Chapter Text
A couple of hours later, a doctor stepped into the waiting room and looked around. "Family of Matthew Camden?"
Eric, Annie and Beth quickly walked over to the doctor. "I'm his father and Annie is his mother." he pointed at himself and Annie, before he pointed at Beth. "And Beth is his friend." Then he looked worried at the doctor. "How's Matt doing?"
"He was very lucky. Both his stab wound and gunshot wound missed all his vital organs and major blood vessels, so we only had to take the bullet out and sew that and the stab wound shut. Although, he lost a lot of blood, so we had to give him several blood transfusions. And one of his ribs were also broken, so we had to bandage it up. Luckily, it hadn't pierced his lung. If it had, he would probably not have made it through the surgery. But with plenty of rest, he will recover completely." the doctor told them and smiled when he saw the relieved looks on their faces.
"Thank you, doctor. Can we go and see him now?" Annie asked, as she just wanted to see Matt with her own two eyes, to make sure he was alive.
The doctor nodded, "Yes, of course. It's this way." before he started walking down a corridor, with Eric, Annie and Beth following him closely.
As they walked, Beth wondered if it would be better to stay out of the room while Matt's parents visited him, to give them space. But as they came to Matt's room and stepped inside, she stepped inside as well. And she looked at Matt lying still in the bed and immediately noticed he looked a lot worse than last night, when he was recovering from the stab wound. Although, he was in a lot better shape then. Now as she looked at him, she thought he looked so small somehow. Matt was shirtless, so she could see the bandages wrapped around his broken rib and the gauzes taped over the two wounds on his abdomen. He was hooked up to several IVs, that gave him precious fluids and blood that he'd lost when he first got injured. There was also a nasal canula under his nose, that gave him extra oxygen. The only sound in the room was the beeping of the heart monitor. But the silence was soon broken.
"What kind of evil person does this to his fellow humans?" Eric wondered out loud, as he looked at Matt lying unconscious and injured in the hospital bed. And he felt angry at the person who did this to his son.
Beth looked at Eric at that. "Someone who has nothing to lose and everything to gain, is my best guess. Although Peter sure was an evil son of a bitch."
Annie looked at Beth at that. "Is that the name of the man who almost killed Matt?"
Beth nodded. "Yeah. He was about to shoot Matt in the head. But I stabbed Peter in the chest."
As Annie heard what Beth told her, she couldn't help but to think of the time when she and Matt had been car-jacked and the guy had held a gun to Matt's head. It had taken a long time before Matt had even stepped outside the house without feeling scared after that. And that time Matt hadn't even been injured. She wondered how long it would take for Matt to get out of the house this time and how long it would take for him to trust people again. Annie looked down at her son and started wondering how much Peter beat him up, as he had bruises in his face and all over his body. Tears filled her eyes, as she thought he must have been so scared. He had always been a sensitive kid and put his siblings first, before himself. Then she looked up at Beth. "Did he try to protect you?"
Beth looked back at Annie. "Yeah. Why?"
Annie smiled at that. "He's always been protective of people. Specially his younger siblings?"
Beth raised her eyebrows. "Matt has siblings?" Although, she shouldn't have been so surprised. A lot of people have siblings.
Annie nodded. "Yeah. He's the oldest of 5 children. There's Matt, Mary, Lucy, Simon and Ruthie."
Beth's eyes widened slightly at that. "You have 5 kids?! How do you manage that many?"
Annie almost chuckled at that. "Oh, it's a struggle most of the time. But luckily, they are kind kids, who don't get into trouble. Most of the time anyway."
"I bet it is. If I ever get kids, I'll stick with 1." Beth told her, as she wouldn't be able to manage a diner and raise several kids at the same time.
This time, Annie couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping her lips. But they were interrupted by a knock on the door, so they turned their gazes in that direction, while Eric hurried over to open it. Eric and Annie were glad to see Sergeant Michaels standing there, so Eric stepped aside, to let him in.
Sergeant Michaels smiled, as he stepped inside. "Thank you." But his smile quickly disappeared, when he saw the state Matt was in, as he looked over to the bed. "How is he doing?" he asked of Eric and Annie.
"The blade and the bullet didn't hit any major organs or blood vessels, so he was really lucky. And he has a broken rib too. But he lost a lot of blood. However, the doctor said that he should make a full recovery." Annie told him, before she started running her fingers through Matt's hair, as she needed to touch him. She was so close to losing him. It was almost like when Matt was born and Dr. Hastings nearly killed him because of his incompetence. Now there are two people, whom had made a decision that ended with Matt in a hospital, fighting for his life.
Sergeant Michaels nodded, before he turned to Eric. "You said on the phone that there was something you wanted to give me?"
Eric nodded, "Yes. I wanted to give you this disc, as it's the reason why Matt ended up in the hospital." before he pulled the disc out of his pocket and gave it to him.
Sergeant Michaels furrowed his eyebrows and looked down at the disc. "Why didn't you give the disc to the local police?"
Beth decided to speak up at that. "Because the local police are corrupted."
Sergeant Michaels nodded. "I see. And you are?" he asked Beth and wondered how many corrupt cops there were in this country.
"I'm Beth. I own the local diner, where Matt ended up." Beth told Sergeant Michaels and wondered if she could trust him.
"Okay, Beth. I will take the disc back to Glenoak, so me and my fellow co-workers can look what is on it. It has got to be something very important, if there were willing to kill Matt for it." Sergeant Michaels took one last look at Matt lying unconscious and seriously injured on the bed, before he left the room.
Beth went back to watching Matt sleep, while she wondered what could have been so important on the disc, that Peter almost killed Matt, to get it back. She knew she would find out soon enough, so she just focused on watching Matt at the moment.
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Back in Glenoak, California at the Camden residence:
Mary, Lucy and Simon were sitting in the living room, as they talked about what had happened to Matt. They had made sure Ruthie stayed in her room, so they could talk in private, without Ruthie overhearing, as she still didn't know what had happened to Matt. She would be devastated, if she would have heard the news about Matt getting injured and ending up in a hospital.
"How bad do you think Matt is injured?" Simon asked his older sisters.
"Well. He ended up in the hospital, so it has to be bad. And he got both stabbed and shot, so it has to be really bad." Mary told him, as she worried about Matt's injuries being life-threatening. She just wanted to cry, but had to keep it together for her younger siblings sake. Specially Lucy, as she was the most sensitive of the 5 kids.
"Do you think he's going to die?" Lucy asked, as she had tears running down her cheeks.
"Don't you EVER think like that, Lucy! Matt is strong. And he will be okay. You'll see." Mary said to Lucy, as she couldn't even think of the outcome of Matt dying. But she didn't tell her younger siblings, that she had been wondering what life would be like if Matt dies. Although, she had quickly pushed that thought aside, as she knew that Matt would make it through this. There were no other options. "Matt. You better be okay. Otherwise, I'll come after you and kick your ass." she thought quietly to herself.
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Back in another room at the hospital, a pair of cold blue eyes opened, before looking around. The patience tried to remember how he ended up in the hospital. Then he suddenly remembered the disc and the man who took the disc from him. And then he remembered Beth stabbing him in his chest, as he was about to kill the bastard who'd made his life a whole lot more complicated. "Jack Barrett. I'm gonna make you regret you ever stole from me."
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A few hours later, Eric, Annie and Beth were still sitting around Matt's bed, as they waited for him to wake up. Beth had felt really strange to sit in a room with Matt's parents at first. But Annie had been really kind to her and made her feel at ease. She felt at ease with Eric as well, but not as much as with Annie. "It's probably because we're both women." she thought quietly to herself. There was suddenly a moan coming from the bed, so they immediately turned their gazes to Matt and saw that he was starting to wake up.
Annie immediately leaned closer to Matt and gently squeezed his hand. "Matt? Can you hear me?" she asked him.
Matt slowly opened his eyes and saw that his parents were in the room with him, so he wondered why they were there. But then he spotted Beth in the room as well, so everything from the last few days came back to him. When he looked down at his body, he saw the bandages wrapped around his ribs and the gauzes taped over the wounds on his abdomen. Although he couldn't feel any pain at the moment, so he guessed they had probably stuffed him full of morphine. Then he looked back up at his parents, as he started to wonder about one thing. "How long have I been asleep?" he asked weakly.
"About six hours." Annie told him, before she looked worried at him. "How are you feeling, Matt?"
"I'm fine at the moment. I guess the morphine's working." Matt told her weakly.
Eric decided to step forward then. "Matt! What were you thinking?! You could have got yourself killed! You almost died!" he scolded Matt.
"Dad! It wasn't my fault! A friend gave me that disc. I thought it was a movie I had wanted to see. But he gave me the wrong disc." Matt told him, before he tried to sit up on the bed. But he let out a moan of pain, as his injuries hurt at that, so he wrapped an arm around his upper torso.
Annie laid a hand on Matt's shoulder and pushed him back down on the bed. "Don't try to move, honey."
Matt just nodded, before he slowly laid back down on the bed with a grimace of pain, as his injuries hurt at that movement.
"What's the name of your friend?" Eric asked, as he wanted to talk to him and give him a piece of his mind.
Matt shook his head. "Dad. It doesn't really matter."
"It does matter. You almost got killed because of your friend! You're lying seriously injured in a hospital bed, for Heaven's sake! So I want your friend's name. Now!" Eric told him, as he wanted to get to the bottom of this and understand why someone tried to murder his son.
Matt sighed, as he knew his dad wouldn't stop asking him until he got an answer. "It was Brett Davis. He gave me the disc."
Eric sighed, as his pinched the bridge of his nose. "Stay away from that kid. I know him and he's bad news." Then he looked at Matt lying seriously injured in the hospital bed again. "Although, I think you've realized that already."
Matt nodded, "Yeah. I've realized that, dad. I won't talk to him ever again." before he looked down at his injured body again. And he was almost afraid to ask. "How serious are my injuries?" he asked his parents.
"You have one broken rib, so the doctors had to wrap it up in bandages to keep it as still as possible. Luckily it didn't pierce your lung. And the stab wound and the gunshot wound were bleeding a lot. But you were lucky with those as well, as none of them hit any major organs or blood vessels. If it had, you wouldn't be here right now." Eric told him.
Matt nodded, "Well. I don't feel so lucky at the moment." before he grimaced in pain, as the longer he was awake, the more his injuries started making themselves known.
Eric and Annie both saw that, so they looked worried at him. "Are you in pain at the moment?" Annie asked worried.
Matt nodded. "A little bit. I think the morphine is going out of my system."
Eric nodded, "I'll go and get a nurse." before he left the room.
Matt watched him go, before he turned his gaze to Beth. "Are you okay, Beth?" he asked her and looked worried, as he saw the bruises in her face.
Beth almost snorted at that, as he was the one lying seriously injured in a hospital bed and had almost died. But when she saw the worried look he gave her, she nodded. "Yeah. I'm alright. It's just bruises. They'll fade in no time." she told him with a smile.
Matt smiled back, before he tried to hold in a yawn, as he felt exhausted. But he tried to stay awake as long as possible.
Annie saw that, so she smiled. "It's okay, Matt. Just go back to sleep. We'll be here when you wake up. You're safe now."
Matt just nodded at her, before he closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.