Jamie Lawrence

Jamie Lawrence - Chapter Twenty Eight

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Jamie Lawrence - Chapter Twenty Eight

"Stop playing with your stitches."

"No," said Kyle stubbornly.

"Stop playing with them!" said Darren, grabbing Kyle's hands and putting them to his own lips, kissing the fingers.

"They're mine. I'll play with them if I want to."

"Kyle, I know you're fed up and you want to go home, but you've only got two more days to wait before they let you out of here. Wait 'til Thursday, and I promise I'll take you home."

Kyle crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "Fine."

Darren rolled his eyes at his petulant boyfriend and sighed. "You know you're cute when you pout?"

The edges of Kyle's lips pulled up slightly as he fought off a smile. Kyle's nurse came hurrying into the room, probably to replace Kyle's bandages for the umpteenth time, effectively breaking the mood.

"Morning Mr Summers."

"Morning Nurse Ratched," said Kyle bitterly.

"Ooh, somebody's grumpy this morning!" the nurse responded.

"Don't mind him," said Darren. "He doesn't like mornings."

The nurse set about checking Kyle's healing wound. "Oh, did your friend stop in to see you?" she asked as she worked, glancing at Darren.

"Friend?" asked Darren. "Cute, short guy with nice, black hair?" Jamie was the only friend he expected to visit him, besides Shane.

"No. This guy was just a bit shorter than you. Dark hair. He had on a leather jacket, if that helps." The nurse looked up and saw the terrified look on Kyle's face and the furious one on Darren's. "What have I said?"

"Did he say anything?" asked Darren through clenched teeth.

The nurse looked fearfully into Darren's eyes. "I- I don't r-remember. I-"

Kyle put his hand over hers and looked at her, radiating the same warmth he always had for Darren. "Anna, just try. Anything at all."

"H-he was stood right outside the door and h-he said, um, he didn't want to disturb your sleep. He wanted to kn-know why he-" She tipped her head in Darren's direction. "Was allowed to stay overnight when h-he's not f-family."

"Did he leave anything? Or do anything, before he left?" asked Kyle.

"Well, he s-sort of, f-flirted with me. Then he, um, h-he stopped at the map of the hospital."

The words had barely left the poor girl's lips when Darren darted to his feet and ran out into the hall, crashing into the wall directly opposite Kyle's door as he did. He ran to the map and studied it. It was all colour coded, each department clearly labelled. Smoking areas highlighted, fire escapes listed in bold.

And the words 'Darren. Noon. Alone.' scrawled untidily in permanent marker. An arrow, also in permanent marker, had been drawn pointing to a room in the 'Security and Staff Services' area of the hospital.

Darren looked at his digital watch and was alarmed to see that it was already five to twelve. He had five minutes to get halfway across the hospital. He didn't even have time to call the police.

He set off at a sprint, foregoing the lift and taking the stairs to the ground floor and nearly killing some poor woman who had been standing behind the door with a tray of food.

He darted through the Audiology, Phlebotomy, Paediatrics, and Outpatients departments, drawing funny looks as he went. He dodged deftly between patients and staff alike, all the while wondering why the hell John-Paul would expose himself in such a way.

He arrived at the main door the the Staff Services department only to find that it required a code- a code he didn't have; and that set Darren to wondering again. How did John-Paul get in if he didn't have the code either?

As luck would have it, the door swung open and a harried looking security guard came bustling out, not even noticing Darren who had hidden and was now darting to catch the door before it closed.

A few more twists and turns and Darren finally arrived at the room John-Paul had indicated on the map. The plate on the door read 'CCTV Monitoring Station'. Darren banged on the door a few times and a man about Kyle's age answered it.

"How did you get in here?" he asked, looking concerned.

Darren pushed his way past him and cast his eyes around the room. All he saw were a bunch of television screens, a swivel chair, an empty pizza box and a series of filing cabinets. No John-Paul.

"Hey, I know you," said the guy. "You're Kyle's boyfriend, aren't you? I'm Ben!" he smiled. "I'm his best friend. God, he said you were cute, but- wow."

"Where's John-Paul?" asked Darren breathlessly.

"John-Paul?" Ben asked, bewildered. "I haven't seen him since Kyle ran from him."

Darren stood stock still, trying to process the new information. He looked at his watch which now read five past twelve. Had he missed John-Paul? Was John-Paul ever even here? And if not, why the hell did he want Darren here?

"Hey," said Darren. "Can you bring up the video from last night? Outside Kyle's room?"

Ben looked confused but he dropped into his swivel chair at the sight of Darren's panicked face. He tapped away on his keyboard and after a few moments the video on the sixth screen was rewinding.

"There!" exclaimed Darren when he saw a dark figure walking backwards away from Kyle's room. Ben hit play and the video changed direction.

It was definitely John-Paul. He walked along the corridor with a certain swagger, like a man who had won a game of poker. He reached Kyle's room and put his hand on the door handle, but froze when he looked through the window.

Darren knew what John-Paul was seeing. Darren had slept in Kyle's bed that night. Kyle had even insisted that he take off his shirt so that he could feel Darren's skin on his face. It had been another wonderful night for Darren.

Even with his faced turned away from the camera, Darren could see John-Paul's anger. His shoulders were tensed and he seemed to be vibrating. He spun quickly around and seemed on the verge of punching the adjacent wall. He furiously pawed at the back of his head and threw himself to the floor where he seemed to take a minute to compose himself.

After a while, he rose and turned back to the window to stare through it. And then Nurse Anna appeared. The pair chatted animatedly for a few minutes. John-Paul appeared to be flirting. Finally, with a shy smile, Nurse Anna turned around and headed back to her station.

Left alone, John-Paul paced for a moment before he looked straight at the camera. He smiled sinisterly and reached into the inside, breast pocket of his leather jacket. He pulled out a bunch of papers, one of which he pulled away and wrote on the back.

He smirked at the camera once more and turned the paper around. On the page were four numbers. '12:10'.

Ben looked at Darren. "What the hell's going on?" he asked.

Darren was shaking as he drew his eyes to his watch. "He means the time," he said, staring at the number '12:09' on his watch. His heart was beating so fast that he could hardly breathe. "What's going on outside Kyle's room right now?" he asked.

Ben pressed a few buttons and the image on camera six flickered from a still of John-Paul holding up the page to a live feed of John-Paul waving menacingly at the camera before turning to enter Kyle's room.

"Shit!" exclaimed Darren. His eyes filled with tears. "I can't get across the hospital that fast!"

Ben leaned over the microphone on his desk and bellowed into it. "Security to room 149! Security to room 149!"

"I can't believe you brought flowers. I thought I was the girly one," said Jamie, eyeing his perfect boyfriend who was standing in the lift holding a bouquet of orchids and forget-me-nots.

"Hey!" exclaimed Shane. "I'm just trying to be nice. You're becoming Darren's best friend. I think I should be Kyle's best friend." He winked at Jamie who rolled his eyes.

The lift came to a halt, making Jamie feel like he was stretching upwards as it did, and the doors slid open. The pair turned the corner onto Kyle's corridor and saw that his door was wide open.

Two seconds later, the tannoy system beeped and a worried voice came over it. "Security to room 149! Security to room 149!"

Jamie paused and looked at Shane. "Isn't that Kyle's room number?"

Beth was pacing, which was something she only did when she was stressed. She had had a wonderful time with Gavin on Saturday, but he hadn't called her since he had dropped her off. Three days seemed like a long time to Beth, considering that she hadn't dated since she had married Johnny.

The divorce, as necessary as it had been, was not something she had wanted. Her mother had been with her father from the age of eighteen until the day he had died, and that was how Beth had imagined her life.

Still, when life handed her lemons, she went on a date with a guy she had thought smart and funny. Had he simply decided he wasn't interested, having gotten to know her?

She had tried to phone him a couple of times to no avail and so she decided to track him down. She grabbed her handbag and headed down to his office in the Orthopaedic department.

When she got there, she was stopped by his secretary. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. I'm Doctor Lawrence. Is Doctor Barker free?" she asked, trying to sound as professional as possible.

"Actually," said the young girl, looking worried. She leaned in to whisper. "He hasn't been in since Saturday. I'm a little worried."

In the recesses of Beth's heart, she felt a momentary relief. He wasn't avoiding her as she had feared.

"Have you tried his house?"

The girl nodded. "Nothing."

"His pager and mobile?" Again the girl nodded. "Have you called his family?"

"I didn't think I should."

"I think you should. Go ahead."

The girl pawed through a pile of papers and pulled out a card with several numbers on it. She then then spent five minutes ringing Dr Barker's mother, father and brother. Nobody had heard from him since Saturday evening. It was starting to look like Beth was the last person who had.

The girl put the phone down after speaking to Dr Barker's ex-wife, her brow pulled down in concern. "She hasn't heard from him either," she said.

"Okay," said Beth, staring at a nearby wall. She sighed. "I'm calling the police."

"You don't think...?" started the girl.

"Nobody's heard from him for days. It'd be irresponsible not to do anything." Beth pulled out her phone and dialled the police.

"Hello. I need to report a missing person."

After Nurse Anna had left, Kyle had put his head back to his pillow and started to drowse. Being in the hospital had brought with it a horrible form of torture; he and Darren hadn't been able to do anything more than kiss since he was admitted. Kyle was desperate to feel Darren inside him again.

He was just on the verge of dozing off when he felt a pair of warm hands sliding over his neck.

"Mmm, hey babz. Where'd you get to?" he asked, his eyes still closed.

The hands that had been gently caressing Kyle's neck suddenly started to press down on it. Concerned, Kyle opened his eyes.

John-Paul was standing over him, his expression a mix of anger and sorrow. "You were supposed to die the other day."

Kyle tried desperately to scream for help, but John-Paul's hands were completely blocking his airways. Silver spots erupted before his eyes. He tried to reach for the nurse's call button only to find that it had been disabled.

"D-! D-!" Kyle tried to call out Darren's name but with no air in his lungs there was nothing he could do. His legs started to thrash and he scratched at John-Paul's jacket. "D-!"

"Aww, are you trying to shout your little boy-toy?" asked John-Paul bitterly. "You know, I never had you pegged as a paedo." He smiled menacingly.

Kyle's heart soared when he heard Ben's voice come over the hospital tannoy. "SECURITY TO ROOM 149! SECURITY TO ROOM 149!"

Kyle's face was burning, the pressure building. In a matter of seconds he would be unconscious and death would soon follow, unless security got to him quickly. A tear rolled out of his eye and down the side of his face as his vision blurred. He didn't have the strength to fight any longer and he felt himself falling backwards into oblivion.

With a momentary pang of dismay, Kyle realised that the last thing he ever saw might be the face of the man who had terrorised him for months. He would not have that, and so he closed his eyes and summoned up the image of Darren's smiling face.

Shane burst through the door of Kyle's hospital room with Jamie in tow to find a man in a leather jacket leaning over Kyle's bed. It didn't take him long to spring into action, grabbing the man in a strangle-hold and pulling him backwards into the hallway.

The man who could only have been John-Paul fought Shane every step of the way, trying to fling his elbows back into Shane's trunk and trying to grab his head. Shane applied a little more pressure to his neck. "Stop fighting or I'll choke you," said Shane, his voice barely more than a whisper.

From inside the room, Shane heard Jamie shouting "Kyle, wake up!" several times.

A balding security guard appeared at the end of the corridor barrelling toward the pair. As he drew closer, John-Paul choked out the words "Help me!" and the fool of a security guard tackled Shane. As he and Shane tumbled to the floor, John-Paul slipped out of Shane's grasp and stumbled down the hall towards the lifts.

"No! It's him you have to stop!" bellowed Shane. "It's him you want!" He tried desperately to get back to his feet but the security guard held him down.

"You're not going anywhere, sunshine," said the guard, pressing his knee into Shane's back, pinning him to the floor.

At that, Jamie came out of Kyle's room. "We need help in here!" he screamed.

Darren was on the very limits of his physical endurance. He had already run halfway across the hospital in one direction and now he was taking the return route at full tilt. John-Paul was not getting away again.

He kept shouting "Coming though," and "Out of the way," whilst trying to dodge those less spritely and soon found himself charging down the Radiology corridor, two more corners away from Kyle's room.

What he saw at the end of the corridor made him very happy. John-Paul, red faced and worried looking was running looking frantically over his shoulder. He had no idea Darren was charging toward him.

Laughing inwardly, Darren put on a final burst of speed, doubled over, and rammed his shoulder firmly into John-Paul's stomach.

With a strangled yell, John-Paul toppled over backwards, taking Darren with him. The corridor was empty but for them.

"You fucker!" exclaimed Darren as he attempted to drive his fist into John-Paul's throat.

John-Paul simply grunted during the exchange while Darren continued to scream obscenities, channeling all the rage he had felt since the moment he had seen the words 'I'll get you' on Kyle's living room wall. He threw John-Paul against the wall and pressed his arm against his neck, not quite hard enough to choke him. "If you've hurt him, I swear to God I'll put you in the ground."

John-Paul started chuckling, slowly at first and then building up to an almost maniacal cackle. "Well then start digging," he whispered. "Because I've just choked the life out of him."

The muscles in Darren's arms froze. "No, you-" He shook his head as if to throw the thought from his mind. "You can't have."

"I wrapped my hands around his scrawny little neck and I squeeeeeeezed." He closed his eyes and laughed. "I squeezed until I saw the lights in his eyes go out." He tilted his head to one side and looked pointedly into Darren's tear-filled eyes. "D'you know, he kept trying to call out your name, and I've got to say, watching him realise that you weren't going to come to his rescue was just..." He sucked air through his teeth. "Mmm, delicious. The cherry on top of this whole little adventure."

"No," said Darren, fear and pain numbing every inch of his body. "No. No."

"And do you know what the best part is?" he asked, a sarcastic twist to his voice. "This whole time, you thought you could protect him, but I've been batting you around like a cat with a ball of string. You did everything I wanted you to do. In fact, if you had just left him alone from the start..." He leaned forward and whispered, his horrid breath blasting across Darren's lips. "...he'd probably have survived."

Darren's blood went cold. His vision blurred completely and he felt like his muscles were all turning to jelly. Kyle; his reason for living- the only thing in the world that truly mattered to him- Could he truly be gone? Wouldn't he have felt something? Wouldn't the universe have let him know?

Darren stumbled backwards, releasing John-Paul. His arms fell limply to his sides and he stared unseeingly at the magenta wall before him, wishing with all of his being that he could just stop breathing.

John-Paul was over him then. "That's right, Dazzle," pressed John-Paul. "You, and you alone, are the reason that Kyle is D-E-A-D, dead."

With the slightest of pushes, John-Paul put Darren onto his knees where he remained still, devastated, the horrific words John-Paul was speaking washing over him, destroying any desire he had to live.

He put his lips right next to Darren's right ear and continued to whisper in a seductive tone, running his hands softly, almost affectionately through Darren's hair. "I'm a little turned on right now," he noted almost conversationally. "I've got an idea. How about you and I go to my place and fuck; you know, in memory of that little faggot. I'll bet you taste, ooh, so good." He licked Darren's cheek from jaw to ear.

Almost unconsciously Darren raised his arm, his fingers flexing, and grabbed the front of John-Paul's vile leather jacket. He opened his mouth to speak, his chin shaking violently and his voice weak. "I've g-got a better idea. How about I watch you b-bleed to death?"

He pulled John-Paul down by his neck and pinned him to the floor, digging his knee hard into the middle of his chest.

Darren felt somehow like he was possessed by his own anger. The world was red, except for John-Paul who had become a black hole, sucking everything meaningful from the world.

Darren drew his fist back slowly, almost languorously, and drove it squarely into the middle of John-Paul's face. He pulled it back again and again, each time pummelling John-Paul's head into the tiled floor.

And all the while John-Paul laughed. Not the same maniacal laugh from before, but a deep, throaty chuckle, as if he had been told a clever joke.

It was after Darren had lost count of the number of punches he had thrown that he felt arms go under his shoulders and start to pull him back. A familiar voice was saying his name but he couldn't put his finger on its owner.

"Darren! Stop!" The voice became a little clearer. Was it Shane?

"He k- He killed Kyle," said Darren through his tears. He tried to throw another punch before he was pulled fully away from John-Paul. "Kyle's dead!" he wailed.

Jamie appeared in front of Darren's eyes, his own eyes filled with concern. "Kyle's fine!" he shouted. "The nurses are with him now!"

"Kyle's dead," Darren jibbered. "Dead. Dead. He's gone," he cried.

Jamie slapped Darren soundly across the face, bringing Darren back to his senses. "Kyle is ALIVE!" He enunciated each word clearly. "He - is - alive."

"But John-Paul said-"

And John-Paul resumed his laughter, louder this time, as if he was trying to get their attention with it. "It looks like I'm not the-" He coughed up a smattering of blood. "Not the only one going to prison." He looked at Darren with his one good eye. "Maybe we can share a cell, Dazzle."

That was when Darren saw the whole picture. The fear in John-Paul's eyes as he looked over his shoulder, as if he were being chased. The way he had baited Darren so pointedly. He had WANTED Darren to attack him.

"Since it seems-" He coughed up more blood. "I can't finish Kyle off, I'll just have to make sure his boy-toy goes to juvy."

Jamie was still kneeling over Darren while Shane held him by the shoulders. Jamie put a hand to Darren's cheek. "Sweetie, you go and see Kyle. He's been crying for you. Shane and I will watch him." He looked malevolently at John-Paul.

His mind spinning, Darren clambered clumsily to his feet and staggered down the hall as quickly as his jelly-legs would carry him.

He couldn't process his own stupidity at that moment. All he wanted was to see Kyle and when he walked into Kyle's room and saw the little man sitting up in his bed, he rushed across to him, bumping into nurses on his way, and clutched him to his chest.

After a few seconds, Darren heard a muffled giggle. "Dazzle, you're squishing me."

Darren didn't loosen his grip at all. "I th-thought you were dead," he whispered into Kyle's hair. "He s-said you were d-dead."

Kyle pushed Darren away and unleashed his sparkling blue eyes on him. "Dazzle, baby, you look terrible!" Darren looked across to the mirror on the opposite wall. Kyle was right. His face was bright red and swollen from crying; he had flecks of blood, probably John-Paul's, all over his cheeks and his eyes were glassy. Kyle clapped his hands together. "Nurses, away. We need the room," he said imperiously.

Darren smiled in spite of the half-dead feeling inside. His little Angel's bossiness was like a warming hand on his heart, assuring him that he wasn't dreaming.

The remaining nurses scurried away and Kyle sat Darren on the bed before fetching a wet washcloth from the sink. Besides shaking, Darren couldn't move. His muscles were locked as Kyle gently towelled his face clean. "There. Much better," he said softly, stroking Darren's cheek.

He reached down to take Darren's hands and his eyes went wide. "What's this?" he asked. Darren looked down at his bloody hands. His knuckles were coated in both his own blood and, presumably some of John-Paul's.

"I f-found J-John-Paul."

"No!" gasped Kyle. "Dazzle, honey, what have you done!" cried Kyle, flinging his arms around Darren's shoulders. "Are they going to arrest you?"

"Maybe," he said simply.

Kyle pulled back to look at Darren. "Then you have to go!" he said quickly. "Run, hide."

Darren shook his head and took Kyle's hands in his own. He scooted back on the bed and guided Kyle to follow suit. The lay facing each other, their fingers linked and their eyes locked together. "It's all over," said Darren. "John-Paul is with Jamie and Shane now. The police will take him and he'll go to prison." He kissed Kyle's cheek. "You're safe now, My Angel."

Shane helped John-Paul into a nearby seat while Jamie finished calling the police to update them on their location. His heart hadn't stopped racing since the moment he had found Kyle unconscious. Once the nurses were dealing with Kyle, he had gone out to argue heatedly with the security guard who still had Shane pinned on the ground.

Once that was sorted out, he had tried to phone Darren only to have it go to voicemail. In the end it was the sound of John-Paul's laughter that had helped him track the pair down.

"Yes. Thank you. Yes, we'll stay with him." Jamie shut off his phone and turned to look at John-Paul.

The evil bastard laughed. "What are you looking at, Tiny Tim?" he asked, pulling a packet of cigarette's out of his jacket and firing one to life. "If you want a taste, all you have to do is ask." He grabbed at his groin and chuckled.

Shane's face darkened and Jamie saw his fist slowly clench at his side. "Shane, stop," warned Jamie. "This is what this creep wants." Shane's hand slowly relaxed and he slumped down next to John-Paul.

"Well, I guess you're smarter than 'Dazzle'." John-Paul wobbled his head from side to side as he used Kyle's pet name for Darren.

Jamie leaned over John-Paul. "Only Kyle gets to call him that."

"What are you two? His guard dogs?" John-Paul wiped at his face with his free hand and glanced casually at the blood he picked up in doing so. "I can't wait to press charges against him."

Jamie sighed. "D'you know, since Kyle survived your little attack, I'm in a really good mood, so I'm going to do you a favour."

"Really? And what's that, Tom Thumb?"

"I'm going to tell you something."

"Oh. For a moment there, you had my interest."

Jamie laughed a little darkly. "Let's see if I can get it back, shall we?" He knelt in front of John-Paul and cleared his throat slightly. "My mother is the leading Psychiatrist in the North West of England and is the primary psychologist for the inmates of Strangeways."

"Yawn," said John-Paul.

Jamie laughed again. "As such, she has developed a very close relationship with several men currently serving time for offences ranging from Anti-Social behaviour to triple homicide. Some of them even claim to have fallen in love with her."

"I bet you're so proud."

"Oh, I am," said Jamie menacingly. "Now, ask yourself this. If my mother were to ask one of these murderers to do her a favour, for example beating you half to death, do you think they'd do it?"

Shane chuckled heartily and spoke as if he had just realised something. "My father has a monthly poker game with the Governor of Strangeways. Theoretically, I'm sure he would look the other way if my Dad asked him to*."

Shane seemed to take great pains to use the word 'theoretically' and Jamie took his cue from that. He clapped his hands together. "That's fantastic! So John-Paul could, theoretically, be beaten up, and nobody will bat an eye. Happy days indeed!"

Underneath the blood, John-Paul had paled. "You can't talk to me like this," he said, not sounding very sure of himself. "I'll have your Mum sacked."

"Relax, John-Paul," said Jamie dramatically. "We're just chatting here. Just words." He made a point of turning his voice serious. "But make no mistake, John-Paul; they are words you should heed."

At that moment, two police officers came down the corridor and arrested John-Paul who, try though he might, could not tear his eyes away from Jamie's.

Once they were alone, Jamie let his breath explode out of him in relief. "I thought my nerve was going to break there."

"You know," said Shane, sidling up to Jamie and pressing their crotches together. "You should threaten people more often. It's kind of hot."

"Really?" asked Jamie, standing on his tiptoes to bring his face closer to Shane's. Then something occurred to him. "Shane, does your Dad really play poker with the Governor of Strangeways?"

Shane laughed out loud. "I'm not even sure my Dad knows HOW to play poker. Do the prisoners really love your Mum?"

Jamie giggled mischievously. "Only the ones who've been released. They get referred to her after they've finished their time."

Shane pecked Jamie on the lips. "Let's hope he doesn't call our bluff."

*The Governor of Strangeways would not do any such thing.

I hope you enjoyed this. Please feel free to email me at thebobbyfish@gmail.com All Emails are welcome.

Keep an eye out for Chapter Twenty Nine!