When he saw you

CHAPTER FOUR: THE MOTHER AND THE BLOOD DONOR

Mikayla

"Hello Zion, it's me again. I know it's hard but do it for me. Just do whatever he says. I love you."

"Hi Zion, how was school? Did you forget to do something? He found my old number so I'll text you with this, ok? If you keep giving him my number, I will have to stop talking to you. You know I..."

I paused my reading and scrolled to see many other messages like this.

"What is this?" I tapped Zion to wake up.

It was just a little past midnight and the doctor just put wrapped a bandage around the swelling in his leg. I should have let him sleep, but I needed an explanation for what I was reading. Evan got up from the couch he was resting on and can to Zion's bed side.

"Kayla, what happened?" he asked.

I couldn't explain because my body was still in shock so i gave him Zion's phone which I had in my hand. I watched his expression change as he read through the hundreds of unreplied messages from an unknown number we knew was Zion's mom.

"Zion, wake up!" Evans shouted.

Zion sat up in his bed, a guilty look on his face.

"How long have you been getting these messages?" Zion asked.

Zion kept his head low, not saying anything. I couldn't hold back my tears. Zion's mom ran away for the past year. Her numbers were unreachable, even the ones she claimed were working. Mr Rivera believed Zion was an accomplice to his mom.

He love his mother but she had no love in her heart for him. Evans and I knew this. Last year, we caught Zion sending her his allowance and savings while he starved and wore the same clothes to school for weeks.

"Zion," I cried. "We're not accusing you of lying we know te accident wasn't your fault but, if she sent you a message that could have been a trigger." I added.

"Yeah, but it wasn't!" Zion yells.

"You promised no secrets. How could you hide this for so long?" Evans asked.

He looked as broken as I was and I knew we were but thinking the same thing. We were picturing the same memory of our friend fighting for his life because of his shitty parents.

"We can't protect you if things go south and you're hiding important things from us." He added.

"Is this how you found out about the divorce?" I asked, showing him his mother's message of the divorce papers arriving.

"Does it matter?"

"Yes! It does! Cause I don't know why you don't see how toxic you mom is."

"My Dad is the problem. If he wasn't so mean, mom wouldn't be in hiding."

"Have you ever thought about the possibility that your mom doesn't have to hide?" Evans asked him. "Zion, she's not hiding from your dad. She is hiding from you because she knows that if this case goes to court, she would have custody of you and we both know she wants nothing to do with you. Please open your eyes."

"That's easy for you to say. You go home every day to your perfect parents who don't argue and fight or sleep with another woman right next to your room!"

"Zion!" I shouted.

The hospital room was quiet for a few seconds. Evans' face changes from hurt to disappointment, but he doesn't walk out of the room. He walks back to the couch and sinks inside.

Why was Zion being this stubborn? The only reason anyone would believe did not have another suicide attempt was if Evans and I vouched for him, but with this behaviour I was confused.