Masquerade (Liam Payne)

Chapter 21 ~ Liam

Chapter 21 ~ Liam

Ray looks worse than what I imagined and my chest feels oppressed, it is hard to breathe. Now I understand better why Tammy was like that last night, seeing this kid like this —probably worse— must’ve been absolutely horrible. He has many bruises and his face is swollen, and he looks so miserable in that bed, with so many machines monitoring his vital signs. Tammy is shaking, I’m not sure if she notices that, but as I take her hand, I can feel the slight tremble of her body and how tense she is, and when Ray finally opens his eyes, she jumps.

“Ray,” she calls softly, as if she were afraid to scare him. He takes a few moments to look around and takes notice of his surroundings, then he sees Tammy and seems to get anxious, so she steps back, which impresses me because my first thought is to get closer so he can see us better, but Ray relaxes a bit. “Hi. How are you feeling? Need something?” She asks and her voice is so sweet and gentle I stare at her in sheer amazement.

Tammy never shows this side of her, this sweet and tender side, the one that makes her look with such love in her eyes. It’s like everything in her softens, her aura, her boy language, everything! She looks like a complete different person! And this… this side stirs something inside of me, something that makes my heart race. I like when she is tough and I even like when she is rude, I accepted that part of her, but I also like this part, so intimate and private of her. It’s like a secret and I’ve got a glimpse of that part.

“T-tammy?” his voice is hoarse and it seems it hurts him to speak. Again, I feel like approaching more to him, but Tammy doesn’t move. “Liam?” He sounds more confused this time.

“Yes, we came to see you. You’re in the hospital, everything is fine. They are taking care of you. You’ll be fine in no time,” Tammy answers with a reassuring tone.

She only gets closer when he raises his hand, trying to reach her. She accepts his hand and then she sits next to his bed on a stool. Only then I notice that she was giving him space, to decide whether he could handle the proximity of us or not. Tammy strokes his hand carefully and smiles at him all the time, but he can’t smile. Not really, his face is too bruised up.

“Where’s Dad?” He asks and again, I see Tammy tensing up. I tense up, too. I could kill that man for what he’s done to Ray.

“He can’t hurt you again, you’re safe,” she promises him but Ray looks kind of conflicted and that impresses me.

Despite what that man did to him, Ray still calls him ‘dad’, he still asks for him and looks concerned. Despite that man’s actions, Ray is such a good boy he can’t forget about his father. And such a good kid shouldn’t have to go through this, someone like Ray only deserves good things in life. My chest feels so heavy, because I feel powerless. I can’t fix his life, I can’t take away his pain and hurtful memories. I can’t help him and if I feel like this, how does Tammy feel? I can only imagine a worse feeling for her, so I approach and stand behind her, my hands on her shoulder, massaging them softly, and she relaxes a little bit.

“What’s—What’s gonna happen to him?” He asks lowly, a mere whisper and Tammy moves uncomfortable.

“He’ll have to face justice for what he did. But you can’t care about that now, you need to get better first. That’s why you’re here and we’re with you,” Tammy answers and I smile at Ray, feeling warmer inside when she uses that pronoun.

“Thank you,” he whispers and his eyelids seem to weight a ton, because he blinks slowly. “I’m sleepy.”

“Then go to sleep again. We’ll stay here until the nurses kick us out,” Tammy tells him stroking his hair carefully.