Fear

8

The officer left and Mitch stayed sitting staring at the door. "Mitch?" Kirstie perked up gently and Mitch didn't respond right away.

He couldn't stop thinking and all he wanted to do was stop thinking. He got up after a second and walked over to the seat that was closest to the door they took Scott a few hours earlier.

"I can't do this." He whispered as Kirstie, Avi and Kevin sat down next to them. Kirstie gently rubbed his back.

"Everything is going to be okay. You and Scott are safe and he's going to be okay." She tried to reassure him but Mitch shook his head continuing to stare at the floor.

"Maybe physically after awhile but I don't think we're ever going to be okay again." He whispered before looking up at Kirstie with tears in his eyes. "It was so bad, Kirst. He... he's not going to be able to get over this... I can't deal with this..." Mitch started to panic and shake.

"Why did he do that!? Why did he do this to us! We didn't do anything! We just wanted his daughter to be free and happy! We didn't mean for her to... it wasn't our fault! It wasn't his fault! Scott didn't do anything wrong! He didn't do anything wrong! He didn't do anything-" Kirstie pulled him to her arms and rubbed his back gently.

"Shh, baby. It's okay, it's okay. You're okay, you're okay." She whispered in his ear as she slowly layed him down in her lap. She ran her hands soothingly through his hair and he started to calm down.

Mitch hooked his arms around her leg as if to have some stability. He slowed his breathing and little by little he stopped crying. He stayed holding on to Kirstie with her running her hands through his hair.

----

The next hour was spent in silence. Mitch stayed in Kirstie's lap but he stayed wide awake. Kirstie noticed this and frowned. She could tell by the bags under his eyes that he was exhausted but he wouldn't close his eyes. She could only imagine why he didn't want to close his eyes, she hoped that it was just because he didn't want to miss anything.

"Mitch baby," she whispered gently and Mitch made no effort to respond, continuing to stare at the ground.

"You should try and get some sleep." She pulled some of his hair behind his ear.

"I can't." He whispered still staring at the floor.

Kirstie frowned, "I'll wake you up as soon as I see the doctor." She tried to persuade him but he react.

"Every time I close my eyes I see his face." He whispered, "I can't stop hearing Scott's screams... I just want them to stop..."

Kirstie played with his hair, "I know baby." She whispered before thinking of an idea. "You know, Beyoncé had her twins a few days ago."

Mitch's face didn't falter but he did stop hearing the screams as his mind wandered off. He finally smiled sadly, tears welling in his eyes, "When we found out she was pregnant with twins, Scott tweeted 'Plot twist: Mitch and I are the twins'." Mitch giggled and unhooked his arms from Kirstie's legs.

He rolled back so that his was against the chair. "He's so adorable." Mitch whispered before sighing. His mind started to wander back to dark places and he started to cry harder.

"God, I just want him to be okay." He whispered and Kirstie nodded brushing some hair out of his face.

As if on cue a voice sounded a few feet away from them, "Family of Scott Hoying?" Mitch snapped his head up and got up so fast that Kirstie barely even had time to react.

The four stood in front of the doctor trying to read his expression as if they could figure out Scott's condition in doing so.

"He's okay. It was a rocky surgery and we almost lost him a few times but we were able to stabilize him. He will be on his way to a full recovery in a few weeks. He will stay here for a few nights so that he can heal and we can watch over him but after then you'll be able to take him home." The doctor said straight to the point.

Mitch almost fell over with relief. "He's sleeping now and will be for at least another hour or so. You all are allowed in there but I trust that you guys will help him rest because that's what he needs." They all nodded and Mitch was itching to get past him to go to Scott.

"Are you his only family? I need to discuss bills and medications. This of course can all wait for the next few days but I'm just wondering who exactly I should talk to."

"I... His parents won't be here for another couple hours but..." Mitch couldn't even focus, he had no idea what he was saying.

"I'll come back later, you all can go see him now." The doctor gave Mitch a sympathetic smile before rushing off with some files.

Mitch practically ran into the room. He looked down at Scott who was sleeping soundly and smiled. He looked so relaxed and peaceful and Mitch wanted to cry tears of joy.

His best friend had gone through so much because of him and he was so incredibly happy that he looked so peaceful.

     Mitch sat on the side his bed putting his hand on the other side of Scott's hip. He leaned down and pressed his lips to his forehead gently before pulling away and taking one of his hands in his own on his lap.

     He brought his hand up to his lips and kissed his hand gently as well. "You're going to be okay. We're going to be okay now. He won't be able to hurt you anymore." He slowly pulled a chair from behind him and sat down on it. He kept their fingers intertwined and he layed his head next to Scott's lap.

     The three watched Mitch's interactions and all got teary-eyed. They couldn't even imagine what they had gone through in those few days they were missing.

     Kirstie and Avi sat in some of the other chairs against the wall while Kevin left to go to the church in the hospital to pray.