You Can't Save Me
Part Two: Dirty Little Secrets
"That's us." Diana Hollingsworth spoke up, still clinging to her husband's arm.
Frankie and Miles stood up as well, linking hands and standing as close as they could get.
"Is our brother alright?" Miles questioned softly, gently squeezing his little sister's hand reassuringly.
The doctor nodded. "He cut deep, but we managed to stop it. He's asleep right now and when he wakes up, he may be out of it because he's pretty heavily medicated. We are going to keep him here for a few days for evaluation and suicide watch. However, there was something else that concerned us when we removed his clothing to put on a hospital gown."
Frankie froze at those words and her nails dug into Miles' hand, breathing becoming heavy. She knew instinctively what the doctor was saying. She'd thought it strange when her twin had about had a panic attack when she'd burst into his room while he was slipping on is shirt. There was the fact that he'd been refusing to swim, despite the scorching weather and even if he did, he'd keep a tee-shirt on. From how tense her brother was next to her, she knew that he had the same feeling. "What did you see?" She asked, voice strained, trying to control the rage thrumming through her body.
"There were multiple healed fractures and contusions, along with fresh wounds all over his body. We've only seen things like this in severe cases of abuse." The doctor looked at the family in front of him, noting the way that the girl who'd asked the question through a look of accusation at her father before shuffling closer to her older brother. His eyes narrowed suspiciously and he glanced at Mr and Mrs. Hollingsworth but their faces were impassive, not even a bit of concern on their faces. "I've already called in the police. They're going to want to ask all of you some questions."
Tristan and Jonah let out sharp gasps at those words feeling totally shocked. Jonah especially. Frankie had never let on that their father was abusive and he'd never seen any bruises on her. He wondered why that was or if his girlfriend's father only physically abused her brothers. Whatever the matter, Frankie had seemed to know what the doctor was getting at before he'd said a word about what he found.
"Listen, I don't know what you're getting at, but I don't like your tone!" Mr. Hollingsworth said, voice cold as steel. "If my son is hurt, you should be out, looking for who did it. Not accusing me or my wife."
Miles broke free from his sister, turning his head to look at her reassuringly before he stepped forward. "I'll gladly tell the police all they need to know as soon as they get here. I just have to ask, is it possible to keep them away from us? And away from our brother?" He wondered, not bothering to call his parents by their names as he pointed at them. There wasn't much he could do at the moment. But he could do this.
The doctor-Doctor Richards smiled sadly at Miles and then at Frankie, marveling at how brave the two of them were being in this moment. He couldn't imagine he'd have the strength to be this strong. "Of course. You two can go on in, now. He's asleep. But you'll at least be able to see that he's right. I'm just going to take your-parents into my office." He spat out the word, "parents" as if it were a curse and stepped forward with authority after telling the two teens where their brother's room was.
Frankie walked over to Jonah, still looking stunning to him with her bloodstained cover up, covered by his large jacket that swallowed up her petite form, tear streaked face, and messy hair.
"Thanks for staying with me. And for helping with Hunter until the ambulance came." She swallowed the lump in her throat and swiped at the annoying tears that began to spill from her dark brown eyes. "I never wanted you to find out about my dad like that, though." She laughed bitterly.
Jonah shook his head emphatically. "Hey. No. Don't apologize." He assured her, resting his hands on her small shoulders, bringing up on hand to cup her face, thumb gently swiping away her tears. "I get why you didn't tell me. Now, you go ahead and see your brother, okay?" He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling away from her, watching her nod and smile at him before heading down the hall. He turned to face Tristan when the Hollingsworth children were out of sight. "Did you know about this?" He questioned. Tristan had been a part of Miles' life for longer than he'd been in Frankie's so maybe he had known.
Tristan shook his head. "No. I mean...there were hints with how Miles behaved and how self destructive he was when were together. But Miles never tried to talk about it with me." He answered truthfully. "Things make sense, though." He bit his lips as he thought of what had occurred a few months ago with Hunter and the missing gun. Hunter's aggressiveness over what seemed to be the smallest things. How the boy had calmed upon hearing his brother's voice on the phone.
"Yeah. I was thinking about how Frankie's behavior suddenly makes sense now, too." Jonah replied, shifting and looking at his hands in thought.
Frankie gasped at the sight of her brother's pale form. He looked so small on the hospital bed and bruises-new and faded stood out on his arms and the part of his chest revealed by the hospital gown. She wondered how she hadn't noticed that her twin was hurting. Why she had just thought her father's abuse would stop. She'd been a fool. She and Miles stepped closer to the bed and Frankie reached out to hold her brother's hand, gaze focused on the bandages for a moment.
Miles leaned over to kiss his brother's forehead, gently running a hand through his hair. His heart ached as he thought of what his brother had been going through and he wondered how long it had been going on. Miles was so quiet and introverted that he hadn't seen a clue and he got the feeling that his sister hadn't, either. His fists clenched and he took some calming breaths. When Hunter woke up, things were going to change. Miles was going to get them out of this situation. He was going to get them away from their abusive father and neglectful mother. His brother and sister would never be abused again. And he was going to make sure his siblings got the help they so desperately needed.
