Get Out Your Damn Umbrellas

Chapter 24

Phil was in the hospital for about three and a half days. Prior to being driven home by Officer Delaney on Thursday, Louise got a ride from her to the apartment and repacked Dan's duffel bag so that he could have a set of his own pajamas to wear. Phil's parents paid a considerable amount of money for a private room, which was likely why the staff didn't seem to mind letting Dan stay past visiting hours and even set up a cot for him next to Phil's bed.

Thankfully the nurses were vigilant about keeping unauthorized personnel out of the room so that none of the sleazy news reporters or photographers who attempted it were able to sneak their way in. Dan and Phil didn't have any other visitors besides Phil's family and Louise. Once the swelling on Phil's right eye had gone down, though, they answered some Skype calls from a few friends who were quite relieved to see that they were okay after a second news story about them was aired on national television. There was a TV in the room, but they only switched it on to watch shows like Adventure Time and Steven Universe and stayed away from news channels.

Over the course of those three days, Dan seemed to constantly bounce back and forth between being extremely attentive and completely withdrawn. He kissed Phil's bruises and snuggled with him under the blankets and basically waited on him hand and foot anytime there wasn't a nurse around to get him some water or help him walk to the bathroom. Now and again the boy would zone out, though, and he tensed up a little whenever any physical affection was reciprocated. His submissive body language reminded Phil of those video compilations of guilty dogs, but seeing Dan exhibit that behavior was distressing rather than humorous. Most troubling of all was his continued avoidance of direct eye contact.

As it turned out, Dr. Wohlman just so happened to work at this facility on the weekends, and so the hospital was able to arrange a time on Saturday for her to stop by the room and talk to them both. Dan remained close to his side while Phil recounted to her the horrific details of the ordeal he went through being kidnapped, tortured, threatened with death, and also having to witness his loved one being abused and threatened. When it was Dan's turn, however, he opted to talk with Dr. Wohlman privately in another room.

There were no secrets between them by this point about any recent traumatic events, but apparently Dan still wasn't ready to talk to Phil about everything that was going on inside his head.

When Phil was discharged on Sunday, Martyn and Kath showed up to take them back to the apartment. His mum and brother stuck around for a bit to help Phil get settled, and Kath took the opportunity to fawn over Dan a little more. Martyn gave Dan a quick, tentative hug and murmured a quiet, "Thank you," before heading for the door. Then Dan and Phil were left by themselves nestled into the sofa crease in the living room.

The atmosphere in the apartment had changed dramatically since the last time they were both here. Strangely enough it no longer felt haunted by the ghost of Dan's tormentors now that all of them were dead. Of course they were still likely to continue haunting Dan in his subconscious for years to come, and probably Phil's as well, but the dark, threatening cloud that loomed over this place for several months seemed to have evaporated.

Taking a look around the room, Dan glanced up at the ceiling and muttered, "Oh God."

"What?" Phil asked.

"Look at that. There's a dip in the ceiling right there."

Phil tilted his gaze upwards and noticed it too. "Oh gosh. This place is falling apart."

"I know. Several of the walls have cracks in them, and the chandelier in my room looks like it could fall any day now. Plus there's the constant irritation of busy road noises and drilling sounds from outside."

"You're right. I've been thinking for a while that maybe it's time to find a new place."

"We'd have to keep renting, though. We aren't quite ready to afford a... forever home yet," Dan muttered, swallowing and glancing at Phil out of the corner of his eye. "That is, if that's something you still want."