Laf opened his eyes to see he was in a blindingly while hospital room. From what Laf could tell from his position on the bed there were only two doctors in the room.
One of the doctors saw Laf looking at him and walked over. "Glad to see you're awake." The man said. "There's some people in the lobby waiting to see you. Do you mind if they come in?"
"I...I guess not…" Laf said quietly.
"Alright." He nodded as he and the other doctor left the room, replaced a few minutes later with Alex and John. Laf noticed that both of their faces were tear-stained as the rushed into the room. They both wrapped their arms around him tightly.
"Why?" Alexander asked. "Why would you do this?"
Laf looked down shamefully.
"Did...did Thomas hurt you again?" John asked hesitantly.
Laf nodded. "Yeah…"
"Verbally or physically?" Alex asked, clenching his fists in anger that Thomas would hurt Laf.
"B-both…" Laf stuttered out.
"You're shaking." John realized. "What'd he do?"
"He punched me because he was upset I tried to leave him…" the Frenchman replied quietly. "He said I'm stuck with him forever because no one else will ever love me…" he whimpered softly.
"He's lying." John replied. "You are one of the most wonderful people I-we know. You will find someone that'll love you, Laf. And I mean really love you, not treat you like a piece of shit like Thomas does."
"John's right, Laf." Alex put in. "There's someone out there that will really love you, but it's definitely not Thomas.
"What if he tries to hurt me again?" Laf whimpered.
"Then we'll stop him." John replied as his phone buzzed. "Your mom's about forty-five minutes away. Traffic's really bad."
"H-how did I end up here?" Laf asked quietly.
"We had gone over to your house because you hadn't been responding to any of your texts. We knew you would be home at that time, and we saw your car in the driveway. And you've let us walk into your house before, so we did it again today and found you unconscious." John said.
"We called the ambulance, then your mom." Alex continued. "And she should be here soon."
There was a knock on the door before it opened. "Hey, darlin'. You okay?" Thomas asked as he stepped into the room.
"What are you doing here?" Alex asked, clenching his fists.
"I could ask the same for you," Thomas replied. "I came to make sure my boyfriend was alright."
"You...you said you didn't...didn't care…" Laf stuttered out. He was visibly shaking, and the heart rate monitor had visibly spiked.
"Alex…" John said, "something's wrong with Laf…"
"Well, obviously something's wrong with him!" Alex turned. "Oh. Get him to calm down."
"Why did his heart rate spike?"
"It's a panic attack! Get him to calm down!" Alexander exclaimed.
"Aren't there pills he can take to calm down?"
"You really think they're going to give him pills right now? Get him to calm down." He turned to Thomas. "Why would you hurt him? He didn't deserve it." Alex snarled. "You don't deserve him."
Thomas ignored Alexander and shoved past him, walking over to Laf. "I didn't think you would actually try."
"Éloigne-toi de moi!" (Get away from me!)
"English."
"Shut up, Thomas." John snapped. "Get out of here."
"Make me."
Alex yanked on Thomas's hair, pulling him backwards.
"OW! Hamilton, lego of me!" Thomas yelped.
Alexander continued dragging him through the room, finally getting him out of the door.
"You alright, Laf?"
Laf shook his head, still shaking, but not as much. His heart rate had also lowered slightly.
"How did he even know you were here?"
"Who knows?" John shrugged, gently rubbing Laf's back. "Shh...he's not going to hurt you."
Laf whimpered but didn't say anything.
"Laf?"
"I'm going to go get a doctor, they should know about his panic attack." Alex said, standing up. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He continued, leaving the room.
"Laf? Are you okay?" John asked. "Laf? Come on, you're scaring me."
Alex came back a few minutes later with a doctor following him.
"So, what happened?" The doctor asked.
"Panic attack, apparently." John replied.
"Do you know what triggered it?"
"His ex walked in. The guy's an idiot and doesn't understand Laf doesn't want to see him." John answered. "Also, he's not talking...I don't know what's up with that."
"Has he done this before?"
"No," John shook his head. "I don't believe so."
"Or he just went mute. Not necessarily permanent of course." Alex interrupted. "Just scared of speaking. It can happen after trauma."
The doctor looked impressed. "Are you in medical study?"
"Nah," Alexander shook his head. "Personal experience."
"Okay…"
Laf's mom walked in. "Sorry I couldn't be here sooner!" She exclaimed. "I messaged Thomas to let him know what happened, he should be here soon."
"Um, Thomas already came." John said slowly. "We kicked him out...he's the one that caused this in the first place." He continued as the doctor left the room. "He's been abusing Laf...constantly."
"Laf, why didn't you tell me?" She asked, sitting on the bed next to her son.
"He's not talking. Trauma or something." John said. "Thomas walked in about a half hour ago and scared the shit out of him, he hasn't said anything since."
"How long will he be like this?"
"As long as it takes for his mind to recover." Alex replied. "It took me two, maybe three years at least?" He shrugged.
"Really? That long?"
Alex nodded. "Yeah."
The doctor walked back in. "You are free to take him back home tonight, just be sure to watch him carefully."
She nodded. "Alright. John, Alex, you guys can get home, right?"
"Yeah," John replied. "Goodnight, Laf." He said, both he and Alex hugging their friend gently before leaving the room.
"Come on, Gil," she took his hand gently. "Maybe you'll feel like talking later, but for now, let's go home, okay?"
Laf nodded and stood up, leaning heavily against his mom's shoulder.
"Let's get you home."
