"Well don't just sit there baby, come give momma a hug!" Shawn's mom entered the apartment, ignoring Jon.
Jon closed the door behind her and watched as Shawn didn't move. He just stared at her as she went and sat on the couch next to him.
She gave him a hug and looked him over. "Well you look just terrible. Good thing I'm here to take you home and get you looking normal."
Jon didn't think Shawn would talk anytime soon so he took the lead. "Hi, I'm Jonathan Turner, I'm your son's legal guardian. You must be Virna."
Virna turned and smiled. "Why thank you for taking such good care of my boy," she said shaking his hand. "Sorry for any inconvenience."
"No, it's no inconvenience at all. I love having him here. I actually don't think it's a good idea if he leave right now," Jon said knowing he might not win this.
"Ah, well, he's my boy and he really should come home with his mother now. We've had such a long time away from each other and we need to catch up." She turned back to Shawn. "Shawn, you should go get your things. I have a new trailer and we're gonna be right back with the old neighbors."
Shawn looked up at Jon for just a moment, but Jon could see the pain and pleading in Shawn's eyes.
"Virna, he has a lot of stuff here, how about I bring him down in time for dinner. That might be easier," Jon said, hoping to buy more time.
"Great idea! I will go get the trailer set up all nice. I've been stayin' in the hotel all week until I got the trailer set, but I was plannin' on movin' back in yesterday. Good thing I didn't, otherwise I wouldn't have found out my baby was here. Manager at the hotel said a kid was asking for me. I knew it'd be my little Shawnine. Lucky for me, I saw him walking back here!"
Jon nodded and opened the door for her. She kissed Shawn on the cheek and left, "See you tonight sweetie!"
Jon closed the door and sat down next to Shawn. They sat in silence for a moment while Jon tried to think of what to say. "I don't know if I can technically stop her from taking you Shawn."
He hoped with all his being that he could somehow make this all go away. He had legal custody, but at the same time, Shawn's mother never signed the paper, so she could go to court and they would have to make Shawn live with her.
"I can't live with her Jon."
That was all Jon needed to hear. He would find any way he could to keep Shawn out of that home. He had no idea how he would do it, but he knew that Virna had done more to Shawn than just abandon him. Shawn never mentioned his mom in the abuse, but the way the kid reacted to her, Jon knew she had some part in it.
"Shawn, I am going to fight for you. I can't promise this is going to go well. You may have to stay with her for a night or two until I get in touch with my lawyer… See, she's still your mother and never agreed for me to be your guardian. So by law, she can take you home right now if she had wanted-"
Shawn listened to Jon and slowly sliced his other fingers open inside his pocket. He didn't even realize he was doing it. He wasn't even thinking about the knife.
"Shawn? What are you doing?" Jon had been watching Shawn move his hand oddly. "Let me see your hand."
As if being snapped out his trance, Shawn looked towards his pocket and pulled his hand out. Jon was confused as he watched Shawn look surprised at the sight of his own hand. His thumb, pointer, and middle finger were bleeding from deep cuts as if Shawn had just gone over the same place over and over again with a knife.
Jon got up and grabbed some paper towels from the kitchen counter. "Shawn, did you know what you were doing?"
"Hmm? No… uh, no. I just… I didn't realize…" Shawn took the paper towel from Jon and pressed them into his fingers.
"What is it in your pocket? Give it to me." Jon gently demanded.
Shawn removed the paper towel for a moment and pulled out the knife and gave it to Jon. He then wrapped his fingers back into the paper towel and waited for the bleeding to stop.
Jon sighed and went to get a first aid kit. He took the knife with him and threw it in the garbage in his own room. He returned to the couch and started to look over Shawn's fingers.
"Alright. They don't look too bad," he mumbled as he wrapped each fingertip in gauze and tape. "I need to call the Matthews. Do you want to call your therapist?"
Shawn shook his head. He really wasn't a fan of therapy. It cost a lot of money and he didn't like talking to someone who was only helping him because she got paid.
Turner picked up the phone and moved towards the kitchen. He didn't want to leave the room but he wanted to give Shawn some space.
Amy picked up on the fourth ring. "Amy? It's Jon... We have a problem. Can I bring Shawn over and we'll all talk about this?"
Amy of course agreed and Jon said they would be over in 10 minutes. She hung up called up the stairs to Alan and Eric.
"'Sup mom?" Eric asked as he bounded down the stairs to the kitchen.
"Eric honey, I need you to drop Morgan off at her friend Amanda's house and then come back. I was supposed to take her in a couple minutes."
"Awe mom, why do I have to do it?"
"Because there's been a problem. Cory is out somewhere with Topanga and I need you to sit with Shawn while your father and I talk with Jon."
Eric finally understood. Something serious was happening with Shawn again. He never really hung out with the kid without Cory, but he liked him. Shawn was a great friend to Cory and they were all like brothers. He hugged his mother and went up to get Morgan, passing his dad on the stairs.
"What is it Amy? I've got a broken sink in the boy's bathroom that calls to me as well."
"There's a problem with Shawn. Jon didn't explain a lot, but Cory told me earlier that Shawn's mom is back and then Shawn went missing for about an hour and a half this morning."
Alan sighed. He didn't understand why life never cut the kid a break. When he thought things could only get better for Shawn, another curveball was thrown into the game. Alan went to the kitchen sink and washed his hands. Eric rushed down the stairs with Morgan right behind.
"See you in a couple minutes mom," Eric said grabbing his keys off the table.
The kitchen door finally opened 10 minutes later.
"Found these kids in the driveway," Eric said leading in Shawn and Jon. They arrived at the same time and Eric was glad he wasn't late. "Shawn, wanna go watch the Real World?"
"Uh, sure Eric," Shawn said putting his hands in his pockets and following Eric into the living room.
Jon closed the door and ran his hand through his hair.
Alan looked at the man and he seemed exhausted. "What's going on?"
Jon took a seat at the kitchen table and saw the Matthews take their seats as well. "Shawn's mom is back and wants him to live with her at the trailer park. Shawn is a disaster. He had a knife in his pocket and didn't even realize that he was slicing his fingers open as his mom was talking to him-"
Amy's mouth dropped slightly, "Wait, he saw his mom?"
"Yeah, she followed him home after he went to see if she was really at the motel. She came to my apartment to get him. Luckily I said I'd bring him by later so he didn't have to leave right then…He doesn't want to live with her. I know he's terrified."
"Well there's no need for him to leave your place-" Amy started.
"Legally, she can take him. She never signed the guardianship papers, so technically she's still his mom and can force him to live where ever she wants. I told him I'd fight, and I will, but he might have to stay with her until I can sort it out legally if she forces it."
Alan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Any mentions of Chett being with her?"
"I don't think so, but I think she's played her part in the abuse. He couldn't even speak when she was in the apartment."
Amy covered her mouth with her hand. She didn't want to have to think about Shawn being hurt so much.
"If she's here, dad isn't far behind," Shawn said from the doorway. His voice was flat as he walked slowly into the kitchen.
"Mom, I tried to keep him-" Eric started.
"It's fine, honey, he should talk to us about this anyway."
Shawn took that as permission to talk. "Dad left to go and find her and he'll follow her back here. I just…I can't live with her. She doesn't love me. Why would she ever love me?"
Amy started crying and Alan rubbed her back. "Alright Shawn, don't worry. Jon and I have to take you there tonight. We'll talk with her and see if we can get her to just leave you with us, but if she wants, you're going to have to stay there."
Shawn nodded and rubbed his eyes. He tried not to cry. If he was going back that would mean he couldn't cry again. His mother may not be as physical with him, but she was brutal in her own way.
**************
Evening rolled around and Alan suggested he drive to the trailer park. It was another silent drive as Shawn stared out the window counting the minutes until they would arrive to his own personal hell.
When they finally arrived, both Alan and Jon were trying to think of the best way to go about this. Alan decided he would go in first to make sure Chett wasn't there and to talk with Virna. Jon would wait with Shawn until they needed to go in.
Alan walked up to the trailer home and knocked. He really wished she wouldn't be there, but that would mean something good happened for Shawn, so Virna opened the door.
"Oh, well, it's Mr. Matthews isn't it?" Virna said with a smile. "Why don't you come on in, is Shawn with ya?"
Alan nodded, "He is, but he's in the car. Virna, I'm here because Shawn is doing really well right now. We think it would be best if Shawn wasn't uprooted from his current situation. He's had a lot of change since the last time you saw him and he needs the stability that he has."
Virna frowned but tried to keep her happy demeanor. "I appreciate that ya'll been taking care of my son, but I'm here for him now and I want to make sure he gets what he deserves- a mother."
Jon walked into the trailer as Virna finished talking. "I know you're his mother Virna, but I think you should know Shawn would rather stay with me for the time being."
"Well, Mr. Turner, I would rather he stay with me. So let me have my son and he can see you in school tomorrow. Alright?"
"I still do have legal guardianship over Shawn and you will be hearing from my lawyer over custody unless you leave Shawn be."
Virna scoffed. "No judge would take a son away from his mother and give him to a teacher. You can waste all the time you want but you'll be leaving my son with me, right now."
Alan watched as Jon left the trailer and then looked to Virna. "Shawn hunter is the best friend my kid ever had and I will kill to protect him from people like you. We all know about what kind of man Chett was, and I will make sure harm like that does not come to Shawn again."
Jon walked back to Shawn and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Shawn, she isn't making it easy. You do have to stay here for the night. But you call me as soon as you need, any time, alright?"
Shawn nodded and quietly grabbed his bag. He didn't bring all his stuff, he didn't want her to leave with the house again and leave him with nothing. He did want her to leave though.
He walked into the trailer and looked at his mother. She smiled so sweetly, he recognized it as her public smile. The one she put on for the benefit of others. Alan took a step away from Virna and Shawn wondered what Alan would have been saying.
"Well, this has been lovely; we'll see you boys another time," Virna said, stepping towards Shawn. "Shawn, I'll show you your new room."
Shawn hugged Alan and then Jon. Alan caught Shawn's eyes as he closed the door. He saw the life in Shawn's eyes be replaced with a vast emptiness that rivaled the dead.
Shawn closed the door and turned to his mother. He could see her smile fading.
"You want some dinner honey? We don't really want to talk about them yet do we? We want to have a nice dinner before I let you know how much I've missed you all these years."
Shawn dropped his bag next to the couch and walked to the table. His mother had made pasta, that's all she ever made. He never knew if it was because that's all they could afford or if it was all she knew how to make. It was 6 o' clock and Shawn only had to make it to 7 a.m. He could just wake up and go to school early, it's not like she knew what time school started. He ate his dinner in silence as his mother drank her wine. He didn't think she would be drinking so soon. She was never too much of a drinker. That was always dad's thing. She always liked to ignore everything, take some sleeping pills and pass out.
He finally finished his dinner and threw the paper plate into the trash. "Thanks for dinner."
"And he finally speaks to me!" his mother shouted. "I almost thought you went mute while I was gone. It probably would have been good for you, not like you ever had anything good to say- just stupid remarks and complaints. You know why I came back Shawn? I came back to find your daddy. But no, I end up finding you instead. What good are you to me?" She got up from the table with her bottle still in her hand. It was almost finished. Shawn knew what was coming now.
"I come here and find you screwing up these nice people's lives. You think they actually want you around? This…Tuner guy…you think he wants to put up with your bullshit?"
Shawn backed away towards the couch. "It's Turner, and yeah, he does want me with him. I've been staying with him for years now," Shawn could hear his voice getting louder and felt his blood rushing to his arms, almost as if they were preparing to be cut open.
"Oh, you think you can yell at me now? I'm your mother damn it! You spend some time with these well-to-do people and suddenly think your better than me?! Well bullshit!" She took the bottle to her lips, finished the rest of her wine and smashed the empty bottle onto Shawn's head.
As he hit the ground all he could hear was the glass fall around him. It wasn't until she kicked him in the stomach that he was brought back to the moment and he could hear that she was still yelling at him.
"You're just another charity case to them! Just the poor little trailer park boy who can't do anything for himself. And you just take advantage of them." Virna was completely drunk and lost her balance with her last kick. She fell onto the couch and looked at her son on the floor. She saw the glass lying around her and she realized she needed another drink. As she got up and walked to the fridge for another bottle of wine, Shawn stayed on the floor, too hurt to move. He could feel pieces of glass cutting into his arm. He found it ironic that he would normally have been calmed by having his skin torn open with a sharp object. He almost laughed but his ribs hurt too much. He wondered if they were broken.
Virna returned and took a swig from the wine bottle. She looked at her son and shook her head. After a couple more kicks she sat down on the floor next to him and drank some more wine. She watched as his eyes betrayed him and a couple silent tears slipped down his face. It hurt to breath now and he didn't know if she would let him live till morning.
"Awe, is my baby crying? Well that's just not right is it? Let me get those tears for you."
It was no surprise to Shawn that instead of a loving finger to wipe away the tears, his mother punched him in the face before taking another sip of wine. She lifted the bottle to drink but stopped as she saw Shawn's arm. His sleeve had made it half way up his arm during the beating and several scars were highly visible.
"What's this? Did you do this to yourself? Are you really that pathetic that you can't just kill yourself properly?" Virna laughed and picked up a broken piece of glass. She took her sip of wine and placed the bottle on the floor. She took her free hand and lifted up Shawn's shirt. The entire front of his body had started bruising. She ignored this and started cutting Shawn's stomach. Shawn started crying more as his mother sliced into him and he was just thankful that she was too drunk to make the cuts very deep.
"Oh stop bawling." Virna dropped the glass and picked up her wine. The bottle was half empty. She lifted the bottle and poured some wine into Shawn's mouth. "That'll make it better." Shawn coughed as he choked on the unwanted alcohol.
"You know, you may not be very classy lying on the floor like that, but I'm a classy woman and I deserve a glass for my wine." She stood up and stumbled back to the cupboard. She pulled out a large wine glass and filled it with the rest of the wine. She walked back to Shawn and sat down on the floor again. She watched her son cry and struggle to breathe against the pain.
"God, I would have left you with them ya know, but you wanted to stay so badly. They deserve better than you. I wouldn't have had to do this if your father had just done his job of bringing you up right." Virna scoffed and decided she was tired of hearing his sobs. She took the second bottle and smashed it against Shawn's head just as she did the last one. Shawn was glad that the bottle brought unconsciousness.
Shawn woke up in a dizzy haze of bright light. He wished the bright light was death, but he'd woken up from enough drunken beatings to know that this was just another spell of pain and confusion. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that his mother was passed out on the couch with an empty wine glass on the floor next to her. The light was still on and he was covered in blood and glass. He needed to sit up but even the thought of moving sent waves of pain over his body. He lay there gathering enough energy to move his head, he knew he had to get up and leave immediately. He looked towards the wall and saw the clock say 2:15. He figured his mom would probably be out for a good 12 hours. He had no idea when he had passed out or how long she had beat him.
He finally forced himself to sit up. He let out a groan as he winced in pain. Luckily it didn't seem to register with his mother. His mind went fuzzy as he struggled to see through pain-induced fog. The pain was making him sick and he vomited on the floor.
It took him 15 minutes, but he finally was able to stand up. He reached for the phone, but found there was no dial tone. He had no choice, he would have to walk. The closest place was Turner's apartment. He really wanted to just call, but he knew if he even knocked on another trailer home door, he'd get another beating from the neighbors he woke up.
He limped his way to the door and decided not to even bother with his bag. It only contained some clothes. He didn't even bring his journal to the trailer home. He didn't risk his mom finding it and yelling at him for being a pansy with a diary. He finally left the trailer, making sure not to slam the door. He was sure that not even that would wake his mother, but he didn't want to take that chance. He'd never seen his mother that drunk before. It was always his dad.
He walked slowly, stopping several times just to stand and focus on breathing and cough up blood. If he didn't, his vision would get blurry from the pain and he wouldn't be able to move at all. He wanted to sit down, but he didn't think he'd be able to get back up. He knew he was going on pure adrenaline and the fear that somehow one of his parents would come up behind him and drag him back.
Jon Turner was sleeping when he heard a knock at the door. He wasn't sure if it was part of his dream or if someone was really at his door. He wasn't sleeping very well. He'd only finally fell asleep at 1 a.m. He figured Shawn should be alright for the night if he hadn't called by then.
He turned on the light by his bed and looked at his clock. 3:32 a.m. He scratched his stomach and heard the knock again. He got up and walked out to the door.
He unlocked it and opened the door as Shawn collapsed onto the floor into the apartment.
"SHAWN!" Turner kneeled down beside Shawn and made sure he was still breathing. The kid looked like he just walked out of hell. To be fair, he probably did. Jon ran to the phone and called for an ambulance. He went back to Shawn and looked him over. He was covered in bruises and the entire front of his shirt was covered in dried blood. His hair was matted with a mixture of blood and pieces of glass. His nose seemed to be broken and his entire face seemed to be bruised. He tried to wake Shawn as he called the Matthews.
"Hello-" Amy started, groggy from sleep.
"Meet me at the hospital! Shawn…just…get there." Jon didn't realize he had started crying until he tried to talk to Amy. He quickly hung up as the paramedics gathered Shawn onto a stretcher and they all left the apartment.
Amy turned on the light in the bedroom and shook Alan awake. "Alan! Wake up!"
"Amy, it's too early," Alan said rolling over.
"Shawn's been taken to the hospital. Go get the boys." Amy threw on some clothes and went to get Morgan.
Alan moved quickly. He didn't change out of his sweatpants and t-shirt as he went to the boys room. He opened the door and turned on the light in Cory and Eric's room. Their clock read 3:45 a.m.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Cory asked as he sat up in his bed. Eric hesitated before sitting up and looking towards his dad, who hadn't moved from the doorway.
"It's Shawn, we don't know why, but he's in the hospital. Let's go."
Cory seemed to go into shock again. He sat, staring at the window that he was so used to Shawn climbing in and out of. Shawn wasn't back in the hospital. He would come through that window at any moment and tell some crazy story about some trouble he was getting into.
Eric got out of bed and moved over to Cory.
"Cory, come on. It's gonna be fine," He placed his hands on Cory's shoulders and gently shook him. "We need to leave now."
Cory got up and put his shoes on. He didn't say anything but he nodded at Eric and all of them made their way to the car. Amy was already there with Morgan sitting in the back seat. She really wished Jon could have given more explanation. No one knew what they were walking into.
Jon sat in the hospital waiting room. Shawn hadn't woken up in the ambulance and he had no idea what happened. 5 minutes into his wait, all the Matthews walked in. Jon stood up and wiped the tears from his eyes.
Alan held his wife's hand and looked at Jon. "Jon, what's going on?"
"I don't really know… He showed up at my door and collapsed without a word. He was beaten within an inch of his life. He's covered in blood and bruises. I don't know how he made it to my place, but he hasn't woken up yet."
Amy and Cory started crying. Eric grabbed his brother and hugged him tight. Cory hugged back and just sobbed. Alan led Amy to a chair and then turned to Morgan. She looked up at him and wasn't sure what was going on.
"Is Shawn going to be okay? Was he in a fight?" Alan suddenly realized he couldn't really keep Morgan in the dark about everything anymore.
"Morgan, honey, we need to go talk about what's been happening to Shawn." Alan took her hand and led her to the chair next to Amy. They sat and he started to explain the situation as best he could.
Turner sat back down and put his head in his hands. He didn't know how to handle this. He just wanted Shawn to wake up.
Eric pulled Cory out of the hug and saw Cory wasn't crying heavily anymore. He seemed to go back into shock. Eric put him in the chair next to Turner and asked Jon if he called Feeny. When Jon shook his head, Eric walked to the nurses' station and asked to use the phone. He called Feeny and told him the situation. He said Feeny didn't need to come down and they would call as soon as they knew anything. School was starting tomorrow and Feeny needed to be there early for teacher's meetings and new students.
15 minutes later, Feeny walked into the hospital anyway. He looked at this makeshift family for Shawn and realized he didn't have any advice for them. The whole family always came to him for all the advice he could possibly offer, but he didn't even know how to say hello in a situation like this.
Jon looked up and gave a sad smile as he saw George enter. "We still don't know anything." He said clearing his throat.
"It's going to be alright Jon. Shawn will pull through this. He always does." George said trying to believe it himself.
They all sat in silence for the next 20 minutes. Finally a doctor walked out of the ER and made his way towards Jon.
"Mr. Turner? I'm Dr. Sullivan," The doctor said, looking at his clipboard.
"Yeah… yeah, how's Shawn?" Jon asked getting up.
"He has 5 broken ribs, several lacerations across his stomach, a broken nose, some internal bleeding, a lot of bruising, and a concussion that placed him into a coma. We're doing all we can and hopefully he will wake up soon. We are keeping him in the ER until we can make sure the internal bleeding has stopped. Then we'll move him to a private room and you can see him."
Jon rubbed his eyes and had the great desire to punch something. He breathed in thanked the doctor.
Dr. Sullivan nodded and walked back to the ER. Turner sat down and waited with the rest of the group.
They had all heard what the doctor said and Cory got up as Turner sat down. He walked off without a word to anyone, but Amy tapped Eric's shoulder and told him to follow his brother. Eric got up and ran to catch up with Cory. They ended up in the bathroom. Cory went into the stall and threw up everything he had eaten the day before. Eric stood outside the stall and stared at the floor. He couldn't imagine being as hurt as Shawn currently was.
Once Cory was done being sick, he walked out and splashed his face with water and rinsed his mouth out. He didn't say anything as he and Eric walked back to the waiting room.
Everyone sat quietly, saying their own prayers. At 5 a.m. Dr. Sullivan made another appearance.
"Jon? We've moved Shawn to room 204. He hasn't woken up, but he is stable. You may all go see him, but we ask that only a couple go in at a time. As is the requirements for cases of this nature, there are officers on their way to investigate what happened to Shawn. They will want to speak with you when they arrive."
Turner nodded and turned to the group. They all got up and made their way towards Shawn's room. Jon went in first and looked at Shawn. He was so small on the hospital bed. His injuries looked so raw under the bright hospital lights. The quiet, steady beeping was the only thing that let Jon know Shawn was still alive. He walked over and pulled up a chair next to Shawn's bed.
"Shawn…you gotta wake up Shawn. Things are supposed to be getting better and you can't just let your parents win on this one. I'm the one who takes care of you now…I shouldn't have left you… It's my fault buddy, and I will never stop making it up to you."
Cory opened the door and stared at his best friend. Without breaking his stare at Shawn, Cory spoke to Turner, "Uh, the cops need to talk to you…"
Jon got up and left the room, patting Cory on the shoulder as he passed. Once Turner had left, Cory began to cry again. He went and sat in the chair Turner was in and took Shawn's hand. He couldn't decide which was worse: seeing his best friend near death because of himself or because of his parents.
"Shawn, you're not allowed to do this to me anymore. This is twice in one year that I've seen you dying in this hospital. I can't keep doing this. You have to survive. This has been the worst year of my life, but if you die, I will never forgive you-"
Mr. Feeny and the rest of the Matthews family walked into the room. Rules be damned, they were going to be there for their family members. Jon walked in a couple minutes after.
"The cops will be around, but no one will know anything until Shawn wakes up. I told them he was last with his mother. They're going to talk with her now."
Everyone sat in that tiny room, just waiting for Shawn to wake up. Morgan fell back asleep at around 6 a.m. and Mr. Feeny reluctantly had to go to school and start the new school year. He would call a substitute for Turner and inform Cory, Shawn, and Eric's teachers that they would not be attending classes today.
Cory thought about calling Topanga, but he didn't want to leave the room.
"Eric?" Cory finally asked, "Could you call Topanga and let her know we're here."
Eric looked over from Shawn to Cory, "Yeah, I'll let her know." He turned to his mom, "Do you want me to take Morgan home? There's not much we can do here, but she's too tired for school."
Amy looked at her daughter and nodded. "Just stay home with her."
Eric woke up Morgan and they left the room. It was going to be a while until Shawn woke up.
It was Tuesday night when Shawn finally opened his eyes. He woke up at around 8 that evening. It had been nearly 40 hours since Shawn collapsed on Turner's floor and everyone grew more worried each hour he was out. Turner was the first to see the Shawn had woken up. He jolted upright in his chair and it broke the silence in the room.
"Jon?" Shawn's voice was raspy and broken. His throat burned as he swallowed.
Cory pressed the button for a nurse and stood up next to Shawn's bed.
"Shawn! You're back!" Cory began to cry as he realized his best friend was going to live.
The nurse ran into the room with Dr. Sullivan right behind her. Shawn was high priority and the fact that he was awake meant they had work to do to make sure he didn't have permanent damage from the coma.
Cory moved out of the way and let the professionals do their jobs. He watched as they pressed buttons, gave him water, asked him simple questions, and adjusted IV medications. When they finally finished, they said they would return in a couple hours and Shawn would be okay.
Shawn looked around the room. He had no idea how he got there, but he knew he was in the hospital. Jon watched Shawn take in his surroundings. "Shawn, do you know what happened?"
Shawn turned his head and looked at Jon. He winced in pain as he felt the stiffness of his entire body. The doctor gave him some pretty heavy drugs that blocked out the worst of the pain, but he could still feel the heaviness of his body. "Yeah, but the last thing I remember is standing on the side of the road. I was walking to your house. Did I actually make it to your place?"
Jon looked shocked. Shawn had walked from the trailer park to the apartment in that condition? No wonder he was in a coma. "Yeah, you sure as hell did. But…Shawn, why didn't you tell us your mom was just as bad as your dad?"
Shawn blinked slowly. "I didn't know… she'd never done that before. She always left it to dad to dole out punishment. She usually just sat back and told me how worthless I was and made sure to point out all my faults."
Alan walked over towards Shawn, "That's still major abuse Shawn, we never would have left you there if we knew it was that bad. We are so sorry we didn't protect you from this."
"It's not your fault guys, I…I should have told you…or ran after she started drinking…don't worry about it."
Amy opened the hospital room door when she heard a knock. The doctor had informed the police that Shawn was awake and coherent enough and that they should speak with Shawn and the family.
As the police entered the room, Cory sat down and tried to process what was happening. Shawn just woke up from a coma that his mother beat him into and he was still blaming himself. He couldn't stand it anymore. "Shut up Shawn. You know whose fault it is? … Your mother's. You didn't need to do anything differently; she's the one that fucked up here. You can't blame yourself for the fact that she can't understand that it isn't okay to hit her kid."
Amy put her hand on Cory's shoulder. "It's alright Cor."
Shawn started crying, he saw there were cops in his room now, but he didn't care. "I… I know you're right Cor. I really do, it's just, she drank so much…then she was telling me how much you all didn't want me and how I was screwing up all your lives. And I started to believe her. But then…I tried to tell her it wasn't true. You guys take care of me and don't mind that I'm a screw-up…and that just made her angrier. She broke the first bottle of wine over my head and I don't remember hearing her talk for a while. Then she was kicking me and yelling about how worthless I am. When I cried in pain because I was pretty sure my ribs were broken, she punched me in the face. I tried not to cry, I really knew that it would only piss her off, but it hurt to breathe and I didn't realize I'd started to cry." Shawn looked at Jon and saw he was crying now too. He hated seeing adults cry, it always made him feel like he was breaking the rules of the world.
Amy rested her hand on Shawn's leg, "Shawn, you need to keep going. I know it's hard, but we need to know. The police are here to get your story and help you."
Shawn looked at the policemen and they nodded. "I'm officer Elridge and this is officer Brant. Just talk when you're ready."
Shawn looked at his arms. "I don't know how long she was hitting me. She had already started her second bottle of wine when she saw the scars on one of my arms. She found if funny that I would do that to myself. So she took the broken glass from the first bottle and just started cutting me. When I kept crying she yelled and started pouring her wine down my throat. When I started choking on it, she was upset or something because the next thing I heard was the second bottle smash against my head. I don't know when everything had stopped. I just know I woke up around 2 or something and she was passed out on the couch. When I tried to use the phone, it wasn't working, so… I just left. I kept walking, but it hurt… so much. I just wanted to go to sleep so much. That's… all I remember."
Everyone but the officers was crying. No one said anything because no one knew what to say. Against all logic, Shawn was alive when he never should have woken up from that trailer home floor in the first place.
"Shawn," Office Elridge began, "We went to find your mother yesterday morning and she was gone. She took the trailer and we have no idea where she went. We put the word out and there will be an issue for her arrest, but we're not sure when, or if we'll find her."
He knew she wouldn't be coming back. He nodded and looked up at Mr. Turner.
Officer Brant noticed Shawn's attention move to Jon, "Mr. Turner is still your legal guardian and therefore, you'll stay with him. There is no need for the state to be involved in the matter of custody. Just recover and we'll be in touch if things change."
The adults thanked the officers and watched as they left the room. Amy and Alan looked at Shawn and sighed. "You know what, I'm gonna go make some calls and let people know you're alright." Amy said with a small smile. She took Alan's hand and they walked out of the room to give Jon and the boys some privacy.