Ezra blinked and shook his head, hoping to clear it. He curled his hands into fists and shoved them deep into his pant pockets.

He stood slowly, his back and hips aching, pain shooting up his spine. He was sore. Rick had done it partly, but maybe he shouldn’t have walked out on the man after the rough sex had ended. Sleeping on park benches hurt.

He groaned and arched sharply, cracking his back. It helped a little. He sighed and shouldered his bag before beginning to limp forward, heading towards the hospital. Two words to Cherie and no one would be allowed to see him. The hospital was definitely the safest place to be. After last night, it didn’t matter how often he rejected Rick for a month or two; the man was arrogant enough he would take it as an issue on Ezra’s part that would be resolved and continue to pay his hospital bills.

He had to flag down a taxi after a couple steps. There was no way he was getting to the hospital on his own. The few blocks emptied his wallet and made him dip into the envelope Rick had given him.

The taxi dropped him off in front of the hospital, forcing him to limp up the walkway. It was shaded and not particularly long, but nonetheless, by the time he reached the entrance, his hair was sticking to his neck and forehead, his shoulder was chafed from his bag, and his head was hanging low as he stared at the ground, vision blurry.

A hand fell on his shoulder.

His head shot up and he gaped at the man for a moment, before snapping his mouth shut. "Rick, what are you doing here?"

Rick frowned at him. "You walked out on me last night."

Ezra shrugged the hand off his shoulder. "Yeah, I didn’t want to see you."

Rick frowned harder. "You cannot fuck me and then-"

"Yes, yes, I can," he said impatiently. "I am not a normal person." He leaned close to Rick, standing on his tip toes and looking Rick straight in the eye. Ezra bit his nose hard, sinking teeth into the fleshy point before letting go and grinning widely. "Deal with it."

Rick scowled, one of his hands raising to rub at his nose warily, as he glanced from side to side, looking to see if anyone had seen Ezra acting weird. "You are such a freak."

"Indeed," Ezra said wryly. "You always seemed to enjoy it in bed," he said loudly.

An older woman, hobbling forward down the walkway past them gave them a scandalized look.

Rick shot forward, pinning a hand over Ezra’s mouth, the other going to the back of his neck. "Don’t say things like that so loudly," he hissed.

Ezra rolled his eyes and bit down hard on the hand in his mouth. "Why not?" he demanded, voice raised, gaining the attention of a couple walking by in running shorts. "You love fucking me and doing all kinds of kinky, deranged things to me," he continued, nearly shouting. "Why, I remember this one time, you got your tennis racket and-"

Rick tackled him, shoving him onto the concrete and pinning his legs with his and his wrists with one hand, the other hand on Ezra’s chest, holding his torso down and stopping him from thrashing. "Don’t!"

Ezra turned his face to the side, scraping his cheek in the process. "Fuck you!" he spat. "You’re a motherfucking hypocrite and a-"

Rick punched him hard, catching Ezra’s cheek and forcing his head to bounce against the concrete.

"A-a deviant!" Ezra forced out around a mouth full of blood. He was seeing stars, shapes dancing across his vision in crazy patterns. "You’re a goddamned-"

Rick punched him again and Ezra’s vision began to swim in an out.

"-Pervert," he finished in a ragged whisper.

Rick hit him again and this time he stayed still and silent as consciousness fled.