FEUD: MewGulf

Chapter 4

His mother insisted he went to school, and he did. But he was a walking corpse. He hadn't received any updates from his father that's why he was up all night. He was still waiting for news on Faffy and waiting in school was the best idea. He couldn't be home in his room knowing that his sister almost died in there if he hadn't woken up just in time.

He went straight to the hiding place on the rooftop just to keep his head clear. He could feel like he was drowning.

The guilt was eating him.

The guilt of falling asleep when Faffy came to him for help.

The guilt of failing to catch the criminal who had hurt his dear sister.

The guilt of being a helpless brother to an innocent soul.

He was sitting against a wall but it felt like he was barely keeping his nose out of flooding water. He heard the door open with some groans. He heard someone limping, dragging their foot on the rough concrete. Before he could register what was happening, Mew was there standing in front of him looking as dead as he felt inside.

As soon as their eyes locked, both of their walls came off and they started crying, each expressing the pain and injustice they were feeling through the heart wrenching sobs.

When Gulf toon in  Mews's bloodied state, he saw the picture of Faffy sitting under the cold shower, dying. He just let go of the heavy sobs sitting on his throat. He was having a hard time trying to be an adult for Faffy. Months of not properly sleeping and eating were weighing him down and now seeing Mew standing in front of him bloody, his shirt sticking to his wet red skin, the side is his face swollen and bigger that the other, his lips busted open and his eyebrow open making blood flow into his eyes, blood from his nose smeared across his cheek, now dry; made him break down.

Mew wasn't safe, he had struggled coming to school and he was afraid of meeting other students. He met one or two but they minded their own business. He too was about to hide when he saw Gulf sitting in the hiding spot looking helpless. He suddenly felt safe. He could let go now and just be himself and that's what he did.

He started crying.

He was in pain.

He was helpless.

He was hopeless too.

He slumbed next to Gulf as they cried their pain away. He didn't know how long they took just sitting there crying, but by the time they were done, Mew was in Gulf's lap whimpering and groaning in pain.

Gulf's heartstrings were pulled by Mew's state. In between their crying, he noticed Mew was sitting in a strange position so he pulled him to him and made him lay on his lap. He started petting his hair gently until Mew started groaning and whimpering. He knew leaving him like this was going to do more harm than good so he got up and carried Mew on his back with much struggles. Gulf's health was deteriorating because he was not eating, he didn't have enough energy but he tried. He carried Mew from the rooftop until the first hallway. He was about to take the last step down when suddenly he was feeling dizzy. He held on up the railings but that didn't stop the world from spinning. He heard nothing but a sharp ringing in his ears as he went down with an unconscious body on his back. He landed with a painful thud and before he could close his eyes, he saw a group of students running their way.

An ambulance came and got the two to the hospital. Their state was beyond the school nurses' capacity.

Gulf's parents were called and the mother went to the hospital, her heart in her hands. Was she going to lose her babies on the same day? She wondered trying to hold herself together for their family.

Gulf was diagnosed with eating disorder and  exhaustion. He was tired mentally and physically and he was not eating healthy; if any.

He was placed on an IV.

Mew's parents were called as well. The parents were surprised at hearing that their son and been a victim of ongoing bullying. His body was like a rainbow full of colors you would rather see in the sky.

It was not pretty.

He had dark patches on his skin of different colors. He had blue and dark blue marks. Angry fresh red wounds. He had about two broken ribs and his ankle was broken as well, he needed a plaster cast to put the bone in place. He had some cuts on his body that had not been treated well thus they left some ugly scars. His back was a mess. They had lines facing every direction. From fresh ones to old and fading lines.

The doctors called the police to report the matter because the type of bullying he was going through was not normal and it was life threatening.

Upon arrival, the doctors gave the police a full medical report on the boy. He was being physically abused on a daily basis. The wounds on his body were life threatening for a 17 year old.

The two policemen gathered both parents and they confronted them about their son.

"It's our first time hearing that." They said.

"Does that make sense that your child is bullied everyday and you do not notice?"

"We're always busy with work. We're both doctors so we're not always around."

"Does he have siblings or other people he lives with?"

"His brother is not around. He went abroad to study there. I think it might be happening in school."

"We'll get his statement when he wakes up but we have to call social services because we don't want you present during his statement as we're not sure about the status of your relationship.

"What you think were doing this to him?" The prestigious father asked challenging the offers his hand on his waist.

"6 months," The police said stepping up at the careless father, "the boy has wounds that goes back to six months ago and you know what? That's the safest date they can give medically otherwise off the medical records, it might have been more than a year. And you know what's surprising in all this? You had no idea your child was experiencing physical abuse. So now I'll ask again should we take the easy road of getting social worker present so we can ask him questions or the other way?"

The parents looked away guilty. It was true they had failed Mew big time. No excuse could justify the reason for not knowing what Mew was going through. He was only a seventeen year old boy trying to make it through high school.

Let's add bullying on top of that stressful period.

Imagine the loneliness he must've been feeling going through all the horror all by himself.

They had really failed him big time.

AN: as I'm writing this book, I deeply empathize with these characters. Going through bullying in high school and not being able to let the adults know is really devastating.  And also being an adult/ being responsible at a young age can be so draining and tiring too. I just hope these characters make it out alright.