Hey there you wonderful people you! I know, I know, I'm a terrible horrible person who rarely updates. I deserve hatred and instead you all have been awesomely supportive. I don't deserve you guys at all... Anyways, this will probably only be about 2-3 more chapters, but it will be finished eventually. I will work on it over Christmas break, and hopefully have something out sometime in January. Or maybe not, I don't know... And now, the story!
Phillips' POV
The first thing I'm aware of is darkness and then a blissful softness. I try to open my eyes, but my eyelids are so heavy and I'm so tired that it's just not worth the effort.
I try to remember why I'm in a bed that's not my own, or how I even got there, but it's like there's a wall in my head blocking me from my memories. Now that I'm waking up some more, I can make out a soft murmuring above me, and it sounds like people talking, but I can't make out any words.
Suddenly I feel like I'm floating upwards, and the black that had covered my eyes before lightened to gray and then to a pale pink crisscrossed with blue, purple, and red. It takes me an embarrassingly long time to realize that my eyes are closed and I'm currently staring at the insides of my eyelids and there's a bright light shining directly above my head.
Shifting slightly, I run my fingertips along the edges of the cool sheets that cover my body. I wince slightly as what I assume to be cloth bandages that are wrapped around my back catch on the fabric beneath me and cause fiery tendrils of pain to race all the way down to my fingertips and toes.
I hear the murmuring become quieter and then stop altogether, and I get the feeling that many sets of eyes are observing my every move. Gathering all of my (admittedly limited) strength, I slowly force my eyelids open a tiny bit… and immediately slam them closed again, letting loose a strangled cry as I see a face looming in front of me.
The image of my father's sneering face pops into my mind and I flinch backwards violently, clenching my fists until I'm sure my knuckles are bone white and breathing shallowly, all the while cursing myself for being such a coward.
I swallow heavily and wait to be slapped or punched, or at least screamed at, but nothing of that kind happens. Instead a gentle hand settles on my shoulder and gives it a comforting squeeze. Slowly I pry open my eyes again, wanting to see the face of who is actually being nice to me.
I don't recognize her exactly, but something about her looks very familiar. I think it's her eyes, shining with compassion, acceptance, and kindness.
Suddenly I realize who the woman is, and I almost groan with the knowledge, getting the urge to bang my head against something repeatedly as hard as I possibly can. The woman is Rodriquez's mother, and with that knowledge, I can safely assume that I am in his house. Not wanting to be pestered by anyone at the moment, I close my eyes just enough so that I can still see a little, but to anyone looking at me, it seems that I've gone back to sleep.
Immediately the muttering I heard before starts up again, but this time I can actually hear what's being said.
"I still don't know why you decided to take in that jerk, Benny!" A voice protests angrily. I turn my head slightly to see that the speaker was Ham, and somehow I'm not surprised at all. I feel a pang in my chest as I think about all of the horrible things I've said, all of the nasty names and insults I'd come up with, all to protect myself from being discovered.
I had pushed everyone away that had the potential to be a friend in the fear that I would slip up someday and everyone would find out my secret. I formed a bitter sarcastic mask that I could slip on in an instant, and no one was ever the wiser. I was known as the jerk, the bully, the person no one ever wanted to be on the bad side on. I knew that it had to be done, but I still felt pained every time I pushed yet another well-wishing person away, although now that I think about it, that could've just been my clothes brushing up against my fresh cuts and bruises.
I shake myself out of my depressing thoughts and refocus on the conversation, wanting to hear Rodriguez's reasoning too.
"Well we couldn't just leave him there! He may have been in the rich neighborhood, but that doesn't stop bad things from happening! He was unconscious in an alleyway full of beer bottles, and I know I don't have to explain what that means." He snaps back, his voice colder than I've ever heard it. I see Ham flinch at his tone, and then he sinks into a sullen silence.
I'm completely stunned. No one has ever stood up for me before that I can remember and a warm feeling spreads through me, though I know that Rodriguez isn't defending me because he likes me.
"So what are you going to do with him?" I hear Kenny ask in the following tense silence.
"I-I don't know…" Rodriguez stutters, sounding scared and defeated. "Obviously we're going to keep him here until he's better, but I don't know what to do after that. We can't just let him go home, because it'll just happen again." Benny buries his face in his hands and suddenly he seems so small and unsure.
Bertram lays a friendly hand on Rodriguez's shoulder and sends him a small smile when he looks up.
"Why don't we just wait until he wakes up before we decide anything?" Bertram suggests. Rodriguez nods and I see everyone turn back and stare at me. I don't particularly feel like dealing with them at the moment, so I close my eyes and will myself to fall back asleep…
The next time I wake up the room is dark and at first I think that everyone has finally left and I'm all alone. I turn my head to the left and stiffen when I realize Rodriguez is sitting in a chair by the bed, his head resting atop his steepled hands, his eyes uncertain.
"Why did you bring me here?" My voice is rough and gravelly from misuse, and for a second I think he didn't understand me, but then he sighs and lowers his hands.
"I couldn't just leave you there. I may not like you very much, and I know for a fact you don't really like me or the rest of the team, but you were bleeding out, unconscious, and lying in an alleyway full of beer bottles. I didn't know what would happen or who would find you if we had left you there. And I feel like this façade you've built up, this sarcastic and horrible person is not really you. I know you probably don't trust me, and I won't ever understand everything you've gone through, but… I just want you to know that Smalls, my mom, and I will be here to support you." Rodriguez confessed slowly, stopping many times to gather his thoughts.
I want to say something nasty like "Wow, how touching Rodriguez. That was so sweet and heartfelt I think I'll puke." But instead, to my horror, I find myself tearing up. I struggle to get a hold on my emotions, turning my head away so my shiny eyes are hidden. "Get a grip!" I yell at myself. "What would dad think if he ever found out his son was crying like a little baby?" The thought makes me shudder which reminds me in a very painful way that I'm injured. To my extreme embarrassment, I let out a tiny whimper, and Rodriguez, curse him, somehow hears it and smiles at me reassuringly.
"I'll go get you some pain medications and some water." He pushes himself out of his chair and walks out of the room, leaving me to wonder when I got so weak that I needed pain medications for my injuries.
Benny's POV
As I slowly close the door behind me I can still hear yelling coming from downstairs. I sigh and trudge towards the bathroom to get the pain medication. Smalls and I had realized that the Team wouldn't exactly just accept the fact that I was going to be taking care of Phillips for a while, but we had been counting on the fact that after seeing how injured he is, they would soften up a bit. Unfortunately we had forgotten to factor in Ham's undying hatred that he refused to let go of no matter what.
We had tried everything to get him to change his mind. Originally I had sat him down at our kitchen table and calmly told him the whole story, and when that didn't work, we had tried yelling, hoping the extra volume would help drive the severity of the situation through that thick skull of his.
Fortunately, the rest of the team seemed willing to just go with it, and they were trying to help us convince Ham. Everyone is being very helpful, although I don't think Tommy fully understands what's happening, and he's just following his brother's lead. Ham just can't seem to get past the fact that we're helping Phillips of all people. I don't want to, but if he keeps complaining, I may just have to tell him to leave and not come back until he's at least willing to be civil.
Like I said, everyone else is on board, and that's all well and good, but it's what comes after his recovery that concerns me. We obviously can't just send him back home, since he'll just get hurt again, but I don't know if he has anywhere else to go, and he hasn't been lucid enough for me to ask.
I sigh and put it out of my mind for now as I open the medicine cabinet and grab the bottle of Motrin. I also grab a paper cup and fill it up with water to make the pill easier to swallow.
I hurry back to the guest room, praying that Phillips hasn't already gone back to sleep. Slowly I ease open the door and sigh in relief as I see him sitting up, although he looks more like his old self than he did when he woke up. Irritated, that is.
"I don't need those!" he snaps, his face twisted into a grimace, his teeth clenched.
I sigh. I had been hoping he would just accept that we were going to take care of him, but I should've known better. He's as stubborn as Ham sometimes.
"Listen Phillips, I know that this isn't an ideal situation. You don't want to be here, some of the others don't want you here, and I know that you hate all of us. What you need to understand is that no matter what you have done to any of us in the past, and no matter what we did in retaliation, I genuinely want to help you. I'm not going to pretend to care about your well-being and then kick you out onto the street. So please, just try to be nice for a little bit."
My voice had started out calm, but exasperation had slipped in near the end of my speech. I thrust the cup of water and the Motrin towards Phillips and wait patiently until he grabs then. Still looking slightly wary, Phillips pops the Motrin in his mouth and chugs the entire glass of water.
As I turn and walk out the door, I swear I hear a quiet "Thank you…" come from behind me, and a smile spreads across my face. We're finally making some progress. I bound down the stairs with a new spring in my step, ready to do whatever I have to do in order to convince the Team to let Phillips stay.
So there you have it! Sorry again that it took so long. I'll try to write the next one faster (a lot faster). And don't worry guys, I swear I will finish this story! Also, who do you guys want to narrate the next chapter (whose POV do you want? I can't decide!) Anyways, until next time, whenever that my be, I bid you all a fond farewell!