I'm going slightly mad // Hardzello

Chapter 26

Joe wakes up from someone rubbing his shoulder slightly. His heart starts racing as soon as he feels someone placing small kisses on his forehead. Slowly he opens to look up at Ben.
"Hi love. The nurses are here to check on us." Ben smiles softly while he let his hand run through Joe's hair. Joe turns his head towards the two nurses that are standing on the edge of Joe's bed.
"I am sorry." He says while looking down at the blankets.
"No need to be. You two are really cute." The tallest nurse smiles at them.
"Anyways, would you like us to check on you two separately or do you want to stay with each other?" Ben moves his body so he can meet Joe's eyes.
"Can you please stay?" Joe blinks a few times in a short period of time.
"Anything you want." Ben kisses Joe's forehead before moving away from him to get out of the bed. He immediately walks over to the other side to help Joe.

While the nurses do their check-up and redo some of Joe's bandages Ben is seated on a chair next to Joe, holding his hand constantly. He rubs his finger over the knuckles from Joe's hand. As he is trying to comfort the older boy. With every hiss, Joe squeezes Ben's hand slightly. Which makes Ben rub his finger faster over Joe's hand. He hopes his actions distract Joe a little from the pain. Ben makes the mistake to look up at Joe's face at the moment one of the nurses touches a bruise. Joe bites his lip in pain as he squeezes his eyes shut immediately. Ben stands up from his chair. As the nurses are fixing Joe's back, Ben stands in front of the American actor. He looks Joe in the eye for a little while before leaning in to kiss him for a few seconds. It is enough for Joe to get distracted to make the pain a little less.
"So, Joe, you are all done. Let's go ahead and help Ben so you can both go back to bed." The nurses say as they start pulling off Ben's shirt. Joe sits down in the chair Ben previously sat. He bites his lip while he let his eyes glide over Ben's torso. Although a big part of it is covered in bruises, the lines of his muscles are still visible. Ben never took his eyes of Joe and notices the looks Joe is giving him.
"Do you like what you see?" He asks while a huge smirk is forming across his lips.
"I do. Apart from the bruises." Joe has finally grown the confidence to say something like this. He let his eyes drift over Ben's body one last time before looking up at Ben's face. Which reveals that Ben's cheeks have turned into a light shade of pink. Seeing Ben blush forms a smirk onto Joe's face.

After all the checkups the nurses help Ben to put his shirt back on.
"Alright, how cute the two of you are together we can't let you sleep in the same bed because of medical purposes. What about we push the beds towards each other so you are not on the total opposites of the room?" Ben nods and he walks over to his bed to find the locks that are keeping the wheels in place so the bed doesn't roll away. The nurses help him and within no time their beds are only a few inches apart from each other.

When the nurses leave the room Ben sighs out loud.
"What is wrong?" Joe asks while he turns his head towards Ben.
"Now it's only harder to resist the urge to cuddle with my perfect cute boyfriend.'' Ben holds out his hand for Joe to take. Which the latter does without hesitation. Their hands bungle in between the two beds. They look at each other for a few minutes before both slowly falling asleep.

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The next morning both of them are awoken by a knock on the door. Joe is the first one to open his eyes. He smiles when he sees that Ben is still holding his hand. A voice comes through the door.
"Can I come in?" Joe recognizes the voice from one of the nurses from that evening before. Joe answers a yes back before shaking Ben to wake up. Which he does with a low grunt. When he finally opens his eyes he looks with disappointment hinting in his eyes towards Joe.
"So I guess this wasn't a dream then?"
"What?" Joe asks.
"Everything that happened." Ben looks down at himself to see the bruises on his arm.
"I am afraid it's not." Joe mumbles as soon as the nurse walks in.
"We decided to wake you a little later than usual because we had to wake you this night but now your friends are here. Can I let them in?" The nurse asks.
"Ben?" Joe has his head turned towards Ben again. Ben nods in agreement.
"Yes, that's fine." Joe says. The nurse nods before walking out the door again.
"Are you ready to tell them?" Ben asks. Joe sighs loudly before closing his eyes for a few seconds.
"Without detail, it should be fine."

Rami and Gwil walk in with a worried look on their faces.Rami's worried look changes into a smile as soon as he sees the hands of Ben and Joe bungling in between the beds.
"How are you guys doing?" Gwil asks while he drags a chair towards the beds. His movements are copied by Rami. Both of them sit down at the edge of the bed while looking at the two with expectation hinting in their eyes.
"Could have been better. They cut off some of my pain medicine. So I am in a little more pain but we are lucky that we are here to say that.'' Joe smiles as a way to hide his true feelings.
"We decided that it is best to tell you guys what happened. However, we are not going into any detail because we don't want to relive everything that happened." Ben says. Rami moves his seat a bit so he can see the two better.

"So, I knew my parents wouldn't take it that well. Because they are just homophobic idiots. But Joe still convinced me that we should tell them." Ben explains the whole story until the  moment in the car.
"So ben forgot his keys and went inside again. His father shut the door behind them and I knew something was wrong. That's when I texted you. I tried to get in but everything was locked. Suddenly Ben's father was behind me and he holds me in a way I couldn't get out. He threw me into a room where Ben already was. His shirt was torn and most of his chest already started to bruise. His father wanted to continue to punish him but I convinced him to punish me instead. So, he got a belt and he started to hit me with it. That did hurt but wasn't that bad. I could handle it. But the kicking and punching got worse. Later he got a beer bottle and threw that to me. Glass got stuck into my skin and I can say one thing that hurts like hell. He kept hitting me causing glass pieces to drag into my skin. To be honest he did more things but I don't remember. I blocked most things out and I was really busy trying to keep Ben awake." Joe continues the story. Tears are already forming in his eyes.

"I don't remember much more. I had to watch because every time I looked away Joe got punished harder. In the end, he passed out and I kept screaming for my dad to stop. But he didn't. And he hit Joe with a wooden baseball bat several times. That's around the time the police came in. My dad heard them screaming and he knew there was no chance for him to get away so he kept hitting both me and Joe. He kept saying how I was a disappointment for the family and how I shouldn't have chosen Joe." Tears are now streaming down Ben's face too. He looked beside him to see that Joe also was crying. Without thinking twice Ben got out of bed to hold Joe.
"Sssh, it's okay. I've got you." Ben whispers in Joe's ear although he is crying himself. Gwil has walked over to the side of the bed. He wraps his arms around both of them.
"I am so sorry guys." He carefully rubs their backs. When he pulls away Rami is already behind him.
"There is someone else in the waiting room that really would like to talk to you." Rami says while he pulls away. Ben raises an eyebrow in question.
"It's Brian. Can we let him in?" Gwil asks while he already walks towards the door. Joe nods into Ben's chest so Ben nods towards Gwil. Both Rami and Gwil leave the room to get the old rockstar.

When Brian comes in Joe hears a gasp coming from the older man.
"Oh, boys. This is worse then I thought." Brian says while he walks up to the two of them. Joe moves his head so he can look at Brian.
"Hi, Brian." He says before moving up so he can lay down next to Ben. The latter immediately intertwines their fingers. Brian has walked over to Ben's side so he can get a better look at the bruise. Gwil walks in again and closes the door behind him. While Brian moves his head closer towards Ben he gasps.
"Gwil? Call a nurse immediately." Brian jumps up from his squatting position. He looks Gwil in the eye before Gwil runs out of the door. Ben sees the panic in Brian's eyes and he can feel his heart beat faster.
"What is wrong?" Joe's voice cracks halfway through his sentence. Brian simply shakes his head. Joe can feel Ben's heart beat faster with every second that passes.
"Brian, please tell us. What is wrong?" 

*************
Hi lovies,

Yes, I am leaving you guys on a cliffhanger once again. I know I'm evil. Please don't hate me!

I have a rather busy week next week. I'll try and keep updating around the two/three days just like I do now. There is however a chance that I can't keep up with that tempo and that it takes a little longer before I can upload. 

I love y'all!

Goodbye,

Xx Itsametaphorjoe