Reactions
Prompted by 'T' and 'aphass' and set around episode 6977, this is a one-shot covering various characters' reactions to Josh coward-punching Chris.
The remaining guests at the party stood around awkwardly, unsure of what was going on or what they were supposed to do. The venue seemed extremely empty without Kyle, Georgia, Chris, Nate, Lauren, Matt, Josh and Sheila considering the number of guests that were still present. Between them, they decided to clean the room to save Sheila the trouble of doing it later. Eventually Matt arrived with a stern expression, which made everyone worried.
"What's going on?" Brad asked, still feeling guilty about their fight earlier
"It's Chris" Matt began as he glanced around the room at the anxious faces, "He's been taken to the Hospital with a fractured skull"
"What happened?" Naomi gasped in shock, worried for her friend
"According to Karl, the injuries are consistent with a coward-punch attack" Matt replied
"Sorry, what's a 'coward-punch attack'?" Sonya asked, being unfamiliar with the term
"It's an unprovoked attack, a single punch that the victim isn't prepared for" Matt answered grimly, "Chris didn't see it coming so he couldn't defend himself or cushion his fall, which caused more serious injuries"
"Who would attack him?" Amber cried, devastated by the thought of her friend being the victim of an attack
"That's what we're trying to figure out" Matt responded, "Because it was unprovoked, it could have been anyone, even someone who doesn't actually know Chris"
The guests were all shocked by the turn of events. Many of them had a close relationship considering that a lot of them lived in the same street, which meant that they were able to comfort each other. Amber was close to tears and Daniel wrapped a comforting arm around her. Although she and Chris had barely spoken recently with their lives growing apart, Amber's friendship with Chris still meant a lot to her. After all, he was the first person to offer her friendship when she first arrived and didn't know anyone outside of her family, and he had proven to be a great support whilst she was being cyberbullied and with her relationship dramas in the past. The idea of losing him was one that Amber didn't want to think about even though it was a possibility, and that brought tears to her eyes. Imogen rubbed her back gently, wondering what had happened to Josh. Although she was worried about Chris, she couldn't stop her mind turning to her twin: the last time that she had seen him was when Chris had escorted him out of the pub, and she wondered whether Josh was involved somehow.
Despite their history, Sonya stayed close to Naomi. With Sheila, Kyle and Georgia gone and Chris in Hospital, the redhead had nobody to console her so Sonya took it upon herself to be there instead.
"Hey" she greeted gently, "How are you holding up?"
Naomi nodded, "I'm fine" she replied unconvincingly
Sonya shook her head, "It's ok to be worried" she assured her, "Chris is one of your closest friends"
Naomi blinked back tears, "Yeah, and he doesn't deserve any of this" she growled, "He's probably the only person – not related to me – that doesn't hate me"
Sonya chuckled, "Nobody hates you" she assured her
Naomi glanced at her disbelievingly and Sonya sighed, "Well you can't get along with everyone" she replied
Naomi bit her lip, "But Chris does get along with everyone" she pointed out, "How can anyone do something like that to him?
"Like Matt said, it might have been some random person who doesn't even know Chris" Sonya reminded her, "The best thing we can do is hope for the best and offer any support that we can"
Naomi nodded and smiled gratefully at Sonya, which was reciprocated. They both knew Chris really well and were shaken by the news of the attack, but there was nothing that they could do with so many questions unanswered so they tried to stay level-headed in the midst of all the chaos.
xxx
"Hey, Walsh" a tall, burly man snapped as he tossed a newspaper towards the table that Hudson was sitting by, "Isn't that your ex?"
Hudson glanced down at the paper, which had the headline 'Apprentice Mechanic Victim of Coward-Punch Attack from Former Swimming Champion' printed across the top, and a large photograph of Chris was printed in the centre with a smaller photograph of Josh inserted in the corner. Without even reading the story itself, Hudson immediately figured out what had happened and his jaw dropped in shock.
"Chris?" he questioned quietly, "Attacked by Josh?"
As Hudson read the story, he was filled with horror. He had been relatively close to Josh in the past, and couldn't believe that he was capable of hurting someone like that. Although the report was ambiguous about the outcome of the situation, a small part of Hudson wanted to laugh at the idea of Josh ending up in prison with him: perhaps they could set up their own swimming team or something. Though having two swimmers in prison within a year of each other would not present swimmers or swimming itself in a very positive light, so Hudson disregarded that thought as he stared at the paper. His minded drifted to Chris, hoping that he would be alright: although they had broken up several months earlier, he still cared about him and knew that he didn't deserve what had happened. Hudson wished more than ever that he could see Chris again, since his last encounter with him was one that he wouldn't hesitate to change if he could.
xxx
As soon as George and Patricia found out that their son was in a coma in hospital, they booked the first flight they could back to Australia. They didn't even return to their home, instead they drove straight to the hospital so that they could be with him. Although Chris was awake, he was having trouble communicating with them and the staff seemed uncertain about Chris' condition in the long term. Patricia couldn't stop crying, even though she knew that she had to be strong for her son, but after nearly losing him several times she was petrified of what the future was going to bring. George wrapped an arm around her as she wept, but she had to remove herself from the room when she realised that Chris might get upset about the way she was acting.
"Where did mum go?" Chris asked innocently
George glanced behind him nervously, "Probably to get some drinks" he lied, not knowing how Chris would respond to the truth.
Chris blinked at the door, waiting for her to return. Patricia stood on the other side of the door, wiping her eyes. She barely knew this Josh Willis boy, even though he and Chris lived in the same street, but she was determined that he was going to pay for what he had done to her son. Patricia took a deep breath as she realised that it wasn't the right time to be thinking about the perpetrator or getting revenge; she needed to focus on Chris and his recovery.
xxx
Nate was taken aback as he noticed a male nurse standing outside Chris' room. He had seen him passing through the Hospital before but this was the first time Nate had properly noticed him. The nurse was gazing through the window with an unreadable expression on his face. Nate clenched his fists angrily, wondering what was going on. The nurse turned around and his eyes locked with Nate's momentarily as the taller man approached.
"What's going on?" Nate asked shakily
The nurse blinked at him, "Sorry?"
Nate narrowed his eyes at him, "Is Chris ok?"
"Are you a relative?" Aidan asked
Nate shook his head, "No, but I'm his boyfriend"
The nurse's eyes widened slightly, "Well in that case, there's been a slight improvement" he assured him, "I mean, there's still a long way to go, but he'll be fine"
Nate nodded with a shaky smile, "Good" he replied
The nurse hesitated before glancing through the window again, "Don't give up on him, ok? He's definitely worth fighting for" he murmured
Nate nodded slowly, confused by the nurse's words, "I know" he agreed quietly
The nurse gave Nate a small smile, "I'll leave you to it" he muttered before hurrying past him. Nate watched him over his shoulder and spotted him talking to Georgia. The younger woman squeezed his arm before approaching Nate.
"Hey" she greeted softly, "Are you ok?"
Nate shrugged, "I'm just worried about whether or not Chris is ok"
Georgia nodded in understanding and Nate glanced back at the nurse at the desk, "Who's he?"
Georgia hesitated, "Aidan" she replied flatly
"How does he know Chris?" he questioned, suspicious about the way he had been watching his boyfriend and talking about him
"He was Chris' first boyfriend" Georgia told him slowly
Nate's face hardened as realisation sunk in. He and Chris hadn't talked much about their pasts, and Nate had been worried that they would never get a chance to. Although he had promised Chris that he would stand by him, Nate felt his insecurities about their relationship creeping back up again, but he considered Aidan's words and was determined to stand by Chris through his recovery.
Thanks for reading, and thanks 'T' and 'aphass' for the prompt! Apologies for taking so long to write this and for some of the sloppiness as well as the fact that there were some perspectives that I missed out. It was actually quite difficult to write, especially considering that there's no way of re-watching the episodes to make sure that I somewhat maintain continuity. Anyway, if anyone has any ideas for one-shots, then please let me know. In the meantime, reviews are always welcome!