Beyond Darkness

Escalate

Michael had been on rounds for four hours now, it wasn't as long but it was definitely tedious. He was a little popular among the med students so he helped them out a lot during rounds. He still hadn't gotten to processing Orion's disappearance. Somehow even after seven bodies being excavated from the site, one of them had gone missing from the morgue. They couldn't identify which one was because of the charring and the burns. Mostly all the bodies had melted. Which was definitely not something Michael wanted to think about since Fire was one true fear of his.

They were still on rounds as some consult came up and they had to rush someone to internal medicine. It was a tiring job, but Michael enjoyed it. He started asking some general questions to the students and they were answering nicely, he did interrupt when he felt like he needed some input. Then after finishing up with the last check-up, they gathered around the cafeteria and started discussing the assessing of complications they ruled out before and what would they do if it magically show up. Michael had made this a routine for them, and they actually enjoyed it.

While they were discussing Michael grabbed his coffee and some snacks and retreated back to his office. He opened his door and immediately felt off. Well he should've because there was bloody gauze all over his floor. He stepped in thinking it maybe a prank but he was definitely not ready to witness what the actual problem was. His eyes fell on the man that was sitting with his knees to his chest in the small corner between the wall and the chair. He gingerly approached the man and on the sight of him, he looked up. Michael's heart skipped a beat.

"Orion!?" Michael fell to his knees. His face was black and blue and he had a bunch of cotton pressed around his side. He looked up directly into Michael's eyes, and smiled. "I ran into a pole" Michael was still too stunned to speak. He grabbed his hand and held it close to his heart. "Sciocco" He whispered. Orion smiled and then grunted. Michael snapped out of his overwhelmed state and rushed to lock the door. "I was worried" Orion huffed. Michael gave him a look and he just shrugged and then wailed in pain. This was indeed going to be a long arse night. Michael somehow picked Orion up and placed him on the sofa. He held his chin and assessed the wounds.

He was supposedly out of danger, just really badly beaten up. Michael slowly tapped his cheek. "Orion... Orion what happened?" Michael softly asked him.

Orion opened his eyes, but he couldn't keep them open. How on earth did he even get himself past all these people and into his cabin? Michael had no idea.He cupped Orion's face and leaned his forehead against his. He breathed slowly and then placed a small kiss on his head. He was happy that he was alive, but he was also concerned about his state. Michael made Orion look at him, "Orion, Stay here okay?" Orion nodded. Michael rushed outside to get a medical cart.

He nodded and smiled at a few passerbys and then snuck inside the store room and grabbed gloves, some disinfectant and lots of gauze. He placed them all in a paper bag and then made his way back to his office. He unlocked the office and then locked it behind him. He rushed to Orion and before doing anything he snapped his gloves on.

With a dollop of sanitizer he rubbed his hands together and while taking Orion's clothes off he whispered small affirmatives to him. Orion never objected to anything, did not even complain to anything. Nor to poking or prodding. Michael removed his jacket and found Orion's whole left side doused in blood. He softly touched the spot and the blood stained his gloves. He was still bleeding, but it had slowed down. Michael didn't want to check that first. He found a piece of gauze, dipped it in a bucket full of disinfectant and cotton and softly padded away Orion's forehead.

Most of the stains was dried blood, the wound on his forehead had closed properly. He cleaned away all the dried blood and cleaned the cut. Orion hissed at the contact and Michael said to him that he was doing very well. He had to stay awake with him. Orion just nodded and groaned. The man had lost blood, how was he still conscious was a mystery to Michael. Michael slowly placed a small cotton and a tape over the cut on his forehead. "See, you're already looking better Princess" Michael teased Orion and he cracked a sweet small smile.

"Mi Caro Sciocco" Michael whispered near Orion's ear. He heard Orion take a deep breath and then felt as if Orion had muttered something. "Hmm?" Michael asked leaning back and looking at him. Michael watched Orion swallow and then whisper, "tu sei lo sciocco". At this, well surprised Michael gave out a laugh. This very man. He was going to be the death of him, Bless him. He cupped Orion's face and slowly leaned in and placed a small kiss on his forehead, lingering for a moment or two. His heart was in overdrive and his stomach turning into knots.

He leaned back and asked Orion for his hands. He placed them in Michael's own. Michael slowly brushed the skin with his glove clad thumb, yearning to feel the texture. Michael turned his hands and inspected his palms. They were battered. Michael sighed, his heart feeling heavy again, he was feeling so many emotions in moments that it was getting a bit overwhelming. Michael grabbed a cotton ball and softly started cleaning his palms. He then grabbed a few Q-tips and cleaned his nails too. Getting all the debris and dirt out. Michael was indeed peculiar but it was good.

As he turned to get another stick, he heard Orion, "I'll have the French manicure, please" Michael turned around to find Orion smirking. He smiled at him. "Surely, Sir." He went back to clean his nails again. Orion looked as if he was feeling a lot better, which made Michael think was because of the Ice chips he had gotten him. It seemed like sucking on ice has leveled his brain and made him more awake and aware. Michael had also gotten him a painkiller but he hadn't given it to him yet because, He wanted to feed Orion first.

Michael was feeling tired but he wanted to make sure Orion was okay. He was sure that whatever it was on Orion's side wasn't bleeding anymore. He wasn't mentally prepared to look though. Being a doctor he sure was scared. Being scared was not bad, Michael thought. He held Orion's chin and raised his head. He noticed some locks in front of his eyes. Michael softly blew them out of the way. Orion's eyes opened and the warm honey eyes made Michael's heart thump out of control and his breathing deepened. Michael smiled playfully and blew on his face again.

Orion with his good hand, looped in around Michael's shoulder and pulled himself up, he was now pressed up against Michael. "You will hurt yourself!" Michael shrieked but Orion shushed him. Their noses were touching, breathes mingled, One panting and one restless. "Orion..." Michael whispered. Their lips brushed against each other and Michael's skin came alive, so does his heart. Michael could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he felt shivers travel down his spine. Michael wanted to taste him. Michael wanted to press his lips to Orion's, swallow all his gasps and taste him raw.

Michael wanted to know how that rebellious mouth tasted like, he wanted to dip his tongue in his mouth and learn all the dips, and crevices by heart. Michael wanted to do all that but he snapped out of it as soon as he saw hurt on Orion's face and the grunt that escaped him sounded ruthless. He held Orion close and then sat him down. He smiled at him, leaning in and softly rub his nose against Orion's. Michael ignored the swelling desire to claim Orion's lips but the wound threw Michael off as He could not hurt him.

Orion's eyes held something similar to Michael's. Disappointment and Desire. Michael's heart twisted in its cage, it felt like it was twisted in vines, the thorns pricking his chambers and making him bleed inside. Michael sighed deeply trying to numb the ache in his chest. He opened his eyes and found Orion's, smiling brightly he moved away from Orion, a thing he had started to dislike very much, But right now it was necessary. He picked up the discarded forceps and got a small cotton ball. His one had held Orion's nape and his head angled to match Michael's stance.

Michael softly swiped the cotton on Orion's lip, slowly repeating the process on the upper lip as well. Orion's hissed when the cotton had touched the cut, But Michael had held on and Michael had Orion restrained with just one hand, but neither Orion nor Michael wanted to move. Michael cleared his throat and let Orion go again. He turned and he heard a very faint whimper. God. Michael felt like he was going to go crazy. He did not know what to do. He had thought that the man he was just normally worried for had been gone forever.

Michael shook his head, he still had a lot of injuries to clean. He also had some questions to ask but first he wanted Orion well fed so that he could give him a painkiller or best an antibiotic too. He turned to Orion, "Have you eaten at all in the past week?" Michael remembered to keep his voice soft. Orion shook his head but then let him know that he did have some fruits and had kept himself moderately hydrated. Michael gently caressed Orion's head. "That's really good, My baby" Michael whispered softly and he watched Orion's fascinating reaction.

Michael noticed the very faint blush spread on Orion's skin. It had created a very beautiful contrast against his pale skin. Michael's gaze travelled down to Orion's hands. The paleness of his skin had now started bothering Michael. Michael leaned in and with his thumb caressed Orion's cheeks. Orion's eyes moved away from Michael's and then slowly returned. His pupils were dilated and Michael could almost see the inversed image of himself in those honey coloured eyes. Michael sighed and closed his eyes. He felt Orion's fingers on his face. With some more bravery he felt his hand softly caress his face. Orion's palm was soft but he felt the rough callouses. Michael held Orion's wrist, he gently brought it away from his face and inspected the small cuts and bruises. He was not at all worried about the small fine cuts, but he was worried about his stained side. It looked like it had stopped bleeding a good while ago. Orion did not seem to be in a lot of discomfort. He grabbed the cotton and cleaned his hands, his forearms and his shoulders. Michael did not see any latitudinal marks on Orion's skin indicating that he wasn't captured.

Michael discarded his coat and the gloves too. He dug in his bag to find something for Orion to munch on in case he got discovered and possibly detained while getting food for Orion. He found a small bar of his favorite chocolate 'Gianduia 1865'. Michael smiled at the incoming memories. He always made a point to order some every time he had a chance. It was his last bar. He took it to Orion, "Are you allergic to Hazelnut? Or any nuts for that matter?" Orion shook his head and Michael felt the biggest satisfaction come to him. He unwrapped the bar and popped it in Orion's mouth and then watches with the biggest smile as the taste reflected on Orion's face. He giggled and at the same moment they heard someone at Michael's door.

The door knob turned.