RP:]] St Luke's Reform School For Young Gentlemen

"Zacky?!"

That didn't sound so good.

I turn around frantically, looking for the apartment block Zacky's on about. That was simple enough. I run across the road, just barely missing the only other car I've seen coming across this street.

"Zee, where am I going, what floor, room, whatever?" I ask as I'm already running towards the stairs.

I look around Josef's living room, getting a little shocked as I hear Matt yelling at me at the other end of the phone.

"Erm, room 37, 5th floor," I say before I walk a little further into the living room.

I look over the couch and I look at the coffee table to see two empty bottles of some cheap Danish beer, one with some red lip stick smeared all over the neck of the bottle.

"Courtney, what have you gotten yourself into?" I mutter to myself, forgetting I've still got the phone to my ear.

I run up the stairs as fast as I can, which considering I haven't done any kind of working out for the past few weeks isn't very fast at all, I'm out of breath by the third floor.

"Is she okay? Can you see her?" I ask, breathlessly, leaning against the wall to try and slow my heart rate down a little so I can carry on.

"Zee, what's he done to our baby?"

"So far, given her beer," I say to him as I walk down the hallway towards the other rooms.

I look into every door that I come across, looking right around at everything that I can. Getting more and more angry at Josef and myself when I see more and more incriminating things.

I walk up to the end of the hallway, noticing that Josef's bedroom doorway has a steam of light coming from it.

"But I'm sure I'm going to find out what else he's done."

Beer. I know boys and beer and it's never pretty. It's never just beer. I'm going to kill this little shit.

"I'll be right up." I say, hanging up the phone.

I walk up the remainder of the stairs, figuring conserving my energy might be a wise idea right about now considering. I get to the top pretty quickly and start running along the hallway, trying to find room 37. I figure the one with the door wide open would be a good start.

I walk in after spying the 37 on the door.

"Zacky? Courtney?"

I push open the door and look around the room, starting at the bed and looking down until I can see a pair or feet with some rather high heeled shoes that I don't recognise from Courtney's closet, which leaves me with some relief, but only for a second.

"Courtney?" I call out as I walk into the room and look over the bed.

My eyes widen as soon as I see that it is in fact Courtney.

"COURTNEY!"

Again the autopilot is back on, I run through the flat in the direction of Zackys voice to see him standing over our little girl. She looks terrible. Fuck, he looks terrible. I'm almost too afraid to go over to them.

"Oh my God, what have they done to you, baby?" I ask, not sure who I'm talking to now.

I tentatively move forward, more frightened of the site before me with every step I take.

"Courtney, Courtney, no no no no no," I say to myself as I climb onto the floor, not even paying any attention to Matt as I sit over her.

I tap her face gently and brush her hair out of her face.

"Baby, come on, please wake up baby," I say in complete desperation as I pull her up into the sitting position and rest her against the bed.

I am so worried about Courtney, I can't even remember any of the first aid training I have had in the past, I just want her to wake up.

I flip my cell open again, hitting the three numbers I never ever want to dial. I watch as Zacky tries to wake her up, to bring her round from whatever the fuck is wrong with her. If Josef's seriously hurt my little girl, I'm going to fucking break his neck.

"I need an ambulance, it's my daughter. She's... she's been drugged or something. She's unconscious."

I reel off the address as I watch Zacky trying to wake her. The operator assures me that they'll be here as fast as possible. I hang the phone up and sit on the bed by her and Zacky.

"Come on sweetie, come on..." I take hold of her wrist, just to check she's still with us.

There's a pulse but it's weak.

I feel tears pin-prick my eyes as I just see my little girls face looking back at me. Her eyes, they won't open, her mouth it won't open, her body, it won't move.

"Please Courtney, please..." I say to her as some tears fall from my eyes.

"Please..." I whisper as I pull her close to me to hug her, even if she is cold from being on this floor with no blanket in the cold for Lord knows how long, she just doesn't feel like my Courtney.

I look up at Matt through tear filled eyes before sighing and looking down at Courtney's hair and kissing the top of her head gently.

"This is all my fault."

"Don't blame yourself, Zack." I say, reaching out to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder, "This isn't your fault. This is his fault."

I can't believe he'd want to hurt Courtney like this. What the hell was going on in his twisted mind? Did he think it'd impress Zacky? Did he think it'd make Courtney want to be with him? I wonder if Coby could get him thrown away for us.

"The ambulance will be here soon, Zee, and they'll make her okay. They deal with this kind of thing all the time, they'll make her better, they'll save her." I can feel my own tears threatening to fall now and I'm not sure who I'm trying to convince.

I don't say anything, I just nod slowly as I hold my little girl to my chest, stroking my hand through her long black bangs, remembering how I have missed doing this, like I used to when she was a baby, before she was too old for cuddles.

"I'm so sorry baby," I say, not sure who I am apologising too now, but it seemed right.

I don't know whether I'm sorry to Matt for what I did to him, sorry to Courtney for all this happening for her. But all I know, is that I am so sorry to myself, for ever trusting or letting the slim boy into my life.

I move closer to the pair on the bed, wrapping y own arms around them, as if hoping the warmth or the security will bring our baby back to us. I don't like seeing her like this, I don't like seeing Zacky like this. I just want everything to go back to how it was now.

"It's okay. I forgive you, she forgives you." I say, "It'll be okay. Everything's going to work out, everything's going to be okay."

I can just hear the loud blaring of sirens outside now, I'm assuming it's the ambulance for Courtney.

"See?"

I let out a shaky sob as I look up at Matt, "she can't leave us Matt. She just can't. I need her hear, she's my little girl. Our little girl."

I don't want to say all this, to have to think about losing my little girl, but I'm just so scared right now.

I hear the sirens stop, and I can see the blue lights flashing outside of the window now, not moving.

"Oh, thank God," I say quietly to myself as I rest my head on Matt's shoulder.

"We're not going to lose her, Zee. Courtney's a fighter." I say, "She's not going to give up just yet, she's got to torture us for years to come yet."

I kiss the side of his head, "Just stay with her, I'll go and get the paramedics up here."

I reluctantly let go of the pair, almost afraid to let them out of my sight in case something happens while I'm away, "I'll be right back, I promise."

"You better be," I say to him with barely a smile on my face as I hold my little girl close to me and just rock her like I used to.

"Baby, you want me to sing that lullaby? You know, the one that'd make you stop crying and so happy?" I ask her, even though she can't hear me and isn't going to answer me.

But for some reason, I think that this would make the both of us a little more at home, and it might even wake her up like a song does in all the crappy Disney films. So, I start to sing quietly to her as I rock her gently.

I smile a little as I hear Zacky singing quietly to her, bringing back so many memories. When the only thing we had to worry about was her trying to sell her brother again.

I walk out through the main door and rush down the stairs, hoping the catch the medics as I do so.

I find them on the second floor and quickly direct them to the right room.

I sigh as I finish singing the short lullaby through for the fourth time and look down at Courtney's face. I brush the hair out of her face again.

"This never would have happened if I hadn't hired that little bastard. I never trusted him Court, I even told you about how I thought it wasn't all he said he was. But I still kept him on. And I let him ruin anything, more than I thought he did. It's all my fault baby, and I am so sorry for hurting you. I wouldn't blame your Dad M if he never wanted me to see you kids again, I wouldn't let me knew you if I was him..."

I follow the paramedics up the stairs, almost afraid to go back in now. I don't want to be around them when they're trying to revive her, I don't want to find out that something's seriously wrong, or I'm going to lose her. I don't know if I could handle it. But I need to be there, Zacky's going to need someone to hold his hand, she's going to need to see me there so she knows I care and...

I follow them into the room trying to ignore the crazy whirling of thoughts in my head. I don't know what I'm thinking right now. Just that I need her to be okay, I need this to be okay.

I see the paramedics and I pull myself away from my little girl, laying her on the floor gently as the team of fluorescent dressed men swarm around Courtney. I would be a little pissed if they weren't going to save her life.

I walk over to Matt and smile at him weakly, before looking back at Courtney and the group of paramedics.

I don't know whether to hug Matt or hold his hand, or anything. I want to, I really need someone to hold me right now, but I still don't even know what terms we are on.

I don't know what to do here. I just know that staring at these men all around my little girl is scaring me to death, even though I know they're helping. I'm still not sure what I think about Zacky right now. Just that I'm glad he's here, even if he does look like shit.

He looks like he could do with some comfort too right now. I match his smile and hold my hand out to him.

"I think we both need it right now."

I look at him and smile sheepishly.

"Thank you."

I take his hand with my own and move a little closer to him before looking back over at Courtney being given CPR, and it scares me more than anything I have seen in my life.

"Matt. I'm so scared right now."

"I know, Zee, me too. But these guys know what they're doing, right?" I offer, sensing that I'm going to have to be the strong one here, "She'll be okay and begging for money again in no time."

I keep my eyes on him now, "They've both missed you, y'know. You could have come to see them, they wouldn't have turned you away. I never told them what had happened, I didn't think it was fair on them to know."

"God, I hope you're right," I say with a small sigh as I squeeze onto Matt's hand.

I nod, "I wanted to come and see them. But I was too ashamed. I wanted to see how Chris and Becky are doing, or what Courtney was doing to make your hair turn grey."

I watch on as I see out of the corner of my eyes, a paramedic coming towards me and Matt with a smile on their face, that's got to be good news, right?

"She's going to be OK."

"She is? She's... oh my God, thank you so fucking much."

I've never felt so fucking relieved in all my life. Thank God, thank everyone! I want to hug the paramedic but I figure that might be a bad idea, I hug hard, I break ribs and there'll be a lawsuit. Instead I make do with hugging Zacky, not even caring about what's gone on between us now, just wanting to hold someone, let someone know how happy I am right now.

Besides we could probably both do with the hugs right now.

"I told you so."

» RP:]] St Luke's Reform School For Young Gentlemen
» "St. Luke's Reform School" Discussion Post