Chapter Nine - Attack – discussions of prejudice, homophobia and hate crime
Sam came too through a fog, the bright lights overhead causing the pain in head to spike. A nurse came into the room having been alerted to his distress when an alarm started beeping beside him, "It's alright love, your safe" she said to him soothingly
Sam opened his eyes a little, the light in the room had been dimmed so he could see the concerned face of the nurse as she fussed over him "What… happened?" he asked looking around at the hospital room.
"Let me fetch the doctor sweety, you just settle down and he'll be able to tell you what happened and how you're doing" The nurse left the room quickly, leaving Sam on his own to try to remember anything that had brought him to a hospital.
The door opened again, and a fatherly looking balding man came into the room "Ah Samuel… you're awake"
"What happened to me Doctor?" Sam asked his mind still in a fog
"You were brought in yesterday afternoon unconscious, you had a lacerations, bruises and scrapes to your head, chest, back, legs and arms that are similar to those of someone who had been attacked" the doctor said matter-of-factly.
"Attacked?... I don't… I don't remember being attacked" Sam replied with a furrowed brow.
"What do you remember?" The doctor asked looking at Sam intently
Sam tried to think back to the day before and tried to remember what had happened "I was walking back to my dorm room; I had just been to a meeting with the LGBTQ group and umm…" Sam couldn't remember what happened after that.
"Sam?" The doctor looked him in the eyes and Sam shook his head "It looks like you were hit over the head, you have a rather large lump and a small laceration on the back of your head, you lost a little blood and unfortunately you were beaten, luckily you don't have any broken bones but you do have bruised ribs and your back is rather bruised as well, so you will feel those bruises when you breath" he said sympathetically
Sam furrowed his brow, he wondered who would do such a thing? He thought again about the note on his door, who ever had written it must have been involved in his attack. "Did they find anything on me, my bag?" Sam asked looking around the room.
"Everything they found on you or near you, was placed in the drawer here" He motioned to the drawer next to Sam's bed and when he opened it, he saw his bag, wallet, phone and keys as well as the reading material he had collected from the LGBTQ group as well as a folded piece of paper.
Sam opened the folded note and read 'You disgusting fag' and gasped. "Oh my god, what is happening?"
"What is it?" The doctor asked as he took the note from Sam's hand and read it, shaking his head. "There are 2 police officers outside who would like to hear your story and would find this note very interesting" He put his hand on Sam's shoulder "Do you want me to bring them in?"
"Yes, please doctor, thank you" Sam replied, and he took the note back from the doctor and folded up.
The doctor opened the door and motioned to someone to come inside the room, the doctor returned to Sam's bed side, adjusted the bed, and assisted Sam so he was sitting up. He then turned to the 2 police officers "You can ask Sam your questions but keep in mind this young man has only just woken up and is still in pain".
"Don't worry doctor, we only have a few questions" the detective nearest the bed said in reply
Sam looked up at the detective, he had long brown hair, a scruffy beard and kind, understanding eyes "Hello Sam, my name is Detective Speight, this is Detective Benedict, can you tell us what happened?"
Sam relayed what the doctor told him had happened as well as what little he remembered from the attack; he also showed the detective the note that was found with his belongings. "Can I have a look at the rest of your belongings?" Detective Speight asked while leaning down to the draw.
"Yeah, everything that was brought in with me is in that draw" Sam motioned beside him at the draw.
As Richard looked in the draw, Detective Benedict asked, "Did you recognise your attacker?"
"No, I didn't see who it was, I heard a noise, so I stopped, and I looked around, I didn't see anyone, then I turned back to start walking again, then it was… lights out" Sam put his hand to his head and gingerly touched where the lump was.
"Well, this note shows premeditation, unfortunately we don't have a name yet. We'll be looking into surveillance cameras that may have captured footage of your attack. We'll let you know once we get a name" Detective Benedict said
Sam suddenly remembered the note from his dorm room "Oh actually, I got message a while ago, it was a homophobic word written on dorm room door, and I told my TA about it, but he said he couldn't do anything with a name"
The detective jotted that down "Do you remember what it said?" he asked.
"Um… it said that they didn't want… fags… in their dorm" Sam said in a mixture of shame and anger.
"Oh… well, that sounds like intention to me… I'm sorry this has happened to you Sam… don't worry OK, we'll do our best to find whoever did this… I can't abide a bully… especially a homophobic one" Detective Speight said vehemently
Sam gave him a small grateful smile "Thank you sir… My TA couldn't really help me either because I had no clues, I just hope this will end things because I don't feel safe"
"Have you had any other homophobic interactions or acts of discrimination?" Richard asked gently
"I mean... I met someone a few weeks ago and I thought we connected but he wasn't out, and I didn't want to hide anymore and when I tried to tell him that I wasn't interested in a casual thing, he tried to… he tried to force himself…" Sam couldn't finish as the emotion bubbled up.
"Alright Sam, I understand, I get the point, thank you for sharing that, can you give me a name?" The detective asked knowingly
Sam hesitated; he didn't want to out someone but if it was Sebastian then he didn't deserve that consideration. "If I tell you who it was… can you keep the name quiet until you confirm whether it was him who attacked me because I don't want to out someone who isn't ready… even after what he did to me… but I really don't give a shit what you do to him if it really was him" Sam said vehemently.
Detective Speight smiled at him "I won't advertise it and if I can prove it was him, then I won't be so kind".
Sam told him Sebastian's full name "I really hope it wasn't him" Sam sighed "I mean I don't want anything to do with him after what he did and if he did this to me, then I want to put a full-page advertisement in the student paper telling everyone what he did to me… I won't hold back" Sam said vehemently.
"Yeah, I would pay for half of that advertisement to be honest" Detective Benedict replied with a smile.
"Well let me know what you can find, I'm worried about what's going to happen when I go back to the dorm, they went from a note to violence so quickly" Sam said thoughtfully.
After telling the detectives Sebastian's full name, they both promised to visit again to give an update then left Sam alone with the doctor again. "Alright Sam, I'll leave you to relax, I just wanted to let you know that we contacted your father and let him know what happened and he said that he would try to come and see you once he had finished a job"
Sam's face drained of all colours. "What? Who did you call?" Sam asked his heart started beating like a jack rabbit.
"It was on your phone as Dad" The doctor replied
Sam groaned "Oh my god… No... he… what did you tell him?"
"That you were in the hospital because you were attacked" The doctor replied with a furrowed brow
"Yeah, but did you mention where I am… specifically?" Sam asked panicking
"Umm… I don't... I don't think I mentioned the name of the hospital" the doctor replied hesitantly.
"Oh my god... ok… well you weren't specific I guess… it's just that he didn't like me leaving the collage, so I don't want him to come looking for me…" Sam said with fear in his eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm pretty sure I didn't say anything specific, but he may put 2 and 2 together" The Doctor soothed. "I'm so sorry"
Sam grabbed his phone "I need to call someone doctor, can you please ask that if my father comes looking for me that you don't let him in?" Sam asks
"Of course, Sam… you're an adult so we don't need his permission, I'm so sorry, I really hope he just lets it be…" The doctor says apologetically
"You thought you were doing the right thing" Sam said sadly "I really have to make a call though, sorry doc"
"Alright, your lunch should be coming through soon… I'll pop in after my rounds" The doctor stated then left the room.
Sam pulled up his contacts and dialled Dean's number, after a few rings it was answered "Heya Sammy!" Deans voice boomed happily
"Hi Dean… I… I need your help" Sam said as the tears came to his eyes.
TBC