Stay With Me

Chapter Eleven (Edited)

I was talking to Simone when I heard a thump. 

"What's wrong, Amelia?" Simone asked

"Um, did you hear that?" I asked. She shook her head. I stood up and headed to the kitchen where Shane went. I looked inside the kitchen and gasped. "Shane!" I ran over to his unconscious body laying on the floor. I dropped to my knees as I cradled his head in my lap. "Simone!" I yelled. Soon I saw her run into the kitchen only for her to gasp and run over to the phone that laid beside Shane. She dialed 911.

"Hello, my son fainted and hit his head, but I don't know why. He won't wake up, either." She said into the phone while tears welled up in her eyes.

I looked over at the doorway to see Simon holding a sobbing Amber. A tear slipped from my eyes just as the ambulance came to the driveway. The paramedics came in with the stretcher and lifted him on it. 

"Simone, you can go with Shane. I'll drive Amber and Simon." I said. She nodded as she hopped into the back of the ambulance. "Come on." I said to Amber and Simon. We grabbed our jackets and hopped in Shane's car.

The whole ride there I tried with all my might not to burst out in tears. 'What happened?' Is all I could think. When we got to the hospital I immediately went inside with Simon and Amber behind me and saw Simone pacing with tears running down her face.

"Simone, why would he faint?" I asked

"I don't know. He's been fine all day. It must of been something to do with who he spoke to." She said.

We both sat in the waiting room chairs for about twenty minutes in silence until the doctor came out. "Shane Williamson?"

We all got up and walked over to the doctor. "Is he okay?" I asked

"Are you his mother?" He asked towards Simone. She nodded. "Okay, I need to talk to you privately for a minute." He said. She nodded again and looked at me.

"Okay" I said then led Simon and Amber back to the chairs.

I sat back in the chair watching Simone and the doctor talk. They were close enough to see, but not enough to hear what they were saying. The only words I could make out from the doctor was 'I'm sorry'. Soon Simone was sobbing into her hands as the doctor rubbed her back in sympathy. He said something else and then Simone was walking towards me. 

"Shane, wants to see you." She says

"No, you go first." I insisted.

"He needs to tell you something." She says

I nod as I stand up and follow the doctor to Shane's room. Once we got there I opened the door slowly. The doctor gave me a reassuring smile before walking off. I walked into the room and closed the door behind me.

"Hey" He smiled

I waved not trusting my words. I walked over to the bed and sat in the chair closest to him. After a minute I spoke. "What's going on with you?"

He sighed. "I was really hoping to tell you at a better time, when we were with each other more." He said.

"Well?"

"Where should I start?" He asked

"At the very beginning would be best." I said

He sat up more in his bed and looked down at his lap. "When I was twelve, my dad started drinking for reasons I can't tell you yet in this. He started getting angrier everyday. So angry that he hit my mom." A gasp left my lips. "I wasn't home at the time. I was at school, and so were Amber and Simon. When I came home, she was in the kitchen crying. She wouldn't look at me because she didn't want me to see the bruise he left on her cheek, but I saw it. A week later, I came home from school to see my mom with a bloody nose. Again she tried to hide it, but I saw it. It went on for weeks, I would come home with my mom having a different body part abused. One day my dad was out doing something and I asked her what happened. At first she told me it was nothing and then suddenly she just broke down. All I could think of doing was holding her while she cried, so I did. From then on I would always try to protect her the best I could." He paused taking a breath before continuing.

"Two years later, I found out some news that I was so happy about. Everyone but my dad was happy about it. Still my dad would abuse my mom, but one day Amber got the flu so she had to stay home, my mom was home that day, also. When I came home my mom was in the corner crying with her hands tied with rope to the banister of the stairs. I asked her what happened as I untied her and she told me that dad had took Amber upstairs to the bathroom. Then I heard her screaming, so I ran up there. When I came to the bathroom I saw my dad pushing her into the burning hot water. He told me it was for punishment. That night was the first time I punched my dad. That night was also the night I helped my mom and siblings out of that house. I called my friend and asked him if we could stay with him for a couple weeks until we could find some other place. He lived in a mansion with his parents so it wasn't like they didn't have the room. His parents said we could because they were such good friends with my mom. Everything was fine then, we found a new place in New York. Everyone was happy again. Then one day I got some bad news and everything went bad. Thankfully it went away two years later." He looked up to see if I was still listening. I gave him a small smile encouraging him to continue. He looked back down before speaking.

"Then when my mom was home with Amber because she was sick again my dad found them. I was at school. I was in my junior year. I got this call when I was in lunch from my mom. She was crying through the phone saying that my dad had found us and he had her tied to the stairs and Amber upstairs in her room. I immediately ran home not caring if I was going to get in trouble. My family was more important. When I got there I untied my mom and I told her to stay downstairs and call the cops while I got Amber. When I got to her room it was locked but that didn't stop the screams for help to be heard. I kicked down the door and what I saw completely broke my heart. He had raped her. I almost killed him because of how much I had beaten him up. When the cops got there they had to get about four police officers to pull me off of him. They arrested him and put him in jail for life. I remember holding Amber all night while she cried because she wouldn't leave my side. We also moved again and that's the real reason we moved here." By the end we both had tears falling down our eyes.

I stood up and sat on the edge of his bed. He was still looking down at his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry" I said through my tears. I felt his arms wrap around my waist. Before I knew it he was sobbing into my shoulder. "Shane?" I asked after his sobs got quiet.

"Yeah"

"You said 'for reasons I can't tell you yet in this', what did you mean?" I asked looking at him.

He sighed as a few tears escaped. "That phone call at dinner was that doctor that brought you to this room. He told me something that I thought I would never hear again, well, prayed that I wouldn't." He said

"What?"

"I just hope that you won't leave me after I tell you." 

"What?" I repeated.

"Amelia, I have Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia." He said

"What is that?" I asked

"It's cancer."

And just like that my heart broke into a million pieces.