Priceless to me

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, they belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 4: Prejudice

"He's okay." Carolyn breathed, coming back into the waiting room with a look of relief on her face. Because none of Martin's family were here, the hospital had basically decided Carolyn was his substitute next of kin because she was his employer, despite the fact Douglas had told them that he and Martin were engaged on numerous occasions.

They'd said Douglas couldn't be responsible for Martin because there wasn't a legal contract between them. He hoped that was true.

"What do you mean?" Douglas asked, sitting up and casting the magazine he hadn't really been reading to the side.

"They removed his appendix," Carolyn said, "apparently it had started to leak inside of him which was why he was in so much pain, but they got it out. They just took him off anaesthesia."

Douglas was on his feet. "When can we see him?" He asked, looking like he was already about to walk out of the door.

"They said they'd tell us," Carolyn said, sitting down. "Sit down, Douglas. Martin is fine, let him wake up for a second."

Douglas sat dutifully, the relief coursing through him making his limbs lax. He almost couldn't believe it, he almost couldn't believe he'd been given a second chance.

But he had.

Arthur came round the corner holding three cups of vending machine coffee, apparently some habits died hard.

He passed one to Douglas and Douglas frowned, even his movements seemed less vivacious than usual.

"Arthur, the doctors say Martin is going to be okay." Carolyn told him softly, accepting her cup.

A smile broke across Arthur's face and Douglas liked to think he saw that childlike innocence return.

"Brilliant!" Arthur exclaimed. "Can we see him?"

"Not for a moment." Carolyn told him. "He's resting at the minute."
Arthur fidgeted for a moment before flopping down onto the seat next to Carolyn in typical Arthur fashion.

The scene was so strange to Douglas it seemed to be a surreal dream; the whiteness of the room didn't help.

"This is bizarre." Douglas finally observed aloud, after a few moments of silence.

"What is?" Asked Carolyn.

"This," Douglas explained, gesturing around the waiting room. "I mean, yesterday were we all sat in a hotel playfully switching book genres around and now we're in a hospital and Martin is lying unconscious."

"Yeah." Arthur echoed. "Now you put it like that."

They fell silent.

"20,000 leagues under the sea: An erotic thriller." Carolyn said.

More silence.

"Very good." Douglas replied.

The shift in the air was almost physically noticeable, everyone had relaxed to the point of making jokes simply because they knew that Martin was okay.

It was odd how some simple news could change everything.

…

"You can go and visit Mr. Crieff now," the nameless doctor said, more interested in his chart than in the news he was giving. "Although because of his condition, I would say only one at a time."

With that, he was gone.

Carolyn turned to Douglas. "You go." She said kindly.

"Are you sure?" Asked Douglas. "Because..."

Carolyn put her hand up to silence him. "Nonsense, Douglas. He'll want to see you, we can keep ourselves amused out here."

He gave her a grateful smile before he practically bolted out of the waiting room, Carolyn smiled after him, she glanced down to Arthur to see if he was smiling too, but he wasn't.

Douglas creaked open the door to Martin's hospital room and saw the young Captain lying in the bed, eyes hooded. He looked surprisingly peaceful for someone who had just been attacked and had invasive surgery.

Quietly, Douglas walked into the room and walked to Martin's bed. His mouth physically fell open.

The closer he got to Martin, the more visible his injuries became. He had one blueish bruise spanning the length of his nose and part of his forehead; darker bruising littered the space under his nose.

Douglas could see a shadow of darkness leading down the hollow of his neck below the collar of his shirt, he supposed they carried on underneath.

"Oh my God." Douglas whispered.

Hearing his voice, Martin opened his eyes, gazing wearily up at the older man. "They keep calling me "Mr"." He told him with a shallow smile, voice groggy.

"Shit, Martin..." Douglas exclaimed softly, at a loss for what to say.

"The face?" Martin guessed, attempting to sit up. "I know, it's sexy, right?"

Douglas couldn't say anything.

Martin waved at a seat beside his bed. "Sit down, please. The hovering is freaking me out."

Without thinking, Douglas plonked himself down in the seat, unable to take his eyes off of Martin.

Martin attempted another shallow smile. "Stop staring at me."

Despite the bruising on his face, the way his smile made his eyes light up was instantly relaxing. It was like Martin was just normally sat across from him in a restaurant or sat beside him, glancing at him, across GERT-I's control panel.

Douglas reached his hand out and found Martin's, trying to force the tears back from his eyes. Not tears of fear, but more of unexplainable gratitude to the man in front of him; simply for being alive.

"Hey." Martin greeted quietly. He looked tired, but happy.

Surprisingly happy.

"Hey." Douglas said back, gripping his hand a little tighter just to remind himself that Martin was really there.

"How do you feel?" Douglas asked, trying to sound as normal as he possibly could.

Martin shrugged slightly, his movements a little stiff. "The bruising isn't as bad as it looks, my stomach is sore though..."

Douglas nodded quickly. "Did they tell you about your appendix?"

Martin nodded lightly, looking drained. "Yeah, apparently it started leaking or something where it had ruptured. I didn't even know it was a thing."

Douglas attempted a small smile. "Well, they say you learn something new everyday."

Martin returned the smile, rubbing little circles on Douglas' hand. He suddenly looked a little overwhelmed.

"Martin, are you okay?" Douglas asked, worried. "Does it hurt?"

Martin shook his head, eyes wet. "No, I'm just really glad you're here." He told him.

Douglas visibly deflated. "I'm always here, you know that."

Martin nodded, shaking his head slightly. "How long have you been here?" He asked.

"Oh, about 12 hours or so. We sort of lost count."

"We?" Asked Martin.

Douglas quite didn't have the heart to tell Martin that none of his family were on their way to see him. Then he remembered what Carolyn had said earlier and realised that his entire family was already outside.

"Carolyn and Arthur," he explained. "They've been waiting since you got here."

"Oh," said Martin, sounding suddenly guilty. "They should have gone to the hotel, gotten some sleep. They shouldn't have stayed here."

"Nonsense, Martin." Douglas interrupted. "They were worried about you, we all were."

Martin looked to be in thought for a moment, forehead creased. "I don't really remember much," he finally admitted, "I knew those two American's, I'd seen them before, I thought they were odd...But I was just so happy." He looked to Douglas, a fresh smile breaking out across his face. "About you asking me to marry you."

Douglas suddenly felt like he was going to vomit. Here Martin was, after being in serious surgery after being brutalised in a homophobic attack. He was smiling, he was happy. He was so fucking loving and innocent Douglas couldn't fathom how anyone on this Earth could do something so unbelievably disgraceful, so unbelievably inhuman.

But then ,of course, the world was full of people like that.

The first officer hadn't realised he had started crying, but one look of worry from Martin was all it took to notify him.

"Douglas..." Martin began, his body was obviously acting independently to his mind as he reached over to Douglas to comfort him.

Martin hissed in pain and his hand flew to his stomach and the world seemed to change colour in front of Douglas.

He leant over to the Captain and eased him gently down onto the bed, relieving as much pressure to his stomach as possibly. "It's okay, Martin. I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine."

It was in that moment that he vowed to himself to never put his needs in front of Martin's again.

…

Douglas watched across the room as Martin spoke softly to Carolyn and Arthur, the scene looked so peaceful he almost didn't want to intrude on it.

Martin seemed to have so much grace in accepting condolences from his friends, he hadn't really battered an eyelid to his family not coming to see him.

He was acting as if this whole event was a weekly occurrence rather than a despicable attack. Douglas was unsure whether that was promising or worrying.

When, however, Carolyn was taken aside to tell her that the police were on their way to question Martin; Douglas found his voice.

"This is ridiculous, it's far to early for them to come."

"They said they wanted the events while they were fresh in Martin's mind..." Carolyn explained.

"Besides, I'd rather just get it out of the way." Martin said.

Douglas huffed. "They have the men, they have the CCTV, I don't even see why they need to bother you, it's not like there are two sides to this story."

Martin smiled wistfully up at him. "I hope you never stop being stubborn." Was all he said.

Two officers in uniform arrived not long after, they brought with them a real arrogance of authority they tried to flaunt in the face of each of them.

Of course, that sort of bravado may have intimidated Martin and Arthur at their best but Carolyn and Douglas certainly weren't fooled by it.

Douglas stood across the room as they began asking Martin blunt questions about the events leading up the attack. The first officer wondered for a moment if they could see the bruising on his face and the awkward way he was sitting due to his stomach.

Carolyn was sat close to Martin and Arthur was stood on the other side of the room, apparently very interested in a poster about rubella.

"...And...and then when I was stood outside I noticed the pair of them walking towards me..."

Martin continued.

Arrogant officer No.1 nodded. "You said previously you'd felt animosity from the gentlemen, did you get the same feeling that time?"

Martin nodded and Douglas had to look away. There were so many ways this situation could have been played out where Martin didn't have to get hurt, and every time Douglas ran it through his head he just came up with another reason why it was his fault.

"And you didn't leave?" Arrogant officer No.2 asked him, seemingly genuinely surprised.

Martin looked to bristle slightly. "Err, no." He told them. "I've had my fair share of bullies, I wasn't going to leave because my life style was upsetting a couple of random strangers."

Carolyn smiled.

Arrogant officer No.1 pursed his lips but carried on regardless.

"Okay, Mr. Crieff, then what happened?"

Martin closed his mouth for a moment, looking deep in thought. "Um...they asked me some questions about Douglas...said something about him being my "gay thing..." I can't really remember, I don't really know what happened."

Arrogant officer No.2 nodded. "Yes, of course. We can tell you, we have the CCTV footage. Basically, these two men walked right up to you and pushed you to the ground, where they proceeded to kick you repeatedly until you became unconscious. Once they realised you weren't moving anymore, they ran off. You were lying there for about three and half minutes before First Officer Richardson came through the door and inspected your body, before picking you up, taking you into the hotel lobby and phoning for an ambulance." He said all of this with such kindness and sympathy that Martin didn't feel so uncomfortable in the situation anymore. But those feelings would come later, at that moment, Martin turned his head to Douglas, who was staring fixedly at the floor.

Realising now wasn't the time, Martin turned back to the two police officers.

"We'll need you to identify the two men we have in custody, do you think you can do that?" Asked No.1, with the same cold indifference as before. Martin felt uncomfortable again.

"Err...y...yes, one was blond and one was short, I remember."

"Well, thank you for your time, Mr. Crieff." Said No.1, and the pair of them stood up in unison, pocketing their notebooks.

"We'll be in touch shortly, and for the future, I would suggest being less provocative."

Although the comment was meant in kindness, no reaction took it that way.

"Excuse me?" Asked Douglas, watching Martin's face go red in anguish and Carolyn nearly rocketing from her seat.

"I was merely saying that this attack could have been avoided if you'd taken more care."

"The attack wouldn't have happened if homophobia didn't exist." Said Carolyn, surprisingly level-headed.

"Well, unfortunately we don't live in such a world."

The room seemed to go eerily quiet for a moment until Martin let out a surprised little: "Oh!"

Then the tension in the room snapped.

"No, that's so wrong!" Arthur suddenly cried out from across the room, startling everyone. "Martin wasn't doing anything, but even if he did, he still wouldn't be doing anything wrong. He is a victim!"

He seemed overwhelmed for a moment before bolting out of the room. Sparing one glance at the rest of the room, Carolyn ran after her son.

With an awkward look from No.2; the officers left.

…

Douglas helped ease Martin back into his bed, careful to avoid the scarring on his abdomen.

"There we go, are you in pain?"

Martin shook his head. "No, they've got me pretty topped up."

Douglas stood next to the bed, watching Martin worry his bottom lip between his teeth somewhat subconsciously.

"Martin..." Douglas began.

"Do you suppose he's okay?" Martin asked suddenly. "Did Carolyn find him?"

"I don't know." Douglas admitted after a moment, of course he was worried for Arthur, but he didn't think he had the capacity to be worried for the pair of them.

Martin smiled softly at him.

"Will you go and check?" He asked.

Douglas sighed slightly. "Martin..." Looking at Martin's wide eyes and bruised face, Douglas realised there was little point in arguing with him. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

Martin found his hand in the blankets. "I'll be better once I know Arthur is okay."

Douglas nodded, giving Martin's hand a reassuring squeeze.

Out of instinct, he leant forward to give the Captain a peck on the forehead but stopped himself immediately before he did.

"Douglas?" Asked Martin, concern on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Said Douglas. "Every thing's fine."

"No," Martin interrupted, frown deepening. "Something is wrong, please tell me."

Again, he realised he couldn't lie.

Douglas sighed.

"Look, it's awful. But there is an element of truth to what that police officer said, maybe if I had just controlled myself around you..."

"You can't think like that." Martin interrupted seriously. "Remember what Arthur said, we aren't wrong, it's everyone who thinks we are. I know it's bad, but we can't pretend, just to keep ourselves safe. It's not in our nature, it's certainly not in yours."

Douglas ran a hand through his hair. "It's easy to say that because you don't remember," Douglas finally said, "you haven't seen me mangled on the floor. They thought you were dead and they left you there, outside in the cold!" He voice was thick with pain and Martin felt his eyes well up.

They were silent for a moment.

"You never told me that, you know." Martin finally pointed out.

"I didn't really...Well, I didn't want to shove it in your face like that. I wanted to give you a few days."

Martin smiled minutely up at him. "It's okay that you're shaken, this is a horrible thing."

"Yes it is," said Douglas, "and you seem surprisingly unshaken."

Martin shrugged. "I guess I really took what Arthur said to heart, I'm not going to feel bad because I didn't do anything wrong. I never knew he had it in him, I'm really grateful." The younger man looked up expectantly at Douglas again.

Douglas attempted a small laugh. "Okay, I'm going. Get some sleep."

"Yes, sir." Martin replied, lying down carefully.

…

Douglas met Carolyn in the hospital foyer.

"Carolyn, hello. Any news on Arthur?"

"No," Carolyn told him, looking worried. "I can't find him and he's not answering his phone. Oh, what shall we do?"

It wasn't often that Douglas saw Carolyn like this; emotions alight like an open nerve, these last few days were trying enough on her without Arthur disappearing too.

"It's okay," Douglas told her soothingly, suddenly feeling like a papa bear. "We're going to find him, but we can't tell Martin. Not yet."

In the confines of his hospital room; Martin tried his best to fall asleep, tears inadvertently wetting the pillow beneath him.