Princess of the universe // Hardzzellee

Chapter 12

When Ben turned back to check on Joe, he saw that his husband was being questioned by the police. He wasn't looking at the officer squatting in front of him. His hands were shaking heavily and his breathing was rapid. 
"Can I be with him?" Ben asked the officer that approached him. She immediately shook her head.
"We want to question both of you separately. Depending on what happened, I can ask his consent to let you sit with him," The police officer explained. 

After the police officer asked Ben for some personal information, she asked him what had happened.
"We were shopping and were just about to go home when I saw Nathan. He is Joe's ex-boyfriend. He physically, mentally and sexually abused Joe. He served jail time for that as well as harassing and blackmailing me." Ben looked back at Joe to see that officer was trying to get him to calm down without any luck.
"I wanted to get past him as fast as possible. I put my hat on Joe's head and urged him to continue walking while I followed him. Nathan had already seen us. He attacked Joe almost immediately. He punched him in the face before I got in between them. I told Nathan to back off and then he punched me. After that, I punched him back. It escalated from there," Ben said. The woman nodded while jotting everything down.
"I forgot to mention that Joe has a restraining order against Nathan. Before the trial, Joe and Nathan were questioned and somehow left in the same room. Nathan threw a chair at Joe and I believe he also hit him. After that, Joe filed a restraining order," Ben explained.

After Ben answered a few more questions the police offer made a hand motion to one of her colleagues. 
"Can you ask Joe for his consent to let Ben sit with him?" She asked.  The officer nodded before making his way over to Joe. As soon as he asked the question, Ben could see that Joe started to nod. 
"Can you stand up?" The woman asked Ben. The latter got up before walking towards Joe. The officer that had been talking to Joe, is still sitting next to Joe.
"Take a deep breath, sir." The officer said. Ben turned to the woman behind him.
"Can you uncuff me so I can help him?" He asked.
"I am afraid I can't do that," She said. Ben quickly went over his options.
"Is it possible to have my hands cuffed in front of me? That way I can hold his hand."
"I can do that if you promise to be cooperative. If this does not happen, the consequences will be big. Do you understand that?" She asked. 
"I do," Ben said. He turned around so she could open the handcuffs. Ben immediately held his hands out in front of him. As soon as the cuffs were locked, Ben sat down next to Joe.

Ben grabbed one of Joe's hands in his own.
"Sweetheart, take a deep breath," Ben said. Joe squeezed his hand tightly. He took a few deep breaths before he started to feel a little calmer. Ben let his fingers glide over Joe's cheek. 
"Does it hurt?" He asked. Joe shook his head before finally looking up at Ben.
"You look awful," Joe whispered. Ben pouted.
"No, you really don't look good. You need to get checked out by a doctor," Joe said. Ben shrugged. He didn't want to admit that he was in quite a lot of pain. He could barely feel his hands. Blood was still running down his face, but some of the blood had also already dried. It was crusting and every time Ben moved his face, it cracked open.

One of the officers approached them.
"We talked to some bystanders and we looked at the video. All the evidence is pointing to Nathan starting the fight and you fighting back in self-defence. So, you are free to go. However, it might be best if you come down to the precinct to file a complaint against Nathan and to get your official witness report set up," The officer said. He crouched down in front of Ben before unlocking the cuffs. Ben looked at Joe.
"Let's do that," Joe said. 

After they were done at the police station, they paid a quick visit to the doctor's office. Joe held onto Ben's hand while the doctor cleaned Ben's face. 
"You don't have any swelling around your nose. So, luckily it is not broken. Your eye is pretty swollen and you might have broken your cheekbone," The doctor said. He did some tests and concluded that it was most likely not broken. He advised Ben to come back in a few days to do another check. 

Gwil was sitting on the couch when they came in. He immediately jumped up once he heard the front door opening.
"Where have you been? I've been worried sick. Neither of you were picking up you-" His mouth fell open while his eyebrows furrowed. He walked over to Ben to take a closer look. The doctor ended up bandaging Ben's forehead because the bleeding would start again whenever Ben moved his eyebrows. Ben slowly took his hands from behind his back.
"Sweetheart, what happened?" Gwil carefully let his fingers glide over the bruises that were forming around Ben's eye.

Ben glanced down at his hands. Gwil followed his gaze. All of Ben's knuckled were open. Some were still bleeding.
"Ben?" Gwil asked while carefully taking Ben's hand in his own.
"I got into a fight," Ben said. Gwil's frown deepened. 
"With who?" He asked. Ben looked over to Joe, who hadn't said anything yet. 
"With," Joe paused for a second, "Nathan."

*************

Aaaayoo,

I hope you guys have a fantastic day today!

Take good care of yourself and others. Stay safe, stay healthy.

Goodbye,

Xx Itsametaphorjoe