Say Something (Lams, Mute!Alex)

Chapter 10

Alex's POV

"NO!" I tackled the guy, Jason Dean, to the ground, throwing punch after punch, even long after he was unconscious. If he took John away from me... I can't lose another loved one, I can't. Eventually, I pulled myself off of the boy and shakily moved over to where everyone else was crowded around John. Laf was keeping pressure on the wound while Aaron called 911. I tugged on the sleeve of the person I was closest to and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"He's still breathing, don't worry, Alexander," Jefferson said,smiling reassuringly at me. I nodded, a wave of relief flooding over me. He's not dead.

The ambulance and police arrived a few minutes later, and the paramedics came into the room with a stretcher. They lifted John onto it and whisked him away. I may or may not have been crying. Lafayette hugged me tightly. "It'll be fine, mon ami. John will be okay." I buried my face into his shoulder, unable to stop the tears.

The police officers handcuffed Jason Dean as he was coming to, and they pulled him to his feet. One of the policemen took him away while the other stayed and asked us questions. Well, they asked, but I didn't answer. I let everyone else take the interview while I stayed in Laf's arms as he held me comfortingly. I didn't move until the officer had left. But when I did, I looked straight at Sam and signed "I want to go to the hospital." I needed John to be okay. There was a desperate look in my eyes as I waited for him to respond.

About a minute of silence passed before he slowly nodded. "Is everyone alright with going to the hospital?" There was a chorus of yeses before everyone slowly, in almost a numb shock, filed out of dorm 1782. I was still shaking really badly as we walked down three flights of stairs and out of the building. People split up to take different cars. Thomas, James, and Aaron in one car, and Laf, Herc, Sam and me in the other. The entire ride, I just stared at my hands, looking at the blood on them. What if he died on the way to the hospital? What if too much blood was lost? What if I never get to see him again? What if, what if, what if? That's all I could think about was horrible possibilities. Because everyone I care about always seems to die. Mom, James, Peter... anyone I ever cared about. And now John. It's not fair! Why does the universe seem to hate me so much? Why? What did I ever do? I didn't do anything!

"He's not dead, Alexander," a quiet voice said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned my head and saw Sam looking at me. "He's going to be alright, don't worry." I wanted to believe that. I really did. But I just couldn't. There's no way fate would just let me go that easy. He's probably dead by now, because God forbid that anyone I love get to live! But I just slowly nodded and brought my gaze back to my bloodied hands.

The seven minute car ride seemed to last for an eternity. I hated it. I needed answers. I needed them immediately! Was he even alive? Would I actually get a chance to talk to him again? Or would he already be... dead? I had a sinking feeling that the next time I'd get to see him would be at a Visitation for his body. I took a shuddering breath as I slowly got out of the car with the others.

We met up with Thomas, James, and Burr before heading inside. The person at the desk looked up and smiled widely at us. "What can I do for you boys?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"Has a John Laurens been brought in yet?" Hercules asked.

She went over to her computer and started typing. "Yes, but he's in critical condition. No visitors." Why was she still smiling at us? "Sorry. You can wait if you want, but visiting hours are almost over."

"Guys, we might as well come back tomorrow," Aaron said, but I just shook my head and walked over to a chair, sitting down. I wasn't leaving. Laf and Sam joined me, but everyone else agreed with Aaron and went back to campus. Fine by me. I didn't care if I was the only one here! I wasn't going to leave without actual answers. Though, what piqued my interests a bit was the fact that no one had called his parents. Why?

"Hey, why hasn't anyone called his parents?" Sam asked Laf, almost as if reading my mind.

Lafayette sighed and shook his head. "His mom died when he was ten years old. His father... well... no one really talks about it. Let's just say, he's not a nice man." We both nodded and nothing else was said until about two hours later, when a doctor came into the waiting room and walked over to us.

"Considering you're the only ones here, I'm going to assume you're here for John Laurens?" We all nodded. "Well, I will admit, he lost a lot of blood before he got here, about two liters. But the good news is, he's still alive, and he's slowly stabilizing. We've gotten the bullet out. He was very lucky. It missed his heart by two inches. But I am afraid that with the blood loss, he may be unconscious for a while."

"So he's basically in a coma?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," he replied.

"Will he wake up?"

"We're certain he will once he's regained enough blood. He should be fine."

"How long would that take?" Laf questioned.

"For two liters? Maybe three weeks."

With no more questions, the doctor left the room. I just sat there, thinking to myself. He's not dead. I'll actually get to see him again! Maybe fate wasn't so heartless after all... I was definitely breathing easier, knowing he was going to be okay, that's for sure.

"See, Alex?" Sam smiled. "I told you he'd be fine." I nodded with a smile.

"Hey, mon amis, can we go back to campus now?" Laf asked us. Sam looked at me and I slowly nodded. I had my answers. And we could always come back tomorrow. So Laf called Herc, considering he was the one who drove here, and he had already gone back. We ended up waiting another ten minutes at the hospital before leaving.

When we got back to the dorms, I unlocked the door and walked into the room. It was so... quiet. I sighed and took out my laptop. Sitting down on the bed, I put on some music to fill the sound of silence before pulling up a blank document. I started typing. I wrote about my life before coming to America. I wrote about the boat ride here. About arriving and meeting everyone. I wrote about John. His freckles, his eyes, his lips, his nose, his hair, the way he walked, the way he talked, his laugh, the way his smile could light up a room. I wrote about my huge crush on him. I didn't stop until I noticed light outside the window. I looked at the time and saw it was 9:32 a.m. Oops. I saved my work, paused the music, and got dressed for the day. I really didn't want to go to classes right now, but hey, I could use the distraction. So I grabbed my things for the first class and walked out the door.

~~

Hiiii guys! So part of the reason this took so long is because not only was I super stressed out about life things, but I also kind of hit a bit of a road block about one fourth of the way through this chapter. But I eventually found inspiration again! The other reason is the fact that I actually did research for this update! It was fun to think about what the government must be thinking as I asked how much blood a person could lose before they die, go into shock, etc. I always planned to put John into a coma, but my original idea was for him to be hit by a car or something. Then I learned that blood loss could slip someone into a coma, and I was like, "Ooooh, let's do that instead!" So this happened. Anyway, it's late right now, and I've been getting very little sleep in the past few days. So I'm going to let you guys get on with your lives now and stay up for another hour or two before going to bed. Until next time!

~MishaIsOurOverlord1