#fcbarceloa

Chapter 2

"Bitch, stop touching it!!", William groaned, wincing in pain as I tried to wipe his bloody nose. "Either you let us help you or we're gone too", Amanda said, taking out a salad from the fridge. "Don't touch that, Lily will go ballistic", William complained. "When doesn't she go ballistic?", Mandy replied, chomping down on her greens.

The apartment was a mess, glass shattered, dirty dishes across the house in various positions, most likely after being thrown by the girlfriend, three window panes mercilessly broken, and our dear friend left with a bloody nose and a bite, which somehow managed to tear off some of the skin.

"Is she an animal or something? Who does this??", Mandy asked, inspecting the bite, the bleeding had stopped after being iced, but it still looked disgusting to look at. "When will this stop, Will?", She asked,  holding and positioning his head so he looked straight into her eyes. William gave out a nervous laugh before pushing her hands away. "Chill Mandy, it's just a lover's fight, nothing serious". This blew Mandy off her rocker.

"Nothing serious? NOTHING SERIOUS?!! Will, SHE ATE A PART OF YOU, IN THE MOST LITERAL WAY!! WHEN DOES THIS STOP?", She was speaking through tears. "I love you so much, Will, I can't see you go through this kind of bullshit, it's unnecessary. You'll find someone so much better than her, I promise, and she'll love you like you deserve".

There was pin drop silence after that. I hated speaking at times like these. It hurt me to see my only two friends be at odds. I loved them so much, I couldn't just take one person's side. But more than often, it was Mandy who was in the right. "We need to get you to the hospital", I said, finally breaking the killing silence.

Will could barely move and that's when I noticed a huge gash across his waist . I looked at Mandy, she'd seen it too. Will knew he had been cut, but he refused to acknowledge it. He was having difficulty in even getting into the car. "Let's get going", He said, trying to be cheerful, but it looked bad. His cheerful face looked bad for once. I could see it was killing Mandy, but she swallowed her anger and hurt and quietly got into the drivers seat and I sat back, holding William, as he tried to hide the pain by incessantly talking away, like we were going someplace really rice to celebrate. But he knew, and I could see it in his eyes. Fear and anxiety were killing him from within. He knew he would have to file a report this time. He couldn't escape it this time, or he would be left alone with an abuser forever.

Mandy got a stretcher as soon as we reached the hospital. William tightly held on to my hand as he was getting wheeled into the ER. "Can we please not do it?", He whispered, begging. I shook my head and gazed over at Mandy who was at the hospital entrance making a call. We both knew it had to be done.

"I'm sorry", I mouthed, as William disappeared into the room.  I regretted listening to him. I regretted for never calling the cops on his psycho girlfriend. For all I knew, I could've found him dead in the apartment one of these days, if I'd have kept listening to him. I knew Amanda was thinking the same. Her worry lines were scarily visible, making her look like a whole different person, as she approached me.

"I've told them everything, they'll just need to get his statement", She explained. I nodded.

"I'll stay here, you get home, change and get some rest, okay?", I said. This was a regular drill. Mandy nodded, sighing as she walked off. This all was putting a strain on her, and I hated it. Especially just before her wedding.

It was time Will began to act like an adult. 

I fell asleep in the waiting room, cursing William.

"Excuse me? You're here for William Garza?", A nurse asked, waking me up.

"Y-Yes", I answered, sitting up.

"Well, you can meet him now. Room 403, third floor", She said before walking off.

I looked around, the waiting room was completely empty, and it was raining outside the window. I opened my phone to check the time.

5:41 pm.

Mandy  hadn't shown up yet, but hadn't sent any messages either, which meant she must have passed out once she reached home.

I got up from my seat, sighing and slowly made my way to the elevator.

"Hold the elevator please", someone shouted just as I pressed the button to the third floor. I tried pressing for hold, but the elevator closed anyway, and proceeded to move. I could hear him groan as I went up. I chose to ignore it and checked my messages yet again. No one. Sighing, I put it in my pocket.

I got off the elevator, walking quietly toward Will's room. I was nervous. I didn't want to see him. I was pretty sure the cops had taken his statement by now, and after "betraying" him, in his language, I didn't want to face him. I still felt guilty for some reason. I knew what me and Mandy had done was only the right thing, and any sane friend would've done that a long time ago, and us not doing that when we first got to know about it, was the first mistake we made because it fed to Will's thinking, that what was happening was right.

"Will?", I asked quietly, entering his room. It was pitch black. "Will? I know you're angry, but listen, we had to do it, and I won't apologize for it", I stated, adamant to not let my feelings get in the way. "She just isn't right for you, people who love you don't do that to you", I continued, feeling around for the switchboard. "I just want you to know, we love you, and we're sorry we didn't do it a long time ago, and that it somehow got to you and what she was doing was fine, when it's not, Will, it's not and never will be".

I took in a sharp breath when I felt the switchboard, and pressed on the switch, filling the light with light.

"Turn it off!!", Someone complained.

It sounded wrong. It wasn't Will. I quickly grabbed my phone and threw it where the voice had come from.

 "What the-!!!"

I blinked and took a good look at the person,now groaning. He gripped his head in pain and shouted, "What the hell is wrong with you?!!".

I felt blood drain from my body as I saw his bandaged head bleeding.

I rushed towards him and quickly pressed the call button, before quickly plumping the pillows and gently placing his head on them. I began to look around the room in a panic and on seeing a mini fridge, quickly opened it and grabbed a can of cold soda. "Here", I whispered, for some reason, and opened it for him. "Drink", I was being bizarre and I didn't know why.

The guy sighed in frustration and grabbed the can before positioning it on his head so as to not let it spill. That's when my brain finally began to function a little. I took out another can and placed it on his head, taking the opened can and placing it on the table beside his bed, while spilling a little in the process.

I stood there, beside the sofa, before collapsing on it in sheer fatigue. The day had been messy enough, I couldn't understand why it was going messier when it felt things couldn't get worse.

"And may I ask, who are you?", The guy asked, I could feel the irritation and anger lacing his voice. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know how I got here, I just-", before I could finish, the door flew open.

"Is everything alright?", The same nurse from before asked, quickly going to the guy's side, checking his head, followed by the guy who wanted me to stop the elevator.