What A Wonderful Nightmare

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.

One Month Later

The recovery process was a bit of a long one. When Clay first started waking up, it would be only about ten minutes at a time. He was still in a great deal of pain, and became quite agitated when he would first wake up. This was hard on the boys, but they tried their best to understand and help in any way they could. Gradually, he would wake up for longer periods of time and be more aware of what was going on. His numbers continued to improve and the pain continued to lessen. 

The cut on his right cheek was guaranteed to scar, leaving a constant reminder of what he had been through. Something Clay would have to see for the rest of his life, every time he looked in the mirror, any photo ever taken from this point forward. His right shoulder, which had been shot by the malicious culprit, had needed surgery immediately when he first arrived to the hospital that night. It heeled well, and wasn't too much of an issue. His left shoulder also required surgery, for the break he had suffered when escaping. This break wasn't too severe, but bad enough to leave him in need of physical therapy for the break. His black eye, the left one, had faded completely by now. The abundance of bruises as well. He had suffered a lot of blood loss in the time it took to run from George's aunt's house, to Clay's own. This took a lot out on his body, hurting the blood vessels throughout his fragile body.

Despite all the showing injuries, the physical trauma his body had went through, and the long recovery process he had been through and would continue to go through, the worst effects were yet to come.

The mental trauma, the PTSd, and the recounting of the evens he would have to give to officials, would be the most draining and long lasting of it all for the poor boy.

George's POV

"Clay aren't you excited! You get to finally go home! Your blood pressure is back to a normal level, your heart is doing good, and the wounds have almost all healed!" The brunette cheered, clapping his hands in a fit of excitement.

"Yeah. Stoked." Clay spoke in a monotone voice. He turned his head away from his lover, letting out an audible sigh.

Sapnap frowned. "C'mon man. You get to go home. You get to start living again!"

"Yeah for like, a minute. I have to still go to physical therapy for my arm, interview with cops about what happened, and then probably go to court to testify."

I still don't know what happened. He refuses to tell me or Sapnap, and has refused to talk to any cops about it until he goes home.

"It might be good to talk about it Clay, might lift some weight off your shoulder." George suggested, cracking a half smile at the blonde.

"Maybe."

................

"Aaaaaaand we. are. HOME!" Sapnap shouted from the drivers seat.

George smiled, looking to his right at the broken boy sat beside him. Clay looked up too, smiling for just a second.

................

"C'mon Clay you gotta eat. It's important to stay healthy especially now." Sapnap groaned, pushing the bowl of salad he had prepared closer to Clay.

"I'm not hungry. I just wanna go to sleep, tomorrow is gonna be hard y'know?" Clay pushed away the bowl again.

"Exactly Clay. You're gonna need the energy, please?" Sapnap hesitantly pushed the bowl back.

Clay sighed, picking up the shiny metal fork before immediately placing it back down. "Can I use plastic silverware, please?"