Criticism spot! :)
Time skip ~ 5 weeks
TW - F LGBT+ slur is used. Don't worry, I am lesbian, I may say it.
Crutchie's POV
As usual, I tried to ignore the morning bell, shifting closer to Jack and making him chuckle. Today, though, I woke up in a great mood, as I got to take my makeshift cast off. The last five weeks had been going great, especially since I hadn't been having many nightmares. When I did have them, it didn't even take me too long to calm back down and go back to sleep, so overall I was finally feeling great. Rather than begging to go back to sleep, I looked up at Jack, smiling.
"I take it you're excited to get your arm outta that sling?" He asked, and I nodded, making him chuckle more. "Well, let's get up then."
I got ready far quicker than I usually did, just wanting to get to the lodging house so Race could take off my 'cast.' Jack kept smiling whenever he saw how excited I was, eventually walking over to me and helping me up. We wasted no time and went right to Race's room, being greeted with a smile.
"Hey! C'mon in," Race said, motioning for me to sit on his bed. "I'll be slow when doin' this, just to be safe, alright?" I nodded, smiling at him. "Okay, let's get this thing off ya." He took a knife and gently began to cut through the cast, being extra careful to not accidentally cut me or anything. It wasn't long before he got it off, smiling at me again. "There you go!" I then looked to Jack, seeing him smiling, too.
"Thanks Race," I said, getting up and taking my crutch from Jack. We started to walk out, and for once I began the day in a good mood.
"What about your foot?" Race then asked, making Jack and I turn around.
"What about it?" I said, confused. I looked to Jack, seeing he was just as confused as I was.
"Your foot gettin' better?" He continued, and I tensed up, not having thought about it.
"Uh- I dunno," I got out, looking down.
"When was the last time you tried to walk on it?" He pushed, and I looked to Jack, unsure. He saw how bothered I was, knowing he'd have to answer for me.
"It's been a few months I think," he said, looking to Race.
"Maybe you should try later," Race suggested, smiling kindly. I knew he wasn't trying to upset me, as he didn't know the exact extent of how bad my foot was.
"Yeah, maybe," I said, turning to leave with Jack.
We continued forward in silence, Race's words still in the back of my head. I started to wonder if maybe he did have a point, and maybe I should try it. I continued to debate trying it or not all throughout the morning, not saying a word as we stood in line or once Jack and I headed out. I was completely distracted by my own thoughts, not even noticing Jack looking at me.
"I'm not lettin' you try to walk," he said, seemingly reading my mind.
"Why not?" I asked quietly, looking at him with pain clearly written across my face.
"You know it won't end well. It'll only hurt you," he said, and we stopped walking to look at one another.
"Trying it once wouldn't be that bad," I thought I'd try to convince him to let me try, but deep down I knew it wouldn't work.
"I'm sorry, but I ain't lettin' you." He said sternly, shutting me down. I looked down to the ground, knowing he wouldn't cave. I kept my eyes on the ground as they burned with tears, trying not to cry.
"Jack!" We suddenly heard, distracting me from what was happening. Race was coming toward us, seeming worried.
"Somethin' wrong?" Jack asked without hesitation.
"Did you hear what some of the fellas are sayin' about you two?" He said, catching his breath as he had run to catch up to us.
"No, what's going on?" Jack's demeanor changed a little, and he got quieter.
"Some of them are sayin' that you shouldn't be the leader here 'cause you're dating Crutchie," he got out, and I froze in place, terrified.
"What? Why would they even think that?" Jack quickly defended, not allowing himself to seem bothered.
"Someone said they heard you tell him that you love him a few weeks back and just started spreading it around," Race explained, and I only felt worse as he spoke. Jack thought for a moment, but I knew I needed to get out of here.
"I've- I've gotta go," I said quickly, backing away. Jack quickly looked at me, worried.
"Crutchie, wait," he began, but I shook my head.
"No- I need to go," I insisted, leaving without another word.
I walked for a bit until I reached an alley near my selling spot, hiding in it and sitting down to cry. It felt like my chest was getting crushed as I tried to keep my breathing steady, getting flashbacks to both school and home. Everything anyone had ever said to me about being a fag and telling me how worthless I was because of it. The boys always targeted two things at school, either my limp, or calling me a fag.
As all their words ran through my head I felt petrified with fear, making me stay in the alley. Hours upon hours went by before I gained the courage to get up, tossing out my papes as I left since I hadn't sold a single one all day, which made me feel worse yet. It was dark out by now and I walked home real slow, feeling as though my feet were chained to weights.
I was nearing the penthouse when Scott appeared with his two minions, and I immediately knew what was coming. Rather than try and prolong it, I just stopped walking, waiting for them to get closer to me.
"So, not only are ya a crip, youse a fag, too." Scott spat, inches away from me. I knew I should probably say something about how Jack had told them to stay away from me, but I couldn't. I just stood there, silent. "C'mon, you ain't gonna talk?"
"You know, I was really gonna just leave you alone after Jack said to, but after hearin' about you being a fag, I knew I couldn't." Oscar chimed in, looking to Bobby.
"If we're being honest here, it surprises me how worthless a person can be. I mean, first you can't walk, and now you're a disgusting fag. It just keeps gettin' better!" Bobby got in, and I remained silent. Scott then pushed me to the ground, knocking my crutch out from under me. I made a quiet noise as I fell, pain shooting through my right leg.
"If I was you, I'd just kill myself," Scott said as he began to kick me, making me cry out in pain more.
"I think it'd really help all of us if you did, especially Jack." Oscar added, twisting my ankle around to make me scream. "I mean, you're ruinin' his reputation! Actually, you're ruining his whole life," he continued, twisting my ankle even more.
"You really thought no one would find out, huh?" Bobby said, kicking me in the stomach as well. Bobby and Scott kept taking turns as Oscar kicked and twisted my ankle around, and I kept screaming louder and louder, tears streaming down my face.
"Hey! Get the fuck out of here!" Someone yelled from the lodging house, making the three of them run. Before I knew it, Race was at my side, trying to help me sit up. "How bad did they hurt you?" He asked, but I didn't respond, not even by shaking my head. "C'mon, let's get you inside and I'll patch you up," he helped me to stand, assisting me to the extra room and setting me down on the bed.
"You should've left me," I got out weakly as Race cleaned me up, seeing him grow upset.
"What? Why would I do that?" He asked, but I went back to not responding. "Who did this?" He pushed, and I realized that since it was so dark out that he hadn't seen who it was. I stayed quiet, feeling defeated. "Crutchie, talk to me," he said with desperation in his voice, but I didn't budge.
A few minutes went by before he left the room, and I turned over so I was facing the wall rather than facing the rest of the room. I heard him open the door slowly, seeming like he was trying not to wake me, even though he knew I wasn't asleep.
"He won't talk," he eventually said, clearly talking to Jack. I heard footsteps near my bed, feeling Jack put his hand on me shoulder.
"Hey," he said quietly, and to my own surprise, I didn't move. "What happened?" He tried to ask, but just as Race had said, I refused to talk, feeling like it was worthless to do so. "Crutchie, at least look at me." I sighed and gave in, turning over so we were looking at one another, since he was knelt down at the bedside. "I know you're not okay," he said, likely hoping I'd at least nod or something. I just stared back at him, seeing his heartbreak while I stayed still. "Please, just talk to me." He begged, his voice shaking. "I ain't gonna hurt you or anything." He pushed some more, likely wondering if I had just shut down out of fear. A tear then rolled down my face slowly, and I looked away from Jack. "Please at least tell me who did this to you."
"Bobby, Scott, and Oscar," I mumbled, seeing Jack grow angry. I knew he wanted to go and yell at them, so I quickly stepped in. "Please don't say anything to them," he seemed surprised, staring at me for a moment.
"Why not?" He asked in disbelief.
"It just makes it so much worse, trust me," I spoke without thinking, seeing Jack get confused.
"What do you mean?"
"When I was in school I tried to tell the principal what was going on, and when the kids got in trouble, it just made it get worse and worse." Jack then gently pushed my hair from my face, looking worried.
"I thought you only got bullied for your limp?" He asked, and I shook my head, sighing.
"Their two favorite things to call me were 'crip' and 'fag,'" I said quietly, seeing Jack understand why I had gotten so upset this morning. The things the three boys had yelled at me kept replaying in my head, and I debated telling Jack, deciding against it once I saw how upset he already was.
"I'm not worried about people knowing about us." Jack said, and I froze, staring at him and wondering if I had heard him right. "I'm sure you don't want to tell everyone, though, so I think we should just ignore what people are saying until we're both ready." I nodded, looking down. "If you want to tell people, though, we can." I thought for a moment, sitting up.
"I'm ready whenever you are." I got out, looking back to him.
"Well, then how about this? If people ask, we just say it's true. We don't do some... Obnoxious announcement or anything." He smiled at me, making me smile back. He understood that I was okay with the idea, so he stood up, putting his hand out. "C'mon, let's go to the penthouse." I took his hand and followed him out, ignoring the pain in my foot.
Since it was later out now, Jack and I had to be quiet when leaving the lodging house, making sure not to wake anyone. I tried to use my crutch as quietly as I could and waited for Jack to close the door, smiling at him once he did so. He then walked up to me and pulled me near him, smiling down at me. He then leaned in, as did I, and we kissed, making me forget everything that was going on in that moment. We pulled away slowly, our faces still close as we just kept smiling at one another.
"So it's true?" We heard, making us quickly let go of one another. We looked toward the voice to see the three boys, and I tensed up. "We really have a fag leading us?" Scott continued, stopping just a few feet away.
"Why does it matter?" Jack spat, clearly still trying to be quiet as to not wake anyone.
"There's no way that we're gonna let someone like you run things," Oscar added, looking me up and down. Jack noticed him doing this, so he stood in front of me in order to block me from the boys and keep me safe.
"Awh, that's real sweet of ya, Jack! Protectin' him like that," Scott said, getting closer.
"Do you think I'm afraid of youse or something?" Jack stepped in front of me even more, wanting to make sure I wouldn't get hurt.
"No, but you're probably afraid of losin' your title of the leader, huh?" Scott teased, getting closer yet.
"Crutchie, go." Jack said to me, making the three boys laugh.
"It's not like he'll get far," Bobby said, looking at me.
"You can do whatever you want to me, alright? Just don't hurt him." Jack stared Scott in the eyes, and my heart broke as he spoke, not wanting him to get beat up because of me.
"Jack-"
"It's okay," Jack quickly cut me off, turning for a brief moment to smile at me before focusing back on Scott.
"Do you think we care what you want? That's a laugh," Scott said, then looking at Bobby and Oscar. "C'mon," he ordered, and the two walked toward us, not saying a word.
They both lunged for Jack's arms, but he broke free quickly, fighting back. He had landed a few hits on each of them, but before I could react and try to help, Scott grabbed me from behind, holding me so I couldn't get free of his grip.
"Let go of me!" I yelled, making Jack look at me with fear and worry.
"Don't bother, kid, you don't stand a chance," Scott spat at me, his hold only getting tighter. I went to scream again but he quickly threw his hand over my mouth, making sure I couldn't.
Jack got distracted for a brief moment as he saw this, allowing Bobby to get a tight hold on his left arm. Jack tried desperately to break free, but Oscar was able to grab his right arm, and the two looked at one another, bending Jack's arms to cause him pain and basically make him unable to move. He fell to his knees, the two still holding him as tight as they could. Scott then threw me to the ground, taking something from his pocket and walking over to Jack. He began to tie a rag around his mouth, ensuring that if he were to yell, no one would hear. I knew that whatever was about to happen would be bad, so I thought quickly, grabbing my crutch and hitting Scott with it as hard as I could.
He turned back around and tried to take it from my hands, but by some miracle, I was able to keep my grip, making the two of us fight for it. I managed to push him off me, my crutch still in my hands as I sat up a little to fight him off more. Before I could get another hit in, Scott lunged again, this time making me fall to the ground once more. He pushed my crutch against my neck so I couldn't breathe, and I knew I couldn't fight back anymore. I could hear Jack trying to yell, but knew nobody would hear him, and I started to fear that I might die in this fight.
"Now shut your fuckin' mouth, crip," Scott said, finally taking my crutch away from my neck. I gasped for air desperately, soon being met with a rag being tied around my head, making sure nobody could hear me scream, either. "Is he watchin'?" Scott asked his two sidekicks, who each nodded. "You're gonna regret ever coming here," he then punched me right in the face, nearly knocking me unconscious right away. "Let's get to an alley," he said, dragging me to whichever alley was nearest, and making sure that they followed us with Jack.
"What're you gonna do first?" Oscar asked as Scott once again threw me to the ground, making the pain I already felt worsen.
"I think I'll start by lettin' him know his place," Scott said, turning his attention to me. He then grabbed me by my shirt collar and pinned me against the wall, his face inches away from mine. "Did you think comin' here would make things better for you?" He began, spitting on me as he spoke. "You will never be worth anything. You ain't even able to be a newsie, that's how much of a waste you are." I looked over his shoulder at Jack, seeing him shake his head as though he was trying to tell me not to listen to him. Scott realized I was looking at him, earning me another punch in the face. "Keep your fuckin' eyes on me," he said, his grip on my shirt tightening. "Wanna hear something real neat? You see Bobby over there?" He asked, and I slowly nodded. "Turns out, he went to school with you!" I felt my heart drop as he continued spitting on me, wishing I could look at Jack. "Turns out you've always been an issue, huh?" Scott threw me to the ground for a third time, towering over me. "What do you think I should do next?" He asked the two boys, staring at me.
"Give him a few kicks before you get to the good part," Oscar suggested, making Scott smile.
Without further hesitation, he kicked me as hard as he could, knocking the wind right out of me. I could still hear Jack's muffled screams for me, knowing he was being forced to watch what was happening. Scott continued to kick me over and over, each blow being worse than the last. It felt almost like I was getting stabbed after a while, making me scream. Due to the cloth, though, no one could hear me, and I knew I was done for.
"Alright, enough of this childish shit," Scott said, making me even more terrified, as I couldn't believe that this wasn't as bad as it would get. "Let's get to the best part."
Before I knew it he had grabbed my hair, slamming my head down on the ground below in order to make me unable to move at all, but not hard enough to knock me out. Jack screamed even louder as he did this, and I could hear him fighting against the grip of the two boys. I laid there, completely limp, bleeding all over and unable to breathe. I then felt a horrific pain shoot through me as Scott began to whip me as hard as he could with his belt, leaving gashes across my stomach and back.
"Keep goin'! Keep goin'!" Bobby cheered from behind Jack, only making Scott whip me harder and harder.
He was mainly targeting my stomach and back, but would sometimes whip me on my bad foot, causing me to nearly black out from the pain. As he kept going I felt blood gushing down my body, as he was hitting in the same areas and making the cuts worse and worse with each blow. At this point it felt as though I was getting shot repeatedly, each hit growing far more painful than the last. I wasn't sure how long he was going for, but I knew by the time that he was done that there wasn't a single place on my entire torso that he hadn't whipped at least once.
"Cuff him, put him over there," Scott ordered, and I managed to watch them cuff Jack around a pipe nearby, making sure he was far enough away from me so he couldn't help. They walked away after doing so, leaving the two of us in the alley. I passed out just seconds later, both from pain, but also from how much blood I had lost.
I woke up just a few hours later as the sun began to rise, seeing that Jack was still cuffed to the pipe and seemingly trying to get the cloth off his mouth. I could still feel blood trickling down me, and I remained unable to move. Jack noticed I had woken up, looking at me with dread in his eyes, knowing we were running out of time. After looking at me for a few moments he went back to fighting, at last managing to get the cloth to fall to his neck.
"Help!" He screamed as loud as he could, continuing to cry as he watched the life drain from me. "Somebody help!"
"Jack- holy shit," Race was thankfully the one to find us, staring at us for a brief moment before turning back, running to get more people.
"Hang in there for a little bit longer," he begged me, and I fought desperately to keep my eyes open.
A bunch of guys then showed up, Race leading. A few of them ran to Jack to help cut the cuffs off him, but most of them came to my side, including Race. He knelt down right in front of me while the others began to make something to carry me inside, working quickly.
"Stay awake for me, c'mon," he said, desperation present in his voice. I could see Jack from over his shoulder, my heart aching as I saw how horrified he was that I was nearing death. "Guys you've gotta go faster, we're losing him," Race then added, only making Jack worse. "Hey, look at me," he said, brushing my hair out of my face. "We're gonna get you patched up, alright? You'll be just fine," he tried not to sound panicked as he spoke, but wasn't doing well.
"Go help him, cut me free later!" Jack begged, making the guys near him do just that.
"Look at me," Race repeated, looking at the progress of whatever the fellas had made to carry me. "We're gonna lift you up now and bring you inside, stay awake," he said, and before I knew it I was being lifted, and was in a bed just a few seconds later.
I laid there in horrific pain, no longer able to understand everything that was being said around me as I began to fall asleep. I could tell Race was trying to keep me awake, soon seeing somebody next to him. I was unsure who it was, though, as my vision was blurred.
"Jack..?" I managed to get out, seeing the figure come closer to me.
"I'm right here, just hold on," he said, holding my hand.
"Am I gonna die?" I asked, the pain only getting worse.
"No, baby, you aren't gonna die. You're gonna be just fine, I promise," he said, holding my hand even tighter.
"It hurts," I was nearly whispering at this point, growing weaker. My grip on Jack's hand loosened, making him panic.
"I know it does, but it'll be over soon, okay? Just stay awake for me," he begged, but I couldn't.
"Jack," I began, my body starting to go limp once again.
"I'm right here, baby, I'm right here," he said frantically, holding my hand despite the fact that I wasn't holding his back anymore.
"I love you," I got out, my eyes closing.
"I love you too," he sobbed, refusing to let go. "Crutchie?" I heard him say once I didn't open my eyes again, and everything around me began to get even more muffled. "Crutchie!" He yelled, and I finally fell asleep right after.
(word count - 4017)