Field of Blooms: The Beginning Ch. 04

"Can I ask you a question?" Brandon asked Alex as they pulled out of the driveway.

"Sure."

"How did you deal with that every day? Seeing the look in Austin's eyes when you told him he was raped, I could see the life drain from him."

"You never truly deal with it; you bury it in the deepest parts of your soul."

Eric and Austin sat in silence at the table; Eric didn't know what to say. His mind kept going over what happened the night of the attack.

"You can go home now." Austin said softly.

"What?" Eric leaned in closer not sure he heard correctly.

"I said you can go home now."

"I am not going anywhere, Austin." Eric rejecting his order.

"I just want to be left alone, so please go home!" Austin stood up and pointed towards the door.

"And I said I am not going anywhere." Eric stood up.

"Why can't you just do what I ask?! Is that so fucking hard to understand?!"

"Austin, I am not going to leave you alone after being told you were raped! I don't want your parents to come home and find you dead in the bath tub with your wrists slit."

"Really Eric? You think I'd slit my wrists? I have a whole bottle of pills; I'd just take them all!"

"Okay, now I'm definitely not going anywhere and I'm taking control of your pills."

"No you are going to get the fuck out of my house!"

"If you want me to leave then you are gonna have to push me out the door."

"Fine, have it your way!" Austin tried to push Eric towards the door but Eric just stood in place.

Eric rolled his eyes, "You're gonna have to try harder than that."

"Fuck you Eric! I don't know why you want to be around me! I don't even want to be around myself!"

"Because I love you, that's why."

Austin broke down and started sobbing. Eric put his arms around him and pulled him close.

"It's okay, just let it out and cry as much as you need too. I am not going anywhere; I am going to be by your side through all of this." Eric kissed the top of Austin's head.

Austin cried until till his eyes hurt and the tears ran dry. After Austin had calmed down, Eric ran him a warm, soothing bath with relaxing bath salts. While Austin was in the tub Eric went around and collected all of Austin's medicine bottles. He was going to stay true to his word about taking control of them. Eric spent the night but he wasn't able to sleep, he kept thinking about a faceless person raping Austin in the woods after that vicious attack. Who could be so cruel and heartless to do something so horrible? His heart started to race when he heard the Montgomery's pull in the driveway and he knew they would want to know why he was there during the week. He quietly slipped out of bed, put on some clothes and made his way downstairs. He sat them down at the table and told them what the detectives told them that afternoon. Mrs. Montgomery started to cry when she heard the news.

"If it is okay with you guys I would like to stay awhile and make sure Austin is okay?" Eric asked the both of them.

"That would be fine with us; I think it would be best." Mark offered.

"Also, I've taken control of Austin's meds. He said something this afternoon that has me a little worried."

He went on and told them what Austin said about the pills and they agreed that Austin shouldn't have them readily at hand for the time being. They also agreed with Eric that they should see that therapist. The next morning Eric called and made an appointment for that Friday after school. As each day passed, Eric waited for the realization to set in for Austin. Anytime his phone received a text message it made his heart jump wondering if it was someone telling him Austin was freaking out. He insisted that Austin stay with him while he was at football practice so he could keep an eye on him, and to make sure Austin stuck around Eric made sure that he always drove to and from school.

It was Thursday afternoon as Eric was getting ready for practice when he got a text messaged from Becka asking if he had seen Austin lately.

Eric quickly dialed her number, "What do you mean have I seen Austin lately?!"

"I saw him walking towards the nurse's office after lunch but I haven't seen him since."

"Oh shit! I have to go find him!"

Eric bolted out of the locker room and ran down to the nurse's office; Austin was nowhere to be seen. He ran out and down to the main office.

"Excuses me, have you seen Austin Montgomery?" He huffed trying to catch his breath.

"He signed out around one o'clock." The receptionist said looking at the sign out book.

"You just let him sign out and leave?!"

"Austin is eighteen and can sign himself out if he wants to, we can't stop him." The receptionist responded obviously confused by Eric's question.

"He is in no state of mind to just be walking out of school. God I have to find him."

"Do you want me to call the police?"

"No, I'll take care of it."

Eric started running towards the parking lot as he sent Becka a text to meet him at the car.

"What the fuck is going on?!" She asked as Eric came sprinting towards her.

"We have to find Austin!" Eric yelled as he fumbled with the car keys.

"Eric tell me what is going on, now!" Becka reached out and grabbed Eric's arm. She could see the look of fear in his eyes, she had never seen that before and knew something was terribly wrong.

"He is going to kill me for telling you this but right now I don't care. Austin found out the night he was attacked he was also raped, and I think it finally set in. He made a statement that if he was going to kill himself he would just take a whole bottle of pills."

"Holy fuck! Okay breath for two minutes and let's think where he could have gone. Did you try calling him?"

"Yes and it goes right to voice mail, he never turns his phone off!"

"Okay, where would he go if he was upset?"

"His favorite place to go is the field behind his house."

"Then we will go there first."

Becka hardly finished the sentence before they had gotten into their respective cars and Eric started his engine. Tires squealed as he punched the accelerator and went full throttle out of the parking lot leaving Becka in his dust. He barely stopped for red lights and stop signs. At that point he just wanted to find Austin. The tires kicked up dust as he came barreling up the driveway, he threw the car in park and jumped out before it came to a stop. He started calling Austin's name as he ran full speed towards the field. As he got to the top he stopped and looked around, his heart sank as there was no sign of Austin anywhere. Running back towards the house he saw Becka pulling in the driveway.

"Jesus Christ Eric! You could have waited for me!" Becka yelled as he ran past her.

"Fuck the door is locked!" Eric stepped back then kicked at the door, "Fuck!"

"I have a key, hold on. You don't need to go breaking the door down or your foot."

The moment Becka unlocked the door Eric bolted past her. He tore through the house calling for Austin as he went room to room. There was no sign that Austin had even been in the house, Eric was starting to lose his mind.

"Maybe we should call the police Eric." Becka was starting to get really worried.

"Not yet, I just need to think of where else he could have gone." Eric looked out the front window towards the woods across the road, "The stream! It was the other place he liked to play when he was a kid."

Eric ran across the street and into the thick brush. Brier bushes slashed across his face and arms but it didn't stop him. The underbrush was covered in slippery pine needles causing him to lose his footing and stumble to the ground letting out a scream. When he looked up, across the irrigation pond he saw Austin sitting at the water's edge. Eric tried to stand but pain shot through his ankle and he fell back to the ground.

Just then Becka came running up behind him. "Eric, my god are you okay?"

"No, I think I sprained my ankle. It fucking hurts like a mother fucker!"

She knelt down next to him, "Let me take a look at it. Yeah I can see it's already starting to swell."

"Look Austin is over there, please go over and get him." Eric begged her.

"Okay, I'll be right back. Do not move until I get back!" Becka commanded.

Becka made her way through the brush, across the stream and over to the other side of the pond finally getting to where Austin was sitting. By the lost look in his eyes, she thought he'd not even heard her approach.

"Austin! Are you okay?" Becka touched his shoulder. "Austin, answer me!"

He didn't look up at her, "What are you guys doing here?" The tone in his voice was more of a statement than a question.

"We were looking for you. Wait how did you know Eric was here too?"

"I heard you guys calling for me."

"And you didn't answer us? You've had us completely worried out of our minds!"

"I wanted to be left alone. That's why I didn't answer or tell anyone I was leaving school." Austin just stared into the black water.

Becka looked down and noticed Austin was holding something in his hands, "Austin, what is that in your hands?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." He tried to hide the object.

She was in no mood for games and grabbed his arm, "What the fuck is it?" Her eyes grew wide when she saw what is was. "Are you serious Austin?! Where did you get these pills? How many did you take?!"

"I got them out of Eric's bag during lunch, they are my pills anyway and I don't need someone to hold them for me!"

"Really now? You snuck them out of Eric's bag, left school and are sitting with them in your hand at the edge of an irrigation pond. What the hell am I supposed to think you are going to do?!"

Austin stood up and faced her, "So the fuck what?! If I want to kill myself then it should be my decision!"

"Austin, you need some help. Feelings of suicide are not good and you need to talk to someone about what is going on."

"There isn't enough help in the world for me! I've had my brains bashed out, suffering with PTSD and now, to top it all off, I was raped! Who is ever going to want me?"

"Eric, duh!"

"He just feels sorry for what happened to me, just like everyone else."

"If that was the case neither of us would have been looking for you. You know he tried to kick down the door to your house?"

"Becka, I just feel so dirty." Austin's eyes locked on hers and she could see the pain in them. "Even though I don't remember it happening I still feel so filthy and defiled! I take a hot shower every night and scrub my skin until its red. I feel like everyone knows what happened and are judging me. People already call me a dirty whore so when they find this out it's going to be even worse."

"I know Eric doesn't feel that way about you." Becka's eyes glistened as she tried to reassure him. Her heart ached for Austin and seeing that all too familiar look in his eyes was a painful reminder of what her brother had gone through.

"Not yet, but the next time we go to have sex, that thought of some other guy being inside me is going to cross his mind. You know it and I do too so, don't try and lie to me."

"You're are probably right but that is something you need to talk to him about. Taking a bottle of pills and throwing yourself into the pond isn't going to solve anything, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."

"It's just so much to deal with." Austin looked towards the water.

Becka turned him around, "I know it is but you have a whole support group that is willing to help you out. Even if you just need to talk you know that we will listen." She looked him right in the eyes, "Eric is in love with you, I had my doubts at first but after the way he acted today I know for sure he loves you."

"Where is he? I thought you said he was here too?" Austin asked as he looked around.

"Uh, yeah he is on the other side of the stream. He slipped on some pine needles and fell; his ankle is most likely sprained."

"Shit, we better go help him." Austin turned and headed towards the stream.

Once he crossed, he could see Eric laying down looking up at the trees. Becka hung back a little to give the boys some privacy.

Eric sat up when he saw Austin coming over, "Austin, thank god you are okay! I was so worried about you."

"I'm sorry Eric; I shouldn't have left school like that. I just wanted to be alone for a little while."

"I understand that but from now on just tell me so I don't go out of my mind worrying about you."

"Okay, I will." Austin looked down at Eric's ankle. "How bad is it?"

"From all the pain I'm in, it's not good. I think I need to go to the hospital."

Austin wrapped his arm around Eric's waist and helped him up. Becka came alongside to help the two of them out of the woods. Eric sat in the back seat of the car and propped his foot up, his ankle was starting to throb. Once they got to the hospital, Eric started to fill out the paperwork as they waited to be taken back. It wasn't busy in the ER so they only had to wait about thirty minutes before the nurse called his name. Austin helped Eric out of his football gear and into the hospital gown. After the nurse took Eric's vitals she informed them that the doctor would be in shortly. Guilt started to come over Austin as he looked at Eric lying in the hospital bed. He couldn't help but feel that he was the reason Eric got hurt. Eric must have sensed that something was wrong; he reached over and held onto Austin's hand.

"Don't feel bad superman, I'm just glad that you are okay." Eric smiled.

Austin could only smile back as he did not want to lie and say that he wasn't going to feel bad. When the doctor came in he looked at Eric's ankle and told them that he was going to have x-rays taken to see what damage was done. Austin waited in the room while Eric was taken back for x-rays. Twenty minutes passed before Eric was wheeled back in the room. It was going to be another fifteen minutes before they had the results. The nurse came back in with some pain pills for Eric. Just as the pills were starting to kick in the doctor walked in with the results.

"Okay Eric, after looking at your x-rays I can see you have a class 1 sprain. It can take up to sixteen days to heal and there will be swelling, joint pain and you will have trouble walking."

"So, no football?" Eric was really starting to feel the pills kick in at last.

"Absolutely no football. For the next sixteen days you are going to be taking it easy. Minimal walking and keep your ankle elevated as much as possible. I'm going to write a note taking you out of school for at least a week. During that week the only time you should be getting up is to use the bathroom. I'll also write you a script for pain medication and an anti-inflammatory. Make sure to follow the directions carefully on the bottles. I want you to follow up with your doctor after the first week."

"Thanks doc for taking good care of him. I'll be certain he follows your directions to the letter." Austin said as he reached out to shake the doctor's hand.

Turing to Eric, "I'll go pull the car up front so you don't have to walk as far."

"Thank you superman, you are the greatest."

Austin just smiled and rolled his eyes figuring that was just the meds talking. As he walked out the front door and towards the parking lot, he felt the pains of guilt starting to set in. Football meant the world to Eric and he knew it was going to really upset him that he wasn't going to be able to play...

*****

Thank you for reading Chapter 4 of Field of Blooms: Walking the Halls. Keep a look out for the continuing story in Chapter 5 of Field of Blooms: Revelation. Again I would like to thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed just as much as I did writing it!

Much love,

CE300