Fragmented Morality

Ch. 5

Amy watched, horror-stricken as Shane beat the living daylights out of Christopher's stepfather. She couldn't believe how everything escalated so quickly from doing laundry to three men distributing violence on one another in some way, shape or form. Most of all, while all this happened right in front of her, she had no idea what to do to help.

What could she have done? Stand in the middle of the fight? No way. Amy wasn't stupid, she knew she wouldn't have been of any help, not when she would've been just as easily knocked out. No, she wouldn't have stood a chance.

Even though she knew this, watching Carol finally be able to reach her son who was left off to the side, dry heaving on the ground, made her feel a strong sense of sadness for them. It wasn't even for the fact that she fancied the young man, but for the boy in his mother's arms.

Carol cradled her son in her arms until he passed out from exhaustion, apologising weakly as she sobbed over him- the sight was heart-wrenching.

No one cared about what happened to Ed, he was a violent, manipulative, disgusting man who didn't know what was best for himself. The only person that seemed to give even the slightest care was his wife, but with her busy holding Christopher, the man had no one and he was left gurgling on his own blood as he laid on the gravel-covered ground.

The next step was the hardest to come. There was no easy way to get one of the males up the slope leading to the camp, let alone both. There was no argument, though, on who would go first; it was immediately agreed that they would all work together to get Christopher to the tent and then gather more help to collect Ed.

It wasn't an easy task, getting either of the males to the top of the hill, but it did turn out to be a good thing that Ed was taken up second as he woke up halfway and refused the assistance of anyone that witnessed what he started.

Some may have hoped it was out of shame that he pushed everyone away; maybe he was going to suddenly see the error of his ways and become a good, honourable husband, allowing them all to move past his past actions so they could live happily.

Of course, that would have been wishful thinking. The actual reason why was far more expected and believable. After everyone stood in witness to his actions and even stood up for Carol, Ed found himself outnumbered in his belief, leaving him without the factor of intimidation he managed to uphold for so long. On the other hand, maybe it was just because Shane clearly showed he wasn't kidding and he was able to back up his words.

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The day continued on very slowly after everything that took place. Carol sat with her son for a few hours, keeping an eye on him until he stirred awake. She didn't do much while she waited, too full of worry to even think about leaving his side until she could see with her own eyes that he was okay.

Christopher wasn't actually hurt as severely as everyone had thought, it was just that with him sustaining new injuries upon the pre-existing ones, his body was unable to bear the constant strain caused as a result of his carelessness and his step-father's assault. Because of this strain, his body activated its natural defence system that occurs when the blood pressure drops dramatically and he went into shock.

Fortunately enough for him, it was only a mild case with just a few minor symptoms. Since no one around was a doctor, there was no accurate way of diagnosing him. This meant, had his injuries been any worse, it could have been life-threatening.

Even more so than that, Christopher received the very basic form of treatment for his condition just on pure luck alone. Once he had been taken back to his tent, his mother made sure to tuck him in with a blanket, patch up his wounds and lay him down on the most comfortable sleeping bag they owned. This alone, coincidentally ensured that the young man didn't become any worse off.