We're Not Perfect

The door slammed behind me, leaving me alone in the hallway. I walked back to the waiting room, hoping I’d find the rest of the guys there. Not only did I find my guys, I also found Rylii’s band. Craig was sitting with his head in his hands when I dropped into the seat next to him.

“What’s going on?” Robert asked. “We saw a bunch of doctors and nurses go running up the hall just after we left the room. Is Ry ok?”

“She’s fine,” I said. “She woke up when I was in there.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you mean ‘she woke up’?” Blake cut in. “Why is Rylii in the hospital? What happened to her? Where’s she been?”

Craig finally looked up. His eyes were red and his cheeks were lined with tears. “The doctor said she was found passed out on the side of the street this morning. She’d been pretty beat up and there were such a high drug and alcohol content in her system that she should be dead. She’s been in a coma since she was brought here, and apparently she’s awake now.” Everyone was silent for a few minutes. “Are you saying Rylii hasn’t been with you guys for the past three days?” Craig asked.

Aaron shook his head. “She left my place the morning after our last gig when we all crashed there. I just assumed she’d gone home for a few days.” Everyone shook their head. No one had seen or heard from her since then. Craig’s let his head fall back into his hands as he began crying again.

“Tony,” Jason muttered angrily. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a hand in this. Actually, I’m pretty sure he had a part.” Both bands looked at him. Before he could continue though, Rylii’s doctor came out.

“Ms. Mabbitt is awake and seems to be doing well. However, she is in a great amount of pain as we predicted. We can’t give her any medication for at least 24 hours so her body can rid itself of any traces of substance abuse. She’s under surveillance right now. Unfortunately, she can’t have any visitors for the time being. I’ll let you know when there are any changes.” Saying that, the doctor headed back up the hallway.

I couldn’t believe this. Rylii, my Rylii, was in the hospital in pain and I couldn’t do anything to help her. As cheesy as it sounds, I want to be able to take care of her, protect her from everything. I lost myself in my mind, thinking back to when Rylii first came to live with us. She was so afraid of any physical contact when she got here. Then I found out about her cutting and helped her get over that. Rylii had been trying to fight her addiction on her own because she didn’t want to hurt me. But that day I found her in the bathroom, I just wanted to do all I could. When Craig broke us up, I quit sneaking around because I couldn’t stand the thought of losing Ry. I’d done so much to protect her, but it wasn’t enough.

“Max, come walk with me, we need to talk,” Craig said, snapping me back to reality.
I looked around. “Where’d everyone go?” I asked.

“Robert and Monte went to find a snack machine, and Rylii’s band went to find Tony.” I must have looked confused because Craig explained, getting up. “Tony is someone from the club. Apparently he was supplying Ry with pills from the time she moved here. Later he started supplying her with everything. In exchange, he’d take money or sex.”

I didn’t want to believe Craig, but I knew what he was saying was most likely true. “Tony beat her pretty badly, punching her, kicking her, throwing shit at her. Her band knew about it only because they’d seen the two of the together and how Ry looked when she got away from him. She was afraid to get a new dealer because of Tony would do, and she used the drugs he gave her to ignore what he did. Apparently, one of Tony’s other ‘druggies’ did something to piss him off the last night before Ry was supposed to meet him. He took his anger out on Rylii. Sam heard Tony bragging about beating the hell out of her later, but didn’t think it was any different from any other night.”

By this time, we were outside and Craig couldn’t continue. We sat on a bench in silence while I let everything sink in. I couldn’t wait any longer; I had to know the answer. “Craig, why did you say I was Rylii’s boyfriend back there?”

“Because after listening to you, I realized how much of an ass I’ve been. I’m sorry Max, please forgive me. I should have listened to you and Ry, but all I saw was my baby sister in trouble and I just jumped to conclusions. I was so convinced I was helping her and I didn’t want to hear anything different. I can see now that you really love her, and if you want to get back together, know that I won’t do anything like that again. But if you hurt Ry in any way, you’re dead man.”

I couldn’t keep the grin from spreading across my face. “I wouldn’t dream of hurting her. After you broke us up, Ry and I tried meeting in secret, but you always seemed to show up when we did. I was afraid you’d take her away like you threatened, so I gave up. I knew that if I did, I would still be able to see Rylii, even if I couldn’t be with her.”

Craig and I talked for a few more minutes before walking back inside. I was so happy to be back with Rylii. I knew there wasn’t any question about it, based on our quick interaction before I was pushed out of the room.

“What are you so happy about?” Monte asked us.

“Everything’s back to normal. Sort of,” I said. “Craig and I talked about what went down with Rylii, I forgave him for how he reacted, and Ry and I are getting back together.” Robert and Monte cheered.

I was so happy right now. The only way this could get better would be to find out this Tony guy was going to jail and Rylii was out of the hospital and back with me.