Paper Thin (muke)

11: lily

Trigger Warnings: mentions of assault/battery & domestic violence

MICHAEL

Twenty minutes later they arrived in the waiting room of St. Mary's emergency ward.

"Cal!" Ashton yelled out and grabbed Michael's elbow, guiding him across the room. Michael's grip on his white cane was slick, Ashton doing most of the work navigating as he clutched the package in his free hand tighter. Before they'd left for the hospital, he'd made Ashton race back into the apartment to grab the book, knowing it would be the perfect get well soon present for Luke.

"Any word on him?" Ashton helped Michael into a chair next to Calum and he hesitantly reached over, placing a comforting hand on the other boy's back.

"They said he's stable, but that's all they'd tell me. His foster mom is his emergency contact, so they won't say anything else until she gets here." His voice sounded congested, coming out rough and more nasalled than usual.

"I'm so sorry, Cal." Ashton's voice was soft from the other side of Calum, and had Michael not been paying attention he might even have missed it.

"Luke told me this would happen," He sighed, and Michael felt him slump down in his seat. "I should have done something a long time ago."

"This was my fault," Ashton's voice cracked, "When we got to the Starbucks I saw Luke sitting with some guy that was gripping his thigh and stroking his cheek I- I just assumed the worst of him, I'm so sorry. I could have stopped this I-"

Calum cut him off with a strangled laugh-cough. "It's not your fault, Ash. Liam's been doing this for years, he makes people see what he wants them to. He's always been a master manipulator."

"For years?" Michael finally found his voice, choking on the words. This man had been hurting Luke for years? He felt sick.

"Luke met Liam when he turned 17, they've been on and off for the better part of two years now. At first Liam seemed like a good guy, but after a month or so he showed his true colors." He sniffled again. "Luke was good at hiding it but I eventually caught on. Convinced him to break up with the bastard but of course that only made Liam mad and when he was mad he took it out on Luke." Calum's voice trembled and Michael rubbed soothing circles across his back.

"I can't even count the number of times Luke would show up on my doorstep in the middle of the night with a black eye or busted lip. That asshole didn't even try to hide it! He beat the shit out of Luke and just went on with his fucking day." Calum scoffed and Michael felt the anger bubbling up in his stomach again, but this time it was anger for the beautiful broken boy laying in a hospital bed.

"This isn't Luke's first time in the hospital because of that dickhead." Calum's anger overshadowed the sadness as he continued talking, "last year I convinced Luke to file an assault charge after he showed up at my place with cigarette burns on his thighs and a couple cracked ribs. Fuck, I was so scared for him I just knew I needed to get him out before it was too late, but of course the cops didn't take him seriously."

"What?" The anger just continued to mount in Michael's stomach and by this point he was shaking.

"I mean, why would they? It was Liam's word against his. Liam's a bank manager with a sweet smile and silver tongue and Luke's just some foster kid from the South side. He convinced them Luke made the whole fucking thing up. Then he beat Luke within an inch of his life." The bitterness in Calum's tone seeped into Michael's skin and caused his own hatred to spread. "He had to have reconstructive surgery to repair his collarbone that time. He refused to press charges after that but I promised him it would never happen again..."