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Happy July! Thanks for your reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Five
After three days in the hospital, Jon was excited to be going home.
He knew that his recovery was far from over, he could feel that it was far from over, but being out of the hospital made him feel one step closer to being normal again.
Every step would put what happened further behind him. He needed that. It was still too close to him. The memories were suffocating.
"Hey, kid," Lois greeted. She had a bag in her hands, and Jon assumed that it had some of his clothes in it. "Ready to go home?"
Jon nodded. He couldn't even put into words how much he wanted to be home. "Yeah," he said.
Lois smiled, then put the bag down on the chair beside Jon's bed. "I brought you some clothes," she said.
Jon felt like he could almost cry with relief. He had been brought to the hospital practically naked and then he was put into a hospital gown that he was pretty much convinced didn't completely close in the back. But he could finally wear his own clothes again. The thought of his soft track clothing or even a pair of jeans sounded amazing.
"Think you can wiggle out from under those covers for me?" She asked as she unzipped the bag.
Jon hesitated for a second. He wasn't sure he could. Nothing had been broken, but everything was bruised. Just the thought of moving that much made his body hurt.
He shook his head. "No…"
Lois smiled sympathetically. "That's okay," she said. "Are you in a lot of pain?"
Jon resisted the urge to shrug. He had quickly learned over the past few days that shrugging was one of the most painful things he could do right now. It pulled on tight stitches, jostled cracked ribs, and rubbed against bruises.
"A bit," he said. He knew he couldn't lie to her, she knew all of his tells. And even if she didn't, lying to his mother never ended up well for him.
Lois reached down and stroked his curls. Jon couldn't help but lean into the touch. Things had been hard with his parents since they had found out about the X-K, it was so nice to feel his mother's love again.
"Let's get you home, kid."
The ride home was long and quiet. Jon had never realized how far away the Smallville General Hospital was from the farm, but it was hard not to in the silence.
The farm wasn't much better.
For a moment, it looked almost abandoned. The fall flowers that had been blooming before the attack were now wilted and dying, the grass was tall and unmowed, and the lights in the house were off.
With the exception of Grandma Martha's death, he wasn't sure that he had ever really seen all of the lights in that old farmhouse off. There was something unsettling about it. It was like it meant something bad had happened.
"Jordan is at school," Lois told Jon, breaking the silence that had grown between them. "He'll be home this afternoon."
Jon nodded, though a wave of fear churned in his stomach. Jordan was at the school with the same people who had hurt him. Who would protect Jordan if they came after him?
"Jon?"
Jon looked over at his mom and tried to smile, even though he was sure that she would see through his facade. He couldn't believe that they had sent Jordan back to school so soon after what had happened. They knew who had hurt him, even if Jordan didn't.
"Jordan is at school?" He couldn't stop himself from asking.
Lois smiled at him as if nothing was wrong in the world. "It's a Tuesday morning, sweetie," she said. "Where else would he be?"
Jon didn't answer her question. "Can we go inside now?"
Lois nodded. "Yeah."
Walking didn't hurt as much as everything else, but his legs, back, and hips were still bruised and sore from being kicked repeatedly. He still needed his mom's support to really get anywhere though.
"Let's get you up to your room, okay?" Lois told him gently.
Jon nodded, but the idea of doing the stairs filled him with dread. Everything was so sore already… He wasn't even sure he had the strength and stamina to make it that far.
Jon gritted his teeth as he took the first step. Sharp pain swelled in his back and shot down into his feet. A few tears prickled in his eyes, but he ignored them.
Only twelve more steps to go.
Each step was worse than the last, but his mom didn't seem to notice. Or maybe she did and she just didn't care. Jon wasn't sure which one it was these days.
He did wonder how he was supposed to get downstairs. Would he actually have to go downstairs? Normally the whole family tried to eat meals together as a family. Were they trapping him there so he didn't have to be a part of their perfect family anymore?
Jon took another step, and he bit down on his tongue to keep the gasp of pain inside of him.
It made sense though. Why would they want him at their table? He deserved this just like he had deserved getting attacked by the football team. If he hadn't deserved it, then why had his dad taken the ELT away?
It was definitely punishment for the drugs. Or maybe for not giving up Candice. Potentially just for being the useless, human son. These days, Jon couldn't tell.
When he got to his room, it was like nothing had changed. Everything was exactly where it had been before he had been hurt.
Well, almost everything…
On his nightstand, next to a half-empty water bottle, was his ELT.
Jon felt sick. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about the ELT sitting there, but its presence there mocked Jon. The same way his father did when he talked about the X-K in front of the rest of the family.
Hot tears began to pool in his eyes again. No, he couldn't cry. He wouldn't cry.
He laid down on his bed with his mom's help. It was so much softer than the hospital bed he had spent the past few days in. He couldn't help but curl himself into the mattress a bit more.
"I have something that I need to finish up, but I'll be downstairs in my office if you need anything," she said.
Jon nodded. He wanted her to stay with him and keep him company, but she had work that needed to be done. He knew how expensive his medical treatment had been, he had overheard his parents talking about it. They would be fine, but Jon couldn't keep his mom from working. They needed the money.
"Okay," he said. Now wasn't the time to be selfish.
Lois smiled, then pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. After that though, she left the room and shut the door behind her.
Jon looked around for something to occupy himself with, but there was nothing in arm's reach. The book he had been reading a few days ago was sitting on the bookshelf, the video game controller was placed neatly beside the console.
He sighed, then tried to get comfortable. No matter how he laid, it was uncomfortable. Laying on his stomach was out of the question, his sides were still obviously hurting from the cracked ribs. And even though his bed was better than the one at the hospital, it was like the springs in the mattress had found every one of his sensitive bruises.
After a few minutes of shifting around though, he gave up. It was impossible to get comfortable right now. Maybe an extra pillow or two would help, but he didn't dare cry out for any of his family members. Jordan had to stay at school, his mom needed to work, and his dad? Well… He probably wouldn't even come.
Jon let himself zone out, focusing on nothing and thinking nothing. It was much less painful than letting himself think.
He stayed that way until the doorknob rattled. He didn't try to sit up, but he was pulled out of his thoughtless daze and his eyes went to the door.
Jon smiled when he saw his brother's head poke through the crack in the door. He watched as Jordan looked back and forth.
"Dude, what are you doing?" he asked.
"Is it clear?" Jordan asked.
Jon nodded. "All clear." He still had no idea what his twin was up to.
Jordan walked inside the room, walking on the tips of his toes as he made his way over to Jon's bed. His arms were pressed tightly against his stomach, which made no sense to Jon.
Jon tried not to laugh as he watched. His brother was crazy. "Jordan, what are you doing?" he asked again.
Jordan grinned, then held up two spoons. "Don't tell Mom," he said as he lifted up his sweatshirt and pulled out a container of ice cream.
Smiling, Jon accepted the spoon. "Rocky Road?" he asked as he tried to sit up. Rocky Road was a cure-all in their household, and even though it wouldn't help the actual pain, maybe it would make things a little brighter.
"Dude, let me help," Jordan said as he set the ice cream down and came over to where Jon was laying.
He slowly and gently helped Jon into a more upright position. The movement made the slashes on Jon's chest burn and the cracked ribs throbbed, but at least Jon wasn't alone anymore. "Do you want another pillow?"
In that moment, Jon was pretty sure that his brother was a mindreader. He was there when no one else was, had brought ice cream, and now he was asking about extra pillows.
"Yeah," Jon said, and he watched as Jordan took one off of his own bed and placed it behind Jon. What had he done to deserve such a good brother?
Jordan sat down on the side of the bed, then grabbed the ice cream container. He opened it and offered it to Jon.
Jon smiled, then took a spoonful and brought it to his mouth. It was the best thing he had eaten in days. He let the creamy chocolate melt in his mouth for a moment as he savored it.
"How are you feeling?" Jordan asked.
"Better now that there's ice cream," Jon replied as he dipped his spoon back in. He wasn't sure how much their parents had told Jordan, and he wasn't sure how much he wanted to tell him…
Jordan nodded slowly. "I saw Candice at school today," he told him.
Jon's head shot up. "How is she?"
"She seemed fine," he said as he shrugged. "Hasn't she visited you at all?"
Jon stayed quiet. No one had really visited him, aside from the Cushings and the Irons. He knew that the town hated him, but maybe he had sort of hoped that it would be like in the movies where the small towns came together to help someone that needed them, even if they had issues with each other.
But no. That was the movies. This was real life.
And Smallville wasn't one of those towns.
"Sorry…" Jordan said.
Jon sighed. "It's okay," he said. It wasn't though. He wanted to see his girlfriend.
"Well, I don't know if it's any consolation, you're getting a visitor tomorrow?" Jordan offered.
Jon frowned. "Who?" He asked.
"Grandpa," he said. "I overheard Mom on the phone when I was getting the ice cream."
Jon's stomach did a flip. It wasn't that he didn't want to see his grandpa, he did, but he hadn't seen him since he was caught with the X-K. What if he sided with the football team and his dad? What if he yelled at him for everything that had happened?
"Really?" Jon asked.
"Yeah," Jordan said.
Jon took a deep breath and tried to smile. "I can't wait."
Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!