I know I said I wouldn't post again this week, but I finished this early. So here you go…
Chapter 10
It was Wednesday and Katie hadn't seen or heard from Zach all week. She was beginning to worry. She couldn't remember him missing school since she started at St. Vincent's, but here she sat in history class staring at the empty seat across the isle from her.
"He's probably helping his dad", Hannah nudged her.
"I just wish he'd call me", Katie sighed. "I'm worried about him."
2:30 am the next morning…..
Katie's phone chimed alerting her of a text. I need your help. I'm on your front steps. Katie jumped up and pulled a sweatshirt over her tank top. She tiptoed down the hall and peered out the front window. The sight she saw brought tears to her eyes.
She flung open the door and gasped, "What happened?"
Zach turned to fully face her. He had a bloody nose, split lip, the bruise that was under his eye had swollen up to the point the could barely see out of it. His right arm was being clutched by the left and held to his chest.
"I had an argument with my dad", it came out strangled as if he was trying not to cry. "Can I come in?"
Katie nodded and moved to wrap her arm around his middle to help him up. As he stood, he limped on his right foot.
"I think I might have a broken ankle", he winced.
2 hours earlier….
"Zach, where are you?", a voice slurred from the couch.
Zach had just gotten home from work as a bus boy at the local diner, "in my room dad".
"Get in here", he bellowed. "I need some money".
Zach carefully hid the wad of cash he'd just brought home. His dad had a habit of taking it and spending it on booze. The drunken man staggered down the hall to Zach's bedroom, "I said I NEED SOME MONEY!"
"I don't have any dad, I used it to pay the power bill last week", Zach glanced over his shoulder at the towering giant.
Before he had time to move Hank staggered into the room and landed a punch straight to the side of Zach's head. Zach stumbled back and crashed against the wall.
"Where is it?", Hank sneered. "I know you've got some around here somewhere."
"No dad, I swear. I don't. We need that money for groceries anyway.", Zach pleaded.
"You're worthless, you little snit", Hank sent another blow in Zach's direction, this time landing on his jaw. Blood gushed from a fresh wound on his lip.
"Dad, please!", Zach begged and held his hands up to block the continued assault on his face.
This angered Hank, he grabbed Zach by the wrist and flung him to the floor. Zach rolled to his side in agony clutching his middle as Hank repeatedly kicked him.
"I'm not going to ask you again boy, where is the money?", Hank placed his foot on Zach ankle and pressed.
After hearing it snap and fearing his dad would kill him, he weakly pointed at his top dresser drawer. Hank huffed and walked over to begin digging through it.
He pulled the wad of cash out and held it up, "this wouldn't have happened if you'd just given this to me in the first place. Clean this mess up and get your sorry face away from me before I throw you out."
Zach watched Hank's retreating form and pulled his broken body over to the bed. He leaned against the side as he tried to pull himself up. He heard the door to the apartment slam shut, and he assumed his dad had left to go to the local liquor store. He knew he needed to get out of there. If he stayed, there'd be more of what he endured when his father returned. He limped over to his dresser, grabbed his keys, and hobbled down to his car. He wasn't sure where he was going to go, or who could help him, but he knew he needed to get away. Before he realized where he was heading, he found himself parked in front of Katie's house.
2:30 am in Katie's living room
Katie helped Zach over to the couch and gingerly sat down beside him.
"What happened?", she pleaded.
"Well, you know how you have a mom that loves you?", he looked at her with a pained expression on his face. "Well, let's just say that I don't."
"You're dad did this to you?", she gasped.
"Yeah, all over a few hundred dollars. I've been saving the money I make each week at Shorty's to hopefully get into art school. But now, he took it all.", Zach's body shook as a sob rolled out of him. "My mom died when I was 5. I've been working since I was 10 to help pay the bills. That car out there cost me everything I'd saved. It took me six years to save that kind of money. It's the only thing that I've ever owned that was worth anything. Mr. Simon's been trying to help me apply to art school for awhile now. I was saving up for the application fee and travel expenses. He thinks I'm good enough to get a scholarship once I get in." Zach groaned and clutched his side as he panted.
"You need help", Katie winced at him. "Let me get my mom. She can patch you up."
"Nobody can know about this, Katie. They'll send me away to foster care.", he begged.
"Zach you need help. Let me help you", she pleaded "please?"
She stood up and raced down the hallway to Michaela's room.
"Mom?", Katie knocked softly. "Mom, are you awake?"
Michaela heard the knocking, but thought she was dreaming at first. She slowly rubbed her eyes and heard it again, "mom?"
She tossed her legs over the side of the bed and shuffled to the door, "Katie what is it?"
"Mom, I need your help. It's Zach, his dad beat him up", she pointed to the living room, "he's in there."
Michaela turned around and grabbed her robe off her vanity chair and rushed down the hallway. When she came into the living room she knelt down in front of him.
"Oh Zach", she lightly ran her fingers over the now black and blue bruise of his eye.
"Katie, go get my medical bag from my room", Michaela instantly turned into doctor mode.
Katie raced down the hall and returned with the bag in hand.
"Can you help him mom?", a tear trickled down Katie's cheek.
"I'm going to try", she sighed. "First I need to see what exactly is wrong, then we'll need to get you to the hospital."
"No!", Zach tried to surge forward. "No hospital, he'll find me there."
"Who?", Michaela asked.
"His dad", Katie answered for him.
"You're safe", Michaela assured him. "No one's going to hurt you anymore."
As she continued to run her hands over Zach's body she assessed that he had a dislocated shoulder, a few broken ribs, and a broken ankle. He had some other cuts and bruises, but nothing serious she hoped.
"Zach, I can pop your shoulder back in, but the rest needs to be done at the hospital", she looked him directly in the eyes. "This is going to hurt".
"Just do it", Zach grunted.
Michaela slid Zach so he was flat on his back. "Katie come here and hold him still right here", she pointed to his chest. She grabbed his right arm and pulled and twisted until she felt it pop back into place. Zach groaned and screamed as if he was being tortured. Katie cringed. Seeing him like that was worse than she thought. Michaela went to grab a scarf from her room. She tied Zach's arm into place to keep it immobilized until they could get to the hospital.
"Here", she handed the phone to Katie, "call Sully and tell him I need him to meet us at the hospital." Katie raised her eyes in question.
"I don't want you here alone in case his dad comes looking for him, and I don't want you waiting around for me in the waiting room. Sully can take you to his house." Michaela held up her hand to Katie as if telling her the discussion was closed. "Now go put some clothes on".
"I'll be right back", she patted Zach's knee.
Michaela moved down the hall at lightening pace to change into some scrubs. She ran a brush though her hair pulling it up into a ponytail and threw on a pair of blue scrubs. She had her cell pressed to her ear when she reemerged from the bedroom.
"Yes William, I'm on my way in right now. Broken ankle, cracked ribs, facial lacerations, and I reset the shoulder already." She hung up the phone and moved over to where Zach was sitting, "let's go".
Katie and Michaela helped Zach out to Michaela's car and made their way to the hospital. On the drive over Zach looked at Katie, "I'm sorry about this".
"What?", she looked shocked.
"I really didn't want you to have to know about this", he waved his hand in the air.
"Zach this isn't your fault. You didn't cause this", Katie demanded.
"I know, I just wanted to be normal for once in my life. Not the poor battered kid with the bad reputation.", Zach sighed.
"This actually explains a lot", Katie glanced at him and then back at the road.
When they pulled up to the hospital, Sully and Hannah were waiting out front. Michaela jumped from the car and ran in the emergency doors. She came back out in a matter of seconds with a wheelchair in tow. She opened the car door and motioned for Sully to help her move Zach into it.
"Thanks for coming", she glanced up at him. "I need you to take Katie with you. I don't want her where his dad might find her."
"No problem, you don't need to worry, Katie will be fine. I'll take care of it.", he hugged her and turned to grab Katie's bag from her hand. "We'll be at my house when you're done."
Michaela turned to Katie, "go with Sully. I'll take care of Zach and I'll call you as soon as I'm done here."
Katie hugged her tightly, "Thanks mom. I love you."
"Love you too, sweetie. Now go.", she pointed in Sully's direction.
Michaela wheeled Zach into the emergency room and rambled off her diagnosis in true doctor form.
5 hours later….
Michaela had called Sully when Zach was settled into a room, and gave word that Katie could come back for a visit. Zach's injuries had been worse that she had expected. His broken ankle was so severe that she had to perform surgery to realign the bones. He now had a rod in his leg that went from his knee to his ankle holding everything in place. He would need extensive physical therapy before he would walk normal again. One of his cracked ribs had punctured his lung, and he had needed twelve stitches on his face. Michaela had been sitting vigil in Zach's room for most of the morning. She had fallen asleep in the chair in the corner of the room. That was just how Sully found her when he brought Katie back to the hospital later that afternoon.
"Here", Sully handed her a cup of coffee. "It's just that gross kind from the machine down the hall, but I thought you could use a cup."
"Thanks", she looked up at him and took the coffee from his hands.
Katie stood tentatively at the door watching and waiting to be noticed.
"Come on in sweetie. He's resting right now. I've got him on some pretty heavy pain meds. I have no idea how he managed to drive to our house with the condition he was in."
Katie crept into the room and stood by Zach's bed. She leaned over and ran her hand lightly across his cheek. His eyes fluttered open and began to focus on her.
"Hi", she whispered. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, thanks to your mom", his voice was raspy.
Katie's smile was forced, "you need to rest, ok?"
Zach closed his eyes and sighed. He hadn't felt safe enough to relax in a long time.
"I've got to report this to social services", Michaela sighed.
"No mom, they'll take him away. He doesn't want that.", Katie begged.
"Sweet heart, I have to. It's the law.", Michaela could see the anguish on Katie's face.
"I have a friend that's a lawyer, maybe he can help. I'll give him a call and see if can offer some advice.", Sully shrugged.
"How would we pay him?", Michaela looked up at Sully.
"He might take this case pro-bono", Sully suggested.
Sully left the room to move into the hallway and make the call.
Katie moved over to hug Michaela, "thanks mom, for everything".
"I'm glad I could help. Zach's got a long and hard road ahead of him though. He's going to need support, and I think maybe you should back off on dating him for awhile."
Katie jerked her head up in shock, "mom I think that's a little extreme".
"Listen to me honey. Zach has a lot to deal with right now. I don't want you involved with someone that has as much going on with them as he does. He's going to need our support. You can offer that as a friend, but nothing more. When he gets his life back in order, we'll revisit the situation. Right now that's how's it's going to be, understand?", Michaela looked Katie in the eye with the "don't push me" look.
"Yes mom", Katie conceded.
Just then Sully walked back into the room with a tall blonde man in a suit.
"This is Matthew Cooper. He's an attorney. He thinks he might be able to help Zach.", Sully pointed to the man who stood stoically in front of the hospital bed.
"Sully tells me that we're looking at a case of ongoing abuse here", Matthew pulled up a chair and sat as he opened his briefcase.
"Yes, Zach says it's been getting worse over the past year. He's been saving to move out and go to the School of Design", Michaela stated. "His father beat him pretty severely last night. He came to my daughter in the middle of the night and we brought him here. I'm surgeon here, so I was able to help him."
"Well given his age", Matthew was writing in a notepad as he talked "I think our best bet it to emancipate him. He's got a steady job, and it sounds like from what I've heard, that he's been supporting the household. Let me do a little research on family background here and I'll let you know what I can do.", Matthew stood and shook Michaela and Sully's hands before disappearing out into the hall.
"He's going to be ok", Michaela hugged Katie. "Thank you", she mouthed to Sully.
Sully leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, "I've got to head home, do you want me to leave Katie with you or take her with me?"
"Take her with you. I can't stay in here, and I'm worried Hank might come by. I have a shift I have to cover. I'm on in two hours, and I need to go by my office to check my schedule.", she rubbed her eyes and yawned.
"Mom, I wanna stay", Katie pleaded.
"No, I'm not discussing this any further. Go with Sully and stay with Hannah. I'll pick you up after my shift. Understand?", Michaela meant business and Katie knew it.
"Yes mom, see you tonight", she grumbled.
With that Katie and Sully left Michaela with Zach. She checked his vitals one more time before calling hospital security. She filled in the guard on the situation with Zach, and then left to get ready for her shift.
Not what you were expecting I'm sure. Zach is a complex character and has more to him that what appears on the surface. I hope this chapter answered some of your questions about him. I will not be posting this weekend. I've gotta take my kids pumpkin picking. LOL It'll be next week for sure before the next chapter's up. I still have quite a bit of editing to do on it. Enjoy…