Have We Gone Too Far?

When they arrived I started feeling really sick with nerves. I've never really been in a hospital before, but in the TV programmes I’ve seen, it’s at hospitals where people find things out about you. The nurses find marks on your body that they know have been there for ages and question you about them; on TV the patient always cracks and tells them eventually... I can’t be like that. I need to stay strong and keep my mouth shut.

And what’s going to happen with the police? I'm so dead.

“Cole,” I whispered.

Part of me was scared to talk to him right now because he seemed just as scared as I was. He was sitting down on the ground, holding his knees to his chest. Something serious is bothering him; I can tell, and I have a feeling it’s something other than the fact that me and Beth are in these conditions right now.

“What Zack?” he sighed, sounding really stressed out.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” I told him. “If you want you could just leave,” I sighed. “That way they won’t make a connection between us, and I'm the only one who knows you were here so you don’t need to worry about anyone finding out.”

He shook his head at me.

“I'm not leaving you Zack,” he muttered, closing his eyes, most likely trying to think.

This must be hard on him too. I know I'm the one who’s likely to get in trouble but he must be worried about me being able to keep my mouth shut. I know as a fact that I have scared and bruises from dad that I’ve had for ages; as soon as they examine me they’ll know something’s up.

If I tell on dad, Mr. Baker is bond to find out seeing as they are so close now. Well they must be right, if my dad told him to rape me and he just did it like that; it’s sick.

So then Mr. Baker would want to get back at me. so he’ll either accidentally bring up that time I was drinking at school with Mr. Walker, who already wants me gone, or he’ll go straight for the big one. He’ll tell the police on Cole and I. That man knows way too much.

I can’t believe how much I use to trust him. I even told him about my mum and dad. Ha, I found it so hard to tell him that and it turned out he already knew everything. Heck he probably knows more about it than I do.

“Zack,” Cole mumbled nervously. “Who did this to you?”

My eyes met his and I instantly noticed that he’d been crying. Should I tell him? Cole already knows about me going out to clubs and getting into rough situations, but he doesn’t know about me socializing with drug dealers. He might lash out if I told him the truth. The truth. He wants me to tell the police the truth. I can’t though; no one messes with guys like Derek and gets away with it. That’s something I learned today.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, looking down so that he could no longer see into my eyes.

“So it was a random attack then?”

Nervously I nodded at him. He believes me! Well, I think he does. He doesn’t have a reason not to, does he?

A small groan from the pain escaped my lips; I’d forgotten how painful my head was. I'm not too sure how so I must have just got use to it for a while.

“Where’s it hurt?” he asked me, looking really worried.

“Head,” I sniffed.

My head was killing me but it wasn't just because of the blows that I was given; there was more to it than that. I was thinking too much, trying to find a solution to help us out of this mess. I didn’t find one though; all I got out of my little thinking session was a headache.

“Come here,” he whispered as he gently kissed my forehead.

“Magic touch,” I mumbled, trying to make him smile.

When he did I couldn’t resist smiling back. His smile was beautiful and seeing it right now really meant a lot to me. Simply having him here means a lot really. If it wasn't for him then Beth and I, well we’d be stuck here.

I looked over at her; she was breathing but she wasn't responding to anything I was doing.

“Will she be alright?” I asked Cole.

His eyes glanced over at her body and he looked so helpless. I knew he wanted to do something for her, but he couldn’t. He had no idea what to do and nor do I.

“I don’t know,” he sniffed. “The ambulance will be here soon though,” he sighed. Sounding half relieved but also worried. Scared of all the things that could happen when we get to the hospital; all of the ways that something could go wrong. “They’ll make her better,” he whispered.

“She’s pregnant,” I whispered. “She said it was her stomach hurting,” I sniffed a little. I'm not sure if she’d still want me to pretend to be the dad or not, but until she tells me she doesn’t; that child inside of her is mine. “Will the baby be airtight?” I coughed out, tears building in my eyes.

“Zack I don’t know okay,” he hissed at me. “I'm no medic; I have no idea what’s going to happen!”

I glared at him. He knows I'm upset right now, he knows I'm in pain, he knows I could’ve died tonight! Right now I don’t care if he’s worried and scared because I am too. I'm petrified right now and the last thing I need is him acting like this with me.

“Don't look at me like that,” he mumbled, putting his head in his hands. “Just give me a minute to think.”

I kept my eyes on him, trying to work out what was getting at him. like I said earlier, I know it’s more than he’s letting on. It’s not just me and Beth being like this and him being scared of what’s going to happen next, there’s something else. I can just feel it.

“Cole,” I whispered. “Are you alright?”

“I'm fine,” he snapped at me. Charming.

We didn’t talk until the ambulance arrived, that’s when I started feeling really nervous. It’s all about to start. I just hope this all ends well.

“Hello, I'm Jane,” the female paramedic told me as she can and knelt at my side. “Can you tell me your name please sweetie?” she asked in a kind friendly voice.

“Zacky,” I told her hesitantly.

“Right, I'm just going to take a look at your head hun,” she told me as she placed her cold hands to my skin observing the damage. “Does anywhere else hurt angel?”

I shook my head at her. She kept making small talk but I wasn't really listening, I was watching the other paramedic. He was taking Beth’s pulse and he seemed really concerned. Cole was talking to him, telling him how long ago he found us and important details about Beth. He emphasized the fact that she was pregnant.

“Will she be alright?” I asked Jane.

“We’ll take her in and when they’ve done some checks we’ll be clearer on her condition. Don’t worry though, you’ll both be in safe hands.” I nodded at her. “Are you two together?” she asked me, trying to make conversation while she did whatever she was doing to my head. Whatever it was it stung.

“No, well, not really.”

“Do you like her?”

“Only as a sister,” I sighed, looking over at her, praying that she’d be alright.

“How did you end up somewhere like this?” Jane asked me.

Right now I could lie to her and act like we were lost or were just passing through, but I know the truth would come out eventually.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled.

I decided to not take any of the options; playing dumb is easier.

“Right,” she smiled awkwardly. “How did you do this?” she asked me, seeming like she wasn't liking me as much now.

“We got jumped,” I told her.

“Do you know who it was?”

“No,” I said bluntly.

“I’ll be back in a sec,” she fake smiled as she walked over to the other paramedic.

They spoke to each other for a while, looking from me to Beth to Cole then back at each other. They know something’s going on. How the hell do they do that?

Cole and I kept exchanging nervous looks between each other as they took care of Beth. Rolling her onto a stretcher and carrying her into the ambulance. Once she was on they gave me an odd look which made me feel really uncomfortable.

“Are you able to stand Zacky?” she asked me, Cole was staring daggers at her due to the sarcasm in her voice.

“Yeah,” I muttered, even though I wasn't too sure if I could or not.

When I said that, Cole came closer to me, knowing that I’d need a hand to get up on my own. He smiled a little to let me know that he was there if I lost my balance or anything. Of course the paramedics were there too but I didn’t particularly trust them.

Slowly I made my way up to my feet and the paramedics supported my weight to help me walk and get into the ambulance. Both Beth and I could fit in there safely, as well as one of the paramedics, the other one was driving.

“Would you like to follow in your car to the hospital?” Jane asked Cole.

“Yeah,” he snarled, I could tell he didn’t like them at all, and to be honest I couldn’t blame him. I know they’re helping but I don’t like the attitude they’re giving me.

As the doors at the back of the ambulance shut, the woman gave me an appalled look and shook her head at me. What’s her problem with me?

“Why do you keep looking at me like that?” I hissed at her.

I'm probably not doing myself any favors right now.

“Sorry,” she smiled at me. “So you don’t know who did this to her?” she said it like a question. I've already told her no, so why is she asking again?

“No,” I said with my body filling with anger and I knew she could sense it.

“Do you find it hard to control your anger?” she asked looking a little nervous. “Do you lash out when you lose that control?” she asked me softly.

What the hell was she on about?

“I have no idea what you mean by that,” I mumbled.

She nodded at me but she’d already made her mind up about me. I just knew they wouldn't believe a thing I said to them now. If only they’d keep their pathetic wrong opinions to themselves.