Chapter 4: Mother Knows Best
Scott had been reading a novel in his living room when he heard the knock on the door. He looked up from his book to the clock on the wall which read 12:30AM. He sighed, not wanting to get up from the chair, but the second knock and the muffled thud outside got his attention. "Isaac!" Scott said and jumped out of the chair, rushing to the door. Just as he opened the door, his mother came down the stairs in her bathrobe and gasped as Scott shouted, "Isaac!" again and knelt down to the boy on the ground.
Scott saw that Isaac's shirt was covered in streaks of blood and his wrists were bleeding. Isaac was breathing heavily and had his eyes shut, but between gasps of pain, Scott head Isaac whisper, "H-Help…" Scott tried to put his arm under Isaac's legs to carry him, but stopped when Isaac cried out in pain. Then Scott saw the small patch of blood over the fabric of Isaac's pants. "Mum I need help," Scott said quickly and his mother, who was already dashing through the house to the medical kit she had stored in the kitchen shouted to him, "Take him upstairs, he needs a bed!"
Scott looked down at Isaac and gently put his hand on the back of Isaac's neck. "Zac, I have to carry you upstairs, alright?" Scott said urgently and Isaac looked up at him with tears and pain in his eyes, but nodded. Isaac turned a little and put his arms around Scott as Scott put an arm around Isaac's shoulders and another under his legs. When Scott lifted Isaac up, he felt Isaac's hands tighten and heard a small cry from Isaac and Scott felt his anger burn brighter. Whoever did this was going to pay.
Scott took careful steps up to his bedroom partly because he had to maneuver him and Isaac up a flight of stairs which had shoes and books flooding it and also because each step that he took, Isaac cringed a little. He was in a lot of pain and Scott was surprised that he hadn't passed out. He brought Isaac to his room and lay him on his bed gently and Isaac opened his eyes a little and turned his head painfully to Scott. Before Scott could do anything, his mother burst into the room and went over to Isaac. "Scott, get his clothes off," his mother said and when Isaac heard that, Scott saw his eye grow wide. Scott took Isaac's hand gently and Isaac looked at him. "We're going to help, okay Isaac?" Scott said gently and after a few seconds, Isaac nodded.
He allowed his shirt to be taken off him, albeit slowly and painfully as some of the blood had begun to scab and as his shirt came off, so did the scabs. Mrs. McCall gasped as she saw the bleeding cuts covering Isaac's body, but was horrified to find more and more cuts that were healed when she began wiping the blood away with cotton swabs. "How long has this been happening to you, Isaac?" she thought to herself and looked at the boy. He was in so much of pain, but when Scott took his hand and began to comfort him, Isaac calmed down a little and Mrs. McCall saw love taking over the boy's face. She was proud of Scott. She was proud of both Scott and Isaac. These were her boys and she'd protect them with her life.
"I have to check his…" Mrs. McCall said to Scott, nodding at Isaac's pants. Scott nodded and left Isaac's side. When Scott reached for Isaac's pants, Isaac made a grab for Scott's hand, but pain wracked his body and he gasped. Scott and his mother looked at each other for a second and she got up and left the room, saying quickly, "Not much time." Scott knelt down by Isaac and Isaac had tears running down his face. "S-Scott," Isaac said painfully and Scott took his hand again. "She has to, Isaac," Scott said softly, "You're bleeding and she has to check." Isaac looked down and Scott practically saw him closing in on himself. "No, Isaac, no," Scott thought as he heard Isaac mutter, "Okay, Scott."
Scott called his mother into the room and he slowly began taking off Isaac's pants. Even though his mother was there and Isaac was in pain, Scott's breath still hitched a little as he saw Isaac's full body. Mrs. McCall asked Isaac to turn on his side and Isaac did with a little help from Scott. When he was turned, Mrs. McCall put her hand on Isaac's shoulder and said softly, "Isaac honey, I'm going to have to check to see if you've ruptured anything alright?" Isaac nodded and Mrs. McCall gave his shoulder a squeeze before she looked at her son and mouthed the words, "This is going to hurt him." Scott inhaled and nodded to her before he looked at Isaac and put up a finger to his mother, asking her to wait a minute. Very carefully, Scott got into bed with Isaac, facing him. He put a hand under Isaac's head and Isaac immediately came to life again, looking up at Scott and Scott looked down at him. "I've got you, Isaac," Scott said and Isaac put his head against Scott's chest.
Scott looked at his mother and nodded. Mrs. McCall leaned down and Isaac hissed as she parted his legs. And then he cried out. Then he held onto Scott's shirt. The he bit down into the fabric of Scott's shirt and cried. Then he sobbed and then finally, after half an hour, Mrs. McCall told sat back, tired and sweating a little. "He's fine," she said and wiped her forehead. Scott sighed and looked down at Isaac. He was sweating a lot and his body was pale. "Mum?" Scott said and Mrs. McCall nodded. "I'll make him something, you get him cleaned up okay?" she said and Scott nodded gratefully at her. He slowly extracted himself from Isaac's body and went over to his mother to help her up. When she stood, he hugged her and she hugged him back. "Thank you," Scott said and Mrs. McCall let go of him and smiled at her son. She kissed him on his forehead and put her hand on his cheek. "Take care of him," she said left the room.
Scott went back to Isaac and as he crouched down next to Isaac, Isaac opened his eyes and looked at Scott with tired eyes. "Can I clean you up, Isaac?" Scott asked tentatively and Isaac nodded to him slowly. Scott went to his bathroom and got a washcloth and a pail of water and returned to Isaac's side. Slowly, Scott began wiping Isaac down, going over his cuts slowly and gently, rubbing away the sweat and the trickles of blood. "Isaac," Scott said softly and Isaac looked at him, "Who did this to you?" Isaac didn't answer him, just looked back up at the ceiling, eyes dead.
After Scott had gotten Isaac into a pair of his track pants and a shirt of his, Mrs. McCall came in with a bowl of hot soup and a few pieces of bread. She set it down on the bedside counter as Scott held Isaac's head up and put a few more pillows below Isaac's head to prop him up. Mrs. McCall sat down next to Isaac and Scott went around to the back of Isaac and sat there. Isaac looked up at Mrs. McCall and she smiled down at him. The she saw a tear roll down his cheeks and she set the soup aside. "Scott, go and wash up in my bathroom, would you?" she asked and Scott looked up at her. "But…" Scott began and she cut him off with a look. "Now," she said and Scott sighed and looked down at Isaac. "I'll be back, alright?" he said and Isaac glanced at him and nodded.
When Scott had left the room, Mrs. McCall looked back down at Isaac and when she began stroking Isaac's hair, Isaac began to cry silently. He cried for the pain, for the humiliation, for everything that had happened to him. He was so broken already and now everything was torn to a million pieces. But still, through all the hell that was plastered on his body, these people, these wonderful people were helping him. "Shh," Mrs. McCall said and wiped the tears away from his cheeks. "We'll get through this together, Isaac," she said, "The three of us." Isaac looked up at her and looked away. "I don't deserve this," he said and Mrs. McCall chuckled at him.
"Honey if you didn't deserve this, I don't know who does," she said and took a tissue and let him blow his nose. "You can tell us what happened when you're ready to tell us, okay?" she said and Isaac nodded, "But you have to eat something now. You need to get your strength back." Isaac nodded again and allowed her to feed him. The soup was delicious, wholesome and he sighed at the taste of it. Mrs. McCall's heart hurt for him, living without a mother or a friend until Scott came along. She couldn't even imagine what she would do if Scott was put in this position. "Isaac," she said when he finished the soup, "I'll write to the school tomorrow and tell them that you're taking the week off because of medical reasons." Isaac's eyes went wide, but before he could protest, she put up a hand. "Don't you dare say no, young man. You need to rest and you have to heal," she said with a mothers chastising voice. Just then Scott came back into the room and Isaac immediately turned to him and Scott came over and took Isaac's hand again.
"What about him, Mum?" he asked and Mrs. McCall narrowed her eyes at him. "Can't ask you to not eavesdrop can I?" she said and Scott smiled at her and she smiled too, "I'll go to the police and get them to watch the house, just for the week." Isaac's blood drained from his face. "M-Mrs. M-McCall," he said, finding his voice, "N-No…" She looked at him and took his other hand. "Isaac, honey, don't say no to me. I know when someone needs help and right now you need help," she said, "We're going to keep you safe at any cost, and there's not going to be another way about this."
"But…" Isaac said pleadingly. "No buts," Mrs. McCall said, "The things I've heard about you from the people at the hospital were enough to make my blood run cold and I'm not having you anywhere near that man as long as I have a say in it." Then she looked at Scott and put a hand on his cheek, "Scott loves you," she said and looked back at him, "And I love you too, Isaac. And us McCall's protect what we love."
"I'll never let you go, Isaac," Scott said and Isaac smiled at them. He looked at Mrs. McCall and squeezed her hand a little. "Thank you," he said hoarsely and she smiled at him. "You're my boy too, Isaac," she said and began to rise, "Now both of you go to sleep. And Isaac," she said and looked at him before she left the room, "Sleep, love."
She left Scott and Isaac together and closed the door behind her. She could hear Scott telling Isaac that he loved him and that things would be better, reassuring him all the time, but she knew that her son was reassuring himself too. All the things that her boy has had to go through, it made him such a strong person and now he was sharing that strength with someone else.
Mrs. McCall sighed and after she had washed the empty bowl and had gone to her room, she picked up the phone and dialed a number she knew well. "Hello?" a voice on the other line came and she smiled at the surprise in the voice on the other end.
"Derek?" she said, "It's Melissa here." There was a pause on the other line and a chuckle, "Hello, Mel," Derek said, "Never thought I would hear your voice again." Mrs. McCall smiled at the sound of her friend's voice. "Derek, I need a favour," she said and Derek heard the tiredness in her voice. "What's wrong, Melissa?" he asked.
"Scott and I need you, Derek," she said and she heard the sound of fabric moving. "What's wrong, Melissa?" Derek said seriously and Melissa looked over to a picture of him, her and a younger Scott standing in front of Hale's Self Defense Courts.
"Scott had a boyfriend, and he needs your help."