What If..?

Chapter Fourteen

|Song: Ashamed-Jamestown Story|

My vision is blurry and pain is everywhere in my body, but all of that disappears when I see Jade sitting in a chair in front of me. I smile the best I can before opening my mouth to speak but only manage to start choking.

Jade gets off the chair and hands me a bottle of water before helping my to sit up. As she helps me to get a drink, her gentle touch soothes my pain quite a bit. I sigh after I finish drinking. "What happened?" My voice is hoarse from not being used in however long.

"Niall, what do you remember?" She asks as she gently brushed the hair out of my face.

"Uh, I woke up from a nightmare and then left for school... How did I end up here?" I pause for a moment before looking at her. "P-please tell me I didn't do something stupid."

She shakes her head and speaks but my mind is too foggy to pay attention to the words she's saying. "No, Niall, you were attacked by Siva and them... Everyone knows about what they did to you. They were kicked off the team, expelled from school, and now that you're awake you have the opportunity to give them jail time so they can't hurt you or anyone else."

"How long have I been in here?"

"Two months."

There is a silence between us before she speaks again, "Niall, I found James, and I talked to him and his mum. She said some pretty horrible things about what happened. Are they true?"

I look at my lap and refuse to let my tears fall. "What did she say?"

"She said that you are the reason James is mentally ill. She said that you and a group of your friends were messing around, and they dared you to hurt him. She said you beat him and even tried to molest him. She said that they had to pull you away and even then you beat them half to death before walking away and not caring what happened to any of them. Is that true because James seemed to think it wasn't."

Everything that happened that day flashes through my head.

***FlashBack***

James and I sit in the living room of my house, him building and me working on coursework. Several times has he asked me to build with him before I was finished, but now I can say yes.

"Alright" I agree with him as I start to sit on the floor with him.

He giggles and hands me Legos before there is a knock on the door. "One second, alright, Buddy?" I assure as I stand up and walk toward the door where an insistent knock was all but pounding on the door.

As I pull the door open, my heart stops and leaps into my throat. "Right now isn't a good time... I'm watching-" My protest to them being here is cut off by the one person who understands me. James.

"Ni, can they stay and play too?" James asks almost too innocently.

"Yeah, 'Ni,' let us play" one of them taunts.

Looking at James, I know he will cry so I reluctantly agree. The five men I have tried so hard to keep James away from walk into my house and follow James into the living room. I follow as well until my mobile starts ringing.

Looking at the caller ID, I see my mum's name flashing. "James, me mum is calling. Be good alright?" I answer the phone but James' giggling is too loud to understand anything she says so I walk out of the room and step outside with the door left open.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Niall, are you two alright? It's awfully loud on your side." She questions anxiously.

"Yes, Mum, we're fine. Did-" I stop talking when James let's out a blood curdling scream. "Mum, I-I gotta go." Without waiting for her response I hang up and rush in to see James being pinned to the floor by two of them while the other three are hovered around him, blocking my view of what is happening.

I pull all of them off, but it is too late. James had been stabbed repeatedly and stripped of his clothing. I lose all control and take my anger and fear out on them. It isn't until a fraile body tugs at mine that I notice how badly I've hurt them, but I don't care. They deserved it.

James falls into my arms as blood pours out of his wounds. I call the hospital for help and give them the address, but the life in James' eyes is quickly fleeting. I hold him and sob while begging for him to stay awake.

***End FlashBack***

I look up at her and remember everything that James' mum said. Before I can get my lie out, yes it is true even though it isn't, she slaps me across the face. "How could you?" She whispers as tears swell up in her eyes.

I have to tell her the truth. "Jade, let me explain, please?"

She nods hesitantly so I tell her everything. Every single detail including the fact that James' mum is manipulative and hates James because of the disabilities he was born with.