23Here's chapter 3! Enjoy the Dee angst!
"He can't speak! How can he be questioned? What don't you understand!? Look at me when I'm talking to you damn it!" Ryo tugged sharply on Commissioner Rose's arm to stop him from walking, nostrils flaring in indignation. "He can not speak. How do you expect to learn anything from a mute man?" Rose casually plucked off Ryo's death grip on his jacket sleeve and smoothed the wrinkled fabric before turning to the impassioned Detective.
"I'll find a way." Was all he said before closing the door to the interrogation room in Ryo's face. With a growl the blonde swung around and punched the wall, his mind not registering the pain that spread up his arm. He was not allowed into the room for reasons he couldn't even understand, and was forced to wait out in the hallway. Dee had been out of the hospital for two days and things were not looking good. Ryo only hoped that his lover would rally soon for he missed him more than words could say.
Drake gave the blonde a small smile as he plopped down on the bench next to him, silently handing him a cup of tea. The duo waited in silence and strained their ears to listen to what Rose was saying, to no avail.
"Hello Dee, how are you today?" Rose said as he walked in the door, hastily shutting it in Ryo's face. The dark haired Detective looked up briefly before going back to plucking at the hem of his shirt, a nervous habit he had developed. Rose sat down across from Dee and tried to look him in the eye, to no avail. "I'm going to ask you a few questions, do you understand?" His only answer was a quick glance before green eyes returned to the striped pattern on his blue shirt.
"Do you remember what happened? Can you tell me what the two men looked like?" Dee continued to avoid his pointed stare, a crease in his eyebrows revealing his growing distress.
"We need to know Dee, so we can catch the killers, the ones who murdered the children." Dee's chest started to heave as his mind went back to seeing those children brutally murdered, tears welling up in large green eyes. Rose snorted in frustration and slammed his hand down on the table.
"Get a grip and tell me what the hell happened in that warehouse! We'll never catch anyone if you keep up this silence and you, Detective Laytner, will be responsible for the deaths of more than thirty children! Do you want that on your conscience?!" Rose loomed over Dee with both hands planted on the narrow table between them, face inches away from the scared Detective's.
With a wretched cry Dee upended the table, papers and glasses scattering on the floor.
Rose leapt back, appalled at this display of violence from the scared Detective. Ryo flung open the door at the sounds and stood in horror as he watched Dee back into a corner, choking noises coming from his mouth once again. Forcing himself not to panic, he crossed the small room to his lover and started to rub on his chest, talking in soothing tones to his distraught partner. Dee turned his head into Ryo's chest as he regained his breath and clung on tightly to his body, tears streaming from closed eyes.
Drake patted his friend on the back before turning to look at Rose, disgust marring his handsome features. Ryo's body trembled as he looked at his boss in hatred, brown eyes blazing with anger.
"If I ever catch you talking to Dee like that again, I will kill you," the blonde growled. Wisely, Rose did not say anything to the threat.
Just then Chief walked into the room and surmised what happened, he too glared at Rose.
"Ryo, I need to speak with you. Drake, can you take Dee home? This is very important." Ryo started to protest but Chief held up a hand to silence him. "I promise it will not take too long but it needs to be taken care of straight away. I'm sure Dee would be better off waiting at home than in this station." Ryo nodded slowly and slowly tugged himself out of Dee's desperate embrace.
"Dee, love, I have to talk to Chief. Drake is going to take you home and I will be home soon. Okay?" Ryo wiped away Dee's tears with his thumbs and kissed his lips softly. Dee held Ryo's hands to his face a moment longer before turning to Drake, leaning on his friend as he felt his body go weak. Ryo looked after his lover until they disappeared from view then turned to follow Chief, steeling himself to hear some unpleasant news.
"Here we are, home sweet home! Well, yours anyway," Drake said with a small chuckle, allowing Dee to walk ahead of him before shutting the door. Drake could see that his friend was exhausted, and the rainy weather wasn't doing anything to help. "Hey buddy get out of those wet clothes, Ryo will kill me if you get another fever and I like living just fine." With a light push he steered Dee into his shared bedroom with Ryo and shut the door. The Detective walked into the kitchen to get a soda and tried not to think of the haunted look that marred his friend's normally jovial face. "Dee, I hope you recover soon buddy. I miss you…we all do."
Worried that Dee hadn't come out of his room after ten minutes, Drake hesitantly knocked on the door…only to get no answer. "Dee, hey you okay in there?" At his query was met with silence, Drake opened the door to find Dee lying in bed fast asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief and crossed the room, sitting down on the bed next to his friend. Gently touching the back of his hand to Dee's forehead to check for a fever, he was relieved to find that his skin was cool. He draped a blanket over Dee and left the room, leaving the door cracked so that he could hear him should he wake.
As Drake walked out into the living room, Bikky flung open the door, surprised to find it unlocked. Drake held a finger up to his lips and gestured towards the bedroom, Bikky nodded in understanding. "Where's Ryo? Is Dee okay?" Bikky asked earnestly, worried that something was wrong with his father.
"He's still at the station. Chief needed to talk to him and he didn't want to make Dee wait. Rose questioned him and he suffered a breakdown, he's exhausted. I just brought him home about fifteen minutes ago. But since you're here I'll leave, JJ has the flu and I don't want to leave him alone too long." Bikky nodded and walked Drake to the door, saying thank you as the man left.
The teen opened the door to the bedroom and peeked in to see if Dee was okay before settling down on the couch to do his homework. As he reached for his math binder his chest tightened, normally Dee was there to help him with his math.
"I can't do this," Bikky said, standing up to pace the floor. For the past three days Dee had been home, the man had been in a volatile emotional state. One moment he seemed fine, the next he was choking on air and quivering in his sleep. Ryo had dealt with it well but Bikky could still hear his tears at night as he cried out his frustration and loneliness in the living room. Bikky was the only one holding it all in.
Crossing the room to the telephone he picked it up and quickly dialed Carol's number, desperately needing someone to talk to.
"Hey Carol it's me….yea I'm home, just got in actually. No, but Dee's home….he's sleeping. Um...would you mind coming over? I just need to talk to someone….okay, see you in a few. Thanks Cal. K bye."
Bikky sat down on the couch and looked out the window, trying in vain to hold in all the emotions flowing through his body. Carol knocked once before opening the door, looking around the living room to find her boyfriend. No words had to be said and the young woman crossed the room and held Bikky as silent tears stained her shirt.
"Shh, darling it'll be ok. Dee will pull through, just like he always does. I know it feels empty, even though he is right here with us. But we have to be strong for Ryo, he's gonna need us now more than ever," Carol said as she ran slender fingers through blonde hair; gently rocking the teenager in her arms. Bikky sniffed and quickly wiped the remaining tears off his cheeks, slightly embarrassed to be crying in front of his girlfriend.
"You're right; it just…hurts to see him laying there, an empty shell of his former self. I miss him," Bikky said sadly. Carol nodded in agreement and gently kissed him, allowing Bikky to wrap his strong arms around her waist. The teen deepened the kiss and pulled her closer to him.
After a few minutes the couple parted, lightly panting for air. "I love you Carol, and thank you," Bikky said, blue eyes baring his heart and soul.
"I love you too Biks and you're welcome." The couple settled down on the couch in each others arms, drawing strength and comfort from their love to make it through another day.
Ryo drove home from the office in a silent gloom, trying to shoulder the news that Chief had just told him. He had been assigned a new partner until Dee was able to come back to work. He would have to have Dee's things cleared out of the office by Monday. His heart was numb and he could not fathom how we would ever be able to function at work without his partner there to have his back. He wiped the few tears that had escaped his eyes from his face as he walked up the stairs to his apartment, trying to shake the gloomy mood he was in.
Carol opened the door before he could turn his key in the lock, smiling cheerfully up at her second dad. "Hey Ryo, Dee's in the bedroom sleeping and Bikky and I already started dinner. Just sit back and relax." Ryo smiled in relief, happy that another small burden had been lifted away.
"Thanks Carol, maybe teenagers aren't as bad as everyone makes them out to be." The blonde hugged the 18 year old girl to him and walked into the kitchen, ruffling his son's hair in greeting. "Thank you Bikky, what's cooking?" Ryo lifted a lid on a pot to see pasta boiling.
"Fettuccini Alfredo, with garlic bread and broccoli, hopefully it will taste good. It was Cal's bright idea to have such a fancy meal, I said just order pizza." Ryo laughed and sampled some of the sauce that was simmering on the stove.
"It tastes good to me. Just try not to burn it like Dee does to everything he tries to cook," the Detective said jokingly. Bikky snorted and turned down the heat a little, asking Carol if she could make the mandarin orange salad Ryo loved so much.
Ryo left the young couple in the kitchen and walked to the bedroom to check on Dee. He found the young man curled up in bed, picking at the hem of the bed sheets. Green eyes followed his movements as he changed clothes and put his gun in the safe. Once that was done, Ryo sat down next to his lover, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on his lips.
"Hey gorgeous, are you feeling okay?" Dee attempted to answer but the same small choking noises came out of his mouth, as if the words were stuck in his throat. He sighed in frustration and turned away from Ryo. "Dee, please don't turn away from me. We can get through this," Ryo said in earnest, placing a hand on Dee's quivering shoulder.
The Detective rolled over and nodded slowly, tears starting to well up in his green eyes. Ryo smiled in encouragement and kissed Dee's forehead, placing his hand on top of his lover's.
"Well, even though you can't speak, you can still talk. Nodding and shaking your head is obvious, but you can also use hand gestures and you can write things down too. If you go really slowly, I can try to read your lips as well. It takes a little bit longer, but something is better than nothing ne?" Ryo said happily, hoping that Dee would be wiling to give it a try. The Detective nodded in response and laced his fingers through Ryo's. He sat up so that they could talk face to face.
"Rose threatened you didn't he, he said that if you didn't talk you would be held responsible, right?" Ryo asked hesitantly, Chief wanted him to find out for sure so that he could take proper action against Rose's methods. Dee started breathing heavily and nodded his head vigorously, hoping that Ryo would refute his accusations.
"That's a terrible lie Dee, what happened was not your fault, at all. In fact he might lose his job over what he did to you." Dee swallowed hard and nodded. He tugged at Ryo's arm and patted the space next to him, hoping that his lover could decipher his meaning. With a smile, the blonde moved to sit next to him, wrapping the broken man in his loving embrace. Ryo ran slender fingers through his lover's hair, smiling at the fact that he had made progress with Dee.
"We will get through this; I'll be there with you every step of the way. I love you Dee." Ryo said quietly, his eyes closed as he held the man he loved in his arms. Dee tapped Ryo to get his attention and sat up. The dark haired Detective tapped his own chest and then held up two fingers, repeating the action until understanding illuminated Ryo's face. The blonde smiled and kissed his lover again, elated when Dee tentatively returned his kiss.
With new hope in their hearts, the couple lay together on the bed, waiting for dinner to be ready, and waiting for their world to return to normal.
Sorry for the long hiatus, starting college is quite an ordeal! Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!