Deadpan - Bennoda

Chapter Twenty One

Sage and I had been sitting next to Chester's bedside for hours, but he hadn't spoken a word to us or anyone else. We attempted to make conversation with him, but it fell upon deaf ears and Chester simply stared straight forward with tired eyes. He hadn't said what happened in the short time he was held as Sawyer's captive and he simply wasn't reacting at all. He seemed dead, broken, torn apart from the inside out. 

A soft knock followed by the door opening revealed the other guys and a doctor holding his clipboard tightly. The guys gathered around Chester's bed, each attempting to greet him, but he did nothing. My bandmates glanced at him with sorrowful eyes, clearly broken hearted by the sight of him and his reactions - or rather lack there of. The doctor cleared his throat to capture our attention, which it did, except Chester's, who did nothing but look empty.

"I'm happy to say that the blood we tested resulted negative for STDs and Chester should be able to leave soon. He's all patched up and the only thing keeping me from releasing him is the fact that he isn't responding. It's clearly trauma, so I suggest he seeks mental help and if any of you notice anything of concern regarding his safety, bring him back to the hospital," The doctor spoke calmly and slowly, letting each word drown into each of us, who nodded in reply. "Do any of you have questions?"

"How do we help him?" Brad asked, which I was grateful for since I was at a loss for words as Chester was. It was as though I could feel his depression and unwillingness to speak, being unable to react. 

"Well, a therapist will give you the best answer to that, but being with him, reassuring him he's safe, and comforting him to the best of your ability will hopefully bring him back out of his shell. You need to try and break down the walls he created within himself in order for him to open back up to you." 

"How long do you think until he's better?" Rob asked the doctor softly.

"That's up to Chester," The doctor simply replied and glanced at us to see if there were any more questions we had. "Anything else?"

"No, thank you," Brad said after everyone had remained silent. The doctor excused himself from the room, bringing back the silence. Fortunately, it didn't last long. "The cops are saying Sawyer will probably get twenty five years without the possibility of parol because of everything he's done."

"Good," Sage muttered and I gently grasped Chester's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, but he still didn't react. One again, silence returned to drown us. 

I was worried about Chester more than anything. He seemed so broken and I'm not sure how to help fix him, but I'll do whatever I can. It's mostly up to him to get over this, but I don't know how someone could  simply get over something like that. It's going to be tough for him, but I'll be there every step of the way. He'd been through this before and although that makes the whole thing all the more terrible, it also helps because he'll know how to at least keep pushing forward. At least, I hoped he knew how to do that because I certainly didn't. 

I don't understand how anybody could hurt someone like that. It's scary how much of a monster the creep is and that he had been walking around freely, hurting people, without anyone truly making an effort to stop him. At least one more bad guy is behind bars and that's one less horrible person to worry about. I just wish there was someway I could help Chester now, instead of waiting for him to open up. 

"Can I talk to Chester by myself?" I found my voice after so long of not saying anything at all. Everyone silently nodded and left the room. The last person to leave was Sage, who gave me a puzzled look before following the guys. I watched Chester with sad eyes, seeing the pools of agony swirling around his. "Chester, I don't know what happened and while I care about whatever he did to you, I care more about your mental health and how you're going to get through this. Whatever he did, you'll overcome it, I know you can and I'll be here with you through all of this madness and help piece you back together however I can, though I don't know how yet. Do you understand?"

He said nothing.

"Chester, come on. Please, talk to me. I love and care about you, being kept in the dark hurts so much. Not as much as when I caught him hurting you the first time or the second, but it hurts all the same and I'm not going to stop worrying about you," I breathed, he still didn't respond. I was growing desperate. "Please, just say something. If you say something, I'll feel a little bit better and it's a good start to you being open about whatever happened. Just say something, please, Chester."

"Something," He murmured sarcastically and a small grin crossed my face. I inched towards him to pull him into a soft hug. 

"Well... I guess that works. Please, just don't shut me out. That's the worst thing you could probably do right now. I'm here for you, okay? And none of this was your fault. I know how your mind works, you think it's your fault he hurt you, but it isn't. It's his fault alone."

"Okay," He whispered weakly and went back to the blank stare in front of him. I sighed and saw Brad peeking into the window on the door, giving me a look that asked if they could come back inside. I nodded, glad I at least got Chester to talk to me a little bit, as the guys walked back inside. 

"We saw the doctor out there, he gave us some numbers to a few therapists and some nurses will be in here soon to help Chester get ready for discharge," Brad informed me, seeing as Chester wasn't going to take part in anymore conversation and I simply nodded, holding Chester's hand, waiting for us to get out of here. Maybe I can get Chester to talk to me once we're gone.