Hey guys. Remember me, that one author who said the next chapter had a major reveal and then disappeared for ten months? Yeah, I'm sorry, a lot has been happening, and I'm sure you're all aware of the crazy state the world is in. But anyways, I decided to write out all the chapters remaining for this story and upload them weekly, so that's why this took so long. Anyways, I'm back now and I have all the rest of the chapters for this story, fully written! (yay).
Oh, and if I can self advertise for a bit, I have tumblr now! Follow me at magidragon12 where I say all sorts of witty things about the shows I watch, and occasionally Camp Camp!
As I said last update, this chapter contains the big reveal that I'm sure many of you were waiting for, so enjoy reading! Again, sorry it took so long! :)
David wasn't back until after all of the parents had dispersed and the kids had settled down. Nikki and Neil were still sat with Ered, not quite wanting to be near Max just yet. Even if it was his last night. Surprisingly, Gwen had let them. She knew Nikki needed rest, and physical exhaustion wasn't good for Neil, but they looked like they were having so much fun and she didn't want to break that up. After all, this was Children's Ward 1 at the shittiest hospital in town. These kids deserved all the happiness they could get.
"Gwen, I'm hungry!" Space Kid complained, sitting upright in his bed. "When's David going to be back?"
Gwen sighed. "Calm down Space Kid, it's only four o'clock!"
"But we're all hungry!" Harrison agreed, folding his arms. "And Nerris leaves later today, can't we just eat early?"
"Yeah!" Nerris added, folding her arms. Gwen sighed as the noise of the ward got louder and louder.
"Guys, GUYS!" She let out a breath as the ward fell quiet. "Look, I don't know where David went, but it sure wasn't the kitchen or he would be back by now! And I can't legally leave you here by yourselves while I go get the dinner trolley, which probably isn't even ready yet!"
"Hasn't stopped you before." Nurf stated, and everyone nodded in agreement. Gwen rolled her eyes.
"Well, since David is acting super weird I thought I'd try acting like the responsible nurse for once. Which clearly isn't going down well."
"Well, since you're questioning your life choices, can we have another party?" Nurf asked. Everyone burst out laughing and cheering. Gwen sighed again, she was getting too old for this sort of thing. Maybe she should just retreat to the office and work on her other job applications.
The door to the ward suddenly flew open to reveal David. And he looked terrible.
"David, what the fuck happened to you?!" Gwen exclaimed. The kids all looked their way and gasped. David's face was all bruised, his lip had a large cut in it. One hand was clutching the opposing shoulder and he seemed was putting a lot less weight than normal on his left foot.
"Who did this to you?!" Nerris gasped, swinging her legs over the side of her bed and preparing to stand up and fight, foam sword already in hand.
David limped into the room and shook his head in Nerris's direction.
"Don't worry kids... I'm fine!" He smiled in the general direction of the ward, but with his facial injuries, it was just creepy.
"Where were you!" Max demanded, suddenly standing up on his bed. David shook his head.
"Just... around town. I fell down the stairs on my way here and that's how I got these minor little injuries." He gestured to his horribly mangled features.
"Uh David? That's a typical abused housewife line." Nurf said quietly. The kids gasped some more. David looked nervous and shook his head some more.
"No guys, you've got it all wrong..."
"Cut the shit David!" Nikki exclaimed, standing up on the window still. "Who did this to you and why?! 'Cos when I find them, oh they're in for trouble!" She cracked her knuckles and growled menacingly. "No one hurts our David!"
"Nikki, no!" Gwen said quickly, losing her cool a little. "Go back to your bed and help Neil to his! And David... go to the office and clean yourself up!"
"Oh I'm fine Gwen!" David said, and he smiled wider, then winced, clutching his jaw. Gwen rolled her eyes and motioned David through to the office. She then threw a glance to the kids, who were all sitting up looking tense.
"Guys, I'm sure it'll be fine, David just needs some patching up and he'll be OK." She held up a hand to reassure them, then darted into the office after her co-worker. She was a semi-qualified nurse, after all. She knew she could probably look after David by herself.
David was shuffling herself towards the desk chair, still clutching his shoulder. Now that he wasn't in front of the kids, he was openly wincing and shuffling a lot more slowly. Gwen waited until he was sat down, then she exploded.
"David, what the fuck did you do! And no, don't tell me that you fell down the stairs or some shit, I don't want to hear it!" She stood angrily over David, arms folded.
David sighed and grabbed some tissues from the box they kept on the desk. He dabbed at the cut on his lip, which had started bleeding again.
"Alright Gwen. Just... don't tell the kids. I don't want to upset them."
Gwen nodded, feeling her rage lessen a little. David opened his mouth to begin talking, when a sudden noise was heard outside the office. The sound of a door being thrown open and loud voices exploding into the ward. David gasped and stiffened. Sensing danger, Gwen looked round the door of the office and gasped.
Two strangers had entered the ward, both adults. They were Indian, dressed in expensive clothing and were both staring down at one specific bed, ignoring the rest.
Max.
The poor kid looked terrified.
"What, what are you guys doing here?" He exclaimed, his face suddenly losing the tough look he had been wearing throughout his stay.
"What are we doing here?" The man said angrily. His voice was slightly slurred as if he was drunk. "We've come for you, you little twerp!"
"What the hell is going on?" Gwen demanded, trying to get control of the situation. She put her hands on her hips, trying to seem more than the overworked failure at life she was. "Who are you two?"
"So the little shit didn't tell you?" The woman turned to Gwen, lowering her sunglasses to glare at her. "Typical Max, always so neglectful of his loving parents!"
"Wait... you're Max's parents?!" Neil exclaimed, halfway through the ward on his trip back to his bed. He was leaning against Preston's bed and looked shocked. "I thought he said you were busy with work!"
"Shut up Neil!" Max hissed, his fists clenched. He glared up at his parents, his eyes filled with rage and hurt. "I'm not going anywhere with you two, assholes!"
"Max, language!" Came a voice from the nurse's office. David appeared, leaning on the doorframe. The kids winced at seeing his face again. He blinked when he saw Max's parents. "Mr and Mrs Sharma? What are you doing here?"
Max's dad turned to David with an annoyed look on his face. "Oh it's you again!" He snapped. "Thought you should be halfway to a hospital by now!"
"This is a hospital." Max said sourly. His dad shrugged and looked unfazed.
"Wait!" Gwen suddenly put two and two together. "You two did this to David?!"
There were angered gasps from all around the ward. Max flinched, looking David up and down.
"What did you do, you moron?" He exclaimed. David wasn't sure if Max was talking to him or his father. He shook his head earnestly.
"No, no that's not- Mr and Mrs Sharma, could you join me and Gwen in the office-"
"Fuck that!" Max's mother strode up to him. "You think you can just show up to our house and demand that we show up to see this little piece of shit every damn weekend, or take time out of our schedules to bring him clothes? Look at him, he's doing fine!" She gestured angrily towards her son, who was still hunched over on top of his bed, fists clenched. "I have better things to do! You bother me and my husband on our day off, you get what you deserve, you skinny freak!"
"Don't call Max a-" Gwen began, but was quickly interrupted.
"You mind your own business, you stuck up bitch!" Max's dad snapped. The kids gasped again.
"OK, you two need to calm the fuck down!" Nurf called from his bed.
"Yeah, lay off David and Gwen!" Ered snapped. "They're cool!"
"They're like another mummy and daddy!" Space Kid added.
Max's mother stuck her middle finger up at the ward.
"Shut your mouths, you little cripples!" She yelled. "Kids should only talk when it's necessary!"
"Same goes for adults!" Nikki yelled back, and the ward became a chorus of 'yeah' and 'shut the fuck up!'.
"Guys, no, quiet down!" David approached Nikki and Neil, who were still balanced awkwardly against Preston's bed.
"There's no need, you hippie, we're going!" Max's father announced. He grabbed Max suddenly by the arm, causing him to cry out as his dad's grip was tight and his wounds were only just healed beneath the bandages.
"Hey, get off him!" Gwen made a move to intervene. "Max's paperwork hasn't been done for a release-"
Max's mother shoved her aside, rather harshly.
"Screw that!" She snapped. "This hospital is a dump, you can forge it if you want, we're done!" She glanced towards her husband. "Let's get out of here!"
"Get off me!" Max cried, trying to shove his dad away. "I'm not going back with you!"
"Max is right, you can't just abduct a child!" David swiftly positioned himself between Max's parents, and the door. "Even if he is, your child."
"Don't make me beat you up again!" Max's father yelled angrily, raising a fist. Gwen gasped. David flinched.
"You beat David up?!" Nikki exclaimed. "But... why?"
"Why?" Max's mother turned to her with a patronising scowl. "This spineless wimp shows up at our door, while we were in the middle of karaoke day, mind you, and starts going on about, Max having a 'hard time' and how we should 'do more' to comfort him' and all sorts of bullcrap! He accuses us of being negligent?" She glared towards Max who was gritting his teeth, trying to pry his fathers grip away from his arm. "We feed him, we clothe him, and you expect my husband not to give you what you deserve!" She laughed. "Well, you don't have to put up with this little shit anymore, nurse Campbell, we'll take him off your hands! Lucky us."
Throughout her entire outburst, the ward had held their breath in shock and anger. Gwen looked at David with wide eyes. She had known something was up with Max, but had never looked much farther than a lonely kid whose parents were too busy to come see him. David clearly had and now she could see the consequences. Max was definitely more lonely than anyone had realised.
David took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. He hadn't been able to stand up for himself when he had been attacked by Max's father, he wasn't much of a fighter, but he was going to stand up for what he believed in now.
"I'm not letting you take Max." He said in a low and serious voice.
"Oh yeah?" Max's mother frowned at him. "How are you going to stop us, runner bean man?"
"David, just leave it!" Max cried, standing up. "I'll go, just stay out of it!"
"Max-" Gwen stepped forwards, attempting to intervene.
"Argh, just stay out of it!" Max shrugged his father off finally and faced the two nurses angrily. "I'm fine now, I can go! Just fuck off, all of you!"
"That's right!" Max's father put a hand on his son's shoulder, looking down at him with harsh eyes. "But if you ever try anything like that again and end up in hospital, we won't go to so much trouble!"
"Try it again?" Neil piped up. "He tripped and fell on broken glass, it was an accident!"
Max's parents caught each other's eyes and laughed.
"Fell on broken glass?" His mother cackled. "Is that what he told you?"
Max's breath began to speed up until it was on the verge of hyperventilating.
"Guys, let's just go!" He said quietly, but neither of his parents were listening.
"We were right about this shit hospital, they didn't even look into the nature of his injury!" His father laughed.
"Shut up!" Max cried, his hand were shaking, he was obviously on the verge of a panic attack.
"Nature of his injury?" Nikki wondered aloud, confused.
"Fell on broken glass?" Max's mother remarked. "More like he sat in the yard and took a piece of the front window to his own arm!"
There was dead silence in the ward. Max couldn't bear to meet anyone's gaze.
Eventually it was David who broke it.
"You..." He trailed off and swallowed. "You tried to-"
"Kill himself?" Max's father raised an eyebrow. "Pretty much." He glared down at his son. "And to think, he would have saved us so much trouble if he had succeeded!"
Max couldn't take it anymore. He made a mad dash for the door, shoved David aside and ran out of the room, a hand covering his face.
Next chapter comes out in a week! See you all then and hope you enjoyed reading :)