30 Days & Counting - Sanders Sides

Day 18

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of Physical Abuse, Mentions of Rape, Rape, Panic Attack

I slowly awoke with a dull pain coating my body. I felt way better than yesterday, but I knew I was still far from okay. There was a tiny grumble that came from my lap. I thought it was my stomach but I looking down to investigate. Roman had his face settled on my hip, his lips slightly parted and his eyes shut in a peaceful dreaming state.

My heart fluttered a little bit. I didn't realize how adorable he was. I silently regretted giving all my time and support to Damion. He lightly grumbled, showing signs of waking up. His eyes pried apart, slowly blinking back into focus. He looked up at me, shooting straight up with a red highlight on his cheeks. "Virgil, you're awake!"

"S-Seems so." I said. I paused, recognizing my stutter was back to its usual intensity.

"Sounds like you're doing better at least. Let me check your IV." He said. Roman sat up, walking over to my drip and examining the content inside it. "Almost empty. I'll make sure you get some more." He assured me. Suddenly, my actual stomach grumbled. I flustered red in embarrassment. Roman chuckled, sitting back down in his chair. "Hungry?"

"Very." I hummed. He wordlessly took my hand, rubbing his thumb over my smooth knuckles. He hit the Assist button on the side of my bed. I lightly panicked, "Y-You didn't ne-need to do that." I said. Roman scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Sure I did. You're hungry and need more medicine, so as a noble Prince, I will make sure you are well taken care of." I smiled, looking down at our inner weaved hands.

"T-Thanks, Princey."

"Don't mention it." There was a pause of us just waiting for the nurse. I sighed, listening to my stomach roar with life again. "Have any dreams last night?" Roman questioned, trying to take my mind off my empty gut.

"Y-Yeah actually. It-It was about D-D-Dami-Damion an-and...he n-never stopped beating m-me." I realized, my nightmare was far from a dream. Roman tightly squeezed my hand.

"I'm so sorry, Virge. I wish we would've known Damion didn't truly tell you about his pathological lying." Roman stated. I blinked in confusion.

"You k-knew?"

"Yeah. Well, we found out."

"D-Do te-tell." I said, leaning closer to him, gazing into his dreamy eyes.

"Well, Damion was the last of us, beside you, to join our little friend group. When he came here, he had no interests to be our friend. In fact, anytime we tried to talk to him, it ended in a fight. Damion was kept in isolation for months. He always hand handcuffs on and nurses watching him, making sure he didn't hurt himself or anyone else.

"One day, he changed. Like, he put on a new mask. He approached our table one day, asking for our apologizes. We agreed, and accepted him. We thought everything was okay for a while but that's when he started dating another kid. Damion and him dated for weeks. But one day, his boyfriend vanished from here. Damion told us nothing; every time we'd bring it up, he'd avoid the question. Logan, Remus, and I did a little snooping and that's when we learned about his lying issue." Everything seemed to line up in my head. I nodded along to his story, something still not making sense in my head.

"W-What about th-the other kid?" I asked. Roman's head sunk down, a sad expression taking away his cheery disposition.

"Damion raped and beat him. To the point where he wouldn't talk, eat, sleep...anything. Damion broke his mind. Warden Sanders and Picani made the final choice to send him to adult's mental ward. We don't know what happened to him after that." I shuddered, considering the fact that: that could've been me.