Thursday, Part Two: Last Stab
Ryan paused before his front door. Ross had assured him that he and Sharpay were going to be moved to a safer home by child services, and that their father was going to be arrested. Was this what he really wanted? To break up their family even more than it already was? And what if his father by some misfortune had heard about it? What would happen to him if his dad knew? But then, how could he possibly know? The lonely Evan twin shook his head of the worries. He would just have to chance it. He unlocked the door, and stepped inside the silent house.
The nervous blonde peered around all the corners. Not a sound was heard beside his own heavy breathing. Then, he heard a step on the stairs. Ryan froze. He could hear the squeak of shoes on the wood flooring. A rough grip grabbed his neck, and jerked Ryan's head around so that it was nose to nose with Mr. Evan's.
"Tell the world, will you?" he hissed. Ryan sucked in his breath. How had he found out?! The small junior cringed, waiting for the blows to start. To his great surprise, they didn't. Instead, his father dragged him out to the garage, and threw him in the backseat of his pickup.
"Buckle up," he hollered as he sat down in the driver's seat. "We are going on a little trip" Ryan swallowed, and buckled his seatbelt as the car roared out of the driveway. The blue-eyed boy tried to figure out where they were going, but soon became completely lost. He had never seen the scenery of where they were. The pickup was soon enveloped by trees on every side, and Ryan couldn't see the blue sky anymore. After half an hour of driving, Mr. Evans slammed the car to a halt.
"Get out!" Ryan immediately hopped out of the car, not wishing to anger his father anymore. The big man dragged his son through the foliage of the woods, until Ryan was covered in cuts and bruises from all the bushes he had traveled through and over. At last, he was dumped on the ground. Ryan lay quietly there for awhile, listening to his father searching his pockets for something. He heard him swear, and whip something out. He felt his shirt being ripped open in the back, and a familiar wave of pain ran through him. Mr. Evans had taken off his belt, and was putting it to its full use. Ryan began to cry out after the first five whips, though he wished he could keep his mouth shut. But it escaped him anyways. To his surprise, his father stopped beating him after only 15 strikes. Ryan waited anxiously, his heart pounding and his back feeling like raw meat.
All of a sudden, pain like he had never known before pierced Ryan, making him scream. It came from the back of his arm. He turned his head to see what it was, and almost fainted at the sight of a knife sticking out of his arm.
"This way, you won't do anymore telling" his father breathed down his neck, and Ryan could hear his large feet pounding the ground as he ran away. He knew he would never see him again. Mr. Evans wouldn't return to his son any time in the future. Ryan reached back with his other arm, and managed to pull the knife out of his arm. He screamed again at the renewed pain. He whimpered to the trees as he clutched his sticky, red arm. He let the left arm hang down as his right tied it up with strips of his ruined shirt. One thought filled his mind. He had to get back to Albuquerque as soon as possible. There would be no hospital in the middle of the woods, obviously, and he knew he had to get to the ER as soon as possible. Ryan staggered off in the direction he knew the car was. His father would not return to his car, for child services would have surely found out which car was in his property.
"Maybe," Ryan thought to himself as his tripped over roots and bushes, "I can drive it back into town and to the hospital" He knew it was a lame plan, but it was the only one he had. His eyelids felt like 20 pounds, and darkness filled his head, but he knew that he had to get to the car. That was all Ryan could think about. Just get to the car. After walking more than a mile, it seemed, Ryan's legs refused to work, and he sank to his knees.
"No," he said softly to his legs, though he felt like he was yelling it, "we have to get to the car" He tried to stand up, but collapsed moments later. His back tingled painfully, and his fingers could feel his heartbeat in his arm, which was throbbing. Ryan pulled himself up against a tree with one arm, and saw a small, red trail behind him. He realized that he must have left it. Ryan ran a few more steps before the futile attempts sent him crashing to the brushy floor, where he slipped into the welcome darkness.
Walt scoured the woods with worried eyes. When they had reached the Evan home, it had been deserted, and the car registered to Mr. Evans was missing. They had contacted the cell phone company which Ryan had bought his cell phone from, and were able to track the active cell. It had led them into the small woods 15 miles from the outskirts of Albuquerque, where the trees had made the phone's signal unclear. They would have to manually search for the missing high school boy. The evening was fast approaching, and Walt pulled out his flashlight. He knew that they would have to find Ryan before the night set in, in case he was hurt, which was likely. If the group didn't find him in time…well, Walt preferred not think about it. He examined the picture one his friends had given him. The innocent, baby smile Ryan gave him encouraged the child service worker to look harder.
The beam of his flashlight glanced across something light on the ground. Walt sharply drew in his breath, and brought the light back onto the unmoving body of a skinny, short teenager. He yelled loudly to his coworkers, and told them meet him back at the cars in the walkie-talkie. Walt bent down next to Ryan Evans, and carefully scooped him up in his arms. He peeled back the kid's eyelids, and swore silently. He was out cold. The adult could also feel something wet and sticky seemed into his arm sleeves. Walt quickly took in the huge gashes across Ryan's back and the large puncture in his clumsily wrapped arm. Cradling the abnormally light boy, he rushed over to the waiting ambulance parked by their cars. Other men and women were standing there also, and helped him lay Ryan gently onto the stretcher. The nurses and doctors then took over, and the cars zoomed back into Albuquerque.
Walt shivered, and looked down on the boy's peaceful face. The creases across his brow promised of long tortured hours, but the baby cheeks and sleep innocence suggested a person who had to grow up too fast. The child service worker sighed.
"It's times like this when you want to either quit the job in depression," he said to the doctor next to him, "or work harder to fight against it"
Ryan sleepily opened his eyes, and looked around him, blinking in the bright white light. Everything around him was starch white, and a throb from his bandaged arm made him realize that he was in a hospital room. He could feel padding all along his clean back, and Ryan relaxed back in the warm sheets. Memories from the wood surged back into his brain, but he shoved them aside. He was safe now. He and Sharpay would no longer have to answer to their father's orders and abuses. A nurse quietly opened the door, and jumped when she heard a soft "hello" from the bed.
"You surprised me, Ryan" she said, smiling warmly down at the wide awake boy. Her smile widened when the scarred teenager grinned broadly back up her. "There is someone here to see you; shall I show them in? Or are you not up for visitors today?"
"I have a visitor?" Ryan thought to himself. "They can come in" he said aloud. The nurse opened the door, and an overjoyed Avery rushed to Ryan's side.
"You're awake! And alright! Oh my gosh, they scared me so much when they told me that you and your dad were not at your house, and that they had brought you unconscious to the hospital…and…and…don't you dare scare me like that again, Ryan Evans!" Ryan smiled, and his cold hand squeezed Avery's.
"You were worried about me?" he asked, amused. He had never had any one worry over him before.
"Of course I was! Don't be silly! I drove over here as soon as I heard what had happened. I gave the child service one of your old school pictures Taylor had given me"
"Taylor gave you one of my school pictures?" Avery blushed, making Ryan laugh. She started, and looked closely at him. His eyes were sparkling once again, and the same cocky smile creased his face. He was himself once more.