Mangled (A NateWantsToBattle/NateMare story)

Nine

My dad wheeled me back into my room, where I had to stay for the night. But I knew I couldn't fall asleep, especially after what was happening to Mat. What my father told me only made things worse. Mat could be dying right now for all I know, and what's worse is that they would have to tell Nate everything afterwards. That's going to make everything worse than it already is.

Knowing that I wouldn't fall asleep, I decided to turn on the TV. Unfortunately, nothing good was on thanks to the cable they had at this hospital. It was just as bad as the food here.

Suddenly, I noticed Raven coming in, which kind of caught me off guard.

"What're you doing here?" I whispered. "I thought visiting hours were over."
"Your Dad has me as a 'Special visitor' until you leave the hospital." Raven responded. "So I can visit as many times as I want."
"Well, thank god somebody can be here to keep me entertained." I joked.
She giggled, "I'm guessing you can't sleep either?"
I became serious as I shook my head, "No, not after what happened with Mat."
"I know, your Dad told me everything." Raven stated. "We just gotta hope for some sort of miracle."
"But what will happen if Mat does survive?" I asked. "Because Mat still loves and cares about Nate."
"I'm sure they'll figure out something for both of them." Raven assured me.

The two of us finally decided to change the subject by flicking through the stations and finding something decent to watch. We finally agreed on Criminal Minds.

While watching the show, however, Raven fell asleep, leaving me basically by myself again.

However, I finally found myself growing tired and eventually fell asleep.
---
I woke up, looking over at the clock. It was about 7 in the morning. I had only gotten maybe 3-4 hours of sleep.

I looked at the chair next to me, noticing Raven gone. But as I looked over at the doorway, my Dad was leaning against it.

"Hey Dad." I moaned in my tired voice.
"Hey, baby girl." Dad said.

He then walked over to me and sat by my bedside, a serious look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.
Dad sighed, looking at me kind of upset. "The doctors have confirmed that Mat's not going to survive..."
I grew upset, "How long does he have?" I asked.
"At least a day or two." Dad responded.
I sighed, "it's a shame."
"Yeah..." Dad said.

Dad was silent for a moment before looking at me again.

"But Mat wants to talk to you about something." He explained.
"Really?" I asked.
He nodded. "I could take you up there now if you would like."
"Well, at this point every second counts." I responded. "So lets go."

My Dad nodded as he grabbed the wheelchair from outside of the room, helped me into it and wheeled me up to the ICU area where Mat was at.

As I entered the room, I noticed Mat extremely pale and sick-looking. They really weren't kidding when they said he had gotten worse.

Nonetheless, I kept myself strong and went over to him.

"Hey..." Mat spoke. His voice was raspy and weak, much worse than last time I saw him.
"Hi Mat." I told him. "H-How do you feel?"
"Well, I know I'm dying." Mat responded. "And I've accepted it. Maybe it's for the best."
I gave him a confused and also surprised look, "what do you mean?" I asked.
Mat sighed, "Nate's behavior has gotten worse ever since him and I first met. Before him and I met, he was stable enough to handle, but now he's incredibly unstable and dangerous... all because of me."
"It's not all because of you." I assured him.
"Well, I feel that in a way I was an influence to his behavior." He explained. "I would always be there as his own personal punching bag instead of an actual doctor giving him guidance."
"So you think that you dying would suddenly bring his behavior back to the way it was?" I asked. "Won't it make things worse?"
"Who knows?" Mat asked.
"It doesn't have to be this way, Mat." I assured him. "You could still survive this and work things out with him."
"It's kinda too late for that now, don't you think?" Mat asked.
"You said you still loved and cared about him." I said.
"I know..." Mat responded. "But I would also die for him... and I'm doing this for him..."
"Mat, he's going to be so upset." I told him.
"I know, and he probably will be for quite a while." Mat responded. "But maybe this could help him get the help he needs and focus on other things."

I smirked a smile, trying not to get emotional.

"You're a strong, kind and caring person, Mat." I explained to him. "I'm proud of you and I want to thank you for all that you've done."
"I'm just trying to do what I have to do to keep everyone alive." Mat answered.

Just then, my Dad came in.

"They want us to leave the room." Dad stated.
"Why? What's going on?" I asked.
Dad sighed, "Nate knows what's going on with Mat and wants to see him."

I looked over at Mat, who smirked a slight smile.

"Go ahead, I'll be fine..." Mat assured us.

I smiled and said goodbye to Mat before my Dad wheeled me out of the room.

That was our last goodbye.
---
I was told the news around 9:30. Everything and everyone was surprisingly calm. Nate was very upset but surprisingly maintained himself the entire time.

What really hit me though, were Mat's last words he supposedly said to Nate.

I've set part of you free... go and free the rest of yourself... you can do it... I love you...