"Blood On The Ground" – Part 15
Summary and additional notes in part 1.
Author's Note: Cool. You're reading this. Alright, won't waste anymore time. So, without further ado here's the final chapter…
Rating: M (for violence, language, and dark themes). Trigger warning for this chapter.
Disclaimer: Do NOT own Degrassi!
15-
Three Days Later…
"Drew."
His eyes suddenly opened. He rubbed them as his surroundings came into view. He saw Fiona leaning over him with a small smile. "Hey," he greeted her in a sleepy voice.
"K.C. is out front, waiting for you," she informed him.
He nodded.
"I'll wait here with him," Fiona told him.
"Okay." When he stood up he let out a yawn and stretched. "How long was I out?" he asked her as he moved away from the chair.
Fiona sat down and moved it slightly closer to his brother. She shrugged. "Maybe an hour, give or take."
"Oh," he said as he picked up his nearly empty bottle of water. "Has there been any change?"
Fiona shook her head sadly. "No."
Drew swallowed. Hearing the pain in her voice was difficult. He decided to save the follow up questions for his mom or dad. His mother had passed the point of being emotional. She was in robotic mode now, perhaps to preserve her sanity. His father was always stoic in situations such as these.
"I'll see you later," he said quietly as he left the room. He didn't dare glance back at his brother because he knew if he did he'd start crying again.
Whenever he woke up, there was a small window of time where the events of three days ago didn't happen. When Adam was healthy and not in coma. Part of him felt like he was still waiting for his little brother to come back from the store. As much as he wanted to savor those fleeting few moments, what followed afterwards took away any joy in not knowing. Reality would set in.
Three days ago Adam left the house to get milk. He never made it back. As the minutes ticked by Drew got worried. His calls went to voicemail. When he received a frantic phone call from Fiona, who also hadn't heard from him, he got scared. The hours went by as he waited in the living room along with Fiona, his mother, and father for any word from Adam. He nearly jumped for joy when his brother's cell phone number showed up on the caller ID. Drew picked up the phone but his blood instantly ran cold when he realized Adam wasn't on the other end. A detective was.
The story, as he knew it, was that Adam ran into Owen and his cousin at the store. They got into some kind of altercation in the adjacent parking lot. That's where the police speculate he lost consciousness from a blow to the head. They found blood on the ground. At some point Adam was beaten further and taken to apartment of Owen's cousin.
"Hey, man!" K.C. said and gave a small wave.
Drew looked up startled at the sudden noise. He was now in the waiting room. His parents were sitting in one corner. His mom seemed to be sleeping and his father was reading a book. In the other corner he spotted Clare and handful of other Degrassi students. Even though Adam's visitors were limited to family, with the exception of Fiona, there was always a small cluster of Degrassi students here throughout the day. They brought cards, homemade food, and basic comfort items such as pillows. Back at school everyone was devastated to hear what happened to Adam.
"Hey," Drew greeted him.
"How are you holding up?" K.C. asked.
Drew blinked. He wasn't asked that much these days. Not that he cared. "I'm fine," he responded with the standard answer.
"That's good…" K.C. trailed off. He was at a loss of what to say. "So, do you want to walk to the cafeteria and grab some food?"
Drew snorted. "Why not? But I have to warn you. That stuff will kill you."
-oOo-
The only thing that seemed edible on his plate was the Jello. K.C. looked at his friend with a heavy heart. The situation sucked, to put it mildly. He still couldn't believe Adam was in the hospital! A few days ago they were joking around in basketball practice. Now he was in a coma that they were all waiting for him to wake up from. The mood at school was somber. Adam's locker had become a living shrine. Owen's locker had been defiled so badly that the janitors had stopped trying to restore it.
"So, when are they expecting him to wake up?" K.C. asked. It was dicey question to ask, but Drew didn't respond to inquiries about the weather or football games.
Drew sighed. "No idea. At least we know they're expecting him to. It was hell when it was touch and go."
K.C. nodded. "I can imagine."
"No, you can't!" Drew said tersely.
K.C. was quiet. He didn't know how to respond.
Drew placed his head in his hands for a few moments. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright," K.C. assured him.
"All I had to do was go with him to the store… and I didn't!" Drew rushed out. "I didn't! And why? Because it was cold outside?" Drew paused. K.C. looked at him nervously. "Now he's lying upstairs all banged up. It's my fault," he finished calmly.
"Drew…" K.C. said cautiously.
"I promised to protect him! Instead I let him get raped," Drew sobbed.
K.C. was frozen in place. After several long moments he asked, "So it's true?"
He had heard a rumor about that but there was so much conflicting information about Adam's attack. The police had questioned students at school but getting news about the case from them was like pulling teeth.
Drew wiped his eyes. "I want to kill him," he said in a quiet voice. He didn't mean to freak out on K.C., but honestly if he was in a room with Owen he wouldn't think twice about ripping him apart with his bare hands. Or at the very least ridding him of a certain appendage.
The very first night they spent at the hospital, his mother pulled him aside. He expected her to yell at him. To blame him for what happened to Adam, like he blamed himself. Instead she looked into his eyes and told him that it wasn't his fault. They cried as they hugged and Drew wanted to believe her words so badly. But he wasn't sure if he ever could. He was mad at himself for letting Adam leave the house alone.
K.C. took a deep breath. "Here," he said decisively.
Drew furrowed his brows and looked up.
"Dude, you can have my Jello," he offered.
Drew smirked at the gesture. "Gee, you really shouldn't have," he quipped as he took the partially eaten green dessert cup.
The two boys basked in the levity of the moment and shared a small laugh.
-oOo-
She was grateful for small miracles. She really was.
As bad as what happened to Adam was, they were lucky that he was found so soon. Police had been called to the apartment where he was taken because of a noise complaint. When Owen answered the door they smelled marijuana and forcibly entered the apartment. Inside they found Adam and arrested the Milligan cousins. The doctors told them he was in dire need of medical attention and likely would have been beyond saving if he had gone without it for much longer.
She was grateful that she could sit beside him and hold his hand. She was grateful for the beeping machines, which told her that despite appearances he was alive. She was grateful for–
Fiona started to cry again. She was surprised she had any tears left in her after being a mess for the past three days.
The first night had been surreal. Her mind couldn't process it. She refused to believe that the boy she had been talking to just hours before had gone through such a brutal ordeal and was now fighting for his life. As the days went by she started to feel numb. The outside world didn't matter. All that existed were these four bleak walls and waiting for good news.
They certainly had enough of the bad news. She still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Owen raped him. The older boy intensely hated Adam. She understood that rape was about power and dominance but her mind couldn't accept that this had been done to him.
Again, Fiona reminded herself that she was grateful small miracles. The doctors said he would have no memory of the sexual assault because he lost consciousness before it happened. Still the knowledge that it had been done and the evidence of what transpired – the rape kit and the fact that a pregnancy test would have to be done in seven days – was going to be hard for him to come to terms with.
Fiona glanced at the clock. It was 7:00pm. She looked over at Adam's resting form. He looked like he was sleeping. His bruises were slowly starting to heal. She could still make out the black eye he received last Saturday, but the purple color was much fainter. The other bruises still had a way to go, but the swelling in his face had gone down considerably. Amazingly he didn't have any broken bones, so barring any serious fallout from his head injuries, his recovery time would be relatively quick. At least, physically.
"It's time for Jeopardy," she told him with a smile. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.
As predicted there was no response.
"Or will I turn to the Fashion channel?" she teased. She clicked through the channels and frowned. "You're lucky, they don't have digital channels."
She took ahold his hand once more, and gently rubbed her thumb over the back of it. His skin was soft and remarkably warm.
"I love you," she said quietly. She brought his hand to her lips and placed a small kiss.
After a moment she turned back towards the TV and leaned back into her chair. Suddenly she felt a light squeeze. It was weak, but the movement instantly caught her attention. She quickly turned around to face him. "Adam?"
She studied him closely for any sign of motion. After a few seconds he slowly opened his eyes.
.
-FIN-
A/N: Indeed, this is the final chapter. Thank you for reading.
More Notes:
As previously, mentioned the next published story in the timeline is "How To Save A Life" (March), followed by "Wanted" (still March), and then there is my new story "The Wedding". Takes place in April of Adam's Junior year. There are ton of OCs, but you'll see why. The first chapter will be posted tonight.