Finding The Light

61

Warnings:
-Mentions severe physical abuse

Clay's POV

My head was pounding heavily from the intense pain as I kept walking around while I waited for someone to help me. I called Jason a thousand times and he told me he was coming to help me as soon as he could.

I pressed my hands against my temples to ease the headache and gently lifted one up to the back of my head to feel the blood that was pouring down from my head to my neck. A slight nausea was coming up in my chest, but I could just think about Reggie and the scenes I had seen when I woke up...

'Clay!' Jason yelled out as he ran up to me and panted heavily from how fast he went. He didn't hesitate and sprinted towards the skatepark, leaving me behind for now to go to Reggie as quickly as he could.

I followed him closely behind and ignored my own pain to save Reggie from the damage they were causing to him. Jason was filled with adrenaline and rushed to Emilio, rage in his eyes as he neared them.

The second he was close enough to Emilio, he grabbed his wrist without doubting for a singular second. I saw his strong grasp and the painful twist he caused Emilio's wrist to make and glanced away when I heard a snapping sound from Emilio's bone.

Jason, however, wasn't done and grabbed the baseball bat from his hands, repeatedly punching it into Emilio's ribs to make sure he would collapse. Within seconds, he fell to the ground and gasped for air, but I saw Jason was honestly holding back from injuring him even more than he had just done.

I stumbled towards Reggie, who wasn't responsive, and carefully sat down next to him. I lifted his head onto my lap and glanced at the pool of blood coming down from it. 'Reggie, I got help. I called the ambulance and the police as well, okay?'

I raised my shirt and gently used the bottom of it to dab some of the blood from his skin. But focusing on anyone else made me ignore my own pain, yet, the severe headache was too intense for me to deal with, so I closed my eyes as I continued to dab his skin.

~~~

Emilio was much more of a pussy than he acted like he was, because he wasn't able to stand up anymore after a few hits in the ribs. Jason kept holding onto the wrist he likely broke and as soon as he wanted to escape, he turned it around again to make him scream from the pain.

Meanwhile, as we waited for the ambulance, I sat with Reggie. He woke up after a long time, seemed really confused, but mostly relieved to know I was okay. Instead of speaking, he was communicating with gestures and went from heart gestures to a pouting lip from sadness.

I understood anything he was trying to tell me and soon after that, the ambulance arrived at the same time as the police did. Emilio was immediately arrested before he would be taken to the hospital and Reggie and I were rushed to the hospital.

I was taken to a different room than Reggie to let them inspect the wound in my head. To make sure I had no further damage to my brain, I had a scan, but everything seemed fine next to a heavy concussion and I would just have to rest for the upcoming weeks.

Yet, Reggie was a lot worse than I was. Emilio caused an insane amount of damage to his body and no one was allowed to go to him because of the severity. While waiting, I sat with Jason and mr. Spencer, who was really upset and nervously walking around the waiting room for hours now.

'Sir?' I whispered after a while, feeling an intense need to speak to someone to admit my addictions.

He turned around and nodded, sitting down next to me when he noticed my seriousness. 'What's wrong, Clay?'

I shrugged and stared down at my hands, seeing them shake because of the withdrawal I was going through. 'I think... I have a problem.'

'And what would that be?' he replied, gently running his thumb over my shoulder to comfort me.

For some reason, the concussion made me a lot more emotional and suddenly, I bursted out into tears as I curled up on my chair. 'I'm... a-addicted, sir. I don't w-want to be anymore.'

He smiled softly and then gently pulled me closer to his body. 'I'm so proud of you, Clay. Tell me about it.'

'I started... using heroin, but it e-escalated, sir. It feels like I can't stop and I need more and more. I've gotten a lot of heart palpitations lately and the doctor just told me I have decreased kidney and liver function... I was too afraid to tell him I used drugs...'

'Oh, sweetheart. I'm really proud of you for telling me this. It's important to recognise the problem and feel motivated to work on it, regardless of how difficult it will be to quit.'

'Seeing Reggie in the hospital like this makes me realise what I'm doing... He wants to live, he's fighting to survive and I'm ruining my own body because I'm dependent on a drug.'

'I'm so proud that you're recognising the problem, Clay. It takes a lot to admit something like that. I want to help you, honey, but I have to inform your mother about it.'

I nodded and sighed softly. 'I'm so afraid to disappoint her because she thought I was clean... but I guess it's for the best.'

'She loves you, Clay. She will always be there for you and maybe she'll get angry, but that's because she loves you so much and doesn't want to see you hurting. You got in the wrong friendships and lost yourself, but you're never too far gone to recover again and fight for your life.'

Jason cleared his throat and stepped closer to us. 'So... I don't want to make this about me, but sir, I guess I'm addicted too... I don't use a lot of heroin, but I take a lot of... cocaine. We got it from the same dealer, so did Reggie.'

'Is there anyone I can inform in your family, Jason?' he asked, but he shook his head.

'Please, don't... I live with my aunt and uncle because I wasn't safe with my parents and I'm terrified they'll hate me and kick me out.'

'You can firstly try to quit on your own, Jason, but if you don't manage to, I have to inform them, deal?'

'I'm going to do anything to quit,' he promised, which made me nod.

'I will too, I want to live my life without needing substances all the time.'

1149 words