Pain - A TommyInnit Angst

Chapter 13

The hospital was clean, bright and clinical. Tommy was met by a team of doctors and nurses who lead him to a private room where they began examining him. They asked him to take off his hoodie and he hesitantly complied, revealing the horrific damage that his parents had done the week before. The 'failure' scars were in various stages of healing; the two most recent ones had been more severe than any before, so both were still scabbed up and wrapped in bandages that Wilbur had put there the day before. The ones above were faded, but still obviously visible. The medical team took in a collective sharp intake of breath as they unwrapped the bandages. Tommy's chest and stomach were still badly bruised, and his arms were lined with marks from years of self-injury. He was a wreck.

What Tommy hadn't predicted was that every time the doctors uncovered a new injury, they would pause to take a series of photographs; some up close, some from further away. Sarah explained that they were collecting evidence, which Tommy understood; but it didn't make him any less uncomfortable. This process went on for around an hour before they explained that they would now start applying ointments and dressings to his wounds. Tommy nodded and they began to work on him. After they had finished, they told him they would need to measure his BMI because he was so underweight. He looked at them and terror filled his heart again.

'I... I can't.' He whispered.

They looked at him, confused.

'T-the scales. They would hurt me. After the scales, they... hurt me.'

He looked away to avoid their pitying stares.

'I'm so sorry sweetie, but we have to weigh you. Is there anything we can do to make it easier? We have a type of scale where you can sit down to be weighed so it doesn't really feel like you're being weighed at all. Would that be okay?' One nurse asked softly.

'D-does it make a sound? Like... a b-bleep sound?'

'It does, but if you give us a moment I'm sure we can turn off the sound.'

'T-thank you.' Tommy stammered. Whilst that nurse went to sort out the scales, another one helped him up so that she could measure his height. Once that was done, she slowly lead him out of the room and down the corridor, conscious that walking was especially painful after having had so many new ointments and dressings applied to his wounds.

They lead him to the scales, and he sat down in the plasticky blue chair. As promised, there was no sound and Tommy felt a strange and overwhelming sense of pride at having managed to get through this.

• • •

Upon re-entering his hospital room, Tommy noticed that Sarah and another police officer were sitting down next to his bed.

'Take a seat Tommy,' Sarah said, 'We need to ask you some questions about your parents. I know this is going to be really hard, so just take your time, okay?'

Tommy nodded, his eyes nervously flitting over to the other police officer.

'I'm Mark.' He said in an almost shy-sounding voice. Tommy gave him a slight smile in response.

'We're going to need to record this conversation as evidence. Is that okay?'

'Uh, yeah. That's fine.' Tommy responded. He sat down on the edge of his bed, palms clammy.

They began asking him questions about his life, starting with simple ones about his school before moving onto the more difficult ones. They showed him pictures they had taken at his house, including one of the knife.

'Can you confirm that this is the weapon they used to carve into your back last Wednesday?'

'Y-yes.'

Mark pulled out another photograph.

'And these are the scales they weighed you on?'

Tommy nodded.

'How often would they weigh you and why?'

Taking a deep breath, Tommy began to explain the weight targets that were set for him weekly, and the terrible consequences if he didn't meet them.

Sarah noticed how shaky and anxious he was becoming and, sharing a look with Mark, said 'I think we've probably covered everything there. You're a brave kid, you know that?'

Tommy didn't respond. Sarah received a notification from her phone, and upon looking at it, she smiled broadly at him.

'Good news – your friend has finished questioning and they're bringing him over to come see you right now.' She scrolled slightly and furrowed her brow as she read before continuing. 'He's applying for temporary guardianship for now, and he's planning on applying for permanent guardianship.'

It was as if a tonne of cement had been lifted off his shoulders. Tommy leaned back and smiled. 'Thank you.' He mumbled.

'Now you get some rest.' Mark said gruffly, and the two officers departed leaving him alone in the hospital room.

Tommy waited nervously; it seemed like a lifetime had passed before Wilbur finally arrived. His eyes were puffy; he had clearly been crying.

Wilbur swiftly walked over and hugged Tommy tightly. 'I'm so proud of you Toms. You're doing so amazing.' He murmured.

Tommy didn't know what to respond, so he just hugged him back tighter.