"Is he okay?" Alex's mother asked nervously as she arrived at the hospital.
"No, thanks to you" Jack replied coldly.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let him drink, I know, but at the time I forgot he was my much younger son. For a moment we were just two broken people, and we needed something to make us forget" Ms. Gaskarth sat down in the chair next to Laurain, who began comforting her as she broke down once again.
"Joyce. You did a terrible thing. But it's over now. It's okay"
"No it isn't! Alex could have been killed! For a while I forgot why Kellin was even in therapy, but I remembered, yea I remembered as he was throwing Alex's limp body against the brick wall. He was a fucking psycho, he had anger issues and he was charged for assaulting his last boyfriend's sister. That's why he was in there. He could have killed Alex. Easily. And it would have been your fault Joyce. Your fault" Jack was furious. He stood up and walked away before he could say anything more. He didn't know where he was going, but somehow he found himself at Alex's bedside, staring down at his bruised and bloody face.
"Alex?" Jack whispered, leaning down to him.
"Jack... I'm fucking sorry man. I fucked up big time" Alex winced. Not too much damage had been done, but he did have two fractured ribs, he needed 16 stitches on his forehead, and his left eye was swollen completely shut.
"Yea Alex, you did. In more ways than one"
"I missed you baby"
"No. I haven't forgiven you yet. You ruined my life Alex. You made me feel so worthless" He stood up and undid his pants, pulling them down just far enough to expose the scare on his leg where he had relapsed. "You see this? You did this to me Alex. You caused this"
"I'm sorry... Max threatened to tell the school that I was some flaming homo if I kept hanging out with you.."
"You are a flaming homo! You're gay Alex Gaskarth. You like men. Why would you want people to think you're something you're not? And how could you throw away everything we had started just to save some stupid kid's opinion of you?"
"You're right..."
"I know I'm fucking right"
"Can you give me another chance?"
"I don't know Alex. I just don't know..."
"Jack please..."
"Come see me when you're out of the hospital, we'll talk then" And with that, Jack left. He walked out through the waiting room, past Joyce and Laurain's curious eyes, and into the early hours of the night. It was bitter outside. And it comforted Jack greatly, because he felt the same way about this whole situation.
"Why does everything have to always be so complicated. Why can't it just be easy..." He whispered to himself, sitting down on the front steps.
"If life were easy, we'd have nothing to work for " A small voice said from behind him.
"What-" Jack turned around to see a little girl in a hospital gown standing in the doorway.
"Hi" the little girl said quietly, smiling up at him.
"Who are you?" Jack asked.
"My name's Lucy. What's your name?"
"I'm Jack"
"Can I take you somewhere Jake?" She asked taking his hand in hers.
"It's Ja- nevermind. Where would you like to take me Lucy?" He asked, but she didn't answer. She just pulled on his hand and led him to the back of the hospital. There, she crawled through a small hole in the bushes that surrounded the picnic area. Jack followed silently. On the other side of the hole was an open area surrounded by trees. It reminded Jack of the park behind the high school. Except this place seemed... magical. There was a garden, and an old statue covered in vines. There was a bird bath, and big willow tree in the center of the clearing. The moonlight lit up Lucy's face as she smiled, running over to sit beneath the cover of the willow tree.
