Oh, what's that? Another chapter? Whoops, how did that happen? Hmmm… And nobody knows what this story is about anymore… Oh well…
-o0o-
"Luke, hey… Glad you called! I was just…"
Keith didn't even have much of a chance to say any more as his nephew instantly talked over him, an eerie desperation in his voice.
"Uncle Keith, you gotta come over to Dan and Nate's. NOW. Please, it's... I don't really know what to do. Nate hit Dan pretty badly. He's out cold in the hallway. But I don't know how bad it is. And I'm not sure I can leave Nate alone right now. He's in pretty bad shape and..."
"Whoa Luke, hold on. Hold on, son. What's going on?"
"Keith, I…"
There was a pause in which Keith thought he could hear his nephew breathe haltingly, as if something had shook him up quite a bit. Sure enough, when the kid continued, there was a clear tremor discernible in his voice.
"It's Dan. I don't know, I think he hurt Nate pretty badly. But this time, he fought back. Dan is… he's out cold, Keith, maybe even worse. I don't know. I don't know what to do. If I call the cops, will the do anything to Nate? I can't let that happen."
"Okay, Luke, it's alright. I'm on my way. Is Nate alright?" Keith asked. He tried to stay calm, to reassure the kid. Although that was hard to do; what had his brother done?
"He's hanging in there, I guess. I don't know…" Luke's answer came with a small delay, long enough, though, to make Keith worry even more. What had his brother done to his boys? How could it be that his own baby brother had screwed his own sons over so badly?
"Alright. " Keith processed that bit of information. Nathan was hanging in there… He guessed that was as good as it was gonna get. He continued to talk to Lucas, holding his cell in one hand while opening his car door with the other. Now came the hard part…
"Lucas. What I want you to do now is go back and check Dan's vital signs. You said he's unconscious?"
"I don't think I can leave Nate alone, he's…"
"Luke."
"… he doesn't look so good and what if Dan gets back up and…"
"Lucas!" Keith's voice was louder this time, he was nearly shouting to get the boys attention. "I need you to do this for me, son. Check Dan's vital signs, see whether he has a pulse. "
He wanted to go on, instruct Lucas to search for a pulse, see how strong it was, call an ambulance, the police. But he knew that he needed to take one step at a time; his nephew was too agitated, too afraid.
"I don't think I can…"
"Lucas. I'm on my way," he assured him. And he was. Already, he had left the driveway and was on the road to his brother's house. It was maybe 10 minutes away. "All I need is for you to check how Dan is doing. Can you do that?"
"Okay."
Just one word, uttered in such a small voice. Keith couldn't help but see an 8-year-old version of Lucas in front of him. A small child with big sad eyes, so upset that he was the only boy whose dad hadn't shown up for a special father-son little league game. Back then, Keith had only had to kneel down in front of him, had to look him in the eyes and say: "But you're not alone, kiddo. You got me, alright? I'm right here. I'll play just as good as any of those dads out there. Or do you doubt me?" The kid had looked at him doubtfully for maybe a minute or so, but all of a sudden, his features had softened into the sweetest little boy smile and he had said: "No, Uncle Keith, you're gonna kick all of their butts! I don't need a dad. I got you, right?" - "That's right, Lucas. So, why don't we both kick some serious butt right now. What do you say?"
And that had been that. Afterward, the kid had been smiling the rest of the day. He had had a great time, and hadn't ever spoken of his dad again. If only things were that easy still…
Keith was jolted out of his memories when Lucas announced, "He's breathing. His pulse is… a bit thread maybe?"
"Okay, good. That's good. Lucas. I'll be there in five. But you need to call an ambulance now. You hear me?"
"Okay…" Lucas sounded hesitant, worried.
"Don't worry, kiddo. I'll deal with them. They probably won't get there till I'm there, alright? But we do need to make sure a doctor sees to Dan. And to your brother. You understand? Lucas?"
"Yes, Uncle Keith."
He wasn't "Uncle Keith" that often anymore, he suddenly realized. He was just "Keith." Both his nephews had mostly grown out of calling him Uncle a long time ago. Only occasionally did they revert back to the "Uncle." Like when they felt vulnerable, when someone had broken down their defenses… Like now.
"Don't worry. I'll deal with them. I'll deal with this. It's gonna be okay."
-o0o-
Lucas didn't notice how desperately he was holding onto the phone in his hand. He was clinging onto it, his grip around the small metallic frame as unrelenting as a vise. As if his life depended on it. It had been hard to force himself to call an ambulance, harder even, to tell them anything about what had happened. So he had kept it short, had talked about a fight, about two people having gotten hurt due to domestic violence.
He had really said that, domestic violence. He had sounded like a guy in some cheesy cop show. But somehow that had made it easier. As if it wasn't his family, his father, his brother, that had been involved in this fight. As if it was all not quite real.
When Keith finally barged in through the unlocked front door, Lucas had already wheeled his way back into the living room, where Nathan was sitting slumped on the couch, a vacant stare on his face.
"Lucas, Luke!" he heard his uncle call out, then, "Nate! - Are you guys okay?"
Lucas managed to answer for them both, and said, "We're alright, Uncle Keith," before he wheeled back into the hallway slowly.
He saw Keith kneel by Dan's side, where the older man was assessing the damage Nathan had done. When he looked up, their gazes locked and Lucas found that for some reason he instantly felt a little lighter.
"Hey, kiddo. Is Nate doing okay?"
"He's… not quite himself, I don't think. It must be shock or something. Keith…" Luke wanted to tell his uncle what kind of man Dan Scott was, but the older one just nodded and said, "I know, Luke. I know. - I don't understand how this could happen, how I didn't notice anything earlier… My own brother…" He seemed lost in thought for only a second before he shook his head and asked, "And you, Luke? Are you okay?"
Lucas could only nod dumbly. "Go back to your brother, Luke. I don't want him to freak out when the ambulance gets here, alright? " Keith was still holding a hand to his brother's neck, when Dan finally stirred, moaning quietly. Keith exchanged glances with his nephew, then said, "You better get going, kiddo. He'll be fine. I'll take care of this. - And Lucas, just as a heads-up: I think I'll have to call both the police and child services… I can't let Dan get away with this. I'm sorry I didn't do anything earlier… I'm so sorry that I…"
The scariest, the most worrying part of all this, Lucas suddenly realized, was when he saw tears welling up in his uncle's eyes, when he saw all this horribly clear desperation and guilt lodged in those usually reassuring, warm eyes.
"It's gonna be okay, Uncle Keith," he muttered, and it was as much a question as a statement.
-o0o-
Nathan didn't really feel anything, except for a searing pain in his back that was made worse by the fabric that was clinging to it, and the pressure he put on it by sitting the way he did. He couldn't move, though. He felt too spent, too tired. And in a very wrong way, that pain felt oddly reassuring, like a constant companion. He could deal with pain. Pain would go away eventually. Pain could be masked.
It was those other things he didn't know how to deal with, how to mask.
Lucas had seen what had happened. Lucas had seen Dan. He had seen what Nate had done, what a horrible monster Nate was. He was just like his father. Even though he didn't remember any of it, he must have beaten on him even when he was already on the ground, he hadn't stopped. He knew it was true because he clearly remember one thing: Lucas's horrified stare when he had grabbed Nathan's arm.
Yeah, Nathan was a monster, he had become what he always hated. He had become a friggin' cliché: he had become his dad, just like so many other kids that got beaten by their parents, that swore to themselves that they would never do something like that, and yet they all ended up just like them. He was just like Dan.
And Dan was…
Suddenly, Nate heard voices from the hallway, strangers. Abruptly, he sat up, only then realizing, that Lucas had been watching him. He stared over to his brother.
"It's alright, Nate. It's just some EMTs. They'll wanna take a look at your back, too."
"No. I'm… I'm alright, I'll just," without finishing his sentence, he got up and wanted to leave. But a sudden lightheadedness took hold of him and he had to sit back down. "Just let me sit here for a bit," he mumbled.
"Nate," he heard his brother say, and he sounded very careful. Not like Nathan didn't know why that was. He had screwed up, again. And Lucas had to pick up the pieces. Again.
"I'm sorry I screwed up."
Nathan looked up, surprise showing on his face. He hadn't expected Lucas to say anything to that effect. "What?" he said, uncomprehending.
"I promised it would be different. I promised you would be safe, and yet you weren't. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you. Dan-"
Nathan bit his lip, he didn't wanna hear it. He couldn't.
"I'm sorry. But this time, I promise you it IS over. Uncle Keith is already talking to the police."
The police… Oh crap, what if they'd lock him up, what if…
"They're not gonna charge you, you hear me, Nate?"
"Stop, Lucas. Just, please stop…" Nathan sighed. He felt a lump form in his throat, a lump that wouldn't go away. He was so tired of all this. He just had no fight left in him, nothing. "I can't… "
"Nathan… How long has Dan been doing this?"
The younger brother tensed involuntarily, suppressing a hiss of pain. "What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about. How long?"
Suddenly, unbidden, Nathan felt his lower lip tremble traitorously. He had to fight this. There might still be a chance that he could still pretend that he had just overreacted or something, maybe blame it on the use of some drugs or painkillers or whatever. There was still a chance they would take it for what it was-a family fight gone bad. For that was what it was, right? Not abuse, not anything that serious. He had been overreacting. It had probably been his fault. And who knew how other fathers and sons dealt with stuff like that… They were guys, just guys…
"It's nothing," he finally muttered, barely audible."
"Nate…" Lucas prodded, but before Nate could say anything, a loud commotion could be heard coming from the hallway and Nathan couldn't help but shrink into the cushions even more, trying to block it all out, just block it all out…
-o0o-
Dan had come to with a jolt, startling not only his brother, but also the EMTs that were bent over him, examining his wounds.
"What the hell?" he called out, trying to get up off the ground, trying to fend off the people around him with his arms.
"Sir, please lie back down, we're…"
"That bastard, that screwed up little bastard… Where the hell is he?" he demanded to know, staring at his brother. What was Keith doing here anyway?
Things had really gotten out of hand if first his stupid son managed to beat him unconscious and then his brother played the knight in shining armor that came to rescue them all…
"Let GO of me, goddammit," he cursed, and fought to stand. "Where is he?"
"Dan, calm down. The police is on their way…"
"The police? What the hell do the police want? Get the hell out of my way."
"Sir."
Dan bodily shoved the EMT out of the way that was trying to hold him back, to keep him from finding his son. Nathan was dead. DEAD! There was absolutely no excuse…
Suddenly Dan found himself being held back by Keith, just before he could take another few steps and walk into the living room. "Is he in there? Is Nathan in there? - Can you believe what he did? Can you believe it, Keith? Your precious little nephew decided to use me as his friggin' punching bag!"
"Dan. Dan, you can't go in there. How about you sit back down and let those EMTs check you over."
"I'm FINE! Now let me go."
"Dan…"
"Let. Me. Go! - Don't you see this?" He gestured at his nose that felt broken, at his lip, that was badly split. Everything hurt like a bitch. That stupid worthless kid! "Don't you see what he did? Do you think our dad would have let us treat him like this and not done anything about it? That he wouldn't have disciplined us? And rightly so!"
"Dan. I can't let you go in there."
"What the hell are you talking about. This is my house. You had better go now. All of you. GO!"
"How long has this gone on, Dan?"
Dan, who had been trying to fight off his brother, suddenly stopped cold. What the hell was Keith going on about? He stared at his older brother.
"What are you talking about, Keith?" He spat out the name.
"The abuse?"
"Abuse?" Dan laughed. A short, humorless sound.
"Yes, Dan. Abuse."
"What are you saying?"
"That you are abusing your son. THAT's what I'm saying, Dan. And now, for fuck's sake, stop acting like you don't know what I'm talking about. You are abusing your own son and I want to know for how long this has been going on."
"You are crazy, Keith. Finally, all of the alcohol and whatnot have gotten to you."
"Fine, Dan. Be like that. Tell the police about it. They should be here any minute now. Tell them how Nate got that gash in his back, how-"
"What? The police?"
"I'll make them lock you up, Danny. I should have seen this. I should have known. I just don't understand…"
Keith looked at him with a sad face, a sad friggin' puppy-dog face, like Dan was some lost cause, a hopeless case. He pitied his older brother, he had no backbone, he had never been strong enough.
"Understand?" Dan sneered, "Understand? What isn't there to understand? The boy is a useless piece of shit. He was supposed to do one thing right. ONE THING: get into the friggin' NBA and show the world that Scotts are someone. And what does he do? He screws up! He beats his father! And if you call that abuse, I call it disciplining him! He needs some sense beaten into him. Otherwise he won't ever understand!"
He wasn't prepared for the fist lashing out at him. It hit him square in the face, further dislodging his broken nose, and with a look of stunned surprise on his face, Dan Scott went down unconsciously once again, while Keith was nursing his pulsing fingers.
-o0o-
They had heard it all. Every single word Dan had said. They sat in silence, staring at each other. For the life of him, Nathan couldn't help but stare at Lucas, almost pleadingly. As if looking away would mean he'd be alone again, lost.
But he wasn't. He was no longer alone with this. Lucas knew. He really knew, and yet he stayed. He was right here. He wasn't sneering, he wasn't laughing, he didn't look disappointed. He was just there, holding Nate's gaze.
He was not alone.