Chapter Seven: Sunshine Day
Pete awoke in his hospital bed sometime that night. He felt a lot of pressure in his head, but not much pain; they must have been giving him the good stuff, whatever that meant. He had heard his dad refer to the stuff they gave you in a hospital as 'the good stuff'. An IV line attached to his arm dripped a clear substance, and he felt a bit woozy. After a moment of staring at the ceiling tiles, he tried to sit up, but was greeted by a head rush. It was dark outside, and he wasn't sure where his parents were. Had they gone home? He had been in and out of consciousness since he was brought in. He thought he had seen a police officer in his room earlier. He slowly worked his legs off of the bed, swinging them down, his bare feet touching the cold tile of the hospital floor. The light above him flickered, his small room being bathed in mostly shadows. He used his IV cart to steady himself as he slowly stood up, the head rush coming slower and more manageable this time. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, waiting for the head rush and the nausea that had crept up to subside; then he began walking towards the door. His entire body felt heavy.
He looked into his bathroom and thought about getting some water out of the tap, then decided against it. He didn't want to look in a mirror, he had caught a glimpse of his swollen eyes on the way in and almost threw up. His own appearance would only frighten him. He slowly made his way back to the bed, his clothes were in a small bag on the table next to the bed. He pulled his hospital gown around himself the best he could. He pulled out a dollar from his pants pocket and tried to ignore the smell of blood coming from inside the bag, scared it would make him nauseous again.
He slowly made his way to the door, and even lifting his arm to turn the knob seemed an impossible task. After a moment of difficulty, he pulled his door open. He was expecting the hallway to be better lit than his room, but to his surprise, it wasn't. The lights were flickering there as well. Pete peeked his head outside and observed the nurse's station was empty.
Weird, Pete thought, This hallway was a bustle of activity when I came in.
There was a soda machine at the end of the hallway, and Pete set a slow pace down the hall. His IV cart had squeaky wheels, but the noise was strangely comforting, and rhythmic. Something felt off about where Petey was at, and he was creeped out, the only thing keeping him from ripping the IV out of his skin and racing down the stairs and out the front door was the rhythmic squeak of the IV cart. He finally reached the machine and slowly smoothed out the rumpled dollar bill. The arm the IV was jammed into was worse off, it was uncomfortable to do anything with, so using both hands to fix the dollar so the machine would take it was an arduous task.
Pete almost laughed when he saw one of the sodas in the machine, 'Orang-o-Tang'. He remembered when they installed the current soda machine in the common room in the Boy's Dorm, when Pete was in seventh grade. Gary had mimed turning into a giant monkey after drinking it, chasing Petey down the hallway and tackling him once they reached their dorm room, tickling him until Pete was almost crying from laughter. Pete smiled at the memory.
Gary had been in such a good mood that day. They had walked down to Yum Yum Market and bought a tub of Neapolitan ice cream (coincidentally both of their favorite flavor), and stuffed their faces with it. It had been nice to be alone with Gary, they had been walking in a comfortable silence back to the school, when Pete suggested they study for an upcoming math test when they got back to the dorm. He knew Gary had been struggling with their latest assignments. Then Gary got mad and pushed Petey to the ground, accusing him of calling him stupid. Pete frowned at that memory, could Gary have been the one that rescued him tonight? Would he have even cared enough to beat the shit out of Mr. Burton like that? How would he have gotten out of Happy Volts?
A muffled voice behind Pete startled him out of his thoughts and he whipped his head around, much too fast than his body would have liked. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and his neck. He could see someone shuffling just in the shadows, down the hall near his room. Pete didn't like that, he felt trapped, like he couldn't get back to his room without interacting with this creepy person.
"H-hello?" Pete called down the hallway. The shuffling figure stopped pacing. They looked up at Pete and then stepped into the light. Pete squinted to get a better look at the person then his eyes opened wide when the figure started moving towards him. Mr. Burton shuffled towards him, the ski mask he had been wearing when he attacked Petey was tattered and torn, the bottom half completely ripped off exposing Mr. Burton's jaw. The top was ripped as well, and what looked like brain matter was seeping through. His clothes were torn, and he was wet.
Pete tried to scream but no sound escaped his lips. The ghostly form of Mr. Burton reached his hands out towards Pete, they were grey and looked like they were rotting, and his fingernails were hard and long like claws. They reached out impossibly far and Pete almost felt them clasp around his throat again when-
"Petey? Petey!" A voice was yelling, and his body was shaking. Petey awoke to his mother's concerned face staring down at him. Pete blinked, his senses returning him to the waking world. He was in his hospital bed, there was sunlight streaming through the window adjacent him, and his mother was sitting on his bed. There was no Mr. Burton with his brains falling out of his head ready to strangle the life out of him. Only a brightly lit hospital room.
"It's okay sweetheart, it was just a dream," Rebecca Kowalski said, wiping the sweat from her son's face. He was still breathing hard, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He sat up, greeted by a slight head rush he was able to push away, and took in his surroundings.
Hospital room, check.
He eyed his mother, who smiled warmly.
Concerned mother, check.
He looked at the clock on the wall, it was a little past ten in the afternoon.
Where the hell is dad?
As if reading his mind, his mother shook her head and smiled, "He's not at work, he took the day off. Your father took Zoe to the police station earlier because she didn't have a ride. I had no idea she was the one he..." She trailed off when Pete's eyes widened as if to say please don't talk about that mom. She looked down and Pete felt his heart surge when he saw her eyes start to well up with tears.
"Mom please don't, I'm okay I swear-" Pete started but she shushed him.
"Peter please just let me get this out," His mother insisted, the tears were starting to roll down her face. Peter silenced himself, but felt a pang of guilt in his heart for making his mother cry.
A mother should know, and I didn't. I had no idea you were in danger. At the carnival or at school but, horrible stuff has happened over and over again, and it seems like I'm the last to know. It's not fair," His mom dabbed her face with a tissue.
"Mom-" Pete started but she shushed him again.
"No, that's not the point I'm trying to make, I'm not blaming you for keeping me in the dark. I kept a lot of secrets from my parents at your age, I get it. You're entitled to privacy which is why I don't pry," She made a pointed glance toward his cell phone, which was hooked up to a charger on the table. Pete's eyes widened.
"I didn't read anything, swear on my life. I just brought your charger and a fresh pair of clothes. But there is one thing bothering me Peter, why didn't you tell me you were hanging out with Zoe Taylor again?"
Pete furrowed his brows in confusion.
"Why do you care? Zoe's not a bad kid, Mom."
His mom rolled her eyes and squeezed his hand.
"I know she's not a bad kid, Pete. Angela Taylor was my best friend for years. Still is on occasion, though we may never be again now that I know this is the reason they kicked Zoe out."
Pete cocked his head, "This...like, Mr. Burton? Her getting expelled?"
His mother nodded. Pete sat back against his bed, flabbergasted. He couldn't believe it, their daughter had been victimized by a sexual predator and they kicked her out of the house?!
"Anyway, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get emotional," His mother said, wiping her face.
"You don't have to tell me everything. That's fine, I expect that," His mother looked at him pointedly and he looked away bashfully, "But I want to know the good stuff, I want to celebrate it with you."
Could she handle that I'm attracted to guys? Pete wondered.
"M-Mom I-" A voice interrupted Pete from the hallway.
"Is he awake?" The voice called loudly. Zoe Taylor bounced into the room with Peter's father Joseph in tow.
"Yeah but I kinda wanna go back to sleep," Pete answered, with an over-exaggerated yawn, then stretching and cracking his joints.
"I don't think so buddy, you got a good night's sleep. Now we've gotta get you home," His mother said. Zoe walked up to her and Rebecca broke out into a huge grin.
"Zoe Taylor, look at you, I just..." She trailed off and enveloped the teenager into a warm hug. Pete noticed that Zoe was taken aback but then smiled. The two broke apart and Zoe cocked her head at Pete, grinning.
"So, how's your head?" She asked. Pete giggled.
"I have a few complaints," He answered. It took a moment for the joke to settle across the room and the adults rolled their eyes.
"Okay, let's give Pete some privacy to get changed and we'll go grab breakfast. How do pancakes sound?"
"Oh my god yes," Pete said a little too loudly. He started to get out of bed before he realized he was still wearing a hospital gown, and thankfully did not stand up. His dad handed him a plastic bag with some fresh clothes in it and he took it gratefully. He wasn't going to have to eat hospital food for breakfast? This day was already turning around.
