Chapter 14 Broken families…
The outside if the building is lined up with people. Friends, family, paramedics, police officers, ordinary spectators and then there are the reporters.
The moment they found out where the boys were hidden this whole year, the media jumped on it. Within minutes the old prison was swarmed by everyone interested to see what had happened and how the boys were. Even some fans showed up.
Tape is lined up across the building, making sure to give the boys privacy. Who knows what might have happened to them. Their families want to keep them safe. This is why reporters were ordered to go away immediately.
Everyone watches as the police officers head inside. They hold their breath as they wait for the first officer to come back out. No one knows what to expect. A year was a long time. Anything could have happened.
But the moment the door opens again, no one is able to make a single sound. They all watch in silence as one officer holds the door open. Then a loud gasp is heard as two officers come out with a trembling Kendall between them.
Jennifer and Katie Knight stare in shock when they see the state he is in. Just one year ago the four boys disappeared suddenly. They had still been laughing, having fun and then they were gone.
But here is Kendall. The once so confident leader of the group, always a big mouth to other people and standing up for his friends whenever anyone got into trouble. Now… he looks like a lost child, thin, eyes wide open and looking terrified. He looks vulnerable as he tries to avoid everyone's gazes. His once strong tall frame is now thin, frail, pale looking and his eyes look haunted, with big bags under his eyes.
Mother and daughter stare in shock and share one look, before shooting underneath the tape and running towards the boy. Officers try to stop them, but nothing can get in their way now. The blond green-eyed boy is being led to an awaiting ambulance and the two run faster to catch up.
Tears run down their faces when they finally reach the back of the ambulance.
"Kendall!" Katie cries out, making her big brother turn around. He looks in disbelief at his younger sister. It takes one second to look at her and his mother to make him break down sobbing. The officers try to hold him, but Katie pushes them out of the way and grabs hold of her brother, crying with him. Their mother quickly joins them and together they cry on the ground.
They look up when they hear the door opening again.
"Oh my god…" Jennifer Knight cries out and she puts a hand in front of her mouth. She watches in shock as an officer emerges with Carlos in his arms.
The boy looks just as thin, pale and fragile as Kendall. But this isn't what shocks them the most. It's the dead look in his eyes and the way his body is hanging completely limp in the officer's arms.
"Carlos? Mom, is he.." Katie starts while still sobbing. Kendall just stares with a quivering bottom lip. Soon, he looks away with a look of guilt, which no one has noticed.
The officer rushes towards another ambulance. The Knights stare after him and then at the Latino woman who follows fast.
Sylvia Garcia is in total shock when she finally sees her son. She hardly recognizes him. She chokes back a sob when they load him onto a stretcher.
"Carlos?" She quietly asks, leaning down to him and grabbing his hand. "It's me, mijo. You're okay now… Carlos? Baby?" She softly calls out, but she gets no response whatsoever. He just stares ahead with no emotion. Sylvia trails a bruise on his jaw with a trembling hand. "God, what did they do to you… my beautiful boy…"
Paramedics head over to Kendall, wanting to treat him. But Jennifer is shocked to find her son cling to her at once, trying to get away from them.
"Sweetie, it's okay. They just want to help you." She tries to coax him, but he just holds on tighter. She throws the paramedics a helpless look. "Can I just, can I come with him?" She asks them and they nod sympathetically.
Just then the door opens a third time and a loud cry rings out. Jennifer looks behind her and sees Brooke Diamond clasp her hands over her mouth in shock.
Sylvia has also turned her gaze towards the door now and sees her husband and another officer lead Jams outside. More tears flow down her face as she watches the bruised boy. His eyes are wild and they dart back and forth between the officers and something behind him.
There are deep slashes seen on his chest as his shirt is torn in certain places. His face is covered in cuts and also a long slash.
"Oh my god.. What did they do? Oh, you're beautiful face…" Brooke Diamond calls out. Jennifer and Sylvia both feel like slapping her when hearing that comment.
The mother also shoots towards her son. But before she can reach him, reporters have somehow broken through the tape. They flash their cameras at the pretty one of the group. He squeezes his eyes shut at the sudden blindness of the lights. Just then, he starts to wobble on his feet. Loud gasps are heard when he suddenly collapses.
Antonio Garcia can feel more and more anger boiling up inside of him when the reporters show up and make James faint. He grits his teeth and calls another officer. The young man runs over and he hands James over to him.
Antonio walks closer to one reporter, who is now taking pictures of the unconscious James. He grabs the camera at once, ripping it out of his hands and smashing it on the ground.
The reporter looks at him with a glare.
"Hey, that was my camera! That was expensive, dude!" he exclaims as he tries to pick up the pieces of his camera.
But Antonio just stares at him with hatred. In one movement he grabs the reporter by his shirt and throws him t the ground. The other reporters watch in shock when the first punch is thrown with a sickening thud.
The other parents whip their heads around when they hear the sudden yelling near the door. They stare with wide eyes as a furious Antonio Garcia beats up a helpless reporter on the ground, while James is being carried to an ambulance.
"Garcia, Garcia!" Another officer calls out as he and his partner rush up to haul their colleague of the reporter.
"Let me go, he deserved it!" He screams in rage and struggles in the officer's grasps.
"Antonio, calm down. He is just a reporter. He is not to blame for what happened!" Officer Parker yells as he tries to pull his colleague away. Officer Garcia is breathing heavily.
"I have to blame someone, we can't just let them get away with this.." He exclaims with wild eyes.
"I know and we will do everything we can to find the bastards and lock them up. But don't take your anger out on innocent people." Parker tells him. "Now go and be with your wife and son. We can take it from here."
Officer Garcia nods at first, but then turns back. "No, wait. Our other son, Alex. He went missing too. I need to find him." He calls back and wants to head inside, but Parker stops him.
"We'll find him, don't worry. Just go comfort your wife. She needs you right now." He turns around and sees his wife trembling as she holds their son's unmoving hand. He reluctantly shifts his gaze towards the prison door one more time, before hurrying over to his wife and gathering her crying form into his arms.
Brooke Diamond in the meantime is screaming at the paramedics handling her son. "Get him to the hospital, now! I want to speak to a plastic surgeon right away and if there are any more reporters taking pictures, I will sue all of you!" She screams, when suddenly two arms engulf her into an embrace. She turns around in shock and finds herself looking into the worried eyes of her ex-husband. "What are you doing here?"
"he's my son, too, Brooke. Just calm down and let these people treat him. They're doctors, they know what they're doing." He reassures her and pulls her into a hug. The woman glares and refuses to hug him back.
The man sighs and lets go of her. She immediately glares and goes to sit next to her son in the ambulance. She takes his hand and shoots her ex-husband a look.
He rolls his eyes and puts up his hands in surrender. He steps back as they close the doors of the ambulance and drive off with the sirens wailing. He stares with a deep sigh, shaking his head.
As he turns around he can just see the Mitchells running towards their son, who is also being led outside now. He is already crying in their arms as they hold him tight and help him towards a fourth ambulance.
At the first ambulance, Kendall is being led inside while he holds on tightly to his mother's shirt. Katie argues with a paramedic when he tries to keep her outside. He loses fast and she glares as she steps inside as well.
But right before the doors close, another loud scream is heard. Everyone stops dead in their tracks as their eyes charge back to the Garcia's. Sylvia has dropped to the ground, her hands covering her mouth as she screams and cries.
Everyone's eyes quickly dart to Carlos, but he doesn't look different. He still lies on the gurney, eyes vacant, body unmoving.
Antonio stands next to his wife in shock, anger and pain crossing his features. Officer Parker stands next to them as he tells them something.
Just then a gasp is heard as the door opens again and two officers carry out a gurney. But the person on it isn't visible to anyone as a sheet covers it.
Sylvia Garcia screams louder and runs towards the body. Antonio tries to stop her, but his eyes become haunted when she grabs a hold of the sheet and pulls it off.
There underneath the sheet Travis Diamond recognizes the younger Garcia boy, Alex. Sylvia throws herself onto him, holding the boy to her chest as she wails.
Jennifer and Katie watch with wide eyes, keeping them on the dead 11 year-old until the doors of the ambulance close and they drive off in the distance.
Steve and Joanna Mitchell hold their son close. Together they watch in shock as th Garcia's have to say goodbye to one of their own. They suddenly notice Logan has started to tremble. Joanna is the first to shift her gaze back to him and her eyes widen.
Logan has turned as white as a sheet. He trembles and his eyes are wide, fixated on Alex' body. He clutches his mother and father's shirts and his breathing becomes labored suddenly.
"Logan? Logan.." She starts., but the boy doesn't seem to hear her. Paramedics rush over to them.
"He's going into shock. We need to get him to the hospital, now!" One man yells. Joanna and Steve hold each other close as their son is led away from them and placed onto a gurney. A breathing mask is placed over his face. His eyes look frantic and the parents hurry into the ambulance, each taking hold of a hand.
"Mr. Garcia? We really need to take your son to the hospital now. He needs to be looked over." A female paramedic tells the distraught father as he stills stares at his dead younger son in shock. He faintly nods and grabs a hold of his wife.
She is still sobbing and holding onto her boy for dear life.
"Sylvia.. Sylvia, we need to go. Carlos needs us.." He tries, but she just shakes her head and cries.
"My baby… My poor baby…" She chants as she rocks back and forth.
"Sylvia, they need to take Carlos to the hospital. He needs us right now."
"Alex needs us.."
"We can't do anything for him anymore…" Antonio gulps. "He's gone…"
"No, no!" She cries out and he grabs a tighter hold on her, trying to pull her away.
"Come on.." He quietly tells her, but she fights him. Luckily, he's strong and manages to pull her away. She immediately falls into his arms. He holds her close and takes one more look at his son, before the paramedics pull the sheet over him again. "Come on, Carlos is waiting.." Together the broken parents walk towards the last ambulance. It leaves soon after.
The people left behind either head for the hospital or head home as soon as the boys are out and away. Only a few of them manage to see the second body being taken out of the prison. But no screaming or crying is heard this time. Her parents are nowhere to be found.
At the hospital chaos ensues when the reporters show up there before the ambulances show up. Security has to fight them off to make sure they can't take pictures as the four BTR boys arrive one by one.
All four boys are rushed inside the ER, doctors screaming orders and their families asked to stay back.
Jennifer Knight watches with pain in her eyes as Kendall is forced to let go of her shirt. She breaks down crying the moment his gurney turns the corner.
Katie tries her best to comfort her mother, but it is all too much for the young teenager to go through alone. She is so grateful when the other parents come in sight. She wants to run over, be crushed into a hug by someone, anyone. But everyone is breaking down and she is left alone once again.
Luckily there is one parent who has noticed. Travis Diamond suddenly takes her mother into a hug with one arm, pulling Katie to his chest with the other. She gratefully accepts his warm hug and buries her crying face into his chest.
The parents all take refuge in the waiting room. Each waiting to hear how bad the situation is and how soon they can see their sons again.
The minute a doctor comes through the doors, everyone shoots up from their chairs.
"Kendall Knight?" Jennifer and Katie rush over, anxious to hear how he is doing. "I'm Dr. Franklin, I'll be treating Kendall. I have to say, I'm surprised he doesn't seem to have too many physical injuries. The boys are all dehydrated and underweight from the lack of food and water. But Kendall doesn't have a lot of injuries. This should be a good thing, but I am very worried about his emotional state. I believe your son is more emotionally scarred than anything. We don't know what he saw or went through, because he won't talk about it. But he has been asking for you, Mrs. Knight."
The two take the information in with some relief but a lot of worry as well.
"So, can we see him?" Jennifer hesitantly asks.
"Right now we are moving him to another room, so you'll have to wait a little bit. But I will come and get you once he's settled."
The other parents sit back down as the doctor leaves.
A while later the door opens again to a different doctor.
"Logan Mitchell?" The Mitchells slowly stand up and walk over the friendly looking doctor. "I'm Dr. Sanders. Your son is doing all right. We are administrating fluids to him right now to rehydrate him. We had to sedate him, because he went into shock on the way here. So he is resting right now. Now, your son only supports a few minor bruises. But we do think there might be injuries we can't see. We'll have to wait for him to wake up to find out how he's doing."
"Thank you, doctor." Steve Mitchell tells the man and he nods.
"Like Kendall, your son is being moved at the moment. We made sure to put them in the same room, since they might need each other's support."
Again the doctor leaves and everyone waits in silence.
It takes a long time for a third doctor to walk through the door and when he does, everyone looks anxious. The doctor looks worn as he pinches the bridge of his nose. He takes a deep breath before stepping up to the parents waiting.
"Mr. and Mrs. Garcia?" He asks, his voice sounding strained.
"yes.." Antonio calls out as he pulls his broken wife to her feet. He's not sure they are ready for more bad news, which he feels like they are about to receive.
"Now this might be hard to hear for you and I suggest we go somewhere more private to discuss it." The doctor says.
"Oh god…" Sylvia starts, already fearing the worst.
"No. These people are all his family, too. They can hear it." Antonio bravely mentions. He doesn't know why he feels the need to do this, but he knows once they receive the bad news, he might not be strong enough to share it with the others. Might as well have them hear it right away.
"Alright. We found old bruising, probably from when they were first taken. Now we did find some newer bruises, mainly around his neck and jaw. Others were found on his hips and thighs."
A gasp is heard as Jennifer Knight seems to have realized where the conversation is going. Antonio Garcia gulps hard as he also recognizes the intention of the doctor's story.
"Go on.." he softly tells the doctor, who clears his throat.
"I'm afraid we found evidence of sexual abuse on your son." There it was. The sentence none of them ever wanted to hear. Antonio finally realizes why he found his son in the state he was in. the sentence echoes through his brain. "We had to run a rape kit to be sure and we were able to confirm it. I'm afraid no DNA was left behind as they cleaned him up apparently right after. But as you have seen, it has left a big impact on his emotional state."
They nod as they hear the news. Sylvia sheds even more tears as her husband holds her close. That bastard… Whoever did this was going to pay dearly. If he could ever find him…
"He is awake right now and unexpectedly he is coherent." They look up in surprise at this. "But I am afraid the situation has left him in a very negative mindset. He doesn't seem to care about anything right now and I would highly recommend for you to find him a counselor. In the state he is in right now, we have decided to keep him on suicide watch."
"Oh my god…" Sylvia chokes out another sob as the others look on in shock.
"He is being moved into the room with the other boys right now, but you can see him soon." The parents nod and they shake his hand with a grateful look. He smiles with sympathy and walks away.
The last doctor comes in right after and Brooke and Travis Diamond stand up at once. Brooke rushes over to the doctor, glaring when Travis does the same. He ignores her.
"James Diamond?" The female doctor asks and the two nod.
"yes, I'm his mother." Brooke speaks up right away and grabs the woman's hand. Travis sighs, before also shaking her hand.
"I'm Dr. Summers. Your son.."
"Does he have a private room yet? And how bad are his cuts? Can they be healed by you or will he need a plastic surgeon?" the parents are in shock at the questions the woman asks.
"Brooke, why don't we actually worry about his health before his looks." Travis says as he sends her a glare. She glares right back, but doesn't ask another question.
"Mr. and Mrs. Diamond…"
"We're not married anymore." Brooke quickly adds and Travis sends her another look.
"Please ignore her.." he mentions and beckons the doctor to continue.
"Now, your son seems to have suffered the most physical injuries out of all four boys. It seems the captors were intent on destroying his physical appearance along with his emotional state. We found that the cuts on his face also run down his arms. They were caused by a scalpel, while the slashes on his chest, arms, legs and his face were caused by a whip."
The others listen on in shock as the doctor explains this as if it was nothing.
"Now we have had to use stitches on some of the wounds. But they will cause scarring. We tried to repair the skin on his face, but I'm afraid scars will remain there as well as all the other slashes created on his chest and arms."
"But is he okay?" Travis Diamond asks her and the doctor gives him a warm smile.
"He is resting at the moment. As you know he passed out before he arrived here. This was all due to lack of nutrition and dehydration. We believe the boys didn't get a lot of sleep either and since they were in the dark for so long, they also lack vitamin D. All four are being administered fluids right now and vitamins, do they can get their strength back. Now as for emotionally, I'm not sure he is okay. None of them are. So I do advise counseling."
"Now does he have his own room?" Brooke asks again. "Because he should eb as comfortably as possible."
"He woke up briefly when we were tending to his wounds. The first thing he did was ask how his friends were doing. We believe right now it is best that they are placed in the same room. They are the only ones who know what happened and they might need each other to pull through."
The parents are amazed at how all four doctors are so in tune with the boys' friendships and how they are handling it.
"Alright, but do you have a suggestion for a plastic surgeon? Because I am sure James would want us to…" Brooke starts again, but Travis grabs her arm and pulls her away.
"I don't think you should focus on his looks right now. We should be happy that he is alive right now. Can you care enough for one minute to feel that? Huh? That is our son in there. God knows what happened to him. His looks is the last thing I'm worried about and I'm sure the same thing goes for him." He tells the woman. After he does, he witnesses something he never though possible again. Tears start to leak from her eyes as the stone-faced woman suddenly starts to sob. He looks on in shock, but then recovers and pulls her into his arms as she breaks down.
A nurse walks up to Dr. Summers, whispering something to her. The doctor nods and smiles at the parents.
"You can go see the boys now. Follow me."
They stand up on shaky legs as they start to walk after the doctor slowly.
"Oh, we should call my mother. Carmen will be worried.." Antonio Garcia suddenly mentions. The Mitchells consider this and remember their daughter as well.
"I'll call her." Steve mentions to Joanna and both men walk away together. The two women cling to each other and walk down the hallway.
A/N Sorry for the long wait and sorry for the boys themselves not doing much in this chapter. I just thought it was necessary to include the parents' view of what was going on.
Now the boys are free and in the hospital. Mostly they have emotional scarring and this will take a while to get over. That also means this story isn't over yet, so I hope you're happy to hear that ;)
Thanks again for all your reviews, it keeps me inspired to keep writing. Remember; if you have any requests or ideas for this story, let me know
And also, if you have requests or ideas for other stories you'd like me to write, let me know about that too. I love writing stories for BTR. And even though I love angst and drama most, I like other stuff as well. So anything is possible ;)
Until next time and Love, Baxxie