When Emma got there with Snake Johnny was already gone. He'd left early, while Coen was still sleeping. She was awake now, sitting up in bed and eating breakfast.
"Coen?" Emma came in slowly, taking in Coen's appearance the same way Johnny had. Snake walked in behind her and he had to look away from his student for a minute. She'd given him a hard time at school but no one deserved to be where she was right now.
"Hey, sorry I had Spinner get you. I know we don't hang out a lot." Coen admitted.
"That's fine, I'm happy to be here for you. I mean, not happy you're here obviously." Emma laughed nervously.
Snake got chairs for the two of them and placed them at the side of the bed. Emma took one, scooting a bit closer to the bedside.
"Hi Mr. Simpson." Coen smiled. It looked a bit lopsided because of the swelling around her eye and cheek.
"How are you feeling?" Snake asked, at a loss for what else to say.
"I feel fine, which I guess means the meds work right?" She replied. She was doped up at the moment and she couldn't feel any pain.
"Do you know who did this?" Emma asked. She wasn't sure what to talk about. She was still trying to figure out why Coen had asked for her and not Holly J or Anya.
"Uh, this kid Nic. He's got a beef with some kids from Lakehurst who used to be friends of his." Coen answered.
Emma knew what she meant, partially because she had heard Nic's name before and partially because she had seen the way Coen and Johnny kept an eye out for each other. Whatever beef Nic had it wasn't with random kids from Lakehurst, it was with Johnny. Emma was certain that Coen probably realized that, the minute she got hit.
"Spinner said the police came." Emma.
"Yeah they did." Coen.
"When is your discharge?" Snake.
"That's what I wanted to ask you about. I need a parent or guardian to sign...I figured since you're my teacher." Coen trailed off. She was embarrassed to ask. It was the only reason she had told Spinner to get Emma; she knew Emma wouldn't tell anyone or make her feel like a loser.
"Where are your parents?" Snake asked.
It never said anything that he could remember in her file. Coen's file wasn't thick like most kids who cause trouble. There was only one incident that followed her to Degrassi. In ninth grade she had punched Manny Santos in the face at a pep rally. The action had been excused because two weeks earlier her father had died. Then in January it listed her as homebound the rest of the year. She never returned to school afterward. But it listed a mother, Snake remembered seeing a name. The principal from Lakehurst mentioned that Coen's mother was attentive. She signed whatever slips were sent home.
"Don't know." Coen shrugged.
"I don't feel comfortable signing you out of a hospital." Snake spoke up.
Coen took a deep breath, sitting up a little. She knew this was going to happen. She prepared for this in her mind, it was why she asked Spinner to get Emma. It was still difficult though. These were things Coen didn't talk about with anyone. Her home life was kept out of conversation with Holly J and Anya. They were her only friends and she made sure neither of them ever knew. Holly J would never talk to her again if she ever found out. And Coen didn't trust Anya.
"I don't have anyone else." Coen admitted.
Snake sat there for a moment, thinking over the options. Emma was watching him, trying to figure out what his decision would be. He looked apprehensive to say anything. He didn't want to break any laws but he also didn't want to think that he was letting anyone down.
"I'll talk to the doctors but I can't promise anything." Snake finally said. It seemed like the best response. He wasn't promising that he could help but he also wasn't telling her that there was nothing he could do.
"Okay."
"Emma, could you give us a moment?" Snake asked.
"Sure, yeah I'll get us all coffee." Emma answered, standing up. She wasn't sure why Snake wanted to talk to Coen alone but she assumed it had to do with signing her out.
Snake switched to Emma's chair, bringing himself closer to the side of the bed. He made sure the door was closed so that someone walking by wouldn't hear them talking.
"I need you to explain to me what happened and why you want me to sign you out. I could get into a lot of trouble for posing as your guardian and I want to know that it's worth it and this isn't just a case of you not wanting to face your mom." Snake explained. She was asking him for a serious favor, something that could reflect badly on him if anything were to ever happen.
"After I left your house yesterday I went to the ravine. That's where I saw Nic. I assumed it wasn't a big deal to go with him to the Dot, he was being nice. I know he has a reputation of being a dick but he was being friendly and I figured...why not."
"Is that all you remember?" Snake asked.
"Well we walked there and he told me his bike was messed up so I bent down to look at the tire. That's all I really remember." Coen shrugged.
They said it was the head injury that made her unable to remember what happened. She wasn't sure if that was true but either way she was glad she couldn't remember. She didn't want to remember getting beat up and left alone.
"Why don't you want me to call your mom?"
"Last year around Christmas I was in an accident-"
"What happened?" Snake pushed.
"I jumped off a roof." Coen stated. "I was in the hospital for a long time and my mom came around in the beginning but then less and less. She's not...well."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean she's sick." Coen looked away from Snake, a sort of way for her to tell him that she was finished talking.
Coen couldn't remember when last year her mother first started being sick. Her father had died in November. He was riding his motorcycle late at night and slid on ice. The bike hit a tree and he flipped off into a ravine. The story ran on the local news the next morning but by the time he was identified as Mark Taylor the station had moved on to more significant news. So Coen never told anyone, she went to school for the next month and pretended like everything was fine.
Until Christmas. She had never attended the memorial service because she didn't want anyone to find out that her dad died. It wasn't until Christmas Eve, when she was waiting for her mom to get home, that Coen snapped. She was admittedly tipsy and had been watching The Santa Clause when she decided to climb onto the roof. If falling off worked for Santa maybe it could make her disappear as well.
Coen jumped off the roof wearing yoga pants and her dad's old work shirt. It was below freezing and had been snowing since 3pm. The doctor who operated on her that night told her mother that she could've died. If not from the fall then from the hypothermia she nearly caught falling into a drift of snow on the pavement. But her mom was pulling in the driveway at the exact moment that Coen jumped.
It was like a chain reaction. First her dad, then her, then her mom. Life had systematically knocked off each member of her family. Coen had come back from it. She had woken up with broken ribs and bruised body parts (not unlike now) and she had survived. She was still surviving. Because her mom had not gotten better. Her mom had gotten worse.
The job her mom had gotten after her dad died was a computer job. It meant she never had to leave the house. She went between episodes of being extremely reclusive and wildly out of control. She'd meet friends at bars and bring them all home for a party one night but then she wouldn't want to leave her room the next. She had mood swings and erratic behavior and she could become physically violent when she was angry. It was like her brain shut down and this other, angrier brain manifested inside her.
Coen kept it together the best that she could. She came home and did her mom's job depending on what emotion was winning the battle in her mom's head. She cooked for them and cleaned for them. She did her homework and paid the house bills. But she was also 15. Coen was a sophomore in high school. Holly J and Anya were talking about mall trips, boys, friends. All Coen could focus on was what waited at home.
It the part of her life that fractured off from Holly J. Coen was mean because she was angry. She was mean because she had been dealt a bad hand in life and being mean was her only way to cope. Holly J was just a bully. An entitled, spoiled brat.
"If I do this for you, I need to know that you'll talk to Mrs. Suavé about what's going on at home." Snake said. "I need to know that this isn't a cycle."
"I got attacked."
"And I'm afraid that it has more to do with you looking for distractions and acceptance then just an accident. Coen I don't want to see any of my students get hurt. I need to know you're alright, both physically and mentally." Snake replied.
"I'll talk to her." Coen agreed.
Snake stood up and headed for the door, going to find the doctor in charge. Emma passed him in the hall and he stopped her for a moment. He was proud of Emma for putting herself out there and trying to make amends with the Lakehurst students. But he was also a dad and that part of him worried that maybe this wasn't the right friend.
"Be cautious." Snake said after he stopped her.
"Snake, I know you're worried but I doubt she's going to talk much to me after this. The only reason she wanted me here is to have you sign her out; I understand that. But Coen needs someone and I'm willing to be the person who sticks it out and makes sure she's okay. I don't think she's going to let down the expectations I have." Emma reassured.
She had seen Coen with Holly J and Anya. She knew what that worst part looked like. But she had also seen the way Coen stopped to talk to Johnny if he was sitting outside the principal's office. She persisted because she had been there; she had lived whatever pain Johnny had now. And she wasn't going to let him self-destruct because she liked him too much. And Emma wanted to be more like that, to have a little piece of that optimism for herself.
"Coffee!" Emma held the full cup up as she walked back into the hospital room."
"Sorry about all this." Coen replied, taking the coffee from her. "At least I can have coffee this time."
"What do you mean?" Emma asked, sitting down in Snake's chair.
"Last time I was in the hospital they wired my jaw shut and I had to drink water only through this tiny straw. My mom thought caffeine was bad for me."
"I didn't realize you were the hospital before." Emma answered.
"It was last year. I'd rather not talk about it."
sorry this update took so long, I promise the next couple will be quicker. Also, someone propositioned me to try my hand at a Craig Manning story with an OC. The original request was on Wattpad but I may post it here too when I begin writing it.