Cody sat down at a picnic table. It was the only place outside where he could see all of the other prisoners. The only place where he had warning of an attack.
He had learned over the months to never look a prisoner in the eye, because it only led to trouble. Christopher, his cell mate, was the only exception to that rule.
He always kept his head up, making sure he could see all around him, without actually looking at anybody. This is when his peripheral vision came in really handy.
Somedays he was lucky and nobody bothered him... Today was not one of those days.
"Well looky here," One of the prisoners, Carl, began as he and his friend, Jude, made their way over to Cody, "Little Cody is in his favorite spot."
"It's so strange to hear him so quiet," Jude replied, "Just a few days ago he was screamin' his fuckin' head off. That's the Cody I know."
Carl smiled, "I can't wait til we get to hear the loud, screamin' Cody again. Shouldn't be too long from now."
Jude walked up closer to Cody, "What? You got nothin' to say? Did all the screamin' hurt your throat?"
Cody remained silent. He was trying his best to ignore the two extremely large men that were antagonizing him.
Cody could see guards all around, a few of them glancing over at Cody, Carl, and Jude, but none of them came over. Cody didn't expect them to either. He learned that they don't do anything til someone has already been physically hurt... That 'someone' was Cody ninety-nine percent of the time.
"Carl, I think he's turned into a mute!"
"Nah, the smart-ass just thinks he's better than us. He thinks that if he keeps his mouth shut then we'll just go away."
Jude turned his eyes from Cody and looked over at Carl, "Oh, but we're not goin' anywhere are we?"
Carl shook his head, "Nope. Wha'd ya think we'd get for beatin' the shit out of him?"
"Eh, a week in solitary. Give or take a day."
"So, we knock him out and we get a week of peace and quiet? That sounds good to me... What about you, Jude?"
"I like that."
Cody's heart was now racing. This wouldn't be the first time he got beat up, but that didn't make it any easier. Each time seemed to be worse. The only good thing was that they wouldn't be given enough time to rape him, like the other men did before.
"What have I ever done to you?" Cody asked as Jude and Carl came closer.
"Oh, he can speak!" Carl exclaimed, "Let's see if we can fix that."
Carl fist connected with Cody's jaw. Just as Cody went to scream in pain Jude's fist connected with Cody's stomach causing a gasp to come out, instead of a scream. They seemed to take turns, punch in the stomach by Jude, punch to the jaw by Carl. It wasn't long until Cody was lying on the ground. Then it was a kick to the face by Carl, and a kick to the stomach by Jude. Those few seconds felt like hours in Cody's mind.
"That's good Zack! You've made great improvement," Zack's doctor, Dr. Driver, said after Zack had walked around the outside of the hospital. He had walked for half a mile without needing to rest.
"Thank you," Zack replied, but he didn't seem happy. He and Dr. Driver sat down at a bench.
"What's wrong, Zack? I thought you'd be happy with how far you've come in such short time."
"It's not that," Zack replied as he stared straight ahead, "I am glad I can walk again... That sounds weird to say."
"Then what's the problem?"
Zack looked at the doctor, "There's not just one."
"We've got time."
"Well, first, I want to remember what happened. I try so hard but I just can't remember. It's the most annoying, and terrifying, thing in the world. There's this whole chunk, a really important chunk, of my life that is just blank. I hate that."
Dr. Driver sighed, "I know it's hard Zack, but the truth is that you will probably never remember what happened."
"I know... I've been told."
"What's the other problems?"
"I want to go home. I want to visit Cody. I want to talk to him... Mom, she won't talk about him. She hasn't mentioned him since I woke up and she was telling me what happened. I ask her questions about him, like if he's okay, but she just changes the subject."
"You have to remember that this has been very hard on Carey. Having to worry about Cody being across the country in prison, and you coming out of your coma and having to learn to walk again, that's very hard on a mother."
"I know it is," Zack replied, "But it's hard on me too. Cody is my brother and my best friend and I deserve to know how he is doing. He's in prison! Cody, the good one, is in prison! It just doesn't seem right."
"Unfortunately I can't fix all of your problems. But I can help you out with one."
"What's that?" Zack asked curiously.
"The "wanting to go home" part. I'm very happy with how far you've come and I think you're ready to leave the hospital."
Zack's eyes widened, "Seriously? I can go back to Boston!"
"If you want to... I know you love this beautiful hospital and I mean who wouldn't want your rooms view of the dumpsters," Dr. Driver said sarcastically.
Zack laughed, "When do I get to leave?"
"Three days. But, I want you to stay in physical therapy. I know a great doctor in Boston that I'll set you up with, but I'll go over all that with your Mom."
"Thank you so much Dr. Driver!"
"No problem... I will miss you though. You've become my favorite patient."
Five days later a badly bruised and broken Cody laid on his bed. Three ribs had been broken, and his jaw was so badly bruised that he hadn't been able to eat any solid food, making him even skinnier than he was before. He didn't look like himself anymore. He could barely recognize himself when he looked in a mirror. And if he and Zack were standing next to each other you wouldn't even think they were twins.
"Cody Martin, you have a visitor," A guard said as he walked up to Cod's cell.
"Me? Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. Come with me."
Cody slowly stood up, wincing at the pain but making sure not to yell, that would only make the other prisoners want to hurt him more.
Cody followed behind the guard into the visitors area, "Table four," The guard said and pointed down to the other end of the room. Cody walked down to the table, not being able to tell who was there because of a wall that blocked his view. As he turned the corner he froze in shock. His brother, his best friend, was sitting on the other side of the table.
When Zack looked up and saw Cody standing there he gasped, he couldn't believe that was his brother. He quickly cleared those thoughts from his mind and stood up to greet his brother.
He tried, and failed, to hide his nervousness as he spoke to his speechless brother, "Hey, Cody."
Again, I am so sorry for the late update. Major writers block and a super busy month is to blame. December won't be any less busy either. Christmas shopping Friday, SAT's Saturday, my grandma's 88th birthday on the 9th, my Mom's birthday on the 17th, tons of baking to do, and of course Christmas Eve and Christmas... Plus lots more. I will try and find the time to write inbetween everything. It just may take longer to update than usual.
Please review, even if you hate the chapter. Just let me know. Reviews, good and bad, are important to me. Thanks :)