Bliss

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WARNING! Non-con and squicky details involving such-- heavy angst. Don't like that stuff, don't read!
DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything having to do with The Faculty or its characters. I'd love to say otherwise, but I like my life being un-lawyered. ;)

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“When the walls bend
When the walls bend
With your breathing
With your breathing
With your breathing”
-Radiohead, “The Gloaming”

~*~

“He won’t fucking wake up!! I’m trying EVERYTHING, Stokes!! Wait… wait…”

Was that Zeke? Casey was trying to open his eyes to see…

“Casey, open your eyes, it’s Zeke… yea, I think he’s coming to, FUCK, Stokes, what the fuck do I do…”

Yes. It was. “Zeke?” Casey whispered, eyebrows furrowing with confusion. Once his sight was in a shaky but better focus, he could see Zeke there sitting on the bed. He could feel Zeke’s hold on his arm. Looking up, Zeke had a cell phone to his ear.

“Take him, yea, I have to… Stokes, meet me here, I have no fucking idea… yea, okay…” Zeke said into it, and then hung up abruptly. He now turned his attention to Casey, shaking his head slightly as both hands took his face. “Fuck… Casey, I have to get you to a hospital,”

“Wha… no, I don’t-“ Casey started; as he tried moving away from Zeke, all the pain returned. He howled out in anguish, freezing his body still. Zeke stood up and went to his bureau, opening the first drawer and grabbing clothes. Everything flooded back into Casey’s mind and began wreaking havoc on his senses. “Zeke…” he moaned in a keening wail; it made Zeke turn to him, handfuls of clothing in his hand.

“Casey, you’re safe now, all right?” he said matter-of-factly. Casey’s lips shuddered as it was clear to him that Zeke wasn’t as calm as he wanted to be; his hand holding the t-shirts was shaking as it shoved the items into a nearby bag.

“Zeke, I’m…” Casey said, swallowing hard. Before he could speak more, he looked down. Oh God. “Zeke why is my sheet… oh shit…” he said in a shuddering voice. Red was everywhere it seemed. Zeke got back over to him and held his shoulders gently, leaning down.

“I took care of that, Case, all right? Stokes said to just… get something under you. I used a towel I found in the hall, it’ll be a mess but I don’t care,\.”

“Stokes…coming?”

“Yea… I’m sorry Casey, I can’t do this alone…”

“I need a bath,” Casey suddenly shot out, trying to move. It still hurt so much, but his need to be clean was immense. Zeke held his shoulders still.

“We can’t do that, Case, Stokes said not to. They’re gonna want to give you- tests at the hospital, and they-“

“I DON’T WANT TO GO!!” Casey suddenly screamed.

“You HAVE to Casey,”

“NO! Just… give me a bath, I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine FUCK…” Casey suddenly yelped, feeling a sharp twist of pain. He shuddered violently; Zeke bent down, putting his forehead to Casey’s and breathing quickly.

“Calm down, Case. We have to go.”

“No…”

“Yes, we do.”

Zeke pulled away slightly, squeezing Casey’s shoulders, seeming to try to reassure him somehow. Casey closed his eyes and frowned. “Where’s… Will…”

The sound of someone running into the house made their heads turn; “Zeke? Casey?”

“Up here, Stokes,” Zeke called back. He stayed by Casey’s side, checking the sheet that lie over him, making sure he wasn’t exposed. It was enough to make Casey cry; his eyes indeed overflowed as Stokely ran in, stopping dead in her tracks at the scene before her.

“Oh my fucking…” she muttered, closing her eyes. “Gabe???”

Casey’s eyes widened. What...?

“No,” Zeke said. “That fucking teacher, Holden.”

“WHAT??” Stokely screeched, making Casey’s eardrums nearly shatter.


~*~


Zeke had never driven so fast; it was a damn good thing Stokely was holding onto Casey as they careened up and down streets, the screeching of Zeke’s tires sounding off to anyone around outside.

“It’s all right Casey; you’re gonna be okay,” Stokely told him, running her fingers through his hair gently. He rested in her lap, near catatonic. Not much was reaching him now, every inch of skin he wore feeling numb and cold. Stokely’s fingertips, her nails scratching lightly at his scalp was all he could really register right now…

They arrived at the hospital, swerving into the emergency room parking lot. “Fucking spots…” Zeke muttered shakily, looking for a place to park. He turned his head to look at Stokely, biting his lip. “You run in, tell ‘em what’s going on,”

“What do I say?” Stokely asked, looking down into her lap at Casey. Zeke moaned out a breath as he got the car to the entrance.

“I guess… just… tell ‘em what happened,”

Stokely was breathing fast, leaning down quick to kiss Casey’s brow. She jumped out of the car and ran inside; Zeke then turned the car towards the lot, searching for a place to park. Casey’s eyes fluttered open, staring at the leather backing of Zeke’s seat.

“Zeke…” he murmured.

“Yea?”

“It hurts.”

“I know, Case, I know.” Zeke said, his voice going tense. “Goddamnit, these fucking huge assed cars…”

Casey listened to Zeke, his only real connection now to the things going on around him. He didn’t know what to do; he hadn’t been able to assess whatever damage had been done, and the thought filled him with fear. He reached behind himself, touching the end of his spine with shaky fingers. God, it ached, all the way up his spine… going lower Casey began to cry again, feeling the drying blood on the sheet covering him. They had simply wrapped him up securely in his blanket, not wanting to cause further pains to his body. He winced as his fingers explored further, edging into the most bloodied crease. “Oh…” he gasped out, causing Zeke to glance back at him.

“Don’t touch… Case,” he murmured. Casey closed his eyes as the car now stopped. Zeke shut off the car and leapt out of it, not bothering to lock it as he usually did. He opened the back door and leaned inside. Casey saw his face; he’d never seen Zeke look so torn emotionally before. Zeke’s trembling hands reached underneath Casey’s hip and pulled him gently to the doorway. “Ease out, careful Case,”

“My mom…”

“They’ll call your mom, Casey,” Zeke said with a loud swallow. “Reach up, take hold of my shoulder, okay? I’m gonna carry you in,”

Casey tried to nod as he lifted his arm up to Zeke, grabbing his shoulder as hard as he could. Now both of Zeke’s hands grabbed hold of Casey and lifted him out of the car. Casey gasped out in pain as his body settled into his cradled arms; Zeke pulled him close to his chest to ward off the offending chill in the air. “It’s all right, I gotcha,” Zeke murmured to him. Casey tried to relax his breathing, finding it difficult given the weight of his pain. “No, I got ‘im, I got ‘im,” Zeke was saying; Casey looked up, finding two large men walking to them. He curled further into Zeke; oh GOD, he didn’t want this.

“I wanna go home,” Casey said in a pitiful voice.

“Get the boy inside here,” one of the orderlies directed them to an entrance to the right, where the ambulance unloaded patients. Zeke followed their instructions and approached the door, already zooming open from one of the orderlies rushing ahead.

“Don’t let me go, Zeke, please don’t.”

“I don’t know if they’ll let me stay with you.”

“Don’t go,” Casey said, voice strained now with tears. Zeke looked to the orderly behind him, just getting in the door.

“Can I stay with him?” he asked with desperation. Two doctors then approached, a woman and man.

“Bring him to the nurse’s station,” she told Zeke, leading the way there. “He can tell them his information there.”

“Don’t have any…”

“He says he doesn’t have any… I don’t know his insurance… stuff,” Zeke tried to explain, getting mumbled and flustered. “Whatever, if there’s a charge I’ll pay it.”

“Are you family?” the male doctor asked.

“No,”

“Okay then… just bring him there; you can stay with him until he’s admitted."

“Don’t go,” Casey whined, making Zeke’s hold tighten on him.

“I don’t know where his mom or dad works; they don’t know we’re here!!” Zeke said, panicked.

“Casey?” the woman now directed her attention to him. “The nurses are going to just ask you some questions. Your friend in the waiting room told us what had happened to you, as well as she could. You’ll have to explain the details, do you understand?”

Casey didn’t reply. He stared blankly at Zeke’s collarbone and neck, trying to get himself hypnotized by the pulse of blood there.

“Casey?”

“He understands.” Zeke said. The woman nodded slowly, looking at Zeke curiously.

“Are you his friend?”

“Yea,” Zeke answered. He settled down into a chair, using slow movements to not disrupt Casey’s state. Casey took quick, short breaths as he felt his backside touch down on his lap slightly, making the aches shoot pain up his spine. It was duller now; he wished nothing more than to just sit here. Have him be told he was fine, even if he wasn’t. Go home, go to sleep and forget…


~*~


Casey thought he knew humiliation by now; the constant public beatings, being teased day in and day out, just walking into school with the eyes of everyone on you, knowing they all wanted a piece of the fun. He thought he knew- but he didn’t, not until now.

“All right… I’m applying some anesthetic to your perineum; you’re going to feel a sting, but it’ll be over before you know it,” the doctor told Casey in a gentle voice. He couldn’t recall her name, and didn’t really care. No names were needed here, just a stranger putting her hands and face as close as they could go to the most private regions Casey had.

Sting, like hell; Casey drew in a deep, sudden breath, overcome by the horrible new pain delivered to his tender, bruised skin. “Ow…” he whined out loudly, pulling his arm to cover his eyes. He grit his teeth as the doctor shushed him.

“Easy now…” she said. “You’re doing just fine,”

A knock came at the door, to which the doctor turned her head slightly. “Come in,” she called. Casey wanted nothing more than to close his legs and retain some sort of dignity; the metal stirrups and the doctor’s glove-clad hands prevented this, of course.

“Hello,” a small voice said; another woman doctor it seemed, now in their space from behind the curtain. Casey kept his arm on his face, not replying back to the greeting. He heard the scraping of a chair come to the side of the bed. “Hi, Casey. My name is Miranda; I’m one of the ER doctors here at the hospital.” She introduced herself. Casey slid his arm a bit downward, seeing her face. She wore a meek smile, looking at him with sympathetic eyes. He hated it, all of it. “I don’t know if you want to talk to me or not, but I thought I’d let you know that we got in contact with your parents. They should be here very soon,”

“Fine,” Casey whispered, sucking in another breath as he felt the pressure of the doctor working on him.

“I want to ask you some questions, while things are fresh in your mind. Just simple things for now,” she said, opening a folder and looking into it. She began scribbling something with her pen, eyes tracking what she wrote. “The nurses and doctors that have seen you thus far; they’ve told you of your rights, correct?”

“Yes.” Casey blankly replied, letting his arm fall completely now.

“You understand?”

“Yes."

“Good,” she replied, still scribbling. “Your friends that brought you here, Zeke and Stokely; they were the ones that found you, right?”

Casey swallowed hard. “Just Zeke,” he replied. Scribble, scribble…

“I hope I don’t offend you with my next question, but it needs to be asked.” She started. Casey was braced for it, knowing what was coming. “You’re positive that he wasn’t involved in what happened to you, even if it wasn’t him that-“

“Yes.” Casey stated firmly. She pursed her lips slightly, looking from Casey to the paper.

“I understand that he’s your friend. But we have to ask these questions. You are… absolutely sure?” she asked again. “He looked a bit roughed up; not as much as you, but he had bruises on his neck. We HAVE to ask these things.”

“He… probably got them when fighting off the guy who…” Casey stopped, closing his eyes. Miranda nodded knowingly.

“Who was it that hurt you, Casey?” she asked softly. He shook his head slowly.

“Don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Casey-“

“Don’t… wanna talk about it.” Casey said, this time with good force behind his voice. As he gritted his teeth she sighed.

“We’re probably going to test your friend,” she said. “Just to clear him. He’s already said he’ll do it,”

Casey reopened his eyes to look at her, blinking wildly. “I told you it wasn’t him. Why… no, why…”

“We have to do it, if you won’t tell us who it was. What we’ll do is just do some skin and blood tests. It’s not very intrusive at all. But if you won’t confirm who did this, then we have to rule out every possibility.”

Casey put his head back down, exhausted and out of sorts. If he would just give up Will’s name, Zeke wouldn’t have to go through anything on his account. But he couldn’t- he didn’t know if he was protecting Will or himself, or both. He didn’t know. Miranda seemed to read his silence and gave another weak smile his way.

“All right. That’s all I wanted to know right now. I’ll come visit you later when you’re more relaxed; we’ll talk about things then,” Miranda said as she stood up. Casey simply nodded as she patted his shoulder and left.


~*~


Out of everyone, Casey wished that his parents hadn’t found out what happened. He thought he would have much rather had the entire school find out than to have his mother and father walk into his hospital room, looking the way they had. Casey knew that the doctors had told them to try to stay calm; his mother wore a shuddering smile when she took his hand, caressing it with shaking fingers. “How are you, sweetheart?” she’d asked. Casey had looked away and shrugged.

The face his father wore terrified him the most. He couldn’t tell if he was angry; sometimes when Casey would do something wrong and get punished, he would wish that his father would get it over with and just holler at him. Instead, he always wore this stoic stone face, growing red at his temples. The bombs would go off later, usually after Casey went to bed. He would go downstairs to his punching bag he’d work out on, and the whole house would shake. Casey felt like he would go home tomorrow night and find the house crumbled into nothing after seeing the steely eyed gaze of his father.

It was all his fault.

He wouldn’t voice it now; he’d only given small nods and shrugs when his parents had been there, and his father hadn’t conversed at all. He just wandered around the room, looking at anything but Casey.

Casey was ruined; ruined a long time ago, really, but now this sealed his fate. He deserved every bit of pain he felt when he moved, his insides twisting within the knots of stitches and the feel of dried, nearly sterile skin. He’d shamed his family in what he’d done, and they would find out.

“When you’re ready, honey- we’ll go to the police.”

He didn’t want that. He would have to tell them everything, wouldn’t he? Who, where, and especially, why. He’d acted like a whore, who was he to tell Will to stop? He was a stupid child who may as well have begged for all of this, no matter the blood and sheer volumes of pain. In fact… he had, hadn’t he?


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TBC!