Better Left Behind. (Michael Afton AU)

Damaged.

(Trigger warning: PTSD flashbacks, brief self harm, kinda body horror? Hospital, and a lot of weed jokes, also a character kinda worries about another one kinda thinking "omg what if they kill themself??" No actual suicide. Flashbacks to child abuse))

Enjoy!! Or cry. Whatever is fine :)))

Elizabeth's POV)

There was a tense silence in the hospital room. Michael had closed off, and had that dazed far off look in his eyes. She didn't know what she could say to possibly make him open up. He'd always been a private person, and this was how it'd always been between them.

They weren't close when they were children, but he once got in a fight because a older boy stuck gum in her hair on picture day, and she'd come home crying. He hadn't even asked if she was okay, just for a name.

It didn't matter who it was. even if he was only a kid and some highschool student made fun of Chris for crying at the park, he'd go and yell at them, and usually would lose the fights he started but not before his opponent had a black eye.

But if he even got choked up in front of her? He'd shut himself away, and wouldn't tell her anything.

Which is exactly what he's doing now.

Just as she decides to break the silence, he stands up on shaky legs and begins his way towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Fresh air. Just for a moment." Something in his voice tells her it's more than that. If he isn't back in 5 minutes she thinks, she'll go look for him.

He leaves, and she's left with Chris, and the steadily beeping heart monitor that keeps her sane.

5 minutes pass quickly, but she decides to give him more time, but her resolve snaps after the 10 minute mark. She begins to stand up, but hears a groan from Chris. She immediately sits back down, and scoots closer to him.

"Chris? Chris, can you hear me?"

"Lights.." He manages to croak out, squinting.

She stands up and dims the lights, and kneels by him. He manages to hold his head up, and he looks around the room.

"Where's Michael? I thought I..heard his voice."

"He will be back soon, he just went for some air. I'll be fast, let me bring the nurse here okay?" She said gently

Chris gave a half-hearted nod, and let his head fall back down onto the pillow. Elizabeth walked out into the hallway, in search of a nurse or doctor.

(Michael's POV)
He wandered the halls of the hospital aimlessly. He felt like he was suffocating, every second he spent in that hospital room he was waiting for Chris to die.

He was waiting for William to take him home and slam his head into the hardwood floor.

He was waiting for the days after his own hospitalization, waiting for William to snap, and Elizabeth? Oh God.

He was waiting for Henry to slam the brakes into his driveway, finally seeing through the haze of his grief, using his copy of the house key to unlock the door with shaking hands.

He was waiting for the scream as he found Michael unconscious in a pool of blood, with William asleep in an armchair with the sports channel on, a bottle of whiskey loose in his hand.

He was waiting to wake up in Henry's backseat, Henry in the middle of a panic attack, piecing together the bruises and cuts Michael had accumulated over the years.

He was waiting for his hand to be hit away, trying to rest it on Henry's shoulder.

He didn't wait anymore, he remembered the yelling. After all these years, he finally remembered what Henry was yelling.