The Loner's Journey

Chapter 24

Danny's POV
Once I was sure archer was still ok, I took a breath to start the story again. "The next question the doctor asked was why archer's dad was drunk. And archer told him that he was sad after his mom died and so he would drink adult drinks to feel better. The doctor nodded and asked a few more questions before leaving archer to rest. After the doctor left, archer tried to rest but couldn't because he didn't like being in the hospital. A little while later a nurse came in to check on him and asked why he wasn't resting. Archer told her that he couldn't sleep cause he didn't feel comfortable. She asked if she could help in any way and archer just shook his head. He then asked her when he could see his dad, and the nurse told him that it was night time so he had to wait for the morning. Archer nodded and tried to rest again." I said and paused as I felt archer tap my arm. I looked at him and he motioned to his empty bowl of ice cream and my slightly melted ice cream. I nodded at him to say he could have some and then took a couple bites myself. Once I swallowed my bite of ice cream I decided to continue the story. "The next day, archer's dad came back to sign him out of the hospital. Once they were back home, his dad started yelling at him about how much of a disappointment he was and how it was all archer's fault that his mom died. Archer didn't want to upset his father further so he just stayed quiet while his dad ranted. After a while his dad started drinking and eventually passed out again, so archer went to his room." I pause again to eat some of my ice cream. I looked over at archer to see he was yawning and over to Grayson to see the same. "Should I hurry this up? You guys seem to be getting tired." I ask. Archer just slumps against my shoulder. Grayson shakes his head and tries to say that he's fine but I can tell he's about to fall asleep. "Ok, needless to say archer has been abused since he was 6 years old, And as for the panic attacks, it's partially because of the abuse and partially from trauma due to the car crash." I summarize. I finish my ice cream and nudge archer to wake him up. I check my phone and see that we've been here for 4 hours. "It's getting late. We all still have school. Let's head home for today." I say. I see Grayson nod and start to get up and I wait for archer to get up as well. Then we all walk to our cars and say our goodbyes. Archer and I get in my car and I see him half asleep again. "Do you wanna spend the night at my house again?" I ask him. He hums then nods. "Ok. You should call or text your dad then." I say. Archer just hands me his phone so I can do it. I scoff and text his dad that archer is staying with me after we had met up with a friend. His dad replies back that that was fine as long as archer does his homework. I left the message on read and drive us to my house. When I got there, I see my dad at the door. "Hey, dad!" I say. He looks up and gives a slight smile. "Hey, buddy. How was your day?" He asks. I tell him what happened at school today and that archer is with me. He looks to the car and gives a sad smile at archer still sleeping in my car. "How's his ankle?" He asks. "It was fine for the most part when I checked earlier. We met up with a mutual friend after school and went for some ice cream though so he's been sitting down for a while." I say. He nods and looks back at the front door of our house. "Why are you still out here by the way?" I ask. He sighs. "Your mom locked me out cause we had an argument and I left to cool off." He says. I frown and knock on the door. I hear mom yell something from inside. "Mom! It's Daniel! My friend and I need to come in so we can get our homework done and sleep!" I tell back and ask dad to wake archer up. He nods and goes to get archer. I hear the door unlock and turn back around. "Hey, baby!" Mom says. I hug her. Dad brings archer back over and he shyly waves at my mom. "Well hello dear, welcome back." She says to him. He nods and shuffles behind me a little. I snort at him and we all move inside the house. I take archer to my room and we do our homework before taking showers and getting ready for bed. "Night, Ace." I say. "Night." He replies and we both fall asleep quickly.