Look Up, Not Yet

Tommy-

Hell on Earth couldn't keep Christopher from driving him insane. Tommy had no doubt that the man had a little planner somewhere that helped him configure just how to terrorize him each day. He had finally returned to work, but not even that gave him a reprieve. Being healthy enough to move around in his wheelchair, but not to remain by himself for long periods of time, had Tommy stuck with Christopher all day in the medical clinic at the jail.

With a quiet sigh, he got himself a bit more comfortable in his wheelchair, which he refused to vacate when Christopher told him to lay down on the cot, and began sifting his fingers through Skipper's fur. The pup had been asleep in his lap for nearly an hour while he read from Chris's kindle, but after having finished the book, he felt a bit restless.

"Will you stop shifting about and just lay down? I know you're still tired, and you really need to get more sleep than you did last night."

Tommy had actually slept quite well the previous night, but no matter how many times he'd told Christopher that, the man just didn't listen. Everything with him was suddenly you need more sleep or go at least lay down and read. He could understand that Christopher was getting annoyed with him always being around, but to be honest, he wasn't exactly the best host, either.

Silence took over them for a small amount of time before Chris leaned back in his desk chair and yawned. "Hey Chris, can I keep Skipper?" Tommy asked cautiously. He knew what the answer was likely going to be. The dog did belong to the man until he gave it to the Humane Society, anyways, so he could easily just say no.

"No. You can't take care of yourself right now. You sure as hell don't need him weighing you down any worse than you are already hindering me."

Ouch.

Looking down at the dog in his lap, Tommy couldn't help but smile anyway. The pup had awoken at the sound of its master's voice, and it was eagerly watching Christopher, little tail wagging every few moments in the hopes that it might garner him some attention.

"Sorry little guy, your master's the most grumpy person in the world. It's hard to please him by just being adorable and well-behaved, believe me, I've tried." Tommy comforted the dog, drawing its attention for only a moment before it looked back toward Chris's glare.

"Very funny." He grumbled as he got up, fetching a third cup of coffee from the small machine struggling to survive in the corner of the room. Instead of returning to his chair, however, he stopped by his desk and turned to face him.

"We're going to be leaving early, I need to finish enrolling Jana in his first online classes, but I want to be with him when it processes so I can show him the basics. I doubt he's spent much time at a computer in prison."

The idea of Jana sitting at a computer was pretty humorous to Tommy. No, he couldn't think of a time where Jana was interested in a computer. Even when he studied chemistry before getting out of prison, he didn't care much for computers.

"That's probably a good idea. I'm sure he'll catch on quickly." Tommy said as he began wheeling his chair toward the door. He was about to let himself out, assuming that Christopher wouldn't be too far behind, but when he heard the ringtone to the man's phone, he rolled his eyes and turned back around to face him as he answered the device that seemed to ring even more when he was actually at work.

Lifting Skipper up to his chest for a hug and snuggle, he listened in to Christopher's side of the conversation out of curiosity. It was apparent rather quickly, that Domino was the one he was speaking with. Chris seemed to have a different way of speaking to everyone he knew, though. There was no monotone with him. Every single person got a different version of him, yet none seemed fake.

Perhaps changing so easily just comes with the territory of being a doctor in places where people might not be quite as sane as the normal Joe.

"A.J. wants to enroll, too?"

Hearing those words, Tommy perked up, surprised that the sleepy guy he'd met before was being mentioned by Domino. They knew each other by coincidence, but he didn't think that the man gave a shit about any other people, except for Jana, of course.

"Sure. I can just show both of them. We'll be there in about an hour."

Christopher hung up before Domino could likely reply, but he doubted that the other man cared. When Chris grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and slid his phone into his pocket, Tommy settled Skipper back in his lap, then got the door open. He held it for Chris, even though the man continuously got under his skin... his submissive side just wouldn't let him be so petty to a dominant.

Biting back a sigh, he waited for Chris to step through, then began to wheel himself after him. They made their way through the facility easily, as most of the inmates were either outside or locked in their cells. No one besides a few guards were walking about, patrolling the corridors. Silence remained as Chris helped him into his car, then put his wheelchair in the back and slid into the driver's seat.

"I want to drop you off at my house before I go over to Domino's, but I know you're just going to come up with some excuse as to why you don't want to, so please, at least, just let me get through helping them so we can go. I have to be up early to take Skipper to his appointment, so I don't want to be at Domino's any longer than I have to."

Tommy grumbled something unintelligible under his breath, drawing Chris's eyes for a brief moment before they returned to the road and they drove on in silence.

When they finally pulled up to Domino's apartment, Tommy was already beginning to nod off. The halting of the car brought him out of his doze,  making him look around for a moment before realizing where they were.

"Do you want to stay here and rest? I'll only be a little bit. I can leave the heater on." Christopher said, making Tommy look toward him in slight surprise.

Tommy gave his head a short shake before reaching for his door handle. "No, thank you. I'd like to come up, if that's alright?" He wasn't sure if Chris was up to helping him up the stairs, and he knew that he wouldn't make it up them by himself yet.

"Of course it's alright." Came Chris's reply before he got out of the car and went around to Tommy's side to get his wheelchair out and up the stairs. He returned a few moments later and carefully lifted him, with Skipper, into his arms, then nudged the door to the car shut.

When Christopher got him to the top of the stairs, he carefully set him down before setting up his wheelchair and then helping Tommy up into it.

"Hey guys, thanks for coming by."

Tommy looked up right as he got his feet into the footrests on his chair to see Domino in the open doorway. He looked better than he had last time he'd seen him, which, he supposed, was good. He knew that the guy wasn't exactly a model citizen, but he didn't want Jana getting in trouble for hurting him. Nor did he want to see the guy in pain all the time.

"Hey Domino. How are things going with Jana?" Tommy asked as he set Skipper back in his lap and wheeled himself inside behind Christopher. "Pretty good. We went to our first psychiatric session yesterday. It kind of scared me, honestly. The discussion started like I figured it would, about Jana's stresses and what not, but soon it jumped into a full-blown conversation about the best way to kill a squirrel with your bare hands. The shrink said that he actually did well, and that she was looking forward to talking to him again next week."

Somehow, Tommy wasn't surprised. Even if he sounded absolutely insane sometimes, Jana was shockingly smart and good at conversation, when he felt like talking. Once inside, Tommy's eyes ran over the small living and dining room areas. He found Jade sitting at the table, in the same place he had been the last time they'd visited. Domino took the spot across from him, then called Jana over from the sofa.

Instead of just coming over by himself, Jana stood up with A.J. in his arms and began making his way to the table. Thankfully, he was holding the guy somewhat normally, and even shifted him to a comfortable position when he dropped down into the seat beside Chris so that he could look at the small laptop Christopher had brought up in its carrying case. It only took him a few minutes to get everything he needed pulled up, and since A.J. was still asleep, his head against Jana's shoulder, Chis decided to deal with Jana's classes first.

"I remember Domino mentioning that you wanted to try two, first?" He asked as he pulled up the list, and Jana motioned to the two that had interested him. "Yes. The environmental science class and chemical engineering."

Chris nodded as he added both classes to the roster list, then clicked OK. That brought them to a confirmation screen and sign-in prompt. Since he'd already made Jana an account with the school previously, he just typed in the man's name and information, mumbling his full name as he did so, then completed the process after paying with his credit card. After making sure that Jana understood how to get into the website and navigate the generally ral parts of the classes, he leaned back with a tired smile.

"Alright, you should be all set. You will need to order books, but I'm sure Domino can manage that part. Your username is JAlaric, and the password is Domino." He said, looking up from the computer screen to see Domino nod. "No problem about the books. There's a used book store a few blocks away. We can pick them up tomorrow."

A quiet bark brought everyone's attention to Tera and Skipper as they nosed at each other a few feet away from the table, sniffing a bit before they both decided to head over to the sofa and curl up together. At least they're making friends. When Tommy returned his focus to their little group, he noticed that A.J. was rubbing at his eyes, waking up.

"Hello, A.J.. Would you like to get signed up for a class real quick?" Christopher asked him, bringing the young man out of his daze quicker. "Yes sir, please. I just got a job, so I want to try one," A.J. replied as he sat up a little straighter in Jana's lap.

Christopher offered him a tired smile before logging out of Jana's profile on the school's website and pulling up a new registration screen. "Can I get your full legal name, please? Also the address of wherever you're living right now, and a phone number."

Tommy relaxed back into his chair and stifled a yawn as A.J. replied to Christopher. He gave an address, first. Jade didn't seem very happy about it, for some reason, but Tommy didn't think too much into it as A.J. then gave a phone number. When it came to his name, he looked over to Jade with a worried frown on his lips. Jade, however, just gave him a stern nod.

When A.J. turned back to Chris, Tommy found his own eyes wandering to Jana's, curious as to what might be going on behind the dark oceans of blue.

"My name is Jake Alaric."

Confusion. Thought. Surprise. Then hatred.

That's what flashed through Jana's eyes before Tommy's heart leaped into his throat.

(reedited)