Dream of the future, Dream of the past
All of these little things will soon outlast
It's a dream come true when something terrible finally becomes a thing of the past.
Rylan wishes with all her heart that Mr. Quinn could be a part of her past. But life deals you the cards. You don't get to pick them; you just get to decide how to play them. Mr. Quinn in jail doesn't appear to be in the cards anytime soon. Rylan remembers all too well what he said at the school.
She stares at the ceiling, tracing shapes with her eyes. She'd been woken seven times since her admittance to the hospital. The doctors won't let her sleep more than thirty minutes at a time, then they wake her up and ask her how she feels and if she knows her name. Each time, Rylan recalls why she's in the hospital and the horrific events that lead her to where she is now before exhaustion tugs her back into unconsciousness and the cycle starts all over again.
Now she's exhausted by her exhaustion. Rylan's brain refuses to go numb and let her drift off again and, instead, replays every detail of the night over and over. There are so many things she would have done differently now that she looks back. The thoughts don't help, but she can't help thinking them. Rylan bites her tongue and tries to focus on something other than her memories.
It doesn't last very long. The door clicks shut and startles her as her dad enters the room. It reminds her of the locked doors at the school and how she couldn't open them no matter how hard she tried. Rylan sighs heavily and presses her eyelids tightly together.
"Rylan, honey? Are you in pain? Should I call the nurse?" Mr. Winchester asks.
He sets his coffee-filled styrofoam cup on the table and curls his hand over Rylan's.
"I'm fine. I just want to sleep." She tugs her hand from beneath his and turns her head away.
Mr. Winchester frowns solemnly. "I know you do, but the doctors are still monitoring you."
"I'm just so tired, dad." Rylan groans softly.
"I know. I'm sure they'll let you sleep soon."
Mr. Winchester watches her worriedly. She looks up at the ceiling as water pools in her eyes and she tries her best not to cry.
"I can't do this anymore." She whimpers.
"Do what?"
Rylan sniffles and tears stream down her cheeks. "It hurts. Everything hurts."
She jerks the breathing mask off her mouth.
"Rylan, keep that on. I'll get the nurse."
"No." Rylan cries. "I don't need the nurse!"
She wheezes a little, but breathing without the mask isn't much different than with it. Mr. Winchester remains seated tensely.
"What's going on?" He demands. "What happened at the school?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" He echoes.
"Nothing happened."
"'Nothing' didn't leave you bruised and nearly beaten to death!" Mr. Winchester replies in frustration. "Who did this to you?"
More tears drip down Rylan's face and she closes her eyes.
"Rylan, who did this?"
She shakes her head slowly and her lower lip wobbles.
"Who... Rylan, look at me... who did this?"
"I can't... "
"Yes you can."
Rylan sees and feels Mr. Quinn hitting her all over again. She flinches and sobs.
"I can't... I don't know... I can't... " She murmurs.
"Rylan."
"It hurts! Everything hurts!" She cries over him.
"Rylan, whoever it is, they won't hurt you again."
She sees and feels Mr. Quinn choking her and banging her head against the floor once...
"It hurts! Everything hurts!" She screams.
...twice... three times...
Rylan's eyes roll back into her head and the monitors start beeping crazily. Her body spasms uncontrollably.
"Rylan!" Mr. Winchester cries fearfully and reaches for his daughter, but he doesn't know what to do.
Nurses rush in followed swiftly by the doctor. They're yelling to each other, but they seem to know what they're doing.
"I'm sorry, sir, you're going to have to wait outside."
More personnel pile into the room with machinery and medicines. Mr. Winchester can do nothing as the nurse who spoke to him forces him into the hallway and closes the door. He watches in distress through the glass window. Someone twists the blinds closed.
.................................................................................................
Mr. Winchester enters the waiting room and looks around. Cas and Mr. Amsden stand as he approaches. They notice his red eyes and stiff demeanor.
"Is Rylan alright?" Cas questions.
He can't get the image out of his head of Rylan lying on the floor of the school, bloody and half alive. For a moment after they'd found her, Cas had thought she was dead. It was only when his dad checked for a pulse and said she was still alive that Cas could find air to breathe again. He knows he cares for Rylan, but when he thought she had died, he discovered how much. He wishes it were him lying in a hospital bed instead of her.
"What happened in there with my daughter?" Mr. Winchester demands, ignoring the inquiry. "I want to know now."
"We don't really know. We were outside." Mr. Amsden explains. "We didn't see anything."
"But you must have an idea who did this." He presses.
Cas averts his eyes for a moment. Mr. Winchester notices and turns his attention to Cas.
"Who?"
Mr. Amsden now looks appallingly at Cas.
"Casper, what do you know?"
He can think of two possible suspects, but he doesn't know for sure which one did it. Rylan wanted her dad left out of this. Cas can't be certain what she wants now, but betraying her trust could put him in a bad position, especially if he guesses wrong.
"It's just an idea. I don't know for certain." He replies hesitantly.
"Whatever you know, I need for you to tell me."
Cas feels that power adults have to guilt teenagers into revealing the truth.
"Maybe if you ask Rylan... " He suggests.
Mr. Winchester seems to wince at the suggestion.
"I can't ask Rylan." Mr. Winchester chokes. "She's in a coma."
Cas pales and feels sick to his stomach.
"What? But she was awake... the doctor said... "
Mr. Winchester takes a deep breath to steady himself.
"She had a seizure... a result of stress on her brain." He pauses. "So if you know anything, anything at all, I need you to tell me."
Cas gulps and says, "I know of two possible people. One is a guy in Rylan's Spanish class. He's been bullying her all year. His name is Blake Archer."
Cas is almost ecstatic to identify him. Mr. Winchester nods as if he guessed as much. Cas hesitates, unsure if he can handle the other possibility.
"And the other?" He raises his eyebrows and prompts.
"The Ancient Literature teacher, Mr. Quinn."
Mr. Amsden is speechless. Mr. Winchester looks like he may cry.
"Mr. Winchester."
He purses his lips before turning to address the soft spoken nurse.
"My daughter...?"
She shakes her head. "She's still unconscious, but there are some officers here who would like to speak with you."
He nods and follows her from the room.
Cas covers his face and cries. This feels just like when he lost Molly.
"She can't die. I can't lose her too." He bawls.
Mr. Amsden envelops his son in his arms.
"Shh. Rylan will be alright. She's not going to die." He comforts.
Cas desperately wants to barge over to the room and demand to see Rylan, but seeing her wouldn't do either of them any good and would likely only upset her father.
"This is all my fault! If I'd just said something sooner or--"
"No, Casper. Don't think like that." Mr. Amsden interrupts. "You can't change what has happened. What matters is what you do now."
...........................................................................
Dani giggles as Tuck shoves two French fries into his mouth to represent vampire fangs. They had stopped at a McDonald's to eat some fries and hang out. Dani is glad for the long Christmas break and knows that Rylan has been looking forward to it as well. Her smile slowly fades as she thinks about how she had wanted so badly to ask Rylan and Cas to come join her and Tuck on their first night of freedom.
But Tuck and Rylan's relationship is still strained. Dani knows the real reason he hasn't talked to her is because he feels ashamed. Tuck knew he'd overreacted when he'd confronted Rylan about Mr. Quinn, but he's never been all that great at apologies. And she thinks that deep down Tuck wanted to be close to Rylan the way she is with Cas and her. Finding out she hadn't trusted him with this information had damaged that. Dani feels responsible, but before she tries to fix things between the two she's letting it cool off for a few more days.
"What's wrong?" Tuck asks as he notices Dani's sudden mood change.
Before Dani can answer, Tuck's cell-phone rings.
"Hold on." He checks the caller-ID and frowns.
Dani worries her bottom lip. "Who is it?"
"It's Cas," he says before answering. "Hello?"
The two haven't been on the best of terms either.
"Tuck. Are you with Dani?" Cas asks.
"Yeah. Why?"
There is a long pause as Cas tries to compose himself. He sniffs.
"I just thought you guys should know." Cas's voice cracks.
It's harder than he thought to put it into words.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
Suddenly Tuck has reverted back into the lifelong best friend Cas needs.
"Tuck?" Dani whispers, worried now.
"Cas, talk to me." Tuck urges, ignoring Dani for now.
"Rylan's in the hospital." The words rush out along with a sob that Cas can't catch. "It's bad."
Cas attempts to muffle his crying, but Tuck can still hear it through the phone. His face turns grim and goosebumps rise on his skin.
"We're on our way now." Tuck promises. "I'll see you in a few."
"Okay," Cas blubbers, then hangs up.
Dani searches Tuck's eyes for some sign that what he was about to tell her wasn't bad news. She finds none.
"What's going on?"
"We have to go to the hospital." Tuck explains.
.................................................................................................................
"Son?"
Cas turns from the wall and his phone call with Tuck. Two officers stand looking at him with patient, sympathetic expressions on their faces. The one who spoke is older than the other and slightly thicker around the middle.
"I'm Officer Romero and this is Officer Daniels." He gestures to the man on his right. "May we have a word with you?"
Cas wipes his face with his sleeve and nods.
"I'd like to hear what you told Mr. Winchester."
"Uh... " Cas sniffs. "About Blake and Mr. Quinn?"
"That's right. You have reason to believe one of them may have been Miss Winchester's attacker?"
Cas nods. "They're the only possibilities that make sense."
"What makes you say that?" Officer Daniels pipes up.
"Uh... " Cas takes a moment to collect his thoughts. "Blake bullies her."
"And has he gotten physical before?"
"Yes."
Officer Romero makes a note in his notepad.
"How so?"
"I'm sorry?"
"Has he hit her?" Officer Daniels clarifies.
Cas remembers the park incident like it was yesterday.
"Yes." He replies quietly.
"You've seen him hit her?"
"Well, no... "
Romero scribbles some more.
"But my friend, Dani has."
"What about your teacher, Mr... Quinn?" Romero inquires.
"He's been physical with her as well. Dani too." Cas adds, "I don't know all the details."
Romero nods. "And your friend, Dani. Where might I find him? I'd like to ask him some questions."
Mr. Amsden steps into the conversation from his perch on the sidelines.
"It's Danielle." He clarifies. "Casper just called her. I'm sure she's on her way here now."
He looks to Cas for confirmation and Cas nods stiffly.
Officer Daniels nods politely. "Thank you. We'll keep in touch."
Cas stares helplessly at the ground as the officers walk away to make a few calls. Mr. Amsden clasps a hand on Cas's shoulder and squeezes reassuringly.