As they shout their poisonous words, aggressively delivering evil—no doubt accompanied by spittle—my body becomes numb, and my mind tries to do the same.
“Fucking faggot.”
“Yeah, dirty ass beater.”
“I hate pussies like you. I bet you were staring at our dicks in the changing room.”
I don’t argue, don’t mention that I wasn’t even in their changing room. There’s no point. Six against one, the odds aren’t in my favor. Instead, I focus on the flowers. Something pretty in the darkness. I know it won’t be long before I black out. Then I may wake up… or I might not.
My teeth rattle and blood pools on the ground as it spills from my mouth. Another blow hits my skull, and the throbbing spreads as my ears start ringing. Someone must jump on my lower leg because a scream rips from my chest as the pain radiates through my limb. Coughing, I’m not sure my body can sustain much more, while my chest revolts as I try to breathe.
I don’t know what the afterlife will be like. Is there even a place for someone like me?
There’s only one thing on my mind. One person. Casper. And as I slip in and out of consciousness, I hope, no, I fucking pray, that they haven’t got any suspicions about him. I need to let him know they came for me, I need to warn him.
Looking through the slits that my eyelids have become, I can only make out a dark figure as he crouches down at my side. “You’re a disease. People like you shouldn’t be allowed to socialize within normal society.” His hot breath smells of beer, and I know his voice, but it’s out of my grasp right now, held somewhere in the recesses of my brain. I can’t quite pick out who it is. But I know it. I know him. “The fact is, fags like you are always trying to turn real men like me.” He trails his finger across my chin, and I catch a faint whiff of something… peanuts. “You’ll never be a real man.” With those words, he punches me once, twice, three times in the face before I lose count and unconsciousness, or death takes me.
“Caden!” The scream rips me from the darkness, like a tear in the edge of space, I’m sucked toward the sound. Just about managing to open an eye as the physical blows cease, I see Casper.
I want to shout, ‘No!’ I want to tell him to run, as fast as he can. He can’t be here, he can’t get hurt.
“Casper,” I croak, but he doesn’t hear me, I don’t think anyone can. There’s too much noise, people are shouting. I hear Casper’s roars of pure anger, but he’s still only one person.
Just one.
My eyes drift shut, I’m desperate to keep watching, but they’re so heavy. Screeching tires force me to look once again, this time it’s Tarrant. The car barely comes to a stop before his door is open and he’s out, smacking the shit out of someone. I can’t hold onto my consciousness anymore. As my eyes close again, all I can think is how there’s only two of them, and I pray they’re okay.
“… his tibia has a compound fracture. He’s had surgery. Metal plates and screws were needed to align it, and he has an air cast fitted. That’s the boot. He has broken ribs, which we’ve wrapped as there isn’t much else we can do.”
“Oh God...”
“He also has a broken jaw. Thankfully, it’s a minor fracture so he’ll be uncomfortable, but it will heal on its own. Mr. Reigns has lost four teeth, he’ll have to visit the dentist for repair. Apart from that, it’s mainly cuts and bruises. Mrs. Reigns, your son will need quite a few months of recovery for his leg. And physical therapy. But he will recover.”
“And the other one? Caden’s friend?”
“I’m afraid he didn’t make it. He bled out at the scene.”
“Oh God.”
Fuck!
Pain radiates through my body, there’s not an inch that doesn’t throb. Even breathing hurts. A thick metallic taste coats my mouth.
Casper. I can’t seem to catch my breath as I remember him turning up. Opening my eyes to an empty room, panic slices through me and I start coughing. A nurse rushes in and presses a buzzer, then tries to sit me up.
Another nurse hustles in almost instantly. “Breathe, Mr. Reigns. Here, take a sip of water,” she tells me when I’ve managed to control myself. Tentatively, I sip as she holds the plastic cup to my lips. It’s warm, but it soothes my throat.
“My friends, my brother,” I wheeze out.
“Just keep calm, and we’ll find out what we can.”
My heart flutters like birds wings as I try to calm myself. People describe a heart as thumping, beating and battling in your chest. Mine doesn’t feel like that, the fluttering is so fast and so faint, I’m concerned that at any minute it’s going to stop.
“Please, tell me something,” I urge.
She smiles down at me softly and taps my forearm. “I do know your brother is okay as he was here yesterday.” She frowns. “Unless you have more than one brother?”
“No,” I answer trying to shake my head, quickly hissing at the pain.
“Be careful. You’ve been through the wars, Mr. Reigns—”
“Caden. Please.”
Smiling again she nods. “Caden, I’m Lucy.” I try to offer her a smile in return, but it hurts my jaw. “It’s early, around six am. Your family will no doubt be here soon,” she says continuing to smile. “Another nurse told me they had to basically be kicked out last night.” Lucy giggles. “Anyway, the doctor will arrive in a moment to go through your injuries.”
“My friends?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know,”
