Christian grey was walking home from middle school when he was trying to take little slow steps. He was dreading going home. It was always the same and nothing seemed to be changing. Christian always envied the other kids at school when he saw them running to their mother's waiting arms. He imagined how his mother used to be before all the drugs. He's seen pictures of her, she seemed happy. She was happy until she started partying too much and that was where she tried her first lethal drug. He had no issues with marijuana. He educated himself with all the good it can do for people. He wished all his might that his mother would wake up and change, but she is too far gone to where there's no coming back. As he was thinking, he didn't notice that he was passing by the park. Seeing the park means he was close to being home. He decided to sit down on the nearby bench for a while. He needed to get his thoughts in order about his current situation. He was only sitting there for about a minute before it started to pour. He just felt very drained, so he just stayed there. He didn't mind that his clothes were getting all wet. He just let his mind wonder.
Christian gasped loudly when suddenly he felt no more rain. He looked up and was surprised to see a little petite girl covering them with her umbrella. He stared at her confused. "Who are you and what are you doing?"
"I am covering you silly. You're getting all wet. Why are you outside and not home?," She exclaimed, Christian was still confused, but he was not going to complain because it was nice to finally see a smile looking toward him. All he was used to was hatful glances and evil glares. When she mentioned his home he couldn't help but think about what was waiting for him there. He shuddered just thinking about all the pain that became a routine every time he walked through that door. Christian realized the girl was looking for a response from him because she
was staring at him with more questions hidden in those deep powered blue eyes of hers.
Aw, those powered blue eyes were like nothing could ever hurt me like I needed to tell her my truth and leave nothing out. He took a deep breath and told her everything.
She looked away quickly so Christian does not see her shed a tear for him. He saw her wipe away the tears out of the corner of his eye. "You are not going home tonight or any other night. I do not care who we must tell or do not tell." She said it so seriously that I had to hold into a chuckle.
He told her that he will be fine going home. In a few years he will finally be gone. Christian may only be in middle school, but he has always wanted to graduate early or at least try to. He looked to the sky and noticed it was getting darker outside. Christian got off the bench. Said his goodbyes and started to walk away. The little girl ran up to him and put a folded up paper in his hands. He smiled at her and read what was written. "It's my father's phone number. Keep it incase you might need it." She explained to him.
The walk home took 10 minutes, so by time he got home the sky held no light. The moon and street lights were the only light to be seen. When Christian walked in his home, he felt like something was off. It seemed like nobody was home, but he knew something was off. As he moved throughout the house, he heard the shower running. Christian yelled for his mother, but she did not answer. Nobody answered. He pushed the door ajar. The sight that beheld him made him want to throw up. Ella was laying in the tub fully clothed with the water running on her. She was pale, eyes slightly opened, mouth tightly shut, and lifeless. Christian backed out of the bathroom slowly. He couldn't wrap his head around what he had seen.
They didn't own a phone, so he had to go across the street to . He darted out of the house almost tripping going down the stairs. He got to her door and banged so hard it was like he was trying to knock it down with each hit. The door swung opened that held a frightened old woman with a shotgun. Christian saw her slowly put the gun down when she noticed who it was. He was no threat to her. When Christian was able to calm down, he told her what happened and that the police needed to be called. It had taken him a long time to get everything out. He kept on stumbling across his words. She tried to comfort him, but nothing would work. He waited outside until the police came. 18 long minutes before he heard the sirens. The longest 18 minutes Christian had ever felt.
Everything was blurry. People were running all around him, but he didn't pay much attention. He couldn't pay attention. He tried to, but nothing was coming through. His mind had cut out. He just stared at the people who tried to speak to him. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He was so in shock, his mother was gone. She had put him in life-threatening situations, danger, pain, and so much hurt. She was his mother, the only person he had in his life. He always expected his life to end. He never prepared himself for Ella's life to end. He always held out hope that she would fix her life. Christian was a child still, of course he held onto hope. But there she was...laid in the tub as a dead lifeless corpse.
Where was he to go? He had no family. He had no one, he was all alone. He had always been alone but this felt different. What if his situation never changed? Maybe they will send him to a family much worse than this. Surely they wouldn't be leaving him in his current situation.
A sight caught his eye and got himself out of his head. Over by the police officer was his mother's boyfriend, standing there talking with them looking rather upset. Christian thought that was absolutely absurd...crazy. That guy never cared for either of them. He gave Ella the drugs she craved for. Christian wouldn't be surprised if Jared had something to do with his mother's overdose. He must have known at least about her being in the shower. Nobody would have believed him if he spoke about it, nobody ever believed him.
Christian couldn't believe what he was told. They were letting him stay at his home with his mother's boyfriend for the night. They had nowhere else to take him. Every foster home was full and there were not enough foster parents to go around. The boys group home would take him, but in the morning. Christian knew that he was not going to go to the boys home. It would be a miracle if Jared allowed him to live. Christian was used to being Jared's personal punching bag. He couldn't stand up to him. Jared was bigger than he was and his mother had always allowed Jared to do whatever he wanted. Telling anyone what happened in the household was useless. The teachers never believed him, nobody had before that little blue-eyed girl he met today. Christian wished he had gotten her name before he left her.
He held onto hope that no matter what happened tonight, he won't be in pain forever.
Everyone had started to leave. There had been nothing else for them to do. Christian looked at the house. It looked more empty than ever. He decided it was time to go across the street and inside. He couldn't avoid going in, no matter how badly he had wanted to stay sitting there. He got up and started to go up the stairs, he creeped through the door once again. He will always be haunted by this house. Nobody was there this time as he walked inside. Christian looked around and noticed how dirty the house had gotten since yesterday. He started to pick things up and decided to spot clean. Maybe it would delay the pain that would be coming his way. Jared seemed to have left after the police officers. Christian turned on the radio and got to work.
Christian had not realized how loud the radio was until he saw Jared get out of his blue beaten down truck. Fear ran through Christian. He ran as fast as his little legs could take upstairs. He dropped to the floor and slid under the bed frame. Christian knew he wasn't gonna be forever hidden since this had always been his regular hiding spot. Jared knew where he was.
It took less than 10 minutes for Jared to come into the room. Christian felt his legs being grabbed. He got pulled out from under the bed, but he wasn't put down. No. Christian was still being pulled out of the room and down the stairs. He tried to hold onto the railings. Hoping they would be able to stop what would happen. It didn't stop, all it did was get Christian punched in the side of the head. Christian tried to hold his head since he had lost his vision. He felt himself being shoved into a room, but he couldn't see which one it was. His hand was in the way of the door being closed. He felt his fingers get crushed. He pulled back his hand to his chest when Jared opened the door to see what was in the way. Christian cradled his hand and laid his head against the cool tile. He realized that he was in the downstairs bathroom. The coldness felt nice against his face. Eventually Christian crawled into the tub and faded out.
When Christian woke up he didn't know how long he was asleep for. The bathroom had no window, so he couldn't check outside. He groaned as his head was pounding and the banging did not help his situation. He tried to get up but his hand stopped himself. He looked down and saw his fingers were bent slightly. They looked to be purple and blue. He felt so much pain. The banging had stopped but he heard movement all around the house. Fear pulsed through him. Christian pulled himself into a ball hoping if Jared or whoever it was that was making so much noise would either end him or pitied him.
The doorknob was rattled and Christian heard it being pushed open. All pulled himself tighter together. He heard a gasp, but never moved an inch. He expected the hitting to come soon, but it never came.
"Christian, please wake up" A woman's voice had spoken very softly.
Christian had never heard this person's voice before. He slowly stretched his very sore body, but stopped moving when he felt so much pain. He couldn't move so he turn to look at the stranger. She had red curly hair and vividly bright green eyes. Her eyes held such sadness when she looked at him. He just stared at her.
"I am your case worker. I was supposed to take you to the group home, but I called the ambulance instead. My name is Nancy Bright."
Ambulance? They had called the ambulance. Why would they be needed? He's had worse before. Christian still had a headache and he felt very sore. He's had worse, so he didn't understand. She told him not to move. He listened, of course he did. He never wanted to make anyone angry with him. But he always seemed to make people angry with him. It had always been his fault that is why he had the life he had.
After what seemed like forever, Christian heard the sirens. Then he heard the rush of steps that belonged to people's feet. Strangers, the Strangers had touched him. He didn't like that. He felt pain with every touch he thrashed against them. He screamed bloody murder. He didn't stop and he didn't know if he could.
He saw a woman grab what seemed to be a very long needle. In one swift movement, she stuck it in his right arm. He started to feel super sleepy. His eyes were getting heavy. A second later, everything went dark.
Christian groaned as he seemed to be waking up. That loud beeping started to get annoying. If he knew what it was then he'd shut it off so he can get more sleep. He was still feeling tired. He closed his eyes and fell back to slumber.
When he finally woke up, he got to look around and see where he was. He was no longer in the bathroom of his house. Instead he was in a hospital room. A petite looking nurse walked in the room as he was looking around.
"Oh! You're awake, let me tell your doctor."
She finished with checking the machines then walked out of the room.
What seemed to be 10 minutes, A tall woman with hair the color sand and eyes like trees. It felt warm and safe looking into her eyes. I had never felt like that. My mother had never made me feel like that. Her eyes were always harsh and cold. It was like she had been dead for a while. Christian got stuck in his head until the lady spoke.
" I am doctor trevelyan grey and I have been the one to treat you while you've been here. I am glad to see you are finally alert and awake."
Christian had not talked since everything happened and he was scared to. So he motioned for a piece of paper and something to write with. She pulled out her pad and paper that she kept in her pocket.
She handed the pad and pen over to Christian. All he had been worried about was where he was going to go. So he scribbled onto the paper asking her just that. Having to reach made Christian wince in pain. He must have a fractured rib or something. He watched her closely when she read the paper.
" I'm not sure where they're going to send you." She replied still in a very soft toned voice.
Christian thought her voice sounded like an angel. There was something about her that made him feel safe. He didn't trust himself though to choose the right kind of people to trust in. Adults had always tried to gain his trust then mistreated him. He wasn't going to fall for it this time. He was smarter this time. As she spoke, he started to feel dismal at what his situation was. She must have noticed because she started to explain his injuries to him.
" You have a traumatic brain injury. A contusion to your frontal lobe, but luckily for us it was a very small contusion which can repair itself. It doesn't happen often that something this vulnerable can be fixed so easily. I wouldn't say your mild injury is rare, but it's not so common either. You also have a broken rib on your right side. Your face is healing nicely from having been bruised up. Your hand was treated with anti-inflammatory medications after being smashed. You had to get your spleen taken out, but everything is healing nicely. So with that, you will be here for at least a few months. Your brain contusion alone makes that happen." As she explained, Christian tried to make himself not get overwhelmed with it all. He just focused on his breathing as she was talking.
" You were in a coma for three weeks already. I will leave you to process everything. You've been through hell and back. I will check on you later."
Christian didn't notice the doctor leave the room. His mind just kept repeating, three weeks. That seemed like such a long time to be sleeping. He didn't know how to feel about everything. It didn't seem real. His life didn't seem real.
Christian just sat there. A little bit of time had passed and he wished he had his school books with him. Christian loved to learn. The people at his school, not so much. Maybe he should ask the doctor to bring some books up. If he was going to be here then he might as well not get far behind with his education.
His bladder was calling to him so Christian decided to make his way to the bathroom. It felt nice to relieve his bladder. It was probably the best feeling at that moment. He went to wash his hands but the sight of himself made him stop in his tracks.