Trauma-ridden and adopted by matpat

I love you

We drove back home and everyone sat down in the living room. "Y/N, can you tell us what happened?" Mat asked from right next to me on the couch. "I...I don't know! Everything is just happening too fast! I don't even know what is real or not right now! I don't know what's happening or where anybody is and I wish I did!" More tears fell down my face and I covered my face with a pillow, screaming gravelly cries of pain into it. Mat ran his fingers through my hair to calm me down. I looked up from the pillow and he hugged me. He slowly rubbed my back while I sobbed into his shoulder. My tears created a damp spot on his shirt but he didn't care. "It's okay...it's okay." He comforted. "No it's not! Everything is falling apart! It was all getting better! It was supposed to get better!"I helplessly whined. He didn't say anything. He just held me and turned on the news. I watched the news to see the live updates and apparently the police had gotten there just a few minutes after I escaped. I couldn't look at the footage that they showed. I couldn't look at those classrooms smattered with blood. Lifeless students and teachers rested on the cold floors. The gory, depressing, gruesome images ended and the camera shifted to the reporter. "The person responsible was fourteen year old Tessa Shanning. She was about to exit when a police officer shot her." The name struck me off-guard. That was the stalker's sister. Is that what this was all about? I wondered what would have happened if I had just given that boy that stupid signature. Would this have all been avoided? We will never know. Then Mark got a phone call.

He had been surprisingly quiet this whole time. It was strange to see, he was typically so chipper and enthusiastic. But now, he was tangled in a state of solemn silence. Fighting his internal battles of losing his child. His only child. Feeling like a failure. A failure to protect them. A failure as a father. None of us spoke as he answered the call. "Is this Mark Fischbach?" The person on the other end asked. "Yes?" He desperately choked out. "We have found your child. They are wounded and are now in the hospital. "I am on the way." Thank you." He hung up and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "We need to get there, now." He grabbed the keys and we all piled back into the car. He sped the entire way to the hospital, doing whatever it took to get there as soon as possible. We got there in only ten minutes and ran in.

Mark cut the line to the front desk, irritating everyone behind him. "Where is Birsa Fischbach?" He asked. "I need to see some identification to let you visit a patient." He clumsily fished out his id and we were granted permission. "I believe they are in room 102, just down that hallway." We all got there and they were laying on the robotic hospital bed in a generic gown. On the gown was a red patch that spread across nearly the whole side, another on the left arm, and one more on the chest. They were hooked up to a plethora of different machines and tubes. A handful of medical screens surrounded the room showing their slowed heartbeat and vitals. When I walked in, they barely had the energy to turn towards us. When I saw them I let out a raw scream into my hands and ran over to them. Mark went right up by their side and kissed them on the forehead. "Birsa, I'm so so sorry..." He started to break down. And so did Birdseed, rarely did anybody call them by their real name. The heart beat line on one of the screens decreased by a little. I wrapped my arms around them. "I love you. So godd*mn much. Please hold on. For us." I sniffed and let go of them. Then a doctor came running in with a clipboard in hand.

"Are you the guardian?" She asked Mark. "Yes." "Im afraid we will need to perform an emergency operation. There are bullets lodged in the rib cage which is life threatening. We need your consent to do this operation though." "Of course. Anything to keep them alive." "But sir...I must inform you that the surgery has a seventy percent mortality rate and could take up to six hours." She regretfully told him. He looked back at Birdseed, slowly dying and then back at the doctor. "Yes. Anything to save them." She nodded and spoke into her walkie-talkie to prepare the room for surgery. She wheeled Birdseed out of the room and into the surgery room. They were already getting the anesthetic ready so they could put them under as soon as possible. "Can we have a few words first?" Mark requested. The doctors agreed and they went up to Birdseed's side. "Dad, I'm scared...what if I die?" "No you won't." Mark firmly said through more tears. "How do you know?" "I just...do. This is NOT going to be your death, okay? You are the best kid I could've ever asked for, I  am so sorry that I couldn't protect you. And if you...don't make it." He took a second to dab his eyes. "I will miss you beyond words. I will miss your smile, the way you laugh, how kind and loving and funny you are to be around." They both shared one last, long hug. Mark whispered "love you, buddy." And stepped away. Then it was my turn.

"Birdseed, please just hang on. I don't know what I would do without you. Nothing would have purpose anymore if you are gone. You CANT go. Not now. I love you. We sentimentally kissed and I brushed one of their messy curls behind their ear. I forced myself to smile. "I'll see you in a few hours if-WHEN you wake up." The doctors moved me aside and escorted us out of the room. I looked at them, knowing that it was possibly the last time I would ever see their adorable face and left the room.