Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 19:24:19 -0800 From: Donald Gollihue <dromin@gmail.com> Subject: Drew and Jason (part 5) Drew woke up again. This time he felt less dragged down by the drugs and he slowly sat up in bed. His head protested with painful little flashes, and he was horribly dizzy but he stayed sitting up. He inhaled sharply at what he saw. Jason was seated in a chair across from Riley and was being questioned by the agent. Jason's face was pale and his jaw was set. Drew could tell that he was furious and frightened. "Riley. Stop it." Drew said and steadied himself by holding a handrail. "I was just asking a few questions, Maloy. This guy was coming out of your room when I was coming back. I thought he might know something about the attack." "He doesn't. He's a friend of mine." Drew stared intently at Jason. The sailor looked back at Drew with an apprehensive expression. Drew then glanced at Riley. "You got my papers?" "Yeah, but I don't know about you doing this now." Riley stood and handed the paperwork to Drew with a frown. "You should at least wait until you're not doped up to make a decision like this." Jason leaned forward, curiosity overcoming him. "No. I have to do this now." Drew looked at Jason briefly then took a pen offered by Riley. He scribbled his signature on a few pages, initialed on others, and dated everything. He paged through it after he was finished and handed the stack and the pen back to Riley. He sighed and smiled, hurting his bruised face by doing so. Jason stared at Drew. Drew glanced at him and Riley chuckled as he looked through the paperwork. "Well Maloy," he said as he looked up, "how's it feel to be unemployed?" Drew had to remain in the hospital for nearly a week. Every day there was torture to the man. Jason hadn't come to see him, and Drew didn't want to call him from the Navy hospital. He didn't want to get Jason in trouble if someone happened to be listening. Today, Drew walked out of the place. It was Friday, early afternoon and the sun was shining – a rare thing in western Washington during early autumn. His injuries were nearly all healed, though his head still hurt a little. He stood outside at a payphone to call a cab. He picked up the receiver and paged through the phone book for taxi companies. "Hey." Drew jumped. Jason stood about three paces behind him. Somehow the sailor seemed to be able to surprise him. Drew looked at Jason and swallowed nervously. "Hi." Jason looked down at the ground. "Can we talk?" "Yeah. Yeah." He felt himself hating what he'd done because he knew he'd hurt Jason. "Come on. I'll take you home." Jason paused. "If ... if you want." Drew picked up the small bag Riley had delivered to him for his hospital stay. "Yeah. I'd appreciate that." They got into the Jeep and were both silent on the drive, except for Drew giving directions. They were there shortly, and entered the small house. Drew put his things down and turned to Jason. He was staring silently at Drew. Jason's face was impassive and emotionless; a study in neutrality. Drew just looked back at him. He felt the fear of losing Jason rise up like a crashing wave that he was powerless to stop. He didn't know what to say, or do to make Jason stay. The feeling he got when he thought about Jason leaving was crushing. He tried to find something, anything to say. "Jason, I ..." "I love you Drew." Drew blinked. "Wha, I ..." he stammered. Jason strode toward him, and his gray eyes caught the light from the sun shining through the windows. "I do. And I tried so hard to hate you." Jason stood right in front of him. His deep voice was filled with emotion as he spoke. He shook his head. "I wanted to hate you for what you were ... and what you did." He laughed, but it was a joyless, tired sound. "And then you had to go and make it complicated by quitting your job." He hung his head. "And ... I wanted to come see you. And I hated myself for that. For being weak." Drew took a step toward him and Jason stepped away, then he kept speaking. "I didn't sleep for three days after that first day at the hospital. I finally collapsed while I was making my dinner." Jason raised his head. "I guess it was then I admitted to myself that I loved you." Drew was dumbfounded. "Jason, I don't know what to say." Jason's eyes narrowed in anguish, and his jaw set firmly. "Then don't say anything. I can't handle any more lies." He turned for the door. Drew had days to think about how he felt for Jason, and he knew now was the time to find the words that had so far escaped him. Jason was just reaching for the handle. "Wait." "Why? So you can drop the next bomb?" Jason turned. "Goddamn it Drew! I find out I'm gay by having sex with a guy who's an agent for NCIS." Jason allowed his anger to snap out across the room, and he roared in rage. "WHY CAN'T I HATE YOU??!?" The sailor turned and hit the door with his fist, and the entire wall shuddered. The oak panel broke under the blow and flew out onto the front lawn in at least three pieces. Jason stood with his back to Drew, flexing his hands, and tried to bring himself to walk out the mangled door. Drew's heart felt crushed by seeing Jason in such a state. And knowing he'd caused it was the worst thing of all. "I thought about you every day Jason." Drew slowly approached him. "Every hour, every minute. I thought about you." He was standing very close to Jason now, about two feet away from the sailor's back. Jason slumped in misery, his back rounded, and his shoulders down. "Why? You wonder how you could have made such a mistake?" The bitterness in Jason's deep voice was thick, and it hit Drew like a physical blow. "No. I didn't wonder that." Drew took another step. He could feel the heat from the sailor's body now. "I wondered what I could say that would make you forgive me." He kept his voice even only through effort. "I wondered if I'd ever see you again." He swallowed and blinked as a tear rolled down his cheek. "I ... I wondered how I'd tell you how I felt." Jason turned and they were face to face. "No lies Drew." His gray eyes were glassy with tears. "I just can't ... I can't deal with them." Drew slid his arms around the small of Jason's back and pulled him close. "No lies. Not anymore. I swear it." Jason looked at him, wanting to believe what he was saying. "I love you Jason." Drew stared, unflinching, into his eyes. As Jason looked back he knew that Drew meant it. Jason let go of his anger and pain and hugged Drew to him. They stayed that way for a few moments then Jason slowly put his arms to his side. Drew let him go and stepped back. Grimacing, Jason gave Drew a wan smile. "What is it?" Drew asked, as fear crept into his mind. Jason held up his right hand and looked at it. The skin was already bruised, and there was an obvious deformity of the bones underneath the skin. "I ... I think I need to go to the hospital." He sat down on Drew's couch, dizzy from the pain, and the color drained from his face. Drew quickly opened his door and then came back inside and picked the slim sailor up off the couch as if he were a child. Jason put his left arm around Drew's neck as the man lifted and carried him out to the Jeep. Jason laughed, as Drew buckled him in. "Always thought I'd be the one carrying somebody across the threshold." He was still pale, but he looked like he was going to stay conscious. Drew grunted. "Instead you get to pay for breaking a door." He smiled at Jason to let him know he was kidding and got in, fished around in Jason's pockets for keys, and started the Jeep. Jason protested weakly. "Hey. Nobody drives my Jeep but me." "I think you'll have to get used to that rule being broken." Drew didn't get an answer, but Jason grinned fiercely as they took off for the hospital. Author's note: That's it for this story guys. Sorry for the lack of sex in the last three sections, but that's the way this thing evolved. Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed it. If there are any critiques/comments send them to dromin@gmail.com I'm happy to hear anything constructive (negative or positive).