18 Morrow

Trigger warning: this chapter mentions an attempt at suicide, this happened in the past. It's not happening now. But just wanted to put it here, just in case ;)

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The cops came first. They pulled Ben and Theo off of Oliver who was down on the ground. He wasn't as injured as Felix, but the cops decided he needed medical care more than he needed to be restrained so they took Ben and T, sat them in the police car, and waited until the paramedics came.

Luckily, they were close behind and came in just a few minutes. Quickly assessing the situation, they decided Felix needed to come with them, and Oliver need to come with them too, although he could sit in the front seats with a blanket to keep him warm. Morrow could come with too, and she squeezed into the back. Felix was unconscious and she was more worried than she had ever been. Frustration showed as tears upon her face. Luckily the paramedic next to her said nothing as he helped Felix wherever he could.

'Is he going to be alright?'

The paramedic looked up. He had kind eyes, which made people trust him easily, Morrow bet. 'We're going to take good care of him. I can assure you of that.'

Which was not the answer she was looking for, but it was better than nothing. She nodded. 'He's very important, you know?'

'I believe you and we'll keep an eye on him so that everything will be alright.'

They arrived at the hospital, cutting their conversation short. 'Miss, can you call his family? Mother, father, anything. We need to tell them.' His colleague came around the car, guiding Oliver with him to the back of the car. The four of them walked towards the hospital entrance. All drenched and three of them hurt. The one visibly more hurt than the other.

Morrow got held back by a nurse, saying that she couldn't go any further. For some reason, her voice was stern but kind at the same time, almost like she knew what Morrow was going through. And it was that kindness that made Morrow crack. The worry, the nerves everything she had been going through in a short amount of time, she laid it all out on the nurse before her. She didn't push Morrow away, instead, she directed her to a chair and gave a some cool water to hold.

'What's your name?'

'Morrow.'

'Alright, Morrow, listen to me. We have good doctors here, and although the situation with your boyfriend doesn't seem great, we will help him wherever we can. I promise you that.'

Morrow nodded meekly, not noticing the "boyfriend" part, or maybe it didn't bother her all that much.

'Now, take some time to calm down, and when you're calm, come to the counter towards me and I'll help you with all the details, alright?'

She nodded again, clutching the little cup of water in her hands.

As Morrow slumped down in her chair, she felt so weak, but couldn't help it. The bullying, the fighting, reminded her a lot of what happened to her. Bullies don't need a reason to choose you as their victim. For her, it was her glasses, for Felix it was his "societal rank" if such a thing even existed. They would always find a "good" reason to tease a person.

About an hour later, she had called Felix's mother, aided by Felix's phone and his fingerprint. His mother was still at work and couldn't go home earlier, but would see what she could do. She did seem extremely stressed and worried about her son, so Morrow promised her that it wasn't too bad and Morrow would stay with him until she arrived. The doctors had assessed his wounds and decided he didn't need surgery. Instead, bandages and a lot of rest should do the trick. He was relocated to a room with 4 other patients, one of them being Oliver. Oliver seemed still out of it and mostly laid down on his side, just closing his eyes, but Morrow wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not.

'Hey, Felix.' She said. The doctors had said that she could try to talk to him. Maybe he wouldn't hear anything, but it wouldn't hurt to try. 'So, things are pretty bad right now.' She picked at her nails. She should really stop doing that, her fingers looked horrible, with how stressed everything has been for the last few weeks. 'In case you're awake and you don't recognize the smell or something, you're in the hospital now. I'll tell you the whole story later when you're awake.'

She fell silent. What else was there to say? It's not that she had a lot of positive things to talk about right now. So instead, she touched his hand which lay upon the blankets. 'I hope you'll wake up soon. Stop worrying me, alright?' His hand felt cold and suddenly she felt like crying. For some reason, it reminded her of the night when she stood on the edge of the roof. His hands were cold too then, then it was because of the rain and the wind. He reached out to her, helping her, saving her. And how did she repay him? Sure, they became close real quick, but else from a few talks here and there, what else had she done? She could have alerted someone. Talked to other people maybe. Morrow couldn't protect him when he really needed her.

And she felt like shit about it.

Hot tears slipped from her eyes as she cried silently. One hand in Felix's and the other wiping away the tears.

'Hey.' His voice was rough at the edges, but she heard it and without thinking twice she looked directly at him.

'Hi, hey. You're awake!'

His little smile turned into a frown and he reached up but was held back by Morrow's hand, still holding his. 'Why are you crying? And what is this?' He held up their joined hands.

'I'm not crying.'

'You are, though.'

Morrow wiped her eyes dry. 'Well, anyone would in this shitty situation, and this,' also holding up their hands, 'is for comfort. I didn't know if you could hear me, so that's why.' It was a weird excuse, she knew it and she was pretty sure Felix knew it as well, but he just laughed.

'Ah, I see.' He started to look around, not releasing their hands. 'Am I in the hospital?'

Morrow nodded. 'Yeah. It was pretty bad. I called the police and ambulance. The police took Ben and T with them.'

'They arrested them?'

'Yes, I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm pretty sure they won't appear at school anymore.'

Felix sank back into the bed, looking relieved but tired at the same time like this conversation has worn him out already. 'That's good...'

'Are you tired?'

'Yeah, everything hurts too.' He sighed and his face formed like he was in pain. 'Be honest, how do I look now?'

Morrow looked him over: bruised eyes, split lip, his nose was in a weird position, and bandages everywhere. 'You look great.' She smiled.

'Ugh... I wanted an honest answer.'

'You'll get an honest answer from the doctor later on. Oh, and also,' She suddenly remembered. 'Oliver is here too.'

'Huh? Oliver? Like the Oliver, we both know?'

'Yup, that's the one.' She laughed. 'He was pretty cool and fought against Ben and T. I guess he really tried to be a better person.'

Felix looked conflicted but relieved at the same time. 'Is he really hurt?'

Morrow shrugged her shoulders. 'A little bit, but not as bad as you.'

Felix scoffed. 'This might make me a bad person, but I wish he was hurt a little bit more. Just to get a taste of his own medicine.'

'Nah, it doesn't make you look like a bad person. It's only fair.'

Felix smiled at that answer. 'Thanks.'

'Sure.' The silence that fell after that wasn't awkward. They were just relieved and now content in their own little bubble. Morrow didn't even notice it happening. Sure, her friends have teased her about it all the time, but she always thought it was just that: teasing. Now that she's here, still holding hands, just being together, she knew that they had been right in some things. Morrow wasn't sure where to go from here, but she wanted to find out where things were going.

A few hours later, Felix's mom came too. His mother reacted to him in a way that Morrow wished her mother reacted to her. Overbearing, but full of love at the same time. Morrow extended her hand, but his mother ignored it. Instead, she hugged her tight, saying "thank you, thank you" all over and over again. It made Morrow tear up a little, but made sure his mother didn't see anything.

That night, Morrow was alone again. Felix had to stay in the hospital for observation, and his mother would watch over him. She wanted to bring Morrow home in her car, but Morrow refused. She needed some space to put things in order her head was full of all the things that happened today. And now she also needed to deal with her parents.

How fun.