Listen to the Thunder

We were waiting. Waiting for news about Kyle. He went into surgery about 4 hours ago, as soon as we arrived here. I haven’t been able to stop feeling sick since I sat down in the waiting room, Alex holding me in his arms while Danny and Matt got us food and drink. I hope he’s okay. I’ve never seen someone collapse like he did. Fuck, I hate this feeling of waiting around.

“Friends of Kyle Burns?”

I snapped my head up, seeing a Doctor standing in the doorway.

“Yeah, that’s us. Is he okay? How badly hurt is he?” I blurted, standing up.

The Doctor smiled at my anguish. “Kyle is okay. The surgery to fix his ribs and nose went perfectly and he’s been wheeled to his room right now. He’ll need to stay in for a few days so we can oversee the start his recovery, but after that he’ll be free to go. Kyle will be coming out of unconsciousness at the moment, but he’ll be able to talk to you as soon as he’s awake,”

“Thank you so much. What room is he in?” I asked.

“127,”

I took Alex’s hand in my own and immediately walked down the corridor. Matt and Danny followed. It didn’t take us long to find the room, and sure enough he was in there. But oh my gosh. The whole left side of his face was purple and black, with a heavy bandage over his nose. His body was covered but I knew his entire torso would be wrapped in bandages too. All the wires and tubes connected to his arms were what got to me though, and Alex had to wrap his arms around me to stop me falling. This isn’t the Kyle I know. Fuck.

“Come on, let’s sit down,” Matt said encouragingly.

I nodded and let Alex guide me to a chair, the closest to Kyle’s bed.

“Are you okay, Jack?” Danny asked softly.

“I-I don’t know. I never expected to ever see him like this,” I said honestly, and quietly.

“He’ll be okay, Jacky,” Alex reassured, “He’s out of surgery,”

“But he looks so hurt!” I whimpered.

“He’ll be okay,” Alex repeated, linking his hand with mine.

I’m not so sure. I’ve never seen anything like this.

“We all know how stubborn he is,” Danny said with a small smile, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

“That’s true,” Alex mused.

“It was just so random though! One hour he was yelling at me, the next he passed out completely beat up outside my door! I don’t understand,” I frowned.

“Something tells me he wasn’t yelling at you for the reasons you think,” Matt said softly.

I whimpered. “So I could’ve prevented this? If I stopped him and got him to calm down, he wouldn’t have gotten beaten up?”

Alex immediately grabbed my hands, making me look at him.

“That’s not what Matt is saying, is it Matt?” Alex growled, glaring at my dormmate.

“Fuck, no, I wasn’t saying that at all,” Matt quickly replied, shaking his head.

“You can’t blame yourself, Jack. Kyle is unpredictable, you know this much at least,” Danny said, smiling weakly.

“I know, I know he is, but I can’t help but feel guilty,” I said miserably.

“Well, we all know who did it,” Alex grumbled.

Nick.

“We can’t prove anything unless Kyle admits it,” I whispered.

“I don’t think there’s anything that’ll hold him back this time. He came to you, didn’t he?” Danny pointed out.

I just nodded, turning back to look at my bruised and broken friend. Fuck, Kyle. Why do you always have to torment me? You’re not even conscious!

“Nhn,”

Kyle! I jumped to my feet and leant over his body, only for Alex to pull me back.

“Give him some room Jack, fucking hell,” Alex muttered.

“We’ll go get a nurse,” Matt said, squeezing my shoulder.

He and Danny left the room, and Alex let go of me before walking around the other side of the hospital bed.

“Kyle? Can you hear me?” Alex asked.

I bit my bottom lip as his eyes fluttered open, another groaned slipping from his lips.

“W-Where am I?” Kyle croaked.

Tears stung at my eyes, Alex just getting a cup of water for Kyle to drink.

“You’re in the hospital, Kyle. I opened my door to you completely beat up and then you passed out,” I whimpered.

Alex smiled sadly at me, handing Kyle his water.

“Matt ran down the corridor to get me, and then he rang an ambulance while Danny kept people away from crowding and Jack and I made sure you were still breathing,”

Kyle’s eyes started to water, but he took a sip of his drink, wincing slightly as he swallowed.

“Alex and I went in the ambulance with you while Matt grabbed us all some clothes before driving over with Danny. You were taken straight into surgery. I tried to call your parents but I was shaking so much that Alex did it instead,” I said, my voice cracking slightly.

“I also rang Pat, Zack, Rian and Caleb. They’re on their way here. Should be here soon actually. Your parents are coming as soon as your dad can get off work,” Alex said softly.

That’s not Kyle’s parents being assholes. His dad is a surgeon and he has two major heart surgeries to complete before he can leave. Which is fair enough.

“You had 1 broken rib, 3 fractured ribs, a broken nose, and severe bruising on your face and side,” Alex said, swallowing heavily.

“I’ve never been more scared in my life,” I admitted quietly.

“I shouldn’t’ve come to you guys. I don’t know what I was thinking,” Kyle whispered.

W-What?

“Kyle…” Alex warned.

“This isn’t your burden to bear,” Kyle said quietly.

“But…”

“You’re kidding, right?!” Alex said, interrupting me, “Your boyfriend has been abusing you – you don’t think we won’t care?!”

Kyle’s jaw dropped and he cheeks flushed deeply. Fuck. He didn’t know that we knew.

“Y-You kn-know?” Kyle asked, choking a sob.

“Yeah, we know,” I murmured, daring to look him in the eyes.

“Oh God. O-Oh my God,” Kyle whimpered.

“Kyle, it’s okay. We’re going to make sure you never have to see him again. We can get you moved into a new dorm, we can get a restraining order on Nick, we can protect you. You just need to tell us what he did. We can’t do anything without you admitting it,” I said softly.

Kyle swallowed heavily, looking down into his lap. Come on Kyle. Let us help you.

“I don’t know what to do,” Kyle said, finally looking up at me.

“Do what you feels right. If Nick didn’t do this to you, and hasn’t been hurting you, then say you don’t want us to do anything. If Nick did do this to you and has been hurting you, then tell us you want us to help,” Alex said firmly.

Kyle’s eyes started watering again, still not looking away from me. Please Kyle. Please!

“Nick did this to me. We argued, I didn’t back down like I usually do, and he flipped out. He just went crazy. I don’t really remember how I got to your apartment, just flashes of stumbling. Nick never went this crazy before, but he has hit me before this. He’s hit me a lot, especially when I made him angry,” Kyle said softly.

“Why did you never tell us about it? Why did you never stand up for yourself? The old you would never have taken that shit,” I demanded.

“I never told you because I didn’t think you’d care. I didn’t stand up for myself because he’d only hit me harder like he did today. And the old me ceased to exist when I started taking drugs. I couldn’t find me again after I stopped taking everything so I didn’t know what to do. He had such control over me,” Kyle whispered.

Oh Kyle! I always cared about you, even after everything that happened! Fuck.

“We’re not going anywhere. You’ve got us, Kyle. You don’t need Nick anymore. You’ve got us,” Alex murmured, taking his hand.

Kyle looked between Alex and I, looking at ours hands holding his, before starting to cry.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Kyle sobbed.

No, Kyle, thank you.