Darkness

Bruises

An hour later Scott entered Avi's room and walked over to the bed. Much to his surprise Avi wasn't intubated anymore and a nurse was making sure the machines the man was connected to were working properly. She left after giving the baritone a quick update and closed the door behind her while Scott sat down next to the bed and carefully took the man's hand.

Avi's arm was in a black cast, resting next to him on the thin blanket that covered his body. He was breathing on his own and it seemed as he was slowly waking up, his eyelids moved and the man let out a soft grunt.

He opened his eyes just a few minutes later and Scott noticed his eyes which were darting around before Avi realized what had happened before he had fallen asleep. He suddenly gasped for air, his heart rate shot up almost immediately and his fingertips brushed over the blanket while he tried to figure out where he was. "Scott, Scott-" he slurred and wanted to sit up but when he felt a hand on his right shoulder holding him down Avi began to panic.

That's when the baritone noticed the fingerprint bruises on his bare, broad shoulders. "It's me. I'm here, Avi. It's okay" he said. "I'm here." His thoughts started racing when he realized that the nurses must've been more than rough with his boyfriend to leave such marks on him. "I'm here, Avi."

But the bearded man didn't seem to understand, he started coughing again, tried to get rid of the weird sensation in his throat he had felt when one of the nurses intubated him and wanted to push Scott away. "Scott!" he cried out and fought him with one hand while the other patted the sheets, trying to find his boyfriend's hand.

His heart broke when he saw Avi asking for him. Scott let go of his shoulders, knowing that it wouldn't help when he kept holding Avi down. Instead he gently took the basses hands and placed them on his own cheeks. He held them there and kept brushing his thumbs over Avi's skin until he felt his fingers moving. The bearded man's thumbs touched Scott's stubble and he sobbed when he realized that his boyfriend was really there.

"Scott" he sobbed and gripped the fabric of the shirt he was wearing to keep him close, "I thought I was going to die..."

"You're not dead, Avi. You're right here with me. Let's get your heart rate back down, okay? This is dangerous, especially with your head. Deep breaths. I'm not leaving, you're not dead. When I squeeze your hand I want you to breathe in, and when I let go you have to breathe out. Understood?"

Together they breathed, in and out, for almost five minutes until Scott was happy with the number he saw on the screen of the slowly beeping machine.

Avi tried to focus on Scott and the way he held his hand. It felt good, he felt safe and he just wanted to be home, away from the people who hurt him before.  His speech was slightly slurred but he needed to talk, he needed to communicate with Scott. He was desperate. "I don't want to stay here, I want to go home, please" Avi mumbled and pulled on the tall man's shirt. "Please."

"We can't, Love. You're in the ICU, you hurt your head. We can't just go home. Did they hurt you? The nurses? You have bruises on your shoulders.."

But Avi didn't answer and tried to sit up again. He wanted to be held, he needed to know that Scott wouldn't leave. Not again.

Scott understood and it broke his heart that he had do deny his boyfriend's wish. "Avi, you have to lie down. Here, take both of my hands."

"I want to go home..." he said again and sniffled softly. Home sounded good. He didn't really know where it was, if he meant the lake house or his apartment, but he knew that it meant Scott's arms which was all he needed right now.

"We'll go home soon. As soon as possible. Can you answer my question please?"

The bass slowly nodded. He was thankful that he didn't feel any pain at the moment, especially after what had happened a couple hours earlier. The man reached out and held both of Scott's hands.

"Did someone hurt you while I had to wait outside? I heard you crying and screaming, I was so worried.."

Avriel thought for a moment before he turned his head in Scott's direction. "They thought I was unresponsive because I-I didn't look at them" he remembered and mumbled quietly. "And they held me down and pushed something down my throat. I couldn't breathe." His bottom lip started to tremble again but he pulled himself together. "Everything felt so heavy." It was hard but what had happened to him earlier was by now burnt into his memory.

"Okay" the baritone mumbled and bent down to peck his forehead. "Thank you." He felt horrible and tears welled his eyes. Avi didn't deserve to be treated like that by people who were supposed to help him.

"But why can't we go home? What happened to my head? It doesn't hurt.."

"Your brain is swollen, Avi. I think you fell from the ladder and hit your head pretty bad. You have to stay."

"Can't they fix it?"

Scott couldn't help but smile lightly. "No, I'm afraid they can't. But you can, with lots of rest and sleep. The first two days are the most risky ones, that's why I want you to stay in bed and relax. And when the doctor thinks you can go home we'll go home. Deal?"

He hummed. "Yeah."

Scott ended up turning on some classical music for Avi to listen to. They didn't talk but he felt the basses fingertips running over the skin of his hands, back and forth. The cast didn't bother him too much and he ended up falling asleep to one of Ludovico Einaudi's piano pieces just twenty minutes later.

Scott waited another five minutes before he decided to call and inform Avi's parents about the accident. He clicked on her contact information and held the phone up to his ear while his free hand was gently rubbing the back of his boyfriend's thumb. While he was waiting for Shelly to pick up he looked up and through the window and saw the sun slowly creeping up.

"Scott?"

He sat up. "Shelly."