk so long as the person leading him was walked. The cold, evening air had Trist shivering as soon as the back of the ambulance was open but he went where he was led without trouble. In the elevator, Val slid his arm around Trist’s waist when the slender man swayed. To his surprise, Trist turned of his own power and leaned against Val.

The small move carried a relief greater then the action and made Val smile slightly. He petted the tangled hair and pulled Trist closer. “It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re almost home.”

He took them to Trist’s apartment, hoping the surroundings would comfort Trist and help shake him from whatever he was stuck in. It took a little experimenting to figure out which key on Trist’s ring opened the door, all the while with Trist still pressed against him. Eventually he found the right key and the door swung open, Val flicked on the lights and kicked the door shut behind them.

“Here we are. Are you hungry?” He asked, knowing Trist wasn’t willing or able to answer yet but hoping the normal questions and known voice would reach in to him. “I saw Gavan, he looks okay. They say he’ll be fine.”

He tried to step away from Trist but the man’s hands rose and dug into Val’s side. “It’s okay, shhhhh, I’m not leaving.” He wrapped his arms around the chilled body, shaking now from cold or nerves and stroked back and hair. “Shhhh, I’m right here.”

They stood that way, barely a half dozen steps inside the front door. Val held Trist close to his body and soothed as he would a frightened child. Trist made no sounds, his hands relaxed, unable to continue to cling to Val, but he tucked tightly against the comforting warmth.

“You’re dirty and you smell like the hospital. How about we get you cleaned up, then we can settle in and get some sleep. The hospital will call with any news about Gavan, so there’s no point just staring at the phone.” Val pulled away from the exhausted man and lead him toward his bedroom.

“A nice hot shower, hot enough to scald you, that’ll do you some good. Then we’ll take a nap. You’ll feel better when you’re clean and rested. Come on now.”

He led Trist into his bathroom and turned the water on to warm up. It was easy to strip the clothes off, Val was pretty sure Trist was helping more. The signs were small but bit by bit, Trist was coming back. Val peeled off his own clothes and this time they both went naked under the hot water.

Trist sighed as the shower pelted down over him and the blank eyes slid shut. Another small sign but Val noted each one as he soaped them both up and rinsed both of them off under the spray. When he shampooed Trist’s hair, the slender man started trembling and Val rinsed the soap from the straight hair taking care of the stitched wound and so that soap didn’t drift into eyes. He quickly soaped his own hair and rinsed it off but when he glanced up, Trist’s eyes were watching him. They still were blank but they were tracking his movements now.

Val smiled at the growing signs of life and got the water off. Getting them out of the shower and dried off was easier now then the first time. He was getting good at this. All the while he talked to Trist, random, pointless things but all said in a low, soothing voice. He got them into Trist’s bedroom and dug out clean clothes for the other man, leaving Val unsure just what he was going to put on himself.

It was easy to get the clothes onto the unresisting man, even the shirt slid over bruised flesh easily. Still wearing the towel and nothing more, Val snagged the hair brush from the dresser top and gently brushed the tangles from Trist’s hair.

“I don’t think Gavan would mind my borrowing a pair of pants, do you?” The brush slid through the smoothed hair, flicking damp droplets free. “I’ll be right back, let me run over and find something to put on.” He dropped the brush back onto the dresser and left Trist sitting alone on the edge of his bed, still trembling slightly.

It felt odd, digging into Gavan’s closet and drawers, picking out clothes to wear but nothing of Trist’s was likely to fit. The man was just too slender, and while Val was taller then both men, at least Gavan was closer to the same size as him. He found a loose pair of flannel pants, a plain pair of socks and a t-shirt that was snug across the shoulders but fit well enough before he hurried back to Trist’s room. On the way, Val made sure the apartment was locked and he grabbed the phone from the counter top.

“I have the phone in case they call. How about it? Want to try getting some sleep?” There were dark circles under eyes that looked sunken, there was no doubt Trist was exhausted.

Trist’s head swung up to meet Val as he spoke. His eyes tracked and focused for the first time. “Val?” He whispered softly, uncertain of the reality of the situation.

Val hurried over and sat beside Trist on the bed. He brushed loose, wet hair back. “I’m here. Do you want anything?” He knew better then to make a big deal of the softly spoken word. Trist was setting his own pace, fast or slow, and Val was doing his part by accepting it.

Black rimmed eyes scanned Val, blinking rapidly. “You’re real?”

Val leaned forward and brushed his lips across Trist’s. It was a quick kiss but those were the only ones he was really comfortable with. “I’m real.”

Goosebumps broke our across Trist’s skin and he was trembling again, shaking. His breath caught in his throat as he gave a startled little sobbing moan. “Real.” He repeated before pressing forward to bury his face against Val’s neck. “Oh God.”

Val soothed the damp hair and lightly held the shaking body. “Shhh now, it’s okay, you’re home, you’re safe, I’m here. Are you tired?”

The head nodded against him and the mention of sleep forced a yawn.

“Good, let’s lay down and get some rest, when you wake up, we’ll get some real food into you. How about it?”

Again the head nodded so Val worked them both up to the head of the bed and got the covers pulled down. The same bed that they’d made love in, the memory alone sent shivers through Val, made his heart ache in emotions he didn’t want to feel. Trist crawled stiffly, awkwardly under the covers but as soon as Val slid in next to him he was curling up against the warmer body. Val snaked an arm out and flicked off the lamp, leaving them in darkness.

He wasn’t sure he could sleep, it was still early to be going to bed, but the stress of the day had Val feeling worn out. If nothing more, he would lay down until Trist had fallen asleep and then slip out into the living room. At best, sleep would claim them both and he’d be able to at least nap. Before he could drift off, Trist snuggled tighter.

“Please, let this be real.” The twisted up, hoarse voice whispered into the darkness.