Avery's Desire Pt. 13

Mikey was staring back, eyes wide, in total shock. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard; he was utterly speechless. Never in his life had Boomer ever spoken to him that way. It just wasn't like him to be that...cold. Mikey could tell by the look in Boomer's eyes that he was serious though. Serious, angry, worried, and a myriad of other emotions that came flooding to his mind whenever he tried to make sense of the events that had taken place over the past couple of days.

Mikey turned his head, looking at Trash who was standing silently to his right. "And you?" Mikey asked his former friend. "Do you feel the same way?"

"Damn right." Trash glared at him. "Like Boom said man, we're done with you. Hell, I should have been done with you years ago."

Mikey cast his eyes to the ground and smirked. "I should have seen this coming. I should have known that sooner or later Avery would brain wash you all into abandoning me. I'm the real victim here though none of you can see it."

"Come off it!" Rick rolled his eyes in disgust. "This isn't Avery's fault and if you're a victim, you're only a victim of your own stupidity. The fact is, everyone who's ever gotten close to you has been hurt or used in some way. You're toxic. You spread your poison around like a disease and infect everyone you come in contact with. That's why no one wants to be near you, that's why no one respects you. You're a disease!"

"Tons of people respect me!" Mikey shot an angry glance at Rick.

Rick shook his head. "You've mistaken fear for respect. People fear you, but they have no respect for you. Most people that meet you don't even like you. You're easily discarded and forgotten about."

Mikey rolled his hands into fists and gnashed his teeth together. He hated Rick with a fierce passion; even his voice was grating on his nerves. Who the hell did he think he was? What right did he have to say these things to Mikey? 'I'll make him pay.' Mikey thought, angrily. 'I'll make them all pay!'

He wasn't just going to let it end with Avery. Rick was going to be the next one in the hospital, then Trash, and the next time he went after Boomer, it wasn't going to just be his bar that got messed up. Mikey was planning it all as he stood there, surrounded on all sides by the three of them. Seeing the looks on their faces pissed him off even more. All he wanted to do was slap the shit out of them , but now wasn't the time.

Mikey wasn't stupid. He knew that there was no way he could all three of them. One at a time, sure, but not all three at once. That was too much to expect from anyone. His mind suddenly snapped back to the other night, when he and his friends had beat the hell out of Avery. Of course Mikey was to blame for Avery's condition. He knew that he was, but fuck if he was going to admit it.

He didn't fear retaliation but he did fear going to prison. Mikey wasn't the type of guy that could survive in prison. He wouldn't be able to tolerate being locked up and told what to do, when to sleep, when to eat, or when to shit. That just wasn't something that he was willing to put up with. The thought of him actually being arrested and sent to prison made his blood boil. He blamed Avery. In his mind, it was all Avery's fault. From the very beginning it had been Avery.

Avery had disrespected him, humiliated him, tossed him aside like a piece of garbage. Avery drove Mikey to do what he did and then Avery stubbornly refused to die. It wasn't a very rational thought, but Mikey was way beyond thinking rationally. He needed someone to blame and Avery made the perfect scapegoat. Otherwise, Mikey would have to put the blame on himself, and that was just something that he could not do.

Accepting the blame, and admitting that he was the villain in all this would mean admitting that he had actually done something wrong. If he did that, then the guilt would eat him alive. The best thing for him to do now was to keep denying that he had any involvement at all. Let them think that he's to blame. Let them accuse him all they want. When it comes down to it, there's no proof and any evidence they might have against him was circumstantial.

The one thing that did concern him though was the fact that he hadn't bothered to wear a condom. But even so, what did it prove? That he and Avery had sex, nothing more. That wasn't such a stretch really. They'd been together in the past. He could always play it off like he'd gone to Avery's place to talk to him and they rekindled their relationship. That scenario was entirely believable, just as long as Avery remained in a coma, he wasn't able to tell anyone what had actually happened. As long as Avery was out of the equation, Mikey was safe.

Mikey smirked as he stared at Rick. "I'd rather have fear over respect any day. What good is respect from people who are pretty much useless? Honestly, I couldn't care less what people think of me, as long as they do what I say and don't piss me off. So keep your respect. That and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee."

Rick shook his head. "If I didn't despise you so much, I might actually pity you."

"Save your pity for someone who cares." Mikey rolled his eyes. "You're just as worthless as the rest of them. All of you are. The best thing I did was dumping your stupid asses. All you did was hold me back. Anyway, I have more important things to do than stand here and listen to you all whine around about your poor little Avery. In all honesty, I hope the little bitch dies. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Trash held onto Rick's shoulders. "Leave it man, he's just trying to get a reaction out of you."

"Just let it go..." Boomer agreed, placing a hand on Rick's chest as he glared at Mikey, daring him to say anything else. "He ain't worth it Rick. Besides, He'll get his. His kind always do."

"Fuck you all." Mikey flipped them off as he pushed past Boomer and headed for the parking lot.

Rick took a deep breath and tried to control his breathing. He was between wanting to scream and wanting to cry. If it wasn't for his two friends holding him back, he would have lunged towards Mikey and probably pummeled him to death. That would have brought him a momentary sense of peace but even he knew it wouldn't last for long. He had to be honest with himself. He didn't really want to see Mikey dead. What he wanted, what they all wanted, was to watch Mikey get dragged away in handcuffs.

They wanted to know that he was locked up where he couldn't hurt anyone anymore, but they wanted to know that he was paying the price for what he'd done. Like Boomer had told him earlier, death would be too easy for him. It would be too quick and while he would be out of their lives for good, what satisfaction would any of them have then? Rick knew Mikey. He knew that he would never be able to handle prison. In the end, being locked up was the ultimate punishment for someone like Mikey. It was the only way to truly break him and make him suffer.

Once Mikey was gone, Rick and Boomer turned and headed to Boomers truck. Trash told them he was going to stick around outside and wait for Kat. They decided to come back in a few hours, when the nurse who had thrown them out would be off duty. They just hoped that she wouldn't leave word for the next shift not to let them back in. Not that they could really stop Rick. He was prepared to throw a major fit if the staff attempted to keep him away from Avery for too long. He admitted that he needed a cool off period, but it wasn't going to just stay away. No way in hell.

Trash waved good-bye then sat on a bench near some fake plants and a fountain that was littered with various types of coins. Ignoring the no smoking sign, he lit a cigarette, then leaned back and tried to relax. It had been one hell of a long ass day. He figured Kat would be coming down eventually then they could leave together, maybe get something to eat and hopefully end up back at her place for the night. For Trash, that would be the prefect end to a not so perfect day. He smiled as he thought of it.

The closer he and Kat got, the more he realized that he just couldn't live without her. He more than understood now how Rick felt. If anything similar had happened to Kat, Trash would be out for blood. Not that he didn't want Mikey to pay for what he had done to Avery, but it was just different when it was the person that you loved. For Rick, it was the worst possible pain that anyone could imagine. Trash knew that without a doubt.

When the person that you loved was hurting, you felt their pain, and when you weren't together, a deep seeded emptiness takes root inside your heart. It was by far the most painful thing for someone to have to experience and Trash honestly had no idea how Rick could even cope with it. He was strong. There was no doubt about that, but even the strongest cracked eventually. Trash just wondered how much longer Rick was going to be able to hold on before he started to crack.

The pain always seemed to come back about the same time that his mind began to clear. He reasoned that it was because whatever they had given him previously had started to wear off. It didn't matter though. The pain was bad but he liked being able to think for once, and lets face it, laying in that bed, all he could do was think.

He attempted to move a finger. Not his hand or his entire arm, just a finger, but even that sent waves of pain through his body. He still coulnd't open his eyes, and he couldn't speak, even though he desperately wanted to, it just wasn't happening yet. His mouth was so dry and he realized suddenly that he was extremely hungry. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell anyone. All he could do was lay there and try to remember.

He would be happy to remember anything really. His name, where he lived, hell, even the last thing he'd eaten. He just wanted some shred of his life back, something that would make him feel not so...alone. He tried to suck in a breath through the tubes that were attached to his face. He hadn't really noticed them before but now it was annoyingly apparent to him as the tubes going up his nose made him feel like he had a booger and needed to blow.

That was the worst feeling, being so helpless and unable to do anything. He couldn't shift or turn over if he was uncomfortable, he couldn't even scratch his nose if it itched, which it did quite often. His entire body felt stiff and heavy and it ached so badly. He felt like he'd been run over by a truck and then dragged for half a mile. He tried to move again and then winced from the pain. A slight, exasperated gasp escaped his lips, alerting whoever was in the room with him.

"You hurting again?" He heard a female voice ask him. "Hang on honey, let me call the nurse."

The voice sounded vaguely familiar to him, though he couldn't place her. Still, he felt that she was someone he knew well. Someone that he could trust. She was a friend.

He listened as she stood up and moved across the room. He could hear people talking in the hall way or moving about. He could make out the sounds of foot steps along the floor as they passed his room. The rest of the busy sounds of a hospital merged together into one jumbled mess of incoherent noises.

It was soothing in a way, to know that there were others around him. Laying there in silence, as he had before, was quite unnerving, especially when he was unable to see anything around him. He'd only really had a slight idea of where he was but without the ability to hear or see, he was left with an uneasy feeling of being abandoned and alone. That was probably his worst fear, being alone. It was a sad, empty, and hopeless feeling, and one that he did not care to experience again.

He could hear the woman coming back into his room then. He listened to her walk over to his bed, slide a chair up next to him and sit down. She reached out and touched his hand, sliding hers beneath it and entwining their fingers. He could feel her touch. he could feel her squeezing his hand gently, and it felt amazing. It almost made him laugh at how something so small, so seemingly insignificant could matter so much to him, but being able to feel the touch of another human being, it let him know that he was alive.

Suddenly, things didn't seem so hopeless anymore. It took all the strength that he could muster, but he managed to squeeze her hand back, weakly. It only lasted a moment, but it was significant. He knew this from her reaction. She immediately shouted to the nurse in the room that she felt him move. The nurse rushed over and did a quick examine, took vitals, and tried to verify that he had in fact moved.

The nurse sighed. He could hear the disappointment in her voice. "It was probably an involuntary muscle spasm. That happens a lot actually, usually when the muscles relax a bit but it doesn't necessarily mean that he's awake or even conscious about whats going on around him. I'm not saying that he's not...just that it's unlikely."

"I see." The woman beside him was disappointed as well, she had really hoped for something more. "Do you think personally think that he'll ever wake up?"

"I can't say." The nurse explained. "No one really knows for sure. Coma's are still a bit of a mystery. He could wake up at any minute, or not at all. All you can really do is pray."

"Pray?" The woman laughed. "I haven't prayed in years and quite frankly, I'm sure that God has stopped listening to me."

"Gods always listening." The nurse told her. Her voice was calm and soothing, he could almost picture the smile on her face. He imagined the look in her eyes was one of compassion and understanding. He liked this nurse. He hoped to find out her name soon, so he could tell her that he appreciated her kindness. "If you need anything else, don't hesitate to call me."

"Thank you." The woman said. He listened as the nurse left the room. Her foot steps were light and gentle. He would remember that.

The woman leaned over and brought her face close to his. He could feel the brush of her lips against his ear. "I know that it wasn't just a muscle spasm." She whispered to him. "I know you're in there Avery, and I know you're trying to find your way back to us. Trash is here everyday, so is Rick, and Boomer, and...I'm here too. Come back to us Ave. We need you honey, we love you."

A single tear escaped his eye when he heard her speak to him. He remembered. He remembered everything. Rick was the man speaking to him earlier, the one that he wanted to hear again. He loved Rick. The others, Boomer, Trash...they were his friends, his family. The woman speaking to him was Kat, he recognized her voice now., and his name was Avery. The pain of the events that had brought him to his current condition suddenly came rushing back to him and remembered every single detail of it.

He suddenly felt a sharp pang of anger rip through his body and in that moment he wanted to jump out of that bed and run down the hallway screaming in rage but he couldn't. He was still too weak to move, but not for long. He was more determined now than ever to get out of that bed. He had friends, family, Rick, a life! He had a whole life before this happened, and he was determined to get to back.

'Soon.' He thought. 'I'll find my way back, and when I do that bastard is going down for what he did to me. I remember it all, every last bit of it. When I get out of here, I'm going to sing like a canary and that bastard is going to spend the rest of his life in a cage!'

He opened his mouth and let out a deep and raspy sigh. "R...Rick..."

Kat's eyes shot wide open. "Oh my God!" She gasped, tears wet her eyes. "I'll call him!" She half laughed and half cried as she jumped up from her seat and headed for the door. "I'm going to call him right now Ave, don't you worry. Oh my God, Rick is going to be so happy, I'm going to get him for you right now!"