The hand.

Chapter fourteen

I almost dropped the phone but I managed to control myself.
"I'm on my way"
I managed to say in a small voice before I put the phone down.
I quickly grabbed my car keys and ran outside. I put the car into drive and sped to the hospital. (Medical hospital btw for those of u who r confused)
What if this was my fault? My patient nearly ended his life because of me. Yes I could loose my job for this but that's not what upsets me about this. It's the fact that it's Zac. He nearly ended his life because of me. It's all my fault. I should've found out why he was working with his dad before I kicked him out.
He can't have been lying to me that entire time right?
Oh I don't know!

I pulled up at the hospital and ran inside.
I went up to the front desk and got out my ID.
"Hi I'm Dr Summers and I'm here to see my patient,Mr Zac Efron."
I said in one breath.

"Ah yes,they've had him moved to ward 48,room 2. We figured if you're going to speak to him,it's best if he has a room to himself for confidentiality reasons."

"Thank you so much"
And with that,I followed the signs to ward 48 and as soon as I got there, a nurse came right over.
"Are you Dr Summers?"
She asked.
"Yes I am where is he?" I asked.

"He's right in here but I need to speak to you before you go in."
She seemed worried.

"Okay what's the problem?" I asked trying to sound professional but on the inside I was freaking out.

"He has multiple bruises, cuts and a broken rib, all which don't appear to be self inflicted and he can't have gotten them when he attempted suicide,he tried to drown himself."

I took in everything she said and let my brain process it.

"We'd like you to find out what happened to him. He refuses to speak to anyone. We don't know if it's because of trauma or if he is mute but he won't say anything."

That sounds like the Zac I know.

"Yes that's quite normal for him. I'll talk to him. Thank you nurse."

I walked into the room and he turned to look at me to see who came in. As soon as he saw me,he turned away.
He's angry with me.
It's fine,the feelings mutual.

I walked over to his bed and took a seat in the chair next to the bed.

"Why did you do it?"
Was the first thing I asked.
He didn't answer me. I sat and waited for a bit. If there's one thing I've learnt about him from when we first met it's that he will answer me eventually.

5 minutes later and still no answer.
Guess not then.

"Why did you do it? Why did you try to end your life?"
I asked, keeping calm.

"I've got nothing to live for"
He answered,still with his back to me.
"I'm sure you have,there's always something to live for."
I spoke kindly. It shattered me that he would think this way.

"There's nothing. My mum's gone,my dad's a dangerous criminal, all my friends left me long ago and then the only friend I had,Alex left me. I knew Alex wasn't real when you told me I was schizophrenic. When I thought back to the confusion on your face when I introduced him to you,I realised he was in my imagination. But he was still there for me. He still spoke to me and he was my comfort. When you told me he wasn't real,he disappeared."

Oh my gosh it's all my fault. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from crying.

Then he continued.

"Before I met you,I survived by knowing I had a friend with me all the time. Knowing he was there for me kept me from ending my life.
I knew he would disappear eventually after a few months of treatment but I thought by then I would be stable enough to cope without him and that you'd be there for me instead but you kicked me out and now Alex is gone too. So I really have nothing to live for."

Wow he's right. It's true. If I was in his shoes,I wouldn't want to live either. I can't let him know that though.

I finally managed to get my voice back and continued to question him.

"How did you get those other injuries? The nurse told me they're not self inflicted and they aren't from your suicide attempt."

He took a deep breath and started.

"When I left your house,my dad was outside and he was angry at me. H-he....he....um..."

"Take your time" I encouraged.

"He hit me and told me I was worthless and I should go and...and die"

I could hear from his voice that he was crying now and it broke my heart.

Now for the big question.

"Why were you working with your dad then?"

He finally turned towards me and looked me in the eye.

"I wasn't working with my dad. I would never join up with someone like him. It hurts to know you would think that of me but I guess I can see why,with all the evidence pointing towards it."

"If you weren't working with your dad,why was he in your room talking to you?" I asked.

"Do you remember when you came to me and said you heard a bang?"
I nodded.

"My dad broke in again and he told me that..." he paused to clear his throat and I could tell this was hard for him to say.

"He said that if I don't do everything he says,he would k-kill you"
He stuttered.

I was shocked. I didn't know what to say. After all that,he was just trying to protect me.
He lost everything and nearly killed himself after only trying to protect me. I was so nasty to him. It's because of me that he lost his biggest comfort and best friend. These thoughts made the tears come flowing down my cheeks.

"I'm s-so sorry" I choked out in a sob.

He grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes.
"Don't be,you didn't know"
By now,he was sobbing too.

I got up and threw my arms around him. We just stayed like that. Crying on each other.

"Is this why you didn't want to leave the house at all in those two days?" I asked,my arms still wrapped firmly around him.

"Yes, he didn't want me to tell anyone what happened so he told me if I leave the house,he'd hit me and he said if I told you,he would just kill us both"
He cried even harder making me hug him tighter.

We stayed like that for almost a full hour. By now we had both calmed down and were just enjoying the feeling of being in each others arms.

"I'm sorry for everything I said to you last night" I whispered.

"It's fine. But am I really crazy?" He asked.
I felt my heart break again.
"No,you're not crazy,I was just angry."

He seemed to be happy with this and he laid his head on my chest.
We sat like that for another five minutes until we heard the door being opened.
I jumped back into my chair and we pretended like nothing happened.

"Dr Summers,can I speak with you please?" The nurse asked sweetly.

"Of coarse"
I gave Zac a smile and followed her out.

She led me to a room and we sat down.

"Did he tell you what happened?" She asked.
"Yes but there's only so much I can tell you due to the confidentiality of my patient."

"I understand Dr,please go on"

"From what he's told me,I believe he was hit by a man on the streets. He was unable to identify this man though"

'I can't tell her who that "man" is. If he finds out,he'll kill us' I thought.

"Alright,thank you Dr Summers"

I smiled and walked back to Zac's room.

When I got there,I was quite surprised to see a different nurse,touching him up. He looked quite uncomfortable but he was forcedly smiling at her.
She had her hands sliding up and down his chest. She then slid her hands a bit too low.

"That's quite inappropriate,nurse"
I said,making my Presence known.