Mitch's P.O.V.
The bar was crowded, too crowded for my liking and I was backed into the corner, trying not to panic. I hated crowds with a passion and tried to avoid them as much as possible but Jerome had dragged me along with him so he could go and chat up some girls while I went and sat in the corner while I waited for him to get so drunk he got himself kicked out.
I was sipping on a glass on of water because I didn't drink alcohol with my phone in one hand and my legs crossed on my seat. I looked up every now and again to try and see Jerome and even though more often than not I couldn't see him, I caught sight of him ever 10 minutes or so.
It had only been an hour since we arrived and Jerome seemed to have some sort of self-control that day, only on his second drink and had come and checked on me three times, making sure that I was okay. He was well aware of my uneasiness in crowds, and I was glad he was checking on me.
"Hey sweetheart, you want a drink?" I looked up to see a very scantily clad girl with pale skin and very long, white-blonde hair falling to her waist in front of me, a drink in one hand and a smirk on her face. I shook my head.
"Sorry, I don't drink." Her smile widened, placing one hand under my chin and I flinched, pulling away.
"Sure you don't, come on, let loose for once!" I shook my head again, shuffling back in my chair and away from her hand.
"No thanks, I'm waiting for my friend." She didn't seem to take no for an answer, sitting down on the chair beside me and placing one hand on my thigh, trusting her drink in my face.
I wasn't sure what to do, she was clearly already drunk and didn't seem to want to go away. With a little more force I pushed her hand off my leg and stood up, walking away to the other end of the bar, stopping at the bar to get another glass of water on the way.
It only took a minute for the girl to appear beside me, another now full drink in her hand and sit down beside me again, this time taking the glass of water from my hands. I sighed, rubbing my face with my now free hand and turning away from her, trying to ignore her the best I could, even though I could feel her eyes boring into the back of my head.
"Alright, since you clearly aren't interesting." She shoved the glass of water back into my hands. "Are you gay boy?" I shrugged.
"Might be, might not be." She furrowed her brow, looking at me, disgusted.
"Ew, little gay boy, what are you doing here?" I looked at her, sipping on my water again.
"Looking after my friend, which you might need to do at some point. You know, be nice." She flounced away, leaving me with my phone and my thoughts.
I continued to sip on the water, sighing in relief that she was gone and I was left to my thoughts again.
"You all good Mitch?" Jerome was standing in front of me, his hand still around his second drink.
"Yeah, just an annoying girl trying to get me to drink." Jerome gave me a tiny smile, squeezing my shoulder.
"You're good at this, I'll probably only stay another hour or so, so we can go back home after that." I smiled, thankful that he took me into account as well.
"Thanks, now shoo! Go find a girl!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 minutes later was when I noticed changes in my surroundings. I was feeling very relaxed even though I was on edge inside, noting everything else like my hazy and fading vision, I was drowsy and I was sweating, my hands shaking and trembling. Something was very, very wrong, and I didn't know what.
"Hey sweetheart, I see you took my advice and had a couple of drinks." I attempted to shake my head but she took my hand, leading me outside. I stumbled, almost falling flat on my face and I would have too if not for her hand with a death grip on my upper arm.
"Le-"
"Shush. Don't talk." I didn't know what was happening, I was floating in and out of consciousness and waves of nausea kept overtaking me, making me stumble every few steps. I was in a stupor, a daze, and I couldn't force myself out of it, my vision fading faster and faster.
The wind hitting my face made me wake up a little bit, but not enough to fight back. I was lead around the back of the bar, where there was a car or two and a bunch of boxes stacked in the corner, which were the only thing I picked up before I was shoved into the pile of cardboard, my back hitting the concrete underneath.
I yelped, my vision fading out for at least a few seconds and my chest seizing like a jolt of electricity was rushed through my body, my body jolting to the side. I felt the girl climb on top of me, forcing my hands up above my head and holding them there, her face right above mine.
"Since you didn't listen, I'll get what I want anyways." Her face came down and her lips were placed on mine, tasting of alcohol and lipstick. I choked, attempting to rip myself away but in my dazed state I could hardly move my hands and fingers and I couldn't unseat her, not with her whole weight on top of me.
"Just remember sweetheart, I always get what I want." Her lips connected with mine again and I felt her grind her hips into me, trying to get me aroused.
I felt her hand slip underneath my shirt, trailing her nails up and down my stomach and even though it felt like it barely took seconds she was soon on top of me, her shirt off and her hands sneaking around my waistband.
I seemed to have lost my sense of time because things that should have passed in seconds took what seemed like minutes, and then things that should have taken at least a minute passed by without me even noticing them happening.
"Come on, let's have some fun." Her hand snaked down the front of my pant and then pulled them down in one swift movement, making me scream out loud. I was fighting against whatever it was holding me down, drugs I assumed, but it still wasn't enough as she placed her hand over my mouth.
"You-" She landed a firm punch in my stomach. "Need-" another punch. "To stop!" I retched, almost throwing up but managed to hold it in, feeling her hands going back to my hips and other places it shouldn't go.
I yelped, my body jolting as she lowered herself onto me and then my entire body seized as she rolled her hips, as if lighting had been run through my body. My legs were spread out to the sides of the girl and as she continued to roll her hips my legs jolted, kicking out as she moved.
My hands suddenly seized across my chest, my legs kicking into the air as I lost control of my limbs, my eyes closing and choking on my spit. It was a seizure, probably a side effect of whatever drug she had used on me and it only took 10 seconds before fading out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mitch, come on, Mitch? Please, wake up please?" I groaned, twisting my head to the side and feeling waves of pain rolling through me. I felt sick, my hand and arms shaking feverously and the pain coming in shocks, every time I tried to move.
"Someone call an ambulance, he needs help. Mitch? Please, I need to know that you're okay."
I didn't have the strength to reply.
Part 2
Mitch's P.O.V.
My eyes were bleary, my fingers trembling. I could feel someone holding me to their chest, one of their hands holding my head still and the other clinging to my own hand, supporting my body with their legs.
I let out a moan of pain as I felt my legs shift and it stopped, a hand running down my cheek for comfort.
"Mitch? Come on, I know you can hear me." I let out a tiny mewl of pain, everything coming back up again and the pain swelling, my neck feeling swollen, my chest probably bruised and everything below my waist hurting like a mother-trucker.
"Alright, what do we have here, has he been drugged?" I felt whoever was holding me, probably Jerome.
"I think so, I know he definitely hasn't been drinking, he doesn't drink."
"Can I have a space blanket over here! He needs to be kept warm!" It was only then that I realised that I was shivering, and that I was naked, probably after what had happened with the girl.
Something warm and crinkly was wrapped around me and I sighed, curling into it and carefully lifting one hand to my face. I felt a finger trial along my cheek.
"I think he's waking up but he's not really concentrating, he hasn't responded to anything I've said." I felt a hand press into my shoulder and I yelped, feeling a jolt of pain run through me and I almost tipped of Jerome's lap.
"He's responding to pain but not to our voices, I reckon it's GHB."
"What?" Jerome replied, confused.
"Type of drug, I think he can hear us but is too dreary and hazy to respond, that's generally what happens. We're going to have to take him to hospital, he might have had a reaction or have a reaction." Too late, that must have been what the seizure was.
"Come on, we need a stretcher." I was lifted into the air and almost screamed, pain rushing through me. Instead, I only had the strength to whimper and shift my head, screaming inside my head rather than out loud.
"Oh jesus, that must have hurt. In the ambulance, now." I felt Jerome step up a set of stairs and then I was placed onto a soft bed and something was injected in my arm. The blanket was still wrapped around all of my body except my arm, which had a drip of some kind in it, hopefully to numb the pain.
"Antidote for the drug given and 5mg of morphine to numb the pain, he should be awake soon, although drowsy from the pain relief." The ambulance started to bump, meaning it was on the move and although it gave me a jolt of pain every time we went over a bump I ignored it.
5 minutes later I was feeling numb, the pain was fast fading and I was beginning to open my eyes even though everything was blurry. Everything was slowly coming into to shape and I could make out shapes around the area including three people, two of whom were moving around.
"Come on sweetheart, open your eyes." I flinched, violently, at the nickname and closed my eyes again, trying not to let everything come flooding back all at once.
"Well that just fucking confirms it." Jerome sounded bitter and upset, and I could almost feel him physically shaking.
I felt my eyes flicker again and this time I was surprised to see everything come into focus. I looked around, twisting my neck to the side and was surprised to feel a hand stopping me from looking around even further.
"Don't move your head, it could be injured okay and you can't feel the pain because of the morphine. Do you remember what happened?" With a tiny nod I rolled my head up and looked around to Jerome, who was sitting on a bench beside my bed with his head in his hands.
My chest and basically everything below my waist was numb, I could hardly feel my legs or feet, just being able to wiggle my toes with tiny shots of pain.
I attempted to twist my head again, blinking as I tried to bring my eyes back into focus. They were fading in and out of focus, every few seconds something a foot away became blurry and then I would focus again, realising the nurse was standing over me.
"You good there hun? You're fading out again." I closed my eyes again. Everything was blurry again and it was making me feel sick. I was vaguely aware of everything around me but not cognitively, like it was there but not really. Like it was my imagination.
"Hun? Come on, don't go out on me... Shit he's going. I don't think the antidote work Maria! Get the lights on, it's an emergency!"
My eyes flickered closed again, my body shutting down for the second time. I didn't know what was going on anymore. I was on shut down.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mitch? Come on, please. It's been days, I need to know you're okay. Please. I can't keep going without you." I heard sobbing, someone was crying right beside me.
"Visiting hours are over hun, you've got to go now. You can come back tomorrow morning." This time I felt something, someone reached out and squeezed my hand in goodbye before the scraping of a chair told me they were getting up, and their footsteps leaving.
A second pair of feet came closer and suddenly things were being adjusted around me, machines started beeping, sheets were pulled up, another blanket on top of me, my hands turned over, something in my arm adjusted.
"Let's hope you pull through hun. Your friend is worried about you and I don't want to see you go down from this, you don't deserve it. We want to see you get justice for what that girl did to you so she can't do it again."
I felt her hand in mine, squeezing gently. I focused as hard as I could, wanting her to know that I was there, that I could hear her and to my absolute surprise I managed to make some slight movement, and twitch my hand.
"Did you- did you just?" I could almost see her smiling. "You're there aren't you. Good to see you back." Her hand came up to my head, pressing my forehead gently. I found it comforting and relaxed, not even knowing how tense I had been.
"You're doing good hun, let's hope you're up the morning. You'll be better soon." I stopped listening, simply focusing on the hand which had gone back to squeezing mine again.
My brain was shutting down again, I assumed that I was still on some sort of medication and I just let it take me under, craving the darkness that meant I wasn't in pain anymore.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey Mitch, the nurse said you were awake last night. I really hope it wasn't just a one time thing, because I really need you right now. I'm so worried about you, I'm scared that you aren't going to pull through." There was pause and a choked sigh.
"It's been 3 days. Everyone's scared for you, and this is all my fault. I dragged you out to the bar, I didn't look out for you when you needed it, I was too late to stop her from doing that to you, I couldn't stop the reaction you had."
"They think there's permanent damage and I'm so, so scared because I couldn't save you. It was GHB, you went into a coma, you had a seizure, you might have hit your head, there's brain swelling and possibly brain damage." There was a sob.
"Jesus Mitch, I don't know how much longer I can hold out without you. Everyone's coming down to see you, Preston, Rob, Lachlan and Vikk are all coming and..." Another sob. "Please... just... I need you. I never got the chance to tell you how much I love you."
Part 3
Jerome's P.O.V.
"I never got the chance to tell you how much I love you."
"I'm so, so sorry Mitch." I looked away from where he lay lifeless in the bed for the third day in a row. Ever since I found him unresponsive, naked, behind the bar that night I had been blaming myself for what had happened to him, and now he might not pull through.
His reaction to the drug she had given him was rare, extremely rare, and it ended with him having a seizure, in a coma and possibly dying. She had been arrested and I made sure to press charges, but the police were holding off and keeping her in custody either until Mitch passed away or it was clear that he was going to recover, and what permanent damage there might be.
The doctor had given him a 50/50 chance of living, but even then there was a 75% chance that if he did survive there would be brain damage and it could range from amnesia to a permanent vegetative state or even some sort of physical damage like paralysis if the damage was in the part of the brain that controlled motor functions.
Looking back at him, or what I could see of him through the masks and machines, I sighed. His hair was limp and oily from not being washed and his face was covered with an oxygen mask, meaning it obscured his face and I couldn't see him.
There was drips and monitors and god knows what else hooked up to him and he looked tired, even while he was sleeping.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, seeing a text from Preston. He was at the airport, getting a taxi to the hospital and needed to know which hospital we were at and which room we were in. I replied, tucking it back into my pocket. I didn't want to be distracted.
The days had been filled with a lot of crying, a lot of blaming myself for what had happened. Mitch's sister had called around a few times and told me not to shift everything onto myself, but I couldn't help but do it anyway because I felt I could have done more.
I should have said something when that girl was harassing him, noticed when she dragged him outside, taken him with me when he sent me off, anything that could have prevented what happened, but I couldn't.
"Please Mitch. Just... say something. Anything. Please." I bowed my head and slipped my hand into his, squeezing it gently. I wanted him to know that I was there, that I wasn't giving up on him just yet no matter what the doctors said about his chances of survival.
The silence was crushing. It wasn't quiet by any means, beeping machines and drips and squeaking from the floor about but it was so artificial. It wasn't real.
And then he squeezed my hand.
My head jolted up, wondering for a second if I had imagined it. I squeezed his hand back, hoping he would notice and do it again, just to confirm it in my mind that he was, in fact, awake.
It happened again.
And then, so fast that I thought I imaged in again, he blinked.
"Mitch? Are you back?" I sat so still that I almost became frozen.
He rolled his head backwards, a groan emitting from his mouth and his eyes were flickering underneath his eyelids. He started to raise his hands and I leapt to hold them down so he wouldn't pull out the IV's and line connected to them.
I hit the button on the bed to call for the nurse and kept my hold on his hands to make sure he couldn't through himself around again. He was shifting his head ever few seconds, even attempting to pull his hands away from me but he wasn't strong enough and eventually stopped trying.
"Hey Mitch, it's Jerome, you're safe okay. You're in hospital." He blinked again, sighing and relaxing on the bed. He blinked a third time and this time a caught a glimpse of his caramel brown eyes before they closed again.
"Mmm- what' happenin'?"
I was about to reply but I was interrupted by a nurse bustling in, smiling when she saw me at Mitch's side.
"He's awake?" I nodded.
"Yeah, kinda." She took my place at his side and started adjusting the machines before turning back to him. She squeezed his hand.
"Yeah he's awake, give him an hour or so and he'll start becoming more cohesive." She paused. "He'll be awake by the time your friend gets here so that'll be good."
I smiled to myself, silently praying and thanking whatever god or evil demon was out there for sparing Mitch. He was going to be okay, everything was going to be okay, it was going to get better once he was out of hospital.
"Thank god Mitch, I don't know how things would have been if you left me now."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey Jerome, I'm here....!" I jolted up from where I was falling asleep against the bed, my head snapping towards the door. Preston was stood there with a backpack over his shoulder, a smile on his face.
"Oh-" I yawned. "Hey Preston, good to see you." Glancing around I saw Mitch, still fast asleep, but the oxygen mask and several IV lines were gone and he looked more peaceful.
"Good to see you too, how's Mitch?" He pulled a chair in from the hall and sat down beside me as I started to stretch out my sore limbs.
"He's okay, he was meant to be awake by the time you got here but he's still asleep so... I dunno." He squeezed my shoulder gently.
"He's gonna be okay?" I nodded.
"Yeah, it's going to be fine. It'll take a couple of days for him to recover but he'll pull through it eventually." He smiled.
"Good."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mmmm- what...?" I lifted my head and saw Mitch, squinting around the brightly lit room with a hand over his forehead.
"Hey Mitch, you're okay, you're in hospital." He groaned again, his eyes flickering open and closed. "Just take a minute, you'll be okay."
I hadn't noticed that pressed a button to call the nurse until she bustled in again.
"Hello, you're up I see. Let's check how you're going." She gave us a wink, silently telling us that everything was fine. She gave him the once over, commanding him to open his eyes or squeeze her hand or try to speak when she asked, to check he was okay.
"You'll be more awake in a couple of hours, give the medication time to wear off." His eyes slipped closed and she turned to us. "It's taken longer than I thought for him to wake up but it's nothing unusual."
"So he'll be awake in a bit?" There was a nod.
"Yes. Do you want something to eat? I can send something up if you want." I shrugged, but Preston stood up.
"I'll go and get something for us, don't worry." He looked purposely at me. "I expect you to eat it, I know you haven't been eating much."
I just nodded, knowing there wasn't any point in fighting him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Jerome?" The voice was hoarse, quiet and I recognised it at once.
"Hey Mitchy, you feeling okay?" He nodded, sighing.
"I- I guess... Jerome.." He cut himself off, frowning.
"Yeah?"
"I heard what you said... about..." His face had turned red. "Not having the chance to tell you that you loved me."
I startled. Shit. I had no idea that he had heard me.
"I- um... I didn't mean fo-"
"Jerome! It's okay-" He blushed a fierce red again. "I- I love you too."
"Really?" He inclined his head, reaching out his hand for mine. I took it.
"Yeah. I really mean it. I love you."
I placed my other hand on his cheek, leaning in to give him a peak on his lips, our first kiss. Even though I didn't think it was possible, he turned even redder.
"I love you too Mitch."