[TIER 10] IATL: Chapter 10 (Patreon)

"Are you Gabriel Ward's guardian?"

Startled, Lucas glances up, just only noticing the nurse in front of him. "Gabriel is my charge, yes." He stands, nerves jangling. "How is he?"

The nurse is sympathetic when she speaks. "As you might have already known, Gabriel has been severely beaten and there were signs of sexual assault. He suffered internal hemorrhage in his brain and anal region. We were able to stop the bleeding with the surgery. There's also a hairline fracture to his left hip as well as a broken nose, and a dislocated jaw. His condition is stable for now, but we will know more after 24 hours. He's awake now, but he's not entirely lucid yet. I'm not sure how much help he can be in term of questioning." She directs the last part at Zael who'd also stand and is listening closely.

"Can I see him?" Lucas asks.

"Of course, he is on the 3rd floor, Room 3b. Please try not to cause him any more distress. He needs to rest."

"I understand." The nurse nods and walks away. Before he can say anything else, Zael announces, "I'm coming," and strides past him towards the elevators bearing no argument. Lucas rolls his eyes and follows.

---

Chase is with his third and final client of the night. He is sore. Not all his clients tonight are like Cupid. He will admit that the dude has some issues, but at least, he was gentle with him. He was not afforded that same luxury after Cupid. The one called 'Patrick' wanted him to call him Daddy while he did all sort of despicable things to him. He hoped the man doesn't have a son at home whom he's harboring this sick obsession with.

Baldwin groans as he comes, at long last pulling out of his sore ass. Chase's body is tense with pain and tired from exhaustion. Gabriel's bed is starting to smell heavily of sex and sweat. Any traces of his sweet smelling soap are long gone. Hugging Gabriel's pillow, the worry and concern that have been niggling at his consciousness come back at full force. Lucas hadn't called. The uncertainty turns into fear, crawling over him, prickling him. He fidgets, agitated, the need to do something to quell that dread feeling overpowering.

There's a rustle of clothing, and he turns to see Baldwin pulling on his clothes quietly. Come to think of it, he doesn't really speak much, or at all except for the occasional sex noises. Chase could or did have worse. With Baldwin, it feels... Mundane. Boring even. The man comes in, strips and fuck. Very businesslike. Very impersonal. He'll take Baldwin over Patrick anytime.

Now that he's no longer distracted by someone's dick pumping in and out of him, he can hear the patter of the rain outside. Chase pushes himself up and pushes the curtain aside. A lighting flashes followed by the sound of thunder. Adjusting his eyes to the darkness outside, he notices that it's pouring. Rain splashes down onto the streets, creating puddles everywhere. The trees are dancing in the wind sending leaves and twigs flying.

Chase marvels for a while, mesmerized by the forces of Mother Nature. This must be what Gabriel's referring to. He smiles, then looks down at the pillow he's still clutching. After a moment, he turns to stare up at Baldwin, an idea forming in his head.

"Hey, uh... Baldwin?" Chase starts, hesitant. Baldwin turns dull eyes on him, his fingers busy with the buttons on his shirt. "Do you think you can do me a favor?" Both of Baldwin's thick worm-like eyebrows shoot up, almost disappearing into his hairline. Chase would think it's hilarious if he isn't so nervous.

"A friend of mine is in the hospital, and I'm really worried about him. I'm wondering if it would be possible if you could erm..." He swallows. "Drive me to the hospital?" When Baldwin remains quiet, he licks his lips and tries. "I'll make it worth your while."

Baldwin seems to consider this. He finishes buttoning up his shirt and is grabbing his coat when he nods his head towards the door. Heart soaring, Chase shoots out of bed and starts pulling on his jeans and t-shirt, not bothering with his boxers. He's going to see Gabriel! He can't believe his luck. It's with much difficulty that he remains unaffected when he feels like he's about to break into a dance. A jiggle. His face muscles twitch as he tries to reel in his grin.

He follows Baldwin to his car parked outside at a run because damn, it's storming hard. When he reaches the car, he pauses, looking at it incredulously, blinking water from his eyes. It's a MINI. Baldwin is a big man, robust and thick, very squarish in his features. He watches as Baldwin stuffs himself into the MINI and can't help but let out an undignified snigger that he quickly covers up with a sudden burst of coughing when Baldwin turns his gorilla-like face on him.

Meekly, he opens the passenger side door and climbs in, noting that he's drenched and most likely making a huge wet stain in the seat. He rubs at his arms, unable to stop the slight chatter of his teeth and the goosebumps prickling all over his body. In his rush, he had forgotten his coat. Baldwin starts the car, turns up the heater and pulls out the parking spot.

Sighing as the car starts to warm up, he slips lower into the seat. He closes his eyes and relaxes into the relative quiet of the car, listening to the muffled howls of the wind outside and the soft hum of the engine. God, he's exhausted. Just as he's about to nod off, he's startled awake by a low monotonous voice. "I want you to give me road head."

Looking to his side, he watches as Baldwin keeps his eyes straight on the road, shoulder stiff as his fingers tightens on the steering wheels. The man seems tensed, nervous. Uncomfortable. A passing car drives by and drenches Baldwin's face in its headlights. Chase blinks, thinking it's a trick of the light. But no, Baldwin is blushing! The man who pays for sex is flustered about having road head. It's absurd.

Maybe it's not so much the act itself, but the fact that Chase now knows it's a fetish of his that got Baldwin red-faced. His own face feels hot as he recalls the one night he spent with a high school senior. Rhonda Harvey. She had made him try on her panties. They were pink. And satiny. And he liked it. He vowed to take that little tidbit to his grave.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he leans over and unzips Baldwin's slack. As he pushes Baldwin's brief down, he's surprised to see that the man is already supporting a chub. Impressive, seeing as he'd just come not ten minutes ago. He teases the head and massages his balls with his hands.

In no time at all, Baldwin is panting through his nose, thighs shaking. For a moment there, he's afraid they're going to crash, but when he looks up, Baldwin's eyes are still trained on the road. He searches around in the glove compartment, criticizing himself for forgetting the condoms, sighing in relief when he found some. Without hesitating, he rolls the condom on.

The condom's the non-flavored kind, and it tastes horrible. He's busy bobbing his head when someone honks their horn. Baldwin comes with a grunt. Chase pulls back and tucks Baldwin's softening dick in his briefs and zips him up.

Chase's mouth and chin are slick with drool, and he grabs the collar of his t-shirt to wipe it off. Baldwin is still sitting straight and watching the road. The only difference being is his face is now flushed and eyes bright from his orgasm. Chase leans back into his seat once more, eyes staring out at the storming night, the streaks of water dashing across the glass window.

I'm coming, Gabe. Wait for me.

---

The sound of beeping is loud in his ears. Everything is dark. He's feeling fuzzy, groggy like he's stuffed full of cotton. His breathing is slow, and every breath seems to take too much effort. His body feels like lead, heavy and weighing a ton. When he tries to move his fingers, they twitch a little. He tries wiggling his toes, not sure if they'd even moved, just feels a tingling sensation. Why is everything so dark? Did someone turn off the lights?

It takes him a while before he realizes that he has eyes closed. He tries opening them, his eyelids fluttering. Sharp, bright light assaults him, and he closes his eyes immediately, groaning as he turns his face to the side, stopping when the movement causes him to feel sick. His face hurts. Now that he is getting more aware, it seems like everything hurts. Not a sharp kind of pain, more like a dull throb. He moans his discomfort. The sound is hardly audible. His mouth feels dry and his throat raw. Slowly, he lifts his eyelids once more.

Everything looks blurry for a moment. He blinks. Once. Twice. Squints a little before everything comes into focus. There is a machine beside him. So that's what was making the annoying beeping sound. He glares at it grumpily. Then, he looks down at himself. He is lying in a bed surrounded by what looks like a shower curtain. He frowns. He tries to sit up but decides against it when pain explodes down the back of his spine. He lies still for a while, eyes closed as he waits for the pain to subside.

Where is he? What the hell happened? He tries to think but his head hurts too much, and he gives up. He's so tired. Everything feels like too much effort. His breathing evens out. It's time to rest now.

The jingles from the metal rings holding the shower curtain up disturb his peace. He opens his eyes and blinks up at the man standing at the foot of his bed. The man is staring at him with a solemn expression, brows furrowed and jaw clenched. He looks familiar. He frowns as the man walks towards him and seated himself onto the chair by his bedside. He hadn't even noticed the chair there before.

"How are you feeling, Gabriel?" the man asks in a soft voice.

Gabriel. Is that his name? Gabriel? He turns the name over and over in his head, repeating it to himself. Gabriel... Gabriel... You're always so good for me, Gabriel. An image of the man wrapping him up in his arms, kissing him softly on his lips flickers through his mind. The feeling of being romanced and seduced accompany the memory. He warms up to the man immediately when suddenly a myriad of images flashes past, quick and unrelenting, memories coming back to him in sharp focus. Vicious and cruel. Merciless and violent.

Zael. The parties. The men. The bench. Each memory strikes him like a whip, hitting Gabriel hard and fast, leaving a sting like a burn behind. His vision begins to blur, and someone starts sobbing. A heart-wrenching sort of cry. He searches the room, trying to find the source of it and realizes that they are coming from him. Tears leak out the corner of his eyes, seeping into his hair and staining the pillow.

"Hey hey... Gabriel, shhh..." Lucas says, wiping the tears away with his thumb. "It's okay. You're safe now, Gabriel," he soothes. More tears flood down Gabriel's face. "Shhhh... There's no need to cry... I'm here. You're safe," he says again.

Gabriel doesn't know why he's crying, why he couldn't stop crying. Seeing Lucas now, it's like a veil has been lifted. The memories burn strongly behind his eyes. He can see it so clearly now. The subtle changes. The kindness, the charm, the promises. The subsequent favors, requests, demands. He chokes in the knowledge as he stares at the man he'd loved and watches as everything he thought he knew shatters into pieces around him. It's like he's stepping through the looking glass and sees reality for what it is.

From the very beginning, it had all been a ploy to manipulate him. Trick him. Use him. Lucas had never loved him. He's never cared. It had all been a lie. False promises. How did he not see? Had he been so blinded all these time? Or was he so pathetic, so desperate for love, he hid behind the smokescreen of self denial? His body hurts, but it's nothing like how he's hurting inside. So he keeps crying. He cries for the loss of something he never had. Because no matter what Lucas feels for him, Gabriel had loved and lost. He cries for the boy he used to be. Cries for his naivety, his innocence; tossed into a world so cruel he couldn't begin to understand.

"Gabriel, stop crying. You're just going to hurt yourself further," Lucas demands, voice hard. More tears pour out of his blue eyes, but he's quiet now, mouth tight as he tries to hold his sobs in. Lucas sighs. "Gabriel, do you know who did this to you?"

Gabriel lets out a pitiful whine as tears fall in earnest now, soaking the right side of his pillow. His breathing starts to hitch as he struggles to breathe. The machine starts beeping frantically, each beep resounding loudly in his ears. His body begins to tremble, shaking so hard the bed starts to rattled.

Lucas stands up in alarm as another man rushes to his bed. Zael. Honeyed sweet voice. Gentle touches. Unwanted touch. Seeing him there, at the foot of his bed sends Gabriel into a panic attack. He couldn't breathe, staring with wide frightened eyes at Zael, gripping and pulling at the sheets. Everything seems so large, so loud. His head is spinning. Lucas is shouting something at Zael, and the man retreats behind the curtain.

Still staring at the space Zael's left behind, Gabriel startles as Lucas's hands clamp onto his shoulders, leaning low and putting his face right in his personal space. Lucas seems to be saying something, but Gabriel couldn't hear anything apart from the beeps and them. The chorus of jeers and laughter. It hurts. Everything starts to blur, and he could taste the blood in his mouth. The bitter taste of semen. The rough hands on his body. And the pain. Pure unadulterated pain.

Gabriel can feel the bile at the back of his throat, threatening to come up. His body jerks and he is leaning over the railing of his bed, vomiting. He pukes until there is nothing left to barf. He coughs and splutters, hacking out a stomach as he dry heaves. His vision is blurry, and he is sweating even though he feels cold. He collapses back on the bed, closing his eyes. He feels so weak. His body is shutting down. Right before he passes out, he manages to whisper. "Gordon... They called him Gordon." Then, everything goes black.