Chapter Eight: Disconsolate
It had been a rough night for everyone. After Mr. And Mrs. Carter started a screaming match in the waiting room, and attacked Justin, the Police had to have them moved to another room to keep them out of more trouble. They were so full of hatred, not just because their son was dead, they had seemed that way since the meeting, the very first time any of them had met. Justin couldn't wrap his mind around it, how was it possible that so many people could be so close-minded about an issue that was none of their business to begin with? He sat there and remembered the incident that had transpired tonight in the waiting room.
"What the fuck did you do to my son you little bastard?!" Mr. Carter yelled as he launched himself at Justin.
Justin was barely able to dodge the punch; it missed his face by a centimeter, possibly less, feeling the air brush his face as he fell backwards. Before Justin could do anything he saw his father jump from his seat and begin an assault on Mr. Carter. He grabbed Mr. Carter by the neck of his shirt and slammed him against the nearest wall.
"Don't you ever lay a hand on my son" He gritted, tightening his grip on the shirt.
"That thing doesn't deserve to be alive, it should be him that is laying in there dead, not our son!" Mr. Carter choked.
Justin wasn't sure how it happened, but Mr. Carter had been able to release himself from his fathers grasp and in the confusion, attacked. Justin father had taken a blow to the face and chest and was knocked down; thankfully the security hadn't taken long to arrive and took both Justin's father and Mr. Carter to opposing ends of the waiting room. After a lot of debating the security took Mr. And Mrs. Carter into another room, presumably to prevent another outbreak as well as to see their son, not that Justin really cared.
Justin was sitting in the waiting room with Morgan at his side; to the observer he was staring at the bland white walls, when in fact he was reminiscing. He remembered the first time he had met Morgan. Fifteen years ago in Primary. She was tall for her age, and to this day she still had the long strawberry hair and nerd-glasses.
"Hi, I'm Morgan" She said, her soft voice lifting Justin's head to look at her.
"I'm Justin" He replied.
"Umm...Can I" She began, blushing.
"I sit with me?" He asked, remembering he hadn't talked to anyone all day. Morgan nodded and he nodded for her to take a seat.
That was his most precious moment; of all the people he met from then on, none ever compared to Morgan. She was smart, pretty and nice, and over time they managed to stay friends. One might say that they had truly become family after that, they were inseparable, even after Justin moved he had kept in contact.
"Hey Morgan" Justin said as he slipped back into reality.
"Yeah?" She looked at him and smiled.
"Why did you come to visit me?"
"As I said, my course at university finished, I had time to spare"
"You're lying to me, I can tell" He said, shifting in his chair to face her.
"Why would you---" She was cut off by Justin.
"Tell me. What is the other reason you are here?"
She let out a heavy sigh and stared at the seat for a moment. "If I tell you, do you promise to not get mad?"
"No, but you'll tell me anyways" He said callously.
"I came here at your moms request. She knew that even with Drew here you needed someone else, and I am your best friend. She felt that you were becoming to... attracted to him, and didn't want you to get hurt"
Justin blinked a few times before closing his eyes and thinking. "Your telling me that the only reason you came is out of pity?"
"No hunny, that's not it at all. I came here cause I thought you needed me, but you don't." She looked at him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "You are doing just fine and after I realized this, I stayed `cause it was good to see you again"
"Why didn't you just tell me from the start?" He asked, returning his gaze to the wall.
"Didn't want you to get mad at me" She leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder. "And to tell the truth, it didn't seem important after we started hanging out again, don't you miss that... just hanging out for the sake of hanging out?"
"Or swinging just for the sake of swinging" Justin replied, wrapping an arm around her.
"Mmm, the good ole' days. God I miss those days when guy's still had cooties and Barbie's were cool to own..."
"And who can forget the days when Polly Pockets were so small you could choke to death on them?!" Justin chuckled.
"Ah, good times, good times" She replied with a giggle.
It was about three hours later, since arriving at the Hospital before anyone got word of Drew. A doctor emerged from behind the large wooden door with a clipboard and pen. He was tall and very handsome, in his mid thirties with short brown hair.
"Mr. And Mrs. Wilson?" He called out in a deep masculine voice.
"Yes?" Mr. Wilson replied as he and his wife stood and walked over to the doctor.
"Your son will be fine, we're just bandaging him up, and I have also given him some pain killers, he should be out momentarily. He's lucky too, the bullet hit the bone but didn't break it, and completely missed his lung"
"Oh thank god" Mrs. Wilson exclaimed and she embraced her husband. "Justin, Come here" She said, gesturing him with her hand.
"Yes?" He spoke softly as if trying to avoid a verbal bombardment.
"We're not mad at you, dear" Her words were slow, soft and comforting, but did little to convince him otherwise. "You had no control over the gun, nor over Matt. I'm sure Drew will be glad to see you, and when he's feeling better, we," She said wrapping her arm around her husbands waist, "want you to come for dinner. You, your parents and Morgan"
Justin stood in amazement; he was being invited over after his friend was shot? He should have had more people shot sooner, would have made his life a little easier, he jokingly thought. "I'd like that, as I'm sure everyone else would."
"Good, we'll set a date and call you" Mr. Wilson announced to the room.
Drew was yelling all the way down the hall with doctors following close behind him. "Alright already! I get it! One pill a day, no weight lifting for three weeks minimum, and stay well hydrated!" he moaned as he swung the door to the waiting room open. Everyone turned around quickly to see Drew rushing at them; he gave both his parents a long hug, all of them crying tears of joy. He had embraced them so tightly you could hear both parents gasping for air; it was a nice moment to witness. Justin had known that Drew was a kind and very caring person, but had never gotten the chance to really see it first hand. Drew turned to Justin and gave a little smile.
"I'm sorry Drew" Justin said looking to his side.
"You're sorry? Sorry for what? For me jumping in front of a bullet?" He inquired with confusion.
"Uh, yeah I suppose so..." Justin replied realizing how silly what he had said was.
"Look dude, you couldn't have stopped me either way"
"You don't know that" Justin jested.
Drew smiled and gave Justin a hug, "I'm much stronger then you, and faster" He smiled and hugged tighter to make a point, "You couldn't have stopped me"
"Drew, you do know that Matt...died... right?" Morgan said as she moved in closer.
"Yeah, the doctor told me as he was bandaging me up, apparently they had revived him once but he couldn't hang on" Drew said seriously. "It's really sad that he had to go as far as attempted murder just because he felt abandoned."
"Drew, he was gay" Justin said. "He was a closeted homo, covering it up with a homophobic attitude... it was apparent"
"I know... I just wish it didn't have to go that far. I just don't understand it all"
"We should all get going, I'm sure Drew is tired and in need of some rest" Mr. Ellis said ushering both Morgan and Justin to the door.
"I agree, lets go home" Drew's mother answered.
Justin and Morgan sat in the back seat of the car as his father drove everyone home for the night, in hopes of getting a good night sleep. None of them had talked since they got in the car and it didn't appear as if anyone would speak up anytime soon. Justin looked over at Morgan and smiled, knowing she would immediately understand the meaning.
Drew was in the back seat of his parent's car and they too were driving home after a long night. Drew was already half asleep along the way, barely able to respond to any and all the questions his parents were asking. They seemed to be doing well and taking the incident well, though they were probably keeping a lot deep inside.
"...We're just glad your safe" was all he hear his mother safe.
"Yeah, but things still went all wrong tonight" He said dozing off.
Drew was asleep on his bed, peaceful and content for the moment, he sheets lay scattered over the bed with him plopped on top of them. He had been so tired when he stumbled his way into the house; probably from the medication the doctor has given him just before he had burst into the waiting room. He shifted his head back and forth in his dream state, almost as if her were floating on air.
He stood on a long stretch of road that seemed to go on for eternity; it was a black pavement with deep yellow lines. The smell was that of a freshly built thoroughfare on the edge of reality, where civilization ended and nature began. In the middle of this road to nowhere was a small campfire, little stones containing the sticks the kept the fire burning lightly. It seemed odd that there would be a fire in the middle of a road, in the middle of nowhere, and it got even stranger when he noticed the old lady sitting behind it. She was beautiful for her age, dressed in a gothic-black dress the trailed behind her, her silver hair thick and draping down in all directions. She simply looked at him and smiled and returned to her fire.
"Who are you?" Drew asked as he moved closer.
"I am that is, I am chaos, Harmony, Vigilance" She replied in her elderly weak voice.
"Why are you on this road?"
"All paths lead to the same destination"
"That doesn't really answer my question" Drew said miffed.
"Doesn't it? Where are you going?"
"I don't know... I've never been here before... I don't know which way to go" He replied.
"You have always been here, as have I and the others"
"The others? What others?"
"They are not here right now as you don't need them, only me," She said in almost a singing voice.
"You're the manifestation of my anxiety... aren't you?" Drew asked as he took a closer look. "I remember that from a dream dictionary I was looking at a few weeks back"
"Bingo"
"Are you trying to tell me something by being here?" He asked.
"It should be obvious, dear," She said before beginning to vanish into thin air.
Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in this chapter. But when Thursday March 31st hit, It was my birthday and I took the whole weekend off from writing to do some birthday things. And interesting chapter near the end, slow in the middle and you get to know how Morgan and Justin met, so it gives a little background history. If there are any major mistakes with chronology I'm sorry, I re-wrote this thing many many times before I was satisfied with the outcome. I'm hoping that I don't have to work nearing the Thursday -- Sunday timeframe because that's when I'm going to start Chapter 9. I need a little break from writing because I have used all my ideas up so far and could really just use another breather.
Darren