I sat in the ambulance with my little cousin, brushing his head. His eyes were left open and red. My poor little cousin. What had happened to the little boy I used to know? He must have been so stressed over the whole situation. The nurses checked his pulse and gave him naloxone. I sat in silence, tears rolling down my cheeks. I rubbed my nose and wiped my eyes. I wanted to be calm, the stress made my stomach hurt. I rubbed his head more, hoping that he would wake up soon. I could hear the ambulance alarms going off, I could almost see the lights too.
I could hear the nurses talking, our family is well known here, especially for our unique talents. They were whispering.
"What happened?"
"Do they hide secrets?"
"Who made the boy feel this way?"
"Why didn't he say anything?"
That stung.
No matter who at school we would tell about our situation, no one would listen. Especially if the bullying was online. It would never matter if they went to the school, they would call our parents to take our phones away. What's up with that? We got teased endlessly. I seriously don't know what was so hard to understand. We were struggling. I literally work at a cafe and teachers have seen me unlock a door to my apartment. Our bus gets dropped off there too.
Kids even try to beat us up. But God forbid we fight back just because we should be the bigger person. That's the reason why Nox was kicked out of school clubs lots of times. Always getting suspended for fights. Nari never got into fights, she never hit back. That's another reason why Nox would get into fights. If he found out or saw it, he went ballistic. The poor kid was always protecting whoever he could. He didn't have to. He even beat up kids who picked a fight with me, whether I won or not. So, people started attacking us for fun. Just to see if Nox was as tough as they thought. Which was always a big mistake. This isn't the first or last time I see an ambulance.
Nox was always nice and got good grades. He loves to draw and write comics. He has real potential, but he let's these people get to his head. His parents are too dumb to realize that he needs therapy and that maybe even medication needs to get involved. His parents never acknowledge him. They always blame him for things he didn't do then act all bi-polar the next second. It sucks. That's why Nari joined in a bunch of stuff so that she didn't have to come home. Sometimes she says that it's too dark to take a bus home and crashes at a friend's place. She just doesn't want to be there.
And if so, why does she come home? She comes home for Nox. To protect Nox. To comfort him. She knows he was born with a poor brain that can't control his emotions. He was always kind. He never did anything to deserve such a sucky life with sucky parents. It didn't help when his parents got divorced and then found out why. It struck his heart. He always knew but wasn't sure. He remembered a woman in the kitchen. A very light one with tattoos and red hair.
It hurt me that he remembered and that he knew. But he needed to know. He always blamed his younger sister Maeve for not making her dad happy enough to be loyal to the mother, even after knowing the truth. He was never happy enough.
Sometimes I could hear him crying in the bathroom at school.
The ambulance pulled up to the E.R. and rushed Nox in. I followed close behind. Once we got to the room, they started to put in more naloxone. They put him on oxygen and then came out to me, where I wrapped myself in a blanket, cold from the night. The doctor brought out a clipboard and looked up at me.
"If you can, I need you to answer as many questions as possible."
I nodded and wiped my eyes.
"Do you know what caused him to do this? What made him his breaking point?" She asked.
"It might have been his sister's death or he was just tired of life." I cried weakly.
She jotted it down and then went on about the next question.
"Is there anything else, like at home? If we need to call CPS then we will. Or maybe you know he needs to be sent to the Mental Hospital."
"Well, probably now but he was always a nice boy. The kids at school always pick on him and hit him and those kids don't even get punished, it hurts him to know that he can't protect himself." I cried.
She nodded and scrawled my words onto paper.
"What will happen to Nox? Will he survive?" I asked with a raspy voice.
She nodded and smiled.
"Nox will be just fine, we found that it was just ibuprofen, and usually that would cause a seizure but there are no signs that he did. But with how much he took, especially with the adult ones. He will just be in a coma for a little while. And maybe he'll wake up soon and we will just have to give medication for his depression because overdoses like this cause that."
I nodded and sat down on a seat. I rested my back from a long day of work and slouched over to watch Nox in the ambulance. I hoped that he would come back, if he went into a coma, who knows how long he would be in a coma for. I heard people be in comas for years on end. I don't want that for Nox. I want him to go to school and get married and have kids. I just wanted him to have a good life.
I texted Aponi.
Mango
Is everyone ok? When are you guys gonna be here?
Aponi
Yes, we are coming. We are close to the hospital. Is nox alright?
Mango
Yea, he'll be ok. He might be in a coma for a while but nothing too bad. He might even wake up and just need meds for depression.
Aponi
My poor boy, I hope he does wake up. Rome and the kids will be here too, to pay for whatever they need to.
Mango
Ok, see you there.
Aponi will be here soon. As well as Nox's parents. I pray that he will be alright.
My stomach began to growl terribly. I hadn't had any real food for a while. The only thing I've had was a bagel with as much cream cheese as possible but that's just about it, And it was hours ago.
I got up and went downstairs to the lobby where they usually have a vending machine. I looked around with my blanket wrapped on my body. I spotted one near the front desk. I rummaged through my pocket for some change. I pulled up a couple dollars in quarters and some actual dollars. I put them into the machine and pressed the buttons. I got some water and some trail mix. I don't want anything too sweet but I need the sugar, and salted peanuts make my mouth dry.
I went back up to where Nox's room would be. I opened my trail mix and started to end as I made my way down the hallway. My eyes were droopy and tired. I saw Aponi talking to a nurse nearby and I walked up to her.
"What's wrong, Aponi? Where are the others?" I asked with my mouth full.
Aponi's voice was still weak and breaking. She finally began to speak.
"It's Nox, he's not in the room." Aponi whined.
"Wait what?"
I looked into the room where Nox was supposed to be. But he wasn't there. All the tubes they put in him to give him fluids were scattered everywhere. The blanket was on the floor, and the doctors and police were searching the area.
He must have been awake. He was gone. He was still gone whether he had woken up or not. I looked around aimlessly for him. Only police and nurses. Why did he run out? Where is he going? I thought for a while.
He's going home.