"Brendon, just leave. Please," I beg, hoping he would just listen to me. Of course he doesn't and he forces the door wide open, pushing me aside.
"I'm going to call the police if you get any closer!" Ryan shouts, his voice cracking and making him seem even smaller than he already portrayed himself to be. Brendon shakes his head and lets out a dry laugh.
"I'm sooo scared," he says, mocking Ryan. Ryan scurries into the kitchen and grabs a knife.
"If you come any closer, I'll-I'll hurt you!" Ryan threatens but from the shake in his hands I don't think he'd have enough force to even wound Brendon. Brendon starts laughing maniacally. There are tears in Ryan's eyes as I try to put one foot in front of the other and grab Brendon.
"I need you, Ryan! Please!" Brendon shouts, his voice as close to growling as possible.
"You don't deserve him!" I shout, jumping on Brendon's back. I wrap my arms around his neck, trying to weaken him. He tries to buck me off but I'm not so easily shaken. He backs up into a wall, pushing the air from my lungs. My grip loosens a little but I'm still holding on. I try to squeeze my arms around his neck tighter but he keeps backing me into the same wall. I hear a crack but try to ignore it as the situation continues to unfold. His cold fingers make their way into my hair and he begins tugging roughly, pulling some hair out. I close my eyes and bite his ear as hard as possible and he screams out, letting my hair go. I hear a slicing sound that makes my heart skip a beat and my eyes shoot open. I don't feel anything so it can't be me that that noise came from, right? I let go of Brendon's neck and drop my feet to the floor. I do a quick recon of myself and realize that Ryan's hands are covered in blood and Brendon's slowly collapsing to his knees. Everything is in slow motion as Ryan sinks down to Brendon's aid, trying to stop the bleeding. Brendon is screaming in pain but all I can hear is white noise. I blink rapidly, my feet cemented into the floor. Ryan's looking at me for answers that I can't provide him with. Blood is pooling around Brendon and soon enough he'll have lost too much. I have to move. I have to act. I'm screaming but no words are coming out. I feel like I'm choking but I'm not. I slide my hand into my pocket and dial 911 and whisper the address before dropping the phone into the blood and falling to my knees. I close my eyes and try to fly away from this moment.
"Frank! Stop being an asshole and help me!" Ryan screams, slapping me hard. Unwillingly, I open my eyes. My body is weighted but I move nonetheless. I take off my shirt and put it to the wound, holding it there as well as possible. My arms feel like spaghetti as I keep applying pressure to the wound in Brendon's stomach. His face is pale and Ryan keeps slapping him to keep him awake.
"Stay with me, you idiot," he whispers, his body trembling as he leans over Brendon's body and kisses his cheek.
Sirens crawl into the area and my heart starts racing. They're coming. They'll know what to do. Saving people, isn't my specialty. I've never been on this side of the board. They can save him. He's lost so much blood. Ryan's going to get in trouble. It was self defense. I feel weak. My head hurts. My brain is pounding at my skull, wanting out. I haven't seen this much blood since that day... It's all coming back to me but why now? After all these years why do I have to remember how his blood soaked my hands... I snap out of the haze I'm in and start moving. Footsteps make their way up the stairs and into the room. It's a fireman, fully equipped. He sees Brendon first, then notices the blood. He makes a call on his radio before kneeling beside me.
"I can take over from here," he informs me, moving my hands. I'm transfixed on the wound and the way the blood is just slipping out like water from a kinked hose. The blood that coats my fingers starts to dry and feel like another layer of skin, only flakier. My knees are still in the blood, my pants drenched. It had been awhile since I had seen how much blood bodies could actually contain. The numbers just never seem to add up. A couple minutes later, EMTs arrive and take him out on a stretcher and carry me out to an ambulance. My legs don't want to work and I'm covered in so much blood they might think I'm hurt. My jaw won't open, it's clenched tightly shut, locked. My entire being feels too heavy to move.
"Can you hear me?" A paramedic continues to ask me but I can't seem to answer. I want to scream yes but my entire body is working against me. I feel like I'm slipping away. I turn towards her and nod.
"Are you hurt?" She asks, sizing me up. I shake my head from side to side. She leaves for a minute and when she returns, there's a police officer with her.
"I think he's in shock. I don't know what you'll get out of him," she tells the officer before leaving again.
"So can you tell me what happened?" The police officer asks, trying to get me to talk. If I tell him the truth, Ryan won't get in trouble will he? Brendon's not dead yet, right?
"Is he going to be okay?" I ask, avoiding his question.
"He's on route to the hospital. I don't know if he's okay. What happened?" He demands, losing his patience with me.
"Brendon, the kid who got stabbed, he uh, well he was an abusive boyfriend to my friend, Ryan, and Ryan was with me and Brendon came to get Ryan and Ryan was scared. Brendon kept threatening us and he was trying to hurt me to get to Ryan. Ryan threatened to call the police and Brendon just laughed and took the knife that Ryan was holding. Somehow the knife made its way into Brendon. I tried everything I could to make sure he wouldn't bleed out. It was self-defense, I swear," I explain, as well as I can remember. Memories flood in and I can't stop them. I stifle a laugh before wiping the crusted blood from my face.
"Who's apartment were you in?" The officer asks me.
"My teacher's apartment. He's been tutoring me for the past semester and things at my house weren't going to great so he let me stay there today while he was at work. He should be getting back sometime soon," I reply, making the lie seem true.
"How did uh.. Brendon and Ryan get there?"
"I think Brendon followed Ryan and Ryan came with me because I felt nervous being alone after the night I had had with my mom."
"Why didn't you just go over to Ryan's place?"
"Because he has been staying with Brendon and I have a complicated relationship with Brendon."
"How so?"
"Well I was dating this guy and he threatened to tell my mom that I was gay, because I hadn't already, and my payment to him for keeping his trap shut was to make out with him and it was just really awkward after I told my mom and he no longer held anything over me and I kinda had a relationship with Ryan not that long after that but it was before they got together and honestly, I'm kind of a whore..." I explain, lying effortlessly. I run my fingers through my hair, feeling the knots and tangles caused by sweat. I spot Gerard out of the corner of my eye and have the urge to run to him.
"That's all I have to ask for now. Is there a number I could reach you at if I have anymore questions?" He asks, finally. I give him my number and walk over to Gerard who's standing off to the side, waiting for me.
"We need to head to the hospital. I'll explain everything on the way," I shout as I make my way towards him.
Throughout the car ride, I explain everything that happened and told him exactly what I told the policeman in case he gets questioned for why I was there. Though, it's technically not illegal anymore that I'm dating him, it's still very much frowned upon and he could still lose his job. I'll have to relay everything I said to Ryan too. We get to the hospital and Ryan is still covered in blood and crying while Brendon's in surgery. I tell him what I told the cops and thank God he hasn't spoken to them yet. It would be terrible if our stories didn't match up. Of course, they would for the incident but the rest could've been a disaster.
Eventually, Brendon comes out of surgery, though still passed out and is placed in a private room, thanks to his wealthy parents who arrived just before he got out. They're frustrated with us but understand the situation we were in. Ryan had no choice. I think I might've gotten a rib cracked when he was pushing me into a wall but I don't really feel like having it checked. Ryan finally stops crying once he feels Brendon's hand in his. I watch from the corner of the room as Ryan talks to Brendon though he's still unconscious.
"Why do you think Ryan is staying with him after all this?" I whisper to Gerard.
"Maybe Brendon just loves Ryan so much it just turns into violence because he doesn't know how to deal with it," Gerard replies, shrugging it off. He places his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his chest.
I watch as Brendon's chest rises and falls erratically while Ryan holds his frail hand. Time seems to stop as the monitor becomes the only sound erupting through the room.
"Visiting hours are over. Not to be rude or anything but it's my job to clear everyone out," a young nurse informs us. Ryan follows close behind us, reluctant to leave.
"I'm scared. If he lives, he could come after me and kill me but I also don't want him to die," Ryan says, his voice tired and anxious. Gerard dons a devilish grin as he thinks for a second.
We both turn towards Gerard who looks overly excited.
"I've got an idea."
-----------