Josh lay wearily in the hospital bed. There was an IV in his arm to give him blood, and his whole body ached from the cruel beating.

Little did the doctors know how much his heart ached too, and how much he longed to touch Nick and let him know that everything would be okay.
Nick moaned in the bed beside him. Except this time, it was not a moan of pleasure like it had been before. It was a moan of pain, for all that Craig and his gang had done to him.

Most of the room was white, yet not even the calming blankness could overtake the feelings of embarrassment and hatred that pervaded the woods the day before.
Neither of them could forget the crude violation and jeers that they had endured together.

Josh extended a feeble hand to Nick, but the space between their two beds was not close enough. Even so, it was almost as if they could read each other’s thoughts.

Although we are both in pain, at least we are together. Love must endure to prevail.