Hopelessly Broken

22. Cafeteria Death Match

5.08.20

As soon as Daniel's butt touched the chair, I was spun around by someone. When I looked up, Gabe was glaring down at me harshly. "Stop stealing the new kid!" he shouted.

"I am not stealing the new kid! First of all, he isn't a possession, and second of all, he doesn't even want to be around you. Just get it into that tiny skull of yours that not everyone worships the ground you walk on!"

A loud bang rang out through the cafeteria, and at the same time my world became extremely dizzy. I could hear Daniel and Blake shouting at Gabriel while Jack had scooted around the table to support my body weight. "What's happening?" I barely managed to whisper. The whole cafeteria was in disarray now, and I could barely see Blake swinging a fist at Gabe's face.

"Don't try to talk while the nurse gets here. He hit you on the head with one of those hard metal trays," Jack cooed. When I reached my fingers up to where my head was stinging, they came away bloody, and that's when I really began freaking out. I was frantically speaking gibrish until Gabe managed to bust away from Blake and lunge at me.

He pulled my unsteady form up off of Jack before slamming a well aimed fist into my ribs. I could hear them crack loudly before another hand hit my face and the world went black.

***

Daniel's POV

I saw the boy that had offered to let me be his friend go unconscious when crazy boy hit him in the head, and I immediately found myself leaping into feverish actions. I rammed myself into Gabriel just as my papa had taught me to. I honestly couldn't explain why I felt the need to protect this Devon kid, but I just knew I did.

Gabe and I were still throwing hands when the nurse finally got to the scene. I distantly saw her take on look at Devon before immediately picking up her phone to call 911. Knowing that Dev was bound for the hospital made me fight Gabriel a lot harder, and I had left some pretty memorable damage that would no doubt leave scars by the time I was dragged from his body by the principal.

"I can't tell if I should punish you or not. I mean, you were defending someone and it is your first day, but look at him!" the principal reprimanded while gesturing at Gabe's battered body.

"He deserved it," I snapped back before realizing that those were the wrong words by the look on her face.

"I will deal with you later, go follow your friend to the hospital!"

I immediately ran out of the room and just barely caught up to Blake's car before it drove out of the lot behind the ambulance. I leapt into it swiftly before buckling in the seatbelt and allowing myself to be taken deeper into the city.

I pulled my phone out to inform my parents of where I was going, and it was my papa who picked up on the other line.

"Hey, Dan. Are you okay?" his voice asked lightly.

"I am, my friend isn't. I'm going to the hospital with him, and that isn't up for debate. I just wanted to let you know," I declared into the line.

Suddenly, my father must have pulled the phone from Papa's hand because his voice boomed from the phone, "How dare you talk to your papa like that!?"

"I was just stating the facts, father," I snapped.

"You know what? Fine, go to the hospital. Be home before 10:00." Father hung up the phone. I drew the cellular device down from my ear and watched as the world moved by until we were at the hospital.

"I'm here for Devon Evans," Jack told the front desk person. He looked a little bit beaten up, and his face was downcast. I can see how much he cares for Devon, but I don't really know their relationship.

"I apologise, but he is in critical condition and therefore not allowed to have visitors. I will let you know when he is stable enough for you to see him," the receptionist murmured while making a pitiful face at the 17 year old boy. Blake gently steered the boy into the waiting room before hugging Jack tightly against his body as the boy cried. The sight hurt my chest, and I soon walked over there and ran a gentle hand over his back. I don't know these people very well, but I couldn't imagine losing someone close to me. I had been an only child growing up, so I didn't even know what it was like to have a sibling.

Jack pulled out his phone to call his parents, and I couldn't refrain from listening to their conversation. "Mama... It's Devon... Someone got into a fight with him... I don't know of he's okay... That would be great... See you in 10," he sobbed into the phone. Jack was clinging onto Blake as if his life depended on it while Blake was just trying to stay strong for his best friend.

After about ten minutes, two frantic looking older people burst into the lobby. When they saw Jack, they immediately rushed towards us, and his dad gently took his son and held onto the crying boy. Meanwhile, Jack's mother was probably crying more than Jack and Blake combined, and I soon put together that Jack and Devon were related.

People were beginning to stare at our little group, and I instantly glared back at them. It wasn't every day that your son got injured at school enough to end up in critical condition, so the hysterics of the family was completely justified.

"Who are you?" Jack's mom asked me quietly.

"Oh... Uh... I don't even know why I'm here; I can leave if you want me to! It's just that he was nice to me today even though it was my first day, and I wanted to make sure that he was okay!" I stammered quickly.

"It's just fine, sweetie. I was simply curious; do your parents know you're here?"

"I called them."

***

We had been sitting in the waiting room for well over 8 hours, and I had completely chosen to ignore my parents' request for me to return at 10:00. I figured that I would be in huge trouble tomorrow, but it was currently more important to me to be here for the others around me that were worried about Devon.

I had seen many people come and go in our time here and my phone had died a long time ago, but at least Devon was hanging on. I knew that everyone around me's world would shatter if the boy were to die. However, I could tell that Devon was a fighter, so I figured that he would end up okay.

"Devon Evans," an extremely tired doctor called out, and instantly everyone was on their feet approaching the man. "He lost a lot of blood, he broke 4 ribs, and he had a serious concussion. As of right now, he is..."