Jeremy was beginning to regain his senses. At first, he heard soft crying that felt oh-so-familiar, as well as a steady beeping. The stench of sanitizer filled the room and Jeremy was able to place where he was. Lastly, he felt a hand on his, squeezing pretty tightly.

Too weak to produce major movements, Jeremy started small. He managed to lightly grip the warm hand holding his, which was successful. Next, Jeremy tried to open his eyes.

Nothing. Jeremy tried and tried about twelve times before managing to pry his eyes open. He turned to see who was gripping his hand, seeing his boyfriend who he loved dearly. "Michael?"

His eyes widened as a thought crossed through his mind.

"Why am I not dead?"

Michael, who looked incredibly happy when Jeremy woke up, started crying again.

"Jeremy, I am so, so sorry. I know it's not all my fault, but I can't help but feel like it is, y'know?"

Jeremy was about to try and hug his boyfriend, before he saw the stitches littering his arms. Jeremy winced. Ever since his friend had stitches in second grade, Jeremy was terrified of them. They just grossed Jeremy out, knowing a needle was poked in and out of his skin.

The ache in his foot was too noticeable to ignore, especially since the memory that stuck out the most distinctly was him getting shot by Christine. Even thinking of her name made Jeremy's blood boil.

Michael had pressed the call button a minute or so ago, so a nurse suddenly barged into the room.

The nurse, who was presumably new to the job, panicked and yelled, "Is he dying?" before even looking at Jeremy.

Both Jeremy and Michael raised an eyebrow at the nurses behavior before bursting out laughing.

"Uh, pretty much the opposite, but okay," Michael responded, still chuckling. The nurses eyes widened as she realized her mistake, before laughing uncomfortably.

She hesitated for a moment, before walking towards the door. "I- um I'll go notify the doctor that you're awake"

Michael grabbed onto Jeremy's hand again, missing the comfort of their mutual hand holding, despite it only being a few days.

Jeremy shifted in his bed slightly, wincing at the pain it brought. The pain medicine was slowly, but surely wearing off, and Jeremy was not having a good time.

Michael noticed Jeremy wincing, so he squeezed his hand tighter. "Hurts?" Jeremy nodded, tears brimming in his eyes. Michael stroked Jeremy's hair, which comforted the boy a little bit, and waited for the doctor to come in.

Roughly five minutes later, a distressed looking doctor walked into the room, walking over to Jeremy. "We expected you to be out at least a day longer."

He walked over and messed with some of the controls around Jeremy, which Michael didn't understand any of.

More pain medication was given to the boy, but he felt pretty drowsy. It was pretty late anyways, and visiting hours were almost over.

So, Michael left, but not before kissing his boyfriend and promising he'd be back tomorrow.

-

Later that night, Michael got a phone call from another random number.

Considering what happened last time, Michael was pretty scared. However, he was met with good news this time.

"Mr. Mell, we have found Christine Canigula after searching for a while and she was put under arrest again, she won't be getting out this time. Thank you for the help, we really appreciate it!"

Michael may or may not have danced around at the news after he texted Jeremy about it.

He would never let anyone hurt Jeremy again.

And now that Christine was put under more supervision in prison, there was no way she could get out.

Michael and Jeremy were finally safe from Christine.

A/N: Short, so another chapter coming to you later.