It's pretty short we were preparing for my dad's birthday tomorrow. There will be a chapter tomorrow but as it is my dad's birthday it will also be on the short side.
Ch. 39 Wounds
(OWEN)
"Owen your mom just called, your brother is in the hospital in critical condition. You c…" Simpson is saying and I run out before he finishes. I jump in my car and race to the hospital. When I come into the emergency entrance I see my mom in the waiting room. She's crying and hugs me tightly when she sees me.
"Mom where is he? What the hell happened?"
"He was beaten Owen. Tris, Riley and Zane all were beaten sometime last night and just left. They were found this morning," Mom tells me and my fists clench. My chest is tight with anger and I grind my teeth. Whoever did this to my brother and his boyfriends I will find them and I will make them pay.
"They took their wallets; it was a gang robbery. Beating up three friends," a man sighs shaking his head. By the look of him I'd say he's Riley's dad. Only they aren't friends they're all dating but I guess not all the families know that. Not all the parents are as understanding as mine so I don't dispute him.
"I called your father he's flying back on the next flight," Mom tells me. Dad is out on a business trip and left yesterday.
I sit down to wait for news but I want to be out there looking for whoever put my brother and his boyfriends in the hospital. Zane's parents are called over first, the nurse talks to them for a moment and then they go down the hall. They look worried yet relieved so Zane must be mostly okay. A short time later the nurse calls Mom and I over.
"Tristan is being taken to recovery. He's in room twelve one floor up, Dr. Silva will be outside his room to talk to you," the nurse tells us and points us to the elevator. We find Tristan's room and the doctor standing out front.
"Mrs. Milligan?" The doctor asks.
"Yes, this is Tristan's brother Owen."
"Tristan has a minor concussion, he broke three ribs, his left arm was dislocated and broken in two places. He stabilized it and put some pins in. He may need further reconstructive surgery on his arm but right now getting it stabilized and the blood flowing was the most important. He has a lot of bruising, especially in his abdomen and the blows were hard enough to bruise some of his organs, he was lucky to avoid internal bleeding. Still internal injuries and head injuries can be deceptive and we'll be keeping him for several days for observation. You can go in and see him but it will take him a little bit to full come around from the anesthesia."
"Thank you Doctor," Mom says and we go into Tristan's room.
Mom takes a couple of steps into the room and when she sees Tristan she gasps. I put my arm around her and we walk to Tristan's bed. I sit down and at my brother's bedside and look at him. Mom sits down and takes his hand carefully.
"Don't worry little brother I will find who did this to you and I will make them pay," I swear to my brother.
We sit for a while just watching Tris and waiting for him to wake up. Dad sends a text that he got a flight but it will still be about five hours before he can join us at the hospital. His flight isn't for two hours, it's almost a two-hour flight. We know Tris is starting to wake up when he groans.
"We're here Tristan, we're here with you," Mom tells him.
He's got two black eyes and his right one is so swollen he can't even open it but his left one opens a little. He groans and then coughs a little, and his eyes close again.
"Mom?"
"I'm here Honey and so is Owen, Dad's on his way," Mom tells him.
"I ca…" Tris begins and then starts coughing.
"Just rest little bro," I command him.
"I'll go get the doctor," Mom says getting up and going out of the room.
"They beat us," Tris says. His voice is scratchy and weak; he coughs a bit. "They beat us because we're gay," Tris says and then starts coughing again.
"I'll kill them," I assure my brother just as Mom returns with the doctor.
"How do you feel Tristan?" The doctor asks as he starts examining Tris.
"Pain," Tris replies.
"We can probably get you something for that. Can you tell me where it hurts the most?"
"My side, my arm, my stomach," Tris says with a strained breath.
"You had some badly broken ribs, that's why you're having some strained breathing and a lot of pain there. Just to be safe I think we should send you for an MRI," Doctor Silva comments looking at Tristan's vital signs. "Mrs. Milligan please come with me," the doctor says and Mom leaves the room with him.
A couple minutes later Mom returns and then some people come in and start unhooking Tris from the machines and monitors. His bed is moveable and they take him out of the room and down the hall. Mom goes with him but I stay here, not in Tristan's room but I walk down the hall looking for Riley and Zane's rooms. I find Riley's first because it's right next to Tristan's. I look in from the doorway but Riley is worse off than Tris. He's still unconscious, his head and most of his face is bandaged, his leg is in traction, he's hooked up to all the monitors and an IV but he's also on oxygen. I don't want to disturb his parents so I continue walking, looking for Zane's room. I walk all up and down the hall but I don't see it. So I go to the nurse's station on this floor.
"I'm looking for Zane Park's room, he was brought in with my brother Tristan Milligan."
"His room is one floor up, he didn't need to be in the ICU," she tells me after looking at her computer.
"Thanks," I reply and go to the elevator to go up one floor and find Zane's room easily. I peek in the doorway and Zane ushers me inside.
"How's Tris?"
"He's got some broken ribs, a broken arm and a lot of bruises. They took him for an MRI because he was struggling to breathe a little and he's in pain."
"What about Riley? Have you heard anything about him?"
"I peeked in his room but it doesn't look good. He's all bandaged, hi leg is in traction, he's not even conscious. I didn't want to disturb his parents but he looked pretty bad. How about you? You seem to be doing okay?"
"Compared to them yeah I got off pretty easy. Of course I got knocked out early and didn't wake up until I was in the hospital."
"What happened? Tris said they beat you up because you gay," I remark and then look at Zane's parents realizing I maybe shouldn't have said that.
"It's okay they know everything," Zane tells me and his parents nod. "The three of us had been to a movie, another group of guys were there. They were sitting in front of us but they looked back several times during the movie. When we left we were walking back to my place and the group of guys followed us. We didn't realize it at first but they began making comments. They knew we were gay because they'd been watching us, they were making comments about us all sleeping together and some other derogatory comments. We were ignoring them, we just kept walking thinking they'd get bored. Then one of them picked up a rock and hurled at it at us. We didn't know until the rock hit Riley on the shoulder and he cried out. Then they just attacked us. Two of them grabbed me and shoved me to the ground, started punching another was kicking me and I passed out."
"Did you get a good look at them?"
"The cops were just in here asking me that and I described them as best I could but I mostly just saw the one sitting on me and punching me. Tris may have gotten a better look at them."
"I should get back down there, he's probably back by now."
"Tell Tris I'll come and see him as soon as they let me."
"Yeah I will," I smile.
"And Owen, Riley's parents don't know any of it. They think we're best friends. They're pretty strict Greek Orthodox they wouldn't take it too well."
"I won't say anything to them," I assure him and leave Zane's room.
I get back to Tristan's room and Mom says the MRI revealed a little blood in Tristan's lungs. But the doctor didn't find any tears or punctures in his lungs, so they think he breathed it in during the attack after biting his lip. They'll drain the blood and it should help him breathe but they'll keep him on oxygen for a while. The whole time he's getting the blood drained Tris has his eyes closed and his pretty out of it. Mom and I stay in his room anyway; I only leave when my phone rings. It's Clare and I step out of the room to talk to her without disturbing Tris.
"Hey."
"How's Tris?"
"He, Riley and Zane were all beaten badly by some homophobic jerks and if I find them I will rip their heads off. Zane is okay he got knocked out, he's got a black eye, fat lip and a fractured wrist, probably some fractured ribs too but he got off easy. Tris has two black eyes, his face is all bruised, the doctor said his abdomen too. He's got broken ribs and a severely broken arm. Still he's not as bad as Riley, he's not even conscious and it doesn't look good."
"Tell Tris we're thinking of him and let us know if you need anything," Clare says.
"Yeah I will," I reply and hang up returning to Tristan's room.
(CLARE)
"Does Owen know who beat Tris?" Fitz asks.
"No but if he finds out he'll kill them," I reply.
It's lunch and we ate with everyone in the memorial garden. I wanted to avoid the caf where the Ice Hounds would be eating. I called Owen before we ate to find out how Tris was.
"You guys hear about the party at Anya's place Saturday? It's to welcome Jeff's sister," Drew says.
"Samantha's coming?" I question.
"Yeah Jeff didn't tell you?" Drew asks.
"We haven't exactly spoken much," I mumble and everyone looks from me to Fitz.
"Hey don't look at me I'd never dream of telling her who she can and can't speak to I'm not that stupid," Fitz replies.
"Well we're all invited," Drew says.
"We should tell Owen when we go to the hospital to see Tris after school," Bianca comments.
"Yeah I'm sure Owen will need a party but I'm not sure he'll want to leave Tris. I wonder if he'll make his date with Vanessa on Friday?" Drew ponders just before the bell rings.
We leave the memorial garden and split up to go to our lockers. Fitz walks to drama with his arm around me and Mrs. Dawes tells us to sit in the back of the room. We sit on a sofa with Drew, when Jeff comes in I smile briefly and then look away. Miss Dawes reads to us and then calls up other people to participate in scenes. While Drew and Fitz are doing a scene I move a little closer to Jeff.
"You didn't tell me Samantha was coming."
"I found out yesterday, you've been avoiding me."
"You should have told me you on the Ice H…"
"Clare, Jeff perhaps you'd like to do a scene together? You had a lot of chemistry yesterday," Miss Dawes grins.
"Sure," Jeff says standing up and I get up as well.
Unlike yesterday she has us do a comical scene, it's not nearly as funny as watching Drew and Craig lust for each other like yesterday but it's funny. I sit down again between Fitz and Drew and we watch a couple more scenes before class is over. Fitz walks me to my next class and kisses me at the door. After Adam and I go to the steps to wait for everyone. I watch the Ice Hounds get on the bus and see that same puck bunny flirting with Jeff and I grind my teeth.
"Hey Clare," Dallas says from behind me and I turn around, "the bus is stopping at the hospital to pick up Owen and see Tris you want to come with us?"
"We'll meet you there," Adam says.
"Thanks," smile at my brother and walk with Dallas to the bus.
"I told Clare we'd give her a ride to the hospital," Dallas explains when we get on the bus. "You can sit in the back with Jeff," Dallas says.
I walk to the back and sit next to Jeff. He grins at me but I look away.
"Are you that mad at me for not telling you Samantha was coming?"
"Not just that?"
"Then what is it?"
"I'm not talking about it on a bus full of your teammates," I respond.
When the bus pulls up to the hospital everyone gets off and walks in. Jeff and I follow but when he sees an empty room he pulls me in and locks the door.
"Okay talk," Jeff asserts.
The update next Saturday will pick up from right here and might just get to Owen and Vanessa's date.