Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Dead Men Tell No Tales ❯ Return to the Light ( Chapter 10 )

Confession! I have no idea how far from New York City one would have to drive before getting to a more rural area, so I'm winging it here. Don't get mad at me!

 

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Chapter 10—Return to the Light

 

Ryo groaned and turned his head, his mind slowly returning to consciousness. As his brain came into focus, he began to register the details of his surroundings….at least, as well as he could do so without opening his eyes, which were being stubborn and resisting any type of movement.

 

He was laying on something soft….not a forest floor, or anything of the sort. It was….a bed? And he was pleasantly warm and covered in thick blankets. The room was filled with the sound of air rushing out of the heating vents, and without opening his eyes, Ryo knew that it was dark. His chest and shoulder ached furiously, and when he shifted slightly, the rather large amount of pain the movement caused was enough to discourage him from trying it again.

 

The detective tried to force his eyes open again, and this time, they complied. He blinked several times and slowly turned his head, ignoring the jab of pain the action sent through his skull. The door to the room was cracked, allowing a sliver of light into the room, but the curtains were drawn on the windows against the light of the setting sun. The place was rather plain, and looked like the inside of a country home.

 

Country home....? Ryo's mind registered. But....why would there be a country home in New York City?

The only logical answer, of course, was that he was no longer in New York City.

 

Ryo was startled out of his thoughts when the door opened, and a semi-tall man who looked to be in his seventies poked his head around the doorway. His hair was gray and short, his body thin but strong-looking, and his face tan and weather-beaten. “Ah, so you've finally woken up,” he said. “About time, too, soldier….”

 

The blond blinked in a bewildered sort of way. “Who....?”

 

“Desmond Verne of the United States Marine Corps,” the man replied, saluting. His eyes twinkled with humor as he came into the room and closed the door behind him. Walking over to the bed, he turned on the lamp next to it and sat down on the bed. The light was clearly at its dimmest setting, and after a moment, the ache it caused in Ryo's eyes began to fade. “How do you feel?”

 

Ryo shrugged slightly. “All right, I guess.... Why am I not dead?”

 

“You would have been, except I was driving back home from the city and I heard the gun go off. Found you lying in your own blood not far from the highway and brought you here.”

 

“….Why didn't you take me to the hospital?”

 

“Good God, man, I have no patience for hospitals! I was a military doctor for twenty-five years, I like to think I know something about treating gunshot wounds.”

 

“Oh….” Ryo replied, trying to push himself up on his arms in spite of the fiery pains in his chest and shoulder. Verne reached out to help him, and in a moment, Ryo was leaning against the headboard of the bed. “How long have I been out?”

 

“About four days. Not bad, considering you were shot three times, and two of the wounds would have been fatal if they'd been left untreated any longer. I expected you to be out for at least a week.”

 

“Yeah, well, I'm a quick healer. Who knows I'm here?”

 

“No one….I don't even know who you are. How the hell would I know who to call?”

 

“….Randy McLean, and….” Ryo started to get up. “If you haven't called anyone, then….I have to use your phone now.” His feet hit the ground, and he stumbled—right into Verne's hold, and the ex-Marine shoved him back into the bed.

 

“You're not going anywhere, sonny. Not until I've gotten some food in you. Now, I'll bring you the phone, but you're not moving. Stay.” And then he disappeared out the door, returning several minutes later with a steaming bowl of soup, a spoon, and a cordless phone.

 

Verne made Ryo eat the entire bowl of soup before giving him the phone, and Ryo could barely concentrate on the numbers he was dialing. His mind could focus on only one thing—reassuring Dee. If he had been gone for four days, his lover must be out of his mind with anxiety.

 

He got no answer the first time. Undaunted, he dialed again, and a third time. On the fourth attempt, however, he realized that he was not going to get an answer, and he started to get out of bed. His legs supported him this time, and Verne did not protest.

 

“How far from the city are we?”

 

“About an hour,” Verne replied.

 

“I need you to take me back, then. Now.”

 

Verne shrugged and stood. “Okay.”

 

Ryo paused, shirt in hand (he had found it, along with his jacket, on the chair by the door). “That's….it?”

 

“I was in the Marines, sonny, you forget. I'm used to things happening fast.”

 

“But….you're a doctor,” Ryo replied, gingerly pulling the shirt over his head, wincing as the movement pulled at his stitches. “Shouldn't you be telling me to stay in bed or some crap like that?”

 

“Probably. But you seem pretty set on getting home. I get the feeling you'd just strong-arm me into a wall if I tried to stop you.”

 

Ryo chuckled as he slowly pulled on his jacket. “Probably. Well….come on.”

 

---

 

“Dee, dear….you really ought to think about returning to work,” Sister Maria said quietly.

 

Dee had finally emerged from his room and was now sitting on the couch, avoiding making eye contact with the people surrounding him. His face was an emotionless mask. He had not spoken, or moved, or let a single tear escape since the previous night.

 

“She's right, Dee. You can't just sit here and rot forever….you need to get back in the game….” JJ chimed in.

 

The phone rang at that moment, and Drake moved to answer it.

 

“Leave it,” Bikky said suddenly, his voice thick with something that no one in the room could quite pin down.

 

“But….it's rung four times, it could be import—”

 

“Leave it, Drake. It doesn't matter.”

 

---

 

Ryo slammed Verne's cell phone shut. “Damn it….where the hell are they?”

 

“Calm down, son....I'm sure everything's fine.”

 

“Yeah….” Ryo muttered, dialing Dee's cell phone number now. This, too, went unanswered. “He must have his phone off….”

 

“Who are you trying to call?”

 

“My, uh….” Ryo faltered and paused. “My….partner.”

 

“Don't you have someone else you can call?”

 

Ryo hit the number two on his speed dial yet again. “No. It's just him and me. And my adoptive son….who lives with him….” Too preoccupied to realize the implications of that statement, he just held the phone up to his ear and listened to the endless ring. “I could call the precinct, but then I'd have to sit and answer an endless string of questions and I'd never get home to Dee….”

 

“I see,” Verne replied neutrally, maneuvering his old, beat-up forward along the nearly deserted road.

 

“God, where would they be?”

 

“Working? Looking for you?”

 

“Probably….but Dee would have his cell phone on….he'd be hoping I would call…unless….” Something clicked in Ryo's mind. “Oh, God….you have to go faster. I've got to get home now.”

 

“….What?”

 

“God, I'm such an idiot! They probably think I'm dead by now….”

 

“What're you going on about?”

 

“Never mind, can we just….drive faster?”

 

Verne stepped on the gas without questioning, and the truck revved up into another gear.

 

“….I'm sorry, you're practically killing yourself to get me home and here I am being a total jerk to you….”

 

“Don't worry about it, kid. It's fine.”

 

Ryo smiled slightly as he dialed Dee's number again, having given up on getting hold of anyone on his home phone. “So….tell me something about you.”

 

“Eh?”

 

“Well, we're just sitting here….might as well pass the time with some good conversation.”

 

“Not much to tell.”

 

“Do you….have a wife? Kids?”

 

“Wife died. Kids are scattered…. Nope. S'just me and Buttercup.”

 

“Buttercup?”

 

“My dog. She's older `n Moses and crazier than Pee Wee Herman, but she's my girlie.”

 

“Why didn't I see her while I was there?”

 

“You would have if you'd bothered to look around before you bolted out the door,” Verne replied with a chuckle as they finally entered the city.

 

Ryo dialed the number one last time, then suddenly slammed the phone shut as Verne stopped in front of his building.

 

“Hey, kid,” Verne said suddenly as Ryo stepped out of the car, trying to avoid moving his upper body as much as he possibly could. “I did the best I could, but you might want to go to a doctor sometime in the next week or so and get checked out. Just to be sure.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Ryo replied, getting ready to close the door. He stopped suddenly, however. “Mr. Verne?”

 

“Desmond.”

 

“….Right. Desmond.”

 

“Eh?”

 

“One day soon, after I've seen to Dee and everything….can I come back out to your house?”

 

“What the hell for?”

 

Ryo chuckled. “You saved my life. A visit now and then seems like a very small price to pay.”

 

“Well, all right, but this time you are not staying in my bedroom.”

 

Ryo chuckled. “Fair enough,” he replied, and closed the truck door.

 

---

 

“Dear….you have to think about all the good you've done….” Sister Maria said quietly. “You have to think about all the lives you've saved.”

 

“I didn't save Ryo's life.”

 

The room fell completely and totally silent. There it was. There was the reason that Dee had been so thoroughly broken. The reason he had not spoken in four days. The reason he had not shed any more tears.

 

He felt he didn't have the right to.

 

Bikky had cried. He had finally allowed himself to break down the night before, curled up against his once second, now only, father's chest. He had cried through the night and long after everyone else had fallen asleep. He had cried for Ryo….for Dee….for his biological father….for the people who had lost Ryo….for the people that Dee no longer wanted to save. He cried for everything that had been lost along with the 27th precinct's most trusted and well-liked officer. Then he had slept, woken up with the sun, and the tears had returned.

But Dee had not cried again.

 

Dee stood slowly, going over to the window and pushing back the curtain to look out over the now dark city. “I didn't save Ryo. He died alone. Because I was too stupid to go out and look for him. Because I didn't care enough.” He turned to face them, his face filled with barely-controlled rage. “And now he's gone, and you want me to play the hero?” His voice was rising in volume. “Don't you get it? It's all completely pointless without him! It's all for nothing! Everything we do is nothing! It. Is. All. Nothing.” His voice was calming down now, and when he spoke again, it was cracked and broken. “I'm nothing….”

 

That was when the quiet, shocked voice issued from the doorway, and every eye in the room whipped around toward it.

 

“Dee….?”

 

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So I guess I owe all those tragedy lovers out there an apology…. Except I'm not sorry. Because I love Ryo too much to kill him….at least, not this time around….

 

Oh, and it's possible that Desmond will show up in a later story—actually, there's a 99% chance of it, since that's the reason I put him in the story in the first place.

 

One more chapter and we're done, guys. Bear with me!