Chase your fate

chapter 35

Chase looked up and down the hallway of the hospital, checking to see if there was anyone hanging around the room that Alex was admitted to.  He didn't see anyone, so he lowered his ballcap, tucked his splint into the sleeve of his hoodie and casually walked to the open door of the room, standing there, listening for voices inside, but hearing no one.  He took one last look to make sure that it was safe, then quietly stepped inside, walking to the foot of the bed, looking at the broken body laying there sleeping.  He thought that he was prepared for this, but he was wrong.  Thoughts began racing through his mind as panic tried to creep in.  'What am I doing here?  This is a bad idea?  What kind of monster am I?'.

The fight was still nothing more than a blur in his mind.  He had almost blacked it out of his mind, only seeing bits, pieces and flashes of the red tinted memory.  Looking at him now, lying in the bed, it became clearer to him.  Every punch, every kick, the blood and tears, the painful groans and tear covered pleas for him to stop.  Every bit of it came back to his mind as he closed his eyes, wishing that he could go back to that night and change what had happened.  To stop himself before he had lost control.  He opened his eyes, listening to the constant beeps of the machines around him, seeing the bandaged head, torso and casted hand, the completely disfigured face of what had been the best looking boy in school, now with his mouth torn, stitched, and wired shut.  He closed his eyes against the tears, fighting a battle inside of himself, trying to justify what he had done. 

He tried to tell himself that Alex deserved this, to convince himself that there had been no other way.  He tried calling on the years of hatred that had built up inside of himself, the vision of the bruises on Devyn's arms, the words that he had spoken that night.  He tried going back to his own time in the emergency room, when the cut above his lip had been sewn, leaving the scar that he still hated.  None of it mattered.  He grabbed the visitor's chair and slid it over to the side of the bed and sat down.  He leaned back away from the bed and whispered "Alex.... are you here?".

It took a couple more tries, but eventually, his right eye slowly opened and he turned his head towards Chase.  His eye opened wide, his entire body tensed up and the heart monitor began to increase with it's constant 'beep...beep..beep' growing a bit faster.  "Calm down Alex..... I'm just here to talk..." he said, getting jittery and nervous, hoping that the heart monitor wouldn't alert the floor nurse to come check on him.  Chase held his hands up, as if in a show of being unarmed and meaning no harm, but Alex tried moving away, causing pain to his injuries.  "This was a bad idea...." Chase said as he began to stand, but the mumbled grunts, caused him to catch himself, and he relaxed back into the seat.

The boys looked at one another in silence as a minute or so passed, the heart monitor beginning to return to normal.  Finally Chase broke the silence "I hate you Alex...... but dammit... I'm done...".  He saw Alex trying to respond but interrupted him "NO... you don't get to talk... you don't get to say a damn thing... You're going to lay there and listen.." Alex glared at him, grunting a final time, then laying back in silence.  Chase leaned in closer whispering through gritted teeth, keeping a firm grip on his self control "I am sick of you... and your friends... and all of this crap... I'm done.. do you understand me.. done... I'm walking out of here, and I don't want to ever cross paths with any of you again.. I know you Alex.. I know how you all work.. so I'm going to be completely clear with you so that there isn't any doubt."

He put his hands on the bed leaning in even closer "If anything happens.. anything at all.. to me... to Devyn... I don't care who it is.. you, Chris, Walt, Luke.. or anyone else... if anything happens... you'd better kill me... because if you don't.. I'll finish this.  I don't care if you're innocent or guilty... If anyone so much as looks at Devyn wrong... I'm coming after you.  I don't want this anymore... I'm sick of it.. do you hear me.. but dammit.. if it's not over...".  He looked into Alex's eyes, sensing both pain, anger and .... fear.... good.  He looked into his eye, with the intensity of a madman and spoke one final thing "and if it's not over.... I swear to god .... next time I'll kill you....".  Alex flinched back a bit at the last statement, seeing the madness in Chase's eyes.

Chase nodded a final time, then left the room, making his way back to the parking garage.  He leaned against his jeep, his body beginning to shake as the adrenaline worked it's way through his body.  He bowed his head, closing his eyes, his left hand rubbing the splint on his right to try to calm himself down.  Once he had regained himself, he drove himself home and let himself crash out till late afternoon.

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

Devyn sat at the lunch table with Kiira, Ethan and Natalie, slowly picking away at the lunch tray, trying just to make it through the day without falling apart.  Kiira softly put her hand on Devyn's arm "He's going to be alright Devyn.... He's been through worse...".  Devyn shook her head slowly "Kiira...." she looked around to make sure that no one was close enough to hear her, but Kiira glanced quickly from Ethan to Natalie then back to her and shook her head to say 'not here'.  Devyn nodded then added "It's just that ..... he looked so bad...".  Natalie spoke up, trying to lighten the mood "well... I'm sure that it's nothing that some good cuddle time wouldn't fix".  Devyn blushed deeply as the group giggled around her.  "Besides..." Kiira giggled "between you and his momma... that boy will have all the nursing that he'll be able to handle.".

Devyn went on through the day, feeling a little lost and alone.  It was so hard to believe that Chase had become such a presence in her life that just a single day without him here made her feel like an alien in a foreign land.  She would catch herself looking with longing at his empty desk during the classes they shared together, constantly sneeking glances at her phone to find little texts from him.  smiling with each reply.  So lost in the thoughts of him, that she didn't notice the eyes that had been following her all day.....