The Great Book of One-Shots

Bullied (Part 2)

Aaaaand without further ado, part 2!!

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After what seemed like ages of being examined over and over again to check for any damage to his neck or lungs, the doctor and nurses finally were leaving Ian's room. Though, before the last nurse left, he called her back and, with the help of a few lies, managed to get her to let him leave his room. Naturally, the first thing he did was to ask for Ben's room number and the quickest way to it.

A few minutes later a nurse was leaving Ian in front of a closed door. He jumped a bit as she softly spoke, "I'm sure your... boyfriend will be fine." She paused briefly before adding a warning, "Just... Just be prepared for what you're going to see."

However, her warning went unheard as Ian's mind could only focus on what she had previously said. The word 'boyfriend' echoed through his mind. Ian could feel the heat rise on his cheeks and knew that they had to be an alarming shade of red. He had already forgotten the lie he told the nurse. The lie that he was dating Ben and that he was the closest thing to family that the boy had.

Ian blinked and mumbled a thank you before watching the nurse walk off. He shook his head slightly to clear some of the fog and reached for the door knob. The sight he saw was not what he was expecting. 

Ben was laying in the hospital bed with bandages around his head and along various parts of his arms where there were, also, an IV and several tubes connected to him. Ian could also tell that the wires coming out of the hospital gown must of been for the steadily-beating heart monitor and that the plastic thing on Ben's right index finger had to be to monitor his pulse.

Ian stared at the horrible sight for what seemed like ages but, was really only a few minutes. When he came back to his senses, he walked over to the chair next to the small bed and sat down. He stared at Ben's hand for a few seconds before shakily reaching for it.

The lie, once again, floated around in Ian's head as he sat by Ben's bed and lightly held his hand. Boyfriend. He wanted nothing more than that - for the boy in the hospital bed to be his.

Ben's hand twitched and Ian snapped back to reality. He looked up towards the other's bandaged face just in time to see him open his eyes.

Ben groaned and weakly brought a hand to his face to rub his eyes. After a moment of adjusting to the bright lights he spoke, "Wh-where am I? I-Ian?! What happened?"

Ian smiled at the grogginess in Ben's voice. "You're in the hospital, those jerks beat you up pretty bad. You even had to get surgery."

"Wha...?" It was only then that Ben actually looked at himself. He was wearing a hospital gown and was lying in a hospital bed. There were various tubes and machines hooked up to his arms and chest. Though, his attention was drawn to something he couldn't see. He brought a hand to his chest and lightly pressed it against his ribs. He winced as the dull pain worsened.

"They... They broke a few ribs from... kicking you so much." 

Ian's tone seemed... hurt? Sad? But why? Ben pushed his confusion aside and keep talking before the silence could get awkward. "That would explain why everything hurts so much."

"Heh, yeah.." Yep, he definitely sounded sad.

"Ian?" There was a question that Ben had been thinking of from the moment he woke up and he just had to know the answer to it.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you here?"

"What?"

"Y-you're so popular and...and I'm just a looser." Ben looked down at the blanket that had been pulled up to his waist. Suddenly, the piece of fabric had become very interesting.