The Tragic Truth

The next day, after Zoe got all of her baby stuff situated, we decided to go to the mall. Zoe and I desperately needed to go shopping, and well-Drake couldn’t help but tag along. I drove my Jeep over to Derek’s house so we could all pick him up.

Zoe got out of the car and walked up to Derek’s front door. His car was out here, so we were expecting him to be home. We hadn’t called beforehand. We were just planning on kidnapping him. Derek’s mom answered the door. Zoe stood there for a minute, talking to her. I was wondering what was going on. Drake and I leaned our heads over the Jeep’s railing to see if we could hear anything, but we couldn’t. And I have bionic hearing, no joke. I was about to get out of the car when Zoe turned around and started back towards the car.

Her eyes were puffy and tearing, and her face was red and covered in running mascara. I was going to get out of the car to comfort her, Drake following my suit, but she ran up to the car instead. She got into the passenger seat, slammed the door, and turned to me.

“Derek’s in the hospital,” she said, trying to make her voice sound calm. Nonetheless, it still wavered. I stuck the keys in the ignition and quickly pulled out of the driveway.

“Let’s go.” I said.

On the way to the hospital, I was trying to keep it cool. I took deep breaths, and blinked for longer periods of time. Derek was my friend, too. One of my best friends. I didn’t know what was wrong with him, but usually the hospital wasn’t a good sign. I parked in the hospital’s parking lot and we all got out, walking to the hospital. We were walking to the front doors and I asked Zoe, “Where is he?” She sniffed. “The emergency room.” I sighed.

“Okay, well maybe that loosens the tension a little?” She shook her head. I closed my eyes for a minute as we headed through the automatic doors. Drake and I didn’t know if she knew what happened to him; she wouldn’t say. But I knew that I had never seen her freaked out quite like this before, and I had an idea that it was more than just a broken finger.

We ran to the front desk. “Derek Andrews.” I ordered. The receptionist checked her list, and then looked up.

“Room four,” she said. I nodded and the three of us headed over to room four. Zoe opened the door and walked in first, entering quietly. Drake and I followed carefully in her footsteps.

Derek was lying on the hospital bed, looking bruised and broken. He had on a neck brace, and his face was banged up pretty badly. His eyes were closed; he was sleeping. Zoe ran over to him and carefully hugged him, then kissed him on the forehead.

“Derek...I’m so glad you’re okay...” she closed her eyes and hugged him tight again. Drake and I stood back for a moment, worried beyond belief. We walked closer and sat in the chairs next to Zoe and Derek. Derek’s eyes began to flitter open. I put my hand over my mouth.

“How did this happen?” I asked quietly. Derek and Zoe both closed their eyes, and I could have thought Derek was about to cry.

“My…dad,” he whispered. His voice was rough and husky. He cleared his throat, but it didn’t do any good. “He pushed me down the stairs. We had a fight…about you.” He slowly turned to Zoe.

“Ow…” I could tell he was in major pain. He squeezed his eyes shut again. I sighed. Zoe’s eyes opened wide.

“This is the first time he’s hurt you, right?” she asked worriedly. Derek hesitated. “Yea, of course.” He nodded, swallowed, and looked Zoe straight in the eyes. Drake finally broke in.

“Bullshit! Derek, since when has he been hitting you?” Drake said.

“Since never Drake, okay? I’m fine.” Derek retaliated.

“That’s fucked. Since when has he been hitting you?!?”

“Since-since I turned ten…” Zoe whimpered and tried to move closer to Derek. She turned her head.

“I’m not letting this happen to you anymore. I don’t want to lose you.”

“Zoe, I’m fine. It’s not that bad.” He sighed.

“The fuck it is! We’re getting out of here as soon as we can. I’m going to talk to the doctor.”

She got up and strode out of the room, leaving all of us astounded. We didn’t hear her cuss much. We all watched as she started talking to the doctor; first as a worried girlfriend, then yelling and mouthing cuss words at the doctor like her and Derek had been married for ten years already. She almost sprinted back into the room, and then regained her cool.

“The doctor says it’s temporary paralysis due to the fall-down the stairs. He’ll be out of here by nightfall with a bunch of painkillers.” She sighed and resigned to her spot next to Derek. I moved closer to Drake and he put his arm around my waist. We all stood there like a still-life picture, thinking of something to say but never quite getting around to saying it. I finally broke the silence.

“Derek, I think you have to move in with us. You can’t live with an abusive father.” I nodded. He opened his mouth as if to interrupt, but then nodded his head along with me.
“But you don’t have any more rooms,” he said, probably trying to make some sort of lame-ass excuse. I smiled.

“You’re having a baby with this kid, Derek,” I said, motioning to Zoe, “you’ll be sleeping in her room. Get used to it.” We all smiled.

We stayed in Derek’s room until it got dark, all awaiting the moment where we would sneak him past his parents and drive him home with us. We had planned it out while sitting in the room; what else was there to do? The doctor loaded Derek up on painkillers, giving him around three or four bottles to last him his entire life, it seemed. He had to take them three times a day for two weeks. Right when we were about to leave, Derek’s mom called.

“Hi. The doctor called and told us we can pick you up, so we’re on our way.”

“Shit.” I whispered, “We have to get out of here faster than we anticipated.” The four of us nodded. Zoe and Drake were helping Derek walk, and I lead them through the hallways and such. I signed Derek out using his mom’s name, and we were on our way. We got home a little after midnight.

“I don’t have any of my shit…clothes, anything.” Derek said, walking into his and Zoe’s room.

“Uhh…that is a bit of a problem…” The four of us all exchanged glances.

“We’ll get all of it tomorrow…both of your parents work, right?” Drake asked. Derek nodded his head. “Okay. We’ll just get it all tomorrow then.” He nodded his head again. He and Zoe basically collapsed on the bed, and both fell asleep minutes after.

Drake and I walked back into the kitchen to get something to eat. We ended up just getting ice water. He poured the last half of his in the sink while I was still drinking. I leaned on the counter.

“Umm…I’m just going to go to bed then…” he mumbled. I poured the rest of my water down the sink as well and walked after him.

“Do you-maybe…” He turned around. “What?” he asked. I looked him straight in the eye.

“Well…do you want to sleep in an actual bed tonight?” I smiled sweetly.

“Sure.” He leaned forward and kissed me softly, then walked towards my room. “Coming?” He asked.

“Always,” I said, and followed after him.