Eternity - 8. Chapter Eight

The voice grated across Kyle's already frayed nerves. He personally didn't find anything fun about the fact that Bubba wanted to rape him. Thinking quickly, Kyle decided that if he was going to go down he was not going to go down without a fight. When he felt the hand grab his hair he brought his arm up and knocked it away, fighting not to wince as the move jerked his own hair.

"Oh, I got myself a feisty one," Bubba said, grabbing Kyle and pulling his struggling body off the cot. "You know, this would go a whole lot easier on you if you just let it happen," Bubba said, flinging Kyle across the cell.

Climbing slowly to his feet, despite the pain coursing through where he had landed on his arm, Kyle answered, "If you think for one second that I'm going to just sit by while you rape me, you've got another think coming to you."

"You really think you can beat me?" Bubba asked, making his way over to Kyle.

"Maybe not, but at least I'll know that I tried," Kyle said, reaching up to deflect the blow that was thrown at his head. He couldn't help but cry out as the impact to his already sore arm. Kyle was so intent on the man in front of him that he didn't even really notice the commotion that had started in the other cells.

"You'll wish you had never tried to stop me," Bubba growled, swinging one of his meaty fists straight into Kyle's midsection. When Kyle couldn't help but double over from the pain, Bubba brought his knee up hard, quickly breaking Kyle's nose and causing blood to spurt out.

"You had enough yet," Bubba said, grabbing Kyle's head and slamming it against the rough floor of the cell.

The force of the blow caused Kyle's head to swim and his vision to cloud. The last thing he remembered before the blackness overtook him was whispering the words, "I love you Jared."

~~~~~~
Jared was fighting the darkness that surrounded him, fighting it just like he had numerous times before, but this time seemed to be different. This time it seemed like he was finally winning and finding his way out of the blackness. The first thing he became aware of was the beeping of some machines. He didn't know what those machines were for but he would eventually, as long as he finished making the journey through the darkness. He tried to open his eyes but his eye lids felt like they were weighted down with bricks. When he finally managed to open his eyes a little bit he quickly closed them again, the light in the room was just too bright and made his eyes hurt. He heard a movement in the room and managed to open his eyes slightly again, relieved that the light wasn't as bright as it had been a mere moment ago. Turning his head slightly he noticed that he was in a hospital room and that the beeping machines he had heard were hooked up to him.

Hearing the movement again he turned his head, surprised when he saw Chelsea standing on the other side of the bed that he lay in. He tried to smile at her but his mouth felt so dry. He didn't remember what had happened to him and didn't know why he would be lying here in a hospital bed, but he assumed that it must have been pretty bad. He looked behind Chelsea, hoping against all hope that he would see Kyle in the room as well and felt like crying when he realized that Kyle wasn't there.

"So you're awake huh?"

Jared could only manage a slight nod.

"Guess I should go get the doctors, I'll be right back," Chelsea said before moving slowly out of the room.

Jared wasn't alone long before the same doctor that had treated him the last time came into the room. He thought he saw some kind of sympathy in the doctor's eyes but didn't understand what it meant. A minute later he figured he must have seen something that wasn't there because the sympathy didn't show in the eyes anymore.

"So I see you're finally awake," the doctor said, coming over to the side of the bed. "It's nice having you back with us."

Jared opened his eyes a little wider and watched as the doctor poked and prodded his aching body. He kept trying to figure out what he was doing in the hospital and he really wanted to know where Kyle was. He finally managed to choke out one word through his parched lips, "Kyle?"

"He had to leave for a little bit Mr. Maloney, how are you feeling?"

"I hurt," Jared managed before asking, "Where did he go?"

"He just had to leave for a while; I'm not sure when he'll be back."

"Call him, I want Kyle," Jared said.

Jared watched the same look of sympathy come over the doctor's eyes. At Jared's questioning look, the doctor told him, "Mr. Maloney, I'm afraid that he's not going to be able to come, Mr. Blackner has been arrested." At the shocked look in Jared's eyes the doctor continued, "Do you remember what happened to you? What caused you to be brought here to the hospital again?"

Jared racked his brain, trying to remember the details of what had happened to him. He suddenly remembered feeling hands wrap around his ankles and pull his feet out from under him. He remembered falling down the stairs at the apartment complex. He must have been knocked out when he landed at the bottom of the stairs, but a part of him could still feel someone kicking his body and a knife slicing through his flesh.

"Hands," he mumbled.

"Hands?" The Doctor asked him, looking at him like he must have lost it.

"Water?" Jared asked, wanting to relieve the dryness of his mouth. After taking a drink of the water, Jared finished his thoughts. "There were hands. They wrapped around my ankles and pulled my feet out from under me." Jared stopped for a moment, gathering his thoughts before the doctor's words came back to him, "Kyle? Arrested? Why?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Maloney, but Mr. Blackner was arrested for attempted murder," the doctor said, the sad look coming back into his eyes.

Jared didn't know what the doctor was talking about. Kyle would never even hurt a fly, let alone try to kill someone else. "Who?"

"You, Mr. Maloney."

Jared couldn't believe that this guy actually thought that Kyle would hurt him, and there was no way that those hands had been Kyle's. They had been too soft and too small. Kyle had big, strong, rough hands, not the same as those that had grabbed him. The exertion of talking to the doctor was finally starting to catch up to him and he felt his lids closing again. Before he gave into sleep he manage to tell the doctor one last thing, "Not Kyle, hands too small."

~~~~~~
Matt was sitting at the apartment idly flipping through channels when the phone started ringing on the table next to him. Quickly turning down the volume he grabbed the phone and after checking the caller id and seeing it was the hospital he quickly answered.

"Chelsea?"

"Yeah, it's me, he's awake."

"Does he remember anything of what happened to him?"

"I don't know, I didn't really talk to him much, the doctor was in there with him for a while and they said he fell back asleep, but it's just sleep this time."

"Well that's good then, at least he's out of the worst of it, right?"

"Yeah, but from what the doctor told me, all Jared wants right now is Kyle."

"Has the lawyer gone down to the jail yet?"

"No, I haven't been able to find anyone to take the case. I've been trying to find someone but no one will take it."

"What else can we do?"

"I don't know Matt, but we'll figure something out."

"Yeah, I guess, thanks for calling Chels, it's great to know he's awake finally, I just wish Kyle could be there with him right now."

"I know hon, but he can't be until we find some way to free him."

"Some way to free him, yeah, I know. Listen, you go back and sit with Jared and I will call later to see how he's doing, k?"

"No problem hon, and go get some sleep, k? I know that you want to be here but they're not going to let you in the hospital, you know that as well as I do."

"I know, just keep me updated, k?"

"Will do, talk to later babe, love you, bye."

"Yeah, love you too, laters," Matt said, hanging up the phone and staring at the muted television. He didn't know what to do, he knew that Kyle needed to be at that hospital, but he didn't know how to make that happen. Getting up and going into the kitchen, he looked slowly around the kitchen before his eyes fell on his set of serrated knives. Pulling one of the knives out he looked at if for a minute before an idea formed in his head.

If he could make the police believe that he was behind the attempts then they'd let Kyle go, of course, they'd search his apartment looking for the knife that was used on Jared. He didn't have access to any blood to get into the serrated part of the knife, but he could just hide it and hope they at least checked the possibility of it being the knife used. Quickly grabbing one of the bigger looking knifes he slipped into his room and slid the knife under the bed before picking up the phone. Dialing a number directly from memory, Matt paced around the living room as he waited for someone to answer. When a voice picked up, Matt said, "Keep a close eye on both of 'em, I'm gonna be gone for a while," before quickly hanging up and grabbing his coat before walking out the door.

He knew that if they didn't find the person who had really tried to kill Jared that he'd face his life behind bars, but it was better him than Kyle. Climbing in his truck he took one last look at the apartment complex before backing out and heading towards the police station. He just hoped that his plan worked.

~~~~~~
Kyle didn't know how long it had been since he had come back around after blacking out on the cell floor. His injuries turned out to be fairly superficial, the worst being a broken nose and a bruised up face. He was exceedingly lucky that the guards had heard the commotion and come back to check on him; otherwise he didn't know what would have happened to him. They had quickly gotten Bubba away from him and had moved him to another cell, which he had to himself for now.

His thoughts drifted back to Jared and he couldn't help the tears that came to his eyes as he thought of Jared lying in the bed in the hospital. He wouldn't even know if and when Jared woke up and all because the stupid cops thought that he was the one trying to hurt Jared. He thought back over the evidence that they had on him and couldn't for the life of him figure out how the hell that syringe and shit got into his jacket. He knew that he hadn't done it and was still fairly convinced that Matt was somehow behind it.

He didn't know how long he had sat there before he heard the same ruckus that had happened when he was brought in. Glancing up he was shocked to see Matt being led back into the cells. He was even more shocked when Matt looked at him as he passed. He saw Matt mouth something that looked to be something like "keep him safe" but he couldn't be sure. Shortly afterwards one of the guards showed up at his cell.

"Well, looks like you've been cleared," the guard said, slowly unlocking the tumbler for Kyle's cell.

"What do you mean, I've been cleared?" Kyle asked, wondering about the turn of events and Matt being led into one of the cells.

"I mean, we have a confession and you are no longer a suspect, you are free to go. Well, as soon as you fill out all of the paperwork."

Everything began to make sense after that to Kyle. Apparently Matt couldn't live with himself any more and turned himself in. Served the bastard right! Kyle had sat in that damn jail cell and almost been raped because of what Matt had done. At least everything was finally getting cleared up.

A little over an hour later Kyle walked out of the police station keys in hand and looked around for his bike before remembering that his bike wasn't here. He figured that his apartment wasn't that far away so he'd run home and shower before heading over to the hospital. About a half hour later he walked up to his front door and slid the key in the lock. Walking into the apartment he looked around, grateful to be home. Pulling his shirt slowly over his head, he winced as his bruised and battered body made it known that it didn't really appreciate the walk home.

Dropping his shirt onto the floor he made his way into the bathroom, grimacing as he looked in the mirror. His upper chest was a mass of bruises. There didn't seem to be a single place on his chest that wasn't covered in the blackish purplish marks. Running his hand lightly over his chest he winced as even that light contact caused the bruises to hurt. Slowly bending over he adjusted the temperature on the shower as hot as he could stand it before stripping out of the rest of his clothes and climbing into the shower, the hot water pounding down on his aching body.

It could have been worse, he reasoned, the guards could have come after Bubba managed to rape him. He had been extremely lucky to walk out of there with just a few bruises. He grabbed the soap and started slowly washing his body, trying to wash the scene of jail away. He would never forget what he had felt like in that place, but he could at least try to wash away the reminders. He didn't know how many times he washed every crevice of his body or how many times he washed his hair, but eventually the water turned cold and forced him out of the shower. Remembering that the rest of his stuff was still at the hospital he grabbed a disposable razor out of the drawer underneath the sink and quickly shaved the small growth of hair off his face. Feeling almost human again he made his way into the bedroom and grabbed a pair of boxers and slipped them up his legs and over his hips. Adjusting himself he padded slowly into the kitchen and grabbed a soda out of the fridge.

He wanted to get to the hospital as soon as possible but he also didn't want Jared seeing him how he looked now. He hadn't really slept while he'd been behind bars and it was quickly catching up to him. Carrying the soda into the bedroom he set it on the nightstand before lying down on the bed and grabbing the phone by his bed. Dialing the hospital's number he asked for Jared's room, fairly sure that Chelsea would be at the hospital. At least he hoped she was, he didn't want Jared there by himself. If she wasn't there then he would head straight over. Three rings later someone picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Chels? It's me, how's he doing?"

"Kyle? Oh my god Kyle, where are you?"

"I'm at my apartment, long story, I'll tell you later. How's he doing?"

"Hold on a sec Kyle," Chelsea said.

"Chelsea!" Kyle yelled into the phone, frustrated that she had put him on hold.

"No, not Chelsea," a soft voice came over the line.

"Jared?! Oh my god, you're awake? How you feeling babe?"

"I've been better, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, give me twenty minutes and I'll be there," Kyle said, completely forgetting his exhaustion.

"Kyle, you sound tired. I want to see you but get some sleep and then come over."

"Jared, I'm on my way," Kyle said, hoping that Jared wouldn't argue. He was already up off the bed, not even caring about the tears that ran down his face as he grabbed a pair of jeans and pulled them up.

"I'll see you soon then," Jared's voice said, as though he knew that he wasn't going to win this argument. "And Kyle," Jared said softly.

"Yeah?"

"I know you don't believe me, but I love you," Jared said before hanging up the phone, not waiting for an answer.

Kyle was in the process of putting on a shirt when he heard Jared's confession and then the line go dead. He sat down heavily on the bed and sighed as the tears flowed freely down his face. Jared was awake, finally. He threw some socks and shoes on as quickly as he could and headed towards the door. Grabbing his keys off the table he was about ready to walk out the door when he saw a folded piece of paper sitting on the small table. Reaching over to pick it up he began to read.

Dear Kyle,

I know that you don't believe that I'm not the one behind the attacks on Jared, but I know that you didn't do it. Jared needs you at the hospital, someone is still out there after him and you're the only one who can protect him. I've already done what I could but I don't know as it will be enough. Keep him safe Kyle and don't let him go. I know I wasn't happy when he came back into your life but if he makes you happy that's all I care about.

I didn't do all of this to Jared but I can do one thing for him and that is to get you freed. I'm going to confess. They'll let you go when I confess. Be happy Kyle and take care of him.

Love

Your Friend

Matt