Lockdown

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

27/09/2019. 09:03 hours. David Rossi’s House, Virginia.

Spencer dipped his head and stared morosely at the dark wooden floor through his curls, fingers curling and unfurling behind his back. He could hear the clinking of ceramic being set down on the counter and the hissing of the machine brewing its magic of David’s favourite Italian blend coffee. He wondered where he had gone wrong in his life to end up at the point of begging to be cuffed by his friends to stop himself from doing something he would regret. The thought of being in handcuffs had always terrified him and drove him to follow the law to the letter, and yet here he was willingly allowing himself to be shackled in the name of self preservation.

He lifted his head at the sound of David’s loafers squeaking against the floor. David set down two navy blue mugs on the coffee table and crouched down in front of Spencer.
“Can I remove the cuffs?” asked David with a hopeful expression written into his features. Spencer simply shook his head in response. “Then can I hook them up in the front?” Spencer took a deep breath in through his nose and released it slowly out of his mouth as though he was trying to keep himself calm.
“Okay,” answered Spencer, his voice still small and wounded. David came to his feet as Spencer shuffled forward on the sofa and keyed open one of the cuffs. Spencer brought his arms around in front of him and held his wrists out. The eagerness of the genius to be restrained was heart-breaking to David. The senior agent closed the cuff back around Spencer’s wrist.
“Tighter,” mumbled Spencer. David frowned in confusion.
“What do you mean?”
“The cuffs.  Tighten them.”
“Spencer, they'll hurt you.” Spencer pursed his lips.
“Better them than me. There's no telling what I would do.” David gave a defeated sigh and tightened the cuffs around the thin wrists. David grabbed one of the mugs and placed it into Spencer’s hands. Spencer gave a sombre smile and raised the mug to his lips, relishing the steam that breathed against his face and the heavenly bitter scent that filled his nostrils. David collected his own mug and settled into the cushions beside the young man.
“You know you can't stay in cuffs forever, kid.”
“I know. I just don't feel like I can keep myself safe right now. I'm afraid of what I could do to myself.” Spencer grimaced at the pain in his hand and inspected the bruising and swelling.“Fuck, that hurts. Looks like I've fractured my first, second and third metacarpal and proximal phalanges.”
“Once more for the none-geniuses in the room.” Spencer chuckled.
“I've fractured my knuckles. Possibly my hand and fingers too.” David shrugged and sipped his coffee.
“That will happen if you go ten rounds with a sparring dummy. You should really go to the emergency room.”
“Yeah? And what do I say? ‘Sorry, I lost my shit and picked a fight with a dummy.’ They'll throw me in a psych ward and throw away the key. My fingers are still in line and there's no obvious displacement of the bones. I'm sure my hand’ll heal fine as it is.” David raised a hand in surrender.
“Okay. Okay. I give up.”

The pair sat in comfortable silence as they drank their coffee. Spencer leaned forward and set his cup down on the table. He fiddled mindlessly with the cuffs.
“I have to go to the store to get some ingredients for the carbonara. Are you going to be okay on your own?” asked David. Spencer glanced at him, fear flashing in his eyes. “Stand up and let me re-cuff your hands.” Spencer too eagerly stood up and offered David his wrists. David unlocked Spencer’s left hand and pulled his arms behind his back, chaining his wrists together once again. Spencer’s shoulders visibly sagged with relief.
“Those are coming off for dinner tonight. I don't care what you say, Spencer.” Spencer nodded.“I'll be about thirty minutes. I'll put some TV on for you. I'm sure one of your geeky shows is on.” Spencer gave a small laugh as David searched through the channels.
“That one,” said Spencer, intrigued by a documentary on wildlife in Papua New Guinea. Spencer slowly seated himself back on the sofa, his eyes fixed on the show. David shook his head and laughed as he grabbed his car keys.