Melissa's heart stopped in her chest when he said that, looking around the room in a panic. But slowly she realized who he was talking to, letting out a weak sigh before starting to walk out of the door. Mr. Brennahan flicked his gaze up to Lucas, smiling a little. "I've been sitting here for a while now, bud."
"Ohhh… right. I gave you a… uh… a paper or something…" Lucas hummed softly to himself and shifted on the cot to be more comfortable. "These drugs are making my brain all… ssstupid… are you my legal guardian now since my family is dead?" He asked curiously.
Mr. Brennahan glanced up at him, setting the paper down. "No, not technically. Your dad is still alive, but you're living at my house. I honestly don't know what you'd call me." He hummed a little, keeping up a soft smile.
"Oh… my dad can't fill out paperwork in prison, though." Lucas hummed softly to himself. "And I'm a minor, so I'm not allowed." He was quiet for a second. "Are you sure he's not dead, though? I mean, I've been terrified to go visit him, so I have no idea, and he keeps dying when I'm asleep."
"I can fill out paperwork for you, whatever it is." Mr. Brennahan replied softly, staying in his seat across the room. "And I can't promise you anything about your dad, but I'm sure someone would have attempted to call you, or come to the house if he had died."
"Okay…" Lucas sat up a bit more, thinking quietly for a few seconds. "What if he is dead?" He said quietly. "Mm… would I be upset about it? Should I be upset about it? I mean, he abused me, but he's also the only family I have left, and him dying would be like… a final thing, you know? Like, now I have no one left and that's… that's terrifying…" He paled a bit, staring blankly at the bed.
Mr. Brennahan listened to Lucas's spoken thoughts, knowing he would almost never speak his mind like that. Or assuming at least. "If you're worried, we can always go there to see." He offered in a soft tone, not really sure what to tell the boy. He doubted it would matter. He would probably forget this conversation later anyways.
"Like, right now?" Lucas asked, confused. "But what if he's dead? I don't wanna see another dead person! Especially not someone else in my family!" Lucas tried to get out of his cot to run away and ended up tripping and tearing out his IV. "Y-You can't take me, I d… I c-can't see him… I don't wanna…" Lucas retreated under the cot, starting to tremble violently. "H-He could break out and hurt me again…"
"Woah- woah! Lucas, calm down." Mr. Brennahan insisted quickly, pushing himself out of his seat. He was on the floor in a matter of seconds, making sure to give Lucas space. "I didn't mean right now, bud. I just meant some time in the future. I promise you're safe here, you don't need to worry." Mr. Brennahan insisted softly. He kept up a soft look, offering a hand to Lucas. "Why don't you come out from under there?"
Lucas shook his head, his eyes wide with fear. "I-I don't want him to hurt me again, sir, I c-can't…" He pressed himself up against the wall. "I d… I d-don't wanna visit him… I should but there's pretty much nothing I would rather do less. Please…" His eyes stung with tears as he drew his knees up to his chest.
"You don't have to, Lucas. You don't ever have to, if you don't want to." Mr. Brennahan whispered, pulling his hand back before sitting on the floor. "I know you're scared, but hiding isn't gonna make it any better. And besides, he doesn't know where you are. He can't hurt you, because I won't let him."
"H-He could find me… he knows Melissa. He knows where you guys live… he… if he breaks out, he'll know I'm there…" Lucas whispered shakily. "I-I don't have any other people I'm close enough to stay with, sir, I c-can't… p-please don't make me go…"
"I won't make you go, I promise. You can just stay with Melissa, and you don't have to go see him." Mr. Brennahan continued to speak softly, keeping his distance from Lucas. "We'll keep you safe, and out of harm's way. I promise you."
"B-But I don't want you guys to get hurt for my sake… oh god, but I don't want him to hurt me either… w-what do I do?!" Lucas was breathing pretty quickly by now, clearly distressed. "Did he escape already?! Why do I have bandages?! Did he hurt me?! Did I try to kill myself again?!" He asked hurriedly, tightly gripping his forearms and biting down hard on his lip.
"Lucas." Mr. Brennahan insisted in a firmer voice. "Take a deep breath, and listen to me for just a minute. You're alright, I'm alright, and Melissa's alright. You hurt yourself, so I brought you here. Your dad is still in prison, and doesn't know where you are right now. He's locked up, and isn't going to escape, (right?) I promise you." He insisted, his tone softening the more he talked.
(Probably not lol)
A couple tears rolled down Lucas's cheeks a s he looked up at Mr. Brennahan, his eyes still wide. "H-How do you know? I… I'm sure he's furious with me for calling the police on him and he's probably going to break out and try and kill me! He knows where I go to school, he probably knows where I'm staying, he… h-he… I c-can't…" He whispered, shying away a bit more.
(Unless…?)
(Unlessss??)
"Lucas, buddy I need you to listen to me. You're gonna be alright. How is your dad suppose to break out of a prison? He's just one man, to a whole squad of armed police men and women." Mr. Brennahan whispered, pushing back a little. "Saying he did get out, he couldn't touch you at school. And at our house, we have alarm systems. The police would be contacted if her broke in."
(Maybe in the future lmao)
Lucas hiccuped a bit, weakly rubbing at his teary eyes as Mr. Brennahan tried to talk him down. "B-But he could kill me before the police arrived…" He whispered, curling in on himself more. "I-I know I should go visit him but I c-can't! I can't face him anymore, sir, not after what he's done to me. I c-can't…"
(Haha, more torment for the poor child! Yay!)
Mr. Brennahan listened to Lucas, sighing weakly. "Bud, I need you to take a deep breath and try to calm down. I know you're scared, and I know this has gotta be very, very hard on you. But I promise I will do my best to protect you." He insisted in a whisper. "And you know Melissa would do the same. She loves and cares for you."
(You know I love it lol)
Lucas hesitated before nodding weakly, still clearly very frazzled. "Y-You won't make me go see him?" He asked nervously. He kept rubbing at his tears, shaking violently. "I don't wanna talk to him… he… h-he said so many horrible things to me…"
"I promise. We don't even need to talk about him, if you don't want to." Mr. Brennahan insisted in a soft tone, slowly offering a hand to Lucas. "Whatever will keep you happy, we can do that. I don't like seeing you in tears."
Lucas quickly jumped backwards when Mr. Brennahan reached towards him, panicking a bit. Once he realized that the man wasn't going to try and hit him, however, he tentatively accepted the help and allowed Mr. Brennahan to pull him out from under the cot. "O-Okay, sir…" He whispered. "I'm… I'm sorry for being weak again…"
“You don’t need to apologize, Lucas.” Mr. Brennahan told him softly, helping him back into the cot to the cot. “Why don’t you lie back down, and Melissa will bring you ice cream. And she can give feed it to you.” He hummed softly, being slow and careful with his movements.
"Mmm…" Lucas lay down on the cot and sighed shakily, curling in on himself. "It's starting to hurt a bit… can you put the thing back in?" He asked, holding out his arm to Mr. Brennahan, showing where he'd torn out his IV.
“Of course I can, Lucas.” Mr. Brennahan replied softly, finally getting the IV attached after a minute or so. “Can I get you anything? Or do you just want to lie here until Melissa gets back?” He asked softly, taking a step back to give him space.
"I'll just lay here…" Lucas winced when Mr. Brennahan was fiddling with the IV and curled in on himself more tightly once it was in. "I'm so dumb…" He mumbled.
Mr. Brennahan gave him a soft look, keeping a little bit of distance. “Why do you say that, bud?” He asked softly, keeping his gaze on him. “For getting up? Or is this something else?”
"Just… in general. I'm so stupid… I have no self control, apparently, and look where it's landed me?" Lucas sighed shakily and closed his eyes, gripping the sheets as tightly as he was able.
Mr. Brennahan sighed weakly, sitting down on the edge of his seat. “I honestly don’t know what to tell you, Lucas. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t call it stupidity. But I don’t know what else to call it. You’re not a stupid boy; but occasionally, yeah, you do something that’s not so smart. But an occasional thing wouldn’t entitle you to that specifically.”
Lucas sighed again and tried to hide his face a bit. "I c-can't help it most of the time…" He whispered weakly. "I just… I'll get myself in a bad mindset and then I just… I'll zone out, kinda… and the next thing you know, there's blood on the floor."