Ryan didn't know what was worse as he sat at the hospital, the screams or the quiet. Miles was unconscious when the paramedics arrived and he didn't regain consciousness until reaching the hospital an hour ago. Then the screaming started.
The desperate cries coming from Miles made everyone feel sick. These weren't the usual cries from a hospital patient, these were cries of agony and Ryan couldn't tell if they were physical or emotional. The doctors had been able to stop the majority of the spasms but his body was still twitching lightly. They had told him that from what they could tell Miles had a severe allergic reaction to the cocktail of drugs in his system causing his brain to miss fire.
To Miles' credit his body wasn't giving up the fight. Everything the doctors had given him had been rejected by his body as it tried to purge the chemicals out of his system. The bad side was even though Miles was getting better his body was destroying itself. He had constant stream of people trying to keep him cool before his fever did any permanent damage.
Ryan was trying to think back to what Miles had said as he couldn't make out the last sentence before his friend hit the floor. The door to the family room opened and a panicked Amy and Chris were led in by an officer who then left without a word. Ryan sighed at least it wouldn't be as quiet.
"What in hell is going on Ryan? How did this happen?" Amy asked frantically, Chris just sat in a chair with a cup of coffee.
Ryan's anger rose at the girl before him acting as if it was his fault. "He swanned off with some guy and took something he shouldn't of!"
"What do you mean?" she asked confused. That didn't sound like the boy she knew.
" I mean the little fucker was shagging another guy then came home half dressed and hit the floor!" Ryan shouted. None of them noticing the doctor and officer that came in.
"I don't believe it." Chris said calmly from his chair looking at Ryan.
"Yeah well Miles gets up to all sorts of things with other guys so I can." Ryan said in a hateful tone.
"What type of things?" Christ asked, Amy pacing the room trying her best to not hit Ryan and make things worse.
"Like you didn't know, I bet you've had a go at fucking him too!"
Chris was stunned " What the fuck's that suppose to mean!"
The police office cleared his throat loudly gaining the attention of the 3 fighting friends. "Right before were go any further this is a hospital so can we place keep the shouting down. Secondly we have the toxin reports back from Miles blood tests and would like you to clarify things."
With silent nods from the 3 of them the doctor continued from where the office left off. " Right then, Miles' test show his body contained trace amounts of diclofenec, rohypnol and various other things we cannot identify. Was Miles taking diclofenec?"
"What's diclofenec?" Ryan asked.
"It's a muscle relaxant and anti inflammatory." Chris said casually.
"A few of the guys at college take it."
"Right, we'll check that out." The officer said and left.
"Your not saying that whoever did this was gonna take advantage of Miles are you cos the poor guy already had that happen twice before."
"Three times." Ryan corrected mentally kicking himself afterwards. Neither Amy or Chris knew about what happened with Miles' dad.
"I'm not saying anything like that and you three should probably get some rest. If you leave me your numbers I'll call when Miles awakens." The young doctor smiled a genuine smile. The three of them nodded and left, they had a lot to talk about.
~#~
"Tell me that's normal." Ryan handed the three pictures to Chris and Amy.
"Meh Amy's done worse."
"What!" Amy gabbed the pictures. "Oh! Oh, I took those last week." She shrugged.
"WHAT!" Both the guys said in unison.
"You took these?" Chris said surprised.
"Why?" Ryan asked.
"Yes, I took these. Miles tricked me into coming over then I couldn't resist. He said they were to entice some guy he liked that was giving him mixed signals." She said causally.
"And the chains?" Chris asked.
"He said the guy had expressed an interest in bondage and thought that if the pictures showed him tied up it would show that he would go out of his comfort zone but as soon as the collar and chain was on he didn't want to take it off. Neither did I."
Ryan felt a wave of overwhelming guilt strike him. He thought Miles had said they were for him but he thought his friend was just making excuses. No one gave Miles mixed signals that was one of his problems about dating. Every guy was waiting to get him in their bed from the word go. Ryan knew he had been doing things he shouldn't of with Miles like that slap on Monday when all this started. If only he had respected his friends privacy he would have never of hurt Miles so badly.
"Oh god." Ryan sighed and hung his head. "What have I done."
"What do you mean? Miles was testing the waters with some guy and you found.. Oh OH OHH! IT'S YOU!" Amy screamed in delight.
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Chris asked at his girlfriends jump in logic.
"Well Miles has been trying to entice some guy but he had no idea if it was working, so he stopped dating, so this guy would know he was single. Who knows Miles better than anyone? Who does he trust most? Ryan." She said confidently without taking a breath.
"I need to get him back." Ryan whispered partly to himself.
"We'll help." His two friends said in unison. "But first when was the third time? Surely something would have been mentioned in the newsletter reminding us to be careful like the other two times?" Amy asked.
"It didn't happen at college. It happened when we were 14. It's why his Dad is in prison." Ryan trailed off.
"So Miles lost his Dad cos some guy tried to rape him." It was a statement more than a question.
"No." Ryan answered "His Dad tried to rape him. I hope he can forgive me."
"He will."
The rest of the night was spent discussing Miles' and Ryan's dilemma.
~#~
Miles lay in bed. The room was far to bright for his liking. He'd been awake nearly an hour and everyone in the hospital was checking to see if he was ok after what happened. Even the police had been but the only thing Miles could remember was the cinema and Ryan's shouting. The thought of the latter brought tears into his eyes.
There was a gentle knock on the door followed by Amy's tide of brown hair. "Hi ya." She said quietly as she entered the room. Miles smiled a sad smile. He was glad Amy had came to see him but he really needed to speak with Ryan.
"Hi." Miles replied weakly. He was still drowsy from the medication that had been pumped into his system. His skin so pale contrasting with the black rings around his eyes.
"How you feeling?" She asked concern etched into her features.
"Tired, hungry and my body feels like that time Chris picked me up." They both chuckled at the memory. Chris bet he could pick Miles up with one arm not realising how light Miles is, the smaller boy went over his shoulder and landed in the pool with a slap.
"Your always hungry." She laughed a short laugh before her tone turned back to concerned. "Do you remember anything?" she asked half hoping he did and half he didn't.
Fiddling with the sheets in his hands, Miles gave Amy his reply. "I remember going to see a movie and running."
"Ok." Amy said a bit to relived. Miles looked up and knew she knew more that she was letting on. Miles took a deep breath and continued saying what he didn't want to say.
"And the shouting. Everything backfired on me. The photos, the teasing all of it and now he hates me." A few silent tears escaped Miles eyes. "Do you still love him?" She asked trying to get a glimpse into Miles' mind.