THIRTEEN

includes potentially sensitive subjects such as;
date rape, drug use
and homophobic comments
(which do not reflect my personal views)

The sound of rain tapping on the window ledge outside his dorm room was driving him crazy. He'd been sitting inside his dorm room all day, nothing to do but stare out at the sheets of rain tumbling down from the clouds onto the campus below. Connor usually liked the rain, but the tapping sound was beginning to drive him insane.

He picks up his phone and scrolls through his contact, landing upon the name 'Simon', he thinks about calling, about asking him to come round and sit with him and for him to go insane with him, but he keeps scrolling. Finding the name Daniel and pressing call.

"Hey man," Daniel says, voice slightly muffled by his coat.

"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight? Me, you and the boys?" Connor asks, pulling a cigarette from the pack on his table.

"Oh, fuck mate, I'm literally getting on a train to go to back to Liverpool," Daniel says and Connor involuntarily rolls his eyes.

"Alright, never mind, we'll have to go when you're back," Connor says, the two boys go on to say quick goodbyes before hanging up, leaving Connor to the annoying tapping sound coming from the window ledge.

He sits with the TV on for another few hours, watching but not really listening- not really taking it all in. Eventually, when its dark outside, he gets up and pulls on some fresh clothes and does his hair. He grabs both his wallet and his phone and heads out.

He heads into the city, finding a bar that he'd never been in and he walks up to it and orders himself a vodka and coke, needing the stronger side of the alcohol.

He sits on his phone for about an hour, just scrolling through various social medias, looking for something to possibly turn up to that evening but he didn't fancy going to see some indie band or having a Twilight movie marathon.

Eventually, he finds himself talking to random people, mixing with different groups until eventually he finds himself tagging along to a nightclub. He and this new group get in and order drinks, Connor orders his vodka and coke and he sits down and sips it, chatting to a few others at the bar.

"Hey, you're that faggit from the university, right?"

Connor's eyes flicker to his left and he sees an older man, greying hair, approaching him.

"Faggit?" Connor scoffs, "I'm not offended by that, if that was your aim,"

"You little-"

"Hey, do you have any security at this bar or do you just let homophobes stumble in here and say what they like?" Connor asks the bar man and suddenly a fist connects to the side of Connor's head. He stumbles off his stool, gripping the bar.

"You motherfuck-" Connor mutters, turning with his fists raised. The older man, with his beer belly swaying, swings another fist at Connor, but the slimmer boy is faster, lifting his arm to block while his other fist uppercuts the homophobic asshole that was attempting to fight him.

"The police have been called!" Shouts the barman.

A security guard attempts to hold back the older man as the barman offers Connor a cloth filled with ice for his head. Connor felt sick, and his vision was blurring a little as he picks up the scotch he'd been offered and downs it, not caring what it was.

He sits for a moment with his cloth pressed to the side of his head, it felt like he'd been punched way harder than he had been, and he could feel his eyes getting heavy.

"I have to go," He mumbles, dropping the cloth and the ice onto the bar and heading outside, he reaches into his pocket and grabs his box of cigarettes and his lighter. He presses one between his lips as he stumbles along the walkway, eyes flickering as his consciousness wavered. He falls against the wall, and suddenly a hand wraps round his arm.

"Excuse me sir? Are you okay?" Its a policewoman, her voice calm and soothing and Connor shakes his head, leaning it back against the wall, "Were you the man involved in the homophobic incident in the bar?"

"Yes," Connor slurs, "I think...I think he punched me a bit too hard,"

"Okay, just stay still for me, the ambulance is coming," She says, gesturing for a paramedic to come her way, "This is John, he's going to get you to the hospital,"

Connor just nods, he was starting to black out, confused as to what was happening.

"Sir? Sir can you hear me? Sir?!"

Connor woke the next day to see a plain white ceiling. At first he thought he'd somehow made it back to his dorm, until he realised the sound of a heart monitor, and the fact he had an IV drip in his arm. A huff of air escapes his lips as he sits up, rubbing his eyes, taking in the room. Everything was either white or grey, and it smelled like bleach.

He's about to reach out and press the 'call for a nurse' button when the door opens and a female doctor walks in, carrying a clipboard and her glasses.

She only looks up when she reaches the bed and Connor chuckles when she jumps, "You scared me for a moment,"

"Sorry about that," His voice is gruff, due to the dryness of his throat.

"So, could you tell me your name please?"

"Connor Hartland," He replies.

"Date of birth?"

"October 30th 1998," He says, "I'm 19,"

"Okay, and you're definitely not from around here, is there someone I can contact for you?"

"My mam lives in Ireland," He says, "But theres a friend you can call, he's...My boyfriend...He goes to Hull University- Simon Minter,"

"Okay, we'll need the numbers of both your mother and boyfriend, is it okay if we access them on your phone?" She asks, she gestures to the clear plastic bag that held all his belongings.

"Oh yeah, okay," He says and the doctor removes his phone from the bag and holds it out to him. He types in his passcode and nods to her, she finds the contact details and writes them onto her clipboard.

"Can you tell me how I got here?" He asks.

"Do you remember the fight?" She asks, placing his phone back into the plastic bag and zipping it up.

"A little...I remember him calling me a faggit," Connor says, "And he punched me,"

"Yes, do you remember the policewoman? And the paramedic?"

"No," He shakes his head.

"Okay, well we're currently waiting for a blood report, which should pick up anything in you system, and we'll be contacting your mother first and asking her permission to let your boyfriend oversee your treatments and such, is that alright?"

"Yes," He says, "Can I get a drink?"

"Of course, I'll ask a nurse to bring you some fresh water," She says, "I'll be back shortly,"

As Connor lies back, his eyes look up to the ceiling and the doctor pauses at the door.

"Connor, may I ask, did you notice anyone tampering with your drinks at all?"

"What?" He asks, glancing back at her.

"Its nothing, you just relax," She says, shaking her head as she leaves the room, she heads straight to the lab, and collects Connor's results. They'd been fast enough, they had found remnants of GHB in his system.

Connor Hartland had been slipped the 'date rape drug' and he had only been saved from rape through a homophobic incident that caused a fight. As Doctor Kaur contacts the police she can't help but wonder what would have happened to the young man in her care if someone hadn't tried to start a fight, or if he'd managed to stumble away from the scene before a police officer saw him. Now she had to contact his mother and boyfriend and then explain to her patient what had happened the previous night, and she couldn't begin to imagine how she would do so.

_______________

thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed!

this was such a hard chapter to write for me as rape and homophobia are too very, very hard things to talk about and to talk about in a way that would be suitable.

i also want to express that i do not condone the use of any homophobic language used in this chapter and it is only used for the purpose of this storyline.

i'd also like to say, i'm sorry if you have been offended or upset by any of the scenes written here, but i did place a warning at the start that sensitive subjects would be mentioned.

much love to the most Savage fam on Wattpad!

~lachys-loch
❤️