Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction; all the resemblances are just eerie coincidences. Everything in the story is owned by myself beloved, everything is copyrighted. Contains descriptive sexual scenes between males - don't read it if you shouldn't.
Note: This is a 3rd installment in the semi-series. The first story is Specter's Gamble </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/specters-gamble/> and the second one is The Year of the Salamander </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/year-of-the-salamander/>
I would recommend reading those first (at least Specter's Gamble) otherwise, some scenes and characters are not going to make much sense, since you wouldn't be familiar with the background and I didn't describe much of the previous events in this story. Other than that, enjoy! Feel free to e-mail me.
- XIX -
When he woke up, the room was bathing in the sunlight. He blinked and glanced around, thankful for the fact that the chills were gone and he didn't shake as bad as before. He propped himself on one elbow and reached for the water bottle. He drank some water, and then regretfully put the bottle away, remembering Desmond's warning. He felt slightly nauseous, but it was nothing compared to what he felt yesterday. "Was it yesterday?" he thought with a small frown. "Yeah, probably... It was dark, and now it looks like it's daytime... Hell, what's the date today...? Dammit, where am I?"
"Morning," he heard, and turned his head towards the door. "You slept for fourteen hours straight," Desmond walked closer, a small bowl in his hands.
When he was close enough, Raven could smell chicken, and suddenly, his stomach revolted, and his arm shot forward to grab the bucket while he was desperately trying to hold all that gurgling behind his teeth.
"Oh, hell," Desmond sighed and put the bowl on top of the small dresser, not too far from the bed. The smell was still very present, getting deeper into Raven's throat, making him gag even more.
"Smell... Bowl...Nngh...!" was all Raven managed before he started producing more bile.
Desmond blinked at that, and then there was `Oh, shit!' expression on his face. He grabbed the bowl and left the room. Several minutes later, he came back and swung the window open.
"Sorry about that," he muttered and looked at Raven when the dark-haired man finally stopped convulsing. He waited for another minute, just to make sure, then nodded, grabbed the bucket, and left the room again.
He came back with a wet towel and another bottle of water. He cleaned Raven's face, looking quite thoughtful.
"Well, damn," he said finally after giving Raven some water. "You need to eat something... Not chicken, obviously," he nodded.
"No... Food..." Raven said in what he thought was firm whisper.
"When was the last time you ate anything?" Desmond narrowed his eyes, and Raven honestly tried to remember. He had no idea. "You need to eat something," Desmond nodded. "Yeah, you probably *will *throw it all up right after you finish it," he shrugged, answering Raven's silent, torturous question. "But something will still stay there... Seriously, you need at least something..."
"What..." Raven closed his eyes. Goddammit, he thought furiously. He hated this! At least, he wasn't still with Magda's goons or Magda herself for that matter... Yeah, that was very good indeed. He sighed and opened his eyes. "What... date... is..."
"April eighth," Desmond nodded, and Raven just stared at him. April eighth?! He was injected for the first time on Wednesday... What date was that? He thought about it for a few seconds, and then remembered. March 27, he thought numbly.
"Holy hell," he blinked silently. "They got me more than a week ago...?" He remembered Magda telling him that one time that all she needed was a week. "I guess it didn't go as smoothly as she thought it would..." he thought with some weird dark satisfaction. He looked at Desmond again.
"What happened...?" He was impressed with himself being able to say two words in a row.
"You don't remember?" Desmond narrowed his eyes slightly, and Raven slowly shook his head. Desmond sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I was walking home yesterday afternoon," he said. "Heard some weird noise, went to investigate... Saw two buffoons trying to shove you into the van, and you were resisting like a man possessed even though you were higher than a kite," he nodded.
Raven blinked at that. He was resisting? He remembered nothing. In fact, the last thing he remembered was that guy ("What was his name...? Marcellus...? Yeah, that's it...") injecting him after Magda left. They kept him under for more than ten days? He felt cold, thinking that he was very lucky he didn't get addicted to anything. Otherwise, he would be in very deep shit right now; being on `dirty water' for three days in a row was bad enough – it would guarantee someone at least four months of rehab. Being on it for eleven days...
"Well, I tried to avoid violence," Desmond was saying meanwhile. "It didn't work," he nodded. "Then, after you realized that you were safe, you passed out," he finished.
"Thanks..." Raven whispered.
"Yeah," Desmond shrugged. "Anyway, I am going to make you some toast. It doesn't smell like anything, it's dry and plain... Should be good," he got up.
"I..." Raven said, and Desmond simply waved his hand at him in a `shut up' gesture.
"I will also make you some tea with sugar in it," he said and left the room.
Raven sighed and closed his eyes, feeling exhausted. This last retching fit made him feel beyond weak. "I guess he is right," he thought melancholically. "I do need to eat something... Shit, I need to call Julian...! If I was gone since last Wednesday and today is..." he frowned without opening his eyes, counting quickly. "Holy shit! It's Monday! Crap, I need to call him... Except, I can't talk right now... Goddammit...!" He gritted his teeth helplessly. Finally, he sighed once again and thought that he would try calling the blond tomorrow. He feverishly hoped that by tomorrow he would feel a hell of a lot better. `Dirty water' or not, he still should be able to recover fast.
Desmond came back fifteen or so minutes later, and this time, a tall, brown-haired man, whose expression was quite curious, accompanied him.
"This is Gabriel," Desmond said and put a plate with one single toast on it onto the dresser. Then he carefully sat a mug with steaming tea next to it. "Give me your arm," he said and pulled a syringe and some capsule out of his pocket. Raven immediately became wary. "This will help you with the nausea," Desmond said patiently after seeing the look on his face. "Plus, it will help flushing all that crap out of your system quicker."
Raven frowned for several seconds, then bit his lip and gave Desmond a slow nod, stretching his arm towards the green-eyed man.
"Interesting eye color," Gabriel said thoughtfully, and Raven managed to grin weakly at that. Then he let out a small hiss and winced at the sensation of the needle piercing his skin.
"Sorry," Desmond threw a quick glance at him and slowly emptied the syringe into Raven's arm.
"Okay..." was all Raven managed.
Desmond got up and put the syringe on the dresser. He grabbed the plate with the toast on it and sat down again.
"Well," Gabriel sighed. "I have to get back to work... I am glad you are feeling better," he nodded at Raven. "Was curious as hell," he grinned at the smaller man. "Had to see you in conscious condition..."
Raven gave him a weak smile, and Gabriel left. Desmond sat the plate in front of the dark-haired man, balancing it on the blanket. Raven stared at the toast with trapped desperation. He knew he had to eat at least some of it, but he felt as if he wouldn't be able to swallow a single bite right now. Finally, he sighed, broke a small piece of plain toast, and carefully put it in his mouth. He was relieved when he was able to swallow it, and even more relieved when there was no immediate nausea as he was afraid would be the case. He ate a half of it, and finally, he couldn't eat any more.
"Done..." he muttered and looked at Desmond, feeling incredibly tired. At least, he wasn't nauseous.
"All right," Desmond nodded and took the plate. "Here..." he said a few seconds later and brought a mug with tea to Raven's mouth.
Raven didn't even try holding it himself; he was too damn tired, so he just pressed his lips to the edge of the warm mug and drank some of the faintly sweetened black tea.
"Sleep now," Desmond sighed after strange-eyed man dropped his head onto the pillow, looking beyond exhausted. He got up, grabbed the plate and the syringe off the dresser, and walked to the door. Right before he left the room, he stopped and threw a brief glance at Raven. The smaller man was asleep.
He woke up the next morning, and felt so much better, he almost cried with relief. He was still weak, and there still was faint nausea splashing in the pit of his stomach, but in overall, he felt a hell of a lot better. He frowned when he realized that he needed to use the bathroom, and rather soon. The bedroom had a bathroom in it, so he figured that he would be able to shuffle there by himself. He was *not *going to throw that rubber ball into the wall, wait for Desmond, and say something like, "Take me to the bathroom, I need to take a piss..."
He sighed and carefully got off the bed. The trip to the bathroom turned out to be not as bad as he thought at first. He had to hold onto the wall the whole time, but other than that, it went fine. He made his way back to the bed, still leaning on the wall, and sighed when he realized that right now, he was as close to being an invalid as it could possibly get.
"Goddammit, Magda!" he fumed darkly while getting on the bed. "You are the one who did this to me! Fuck...! Who would've thought that Julian would be a hell of a better choice than Magda?"
Thinking of Julian immediately sent some serious waves all the way down to his toes. He missed the blond so much right now that his heart started to ache. He blinked when he realized that; he never missed him this much before. "God..." he thought numbly. "I *do *love him..."
He was still musing about that fact when Desmond walked into the room.
"You look much better," the green-eyed man said with approval.
"I feel better too," Raven nodded.
"Holy hell, you can speak...!" Desmond's eyes widened a bit, and Raven laughed.
"Yeah... Hey, I need to make a phone call, is that all right?"
"Sure," Desmond pulled a small phone out of his pocket and tossed it at the smaller man. "I'm gonna go make breakfast... Toast?"
Raven's stomach growled at that, and he realized that he was starving.
"Two," he said quickly, and Desmond grinned.
"Okay," he nodded and headed out of the room. Right before he left, he stopped and looked at the dark-haired thief. "Whom are you going to call?" he asked with a hint of curiosity.
"My..." Raven hesitated for several seconds. "...mate," he finished in a softer voice, and Desmond nodded again.
Raven waited until the taller man left, and then flipped the phone open and punched in the number he remembered by heart, his fingers trembling. He listened to several excruciatingly long beeps, wondering if the blond didn't have his phone, when something clicked, and there was a very familiar voice:
"Yeah!"
The voice wasn't anywhere near purring right now; it was sharp, tired, and pissed off.
"Hey..." Raven said quietly and closed his eyes when there was nothing but stunned silence.
"Raven..." the blond muttered finally, and he sounded like he wasn't sure whether this was some sort of prank.
"Yeah," Raven said as quietly as before.
"Where are you?" the sharpness was back.
"Umm..." Raven opened his eyes and frowned. That was a very good question. "I am not sure," he admitted. "I'll ask, hold on..." He slowly got off the bed, making sure he is moving carefully enough not to trip and fall.
"Are you okay?" sharpness was diluted with impatience now.
"No," Raven said honestly. "But I am alive, and I am free, so it's all good... I just feel like shit, that's all..."
"How did you get away from her?"
Raven blinked. He knows about Magda? Then he shrugged to himself. It's Julian, he thought; he'd be surprised otherwise.
"Some guy helped me," he said, glad for the fact that he was almost by the door now. "Saved my ass, took me home, flushed all that shit out of my system... Yeah," he nodded energetically. "I owe him, all right...!"
"*I *owe him..." the blond muttered. "Ask him about the address."
"Working on it," Raven nodded again even though he knew that Julian couldn't see him right now.
He made it into the kitchen in two minutes, give or take, and Desmond's eyebrow flew up when he saw Raven's shuffling figure. Raven sat on the chair and sighed with relief.
"Hold on," he said into the phone. "What is your address?" he asked Desmond.
"Oh, right..." Desmond muttered, and then told him. Raven blinked when he heard the name of the city.
"Holy hell..." he muttered and pressed the phone against his ear. "It's..."
"I've heard," the blond said busily.
"You did...?" Raven blinked. "Good hearing you've got there..."
"Can't complain," Julian agreed. "No wonder not a single damn Locator could find you! It's all the way across the bloody world...! Goddamn... All right, I'll be there in a few hours."
"Yeah," Raven smiled, knowing that the blond was probably doing flight arrangements right now while still talking on the phone.
"Shit, Raven..." Julian stopped talking and drew a deep breath. "I'll see you in a few hours," he said finally and hung up the phone.
Raven sighed and closed the phone.
"Thanks," he handed it to Desmond, who simply nodded without saying anything. "He'll be here in a few hours... Desmond, I just want to thank you for everything you did... Seriously, you..."
"Don't sweat it," Desmond waved his hand and sat a plate with two slices of toast in front of Raven. "Coffee or orange juice?"
"Coffee!" Raven said with so much hunger that Desmond just hemmed.
"All right..." He started working the coffeemaker. "So your mate is on his way then?"
"Yeah," Raven couldn't believe how good the toast tasted. "He'll be flying in..."
"Does he need a lift from the airport?"
"No," Raven shook his head. "He'll be fine..." He glanced at Desmond who was waiting for the coffeemaker to stop huffing and puffing. "Believe me," he said with a small smile. "He is the type who can handle himself pretty much anywhere..."
"Good for him," Desmond nodded and handed Raven a full by now coffee mug. "Well, if you are sure you'll be fine on your own, I'm gonna take off for an hour or so."
"I will be fine," Raven nodded. "Thanks again!"
"Welcome," Desmond flashed him a quick grin. "See you later!"
...He came back home a couple of hours later, and glanced into the bedroom on his way to the office. Raven was asleep again or so it seemed. Desmond nodded to himself, wondering when the man's mate was going to show up. He realized that he never asked Raven about what city he was from. Then he shrugged. Probably somewhere rather far, since his mate was flying in here.
"Wonder how in bloody hell did he even get here?" he thought and turned on his computer. He was in the middle of putting together the final exam for his classes, when the doorbell rang. Desmond glanced at the clock. It was 2:45. That would be the mate, he thought melancholically and got up. He glanced into the bedroom on his way to the door. Raven was awake, and it seemed, he was about to get off the bed.
"I guess that's your mate," Desmond said, and Raven's expression became so hungry all of a sudden, that Desmond blinked. "I'm gonna let him in," he grinned, and Raven nodded quickly without saying anything.
Desmond made his way to the front door and took off the door chain. He swung the door open, and then he froze in his spot, unable to blink or even breathe.
"I received a phone call from..." the blond turned his head to look at him, and then he became mute.
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