DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans or any of their characters.

Chapter Seven: Body

"His blood pressure is dropping at an alarming rate."

The oxygen mask covering Joseph's face intensified the glare from the fluorescent lights. The steady beat of the complicated machines surrounding him suddenly became alarming. Panic set in as his eyes darted around the room only to see unfamiliar masked faces covered in stained red aprons. Blood? Was that his blood? Mom? Where was his mother? Tears began to well up on the rims of his eyes as his chest painfully compressed in anticipation for a scream. His mouth opened and his neck lurched within pain.

No sound. Why could he not hear himself scream?

The taste of blood suddenly flooded into his mouth as he began choking on the liquid clogging his throat. Pain set in his gullet. He accelerated his breathing in hopes of gaining some control over the situation.

A nurse came into his line of vision only to remove his mask and replace it with new tube attached to a gas tank. Joey's head recoiled in defense as a funny smell entered his nostrils lulling him into a false sense of security and drowsiness.

"I can't believe this. He is only a child. Has anyone told his father?"

Father? Where was his father? With the final amount of energy he could muster, Joey's head fell to the side. Behind the glass stood his father dressed in one of his best suits with his head buried in his hands. Joseph could have sworn he saw tears stream down his father's stone face before the world faded to black.

Joey frantically gasped for air, only to awake to the same sterile white walls and melody of the heart rate machines within his dream. Flexing his muscles to attain the normal position of sitting upright proved impossible. Thick, leather straps confined him to the cold, stainless steel operating table while the sudden rush of blood left him lightheaded. The pace of the heart monitor increased with his gasping breath as panic set in. No more hospitals. He had seen too many hospitals within his lifetime ever be comfortable within such a setting. At a young age, he had been programmed to believe that doctors only disclosed bad news. His struggle for freedom continued.

"My, my, Joseph Wilson," a voice cooed from his blind spot followed by the echo of high-heeled steps. "Damn, you are so feisty. Meow!"

With one final strain against the straps, Jericho recoiled against the metal table, feeling the throbbing pain of his back injury for the first time. The pulse of the blood speeding throughout his veins and drumming against his temples created a hazy film in front of his eyes and a distant resonance in his ears. Such a distinctive mannerism and voice pitch should have immediately registered within is above average mind. However, under the circumstances, his mind was slowed down to the speed of a young child as the heels clicked closer.

A weight fell onto the table next to him accompanied with an unfamiliar but sweet scent. Slowly, his bloodshot green eyes feverishly fell upon what appeared to be a blond nurse with cat ears.

"Now, now. Nurse Kitten is here to make all the hurt go away."

The utterance of her name snapped him back into reality as the film in front of his eyes dispersed. Seated cross-legged in a skirted-nurse's uniform seductively hiked up along her sun-kissed thighs, Kitten flicked the edge of a syringe. Joseph twisted away in a futile desire to escape. The movement proved detrimental as the intensity of the movement recalled the memory of his broken rib accompanied by the blood poisoning and multiple deep gashes cascading across his form.

"Such persistence really gets a girl goin'."

In one flawless motion, Kitten straddled him along the waistline still seductively wielding the syringe. Her perfectly manicured nails slid along his forearm until sliding the sleeves of his hospital gown up to his broad shoulders. Involuntarily Joey's heart-rate began to increase. The pounding against his chest caused more pain than pleasure within his hormonal teenage body. How could this situation be pleasurable? His mind could not fathom the reasoning behind his current… predicament. The dangerous rhythm of his heartbeat did not appear to deter Kitten from her desire. A devilish smirk crossed her lips as she bent forward presenting him with a view of the low-cut nature of her nurse's uniform. It slowly began to dawn on him that real nurses did not wear such attire.

Her lips brushed lazily against the sensitive, exposed skin of his forearm giving him unpleasant chills before she jabbed the syringe into his arm with a giggle. Panting, the torture slammed his eyes shut. Kitten pressed on. For a brief moment, her fingers danced around the collar of the gown before exposing his bruised, beaten and bare chest.

"Don't struggle, hun. The meds won't kick in for a while. Time to play," she suggested tenderly brushing her nails against the edge of the bandages decorating his torso. "Such fair skin ruined by foul play all for the sake of some strawberry-blond bimbo."

Jericho clenched his jaw, fighting to regain control of his own body… or at least his staggered breathing. Dazed, he looked up at the ceiling barely following the distant mumbles. The will to fight back began to fade, overpowered by the physical strain on his body.

Her hands drifted into his tousled curls. Each finger wrapped around the blond spirals as she began kissing the curves surrounding his neck and shoulders. While normal people could verbally protest to such behavior, Jericho found himself just numbly succumbing to her advances. Kitten's kisses began to trace down his body…

Joey took a final, deep breath before closing himself off to the surrounding world.

"Kitten!" A door slam thrust him back into reality with a gasp.

His wide, green eyes searched frantically around the room only to rest upon a figure dressed completely in black. The sudden entrance of the masked stranger caused a distraught Kitten to tumble off of the table.

Returning to her feet she cursed, "Damn it, Red X. I thought I had locked that door."

A chuckled sounded from behind the mask of the stranger. "What's with the get-up?"

The stranger never glanced in Jericho's direction. Instead his body remained in aligned with Kitten, who know appeared flustered and upset at both his sudden intrusion and unwelcomed comments.

"You jackass," she growled before she flipped back to a more sultry persona. "I was goin' for Harley Quinn. She once dressed up as a nurse, ya know. Ya like?"

Another chuckle bellowed, "You are no Harley Quinn. Stop playing around with the boss' son. He wants to see you. Now."

On that note, he motioned for Kitten to make her exit. She exited swaying her hips in an overly, dramatized manner with the stranger closing the door behind them. There, Jericho laid among the hum of the fluorescent lights and the loneliness of an empty infirmary.

Short update! But, it IS an update. I was going to add another portion onto this chapter, but decided otherwise. I feel it deserves to stand on its own and short chapters are not necessarily a bad notion every once and a while. I am going to try to add another chapter very soon with a SPECIAL character making an appearance. I am very excited. Thank you for putting up with the twisting of the characters and Joey will get better. He is just a little worse for wear right now.

Love you all. :)