Tiny Tim полностью

“Let me point something out for you here. Again, they came for Logan. I suspect they came from Austin, since that’s where he lives and spends most of his free time now, and they said they ‘chased him down here’. So, try to picture this: They armed themselves, went on a multiple-hours long drive to find him, grabbed him, and then threatened him and his family. Following so far? What in all of this makes you believe they would have just gone home if we turned to run away!?” I asked her, now sounding more than just disgruntled. “Ask Bill if you don’t believe me. He taught me de-escalation techniques and I am convinced they wouldn’t have worked. They weren’t angry, or high, or drunk, they had planned to make Logan pay for something, and he knew it! That’s why he was ready to run the moment he saw them, and why they PREVENTED him from running! So, why are you still asking me why I didn’t run?”

“He has a point, Danny.” John pointed out.

“And before you pull any more accusations out of your ass, I didn’t do shit before the guy reached for his weapon!” I added.

“We really need to address that anger inside you, Tim. Why are you so hostile? I just want to help! You could have died!” Aunt Danielle asked, clearly taken aback by my outburst.

“So, THE FUCK, what!?” I remarked, hearing multiple gasps after shocking them with my statement. “If you expected an answer for why I’m hostile to you, maybe it’s because I don’t need a budget-psychologist, who keeps missing the plot, to start criticizing me the minute I wake up from fucking surgery!” I shouted, now clearly pissed. Then I shifted my attention to Claire and Ava.

“And the last people I need to show up right now are you assholes! What, did you think your presence would somehow comfort me!? There’s a reason I moved out! Do I need to paint you a fucking picture before you understand why I spend as little time as possible in your fucking presence!? None of you give a flying fuck about me the whole damn year around, while Princess over there and your Golden Boy can do no wrong, but now, that I’m in the hospital and the police are involved, you suddenly act like you give a damn?! Have you already forgotten why you were in that damn parking lot in the first place? You think...”

At that moment, an older woman in scrubs entered the room and asked me what I needed. I looked at her in angry confusion.

“You’re pressing the call button, Dear.” she said patiently, pointing at the button I was holding.

“Oh...” I said, rapidly trying to curb my temper. “I thought this was one of those drug dispensers I saw on TV. Sorry.”

“Are you in pain?” she asked, now more interested, moving to the foot of my bed to check my chart.

“It’s manageable.”

“Then why are you trying to activate a drug dispenser?” she scolded me with a stern expression.

“Well, you see, my loving family here is giving me shit for being beaten and stabbed. And I just thought the whole thing would be more fun with a little morphine.” I said, matter of fact, holding my left side. The shouting had taken its toll on my ribs and stomach muscles.

The nurse looked from one face to the other. All four of them looked at least somewhat uncomfortable, but Claire looked like she was on the verge of breaking down. Her hands were shaking, balled into fists at her sides. Her lips were trembling, despite her pressing them together to form a thin line. But the most prevalent thing about her appearance at that moment, were the tears rolling down her face while Aunt Danielle tried to silently comfort her.

Uncle John regarded me with a look that basically screamed apology. The family, or rather his mother, must have already reminded them of forgetting my birthday for the second year in a row. Last year I had let him and Aunt Danielle off the hook, since they are not my parents. And while it’s still not their job to remember my birthday, after they had found out about my birthday being ignored and forgotten last year, they had used that Thanksgiving dinner to put me on the spot and try to make the others remember. I had specifically asked them not to do that because I knew exactly what would come out of it. They insisted, and instead of doing any good, it just caused me more grief. So, I kind of had expected them to do better this year instead of undoubtedly attending yet another family orgy I wasn’t invited to.

Ava just stood to the side, not looking anyone in the eyes. She must have known perfectly well that the pain I went through on an almost daily basis was mostly caused by her actions in school.

The nurse looked at me, noticed me holding my side and made a decision.

“Alright. I’m sorry, but I must ask you all to leave now. I don’t know what is going on, but this patient just got out of surgery, and if he doesn’t calm down and relaxes, it could cause some serious complications.” she announced with authority.

At that, Claire looked scared and quickly readied herself to leave.

“I’m sorry.” she said, before leaving the room.