A Lavish Prison
Title: A Lavish Prison
Author: bahama_breeze77
Rating: NC17ish
Pairing: J2, Jared/Josh Duhamel, Chris/Steve
Warning: Violence, Abuse, Sort of non-con, Bad language
Summary: Jared’s life is hell; he has one friend, a horrible boyfriend, and his future being decided for him. But that all starts to change when a gorgeous green eyed photographer moves into the next door apartment.
A/N: I have very little knowledge of medical related things, so forgive my ignorance when it comes to medications and such. Just go with the flow!!
Previous Chapters
Ch. 21
Chris groaned as a high pitched ringing noise woke him from his sleep. He lifted his head off of where it was resting against a sleeping Steve’s back and grumbled, “What the hell?”
“Phone…it’s your phone…” mumbled Steve as he buried his face further into the pillow.
Chris reached over to the night stand and grabbed his phone. “Shit.” He frowned as he read the display and then flipped it open. “Jensen?”
Chris got pushed to the side as Steve rolled over to look at him with concern.
“Jen…slow down; what’s happening?” Chris asked now wide awake. “Fuck...okay calm down buddy…we’re leaving now.” He snapped the phone closed and watched as Steve rolled off the bed to grab some clothes. He quickly rolled out of bed and did the same as he dialed a number and put it between his shoulder and ear to hold it while he pulled his pants up. Once the groggy voice answered he said, “Get dressed, we’ll be there in five minutes…something’s wrong at the hospital.” He hung up without waiting for a reply.
“What’s going on?” Steve asked as he pulled on his shirt.
Chris sighed. “I’m not exactly sure. Jensen said something about Jared and fever and how…I don’t know; he was so distraught he could hardly speak.”
“Jesus.” Steve cursed. He hoped that Jared was still alive.
“Come on. We have to swing by and get Chad.” Chris stated as he headed out of the bedroom with Steve right behind him.
*******~~~*******
Jensen flipped his phone closed and resumed his restless pacing. The doctors had been in there with Jared for over twenty minutes but to Jensen it had seemed like hours already. He couldn’t stand not knowing what was going on in there; if Jared was okay or not; he had to restrain himself from bursting in there and demanding to be told what was going on.
He sighed as he put his back to the wall and slowly slid down to sit on the ground. He ran his fingers over his tired eyes before his head slumped to rest on his knees. His heart was still beating frantically from the scare he had when Jared was choking on the tube. He couldn’t help seeing Jared’s panicked eyes begging him for help.
Jensen heard the door in front of him open and his head snapped up to see a line of doctor and nurses exit the room and go on with their business with Dr. Schols bringing up the rear. He jumped to his feet and looked expectantly at the doctor.
Dr. Schols smiled tightly at Jensen. “He’s okay. He’s resting right now.”
“Okay? He didn’t look okay last time I saw him!” Jensen rushed to say.
The doctor nodded, “He woke up and panicked at having the breathing tube in; he couldn’t calm down quick enough to understand what it was so he choked on it. But we have removed it and he seems to be breathing fine on his own; we’ll monitor him closely.”
Jensen felt tears rush to his eyes when he heard the doctor say Jared woke up. “He’s awake?”
Dr. Schols smiled. “We had to give him a mild sedative to get the tube out; so he’s groggy; maybe even asleep already. He’ll be asleep more than awake for the next few day, so don’t be worried that he’s sleeping so much; it’s completely normal.”
Jensen nodded and took a calming breath. “And his fever?”
“Still present.” The doctor grimaced. “It’s at 102.5 degrees right now. I’m going to send someone to collect some blood in a bit and we can see how far the infection has progressed. I left some ice chips near Jared’s bed; you can feed them to him if his throat bothers him too much. If you have any questions; I’ll be around.”
Jensen nodded and watched the doctor walk away. He turned to the closed door and gently eased it open. Jared looked much better without the ventilator sticking out of his mouth; in fact Jensen thought he looked kind of peaceful. His head was turned away slightly; eyes closed; face flushed. He still had all his IV’s and monitors on him.
He walked quietly back to his chair and sat down never once taking his eyes off Jared. He reached out and gently clasped Jared’s hand; rubbing his thumb back and forth over it. Jensen almost broke down crying when Jared’s forehead creased and hazel eyes blinked open to look at him.
“Jen…” Jared’s voice, even through it was weak and scratchy, was like music to Jensen’s ears.
“Hey baby.” Jensen blinked away tears.
Jared’s eyes shut for a long time before they opened again. “I guess…I’m alive.”
That statement broke any composer Jensen had and he lowered his head onto Jared’s hand as he cried tears of sadness, tears of happiness; and tears of fear.
“Jen?” Jared wondered; concerned.
Jensen wiped his eyes on the blanket before looking back up at Jared with a smile. “Sorry…I’m just so happy your awake…I love you so much.” Jensen stood up leaning over Jared to give him a small kiss on the lips.
Jared gave a small sleepy smile. “Love you…too.”
Jensen ran his fingers through Jared’s hair as his lover’s blinks got longer and longer. He thought Jared had slipped off to sleep; so he was surprised when Jared gasped weakly and looked up at him with wide eyes.
“I didn’t marry Josh.” Jared said uncertainly.
Jensen wasn’t sure if that was a question or a statement, but Jared looked worried so he shook his head and reassured, “You didn’t marry Josh.”
Jared nodded and closed his eyes. “Cold…tired…”
Jensen smiled and tucked the blankets in tighter to Jared’s body then continued to stroke Jared’s hair. “Then sleep. I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Jensen sat staring at Jared sleeping for about ten more minutes in silence before the door opened and Jensen saw a wide eyed Chad rush up to Jared’s side.
“What’s wrong? What happened? The tube’s gone! Oh, god, is he dead?” Chad’s worried voice rushed to ask.
Jensen shook his head quickly wanting to reassure his new friend but Chris beat him to it by saying, “Chill man, he’s breathing…look.”
“Thank you lord.” Chad breathed out as he put his hand on Jared’s forehead. “He’s hot.”
“What happened, Jen? Chris said he could barely understand you on the phone.” Steve asked concerned as he came up beside Jensen’s chair to place a hand on his shoulder.
“I had a bit of a freak out…Jared woke up and started choking on the ventilator…the doctors pushed me out of here so fast I though…I didn’t know if he was even alive when I called you…” Jensen began.
“He’s awake?” Chad asked looking at Jensen hopefully.
Jensen nodded. “He’s just sleeping now.”
Chris smiled and looked at Jared closely before looking back at Jensen. “So…he’s okay then?”
Everyone was looking at him waiting for an answer, but Jensen couldn’t seem to get his voice to work anymore. He swallowed a few times; hoping that would take the lump out of his throat.
“Jensen?” Chad prompted, his happy smile slowly slipping away.
“Th…” Jensen cleared his throat and looked at Jared’s hand. “The doctor says his body developed an infection, that’s why he’s so hot with fever, they upped his antibiotics but they don’t know if that will stop it from moving to his lung.”
Chad shook his head. “I don’t…What does that mean? They can fix it right…even if it goes that far?”
Jensen felt Steve’s hand on his shoulder tighten and he finally looked up at his friends. “He said the course of action needed might be too much for Jared’s body to handle in his weakened state…his fever has been getting worse.”
Chad looked back down to Jared with shiny eyes as Chris kneeled in front of Jensen. “Hey, the infection hasn’t got to his lungs yet and Jared’s a fighter…he’s strong and he has a really good reason to stay and fight.”
Jensen gave his friend a little smile as he blinked away tears. Chris pulled him into a hug and Jensen let himself take comfort in his friend for a few moments before they separated. “Thanks.”
Chris smiled and pulled up another chair for Chad to sit in while he and Steve took the couch.
“Will he wake up soon?” Chad asked softly.
Jensen shrugged. “The doctor said he’d sleep a lot.” He took a look at Jared’s temperature, it was now 102.6 degrees.
*******~~~*******
Jensen’s eyes opened quickly and he jerked upright in his seat; he had fallen asleep. A quick glance around the darkened room showed him Steve and Chris sleeping together on the couch and Chad slumped back in his chair asleep. He rubbed his face with the hand not holding Jared’s and wondered what had woke him up; but a few seconds later Jared moaned softly and the hand he held jerked a little.
“Jared?” He whispered as he leaned over his boyfriend. “Wake up baby.” Jensen was rewarded when Jared’s head turned toward him and his eyes opened slowly.
“Jen…” Jared’s weak voice cracked.
Jensen smiled, “How are you feeling?”
Jared closed his eyes briefly and made a small moaning noise. “Thirsty.”
Jensen stood up and grabbed a cup of ice chips before sitting down on the bed by Jared’s hip. “Here…how about some ice chips?” When Jared gave a small nod, he brought his hand behind Jared’s head to raise him up a little and picked up an ice chip bringing in to Jared’s lips.
Jared sucked the ice chip out of Jensen’s fingers and smiled in pleasure as the coolness soothed his throat.
“That good?” Jensen asked with a smile. “Want more?”
Jared nodded again. After eating six of them, he felt slightly better and a bit more coherent. “Thanks.” While his head was still held up by Jensen he glanced quickly around and was surprised to see three other people in the room. “Chad…”
Jensen nodded and quickly piled Jared’s pillows higher so he could lay back and still see around the room. “He’s been here since we brought you in…we all have.”
Jared nodded after Jensen had laid his head back down. He thought back to the last thing he remembered but it was so hazy; he remembered getting dragged out in the ocean by Josh… “What happened? I mean with Josh…” Jared asked softly, looking to Jensen.
“You got stabbed by Josh in the water…you remember that?” Jensen asked.
Oh yeah. Jared remembered the shock of seeing a knife handle in his chest and he remembered being in Jensen’s arms but that’s about it. “Slightly.” He replied.
“Well Josh freaked out and fled but the FBI caught up to him and he’s in custody. He’ll probably go to jail for attempted murder and lots of other things.” Jensen quickly reassured.
“Other things?” Jared asked confused.
Jensen winced. He forgot that Jared had no clue about what Josh or his mother did. He quickly shook his head, “It doesn’t matter right now, let’s concentrate on getting you better okay?”
Jared stared at Jensen for a few minutes in silence not understanding what was going on. The FBI was involved? He slowly shook his head; he felt so out of the loop. “How long have I been here anyways?”
“About a week, maybe a little over.” Jensen said, glad that Jared was letting the subject drop for now. “I know you probably have lots of questions Jay, and we will answer them all for you, but right now, you should rest as much as you can so you can get better.”
Jared smiled at Jensen and nodded. “I love you.”
Jensen blinked back tears and leaned down to give Jared a kiss. He ran his fingers over Jared’s warm face and looked into his fever glazed eyes. “I love you too.”
Jared cursed the fact that he was getting tired again. “I’m cold.” He stated in a sleepy voice.
“I know; you have a bit of a fever. Do you want another blanket?” Jensen asked.
Jared shook his head, “You.”
Jensen hesitated, “I don’t know Jay…”
Jared forced sleep away for the moment to plead his case. “Please…you won’t hurt me…”
Jensen couldn’t resist Jared’s begging eyes, so he scooted around and lay down next to Jared on his side. He kept his back pressed tight against the side rail of the bed so Jared would have room. He slid his arm under Jared’s pillow and rested his other hand on Jared’s hip; placing his head on the pillow next to Jared’s. This close to Jared he could feel the shivers running through Jared’s body. “Okay, you need to sleep now.”
Jared nodded and turned his head so he could see Jensen; their noses almost touching. “The doctor told me…about the infection…the fever.”
“Oh.” Jensen wasn’t sure what to say to that, the doctor had to have told Jared after he first woke up; Jensen was kind of surprised that Jared had been coherent enough to understand and remember that. He glanced up to the monitor.
“What is it?” Jared whispered.
Jensen sighed and glanced back at Jared, “102.8 degrees.”
Jared nodded and hesitated for a second before saying, “If I…It if gets…I just want you to know that…”
“Don’t!” Jensen bit out. He shook his head. “No goodbye speeches. Not now, not ever.”
“I’m not an idiot Jensen. I know if it gets much higher I won’t be all that coherent and I could…so I have to say this now…” Jared began.
“Jared…please…” Jensen begged with wet eyes.
Jared sighed, too tired to fight. He nodded and closed his eyes, “Just know I wouldn’t change anything…I got to love you…and that’s worth anything…”
Jensen bit his lips to hold back his sob, “You’re going to be fine. I love you.” He whispered to an already sleeping Jared.
*******~~~*******
Steve woke to the feel of something vibrating against his leg. He looked to Chris beside him but the man was asleep. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was his cell phone. He detangled himself from Chris and got off the couch as silently as he could; sneaking a quick glance at Jared, he smiled to see that Jensen was in the bed with him; curled around his body.
Walking down the hall a ways he flipped his phone open and said, “Hi.”
“Hey…Steve?” Ben’s voice on the other end of the line asked. “You sound weird.”
Steve sighed and glanced at the clock on the wall, “Yeah it’s like five in the morning; I was sleeping. What the hell are you doing up so early?”
“Crime never sleeps man. I got your text…thought I would give you a call before I head in to the local office to get some work done.”
“How nice of you.” Steve replied sarcastically. “You still in town then?”
“Yeah, till this case is closed. So how’s the kid?”
Steve sighed as he rubbed his face. “He woke up; is breathing fine. He’s got an infection and a fever that could bring trouble…but he’s alive.”
“That’s good. I’m glad. So your text to call you was about?”
“Diane.” Steve said bluntly. “She paid us a visit.”
Steve could hear Ben sigh over the phone. “Yeah, sorry about that; I had my team dig as much as they could, but there is just no evidence that links her to the crime.”
“But…” Steve began outraged.
“I know Steve. We all know she was involved, but who’s to say she doesn’t tell the court that she had no idea what Josh was doing…she could spin it around to say Josh was probably putting Jared’s money into her account only for the purpose of keeping Jared dependent on him. There is no evidence to say otherwise. The only thing she could be accused of is turning a blind eye to her son’s abuse…and that’s no crime even though I wish it was.”
Steve let out a groan. “Great. Well what about Josh?”
Ben laughed. “Now he’s someone Jared won’t have to worry about. The man bought himself his own prison cell by keeping all those records around; not the smartest move. Not only is he being charged with attempted involuntary manslaughter but he’s also being charged for corporate embezzlement and false pretenses. It’s up to the judge to decide the sentencing, but I don’t see him getting less than twenty five years in prison.”
“Wow…finally some good news.” Steve smiled. “Everyone will be happy to hear that.”
“Yeah, so I have to get going; I’ll keep you updated.”
“Thanks.” Steve stuffed his phone back into his pocket and headed back to the room. He was glad about Josh. Jensen could certainly use some good news about something for a change.
TBC
Author: bahama_breeze77
Rating: NC17ish
Pairing: J2, Jared/Josh Duhamel, Chris/Steve
Warning: Violence, Abuse, Sort of non-con, Bad language
Summary: Jared’s life is hell; he has one friend, a horrible boyfriend, and his future being decided for him. But that all starts to change when a gorgeous green eyed photographer moves into the next door apartment.
A/N: I have very little knowledge of medical related things, so forgive my ignorance when it comes to medications and such. Just go with the flow!!
Previous Chapters
Ch. 21
Chris groaned as a high pitched ringing noise woke him from his sleep. He lifted his head off of where it was resting against a sleeping Steve’s back and grumbled, “What the hell?”
“Phone…it’s your phone…” mumbled Steve as he buried his face further into the pillow.
Chris reached over to the night stand and grabbed his phone. “Shit.” He frowned as he read the display and then flipped it open. “Jensen?”
Chris got pushed to the side as Steve rolled over to look at him with concern.
“Jen…slow down; what’s happening?” Chris asked now wide awake. “Fuck...okay calm down buddy…we’re leaving now.” He snapped the phone closed and watched as Steve rolled off the bed to grab some clothes. He quickly rolled out of bed and did the same as he dialed a number and put it between his shoulder and ear to hold it while he pulled his pants up. Once the groggy voice answered he said, “Get dressed, we’ll be there in five minutes…something’s wrong at the hospital.” He hung up without waiting for a reply.
“What’s going on?” Steve asked as he pulled on his shirt.
Chris sighed. “I’m not exactly sure. Jensen said something about Jared and fever and how…I don’t know; he was so distraught he could hardly speak.”
“Jesus.” Steve cursed. He hoped that Jared was still alive.
“Come on. We have to swing by and get Chad.” Chris stated as he headed out of the bedroom with Steve right behind him.
*******~~~*******
Jensen flipped his phone closed and resumed his restless pacing. The doctors had been in there with Jared for over twenty minutes but to Jensen it had seemed like hours already. He couldn’t stand not knowing what was going on in there; if Jared was okay or not; he had to restrain himself from bursting in there and demanding to be told what was going on.
He sighed as he put his back to the wall and slowly slid down to sit on the ground. He ran his fingers over his tired eyes before his head slumped to rest on his knees. His heart was still beating frantically from the scare he had when Jared was choking on the tube. He couldn’t help seeing Jared’s panicked eyes begging him for help.
Jensen heard the door in front of him open and his head snapped up to see a line of doctor and nurses exit the room and go on with their business with Dr. Schols bringing up the rear. He jumped to his feet and looked expectantly at the doctor.
Dr. Schols smiled tightly at Jensen. “He’s okay. He’s resting right now.”
“Okay? He didn’t look okay last time I saw him!” Jensen rushed to say.
The doctor nodded, “He woke up and panicked at having the breathing tube in; he couldn’t calm down quick enough to understand what it was so he choked on it. But we have removed it and he seems to be breathing fine on his own; we’ll monitor him closely.”
Jensen felt tears rush to his eyes when he heard the doctor say Jared woke up. “He’s awake?”
Dr. Schols smiled. “We had to give him a mild sedative to get the tube out; so he’s groggy; maybe even asleep already. He’ll be asleep more than awake for the next few day, so don’t be worried that he’s sleeping so much; it’s completely normal.”
Jensen nodded and took a calming breath. “And his fever?”
“Still present.” The doctor grimaced. “It’s at 102.5 degrees right now. I’m going to send someone to collect some blood in a bit and we can see how far the infection has progressed. I left some ice chips near Jared’s bed; you can feed them to him if his throat bothers him too much. If you have any questions; I’ll be around.”
Jensen nodded and watched the doctor walk away. He turned to the closed door and gently eased it open. Jared looked much better without the ventilator sticking out of his mouth; in fact Jensen thought he looked kind of peaceful. His head was turned away slightly; eyes closed; face flushed. He still had all his IV’s and monitors on him.
He walked quietly back to his chair and sat down never once taking his eyes off Jared. He reached out and gently clasped Jared’s hand; rubbing his thumb back and forth over it. Jensen almost broke down crying when Jared’s forehead creased and hazel eyes blinked open to look at him.
“Jen…” Jared’s voice, even through it was weak and scratchy, was like music to Jensen’s ears.
“Hey baby.” Jensen blinked away tears.
Jared’s eyes shut for a long time before they opened again. “I guess…I’m alive.”
That statement broke any composer Jensen had and he lowered his head onto Jared’s hand as he cried tears of sadness, tears of happiness; and tears of fear.
“Jen?” Jared wondered; concerned.
Jensen wiped his eyes on the blanket before looking back up at Jared with a smile. “Sorry…I’m just so happy your awake…I love you so much.” Jensen stood up leaning over Jared to give him a small kiss on the lips.
Jared gave a small sleepy smile. “Love you…too.”
Jensen ran his fingers through Jared’s hair as his lover’s blinks got longer and longer. He thought Jared had slipped off to sleep; so he was surprised when Jared gasped weakly and looked up at him with wide eyes.
“I didn’t marry Josh.” Jared said uncertainly.
Jensen wasn’t sure if that was a question or a statement, but Jared looked worried so he shook his head and reassured, “You didn’t marry Josh.”
Jared nodded and closed his eyes. “Cold…tired…”
Jensen smiled and tucked the blankets in tighter to Jared’s body then continued to stroke Jared’s hair. “Then sleep. I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Jensen sat staring at Jared sleeping for about ten more minutes in silence before the door opened and Jensen saw a wide eyed Chad rush up to Jared’s side.
“What’s wrong? What happened? The tube’s gone! Oh, god, is he dead?” Chad’s worried voice rushed to ask.
Jensen shook his head quickly wanting to reassure his new friend but Chris beat him to it by saying, “Chill man, he’s breathing…look.”
“Thank you lord.” Chad breathed out as he put his hand on Jared’s forehead. “He’s hot.”
“What happened, Jen? Chris said he could barely understand you on the phone.” Steve asked concerned as he came up beside Jensen’s chair to place a hand on his shoulder.
“I had a bit of a freak out…Jared woke up and started choking on the ventilator…the doctors pushed me out of here so fast I though…I didn’t know if he was even alive when I called you…” Jensen began.
“He’s awake?” Chad asked looking at Jensen hopefully.
Jensen nodded. “He’s just sleeping now.”
Chris smiled and looked at Jared closely before looking back at Jensen. “So…he’s okay then?”
Everyone was looking at him waiting for an answer, but Jensen couldn’t seem to get his voice to work anymore. He swallowed a few times; hoping that would take the lump out of his throat.
“Jensen?” Chad prompted, his happy smile slowly slipping away.
“Th…” Jensen cleared his throat and looked at Jared’s hand. “The doctor says his body developed an infection, that’s why he’s so hot with fever, they upped his antibiotics but they don’t know if that will stop it from moving to his lung.”
Chad shook his head. “I don’t…What does that mean? They can fix it right…even if it goes that far?”
Jensen felt Steve’s hand on his shoulder tighten and he finally looked up at his friends. “He said the course of action needed might be too much for Jared’s body to handle in his weakened state…his fever has been getting worse.”
Chad looked back down to Jared with shiny eyes as Chris kneeled in front of Jensen. “Hey, the infection hasn’t got to his lungs yet and Jared’s a fighter…he’s strong and he has a really good reason to stay and fight.”
Jensen gave his friend a little smile as he blinked away tears. Chris pulled him into a hug and Jensen let himself take comfort in his friend for a few moments before they separated. “Thanks.”
Chris smiled and pulled up another chair for Chad to sit in while he and Steve took the couch.
“Will he wake up soon?” Chad asked softly.
Jensen shrugged. “The doctor said he’d sleep a lot.” He took a look at Jared’s temperature, it was now 102.6 degrees.
*******~~~*******
Jensen’s eyes opened quickly and he jerked upright in his seat; he had fallen asleep. A quick glance around the darkened room showed him Steve and Chris sleeping together on the couch and Chad slumped back in his chair asleep. He rubbed his face with the hand not holding Jared’s and wondered what had woke him up; but a few seconds later Jared moaned softly and the hand he held jerked a little.
“Jared?” He whispered as he leaned over his boyfriend. “Wake up baby.” Jensen was rewarded when Jared’s head turned toward him and his eyes opened slowly.
“Jen…” Jared’s weak voice cracked.
Jensen smiled, “How are you feeling?”
Jared closed his eyes briefly and made a small moaning noise. “Thirsty.”
Jensen stood up and grabbed a cup of ice chips before sitting down on the bed by Jared’s hip. “Here…how about some ice chips?” When Jared gave a small nod, he brought his hand behind Jared’s head to raise him up a little and picked up an ice chip bringing in to Jared’s lips.
Jared sucked the ice chip out of Jensen’s fingers and smiled in pleasure as the coolness soothed his throat.
“That good?” Jensen asked with a smile. “Want more?”
Jared nodded again. After eating six of them, he felt slightly better and a bit more coherent. “Thanks.” While his head was still held up by Jensen he glanced quickly around and was surprised to see three other people in the room. “Chad…”
Jensen nodded and quickly piled Jared’s pillows higher so he could lay back and still see around the room. “He’s been here since we brought you in…we all have.”
Jared nodded after Jensen had laid his head back down. He thought back to the last thing he remembered but it was so hazy; he remembered getting dragged out in the ocean by Josh… “What happened? I mean with Josh…” Jared asked softly, looking to Jensen.
“You got stabbed by Josh in the water…you remember that?” Jensen asked.
Oh yeah. Jared remembered the shock of seeing a knife handle in his chest and he remembered being in Jensen’s arms but that’s about it. “Slightly.” He replied.
“Well Josh freaked out and fled but the FBI caught up to him and he’s in custody. He’ll probably go to jail for attempted murder and lots of other things.” Jensen quickly reassured.
“Other things?” Jared asked confused.
Jensen winced. He forgot that Jared had no clue about what Josh or his mother did. He quickly shook his head, “It doesn’t matter right now, let’s concentrate on getting you better okay?”
Jared stared at Jensen for a few minutes in silence not understanding what was going on. The FBI was involved? He slowly shook his head; he felt so out of the loop. “How long have I been here anyways?”
“About a week, maybe a little over.” Jensen said, glad that Jared was letting the subject drop for now. “I know you probably have lots of questions Jay, and we will answer them all for you, but right now, you should rest as much as you can so you can get better.”
Jared smiled at Jensen and nodded. “I love you.”
Jensen blinked back tears and leaned down to give Jared a kiss. He ran his fingers over Jared’s warm face and looked into his fever glazed eyes. “I love you too.”
Jared cursed the fact that he was getting tired again. “I’m cold.” He stated in a sleepy voice.
“I know; you have a bit of a fever. Do you want another blanket?” Jensen asked.
Jared shook his head, “You.”
Jensen hesitated, “I don’t know Jay…”
Jared forced sleep away for the moment to plead his case. “Please…you won’t hurt me…”
Jensen couldn’t resist Jared’s begging eyes, so he scooted around and lay down next to Jared on his side. He kept his back pressed tight against the side rail of the bed so Jared would have room. He slid his arm under Jared’s pillow and rested his other hand on Jared’s hip; placing his head on the pillow next to Jared’s. This close to Jared he could feel the shivers running through Jared’s body. “Okay, you need to sleep now.”
Jared nodded and turned his head so he could see Jensen; their noses almost touching. “The doctor told me…about the infection…the fever.”
“Oh.” Jensen wasn’t sure what to say to that, the doctor had to have told Jared after he first woke up; Jensen was kind of surprised that Jared had been coherent enough to understand and remember that. He glanced up to the monitor.
“What is it?” Jared whispered.
Jensen sighed and glanced back at Jared, “102.8 degrees.”
Jared nodded and hesitated for a second before saying, “If I…It if gets…I just want you to know that…”
“Don’t!” Jensen bit out. He shook his head. “No goodbye speeches. Not now, not ever.”
“I’m not an idiot Jensen. I know if it gets much higher I won’t be all that coherent and I could…so I have to say this now…” Jared began.
“Jared…please…” Jensen begged with wet eyes.
Jared sighed, too tired to fight. He nodded and closed his eyes, “Just know I wouldn’t change anything…I got to love you…and that’s worth anything…”
Jensen bit his lips to hold back his sob, “You’re going to be fine. I love you.” He whispered to an already sleeping Jared.
*******~~~*******
Steve woke to the feel of something vibrating against his leg. He looked to Chris beside him but the man was asleep. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was his cell phone. He detangled himself from Chris and got off the couch as silently as he could; sneaking a quick glance at Jared, he smiled to see that Jensen was in the bed with him; curled around his body.
Walking down the hall a ways he flipped his phone open and said, “Hi.”
“Hey…Steve?” Ben’s voice on the other end of the line asked. “You sound weird.”
Steve sighed and glanced at the clock on the wall, “Yeah it’s like five in the morning; I was sleeping. What the hell are you doing up so early?”
“Crime never sleeps man. I got your text…thought I would give you a call before I head in to the local office to get some work done.”
“How nice of you.” Steve replied sarcastically. “You still in town then?”
“Yeah, till this case is closed. So how’s the kid?”
Steve sighed as he rubbed his face. “He woke up; is breathing fine. He’s got an infection and a fever that could bring trouble…but he’s alive.”
“That’s good. I’m glad. So your text to call you was about?”
“Diane.” Steve said bluntly. “She paid us a visit.”
Steve could hear Ben sigh over the phone. “Yeah, sorry about that; I had my team dig as much as they could, but there is just no evidence that links her to the crime.”
“But…” Steve began outraged.
“I know Steve. We all know she was involved, but who’s to say she doesn’t tell the court that she had no idea what Josh was doing…she could spin it around to say Josh was probably putting Jared’s money into her account only for the purpose of keeping Jared dependent on him. There is no evidence to say otherwise. The only thing she could be accused of is turning a blind eye to her son’s abuse…and that’s no crime even though I wish it was.”
Steve let out a groan. “Great. Well what about Josh?”
Ben laughed. “Now he’s someone Jared won’t have to worry about. The man bought himself his own prison cell by keeping all those records around; not the smartest move. Not only is he being charged with attempted involuntary manslaughter but he’s also being charged for corporate embezzlement and false pretenses. It’s up to the judge to decide the sentencing, but I don’t see him getting less than twenty five years in prison.”
“Wow…finally some good news.” Steve smiled. “Everyone will be happy to hear that.”
“Yeah, so I have to get going; I’ll keep you updated.”
“Thanks.” Steve stuffed his phone back into his pocket and headed back to the room. He was glad about Josh. Jensen could certainly use some good news about something for a change.
TBC