Standing in the Dark - Chapter Seven
How much they… hate you.
Hate you.
Hate. You.
Carlos squeezed his brown eyes shut as he came to a halt in front of Apartment 2J. The door was shut but he could tell it was unlocked by small crack between the doorframe and the door itself. Camille's words echoed in his ears and he shook his head, wishing more than anything that this was all just a horrible nightmare. He would give anything to be back in the studio, being yelled at by Gustavo and worn out by Mr. X.
They hate you.
After Camille had managed to stop Carlos' crying and walk him home, the two had departed in the lobby. The brunette had promised that soon, everything would get better again but Carlos had a hard time believing her. As he reached for the shiny doorknob, Carlos remembered the last words Camille had uttered as he stepped onto the elevator.
"Everything get's better in the end, Carlos. If it's not better, than it isn't the end."
He wasn't sure what she meant, but he didn't doubt her. Even though she was extremely likely to be bipolar and a very unpredictable actress, Camille Roberts had a tendency to be very wise. He trusted her. Things would get better, he knew it. He just wished that he knew when things would get better.
Turning the doorknob, Carlos pushed open the door and warily stepped into Apartment 2J – his home for the past three years. Closing the door behind him, Carlos turned to face the interior of the apartment, his stomach twisting in knots as he sensed that something was off. Taking a few steps into the apartment, Carlos took his wallet out of his pocket and placed it down on the white countertop, glancing into the living room as he did so.
Logan was sitting on the couch, staring at the wall just below the television across from him. The television was off and Logan just seemed to be staring off into space. As Carlos stared at the brunette, he expected the genius to turn and realize he was being watched, but it never happened. Carlos took a deep breath and cleared his throat, hoping to get a response. Nothing.
"L-Logan?"
The raven-haired boy blinked and turned his head to look at the small Latino, something like fear dancing in his brown irises. He stared at Carlos for a moment before his jaw twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but remained silent.
"Are you… okay?" Carlos asked, hoping Logan didn't take the opportunity to yell at him again.
"I'm fine." Logan cleared his throat as his voice cracked on the second word. "But you aren't."
Carlos frowned slightly in confusion, staring at Logan with wide eyes. "W-what do you mean?"
"James found the hole in the wall. Kendall's pissed."
"The… hole?"
"Don't play dumb, Carlos." Logan snapped, standing up and facing the younger boy, "We all know you did it. Who else would be stupid enough to take out their anger on a wall?"
Carlos took a step back, looking confused. "That was like, a month ago!"
"Well, like, apparently, James didn't see it until this morning." Logan mocked, smirking the slightest bit as he took a step towards Carlos. "Why did you do it anyway? Got angry because nobody wants to be friends with a pathetic little faggot like you?"
Carlos felt tears start to swell in his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted as the front door slammed.
"Look who finally came home. What took you so long? Too busy taking pictures of everything as if the world is going to end?" Kendall spat angrily as he stormed across the room towards Carlos, towering over the Latino with fiery green eyes.
"N-no, I was just-"
"Listen, I don't care about what you do with your pathetic life outside of this apartment – but I do care that you put a hole in my wall." Kendall cut him off, getting close to Carlos' face in anger.
"Your wall? Kendall, this apartment belongs to all-"
"Watch out, Ken. You're too close. He might try to seduce you." James spoke up, announcing he presence in the apartment. Carlos hadn't even noticed the brunette enter to room. He was too busy focusing on Kendall, whose anger seemed to be growing with each passing second.
"Right. Don't want those dirty hands on me." Kendall smirked, taking a step back. Now, Logan, Kendall, and James stood in a line in front of Carlos, glaring at him with so much hatred.
"G-guys, I'm sorry about-" Carlos began, but was cut off as James slapped him across the face.
There was silence in the apartment as Carlos stood in shock, his cheek turning red from the mark James left. A shaky hand brought it's way up to the tan skin on Carlos' cheek, jaw dropping softly. If there was anyone that Carlos thought would never hit him, it was James. The two had been best friends since the second grade, practically brothers. Nothing had ever separated them and he didn't think that would start now. He thought that, even if the worst did occur, James would come around. Clearly, that fantasy had been short lived.
"J-James…"
"Oh! Logan! I forgot to mention. I saw faggot-boy here having lunch with Camille today. He seemed a little too interested in what she had to say." Kendall's eyes brightened as he spoke, turning to face Logan who glared at Carlos with furious eyes.
"Why were you having lunch with my girlfriend?" Logan snarled, taking a step towards Carlos, causing him to stumbled backwards.
"She's my friend. I-" Once again, Carlos was cut off.
"I don't want to hear that you are ever in her presence from now on. If you go anywhere near her, I will beat the living hell out of you." Logan threatened, taking another step towards the Latino, who backed into the wall in fear.
"But-"
Before Carlos could even process what was happening, Logan's fist connected with the side of his face. Stumbling sideways a little, Carlos regained his posture before staring at Logan in anger. If Logan wanted a fight, he was going to get a fight. Throwing a punch at the raven's face, Carlos gasped when a strong hand stopped his fist.
James had stepped in front of Logan and was glaring at Carlos with so much anger, the Latino was sure that he was dead. "Don't. You. Dare. Hit. Logan."
"Why? Are you afraid that I'll hurt your boyfriend?" Carlos taunted, smirking in James' face. He wasn't going to let Kendall, James, and Logan bring him down that easily. He was willing to put up a fight – even if that meant going one against three.
Before he knew it, Carlos felt James' fist slam into his stomach and his body instantly crumpled to the floor. He was met by two kicks to his ribs by the oldest boy and squeezed his eyes shut, not knowing what to expect next. He felt someone grab him by the collar and his body left the ground. Opening his eyes, his brown irises were met by a pair of green fire.
"When I'm done with you, you're going to wish that you were never born, Garcia." Kendall snarled dangerously as he slammed Carlos' small body into the wall. Carlos groaned in pain as his head was slammed against the hard surface of the wall, but refused to speak. He didn't want to make this harder than it had to be.
After a few swift punches to his stomach, Carlos felt Kendall release his collar and the boy fell to the ground again, arm wrapped around his torso. He opened his eyes and looked up at the three men who stood overhead, but was instantly met by a kick to the face. He felt his nose crack and he yelled out in pain as he fell over onto his side.
"You worthless piece of shit." Carlos wasn't sure who said it, but the words hurt like a scorching fire as his body was met by several more kicks. The beating went on for a few painful minutes until everything stopped. Carlos remained on the floor, sobbing into the hardwood floor as blood poured from his nose and several cuts all over his body. He wrapped his arms around his body, the pain causing him to keep his eyes shut tight.
He heard the sounds of the front door slamming, and by the silence that followed, he concluded that the three monsters that were once his friends, were gone. For now.
Slowly opening his eyes, he saw that the lights had been turned off. He pushed himself into a sitting position and remained that way until the pain eased enough for him to stand up. Using the wall, the counter, the table, anything, for support, Carlos made his way across the room and towards the front door. He had to get out of there. Who knows what the monsters would do when they returned.
He found it nearly impossible the gather the energy to turn the doorknob and pull the door open, but he managed to complete the task and stumble into the hallway.
There were no signs of any of the Palm Woods residents as he staggered down the hallway, leaning on the wall and pausing every few steps to catch his breath. There was no doubt that he had more than a few broken ribs, but he didn't care. He had to get as far away from the apartment as he could.
He wasn't sure how he did it – but Carlos made it all the way to the elevator at the end of the never ending hall, managed to remain standing as he punched the large silver number on the key pad, and dragged himself down another torturously long hallway towards apartment 4J.
He knocked on the wooden door weakly and waited for what seemed like hours until the door was slowly pulled open. The confused face of Camille, who was wearing a pink tank top and a pair of striped pajama bottoms, greeted him. Carlos didn't know what time it was, but apparently it was late if Camille was getting ready for bed. The brunette took in the sight in front of her before stepping forward and pulling the Latino into a gently hug. She said no words as she stepped back into the darkness of her apartment, picked up her keys, and walked into the hallway where her injured friend stood.
"Let's get you to the hospital." She whispered as he used her shoulder for support and the two slowly made their way towards the elevator.
On the way to the hospital it began to rain and the soft patter of raindrops on the window relaxed Carlos enough to send him to sleep. As Camille sat behind the wheel at the stoplight two blocks from the large building, she glanced over at the sleeping boy. Dried tracks of blood trickled from his nose and his left eye was swollen once more. His hair was ruffled ad dirty and there was a cut above his swollen eye. She could tell that his torso was in worse condition by the way he was sitting and how his arm was wrapped tightly across his stomach.
There was no doubt in her mind that the boys had done this. She didn't know why, but this wasn't the time to find out. She had to get Carlos help. For all she knew, he could be suffering from serious internal bleeding and had to get to the hospital as soon as possible.
She pulled into the hospital parking lot just outside the Emergency Room and reached over to lightly shake Carlos' shoulder. The Latino stirred but didn't open his eyes, only replying to Camille with a simple grunt.
"Come on, Carlos. We're here." She whispered softly.
Carlos opened his eyes; pain etched out across his features, and sat up. Camille quickly climbed out of the drivers seat and made her way to Carlos' side. There was no way he would be able to make it into the ER without her assistance. Normally, she would be freaking out about getting soaked in the rain, but Carlos needed her and she could care less about a little bit of water.
Helping her injured friend out of the car, Camille began to guide Carlos across the parking lot. He stopped every few feet, swaying slightly and Camille felt as though she was supporting him more than he was supporting himself. Her shoulder ached slightly from the man's weight but she was determined to get him help.
The two finally made it to the double doors just outside the ER and she pushed him inside. She pushed him into one of the chairs by the door and couldn't help but notice how quickly he fell asleep. Walking across the lobby to the front desk, Camille smiled warily at the nurse behind the counter.
"Name?"
"Carlos Garcia."
"You don't look like a man."
Camille glared at the woman in annoyance as she gestured across the room to the sleeping teen in the chair. "I'm not Carlos. He is. And he needs help."
"Well, Miss Attitude, please fill out these papers and we'll see what we can do." The nurse handed Camille a clipboard with several papers hooked to it and a pen dangling from a metal chain. The brunette stared at the papers for a minute before realizing that the nurse didn't understand the urgency of the situation.
"Excuse me? He needs help now!" She screeched, slamming the clipboard down on the counter in frustration.
"Listen, sweetie, he looks fine to me." The nurse barely glanced at Carlos before making this statement, reverting her attention away from Camille and to a magazine that lay on the desk before her.
The girl frowned and glanced back at her unconscious friend before a rather brilliant idea came to her. Turning back to the nurse, who was reading an article about some Kardashian drama, Camille widened her eyes and forced herself to start tearing up. It wasn't that difficult, given the situation and the hurt she felt in her heart for Carlos.
"He is most definitely not fine! He was coming home from work and then it started to rain and he thought it would be faster to run and he missed the crosswalk because it's nearly impossible to see out there and he thought no cars were coming and he ran across the street and a car came and hit him and he hit the concrete and there was blood and the driver didn't even bother to check if he was okay and-" Camille frantically rambled, making herself sound as desperate as possible.
The nurse's eyes widened and she stood up, walking around the desk and grabbing Camille by the shoulders. "Sweetie, sweetie, calm down. Your friend will be fine, all right? We'll take him back right now."
The nurse turned away and punched a button on the control pad behind the desk before making her way across the lobby towards Carlos. Several nurses scurried out from behind the double door and rushed over to the injured Latino, brushing past Camille without a word. The brunette wiped away her fake tears and smiled to herself. If only her acting coach could see her now.
She watched as a male nurse picked Carlos up bridal style and set him down on a gurney and the mob of nurses wheeled him past her and back into the Emergency Room. Making a move to follow them, Camille felt someone grab her by the elbow and she quickly turned to face the nurse who had doubted her at first.
"You'll have to wait until they're done examining him to go back there. I'm sorry, sweetie, but it's policy."
Nodding, Camille slid down into one of the many chairs, letting her face drop into her hands as she took a deep breath.
"Things won't be getting better for a long time."
Hey guys!
I finally got around to updating this story! I hope you guys like the new chapter - I have a headache just from writing it. Which usually is a good sign. I think.
So, did you guys like it? Hate it? It is the first actual hospital scene I've written, so please tell me what you thought about it! All reviews are appreciated!
Also, if you noticed any errors such as typos, things I repeated, things that I didn't make clear, or anything wrong with this story, please tell me about it. I wrote this in a hurry and with a headache so I'm sure there must be an error somewhere in there. I can't decide if I like this chapter or not - I'm too lazy to proof read it, but I would greatly appreciate it if you told me what you think!
See you guys later!
-Carnie