by L. J. Hamlin
"Officer, there are two lines of bruising." The doctor speaks up.
"And?"
"Well, that would fit with the story the young gentleman just told. The rope strangled him once, lower, here in this straight line. Then the noose was pulled tight in this higher bruise, that curves up on each side," the doctor explains, touching each of the bruises as he speaks, pointing them out to the officer.
"Fine, I'll get someone to come take pictures of the bruising. Do a full report, Doctor, on the injuries, and I'll send a detective to make a report." And with that, he stands up, not even giving them a second look, and leaves.
"Asshole," Cade mutters.
"You believe me, don't you? I wouldn't have done that to you, set you up to find me. And I swear, I'm not suicidal," Arkady says, his voice coming out a little rough.
"I'll leave you alone. We called your parents. They said they'd be here right away," the doctor says, heading for the door.
"What did you tell them?" Arkady asks.
"Just that you'd been brought to hospital, and that you're stable. You can explain to them what happened." The doctor hesitates, but then he leaves.
"Do you believe me?" Arkady asks. He hasn't known Cade long at all, but he cares about Cade's opinion of him. He doesn't want Cade to think he would lie about something so serious.
"I do. You've been nothing but honest with me since we met, even when it made you uncomfortable. If you'd hit a low point and done something to yourself in a moment of darkness, I believe you'd admit it. And I don't think you'd have done it like that, for your dog walker to find you," Cade replies and gently touches Arkady's neck. "Why would someone do this to you?" Cade's fingers trace a feather light touch over the tender bruises on Arkady's skin.
"I don't know. He seemed to know me, and said I didn't remember something, but he couldn't risk me remembering? I don't get it. I can be an asshole. I've pissed people off plenty of times, but I don't think I've ever made someone mad enough to attempt murder." Arkady frowns. He keeps flashing back to being grabbed, his stick hitting the ground, the strength of the man. He remembers the moment the chair was kicked from under him, and that red scarf, so familiar, but he doesn't know why.
"Have you ever been attacked before? Seen a crime? Something someone wouldn't want you to remember?" Cade seems to actually believe him and to be trying to work out what the hell is going on. Despite the stress of the situation, Arkady's crush intensifies.
"I've been in fights, like I told you. But nothing serious: fist fights, no weapons, no one getting badly hurt. The worst I've hurt someone was a broken nose, other than that, bruises. My old manager Thomas made sure I didn't get in too much trouble, paid medical bills where he needed. And I don't forget things." Even as Arkady says it, he gets a weird feeling. He's not quite right about his memory. "Well, except for the accident. I still don't remember that." He frowns as a weird feeling churns through him, shadows flickering in his mind.
"What is it? Have you thought of something?" Cade grabs Arkady's hand tightly, the one without a monitor on, and Arkady's surprised by the strength of Cade's good arm.
"I can remember getting up that day, pieces of going to work, getting my makeup done. But I don't remember the actual event." Arkady sighs. He wishes he could summon up the memories from that day. Thinking back, it's like watching a movie. It doesn't feel like his life, and then it just goes blank until he woke up in the hospital.
"But that was an accident, right?" Cade frowns.
"That's what they told me. Freak accident, two cords snapped at the same time, while the people who were supposed to be watching me dealt with some emergency." Arkady hadn't asked many questions. He hadn't wanted to know, really, especially not right after it happened.
"But no one saw it happen? Isn't that kind of strange? And two cords snapping? Does that ever happen?" Cade scowls.
"The company said there had been some faults in testing. They paid me a settlement. They must have thought it was their doing. Jason, the head of the ballet company, he was there that day. He's one of the only people who was there who came to see me. He still calls now. He said it was so shocking, that I fell so suddenly, there was no way they could stop it." Arkady has appreciated Jason keeping in contact, even though he sometimes thinks it's out of pity.
But Jason had always been a good guy, and he'd seemed fond of Arkady, always making sure Arkady got the best of everything. Even now, he's sent gift baskets of food and things Arkady might need and has said if Arkady needs anything, that he just has to ask.
"Maybe someone screwed up rigging the ropes, and they think you saw them. Maybe the accident was someone's fault? I don't know, but maybe you should talk to this guy Jason and mention the accident to the police when they come back," Cade replies.
"I will. This is so crazy. Second time this year I've ended up in the hospital. I mean, someone tried to kill me in my own apartment. That's fucked up. Can you text Prisha? She'll text me tonight about the date. I don't want her to get no response and worry. And she works here. Someone might tell her that someone she knows is in the hospital," Arkady says, one thought jumping to another. He can hardly focus, but he knows he doesn't want to worry Prisha and that he'll be getting the locks changed on his apartment and extra security.
"Of course. I'll text her now." Cade takes his hand off of Arkady, and he misses the feel of it as soon as it's gone.
"Umm, she's on her way," Cade says sheepishly not even five minutes later.
"What? What did you say to her?" Arkady asks.
"I kind of told her the truth, that you were attacked and were in the hospital, and that you'd be fine," Cade admits.
"You know how much of a mother hen she is! Of course, that'll worry her." Arkady groans.
"Well, I didn't know a way to tell her that wouldn't worry her. I'm sorry, but she'd want to know, and it's better than her finding out second hand," Cade says.
"You're right. It'll be good to see her." Arkady just gets the words out when his parents come into his room, looking stressed and pale.
"Arkady! Your neck!" His mother looks sick at the sight, and Arkady wonders how bad the bruises look.
"Before you start, it's not what it looks like," Arkady says firmly as Cade hovers close, looking concerned.
"It looks like you tried to kill yourself. Arkady, you should have told us things had gotten so bad. We would have helped you, got you a good therapist, had you come to stay with us." His father sounds both worried and disappointed.
"I'm seeing a good therapist, and I didn't try to kill myself." Arkady hadn't mentioned to his father or mother that he'd been seeing a therapist. He wasn't sure if his father would see it as a weakness, needing help with his mental health. Some of the old school Russian guys he encounters are like that. Hell, just some of the older generation. They think needing help with your mind makes you weak.
"You don't have to be ashamed, my son. If you hurt yourself, we will help you," his mother says softly.
"A man attacked me in my apartment. Look, look at the two lines of bruising. I was strangled, and then hanged. Thankfully, Cade showed up early, and Lou's walker came back early, and they helped me," Arkady replies.
"Someone tried to kill you? Are you Cade? What happened to my son?" His father doesn't ask. He demands answers.
"I'm Cade. I came in first. I saw Arkady's stick on the floor. I thought maybe he'd fallen. I heard muffled sounds, and then I saw him. I got Jamie to hold his legs up while I got a knife and cut the rope," Cade says, and he sounds a little shaky as he says it. Arkady realizes that Cade has probably been acting calm for Arkady's benefit. Walking into a friend's apartment to find them hanging, clawing at the rope and thrashing, begging for help, that's the kind of thing that would shake a person up.
"You cut me down? You saved my life." Arkady realizes. "Thank you."
"It's okay. I was trying to hold you up, but I couldn't, not with one arm. All that muscle makes you kind of heavy." Cade nervously rubs the bicep of his rig
ht arm, the one he can't use.
"You saved my life.," Arkady says, making sure Cade meets his eyes, getting a little lost in those big brown eyes, until his father clears his throat.
"The police are handling this?" Vsevolod asks.
"An officer said he'd send a detective, but I don't think they're taking me seriously," Arkady replies.
"I have some friends I will talk to, get this looked at by the best," Vsevolod says.
"And sorry for our rudeness, Cade, is it? Are you a friend of my son? He has not mentioned you." His mother looks between them, and Arkady knows she's trying to read if anything's going on. Arkady's never introduced a guy he liked to his parents, and he hadn't even considered telling them about Cade.
"Hello. I'm Cade Bassin. I'm a friend of Arkady's. We met through our physical therapist," Cade replies, not giving too much away. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Cade's been encouraging me to get out of my apartment more," Arkady says, wanting his parents to like Cade, and it's not a lie.
"You have been staying cooped up far too much. It's not good for you," his mother says.
Before Arkady can think of a good answer, Prisha saves the day by popping into the room. She looks around and smiles, coming into the room and over to the bed, checking the bruises before she even says hello.
"You must be Arkady's parents. I've heard a lot about you. So good to meet you. Arkady, is your neck sore? I can show you some exercises to help with that," Prisha says in a rush.
"This is Prisha, my physical therapist and friend. Thank you for coming, Prisha, and yes, my neck is stiff. We'll probably have to work on it. The doctors haven't said much, and I can speak without too much trouble, so I figure there isn't any serious damage that time won't heal." Arkady's kind of relieved to have woken up in a hospital and not received awful news about his future. He's more than a little freaked out over the fact that someone seems to want him dead. Why would anyone would want to kill him? The man who attacked him had been so cold about it, just typing out the messages, and the way he'd just walked away as Arkady fought with the rope.
"I'll talk to a doctor in a second, get the full scoop for you. You know how some doctors can be, won't actually talk to the patients about their own health." Prisha tuts and rolls her eyes, and Arkady grimaces in agreement.
"Thank you for taking such good care of our son," his mother says to Prisha, and there's genuine warmth in her voice and face, which is rare. His mother's worse with strangers than he is, doesn't like them much at all.
"Oh, it's no trouble. He can be grumpy in the mornings if he hasn't had coffee, but he's great to work with. I haven't met anyone so determined to stay strong and build strength." Prisha sounds proud, and it makes Arkady's heart feel full.
"I'll come with you to talk to the doctor," his father says, and Prisha nods. They excuse themselves and leave his room, and Arkady would bet money his father plans to question Prisha about Arkady's mental health, whether she thinks Arkady is suicidal. Arkady doubts the two lines of bruising and his word will be enough to convince everyone he didn't try to kill himself, that someone's out to get him.
"I'm sorry for worrying everyone," Arkady says, looking from his mother to Cade.
"Hush, this is not your fault. I will say it will do my heart good to not see you in a hospital bed ever again, but you're not to blame. We will find who did this to you. Was it... Was it a hate crime?" His mother hesitates over the words, probably because she never talks about Arkady being gay, so it must be hard for her to talk about the idea of someone attacking him because he's queer.
"I don't know. He didn't mention me being gay, didn't use any slurs." Arkady frowns.
"But maybe, the timing, Arkady. You were attacked the same day of the first date you've had since you got hurt," Cade says quietly, and his arm twitches, like he wants to touch Arkady, but he doesn't, probably because of his mother. Cade knows Arkady's parents are not homophobic, but that they're not overly comfortable with his sexuality, either.
"Date?" his mother repeats.
"Yes, Cade and I were planning on going to dinner tonight." Arkady isn't going to lie, give the impression he's ashamed, because he's definitely not. Cade is a good person, is becoming a real friend, and Arkady had high hopes for their date.
"Have you been dating my son long?" she asks Cade.
"No, this was our first official date. We met for coffee as friends a week ago. Prisha thought we'd make good friends, given all we have in common. But I found myself taken with your son when we met. He's very charming." Cade glances at Arkady and smiles slightly. He has a sweet smile.
"You're disabled?" she asks, but her tone isn't rude, more curious. Arkady knows his mother. She means no offense.
"My right arm is paralyzed, from shoulder to fingertip. I can't move it at all, but often the whole thing hurts. They don't know why," Cade says like it's simple, when Arkady knows the pain can be awful for Cade, and so frustrating not knowing the cause.
Arkady reaches out and takes Cade's left hand, squeezing it to try and pass on his thanks to Cade for answering the personal question. He only realizes he's done it in front of his mother's watchful gaze when her eyes flicker to their joint hands and away again. But Arkady's a grown man. He's not going to hide his relationship from his parents. It's new and fragile, and treating Cade as if he were ashamed of him would not help things bloom.
"Sorry to be rude, but do you work?" She doesn't look particularly sorry.
"I'm an artist. I have my own gallery. I do pretty well," Cade replies. Arkady bites back a smile. He knows from Google searching after they'd met that Cade is highly successful.
"Lovely. Would you like to come to dinner?" she asks, which is the last thing Arkady expected her to come out with.
"Mother, we haven't even been on a date yet," Arkady mumbles, and he can feel himself blushing. He didn't think he'd end up dying of embarrassment on the same day someone tried to kill him.
"I would love to, but maybe after we see how the first date goes?" Cade replies, and Arkady's glad that it doesn't sound like Cade's been scared away by today's events. Arkady can't lie; it would hurt if he had been.
"I will leave it with you and my son to organize, but the invitation is open," his mother says.
Prisha and his father return then, and Arkady rather enjoys having a room full of people who care about him, especially after nearly being murdered—twice, apparently.
"What did the doctor say?" Arkady asks.
"No serious damage to your throat or neck, as far as they can tell. They'll hold you for twenty-four hours because of the nature of your injuries. You'll be evaluated, but the doctor seemed to believe you were attacked, and he's pushing that you be released to recover in comfort," Prisha replies.
"Perhaps you should come to stay with us for a while, till your attacker is caught," his father says.
"We'd love having you home, and Lou is welcome, of course," his mother adds.
"I'm not a child. I don't need a babysitter." Arkady's worried they don't really believe he was attacked, that they want to be able to watch over him in case he tries to hurt himself.
"Arkady, this man broke into your apartment and nearly succeeded in killing you," Cade says, the faintest tremble to his voice.
"You'll have the place to yourself a lot. You know we spend a lot of time at the university. We won't hover. You'll have freedom. No rules like when you were a teen. You'll just be safer. We have good security," his mother says, clearly trying to convince him, and Arkady has never seen his mother so concerned about him.
"Okay, if it's no trouble." Arkady gives in, but he doesn't want to be a burden.
"Of course it's no trouble. You're our son," his father replies.
"What about my therapy? I don't drive. Not sure I could, with my knee so bad." Arkady sighs.
"I can change your appointments to make them the first in my shift, and I'll come get you. Save your parents from leaving work and you getting on too many busses," Pri
sha says.
"That feels like I'm asking too much." Arkady's grateful, but he doesn't want to abuse his friendship with Prisha.
"You didn't ask. I offered. Besides, I expect you to buy me coffee on the way." Prisha smiles. and Arkady sees his mother's lips flicker into a smile, like she approves.
"I'll pay for gas, too. Thank you so much." Arkady means it. He's so lucky he was assigned Prisha as his physical therapist. She's made all the difference in his recovery and his life.
"I can't stay long. I have work, but I wanted to see you were okay with my own eyes," Prisha says, coming closer and patting his right leg through the blankets.
"I'm glad you came. Sorry for scaring you, for scaring everyone." Arkady is sorry, even though being attacked is not his fault. Cade takes his hand, and Arkady tries to let the tension drain.
Prisha goes to work before the detective arrives. He's already had someone look at Arkady's apartment and tells them there were signs of someone breaking in via the bedroom window, where the fire escape comes up. Arkady sees relief in his parents' faces, even though they try to hide it.
The detective asks a lot of questions, and Arkady answers them as well as he can. He can't tell the detective why someone would want to try and kill him because he doesn't know. Despite the police taking him seriously, the hospital says it's policy, and he has to stay the night for evaluation.
His parents leave first. They say they'll go get Lou from the walker and all of Lou's things from the apartment, like his bed and toys and food. His father offers to take him back to the apartment tomorrow so he can pack up the things he needs and wants to take with him to their house.
Cade stays so long, waiting outside while the psychologist talks to Arkady, that when they bring Arkady something to eat, the nurse brings a sandwich for Cade as well.
"Not quite how I pictured our first meal together." Arkady sighs.
"Well, the food isn't as good as I'd hoped, but the company is just as fine as I remember." Cade smiles, a twinkle in his eyes.
"I bet you say that to all the boys," Arkady says, but he can't help blushing.