Heal my Heart

Chapter 31 - The Decision

Despite his strong-looking behavior the whole day, people staring at him with pity and disgust bothered him, a lot. He finally retired at Becca's for their weekly ASL lesson, glad to be out of public sight.

Sam had already told her about the events of the morning but Grizz was grateful that she didn't push the subject. The both of them were planning a big ASL thing very soon and Grizz had still so much to learn. He was already doing really well but he sometimes lacked some vocabulary.

When they were done, he hurried home. He had this strange impression that he would be able to breathe again only once he got to Sam. He was aware of the addiction he was developing towards his lover but couldn't bring himself to care right now. When he arrived home, Luke, Allie, Helena and Sam were quietly talking in the kitchen.

"Hey guys." Grizz greeted them with a tired voice.

"Hey Grizz!" Allie smiled.

"Yo, dude." Luke answered.

"Welcome home, honey." Sam kissed him.

"Thanks." he answered, so happy to see him.

"You look pale, Grizz. How was your first day at the clinic?" Sam added.

"I'm just tired, don't worry. And the clinic, well, it was...strenuous. People kept complaining about the wait, the lack of staff, the pain. I'm not sure they all understood that it was only Kelly and I treating them...I mean, I'm gladly willing to heal everybody but I'm no medical slave." he sighed.

"You tell them Grizz!" Jason shouted happily, entering the house.

"Hey Jay, how was your day?" Grizz asked his friend with a wide smile.

"Well, it was complicated...In fact, it's a good thing you're home, Grizz..."

"We have to talk about Campbell." Luke interrupted his teammate.

"What about him? I thought you had handled the situation." Grizz asked in a neutral way.

"Well, we can't do what we want. This town is already fragile, if the Guard takes an unofficial revenge, people are gonna freak out. We have to decide of something fair with you and Allie."

"Are you gonna hold a trial?" Helena asked Allie.

"I don't know...I want to, but if we have a trial, we'll have to explain everything to everyone and..."

"And humiliate Grizz one more time? No way." Sam interrupted.

"We're not trying to humiliate him, Sam. We just want to be able to punish Campbell in a fair way, without the whole town turning on the Guard." Allie answered calmly. She knew this discussion would be a difficult one.

"I'm sorry, Allie, but I think that Grizz has already been reminded of his past often enough for a life time now. If you want to just point everything out so that people would speak behind his back even more..."

"He's right!" Jason cut him off.

"Sam, Jason, you don't understand, this could be a real disaster if the town loses faith in the..."

"Guys!" Luke stopped everybody.

"I'm sorry, but maybe we could ask...Grizz?" he quietly said.

They all blushed in embarrassment, noticing how they hadn't even asked the main concerned. They all went silent and turned to Grizz. He seemed in a deep reflexion.

"What do you think we should do, Grizz?" Luke asked him softly.

"We can't have the people turning on the Guard. It's the town's safety we're talking about, that's really important to be completely transparent on this matter. As for the trial...I don't know. Last time, Dewey was executed because he was charged for murder. Campbell didn't kill anyone, he was just a fucking bastard to me. We already know how limited we are in terms of punishment. I think we first have to find solutions for after the trial before anything."