TAKE ME AWAY(5/?)
Title: TAKE ME AWAY(5/?)
Author: imnotskerrd
Beta: crybaby4u <3
Pairing: Kradam; Kris/OMC; Adam/Sauli
Word count: 3355
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.
Warnings: Domestic violence; Bullying
Summary: Sometimes we think that letting someone go is the most selfless decision that one can ever make. Especially in a situation where no one can help you except for yourself. But what if you came back and found out that the love of your life didn't just change in the way you've expected him to but also is in a more messed up situation.
‘’Kris, was my brother bothering you?’’ is the first thing Neil asks him when he met him on the school grounds the next Monday morning.
Kris suddenly halts from his steps and looks frantically up at Neil. ‘’D-Did he say something about-?’’
‘’About what?’’ he asks confusedly.
‘’Nothing-uh, I mean, no, he wasn’t bothering me.’’ He says feeling a bit relieved and continues to walk. ‘’Why did you asked if he was bothering me’’ Kris asks.
Neil shrugs his shoulders and says ‘’Well, I just saw him talking to you as soon as you got off the bus that it almost looked like he was really waiting for you.’’
‘’H-He just asked how I was.’’ Well that isn’t a total lie because Adam did ask how he was. Kris just would never tell Neil about the other things that unfortunately Adam knows already.
‘’That’s it?’’ he doubtfully asked. He looks at him as if he is expecting Kris will tell him more.
‘’Y-Yeah...’’
They walked in silence after that until Neil stops and looks him square in the eyes.
‘’Kris…’’ Neil starts, ‘’Adam didn’t do something when he drove you home last Saturday night, did he?’’
‘’W-what?!’’ Kris’ eyes bug out. ‘’N-no, he didn’t do anything, Neil. I swear.’’
‘’Okay, if you say so.’’ Neil shrugs again.
‘’Really?’’ Kris grimaces as he said it.
‘’Really what? ’’
‘’You would really think your brother would like me that way?’’ Kris says it like he is already resigned to the fact that Adam would not like him and that hurt Neil. He knows Kris’ self- confidence and self-esteem are low but he still seems not used to it especially when he’s talking like he’s not worth of any attention from anyone.
‘’Of course, Kris anyone would like you, you’re an amazing person. Anyone would be lucky to have you.’’
Kris looks at Neil like he is a crazy person then snorts. ‘’Dude, you must be crazy. That ain’t gonna happen. Have you seen his boyfriend? Or better yet, have you seen your brother?’’ he walks away shaking his head leaving a sad Neil standing in the middle of the hallway.
Earlier that day, Kris was shocked to find Adam standing by the side of his car and as soon as he saw Kris getting off the bus he started to walk toward him. Kris tried to walk faster but Adam seemed to have mile long legs and caught up with him very easily.
‘’Kris, hey!’’ he greeted him with a bit of hesitation and… was that a look of concern on his face?
‘’Hey, Adam!’’ he answered and tried to sound cheerful but of course he failed.
They walked for few feet then Adam held his arm to stop him from walking. Kris looked down at the hand holding him and Adam snapped away his hand and apologized. Then he cleared his throat and looked Kris in his eyes with so much intensity.
‘’Kris, uh, how are you?’’ he asked quietly that it was almost a whisper.
‘’I’m doing great. Thanks for asking.’’ Kris knew he was really asking how he was after Saturday night subtlety asking behind the formal greetings and polite gestures if his father had hurt him more that night.
‘’Good! Nice to hear that. Uh, do you want to-uh, I mean, if you want to talk or get some help-there’s so many centers or help numbers that we could-‘’
‘’A-Adam, please, please, I’m begging you don’t tell anyone about what you saw last Saturday night. Not even Neil. Please don’t report it to any centers or the police-I just-I’m fine, really. He is just looking out for me he just wants me to be good.’’ He said with glassy eyes. Adam could smell his fear from miles away and that made him more concerned about the kid.
‘’No-no, not if you don’t want to… Hey, calm down, it’s okay, I won’t tell anyone.’’ He said reaching for Kris’ hand and holding it gently.
‘’T-thank you.’’ he said looking grateful and that just broke Adam’s heart. Now he understood why Neil wanted to protect him. His personal and emotional views about life and might as well everything around him was kind of twisted. And Adam didn’t know what to do.
‘’I-it’s uh, Kris you don’t have to say thank you. I really didn’t do anything.’’ He said watching the kid’s face closely. Actually he has very warm and beautiful eyes that Adam didn’t understand why he hid it by always tucking his chin on his chest.
‘’N-no, you don’t know what it means that you won’t tell that to anyone especially Neil...’’ The last sentence was almost a whisper.
Adam really wanted to just hug him but instead he just said, ‘’It is okay Kris. Uh, see you around?’’
That made him glance up at him for a split second, then he nodded looking down at the ground again. Adam felt his uneasiness and he didn’t want the kid to suffer more and so he said his goodbyes and walked away.
A few days later Neil excitedly shares good news with him. He finally convinced his parents to buy him an acoustic guitar. Neil and Kris started to have an interest in playing guitar when both joined the music class. They both wanted to learn how to play it and loved reading books about it. But they can only play it when they are in class because both don’t have any guitars at home.
Neil’s parents are music lovers, his dad was an actual DJ when he was in college, but neither one does sing. His brother Adam does, he’s really quite good actually, but doesn’t like to learn to play any instrument. He is in Theater Club and just basically wanted to be a Broadway star.
Neil can sing a tune but obviously he’s not that good compared to Adam. He really doesn’t want to be a singer but wanted to be a guitar player. And so he begged and begged his parents to buy him a guitar and after months of pleading and begging they surprised him with one.
He couldn’t wait for the next day to come so he can tell Kris about it because that just means they can practice anytime they wanted. Kris gets excited upon hearing his friend so excited but he just thinks how he can possibly go to Neil’s house without having his father notice it. His dad is still giving him a hard time about what happened outside their house for attending Neil’s birthday celebration.
He doesn’t want to give any reason for his father to continue the ‘Open your mind, Kristopher! Guys like that only want to play with you, use you, and waste you! Don’t be stupid thinking he will really like you!’
He has been saying to him that Adam is not his boyfriend, he was just Neil’s brother and Neil is his best friend. Then his father will snort and sarcastically laugh at him shaking his head saying: ‘Best friend? You have a best friend? You think anyone wants to be friends with you?’
Kris is used to his father’s cruel words. He’s heard it for such a long time now that he is already numb from it. But sometimes it still gets to him, messes with his head. Most of the time he believes it, but sometimes-like what he said about Neil-his mind refuses to even listen to it as he knows Neil is his friend.
But somehow part of him still believes that his relationship with Neil wouldn’t stay this great for so long. He knows there would come a time when Neil would be moving on with his life and Kris would still stuck in his.
Although as he started to let Neil be friends with him, Kris starts to see the other side of the world that he didn’t get to know. He starts to feel lighter inside, he even surprises himself that he can smile and laugh as often as he likes. That it’s okay to have some fun, too.
And when he met Neil’s parents, he starts to feel something warm inside that was missing in his life since his mom died. If he’s being honest with himself, Kris wants to go and visit them again just to feel that calming peace and soothing touch Leila has whenever she hugs him. But he feels so uncomfortable around Adam. Not just because he knows his secret but he is just too intimidating. It doesn’t help that his stomach doesn’t settle whenever he set eyes on him and he doesn’t know why.
But that day he agrees to go with Neil to his house for the second time around but he told him he should be home at six because his dad is coming at seven and he needs to prepare dinner before he comes home.
Leila is happy to see him again and Kris let her hug him and he actually closes his eyes from the warmth of it. But she is sad to hear that he can’t stay for dinner.
From that day on he’s at Neil’s almost every day. He just make sure he’s home before his father is and after a few weeks both he and Neil are good at playing guitars. Kris is a natural at playing and he discovered that he can sing too. Well, nobody really heard him sing-not even Neil. He just hums the song with Neil who doesn’t really care about singing because he just loved to play guitar.
With all the time he spent at the Lambert’s house Kris only bumped into Adam maybe 3 or 4 times. He always comes home late from hanging out with his boyfriend or if he was home he was also occupied in his room to even notice that he was there. Not that Adam would notice or care that he was in their house anyway.
But one Monday afternoon, while he’s reading his history book, the principal of the school enters their class with a sad expression on her face. The class gets quiet as they wait for what she will tell them- everyone knows it will be sad news or worse-tragic news.
Kris doesn’t look up but when he feels everyone’s eyes on him he glances up at them. Then his eyes flick to their school principal who is looking at him directly. He glances around the classroom at the students who are now all staring back at him.
‘’Mr. Allen, can I talk to you outside?’’ she says softly like Kris will break at any moment like a glass. He nods confused and stands up but the principal is talking again. ‘’Grab your things, son, and follow me outside.’’ That had his heart pounding in his chest so hard.
She was waiting in the empty hallway and smiles at him albeit a sad one. Kris is so scared that he doesn’t know how to begin asking. The principal takes his trembling hands and cages them within hers.
‘’It’s your dad.’’ She says softly.
Kris can’t even talk, he’s shaking and seconds away from passing out.
‘’He was in accident. He’s in the hospital. We will take you there but it was the hospital who contacted us said that he will be in OR for few more hours. So, it’s up to you, son. Or do you want to contact anyone? Anyone at all?’’ she asks kindly still holding his trembling hands.
‘’Kris?’’
‘’N-Neil.’’ he whispers.
‘’You’re talking about Neil Lambert?’’ she asks gently now rubbing his back soothingly which makes him miss Neil’s mom Leila. He wishes to talk to her, to hold her, to hug her.
Kris nods and she tells him to just sit for a while in her office while waiting for Neil.
After few minutes Neil comes in and Kris stands up to hug his friend who asks him if he’s okay. He merely nods and weakly sits back down again. The principal tells them that they are excused from their classes and she tells Kris that a car is waiting to drive them to the hospital. But Kris asks to be driven to Neil’s house instead. She tells them it is okay and walks them out to the parking lot.
This time Kris hugs Leila in the doorway that’s the first time his tears roll down his face since he’d learned that his dad was in an accident. Leila hugs him for so long sitting him on the couch and soothingly rubs his back while Kris just holds her.
That’s how Adam finds them. But before he can ask anything the telephone rings which caused him to jump out of his skin a little bit. He watches his mom subtlety asking him to answer the phone. When he lifts the receiver and says ‘hello’ the man on the other line is looking for ‘a certain Mr. Kristopher Neil Allen’. Adam was speechless for a while because who would be calling Kris at their house? How did that person know that Kris is even there? And why he is crying on his mom’s shoulder, by the way? He suddenly wants to sit beside Kris and asks him personally because he really look so miserable.
‘’Yeah, he’s here. Who is this?’’ he answers when the man says ‘hello’ again.
‘’I’m calling from San Diego General Hospital. I’m Dr. Weber, can I talk to Mr. Allen, please?’’
‘’Uh...’’ Adam glances at Kris who is still curled up at Leila’s side. ‘’What do you want from him?’’ Why is a doctor from the hospital calling Kris?
‘’I’m sorry, Mr.-?’’
‘’Lambert’’
‘’I’m sorry, Mr. Lambert but what I am supposed to tell Mr. Allen is confidential.’ The doctor says politely. Adam let out a sigh and calls to Kris.
‘’Kris?’’ he calls. Leila, Kris and Neil who is sitting on an armchair all look up at him. ‘’Dr. Weber is on the phone? Uh, he said he wanted to talk to you?’’ he says as he sees Kris’ eyes are glassy like he’s on a verge of tears again.
He stands and walks to where Adam was standing and reaches for the receiver with shaky hands. Adam can’t do anything but to stare curiously and worriedly. What is happening?
‘’H-hello’’ Kris says to the phone and stays quiet while listening to Dr. Weber. He bites his lower lip while trying to hold his tears in. ‘’O-okay.’’ Then he pauses again nodding like Dr. Weber can see it. Then he says weakly ‘’T-thank you.’’ and then puts down the receiver back in its place again.
‘’I need to go…’’ Kris mumbles looking at Leila. Both her and Neil stand up and walk to him.
‘’Where? To the hospital?’’ Adam confusedly asks looking at Kris who refuses to look at him but instead he just nods.
‘’Why? What happened?’’ Adam takes the few steps separating him and Kris who doesn’t answer. ‘’Kris, please, talk to me.’’
‘’It’s his dad.’’ Leila speaks up. ‘’He was in an accident.’’
Adam looks down at Kris and feels like he wants to hug him. ‘’Do you want me to drive you there now?’’
Kris glances up with puffy eyes and nods.
‘’Take care of him, Adam. We’ll just wait for your father and we’ll follow you there.’’ Adam nods at her and hugs her quickly. ‘’Stay strong, sweetie’’ She whispers to Kris while hugging him who nods and thanks her.
The drive to the hospital is silent. Kris’ mind travels to those times when his dad got him to go to his mom’s funeral. He doesn’t know what the extent of the injuries his father has. Dr. Weber just said that he was about to get out of operation and that he was doing well. He notices Adam keeps on glancing at him but stays quiet the rest of the drive.
Adam leads him to the front desk guiding him from his lower back and politely asks where they can find Dr. Weber. The man pages Dr. Weber and instructed them to just sit in the waiting room to wait for the doctor.
They just merely sit for few minutes when a middle age doctor comes in with a neutral expression on his face. They both stand up and Dr. Weber introduces himself, shakes their hands while Adam introduces both of them then focuses his attention on Kris.
‘’He’s still being operated on. Kris, your dad is in critical condition. The impact of the accident was too hard and because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt-son, he suffers from internal hemorrhage. We’ve been trying to stop the internal bleeding to minimize more damages of his organs but until now he’s still unstable.’’
‘’But we’ll do everything. You just stay here with your friend and I’ll come here to update you with the surgery status or if he’s out of it already.’’ Dr. Weber says sympathetically and reaches out to pat his shoulder. ‘’Just tell the people at front desk to page me if you need anything, okay?’’
Kris nods and mumbles his thank you to the doctor who just waves it off and smiles. After he left Adam leads him to the chair again and Kris sits. He looks so small curling in on himself and Adam reaches out and brings his head to rest at his shoulder.
Kris stiffens for a while then Adam whispers ‘’it’s okay, I’m here. Just take some rest. I’ll wake you up when Dr. Weber comes back.’’ Kris begins to relax and let out a deep sigh closing his eyes as Adam gently rubs his arm.
He was about to sleep when he feels Adam’s phone vibrates in his jeans but he’s too tired and wiped out to even move. Adam seems not interested in it too because he chooses to ignore it instead.
Then he feels someone gently shaking his shoulder and hearing Adam’s voice calling him. He doesn’t know how long he slept but when he opens his eyes expecting Dr. Weber instead he finds a lady with glasses who holds a thick file in her arms.
Kris sits up straight and glances at Adam who has a look of fear stricken on his face. Kris didn’t hear what the lady and Adam talked about to put that expression on Adam’s face.
‘’Kristopher Allen’’ The lady asks but her feature stays neutral without revealing any emotions.
Kris nods glancing at Adam again who looks at the floor obviously in a deep thinking state.
‘’I’m Jordan Curtis, a social worker, I’m here to tell you that I’m taking your case and I already found a shelter for you to stay in until your dad is well enough to take care of you. What do you say, Kris?’’
Adam stands up but Jordan locks eyes with him with eyebrow slightly arched up as if daring him to say more.
Kris doesn’t say anything. He just looks down at his hands and innocently bites his lips. Adam feels something punches his gut knowing what’s going on in Kris’ head. He also feels his heart clench as he knows exactly what Kris’ answer would be. He knows Kris wouldn’t even try to argue.
But can he argue for Kris’ sake? Does his opinion even matter? Does Kris even want to hear his opinion? Does he even care when he already resigned to the idea of a certain woman who he never met before?
Has Kris ever argued for anything in the past? Does he even know when to say yes or no?
Adam doesn’t know what to do he doesn’t know what to say. But one thing he knows for sure he cannot just let Kris take anything that other people tell him to do-what they want him to do. He needs him to start to standing up for himself-take responsibility for his decision-to start making his own decision without the influence of other people. But Adam doesn’t know how-doesn’t know where to start.
Author: imnotskerrd
Beta: crybaby4u <3
Pairing: Kradam; Kris/OMC; Adam/Sauli
Word count: 3355
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.
Warnings: Domestic violence; Bullying
Summary: Sometimes we think that letting someone go is the most selfless decision that one can ever make. Especially in a situation where no one can help you except for yourself. But what if you came back and found out that the love of your life didn't just change in the way you've expected him to but also is in a more messed up situation.
‘’Kris, was my brother bothering you?’’ is the first thing Neil asks him when he met him on the school grounds the next Monday morning.
Kris suddenly halts from his steps and looks frantically up at Neil. ‘’D-Did he say something about-?’’
‘’About what?’’ he asks confusedly.
‘’Nothing-uh, I mean, no, he wasn’t bothering me.’’ He says feeling a bit relieved and continues to walk. ‘’Why did you asked if he was bothering me’’ Kris asks.
Neil shrugs his shoulders and says ‘’Well, I just saw him talking to you as soon as you got off the bus that it almost looked like he was really waiting for you.’’
‘’H-He just asked how I was.’’ Well that isn’t a total lie because Adam did ask how he was. Kris just would never tell Neil about the other things that unfortunately Adam knows already.
‘’That’s it?’’ he doubtfully asked. He looks at him as if he is expecting Kris will tell him more.
‘’Y-Yeah...’’
They walked in silence after that until Neil stops and looks him square in the eyes.
‘’Kris…’’ Neil starts, ‘’Adam didn’t do something when he drove you home last Saturday night, did he?’’
‘’W-what?!’’ Kris’ eyes bug out. ‘’N-no, he didn’t do anything, Neil. I swear.’’
‘’Okay, if you say so.’’ Neil shrugs again.
‘’Really?’’ Kris grimaces as he said it.
‘’Really what? ’’
‘’You would really think your brother would like me that way?’’ Kris says it like he is already resigned to the fact that Adam would not like him and that hurt Neil. He knows Kris’ self- confidence and self-esteem are low but he still seems not used to it especially when he’s talking like he’s not worth of any attention from anyone.
‘’Of course, Kris anyone would like you, you’re an amazing person. Anyone would be lucky to have you.’’
Kris looks at Neil like he is a crazy person then snorts. ‘’Dude, you must be crazy. That ain’t gonna happen. Have you seen his boyfriend? Or better yet, have you seen your brother?’’ he walks away shaking his head leaving a sad Neil standing in the middle of the hallway.
Earlier that day, Kris was shocked to find Adam standing by the side of his car and as soon as he saw Kris getting off the bus he started to walk toward him. Kris tried to walk faster but Adam seemed to have mile long legs and caught up with him very easily.
‘’Kris, hey!’’ he greeted him with a bit of hesitation and… was that a look of concern on his face?
‘’Hey, Adam!’’ he answered and tried to sound cheerful but of course he failed.
They walked for few feet then Adam held his arm to stop him from walking. Kris looked down at the hand holding him and Adam snapped away his hand and apologized. Then he cleared his throat and looked Kris in his eyes with so much intensity.
‘’Kris, uh, how are you?’’ he asked quietly that it was almost a whisper.
‘’I’m doing great. Thanks for asking.’’ Kris knew he was really asking how he was after Saturday night subtlety asking behind the formal greetings and polite gestures if his father had hurt him more that night.
‘’Good! Nice to hear that. Uh, do you want to-uh, I mean, if you want to talk or get some help-there’s so many centers or help numbers that we could-‘’
‘’A-Adam, please, please, I’m begging you don’t tell anyone about what you saw last Saturday night. Not even Neil. Please don’t report it to any centers or the police-I just-I’m fine, really. He is just looking out for me he just wants me to be good.’’ He said with glassy eyes. Adam could smell his fear from miles away and that made him more concerned about the kid.
‘’No-no, not if you don’t want to… Hey, calm down, it’s okay, I won’t tell anyone.’’ He said reaching for Kris’ hand and holding it gently.
‘’T-thank you.’’ he said looking grateful and that just broke Adam’s heart. Now he understood why Neil wanted to protect him. His personal and emotional views about life and might as well everything around him was kind of twisted. And Adam didn’t know what to do.
‘’I-it’s uh, Kris you don’t have to say thank you. I really didn’t do anything.’’ He said watching the kid’s face closely. Actually he has very warm and beautiful eyes that Adam didn’t understand why he hid it by always tucking his chin on his chest.
‘’N-no, you don’t know what it means that you won’t tell that to anyone especially Neil...’’ The last sentence was almost a whisper.
Adam really wanted to just hug him but instead he just said, ‘’It is okay Kris. Uh, see you around?’’
That made him glance up at him for a split second, then he nodded looking down at the ground again. Adam felt his uneasiness and he didn’t want the kid to suffer more and so he said his goodbyes and walked away.
A few days later Neil excitedly shares good news with him. He finally convinced his parents to buy him an acoustic guitar. Neil and Kris started to have an interest in playing guitar when both joined the music class. They both wanted to learn how to play it and loved reading books about it. But they can only play it when they are in class because both don’t have any guitars at home.
Neil’s parents are music lovers, his dad was an actual DJ when he was in college, but neither one does sing. His brother Adam does, he’s really quite good actually, but doesn’t like to learn to play any instrument. He is in Theater Club and just basically wanted to be a Broadway star.
Neil can sing a tune but obviously he’s not that good compared to Adam. He really doesn’t want to be a singer but wanted to be a guitar player. And so he begged and begged his parents to buy him a guitar and after months of pleading and begging they surprised him with one.
He couldn’t wait for the next day to come so he can tell Kris about it because that just means they can practice anytime they wanted. Kris gets excited upon hearing his friend so excited but he just thinks how he can possibly go to Neil’s house without having his father notice it. His dad is still giving him a hard time about what happened outside their house for attending Neil’s birthday celebration.
He doesn’t want to give any reason for his father to continue the ‘Open your mind, Kristopher! Guys like that only want to play with you, use you, and waste you! Don’t be stupid thinking he will really like you!’
He has been saying to him that Adam is not his boyfriend, he was just Neil’s brother and Neil is his best friend. Then his father will snort and sarcastically laugh at him shaking his head saying: ‘Best friend? You have a best friend? You think anyone wants to be friends with you?’
Kris is used to his father’s cruel words. He’s heard it for such a long time now that he is already numb from it. But sometimes it still gets to him, messes with his head. Most of the time he believes it, but sometimes-like what he said about Neil-his mind refuses to even listen to it as he knows Neil is his friend.
But somehow part of him still believes that his relationship with Neil wouldn’t stay this great for so long. He knows there would come a time when Neil would be moving on with his life and Kris would still stuck in his.
Although as he started to let Neil be friends with him, Kris starts to see the other side of the world that he didn’t get to know. He starts to feel lighter inside, he even surprises himself that he can smile and laugh as often as he likes. That it’s okay to have some fun, too.
And when he met Neil’s parents, he starts to feel something warm inside that was missing in his life since his mom died. If he’s being honest with himself, Kris wants to go and visit them again just to feel that calming peace and soothing touch Leila has whenever she hugs him. But he feels so uncomfortable around Adam. Not just because he knows his secret but he is just too intimidating. It doesn’t help that his stomach doesn’t settle whenever he set eyes on him and he doesn’t know why.
But that day he agrees to go with Neil to his house for the second time around but he told him he should be home at six because his dad is coming at seven and he needs to prepare dinner before he comes home.
Leila is happy to see him again and Kris let her hug him and he actually closes his eyes from the warmth of it. But she is sad to hear that he can’t stay for dinner.
From that day on he’s at Neil’s almost every day. He just make sure he’s home before his father is and after a few weeks both he and Neil are good at playing guitars. Kris is a natural at playing and he discovered that he can sing too. Well, nobody really heard him sing-not even Neil. He just hums the song with Neil who doesn’t really care about singing because he just loved to play guitar.
With all the time he spent at the Lambert’s house Kris only bumped into Adam maybe 3 or 4 times. He always comes home late from hanging out with his boyfriend or if he was home he was also occupied in his room to even notice that he was there. Not that Adam would notice or care that he was in their house anyway.
But one Monday afternoon, while he’s reading his history book, the principal of the school enters their class with a sad expression on her face. The class gets quiet as they wait for what she will tell them- everyone knows it will be sad news or worse-tragic news.
Kris doesn’t look up but when he feels everyone’s eyes on him he glances up at them. Then his eyes flick to their school principal who is looking at him directly. He glances around the classroom at the students who are now all staring back at him.
‘’Mr. Allen, can I talk to you outside?’’ she says softly like Kris will break at any moment like a glass. He nods confused and stands up but the principal is talking again. ‘’Grab your things, son, and follow me outside.’’ That had his heart pounding in his chest so hard.
She was waiting in the empty hallway and smiles at him albeit a sad one. Kris is so scared that he doesn’t know how to begin asking. The principal takes his trembling hands and cages them within hers.
‘’It’s your dad.’’ She says softly.
Kris can’t even talk, he’s shaking and seconds away from passing out.
‘’He was in accident. He’s in the hospital. We will take you there but it was the hospital who contacted us said that he will be in OR for few more hours. So, it’s up to you, son. Or do you want to contact anyone? Anyone at all?’’ she asks kindly still holding his trembling hands.
‘’Kris?’’
‘’N-Neil.’’ he whispers.
‘’You’re talking about Neil Lambert?’’ she asks gently now rubbing his back soothingly which makes him miss Neil’s mom Leila. He wishes to talk to her, to hold her, to hug her.
Kris nods and she tells him to just sit for a while in her office while waiting for Neil.
After few minutes Neil comes in and Kris stands up to hug his friend who asks him if he’s okay. He merely nods and weakly sits back down again. The principal tells them that they are excused from their classes and she tells Kris that a car is waiting to drive them to the hospital. But Kris asks to be driven to Neil’s house instead. She tells them it is okay and walks them out to the parking lot.
This time Kris hugs Leila in the doorway that’s the first time his tears roll down his face since he’d learned that his dad was in an accident. Leila hugs him for so long sitting him on the couch and soothingly rubs his back while Kris just holds her.
That’s how Adam finds them. But before he can ask anything the telephone rings which caused him to jump out of his skin a little bit. He watches his mom subtlety asking him to answer the phone. When he lifts the receiver and says ‘hello’ the man on the other line is looking for ‘a certain Mr. Kristopher Neil Allen’. Adam was speechless for a while because who would be calling Kris at their house? How did that person know that Kris is even there? And why he is crying on his mom’s shoulder, by the way? He suddenly wants to sit beside Kris and asks him personally because he really look so miserable.
‘’Yeah, he’s here. Who is this?’’ he answers when the man says ‘hello’ again.
‘’I’m calling from San Diego General Hospital. I’m Dr. Weber, can I talk to Mr. Allen, please?’’
‘’Uh...’’ Adam glances at Kris who is still curled up at Leila’s side. ‘’What do you want from him?’’ Why is a doctor from the hospital calling Kris?
‘’I’m sorry, Mr.-?’’
‘’Lambert’’
‘’I’m sorry, Mr. Lambert but what I am supposed to tell Mr. Allen is confidential.’ The doctor says politely. Adam let out a sigh and calls to Kris.
‘’Kris?’’ he calls. Leila, Kris and Neil who is sitting on an armchair all look up at him. ‘’Dr. Weber is on the phone? Uh, he said he wanted to talk to you?’’ he says as he sees Kris’ eyes are glassy like he’s on a verge of tears again.
He stands and walks to where Adam was standing and reaches for the receiver with shaky hands. Adam can’t do anything but to stare curiously and worriedly. What is happening?
‘’H-hello’’ Kris says to the phone and stays quiet while listening to Dr. Weber. He bites his lower lip while trying to hold his tears in. ‘’O-okay.’’ Then he pauses again nodding like Dr. Weber can see it. Then he says weakly ‘’T-thank you.’’ and then puts down the receiver back in its place again.
‘’I need to go…’’ Kris mumbles looking at Leila. Both her and Neil stand up and walk to him.
‘’Where? To the hospital?’’ Adam confusedly asks looking at Kris who refuses to look at him but instead he just nods.
‘’Why? What happened?’’ Adam takes the few steps separating him and Kris who doesn’t answer. ‘’Kris, please, talk to me.’’
‘’It’s his dad.’’ Leila speaks up. ‘’He was in an accident.’’
Adam looks down at Kris and feels like he wants to hug him. ‘’Do you want me to drive you there now?’’
Kris glances up with puffy eyes and nods.
‘’Take care of him, Adam. We’ll just wait for your father and we’ll follow you there.’’ Adam nods at her and hugs her quickly. ‘’Stay strong, sweetie’’ She whispers to Kris while hugging him who nods and thanks her.
The drive to the hospital is silent. Kris’ mind travels to those times when his dad got him to go to his mom’s funeral. He doesn’t know what the extent of the injuries his father has. Dr. Weber just said that he was about to get out of operation and that he was doing well. He notices Adam keeps on glancing at him but stays quiet the rest of the drive.
Adam leads him to the front desk guiding him from his lower back and politely asks where they can find Dr. Weber. The man pages Dr. Weber and instructed them to just sit in the waiting room to wait for the doctor.
They just merely sit for few minutes when a middle age doctor comes in with a neutral expression on his face. They both stand up and Dr. Weber introduces himself, shakes their hands while Adam introduces both of them then focuses his attention on Kris.
‘’He’s still being operated on. Kris, your dad is in critical condition. The impact of the accident was too hard and because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt-son, he suffers from internal hemorrhage. We’ve been trying to stop the internal bleeding to minimize more damages of his organs but until now he’s still unstable.’’
‘’But we’ll do everything. You just stay here with your friend and I’ll come here to update you with the surgery status or if he’s out of it already.’’ Dr. Weber says sympathetically and reaches out to pat his shoulder. ‘’Just tell the people at front desk to page me if you need anything, okay?’’
Kris nods and mumbles his thank you to the doctor who just waves it off and smiles. After he left Adam leads him to the chair again and Kris sits. He looks so small curling in on himself and Adam reaches out and brings his head to rest at his shoulder.
Kris stiffens for a while then Adam whispers ‘’it’s okay, I’m here. Just take some rest. I’ll wake you up when Dr. Weber comes back.’’ Kris begins to relax and let out a deep sigh closing his eyes as Adam gently rubs his arm.
He was about to sleep when he feels Adam’s phone vibrates in his jeans but he’s too tired and wiped out to even move. Adam seems not interested in it too because he chooses to ignore it instead.
Then he feels someone gently shaking his shoulder and hearing Adam’s voice calling him. He doesn’t know how long he slept but when he opens his eyes expecting Dr. Weber instead he finds a lady with glasses who holds a thick file in her arms.
Kris sits up straight and glances at Adam who has a look of fear stricken on his face. Kris didn’t hear what the lady and Adam talked about to put that expression on Adam’s face.
‘’Kristopher Allen’’ The lady asks but her feature stays neutral without revealing any emotions.
Kris nods glancing at Adam again who looks at the floor obviously in a deep thinking state.
‘’I’m Jordan Curtis, a social worker, I’m here to tell you that I’m taking your case and I already found a shelter for you to stay in until your dad is well enough to take care of you. What do you say, Kris?’’
Adam stands up but Jordan locks eyes with him with eyebrow slightly arched up as if daring him to say more.
Kris doesn’t say anything. He just looks down at his hands and innocently bites his lips. Adam feels something punches his gut knowing what’s going on in Kris’ head. He also feels his heart clench as he knows exactly what Kris’ answer would be. He knows Kris wouldn’t even try to argue.
But can he argue for Kris’ sake? Does his opinion even matter? Does Kris even want to hear his opinion? Does he even care when he already resigned to the idea of a certain woman who he never met before?
Has Kris ever argued for anything in the past? Does he even know when to say yes or no?
Adam doesn’t know what to do he doesn’t know what to say. But one thing he knows for sure he cannot just let Kris take anything that other people tell him to do-what they want him to do. He needs him to start to standing up for himself-take responsibility for his decision-to start making his own decision without the influence of other people. But Adam doesn’t know how-doesn’t know where to start.