Take These Broken Wings (Sander Sides)

Chapter Eleven

(This chapter is a lot longer than normal, a little longer than last time but more planned???, so I hope it was worth the wait! And for any people out there excited for my Corby fic, I am 60% done by the time I'm writing this! Have a good day!! P.S. This chapter mentions abuse, not by parents or anything, but someone does get hurt.... sooooooo- tread lightly! Boi! P.P.S This is a real sad boy, and I'm sorry, but I wanted to. So, you can say, I'm sorry not sorry!)

Quinn was running. Running as far away as she could. She was never one to have good dreams. She always woke up startled by an unnamable terror.

This time, though, she could remember the terror she faced that night.

She was jogging through Nostahlgya's forest, feeling as though she wasn't really present there. Like she wasn't supposed to know what was happening. She saw a group of men, at least in their thirties, standing over a boy who seemed to resemble someone she knew. She hurried over and tried to get them to stop, only being thrown back in the midst of the fight. The older men continued to beat the poor boy senseless until he stopped moving.

She walked over to the boy, his face unrecognizable at this point. He was badly hurt. Someone came running over, and she swore she knew him too. He picked the wounded boy up and ran as fast as he could to the nearest hospital.

And that's when she woke up.

She thought this was a warning of some sorts. It had to be! Why else would she feel this every night, only to see it now? But, when she tried to say it out loud to herself, she couldn't. Like some force was stopping her. She knew she couldn't say anything, but could she write it down?

Also, no. Text- Nope. She felt like a prisoner in her own head. She had the power to stop this-! Oh. This couldn't be stopped. Like the force of nature that is love, life cannot be stopped. Life will continue on, no matter what is lost in its wake, and she, even if it was preventable, would not be able to stop it from happening. For it is life's plan.

So what did she do? She ran. She didn't want to- No. She couldn't see that again. In person, no less...

Roman woke up, like he did for the past couple days, next to the love of his life. Today was going to be perfect, and he knew it from the moment he opened his eyes. He didn't even need to ask Patton. His own gut told him so.

He had a whole day planned for Virgil and himself. He asked Patton if he would take Virgil to the massage place/spa they had seen so he could set up a small dinner in the forest. It was going to be wonderful. The cutest date ever, if he did say so himself. Which, he did. 

He would get the stuff ready around two, which is when the massage would start. He would then get everything to the park around four, which is when the mani-pedis would start, and he would have it all set up by five, when Patton would bring Virgil to the meet up spot. 

It was going to be wonderful, and he was excited. It was like the stars were aligning in his favor.

Just as planned, he left at four with everything. He had brought a blanket and battery powered fairy lights he had found in a closet. There was a picnic basket, with all the finger foods Virgil could ever want, and two cocoa filled thermoses. There was supposed to be shooting stars tonight, and knowing how much Virgil liked stars, he decided tonight was the perfect night to do this.

Five rolled around and Patton had started to convince Virgil to go to the forest with him, which was no easy task, and the pair ended up heading towards it at around five-thirty. They would arrive at around six, if they were lucky.

Roman started to get impatient and decided to walk for a bit. Patton had texted him a small heads up, telling him they would be a half an hour late, but that didn't bother him none.

Quinn, not on her own accord, found herself running through the woods. The gravel path beneath her crunching as she went. As she ran down one side of a fork in the path, there was a loud thud and a cry on the other side. Sounds of kicking and punching following. She slowly walked back to the other path, gazing down it, listening for anything. That's when she heard a gunshot. She began to jog down the path, staying in the grass so her footsteps would be muffled. 

Roman didn't know what was happening. He could feel blood, or something else, trickling down the sides of his head and from his nose. He had been hit very hard with something. His head was throbbing and he could barely see straight, his hearing fuzzy, almost gone if that makes sense. Things were doubling up, and only when his ears started to ring had he realized a gun went off.

Virgil had heard the gunshot, Patton's head sprung up as the pair looked at each other in fright. Although Virgil's first instinct was to run away, he felt himself running towards the noise. Something compelled him to do so, whether that be fate, destiny- He had no idea what he had in store.

Quinn ran towards the source of the noise, seeing what she saw earlier that night. She hurried over and tried to get them to stop, only being thrown back in the midst of the fight. The older men continued to beat the poor boy senseless until he stopped moving.

Virgil hurried over after they all left. He picked Roman up, after glancing over his wounds quickly, and ran as quickly as he could to the hospital, both Patton and Quinn on his heels.

"I need doctors in here now!"

Roman couldn't hear anything that was going on as he drifted in and out of consciousness. He felt light headed and he could barely focus on anything that was happening around him.

One of the doctors came up to Virgil, assuming he was his soulmate, and gave him the rundown, "Sir, he-"

"Roman. Roman Kingsley..."

"I see. Well, Roman has suffered severe blunt force trauma to the head, and he has lost a lot of blood. We have reason to suspect he has fractured his skull, but we do not know the extent of that damage as of right now. He is getting x-rayed as we speak," They paused and watched as Quinn rubbed Virgil's back comfortingly, "Do either of you know what happened to him?"

"I do. I only saw a little of it, as I was going for a jog, but he was attacked by five older males. There was a gunshot, but he didn't seem to get shot. It's almost like they wanted us to find him..." She wished she knew what was happening, but she only knew what her dream told her. Could she even call it that? A dream?

"We may never know what they were doing, but as this is a small town, I am sure we will find the culprit. I will, personally, keep you updated on his health condition, but for now, you should sit in the waiting room..." They lead the pair to the waiting room, "If you need anything, ask for Dr. Lynn."

And they were on their way back to check up on another one of their patients.

"Why is the universe so cruel to me, Quinn? Why? On one of my best days? I haven't had many anxious thoughts today, and now all I want to do is curl up and pretend none of this is happening!" He was surprised he wasn't having a panic attack right now, but he assumed it was from the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

"I don't know, Virge. I do know that it did it for a reason. There always is a reason. Even if you can't see it right away."

He nodded slightly, resting his head on Quinn's shoulder with a sad smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine..."

They would later find out that Roman had indeed fractured his skull, and he had ruptured his eardrums because of the hits he received and the pressure they caused.

The doctor had said there was a chance he would have minor to severe hearing loss, something that upset the anxious boy a little more than they thought it would.

"He loves to sing, and if he never hears again, I know he won't be happy!"

Roman was out cold at this point, and he wouldn't wake for a few days. He would miss a lot in those few days, but he would realise it didn't matter in the end.

All because of one man.

Mr. Bondevike.