Bloody, Brawling Business CH1 (Part 2/2)

 

  Newt sat up on his knees and looked at Ferdinand for a second, expecting him to reach out to help him. When Ferdinand made no attempt to do as such, Newton blamed himself for expecting Ferdinand to act exactly as he wanted, and finished getting to his feet.

  “I’m Newt,” he finally said.

  “Well, another thanks for saving me, Newt. You look a little rough there. How about we go get some dessert. I seem to have a sweet tooth myself and I think it’ll cheer you up.”

  Ignoring his bloodied mouth, possibly broken ribs, and the fact that it was well past his usual bed time, Newton went with Ferdinand. They both stopped at a desert house not too far from where they met and ordered pancakes for each of them. 

  After paying for the dessert, Newton used the restroom to wash out his mouth. The inside of his cheek stung as he swished the water between his teeth and he ended up splashing the mirror with the bloody water as he spat it into the sink. He didn’t leave the restroom before cleaning the sink and wiping the mirror with his white jumper sleeve, after which, Newton sat down with Ferdinand and waited for the pancakes to come.

  Ferdinand was a year younger than Newton and though he had already finished school, Ferdinand was two years from completing it himself. He’d repeated his last year and was fearful that it would happen again. Newton felt bad so he offered to help if needed, he himself scored some coveted marks thanks to his parents who were constantly on his back.

  A little later the food came. Newton went straight for it and cut off a piece of the pancake with the side of his fork. He put it in his mouth but instantly started struggling. The inside of his cut cheek would sting whenever a bit of pancake would touch it, so after his first grueling bite, Newton gave up and gave the rest of his pancake to Ferdinand who was done with it in minutes. After both the plates were empty, the boys exchanged numbers and parted, leaving Newton alone to walk home.

Newton didn’t receive a call from Ferdinand until the following week. Ferdinand had his yearly exams coming up and needed urgent help studying for them. 

  Newton spent a week with Ferdinand, summarising lessons for him and making the content as easy to learn as possible. The hardest part of helping Ferdinand was teaching him skills. It was easy enough to get him to memorise facts and content, but he seemed reluctant to learn about essay structure or any skills that would help with his time management.

  Ferdinand was ecstatic when they received the marks for his first test.

  “Sixty-four percent?”

  “It’s the best I’ve ever done!”

  ‘I have no right to judge,’ Newton thought. ‘If he’s happy with a pass then I should let him be.’

  Ferdinand had shown none of that happiness a month later when he asked Newton for a lift. 

  “I don’t have a car yet,” said Newton

  “You’re almost nineteen! What do you mean you don’t have a car?”

  “I don’t need one yet. I’m not going to take on the responsibility for no reason-”

  Just as Newton had finished his sentence Ferdinand had hung up.

On Ferdinand’s birthday, he pulled up in front of Newt’s house with a new car. 

  “Came to show you what you’re missing out on,” he told Newt. “wanna drive?”

  He let Newt take it for a lap around the block before asking if he could drop him off somewhere. Newt let him out at the public pools where a bunch of Ferdinand's friends were waiting. 

  “We’ll be done in a couple of hours. Have fun with the car!” Ferdinand yelled over the roaring engine. “Oh, and if you could, return it to me with a full tank.”

  Just then is when Newton realised that the tank was almost empty.

It was early December when Newton got the call that Scarlet was in the hospital again. He left the house, having told his parents that it was a work emergency and rushed over.

  When he got to her she was lying in a hospital bed with blood all over its sheets. 

  “W-what happened!?” Newt asked, puffed.

  “I’m just sick again,” said Scarlet calmly.

  “What’s with all the blood?!”

  “I was bleeding, like last time.”

  “When and it stopped just before I came in?” Newton asked, gesturing to the red sheets.

  “No, they cleaned me up before I got put in the bed. All of this is because my IV drip fell out.”

  “The needle was secured quite well,” said the nurse who was removing the bloodied sheets from Scarlet's bed.

  “Obviously not well enough!” said Scarlet with a sass imbued tone. 

  “I put it on, myself. You were picking at the bandaging weren't you? What an unnecessary waste of vital blood.” the Nurse said with a stern look at Scarlet.

  “You’re a waste of vital blood,” Scarlet murmured under her breath.

  The nurse ripped the rest of the sheet off and stuffed it in a wheeled washing basket.

  “Sit down. here, drink this. you look like you’ve sweated all the moisture out of your body," Scarlet said, turning her attention to Newton. She grabbed a water bottle from her bedside table. 

  Newton sat down and took a sip from the bottle. The nurse who’d finished stuffing Scarlet’s scarlet sheets into the washing basket turned around and shrieked.

  “Give that to me!” she said, snatching the bottle out of Newt's hands. 

  “What’s wrong?” asked Newt, failing to keep the water from spilling out of his mouth.

  “What is it now?” said Scarlet at the same time.

  “There's blood on the bottle! Go wash your hands and rinse your mouth. Now!”

  Newton did as he was told. 

  When he got back, the nurse was gone along with Scarlet’s sheets and the bottle.

  “How’s it been?” Scarlet asked Newt as he sat again.

  “Alright. Mum’s forced me to get a new job, I’ve just been on the register at the grocery store,” said Newt. 

  Scarlet nodded along 

  “Been helping Ferd with his gardening as well,” Newt continued.

  Scarlet dragged a long quiet “Ahaa” under her breath.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Newt.

  “You’re very quick to help, Newt, and that’s good. You should always be someone to rely on.” She paused for a moment as if trying to remember what she was talking about. “You’re a good friend and I hope Ferdinand is a good friend to you as well.”

  “So what is it?”

  “You’re kind and kind people are easy to control. Take it from me, and listen carefully.” Scarlet sat up in her bed and Newt looked up, locking eyes with her. “Never let any man have complete control over you.”

Scarlet didn’t leave the hospital for the next few weeks. It was the longest stay she'd ever had and it worried Newt to the point where he constantly had his phone on hand, messaging her. He visited her every chance he could. He watched her go paler and skinnier by the day. At the same time, however, her spirits grew. She seemed to know exactly how to keep Newton calm even as he watched her hopelessly deteriorate.

  He came into her room one day, with a list of jokes he made. He put on a show, acting like a comedy star with his own huge audience. He had planned so many jokes and she laughed at all of them, even the ones he knew she didn’t like.

  “Did you enjoy the show Miss?” he said with a big grin once he had finished. “Would you like an autograph? Maybe some merch?”

  She giggled. “You’re good at this, you know. You shouldn’t be sad, everything’s all right.”

  Her comment hit Newt through the heart. This was the first time it ever caused him pain that Scarlet could read his emotions so easily. 

  Throughout the rest of her time in the hospital he kept on checking up on her, and she kept replying to his texts, assuring him that she was ok and she’d be out soon. She started brainstorming ideas of what they could do when she got out and if maybe he could come and stay a weekend at her place for once. 

  It was the twenty-third of December when he got a call from the hospital. As the only person who’d admit to being Scarlet’s family member, he was her soul emergency contact.

  “She’s in critical condition. You should come down as soon as you can,” said the hospital’s reception over the phone.

  Newt was in panic. He instantly called Ferdinand. The phone rang five times before Ferdinand finally picked it up.

  “What’s up?” Ferdinand yelled over blaring music on his end.

  “I need a lift to the hospital. My sister-”

  “I can’t. I’m at a party with some friends.”

  “You don’t understand!” yelled Newt. “My sister-”

  “Keep your voice down Newton!” yelled Newt’s mother from downstairs. 

  “Newt, I’ll talk to you later,” said Ferdidnand “There's something I might need you to do.” He hung up.

  Newt instantly tried calling back but Ferdinand didn’t pick up. ‘Is he serious,’ thought Newt. ‘What am I supposed to do?’.

  He didn’t want to resort to it but Newton rushed downstairs to the living room. His mother and father were on the couch watching TV. 

  “We need to go to the hospital now! Scarlet-”

  “What did you say? Scarlet!” his mother interjected. She had a shocked look on her face.

  “Scarlet, she’s in critical condition. We need to go now!”

  “I’ve told you many times to stay away from that girl!” Said his father. “Go to your room. You’re not going anywhere tonight.

  “Do you not care about your own daughter?!” said Newton

  “She’s no daughter of ours!” said his mother

  “She’s blood! And she’s dy-” yelled Newt.

  “That’s besides the point!” His mother interrupted again.

   Newton was taken back for a moment. He paused, organising his thoughts. Was it not a given that someone should at least care about their own blood?

  “You’re right,” Newton finally said. “Blood is besides the point. I couldn’t if you died this instant any more than you care about Scarlet. And I need not say that means I couldn’t care at all.”

  “What the hell-” His father started, but Newton didn’t hear the rest. He was already storming out of the house.

  He burst into the hospital hours later and pushed his way right to the front of the reception desk, but it was too late. The paperwork had already been processed. Scarlet was deceased