In Over My Head

3rd Person

The sunset neared outside the window as Ever sat in his hospital bed. Boy, Dr. Morty had been pissed when Ever had come running into the hospital, gasping for breath, ready to faint. They'd changed the bandages on his feet and hand as well as the ones on his back; he'd forgotten he'd gotten burns there but he'd sure remembered when they were painfully peeling the gauze off, some of his skin sticking to it as well.

He was not allowed to move until tomorrow but Ever knew he wouldn't be able to make it that far. He'd barely even spent 8 hours here and he couldn't take it anymore. But Ever believed this wasn't as bad as what he'd done to Andy.

How could he have hit her? Granted he truly hadn't meant it but she wouldn't forgive him, and why should she? She'd gone through a lot because of him, in fact, Ever just wanted to crawl into a cave and just die. He couldn't face her, he couldn't face Damian, he couldn't face his mother, he couldn't face anybody.

Just when he was going to stand up and throw himself out the window with the sunset Dr. Morty came in.

"How are you? Do you need anything?" He asked, concern clouding his eyes.

Ever shrugged; he felt so guilty, it wouldn't feel just full if he got anything he wanted right at the moment; even if it was just a sip of water; not when Andy was probably crying her eyes out.

Dr. Morty took a deep breath, it seemed like he had something to say but didn't want to say it. Wow, this doctor was sympathetic.

"You're mom's awake" He said.

Automatically Ever sat up and swung his feet over the bed's edge.

"--But i really do advice for you not to go see her at the moment. She looks terrible; I don't want you to feel bad; it might affect the way you heal."

Ever ignored him and got onto the wheel chair they had put beside his bed since his feet wouldn't bare walking anymore, they were raw with more boils because of the incident.

He wheeled himself past the Dr. but he stopped him, "Look doc, I've got to see her, and you wont stop me"

"I know" Said Dr. Morty, "But you don't know the room number, Everard"

Ever blushed a bit, "Oh"

The doctor smiled kindly "241"

Ever could barely lift the corners of his lips in return before he sped off. He found the room but hesitated before entering.

What was he going to find in there?

Goosebumps prickled his arms but he shook his head; Be a man, for god's sake!

Then he entered. His mom was hooked up to all types of machines that kept beeping and making other types of noises. She looked more like Frankenstein than a human being but she was still his mother none-the-less.

He wheeled himself forward with all the strength he could muster and stopped right at the edge of her bed.

Every part of her body was wrapped in the white gauze except her face. Her cheeks were burnt nearly black and her lips were stitched in many places, looking black and blue and were in an uncomfortable grimace.

And then Everard looked into her eyes; they were like butter, he always remembered, creamy golden looking but for the moment they were in so much pain, he could tell.

She opened her mouth, "Ever..." She croaked in a whisper.

Ever jerked a little, he'd been planning to question her about his "dad" but he just couldn't; she was so frail looking.

"I'm here mom"

"Are you okay?" She whispered painfully.

"Yep, d'you know they've got mint chocolate chip ice cream here?" Ever said trying to sound happy like when he visited his sister, but he was dying inside.

She tried to smile but failed, "That's great, hon"

Ever smiled fakely and took her hand in his caressing it gently.

For a moment no one spoke and then his mom uttered, "I'm sorry"

"Shh" Ever said not looking at her, "Don't talk, it'll hurt more"

"No, i have to say this" Joyce said with authority and determination in her voice; she'd always been like that, Ever could never win an argument with her. "About your father..."

"I know, he isn't my father, my real father died of leukemia before Violet and i were born, and this guy was a runaway criminal" Ever grumbled.

"Yes" Joyce said not asking how he'd known, "I'm sorry for hiding him and passing him off as your father"

"Then why did you?" Ever couldn't help but ask as he traced circles in his mom's palm which seemed to be the only part unscathed about her.

"When Roger died it was a really horrible tragedy; we were living in California at the time. So there I was a pregnant 20 yr old with no money and no where to go.." She croaked.

"But what about life insurance?" Ever piped up.

She tried to shake her head but gasped in pain, "The small amount that we had went to paying Roger's medical bills." she sighed, "It was rough but i managed.. for a few months. But i couldn't pay the apartment bills and you and Violet were making me eat a lot of food that i couldn't afford. And then he came"

Ever shuddered knowing whom she spoke of.

"He gave me a load of money every two weeks only asking for... a little service"

Ever trembled again with anger, and disgust, he'd been inside his mother's stomach when she'd provided that 'service' but he didn't speak.

"Then I had you two" She smiled fondly, "My pride and joy, and I was so happy to have two little babies to take care of and he made that possible. But then news came round the neighborhood that a criminal was lurking in the city. It wasn't safe. He needed to leave. And he wanted to take me with him but i didn't want to go; you and Violet enjoyed the bright sunny city so much, and i had lived here all my life.."

"So what happened?" Ever asked.

She sighed, "In the end I knew I had to, to be able to raise you and Violet, so we moved here, in the house next to one of my high school best friends, your Aunt Lola, she kept his identity hidden by asking Patrick to pretend he was his brother."

Ever opened his mouth to bad talk Damian's parents, how could they do that? but his mom stopped him, "They didn't know exactly who he was, Ever, just that he'd done something bad but i really needed him and Lola would do anything for me, true friends always do."

Then she stopped again and looked out her window. A few minutes later she continued slowly, "He wasn't violent... at first, after a couple of years i suppose you and Violet's cries got on his nerves"

"Yes it was all our fault" Ever couldn't help but mutter bitterly.

"No, Honey, don't say that please" his mom begged her voice thick with tears, "It wasn't your fault, of course not, it was his, but i couldn't do anything. He hit me first, for a couple more years, but then as you and Violet started coming into your own i suppose you realized it wasn't okay, it wasn't normal..."

"Violet was the first to fight back" She uttered with a sob though no tears flowed out her eyes, they were all dried up, "My little soldier, she protected me at the age of just seven,"

Ever's eyes started getting watery thinking about his brave twin sister.

"Then he turned on you two, it was horrible, I hated not being able to do anything but he wouldn't let me" she whispered "Believe me, I regret not stopping him; i cried every night, it hurt so much"

Ever let his mom contain her grief before he spoke, "Violet protected me too... I should've been the one standing up for her, I was her brother, i was supposed to be the strong one"

His mom uttered a small "no" then began to dryly sob again, "It was all m-my fault, and th-then w-w-w-w-w-w-when you two t-t-turned 13 and-and y-your birthday and-and h-he c-came h-home s-s-s-s-s-so angry" she sobbed her words incoherent, "h-h-h-he started to h-h-h-h-hit y-you t-t-t-two f-f-f-for no reason a-and b-b-blood w-was all over y-your forehead and th-then w-w-w-when Violet t-t-tried to protect you he-he started b-b-beating h-her so h-hard a-and th-then, oh god, he pushed her d-d-d-own th-the stairs, a-a-and she-she wouldn't w-w-w-wake up, m-m-m-my poor baby wouldn't w-wake up" she started gasping for air, the sobs taking over her body.

Ever was crying too, he remembered the time he went to go see Violet and she'd had one of her fits; she'd replayed that same scene his mom was explaining.But his mom continued, "A-and w-w-when sh-she did w-w-w-wake up at the hos-hospital, she wasn't h-h-herself... m-m-my baby went crazy" she moaned starting to rock back and forward ignoring the obvious pain it was causing her.

And then all of a sudden she started twitching crazily, the heart monitor was beeping wildly, her eyes started to roll back into her head and a foamy substance was spewing from her mouth.

Ever's eyes widened, "Mom!!" he yelled but then the nurses and doctors rushed in surrounding her, "She's having a seizure!!" and quite suddenly it stopped and the wild beeping became one never ending beep.

"She's in cardiacarest!!" some one else yelled and suddenly Ever was being rushed out of the room by Dr. Morty, "Stay here" he said.

But Ever's heart was pounding madly, she had to be okay, "Mum, please" he begged to her although she couldn't hear him from all the way out here, "Please, i swear, if you get better, w-we'll move to Hawaii and I'll work and buy you so many things that you wont know what to do with them and me and you and Violet hand live together as a family, and we'll be away from that horrible man and we'll and we'll---"

He kept on murmuring words like that for a few more minutes until Dr. Morty came out, everything was hushed inside the room, "Everard.."

Ever bobbed his head indicating for him to talk though he didn't look at him.

"I'm so sorry, she didn't.. make it, son.." He muttered.

It didn't come as a surprise to Everard, bad things always happened to him, but that didn't make the grief bearable.

He got up from the wheel chair, zombie-like, his blood pounding in his ears and walked away. He kept on walking.

And he didn't stop.