Sturniolo triplets - Oh To Be Loud (Matt-centric story about mental health)

Moving Forward

Trigger Warnings: Hospitals, Recovery, Cursing, Crying, Yelling, Fighting, Emotional Damage, Trauma, Mental Health Issues, Nightmares, Weed, Smoking

Matt gets home from the hospital, but everything isn't magically better

The Story:

Home, Thursday, 1pm

All

After their emotional confrontation the night Matt woke up from his surgery for the first time, he fell back asleep for almost an entire day. 

The second time he woke up he felt more rested and was able to stay awake for longer; he patiently listened to the doctor explain his injuries, the treatment he received and the outline/plan for his recovery. 

Then the visiting hours started and he spent the entirety of them hugging his whole family, listening to lectures, more hugging, doing his best to console everyone who got to emotional and then repeating the process when some of his friends visited in the afternoon. 

By the end, he was glad the visiting hours were over; he may have decided to start trying to get better, but that didn't mean he was suddenly mentally healthy, all these conversations and people worrying over him left him not only tired, but empty as well. Like he used all the energy he could muster just to appear semi-normal to them. 

Luckily, Nick and Chris were with him the entire time and helped by distracting everyone or changing the subject when they noticed Matt getting worse.

The brothers talked some more about that night and everything leading up to it, but mostly only in passing, as they agreed to postpone the actual conversation about Matt's mental health and everything bothering him until he was a bit better physically and back in the comfort of their own home. 

They didn't pretend nothing was wrong though, they wouldn't ignore their issues anymore and let them build up. They still talked about the guilt Nick and Chris both felt for what they though was 'their part' in what led to Matt getting injured, the pain and stress they were under for the past months, how lonely they felt and how they had trouble sleeping or eating because of it. 

These conversations were always very emotional and included a lot of apologising and reassurances, but they were getting better at it and could now hold a proper conversation about their feelings without interrupting each other or crying.

At some point the police officers returned and questioned Matt about his side of the story, which was very stressful for all of them. He was prepared though, after talking about it thoroughly with their parents, they agreed to 'alter' the actual story just a bit. 

The truth was that Barry delivered the first punch and Matt hit back after, but they decided to leave out the part where the attackers let him go and he chose to come back later. The officers didn't spend too much time worrying about it, since they had more than enough to lock them up anyway. 

Luckily they decided not to wait for Matt to be discharged from the hospital to prosecute them, so he got away with just submitting a written statement, avoiding the hassle of having to go to court. He would never have to see those assholes again.

After Matt was well enough, he was finally allowed to go home and finish his recovery there. It was decided that Nick and Chris would be Matt's primary care-takers, so they all got a long list of rules to follow and a stern talking to from his doctor in regards to Matt's recovery, since it was all too common for patients to throw caution to the wind and strain themselves too much too soon and consequently fucking up their progress.