Howling at the Moons

CH 61: Safe But Not Ok

PHANA'S POV

A shot of fear careens through my system, and I scramble to my feet. I spin in a circle looking around me frantically, before I recognize I'm in Yo's hospital room. As I take a deep breath and wait for my heart rate to calm, I glance down at him on the bed. He's still sleeping, but he's restless. His eyes are rapidly shifting behind his eyelids, his pulse has risen, and he is mumbling in his sleep.

When I lean over him, I can hear my name. He's whispering my name, calling for me over and over. Every exhalation of his breath my name falls from his lips. There's pain in my chest, like my heart is getting stabbed over and over again each time he calls for me.

Whispering in his ear, I tell him, "Baby boy... your safe now... I'm here with you." He lets out a sob in his sleep and a tear escapes the corner of his eye before my fingers swipe it away.

His face swims as my vision blurs from the liquid now filling my eyes. I do what I can to continue to reassure him, "It's safe... no one can hurt you... I won't let them... I promise my love... rest now." He slowly quiets on the bed and drifts into a deeper slumber.

Standing up, I run my hands over my face and through my hair. Glancing at the clock as I stretch, I see it's already 6:30pm.

Today was rough. Yo slept the whole day, but he was restless and obviously having nightmares. Talking to him and letting him know I'm here seemed to calm him, but I know he is going to have a hard time recovering emotionally from all that happened.

Honestly, it doesn't matter how hard it is though, I'll make sure the day comes quickly when he feels safe and secure again.

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Ming, Kit, Beam and Forth all show up about an hour later. They brought enough food to feed an army, and changes of clothes and other essential for me and Yo.

When I climb to my feet to greet them, I instantly lose my place at Yo's bedside to Kit and Beam. Scooting out of their way, I stand with Ming and Forth at the foot of Yo's bed talking.

"How's he doing?" Ming asks.

"It's been a rough day. He's responding to the treatment well enough, but emotionally..." I have to pause and take a couple of deep breaths. "He hasn't woken up, but he's restless and afraid. I don't know what to do for him right now besides letting him know I'm here."

"Ai'Pha, I think that's the best thing you can do for him." Forth reassures me. "He was alone and scared, drugged and tied to a bed. Just be patient. When he wakes and realizes he's really safe, it'll be better."

"Ai'Pha, come here. Somethings happening." Kit calls me over.

Moving to Yo's bedside, I can see he's restless again. I take his hand in mine, "Baby, can you hear me? We're all here. It's ok now. There's nothing... Yo! Thank God, you're finally awake. Ming, call the nurse."

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WAYO'S POV

It's almost like I'm under water. I need to swim to the surface, but I can't figure out which way is up. I can hear voices around me. Voices I know. I want to call out to them. I want them to help me.

'P'Pha? P' where are you?'

"Yo! Thank God, you're finally awake. N'Ming, call the nurse."

My eyelids feel like they weigh a hundred pounds each because they're almost too heavy to lift. Finally, I'm able to pull them open a crack, but I realize that was a terrible mistake, and slam them shut again. The bright light shoots straight to my brain like a laser and now it's pounding away in unhappiness.

'P'Pha the light... it's hurting my eyes.'

"Hang on, we'll turn them off. Forth, turn the lights off. Babe, I'll turn on the lamp by the bed instead."

The bright light on the other side of my eyelids disappears, so I feel it's safe to try opening them again. The first thing I see is Pha leaning over the bed looking down at me with a smile on his face.

"W-water..." I'm able to croak out in a whisper, but it really hurts. Pha reaches for a glass on the side table and helps support me as I take a drink. Beam quickly adjusts the bed, so I can sit easily when Pha leans me back against it.

In a rush, Ming runs into the room with a nurse and doctor behind him. They proceed to give me a checkup which includes shining a bright light into my eyes. Are they trying to torture me more? Damn that hurts.

"How are you feeling?" The doctor asks me.

My head is killing me. My eyes feel grainy and burn. My throat is sore and scratchy. My wrists are itchy and hurt, plus numerous other aches and pains, but it's mostly bearable. So, I tell him about my head. "My head really hurts, but I guess everything else is ok."

"I'll order some painkillers for you." He smiles at me, then looks over at Pha and Ming. "He should recover quickly now that we've flushed all the contaminants from his system. Let's see how he does tonight. If everything goes well, maybe he can go home tomorrow." He smiles at me once more then leaves the room followed by the nurse.

Pha and Ming come to my bedsides and I finally notice Kit, Beam and Forth are in the room too. They're all smiling at me and I can feel their worry and happiness.

Pha runs his fingers through my hair, "You sure took your time napping. I was getting worried about you."

"How long have I been here?"

"About 12 hours." Ming answers.

"Did you... catch..."

"Park? Yes, we caught that bastard." Ming answers again.

Pha shoots a glare at Ming before smiling down at me. "Don't worry about any of that, ok. You just need to think about getting enough rest and feeling well, so we can go home tomorrow."

"Your dad will be here tomorrow too." I see Pha jerk his head up to look at Ming.

"You didn't tell me that." Pha accuses.

"I was going to, but then Yo woke up." Ming defends.

"Guys. Please. My head really hurts. Can you not argue right now?" They both look at me with guilty faces.

Quickly I assess all five of them. There are so many emotions coming from all of them. Relief. Anger. Guilt. Worry. Streaming off all of them. It's almost overwhelming and I don't know what to say to make it better for them.

Luckily my stomach chooses that exact moment to grumble loudly enough for everyone to hear. I move my hand to cover it, while they all either snicker or smile at me. "I guess I'm hungry."

Kit takes charge, "Alright, let's break out the food we brought, and we can have dinner together." Forth and Beam move to help him with unloading and opening the containers.

Ming and Pha stay with me. Each holding one of my hands.    

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A/N:

Hi everyone. Hope you're enjoying the story! If you are, don't forget to press the star and vote.

Daddy is coming to town tomorrow and he has plans for Park, but then again so does Pha and his friends.  Hhmmm... what to do... what to do...   :-}

Have a great day and see ya tomorrow!  <3  <3  <3

10.30.2017

Edited:  04.06.2018   8:47 pm  US CST