A Failed Overdose And A Chain Of Events [tree bros]

19 - The Dead Kid's Sister

So um... TW: A lot of talking about suicide and almost child abuse (idk nobody really gets hurt but you'll see)

Also this has 1003 words. Get ready for a ride.

Zoe chose to ignore her father's attempts to explain himself. She sort of stayed in her bedroom, half heartedly playing guitar. She woke from a nap – that was another thing she had done – and found a voicemail from Evan. Why the hell would Connor's boyfriend call him? She assumed they would both be angry at her by now, unless Evan hadn't heard yet. But if Evan didn't know, where had Connor gone?

Zoe found herself worried about her brother and she listened to the voicemail. "Zoe, Connor's... he tried to... to kill himself." There was sobbing at the end as the voicemail ended. She was speechless.

She figured she'd at least tell her parents, just in case they had a change of heart. Cynthia grabbed Larry's arm and pleaded with her eyes, but he only sighed and looked back to his newspaper.

"Aren't you gonna say something?" Zoe shouted. "You know what? Nevermind. I'm gonna go see him."

Larry stood. "No, you aren't." He grabbed her arm.

"He's my brother, whether you like it or not!" She tried to leave, but he pulled her back.

"I'm your father, and I will not have you leaving this house!"

"Not a very good one, are you if you kick out your son because he found someone he loves?" Larry let go of her.

"I raise my children the way I want to." Cynthia sat on the couch looking helpless.

'Sorry,' Zoe mouthed to her mother before she left.

***

Evan looked completely crushed, holding Connor's unconscious hand. The heart rate monitor beeped every few moments. The scene made Zoe's heart feel like it was broken in two.

"Is he... okay?" Zoe said after walking into the room.

Evan looked up and shook his head. "They won't say."

"That never means anything good and you know it."

"Y-yeah."

"Sorry I'm being blunt. It's just... Larry was being an ass." Evan's eyes showed a look of realization, but it passed as quickly as it came.

"D-did he hurt you?"

Zoe moved her hand to her arm. It did hurt, but it was probably just a bruise at most. "I'm fine. But if he did that to me for wanting to see Connor, I'm scared of what he did to Connor. Especially to make him want to...." She trailed off, letting the unspoken word hang in the air.

"Yeah. That's what I'm most scared of," Evan said, focusing his eyes on Connor once more. He was pale, or at least paler than usual, and if she didn't know better, she would declare him dead. "The doctors wouldn't even tell me his chances."

"Do you think that means he'll... y'know?" Zoe asked.

"I'm trying not to think about it. He kept me... I love him." Zoe raised an eyebrow at his unfinished sentence, but she didn't pry. "I-I'm sorry, do you want to be alone? H-he's your brother, after all." Zoe shook her head. Evan's presence was the only thing stopping her from tears flowing. Evan himself looked like he had cried until he didn't have any tears left.

"Are you okay?" Zoe asked.

"I'm fi- I guess I'm not, am I?" Zoe gave him a sympathetic look.

"I think the only person who could be happy now is Larry."

"W-what about your, um, mom?"

"I'm sure she'll stop by later. She doesn't agree with any of this. Larry is... he's going crazy. I don't know why. He's never talked like this before." Zoe sighed. "Whatever. He's a shit dad anyways. I have a feeling Connor would've moved out already if he wasn't 17."

"What about you?"

"What about me?" Zoe repeated, moving from the wall to a seat by Connor's side, across from Evan.

"What do you think about your dad... your parents?"

"My mom isn't the problem. Like I said, Larry is an ass." She shrugged, like it was no big deal to have a dad who kicked kids out of the house for being gay.

"B-but aren't you and Alana a thing?"

"Whatever. My dad can either have two gay kids or no kids at all. His fucking choice." Evan smiled a little. "So when did you find him?"

"O-oh. Like midnight."

"He's been out for nine hours?"

"He has?" Zoe laughed a little. "W-what?"

"That explains the bags under your eyes. What was the excuse you gave your mom?"

"The truth?"

"Really?" Zoe found that hard to believe.

"I said he was in a fight and the other guy had a gun... she's already scared that I'm dating one who attempted suicide once."

"What if she comes here to check on you?" Zoe asked.

Evan shrugged. "She gets the truth."

"Hm." Both of them just looked at Connor, picking up their phones to update Jared and Alana, respectively.

There was a knock on the door, but the person didn't wait for permission to come in. Zoe didn't look up until she heard Evan's mother's voice. "Evan, sweetie, are you okay? Is Connor? I thought you said he was...? You didn't tell the truth about why he was here, did you?" She had a lot of questions. Zoe looked to Evan to see his answer, but he just opened and closed his mouth a few times. Apparently his plan was good in theory, but not too great in practice.

"Ms. Hansen," Zoe said, knowing that Evan wasn't going to provide an answer.

"Heidi."

"Heidi, Evan was a little worried about your reaction to what actually happened. Connor sort of... tried to kill himself. Again." Evan sent Zoe a grateful smile, but Heidi's face fell.

"Evan, sweetie, you could have told me that." She regained her bright composure. Well, as bright as she could be considering the circumstances. Evan bit his lip. "Evan?"

Silence.

"Ev, what's wrong?"

"So did I," Evan mumbled.

"What was that?" Heidi asked, face falling again. She obviously heard him.

"I should step out," Zoe said standing up. Nobody said anything, so she left the room, feeling considerably sadder than she had before.

The next chapter will take off from this point. (not with Zoe, but with Evan and Heidi (and mr. unconscious boy)

~sEa