Wrapped

Chapter 33

33~Zack

I walk down the west - wing hospital hallway. The only sounds were my feet tapping gently against the hard, tile floor and the occasional doctor talking to a nurse. The only thoughts that ran through my head was where Nick's room was.

Looking down at my phone, I gaze at the text message Lori has sent, telling me what room Nick is in.

"Room 204, west - wing," I mutter quietly to myself, trying to memorize the number in my head.

I stared at my phone as I turned a corner. I felt myself bump into something, or someone, causing me to fall backwards, making me land on my back.

Groaning, I slowly sat up and looked up in front of me, only to see a tall, muscular, older man with a worried expression plastered across his face.

"Sorry, man, I'm in such a hurry. I didn't see you there," The man said quickly and grabbed my arm, pulling me up from the ground.

I groan once again and slightly rub my back, "It's fine, don't worry about it," I reply back to him.

The man nods quickly. His expression showed that he was clearly stressed out, even nervous. His eyes stayed widened, making him look slightly crazy and his rapid breathing told me that he is panicked. What is wrong with him?

He ran his hand through his thick, grayish - brown hair before stepping away from me, and continued to speed - walk down the hospital.

I shake my head and continue down the hallway, saying 'Room 204' over and over again.

Glancing left and right, I finally came across a room with an open door, next to the door was a small, white board with bold letters/numbers on it that read;

W - Rm. 204

An instant smile grew across my face. My stomach did flips and my heart rate sped up.

I finally get to see Nick!

I stepped inside the room and instantly my smile vanished. As I peered inside the room, I saw Nick laying down on the hospital bed, positioned so he wasn't facing towards me. His small body shook under the blanket as he let out a few quiet sobs and gasps.

"Nick?" I say quietly, but loud enough for him to hear me.

His body shifted in the bed and he faces me. Tears stained his cheeks, his eyes are red and tired, his skin seemed quite pale, and he looked as if he was in pain, but he still had a smile on his face.

"I can't believe you're actually here," He says in a shaky voice.

Immediately, my smile returns to my face as I step closer to him. This is actually happening. I'm here, in Florida, with Nick. Even though we are in this sort of situation, with him being in the hospital and all, this is all surreal.

"I can't believe I'm here, either," I say with a small chuckle and sit on the edge of the bed next to him. He slowly and carefully sits up from his laying position and leans his back against the pillow, groaning in the process.

Suddenly, I feel hot tears burn my eyes. Seeing Nick like this breaks my heart. I feel like I can only blame myself, I wasn't there to help him when he needed it. I couldn't comfort him. I couldn't tell him that everything was okay. I didn't even know what was happening in his life. What kind of boyfriend am I? Am I not trustworthy to him?

Quickly, I blink my tears away, all that matters now is that I am with Nick now, I can now comfort him, I can now tell him everything will be alright.

I grasp my hand with his and stare into his tear - glazed eyes. I rub my thumb against the palm of his hand as questions run through my head. I want to ask him about many things, but I don't want to overwhelm him, or even hurt his feelings.

After I finish debating with myself, I decided that I should just wait a little longer until I ask about anything.

I glance over at Nick and see tears making their way down his pale cheeks. I quickly wipe them away with my thumb and give him a sad smile. "Why are you crying, Nick?" I ask while frowning. Seeing him in this sort of pain is making my heart ache, my lungs feel shrunken making my breathing uneven because I don't know what Nick is hiding from me.

Nick sniffs and looks away from me, "I'm a terrible person," he mumbles and lets out another sob.

I shake my head and lean over to embrace him. "No, you're not," I say in a comforting tone, "Why would you ever say that?"

Nick wraps his arms around my neck and lets his head fall against my shoulder. "D - Do you really want to know wh - why I'm in here?"

Hearing him say that made my heart start to beat faster. I'm not sure what I should be expecting. Obviously bad things. "You can tell me if you're ready to tell me," I say sweetly and kiss the top of his head.

He sniffles before pulling away from the hug, and lays back on the bed, with his eyes closed. "Well, you're probably going to hate me. . ." He whimpers and has more tears fall effortlessly down his cheeks.

"I will never hate you, Nick," I say, tears fighting their way to make it out of my eyes. "I love you, and nothing will change that," I whispered and kissed the top of his hand.

A small smile appeared on Nick's face, but only for a second. "Alright, well, remember my friends that I told you about?" I nod. "Well, the day I hung out with them wasn't a very good day," He gasps and bites his tongue to keep him from crying.

I hold his hand tighter, but gently while rubbing my thumb on the back of his hand. What does he mean that it wasn't a good day? Wait, he's not meaning that his new friends did anything to him, right?

Nick took a deep breath before talking again. "Once we got to their house, they wanted to play an hour in heaven. I immediately said I didn't want to do it, but they forced me in their closet with both of them." Before he could say any more, I interrupted.

"Wait, both?"

"They're twins," Nick states and continues his summary of what happened to him. "Well, they forced themselves on me, and I kept saying 'no' but they wouldn't listen to me, and one of them - . . ." He bites his tongue again and squeezes his eyes shut.

Seeing him like this made my heart sink to the pit of my stomach. All I want to do is throw up, and kill whoever did this to Nick. Of course, that'd be illegal, so I can't do anything to these horrible human beings since their minors. Now, I feel like I can't even protect my own boyfriend!

". . . hit me," Nick says shakily and looks at me with his red eyes. "They told me to do as they said or they'd threaten to do even worse and tell the whole school I forced everything on them and I'm some gay freak. So, I did as they said, but after that weekend, they told the whole school lies about me and all of that," Nick finally says and bursts out crying, and groaning, pointing at the small bucket.

I frown and hurriedly hand him the bucket, and he vomits in it. I cringe as watching him do so, and while taking in the whole story of what happened.

It can't be true. Why would that ever happen to Nick? What did he do to deserve that? He's so innocent, sweet, caring, and nice; so he gets this bunch of horrible stuff thrown at him? It isn't fair.

Once he's finally done puking, I take the bucket away and set it on the counter behind me. "So, after a week or so went by, I couldn't take the torment anymore. I just wanted to die," He lets out a few more sobs and gasps. "I'm so sorry, Zack. I never wanted it to happen, I swear."

I lean over to him and lightly pick him up so be able to hug him properly. "Calm down, Nick. Sh, sh, you don't want to get all worked up again," I say soothingly and rub his back.

"Don't you hate me?" Nick cries into my shoulder while gripping on to my shirt to pull himself closer to me.

"I would never hate you," I whisper and kiss his cheek, "I only love you."

(So sorry it's been forever!!!! But here it is at last!! I'll be updating everyday from now on!!! -Luka)