Chapter Text
I jerk awake. Fuck. I look down at the small, snoring girl grasping at my shirt like her life depends on it.
Gwen’s got the same long dark hair as before and she’s grown quite a bit since I saw her last. She’s grown into her features, and she’s just as adorable as three years ago. She feels thinner than last I saw her—too thin. Just like Finney. I’ve gotta bring that up later. That man had better be feeding them well.
It’s chilly and bone dry here, making my throat hurt. The room is shadowed, only illuminated by the gaps at the top and bottom of the curtains surrounding us. The scent of fresh hospital linens and strong hand sanitizers bring me a sort of comfort.
I gaze up at the clock and realize it’s only been 45 minutes since I fell asleep. Robby is long gone, he probably didn’t want to disrupt the quiet. Gwen and I have a novelty Pittsburgh Steelers blanket laid over us. It’s definitely Robby’s. The thought makes me smile.
It doesn’t last long though, because I realize in front of me is a large figure lurking, staring.
I clench my jaw—how long have they been there? I focus and stare at them, eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light. My sight eventually fixes on the face of the person hovering above me and now I can tell who the figure is.
My father. Terrence. His face stares back at me with disgust manifesting behind his eyes. Oh no. I can tell something’s off too, he seems unfocused. “Dennis,” Terrence slurs.
I freeze from instinct.
Gwen is still asleep—Finney too. I don’t want to cause a commotion.
But I can’t let him stand here, above me. He’s drunk. He’ll make a bigger commotion.
For a moment, I hesitate.
He’s started to mumble at me—raising his voice and mumbling every inconvenience he’s ever had at me. He’s gaining volume, getting so loud others outside the curtains can definitely hear.
I glance back down at Gwen who’s now drooling—how these two sleep through it is a miracle. I do the only thing I can think of. Before I know it my jaw is unclenching and I yell out, “I need a little help in here!”
I hear the sound of a tablet being set down and running feet heading towards us. Not panicked, but quick with purpose. The curtain slides open, stopping my father’s rambling. Doctor Abbot appears next to me.
He looks around and says, “Hi! What seems to be the problem here?” He’s got the kind of charm that can diffuse any situation.
He once talked down the screaming match of a pissed off office worker, priest, and deadpan hippie. It brings me slight comfort to know he’d be here to protect the kids if anything happened.
Getting no answer, he extends his hand, “I'm Doctor Abbott. This is Student Doctor Whit—“
“Yeah, I know the little shit. He’s my doggone son,” he stammers, throwing one hand out and smacking Abbot’s harshly.
I sigh, running my hand over my face. Finney stirs in the bed in front of me but doesn’t have the energy to wake up. Abbot looks between the two of us as if for confirmation of my father’s claim. I just nod, not having the energy to explain.
“Alright then, I’m assuming you're also the parent of these two?”
“Uh-huh,” Terrence says mockingly.
Abbot starts, “Alright. So, Mr. Whitaker—”
“Blake. Terrence Blake. I’m not like my son here, I’ve got my own daddy’s name. Motherfucker left and took that bitch’s name…” he trails off, muttering.
“Right. Mr. Blake. Your son Finney is in for a number of tests. Blood tests, CT scan, X-ray, rape kit, all the standard of care for your son. I can talk you through the steps of care…”
My father is silent for a moment. I start to feel my eyelids fall again as Doctor Abbott starts to talk to my father. Maybe things are gonna be ok. Abbot’s chatter keeps me awake.
Terrence finally registers Abbot’s words and blurts, “Rape kit? Finney ain’t no gay.”
“Mr. Blake, a rape kit wouldn’t make Finney gay. There’s some ideas people spread about situations like these but they’re false. This is a step we need to take for the best interest of your son. You can speak with—“
“Enough with your mumbo jumbo, he’s not gay. You sure as hell ain’t shoving shit up his butt!” He erratically yells.
Gwen stirs, “Daddy?” She sits up.
I rub my shoulder where she had been laying. She’s noticing the tension and looks visibly anxious. I put my hand on her shoulder and slowly put her to lay back down.
“Just go back to sleep, dad's only worried about Finney, I got this...” I say.
She lays back down, head resting next to me on the back of the recliner. Our father is still rambling to Doctor Abbot, jumping to the most conclusions possible.
I barely pick up what they're saying in my drowsy state. I stroke Gwen’s hair as she tries her best to fall back asleep in the clamor.
“Take a breath Mr. Blake, I understand your worries. We can discuss the plan of treatment but you need to calm down first!” Abbot says.
“I don’t need to calm down!”
“Okay! Let's discuss, then. The rape kit would help us to treat him the best we can and give the police concrete evidence. I could remove the request for it but it’s really the best course right now. He would be—”
“I’m sure you can’t explain half of why he needs that shit then, because you're a lying piece of shit doctor! It’s not much, he could just *hiccup* walk it off. He walked out of that house in one piece!”
I hear another person approach. “Is everything ok here? I can hear the yelling from the other side of the emergency room.” I opened my eyes to see Langdon, who I remember is doing overtime since he came in late today.
“No! This son of a bitch is just trying to eat more money up by doing all these damned tests!” Dad sputters, throwing his hand up in the air.
Doctor Abbot pinches the bridge of his nose. Langdon holds his hand out to try and calm my father, “Yes sir, I’m the primary on your son’s case. He was pretty badly injured but we were able to patch him—sir, are you intoxicated?”
Langdon can definitely sense the alcohol on his breath and the slur behind his words. Terrence doesn’t like “accusations”. I groan, knowing this is going to be a shitshow.
“What the hell are you accusing me for! I’m a standup citizen, I— I pay my bills!” He says, throwing up his arms and nearly hitting a night shift nurse.
The nurse had just popped in to check Finney’s vitals and realized the situation too late. She’s trapped in the room now by the flailing man in front of her. “You don’t though,” I mumble.
“What’d you say boy?”
“Okay, sir, we need to ask you to step outside and get some fresh air.” Langdon says. He’s trying to defuse the situation but nothing works as my father gets more angry.
“Step outside?! Why do I gotta leave!?” he throws his arms back in anger. “This piece of shit doctor is trying to scrape my wallet doing all this bullshit, sayin’ my son’s a homo, now you're accusing me of being a drunk!?” my father yells, shoving his finger into Abbot’s chest and swaying a little.
Langdon tries a last ditch effort to calm down and de-escalate the situation but I can tell he knows this is going south.
“THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT!” Terrence yells.
“Security!” Abbott yells down the hall, hoping to take the situation away before he hurts himself or anyone else.
The trapped nurse has just checked Finney’s IV and is now looking at me when it hits me. Since my father is currently impaired, I have medical custody over Finney.
“Whitaker should I do the blood test—” the nurse speaks softly, trying to catch anyone’s attention.
“YOU’RE NOT DOING SHIT! TRY ANYTHING AND—” my father roars. Spit is flying out of his mouth as he threatens the nurse.
Langdon has finally had enough, security is taking too long. I watch his jaw tense. Abbot pauses, grabbing his resident’s arm. He gives Langdon a look of warning.
Langdon only shakes him off and before I know it my father is tackled to the ground.
I shoot up in the recliner with surprise. Gwen opens her eyes at the sight and stares at the scene, mouth ajar. The nurse gasps at the commotion and quickly moves her hand over her mouth.
Langdon holds my father down as Terrence—who’s bigger than Langdon—thrashes. He's too intoxicated to really fight back. I could only sit there in shock. Not many people have stood up against my father.
“LET ME GO YOU PIECE OF SHIT MOTHERFUCKER! FINNEY, HELP ME!” he barks, thrashing with all his might.
I stare at the man in front of me. Why would I help the man who I don’t even call dad anymore. He’s not my dad—he hasn't been for almost half a decade. He’s just the pathetic bastard who used to beat me and now beats my brother and sister.
His wriggling is no use—he’s no match for Langdon who’s the unofficial “hula hoop” aide. They struggle for a minute with Langdon yelling at Terrence to calm down as he shoves him into the hard, unforgiving floor. Langdon eventually pulls him up and pushes him out of the room.
I could hear the impending sounds of security finally coming. We seriously need more security. Abbott looks about as shocked as I do. I know Langdon has been a little on edge since going to rehab but I'm honestly surprised at how strong he is.
I tear my eyes away from the scene, remembering Finney still needs the whole nine and I have to get him through it. “Do the blood test," I say with resolution.
“I’ll get working on it now,” she nods.
I look outside to the scene, security taking over. Terrance gets dragged out and I can only sigh in relief. I lay back down, moving Gwen so she rests her head on me. The former tension leaves my body even though I'm still reeling.
Once Robby finds out, he's going to have a lot of questions. Some I’m unsure I even want to answer. He’s gonna learn everything I don’t want him to—know how much of a loser I am.
Abbott looks at me. “You good, kid?” he says with concern, presumably seeing my face as I rake over all the possibilities of the conversation where I tell my new boyfriend how pathetic I am.
I can only nod. Abbot sighs and steps past the curtains, getting back to work.
Gwen turns to me with pain in her eyes, “He said he was going to stop.”
My heart just crumples at her words. How many times had dad promised us that, promised Gwen that? She knew not to believe him when he told us he’d stop drinking, get sober. I can tell this time was different. He’d meant it—and they believed him.
“I know.”
That's all I can say. Because I do know.
I pull her to my chest, holding her as she sobs herself to sleep. Eventually, the commotion of the other patients and nurses gossiping about the neutralization dies down. I feel my eyes start to pull down. Finally… some real sleep…