Page 48 of Sticks and Stones
He swabbed a friend’s thighs for trace of DNA from semen.
And it made his belly roll.
Somehow, he managed not to vomit, at how horrible this was to have to do, and the only reason was because Corbin needed him not to.
When the first swab touched his thigh, he jumped, and Ethan reassured him.
“It’s okay,” he said, swabbing along the inner thigh in hopes to catch the bastard.
“Did they use protection?” Gene asked, afraid to turn around.
Corbin shook his head.
“No,” Ethan said since his partner couldn’t see the acknowledgment.
Gene rolled his neck, and his fists were clenched by his sides as that rage overwhelmed him. He wanted to hurt someone in the worst way.
Oh, and that was a bad sign.
Corbin was going to have a long way back from this one. As in therapy, and HIV tests for the next year.
When Ethan got both sides of his thighs done, he helped Corbin up, and onto the side of the bed. It was time to give him what he needed.
An escape.
“Let’s get you dressed, and then, we’ll get you out of here,” Ethan said.
Corbin was watching him through his swollen face, and his one puffy eye.
“Thank you.”
Getting down on his knees, he helped put his legs into the sweats, and gently up his legs. When he stood, Ethan was grateful they were the same size, and that he could give him something comfortable to wear.
Taking the FBI T-shirt off the table, he helped get Corbin’s broken arm through it, and then over his head and re-set shoulder. As he did, he saw more terrible marks on his back.
There was that nausea again.
“He’s dressed,” Ethan said.
Then, and only then, did Gene turn around.
Corbin had on the grippy socks that the hospital gave him, and Ethan’s things.
Only, he needed something to keep him warm.
Taking off his zip up hoodie, Gene carried it to him, and held it out.
“It’s cold out,” he admitted.
Ethan helped Corbin into it, and it dwarfed his body, but it would keep him warm. Ethan could smell Gene’s cologne on it, and he hoped it would give Corbin a little sense of security.
Like a blanket.
When he was fully dressed, he looked over at Gene. Corbin was not going to make it on his own two feet, so one of them was going to carry him.
That someone would be Gene.
Since he could carry Ethan, that would be Corbin’s best chance of getting away unseen. If they had to help him walk to the stairwell, they risked getting caught.
