incarcerated

7.

(trigger warning: rape/sexual assault mention)

the rapid decline of brett's mental health after the events that transpired in that cursed closet was nothing short of overwhelming. it took less than a week to get to the point where he was practically glued to his uncomfortable bed, only making the effort to climb out of it when he was forced. eating was even less important to him than before and he regularly found himself collapsing against the concrete walls in exhaustion. he was just so god damn tired.

obviously, eddy knew every detail of brett's deteriorating health. but he wasn't the only one in bad shape.

the warden spent the night in the prison the day that brett refused to see him, interrogating every inmate who he thought might have any idea what had happened. of course, no one did. every unhelpful answer raised eddy's level of fury until he thought he might explode. it was nearly 4 a.m. when he fell asleep watching grainy security tapes on his computer.

    the final straw was when eddy himself found brett unconscious in the hallway a week and a half after that night in the closet. he'd been headed to further investigate the damning incident when he stumbled upon the smaller boy's body in the floor, crumpled into a fetal position. it looked like he'd laid there long enough to get stepped on and kicked around, judging by the shoe prints on his clothes and awkward positioning of his limbs.

    the warden made sure no one was around before leaning down and scooping brett into his arms, carrying him into his office. he knew that brett would be angry about his location when he woke up, but there was no way he was going to leave him there in the floor. he carefully laid brett down on the couch in his office and pressed his long fingers to his neck to feel for his pulse. it was weak, but it was there.

    eddy wrapped brett in a blanket and carefully placed a pillow under his head before busying himself with watching tapes again. the location of the broom closet and lack of cameras in that area made it extremely hard for him to pinpoint anything. the inmates who'd done this to brett knew the prison too well and had been extremely careful. thinking about the amount of planning that went into hurting brett made eddy shake with rage.

    by the time brett's consciousness returned, eddy was slumped over on his desk, only partially awake. the smaller man groaned and rubbed his aching head as he tried to figure out where he was. a mix of emotions clouded his brain when he recognized the interior of eddy's office. it was a strange cocktail of confusion, relief, anger, fear, and frustration, all mixed together in one big glass of overwhelming feelings. brett sighed.

    "sir," he said firmly. eddy flinched hard and raised his head, his messy hair falling onto his tired eyes.

"oh," he mumbled, "hi."

"why am i in here?" brett demanded. eddy sighed deeply and rubbed his face.

"because you passed out in the hallway and people were stepping on you. would you rather me have left you there?"

"yes."

the warden stared at the prisoner for a long time then, hands clasped tightly in front of his face. the knowledge of what he should do never came to him. finally, he spoke.

    "what happened in the closet, brett?" his voice was quiet, gentle. brett glared at him.

    "what?" he asked, despite the fact that he'd heard the other man's question clear as day. it was more that he was daring eddy to repeat it.

    "tell me who it was."

    "no."

    eddy's lips formed a tight line on his face and he crossed his muscular arms, which were nearly busting out of his tight suit jacket.

"you realize that me asking you that question has nothing to do with our previous encounters, right? i would ask anyone in your situation the same thing. you need to tell me or nothing is going to be done," the taller man warned. brett shrugged, picking at a scab on his arm from the other night.

"that's fine. can i go?"

it was a simple string of words, but it hurt eddy in an unexplainable way. all he wanted was to protect brett. he really didn't know why and neither did the smaller man, but it complicated things more than brett was willing to suffer through. it wasn't anything against eddy personally; in fact, brett found eddy extremely handsome and kind and would've loved to spend time with him outside of that place. but it seemed as if their ships passed too late in the night for either of them to change course, despite eddy's desperate attempts. his grip on his metaphorical steering wheel was slipping and brett couldn't handle it.

he did not answer brett's question. the two of them sat in uncomfortable silence until eddy spoke again, disregarding the last phrase out of brett's mouth.

"you don't deserve this," the taller man said softly. brett shifted in his chair and glanced away from eddy's intense gaze.

"i know. but you can't keep trying to help me. i promise you it has absolutely nothing to do with anything about you. it just can't be that way," he shrugged, sighing heavily. eddy nodded.

"i can't stand by and watch you deteriorate, brett. you're dying and my job is to keep you safe. you're going to have to start eating and taking care of yourself or they'll try to make me send you to psych. that's the last thing i want and if you knew what that place was like it would be the last thing you wanted, too."

brett glared at the warden and crossed his arms.

"do you have any idea what i've been through?" he asked. eddy threw his hands up.

    "no, brett, because you refuse to tell me. you've refused to tell anyone."

    "because it's fucking embarrassing, okay!? jesus christ, eddy. fine. you want to know what happened? here it is. i was woken up and dragged into a disgusting closet by four men i've never seen in my life. they took turns shoving their dicks in my mouth and in my ass, in case you were wondering about that. they accused me of sucking your dick and hit me when i told them that i didn't. they took every bit of dignity i had left and i didn't want to talk to you about it because it's ruined my god damn life. now leave me the fuck alone before it happens again. do your job and stop treating me like i'm special because i'm not. i'm going back to work. i've been in here long enough," brett spat, standing up and exiting the room.

    tears burned eddy's eyes as he sat dumbfounded behind his desk. no one had ever spoken to him like that without repercussion, but there was no way brett was going to get punished for that. eddy knew that he deserved every word.

    for the first time in awhile, eddy let himself cry. he knew that he'd messed up badly and the events that happened to brett were all his fault. hot tears streamed down his face and he covered his mouth to muffle the sobs that escaped his lips despite his efforts to keep them inside. he'd made a huge mistake.

eddy wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. he was going to do what he would've done for any other inmate in the prison.

he swore to find those men who'd hurt brett, and punish them.