Author's Note: I managed to get another chapter together despite all the things going on right now, kudos to me :P
As always thanks for the reviews/favourites/follows, it's a big motivator and reading the reviews are always the best part of uploading a new chapter, so thank you!

I had several ideas for this chapter and I lost count on how many times I have rewritten it, I am not completely satisfied with this but it was the best of the options but hopefully it will be okay.

Also, it was pointed out to me that I had completely forgot about the whole getting help with reading/writing thing so I squeezed that in this chapter.
I chose the option I was familiar with, my school had this option and my best friend went there so I kinda knows how it works with that option.

CHAPTER 31

While their classmates had an English lesson, Neal and four other students were sent to a smaller classroom where a teacher would give them the extra help that they needed for their various struggles.
At first Neal wasn't fond of the idea, partly because he felt even more stupid when he had to have a special teacher but also because he was very skeptical of the other kids.
After the day he had yesterday, he simply didn't like other kids and didn't think that they were anything but cruel.
It didn't take too long for him to change his mind though; the teacher was really kind and it was clear that she had experience with struggling children.
When the teacher was busy with another student, the other kids were quick to help him if they could, because they had all been where he was.
By the end of the lesson his self-confidence had been restored, he had felt like everyone else were so much smarter and better than him and that he was the only one who was struggling, but now he knew for sure that it wasn't the case.
He even managed to bond with the other kids, and his opinion about other kids had changed as well.
Neal left the room feeling great, but of course he wasn't allowed to feel good for long.
Curtis Hagen was leaning against the wall outside their classroom, looking like he had been waiting for Neal.
The kid immediately started to insult him for needing a special teacher, but Neal was determined to not get affected by it, at least he was until one of his new-found friends walked by.
The girl had tears in her eyes, clearly upset by Curtis' words, even if they weren't directed at her.
Curtis seemed to notice it too and in a swift movement he did the same thing he had done to Neal yesterday, he put his leg out and sent the poor girl to the floor and the papers she was carrying in her arms was sent flying.
Neal glared at Curtis before helping the girl collect the papers while Hagen just laughed like a madman.
It was a combination of Curtis' being mean to the girl, his own hurt and Hagen's endless laughter that caused yesterday's rage to return and without thinking, Neal pushed Curtis to the ground.
It felt so much better than he could he could ever have imagined, and for a second, he believed that he had won over the bully until Hagen started to cry loudly, almost screaming.
It didn't take long for Mrs. Fisher to appear and ask Curtis what had happened.

"HE PUSHED ME!"

Curtis wailed, pointing his finger at Neal, who quickly looked at the girl for some sort of help but she kept her head down, too scared of the bully to help.

"Is that what happened?"

Mrs. Fisher asked the girl, and she nodded before giving Neal an apologetic look.
The teacher turned to Neal with a stern look on his face, and he avoided her eyes.
Tears started to burn in his eyes when he saw the smirk on Curtis' face and he realized that he hadn't won at all.
Instead of standing up to a bully, he had simply gotten himself into trouble and that meant that the teacher would tell Elizabeth and Peter.
His stomach hurt when he thought of how disappointed they would be.
Neal felt like a cornered animal, and in lack of a better option, he followed his impulse and pushed past the teacher before running out of the school as fast as he possibly could.
It was simply what he did, if you boxed him in then he would run if he could.
He knew that running was an incredibly stupid decision, but for the moment it felt better than facing the anger and the disappointment.
At first he thought about running home, but that would be the first place they would look.
He then remembered that he had someone who was an expert on being in trouble, or rather an expert on getting out of it.
Of course, that person was also still unconscious in a hospital bed, but it would never hurt to try.

Neal stopped at the closest bus stop, and he didn't have to wait long before the bus arrived.
He looked up at the bus driver and asked him if it went to the hospital Mozzie was in.

"I'm sorry kid, it doesn't"

Neal responded by letting out a few crocodile tears that quickly turned into sobs, which caused the passengers on the bus to stare at the bus driver as if he had done something to make the child cry.

"This bus go to the central station, from there you can take a bus to the hospital okay?"

Neal nodded and he was told to find a seat, without even being asked about paying for a ticket.
An elderly lady offered him a seat next to him, and she entertained him the entire ride to the station, before accompanying him on the bus to the hospital.
Finally the bus stopped at the hospital and he said goodbye to the kind lady before thanking the bus driver for the ride, just like his mother had always done, before he got off the bus and walked into the hospital.
Neal had visited Mozzie so many times now that he had no trouble finding his way to his friend's room.
One of the nurses stopped him before he made it into the room, giving him a worried look since she didn't see Peter or Elizabeth around.

"Hey, sweetie. Are you here alone?"

She asked in a gentle, worried tone and Neal shook his head.

"Are you mommy or daddy here?"
"Yes, in the bathroom."

He answered and the nurse immediately looked calmer now that she thought that he wasn't unsupervised.
She let him go into Mozzie's room and once there he did what he always did, he sat down on the chair next to the bed and grabbed the man's hand before begging him to wake up.
At first his begging was solely focused on Mozzie waking up so he could ask for advice, but as the time passed and his friend still hadn't woken up, the troubles from school disappeared from his mind and was replaced by fear and sadness.
Even if everyone kept telling him that Mozzie would wake up and be just fine, he wouldn't stop fearing for the opposite until it actually happened.

"Please, Mozzie you have to wake up."

Neal begged and squeezed his hand tight, hoping to suddenly get a squeeze back.

"I need you, Mozzie."

He continued and then he started to sob, he wanted his begging to work but they never did, it didn't matter what he said, Mozzie couldn't hear him.
A low sound broke through his sobbing, and he went as quiet as he could.
The sound was repeated and this time he heard it clear enough to hear that it was a groan, and it was coming from Mozzie.
Just to make sure that he wasn't dreaming again, he pinched his arm but thankfully he didn't wake up.

"Neal?"

Mozzie's voice was barely audible and it sounded hoarse and gravelly.

"I'm here, Mozzie!"

He called out while squeezing, and he was rewarded by Mozzie's eyelids slowly opening and revealing two blue eyes.
Mozzie smiled while his eyes watered, something that confused Neal until he realized that Mozzie got shot when he was still kidnapped and the man hadn't known if Neal was alright or not.
That thought brought back the guilt that he felt, the guilt that had haunted his dreams.
Mozzie tried to say something else but instead he started to cough violently and Neal got scared, remembering his dream where Mozzie had coughed blood until he died.
Neal slammed the button to alert the nurse, before looking at Mozzie, begging that he wouldn't start coughing blood.

"He woke up!"

Neal exclaimed when the nurse arrived, even if the coughing fit made that fairly obvious.

"Is he okay?"

He asked but was just told to sit down and wait while the nurse performed some simple tests.
Neal did what he was told, and anxiously watched as the nurse checked Mozzie's sight, hearing and memory before asking him some questions about how he was feeling.

"I will have a doctor in here to take a closer look but your friend seems to be alright."

The nurse told Neal before she gave Mozzie some ice chips, which would be easier for him to get down than water, and she even gave one to Neal, who quickly spit it out, not liking the coldness in his mouth.
When the nurse had left the room, Neal got up from the chair and climbed up in the bed before he carefully snuggled up to Mozzie's side.

"You're gonna be okay, Mozzie."

Neal informed him, as if he hadn't been in the room when the nurse told him.
Mozzie just responded by a weak pat on Neal back.

"Mozzie are you mad at me?"
"Why would I?"

His voice was still low and rough but he could talk a little louder now at least.

"You got shot because I was stupid enough to get kidnapped."

Mozzie got a stern look on his face, and Neal feared that Mozzie would get really mad at him, just like in his nightmare but instead he got the exact opposite.

"If I ever hear you blaming yourself again, I'll feed you to Bugsy."

Mozzie said before starting to cough again while Neal giggled at the mental image he got of Mozzie trying to get the small pug to eat him.