A Not So Sweet Fairytale

Sorry it's taken so long. I got distracted by Harry Potter coming out (finished it last night, well this morning, but whatever) and by my friend in the hospital. And so, this is the second to last chapter of this story (though I'll probably do an epilogue). Thank you for being so patient :D
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"What's going on? Why can't I come?" Apollo asked, making sure he was using his big blue eyes to his best advantage.

"Your mother had an accident and she's in the hospital right now,” he stopped when he saw that Apollo's eyes were tearing up, "Don't worry. She'll be fine. Everything will be fine,” he managed, though he wasn't sure who was really trying to convince, himself or Apollo.

Apollo heard the unvoiced uncertainty Gerard possessed and just kept crying. Gerard resolved to pull him into a desperately needed hug, ruffling his hair a bit as he did so.

***

Gerard met Tre`, who looked a little worse for wear with a deep purple hue encircling his bright red eyes. With the bloodshot eyes, it was painfully obvious that Tre` had been crying, which wasn't a good sign. But it also made Gerard put up a stronger guard against Tre` because that also meant he still did care about me, which he took to be threatening.

"How is she?" He asked Tre`, who was still leaning against the peeling white painted brick wall in the farthest corner, away from everyone else in the emergency waiting room, twiddling with something small between his fingers for the sake of something to do. He seemed to be contemplating something about it.

"Not well,” Was all he said, still looking down at his feet. It became clear to Gerard that something was definitely wrong. He started getting more and more apprehensive with every agonizingly painful passing moment.

"What happened?" Gerard breathed, his voice barely above a whisper.

"She was found unconscious in a parking lot with two guys holding a knife to her throat,” Tre` grimaced and Gerard figured out that he'd been twiddling with an unlit cigarette, probably trying to decided whether or not to light it. Gerard just regarded him carefully, barely able to conceal the look of horror he felt creeping up on his face.

"Where-" He choked, but it was enough.

"Third room on the right,” Tre` responded, jerking a knobby thumb toward the ward labeled 'Intensive Care Unit' before shoving the cigarette back into his pocket and instead pulling out a lighter, which he began fiddling with.

Gerard walked slowly down the hallway that seemed endless. However, it seemed that he reached the door all too soon. He stuck out a hand that seemed like it didn't even belong to him, and grasped the handle. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening the door.

I was in the center of the room, lying on a standard hospital bed with hard, grey plastic headboard and footboard. The room was silent and still. I had yet to wake up from the surgery they'd had to perform as soon as I was admitted because I had fractured my skull and there had been internal bleeding in the brain.

They'd managed to stop it by some miracle, but they had to wait for another one so I could wake up.

Gerard stood in the doorway, taking careful note of the reassuringly steady heart monitor beating its rhythm, how pale and tiny I looked, and the subtle, but no less undeniably present, metallic smell of blood. He realized there was a nurse and a doctor in the corner of the room, the nurse changing the drip bag connected to my IV and the doctor administering yet another dose of medication in the form of a shot.

If I had been awake I would have been screaming bloody murder. I have an intensely acute fear of needles. I don't know where or when it had manifested itself, but it was definitely there. I couldn't even bare to be in the same room with Apollo whenever he got one.

Gerard shut the door silently, so that he wouldn't disturb either of the people in uniform, and sat down on a cushioned chair in the corner of the room, still in shock. My face was already puffy and very pink with the copious amount of bruises starting to form and it was only going to get worse as the colors came.

"How is she?" Gerard asked the doctor who had taken a silent not of his presence, but ignored it all the same.

The doctor sighed, "I'm not allowed to disclose that information. In fact you're not even supposed to be here. Family members in ICU only. That's the rule,” she mumbled.

"But she's my- we're getting married. Please,” Gerard looked at her and finally said, "I need to know."

She sent the nurse out of the room with a stern look, then sat in the chair opposite Gerard, flding her hands together and placing them in her lap.

"She- she's in bad shape,” she struggled, "She had a lot of major internal bleeding we had to operate on,” she continued, trying to ignore Gerard's horrified face, "She made it through the initial operation alright, but she hasn't woken up yet obviously. All we can do is hope everythign holds. But as for the baby- Well she lost it I'm afraid,” she sighed with a sad look on her face.

"What baby?" Gerard whispered through silent tears.

"I assumed you'd- being her fiancé and all-" The doctor stammered before getting up quickly and walking to the door.

"What are her chances?" He asked, immediately wishing he could take back the question. He didn't really want to know the answer.

The doctor had reached the door and was slowly pulling it open, but she turned and looked at him.

"Her body itself will heal. The broken ribs and cracked skull will mend eventually, but only if she wakes up, which is a different matter altogether."

"Why?" Gerard asked, still struggling to control the flow of tears making trails down his cheeks.

"We don't know how much damage her brain has suffered. It looks like her head was repeatedly slammed into concrete if that says anything. Few people wake up from something like that, even fewer wake up the same person they were,” she explained.

"My god Torrie- What happened?" He muttered to himself as the doctor left the room.

***

Mike had gotten the call from the hospital an hour earlier and he was still sitting in his car, the key unturned, was once again resting in the ignition.

"It can't be as bad as they made it seem. She'll be fine. She's always fine,” my father told himself for the hundredth time, turning the key and stating the engine before turning it off once more.

"This is stupid,” he told himself, referring to the turning on and off of the engine which was becoming a routine, "Just pull yourself together and go see your daughter already,” he mumbled to himself before inserting the key and turning it. This time he pulled up the parking brake release, putting the car into gear, and finally pulled out of the driveway.

***

Tre` came into the room and quetly shut the door behind him, seeing Gerard crying silently in the corner chair still, staring an empty stare at me.

"Hey,” Tre` mumbled, sitting down in the chair where the doctor had sat.

Gerard turned to give Tre` a blank stare, then Gerard's eyes grew hostile.

"What?" Tre` asked, taken back.

"I know the baby didn't make it,” he sneered and Tre` felt like a brick had slid from his lungs into his stomach.

"Oh- Well- Ummmm-" Tre` stuttered, completely lost for words.

"It WAS yours dude! You got my fiancé fucking pregnant!" Gerard screamed, standing up suddenly.

"I'm sorry dude. We were so drunk that night-" Tre` started, still trying to find any words.

"-Stop,” Gerard commanded, towering over him and he obeyed, "I know how it happened. Don't even try to lay any of the blame on Torrie. You're the one who drinks all the time. I know she wouldn't have gotten that hammered without you pushing her to do so,” Gerard sneered, his nostrils flaring dangerously.

"No. You just wouldn't ever let her. You wouldn't let her be herself,” Tre` responded, standing up and leveling his eyes with Gerard's.

Gerard's face turned scarlet.

"Why the fuck would you think that?" Gerard asked quietly, fighting to contain his anger, even through he knew it was true on some level.

"Because she told me. That much I remember,” Tre` spat.

Gerard's eyes went from anger to dangerous malice. Then all at once he raised his fist and punched Tre` as hard as he could.

"Dude! What the fuck?!" Asked Tre`, grasping his jaw.

"You know what you did you son of a bitch. Now get out of here. If you ever get near Torrie ever again- God help you,” Gerard told Tre`, his eyes wide and face still scarlet.

At that moment Tre` noticed my father standing in the doorway with a stunned expression plainly readable on his face.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking from Tre`s bruising jaw to a flushed Gerard, who had calmed down a bit.

"Nothing,” they both responded, then both left the room quickly to give my father and I some space.

***

Billie Joe walked into the room where Mike had fallen asleep in the chair next to me, still unconscious.

He looked at me, still in the middle of the metallic doctor's office smelling tiny white room surrounded by a wall of at least a dozen different machines. The oxygen mask still making sure I was breathing.

He set down the coffee he'd brought for Mike on the table between his own and the hunched over sleeping form of Mike. Then he walked over to the main attraction: me.

He peered at me cautiously, seeing all the bruises forming over my face as well as any other visible skin. He pulled the bandage covering my forehead away, but quickly put it back on after seeing the several gashes and even a bit of skull visible, parts of the wounds still bleeding.

"Jesus Torrie,” he whispered, wiping a single tear away.

"She looks bad doesn't she?" Mike asked suddenly, causing Billie Joe to jump.

"Like shit,” he managed after catching his breath.

"But she'll be alright,” Gerard told them all, walking in through the doorway followed closely by Tre` who had a black eye in the making.

"Yeah, she will,” Mike nodded, still wondering what was going on.

"We don't know that. She could die and nobody seems to fucking care,” Tre` told them all, blinking away the tears in his eyes.

"Why would you even say that?!" Mike demanded, the stress finally catching up with him.

"Because it's true. I'm just being realistic,” Tre` told them, looking into the fiery pits that had once been Mike's eyes.

"No. You're just mad because the kid died,” Gerard sneered at Tre`, who turned his death stare towards a new target: Gerard.

"Shut up you little bitch. Shut up right now,” Tre` whispered dangerously, his face turning a foreboding scarlet color.

"Make me,” Gerard dared him, his nostrils flaring.

"Guys!" Billie Joe screamed as Tre` punched Gerard.

Mike just stood there as the two fell to the floor, screaming and hitting each other wherever they could reach.

"Guys! Stop!" Billie Joe screamed again, trying to separate the two, "A little help?" Billie Joe pleaded to a still stunned Mike who just kept staring at the pair with a blank, unreadable stare.

Billie Joe managed to separate Tre` and Gerard, despite the lack of help. He shoved them into opposite corners, each breathing heavily and giving each other death stares and the finger.

"Mike? Buddy?" Billie Joe asked Mike, waving a hand in front his vacant face which seemed to do the trick.

"Tre`. What the fuck does he mean by 'the kid'?" Mike asked with a smile reserved for the times he is royally pissed off. Not a good sign.

"Mike-" Tre` started, wanting to defend himself, but didn't get to finish.

"Tre`. What's going on here?" Mike repeated.

"It's just- kid- Torrie lost it,” Tre` stuttered, still distracted by the ominous smile.

"Which one of you got my daughter pregnant? And if it's you Tre` you better pray buddy,” Mike asked, still holding the smile in place.

"Mike, it was just that one night when-" Tre` started, really scared now.

"I didn't ask anything more than a yes or no question,” Mike smiled.

"Yes,” Tre` answered shortly. His answer was met by yet another swift punch. This time it was both Gerard and Mike on Tre` who was only trying to push them away from him, deciding to stop trying to attack them. There was no point, he was never going to win.

"GUYS!" Billie Joe screamed for a final time, really starting to get tired of all the fighting.

None of them responded so Billie Joe went out of the room to fetch security before Tre` wound up getting killed.

***

Three days later thing had cooled down a bit, including the hope that I would wake up from the coma that seemed so keen on claiming me for good.

Neither Gerard nor Mike could look Tre` in the eyes, but at least they weren't at each other's throats anymore. They'd come to the resolution (thanks to Billie Joe) that I wouldn't want them trying to kill each other over something that was in the past, but of course it had only made the intense hatred dissipate, not disappear.

Whenever any of them asked the doctor or the many nurses working to keep me breathing about my state they only answered with a long string of big, complicated words that could all be summed into :We don't have a fucking clue

However, today when the usual four came, they brought Adrienne and Apollo. Apollo hadn't been to the hospital to see me yet, but with no improvement on my part it had been decided that he should be given the chance to say goodbye.

He approached my bed silently, trying to decide where all my bruises, which were a lovely shade of deep purple, came from and the best way to kill whoever was responsible.

"Any improvement?" Adrienne whispered to Mike who shook his head sadly, then continued watching Apollo approach the bed cautiously.

"Mommy?" He asked carefully, pulling as much of my hand into his as he could.

"She can't-" Adrienne started to explain, but I cut in.

"Yeah buddy? What is it?" I croaked, trying to remember what happened, where I was, and, most importantly, why.

"Torrie!" I heard five familiar, yet seemingly distant, voices scream as Apollo wrapped his arms around my very bruised neck, but refusing to let go.

"Wha-what's going on?" I asked hoarsely, finding my voice wasn't working properly.

"You're in the hospital,” Adrienne told me, and I recognized her as the head directly over mine as she reached out and gave my hand a squeeze.

I could tell she'd been worried. I hoped she was just overreacting, but then I spotted tears in Billie Joe, Gerard's, and my father's eyes. They'd been worried too, so that meant it really was bad.

Then I spotted Tre` who was left out of the group, standing by my feet. Judging by his bloodshot eyes I could tell he hadn't slept in a long while. I also spotted a folded blanket halfway concealed by the broken cabinet in the corner opposite the doorway as well as a sock poking out. He'd been sleeping here too and he was keeping it a secret from everyone else. I wondered why.

"Mommy. Are you okay now?" Apollo asked sincerely.

"Yeah, I think so. But I've got one major headache, not to mention my stomach hurts so bad I just want to- oh god. Tre`- did it- it make it?" I managed, pulling my hands out of both Apollo's and Adrienne's to grasp my stomach when I realized just how empty it felt.

Tre` just shook his head, looking down at my feet as everyone else's eyes began burning with a visible anger. I could tell it was a touchy subject for each of them, which meant they knew.

They knew.

Shit.

"What happened?" I repeated, hoping to get their minds off that particular tack.

"We were hoping you could tell us that,” my dad whispered and they all turned away from Tre` and back to me expectantly.

I tried to remember, but all I got in return was and even greater pounding in my head.

My eyes fluttered open. All I could do was shrug and shake my head. They each sighed and looked let down, as if all I had to do was tell them what had happened to make everything better.

Right on cue the doctor entered the room, apparently accustomed to the group clustered around the bed. Then, as she neared the bed she gasped.

"You're awake!" She exclaimed.

"Thank you captain obvious,” I muttered, making my dad grin, back to my old self I suppose.

"We were beginning to wonder,” the doctor smiled, either deaf or choosing to simply ignore my comment.

"Would somebody please tell me what the hell is going on, PLEASE?!" I shouted, my patience drained already.

My sudden outburst caused Apollo to jump back, letting go of my neck, and cling to Adrienne's waist. I guessed he'd been staying with her and Billie Joe while I'd been gone.

"As Adrienne said, you're in the hospital. You have been for about three days now,” An irritated Billie Joe told me, and I could tell I was still being penalized for having been pregnant. I wondered what Tre` had gone through

"I'm sorry, but we are going to have to run a few tests now. If you all wouldn't mind stepping out for a while. You could go get something to eat or something,” she suggested, sensing the tenion in the air.

"Sure. See you later Torrie,” Gerard said, kissing me on the cheek before herding everyone else out of the room.

"It says on your records that you were scheduled to terminate the pregnancy. Is this correct?" She asked softly.

"Yes,” I nodded, not seeing what this had to do with anything at hand.

"This wasn't just some way of terminating the pregnancy yourself, was it?" She asked cautiously and I sighed.

"No. I'm not even capable of doing this to myself. How many broken ribs did I wind up with anyways?" I asked.

"Four. And alright, now we're just going to-" but she was stopped as the door fell open and Tre` and Gerard came crashing in, pushing and shoving each other. Although, it was painfully obvious that they had been listening to the entire conversation.

"See? She does love me more. She wanted to be away from you so badly she was going to have an abortion,” Gerard taunted as Tre`s eyes began to fill with tears of betrayal.

"I can't believe you Torrie. I thought- I thought we wanted this kid. I'd already gotten a crib. It's green and blue. But this Torrie? You could have at least talked to me,” he managed before running out of the room.

"No- Tre!" I called at him as he ran down the hallway, but he just ran through the sliding doors (it was probably a good thing they were open), and into his car. He raced out onto the street, not knowing where he was going, just knowing he had to get there.