Alan's Biggest Case

Chapter 7

Alan and Sam both entered the room, looking around. It was so much bigger than both of them imagined. There was a twin sized bed against a wall, with a nightstand on both sides. To the right of that was a large window showing the Boston skyline and a small futon for Alan perfectly centered in front of the window. On the opposite side of the room from where Sam will be, there is a small plasma screen TV hanging on the wall and a dresser underneath. The last thing they saw was a bathroom, which was just like any other bathroom; toilet, sink, shower.

The nurse gets Sam into the bed and shows him how the bed works, how he can incline or decline, and where the nurse button is. She then hands him the remote for the TV and Sam immediately turns it on. Alan sits down on the futon and kicks his legs up, finally relaxing. He is watching TV with Sam, some show about a drug addict doctor.

The woman left and closed the door behind her, but another nurse immediately walks in with a blanket and pillow for Alan. "Do you guys need anything else?" She asks. Sam looks at Alan and mouths the word "food". Alan laughs and says, "I don't have my wallet on me at the moment, but could you by any chance get Sam some lunch? I can pay for it when I pay for everything else." The woman nods and walks out of the room, leaving the two alone in the room. They are both quiet, the only noise in the room is the quiet talking coming from the television.

"It was my dad."

"What?" Alan looks over at Sam staring at his wrists.

"The things he said were just repeating in my head. Telling me I'm a failure, I don't deserve happiness... I guess I just gave up on trying to ignore it - because I kind of feel like he's right." A tear streams down Sam's face, falling on his arm. He was moving his hand across the thick bandages while talking about everything, just letting everything out. Alan just sat there, taking everything in. It's difficult for him to process how an adult, a parent, could tell their child such toxic things.

"I'm sorry you have to experience this. You don't deserve to be treated so poorly, you are an amazing kid." Alan is staring at Sam now, even though he's not looking back. "Sam," Alan says, softly. Sam slowly looks up at Alan, tears rolling down his face. "Have you done this before? Have you cut yourself in the past?" Alan is giving Sam a look that shows worry, and that he truly does care for him. They are complete strangers, yet he feels so connected - like he's known him since he was a small child.

Sam is quiet, trying to hold back from crying, but he can't. He begins to sob, tears streaming down his bright red face. Alan quickly comes over and apologizes multiple times, thinking he had caused the breakdown. "It's not you Mr. Shore," He says between the hiccups from crying, "I'm just disappointed in myself, I'm so stupid and immature for doing this. I know this doesn't help, it just makes it worse. It makes everything worse, and now I've put all of this on your shoulders, and you had to experience whatever you saw last night. I should have never asked you to help me." Sam is leaning back in his bed, sniffling and trying to catch his breath. "I don't want to go to court anymore."

Alan puts his hand on Sam's shoulder, trying to think of the right words to say. He doesn't want to hurt Sam or say the wrong thing. "Are you sure you don't want to go?" He looks at Sam and finds himself looking at his wrist. There's a tan bandage wrapped around his arm with a small clip keeping it tight, and the edge of white gauze is slightly visible from underneath the wrap. He begins to think about the last twenty-four hours, how much of an emotional rollercoaster it was. He saw Sam when he was happy, his eyes were filled with joy, but he also saw him at what seemed his worst, when he saw his eyes red and swollen from crying, trying to get him to breathe was so difficult. It took so much for him to calm down.

"No."

"What?" Alan looks up coming out of a daze.

"I don't want to go to court. I don't want to testify or whatever."

"Oh. Okay, well I can get in contact with CPS."