“So, Kobra,” Jet smiled with an air of innocence permeating his expression. Waiting for Kobra to sit on the seat he had just vacated, he continued. “Anything new?”
“New?”

Kobra looked up, tilting his head in suspicion. Glancing at Party, who was staring expectantly back, he began to feel uneasy.

“I hear you got yourself a girlfriend,” Party smirked, tapping his brother’s leg with the back of his hand.
“Well, yeah,” Kobra began, looking between the two men staring at him, and wondering why he felt so uneasy. “I guess you don’t know, but it’s not new to Jet.”
“There is one thing that’s new to him, though,” Party grinned.
“Which is?” Kobra prompted, now beginning to grow somewhat irritated by the evasive questioning and knowing glances aimed at him.
“You had yourself a good time at Kami’s?” Jet pressed, losing his smile and taking a step forward, crowding the younger man.

Suddenly realising what Jet was referring to but uncertain how he had found out, he asked about what he thought was the most likely source.

“Is Ghoul okay?” He looked from one to the other. “He’s woken up?”
“Don’t be changing the subject, Kobra,” Jet frowned.
“I’m not! I mean, I thought...”
“You thought Ghoul had told us what you got up to at Kami’s?” Jet tipped his head as he stared down. “You want to tell me why you thought that?”
“Well, he... Red told me he... Jet, we...”
“Apparently, your reputation is well deserved, bro,” Party grinned, suppressing a light chuckle.

Kobra was at a loss as to how to react. Looking nervously from one man to the other, Party on one side appeared to be almost congratulating him, whilst Jet, looming over him, seemed to be ready to attack. There was only one course of action; honesty.

“Jet, it’s got nothing to do with my reputation; Red is special. At Kami’s... we’ve both been through a lot lately and...”
“You were blowing off steam?”
“What? No! Look, we both wanted... needed to be close... intimate. I... This isn’t just a fling or casual sex, I really care about her. I didn’t know we’d woken Ghoul, not until the next day anyway. I’m not gonna break her heart, Jet; she’s really important to me.” Kobra paused for a moment as he noticed that both his friends’ expressions had changed - no longer scowling or smirking, both were smiling and their eyes had softened into a gentle, almost dewy, gaze. “Is this real or are you trying to wind me up?”
“A bit of both,” Jet shrugged, his smile broadening, “but now, I just think you’re adorable.”
“My baby brother’s in love!” Party chirped, grabbing Kobra’s arm and batting his eyelashes for effect.
“I didn’t say that,” Kobra flushed as red as his jacket.
“You don’t have to, bro,” Party beamed. “I can see it all over you.”

Saying nothing but letting his widening smile do all the talking for him, Kobra nudged his brother in the ribs.

“So are you,” he chuckled in response.
“Yeah, I am,” Party nodded. “I’m glad you know, actually.”
“Dude!” Jet’s laugh burst out. “We’ve known for years!”
“We haven’t been dating for years,” Party objected.
“No, you danced around each other for a very long time,” Jet grinned. “But of course, now we know why.”

Party sighed, letting out most of the air in his lungs in one continuous deep exhale; they had no secrets now. That was definitely something he would address with Ghoul as soon as he recovered sufficiently.

Even as he thought about it, the door opened and Fielding and Harrison stepped out. Looking up elated as he saw the happy expression on Fielding’s face.

“He’s okay?” Party asked, without even a moment’s hesitation.
“He’s going to be just fine,” Fielding nodded. “We’ve moved him to the recovery room next door.”
“Can I see him?”
“Yes, of course. He’s still in and out of consciousness, so you might not get much sense out of him.”
“How would he know?” Kobra interjected.

Party flashed a smile at him; not even one of Kobra’s flippant, mocking remarks was going to affect his joy at the news. As he headed towards Ghoul’s room, he looked back.

“Smack him, Jet,” he called.

*

Opening the door as quietly as he could, Party approached Ghoul’s bed, stepping lightly so as not to wake him. He sighed, relieved to see how much colour there was in his cheeks. He had fully expected to see him looking pale and ill, but instead was greeted by the sight of Ghoul apparently simply asleep. Now standing at the side of his bed, Party reached under the covers to hold his hand.

“Well, you know, if you’re going to hold something under there...” Ghoul’s voice slurred before chuckling.
“Someone’s feeling better,” Party smiled broadly.

Ghoul opened sleepy, heavy-lidded eyes and offered a lazy smile.

“But I could feel so much better.”
“You want me to get in?” Party grinned.
“You want a written invitation?”
“No, I’m good,” Party gave Ghoul’s hand a squeeze before heading to the opposite side of the bed.
“Good? You? Never!” Ghoul laughed softly again.
“I’m told that you covered me with your body. Saved my life,” Party commented as he rounded the bed.
“You know I’d die for you,” Ghoul replied, without moving his head as Party walked. “That’s not just lip service.”
“And I would for you,” Party briefly leaned over the bed to press a kiss to Ghoul’s cheek. “But, I don’t actually want either of us to do it.”
“What do you mean?” Ghoul asked with a nervous shake to his voice and a frown creasing his brow.
“I mean,” Party continued, “that I want to grow old with you. Like the poem.”
“Browning,” Ghoul’s lips tugged upwards at the corners at the words. It was enough to see a faint smile, but there was sadness too.
“Yeah, Browning. That’s us, you know.”

Slipping his boots off and draping his jacket over the arm of a nearby chair, Party lifted the covers and spooned up behind Ghoul, pulling him close with his right arm and taking in his scent in a deep, fluid breath before lightly kissing the back of his neck. Pausing for a brief moment, Party placed another kiss, then another as he headed toward the sensitive spot where his neck met the shoulder. Tracing a figure eight with his tongue, he felt Ghoul relax beneath his arm.

“I missed you,” Ghoul finally whispered. “I-I thought I’d never see you again.”
“Mmm,” Party hummed into Ghoul’s neck, the vibrations pulling a deep breath of pleasure from the younger man. “You don’t get rid of me so easily.” He traced the figure 8 pattern again. “Infinity. That’s us. You and me - infinity. This life, the next life, every life. Forever lovers, just like the Brownings.”
“Promise me,” Ghoul choked out the words, trying to hide the pain he felt and the tears stinging his eyes.
“Ghoul?” Party’s eyes widened at the sound. “Are you okay? Don’t be upset, Frankie, I’m right here.”
“Promise me,” Ghoul whispered again, barely managing to dam the tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
“I promise, Frankie,” Party spoke with absolute sincerity. “I’ll never leave you. I promise.”
“You better not,” Ghoul sniffed, swallowing his pain. “Remember you promised.”
“I’ll remember,” he replied softly, stroking the younger man’s hair and nuzzling his left cheek into the crook of Ghoul’s neck. “You better not leave me either.”
“Me? You can’t get rid of me, even if you tried. I love you, Gee.”
“Love you too, Frankie. Now, get some rest.”
“B-but... where are...”
“I’m staying right here,” Party replied decisively.

Ghoul inhaled sharply with relief. His fears dispelled, he closed his eyes and, as Party continued to stoke his hair, drifted into a much needed sleep.

*

Red heard the car and motorbikes before she saw them. In fact, if she hadn’t crept to the edge of the building to peer around the corner, it was unlikely she would have seen them at all. All vehicles had come to a complete stop at the rear of the building and, as she feared, it was the two draculoids on the bikes, and Korse in his car with another draculoid driving.

Korse appeared smug; even from this distance, she could see his gloating expression. Red had spoken to Dr Hawes on the way out to watch. In fact he had appeared quite smug himself; convinced that he had tricked Korse into believing that the Killjoys had long since left and had even destroyed his hospital in the process. But now it was quite clear that Korse had only pretended to leave and was making his way to the rear entrance of the main hospital building, which was presumably still accessible despite the dangerously and severely damaged building.

Racing back through the entrance, Red headed for the corridor where she had left Party, Kobra and Jet waiting for news on Ghoul. Red had strong sense of direction, but finding her friends was more difficult than she thought. Returning to the corridor, she found it empty. Frowning, she looked around, beginning to doubt herself. Was this the right corridor? She felt certain it was, but where was everyone? Spotting the seats where Party and Jet had been sitting, she noticed a door opposite. Nodding to herself, she tried the handle only to find it locked. Red’s shoulders dropped in disappointment and concern; perhaps this wasn’t the right corridor after all? Looking frantically around for any sign that they had even been there, she furrowed her brow in frustration as she found nothing.

What could she do? She couldn’t shout for them, Korse might hear her and the building was far too large to run around searching - especially if there was a risk of running into the Exterminator. running her hand through her hair, she decided to head back to the reception area - perhaps she could page Dr Hawes? Not realising that he had informed Korse that no staff were in the building, Red believed it to be her only option.

*

The hospital canteen was run down. Along one wall, a line of dusty serving bays with many of the now cracked food trays still lying unused and empty. At the end of the long line of cold ovens and stained tea and coffee machines stood a silent cash register. Against the opposite wall stood a stack of tables in varying stages of decay, so too a pile of broken chairs and an old coffee vending machine that had seen better days. The remaining useable furniture - a mere four tables and seven chairs - were clustered roughly in the centre of one end on the large, echoing room, near a refrigerator, and a sink. As they entered, Harrison led Kobra and Fielding to the refrigerator, but Jet hung back to speak to Hawes.

“Welcome to the canteen,” Hawes spoke grimly as he swept his arm to indicate the room.

Jet looked around astonished by how little they had in the way of equipment and supplies. The hospital was dilapidated, barely functional and now, thanks to BLI, the wards were probably damaged beyond repair.

“When was the last time you had a supply delivery?” Jet asked, apprehensive over what they reply might be.
“Oh,” Hawes tipped his head slightly to the right as he gave it some thought. “It’s usually every three months roughly, but we expected one about two weeks ago but we didn’t hear anything.”

Jet closed his eyes. His entire body seemed to sag under the weight of a new and previously unrealised burden.

“What’s wrong, son?”
“You should have been getting supplies every month. We just found out that Candi was keeping and selling a lot of the supplies herself. She was giving out just enough to not raise suspicion. We had no idea.”

Hawes took a deep breath and nodded. Jet seemed genuinely distressed by the revelation; it would do no good to explain that the situation was dire at the hospital. Besides, Hawes knew the Killjoys weren’t fools, Jet could see for himself.

“I take it she’s not looking after supplies any more?” Hawes asked with a sad smile.
“She’s not doing anything any more,” Jet replied with a bitter edge to his tone that few ever heard.
Hawes nodded again. “The hospital the way it is now,” he shrugged, “we’ll probably have to close anyway. I expect it’ll do more harm than good to keep it open like this now.”
“We’ll sort out another hospital for you, Doc,” Jet promised. “We’re going to go back to Candi’s and retrieve the stolen supplies and any money we find. You’ll be up and running again in no time.”
“Who are you going to get to do your supply runs now?”
“I don’t know,” Jet shook his head. “We’ll do it ourselves if we have to.”

As their conversation drew to a close, Jet could see Kobra returning with a broad smile fixed on his lips. The sight of it could only mean one thing - Kobra had food. Jet had long since noted that women, food and killing draculoids seemed to be the only activities that could be guaranteed to bring a smile to Kobra’s face. Red was nowhere to be seen, no shots fired - that meant food. He had to admit, he was hungry and he found a smile pricking at the ends of his mouth too. Even before he knew what Kobra had, he was salivating.

As the small group drew closer, he could see that they were all holding two plates, but one was covered. Reaching one of the tables, Harrison held onto the covered plate as the remaining plates were put down, together with a handful of forks.

“Chris is going to take a plate to Party,” Fielding explained. “He hasn’t eaten for a very long time. I don’t know how he hasn’t passed out!”
“What about Ghoul?” Jet asked with a tilt of his head.
“Oh, no, not yet,” Fielding laughed. “Too soon after the procedure. It would only come up again!”
“Can’t waste good food like that,” Kobra grinned.
“That’s not going to go down well with him,” Jet chuckled, thinking about the pout on Ghoul’s face having to watch Party eat without getting any food himself. “What about Red?”
“This is for her,” Harrison pointed to one of the plates. “I’ll find her and bring her back with me. Mine’s in the fridge, I’ll get it when I come back.”
“Thanks,” Jet smiled. “She’s out front.”

Harrison nodded his thanks; he might not have thought to check outside - Jet had saved him a lot of time. But first he would drop off the plate for Party.

Notes

Hi, my lovelies! I hope you like this chapter. Sorry about the delay, Uni has been unbelievably demanding lately. I also have an essay due in a couple of weeks, so the next chapter might be a while too, but hopefully not.

Thanks for reading!
Sas xx