'Black and White' - The White Bridge Crime Series 2 - LGBT, manXman

13

Eli Shan woke slowly.

His eyes felt so heavy.

Breathing was difficult; his chest felt tight, constricted.

He could hear the soft bleeping of machines close to his ears.

When he finally managed to open his eyes, he found himself in a white-painted hospital room.

A blue blanket was spread over his neatly-made bed.

He was surprised to see the single armchair in the room occupied by a large, black man. When upright, the man would be almost six and a half feet tall, and he was very well built.

Eli closed his eyes again, wanting a few more moments of solitude while he tried to remember what had happened.

He remembered having an awful dream; he was drowning somewhere.

And when he woke up-

A soft whimper escaped his throat.

Or, tried to. No sound came.

The man must've realised he was awake, however, before a warm hand gripped Eli's, tightly, and squeezed.

"I know you're awake. It's alright. You don't need to be afraid. My name's Rex Barnett. I'm a Detective."

Eli opened his eyes slowly.

The man was close to him, his eyes full of concern. His voice was a low, bass-like timbre, suiting his deep chest and heavy frame.

He showed Eli his police warrant card, and Eli felt the panic in his chest ease a little.

"How do you feel?"

Eli tried to speak, but no words would come out.

"The doctors said you wouldn't be able to speak for a while. There... was a lot of damage. Do you remember what happened? What's your name?"

Eli nodded, tears filling his eyes.

He could feel his body aching; his ribs felt bruised and battered, and his throat hurt.

The big detective handed Eli a small whiteboard and marker pen.

Eli immediately scribbled something.

Eli Shan... Maki.

Rex read the word and frowned.

"Is that your girlfriend? Do you want me to call her?"

Eli shook his head.

My cat. Someone needs to look after her.

Rex nodded.

"I'll take her home with me until you're able to go home. I have a cat too."

She's a Siamese. Evil. Hates most people.

Rex grinned.

"Mine too. He's a rescue cat."

Eli nodded.

Barnett's warm hand enveloped Eli's spare again. The warmth seemed to spread to Eli's entire body.

"I'll go now, and let you rest. There are two officers outside the doors. They'll stay until you leave. I'll come back tomorrow and talk to you then."

Eli nodded again.

He glanced at the door, where he could see two uniformed officers stood either side of the door like guard dogs.

"Don't worry. Only myself and my partner, those two, and our boss knows you're alive. He won't come back for you."

Eli nodded slowly, not feeling particularly reassured.

Rex seemed to notice his discomfort.

"Do you want me to stay?" He asked gently.

Eli hesitated, before shaking his head.

The detective probably had a family to get home to. He didn't want to be spending his spare time at the hospital.

Barnett smiled.

"Are you sure? I've got nothing else to do. You're our most important lead so far."

Eli hesitated, and Rex took that as his cue to sink into the armchair again.

The door opened, and Eli flinched.

A second, tall, muscular man walked into the room and smiled at Barnett.

He noticed Eli was awake and his smile broadened.

"Hello. How're you feeling? I'm Dom Marafioti, Rex's partner."

Eli managed a small smile.

"I think the doctor's on his way up to talk to you, so we'll leave you alone for a couple of minutes."

Eli nodded, fighting back a yawn.

The detective seemed to notice his fatigue.

"You've been in surgery for nine hours. You'll feel a little groggy for a while."

Eli nodded, and this time, let himself yawn.

"Rex, Adrian made up some dinner for us, if you want some."

Rex nodded, got to his feet, and stretched.

"We'll be back in a while."