Page 79 of Shuttered Hearts

I lean forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead and lingering. “Let’s go see him. We’ll figure the rest out later.”

She nods her head against me, and we turn to follow Caleb out of the waiting room.

“He’s a little out of it from the meds, but he shouldn’t be feeling any pain,” Caleb says quietly when we make it to his room. “We’re working to get him a bed upstairs, so he shouldn’t be here much longer.” He watches us enter before he turns to leave.

Tyler’s eyes are closed when we enter the room, so we do so quietly, both of us taking the seats to the side of his bed.

“I don’t understand it,” Quinn whispers. “I’ll never understand how a parent can hit their child, no matter what, but Tyler is a good kid.”

“I know.” I reach for her hand, needing the comfort myself.

Quinn’s only known him for a few months, but she’s right, he’s a good kid. This is my third year teaching him, and whilehe’s always been a bit of a class clown, it wasn’t until this year his behavior warranted being written up. I chalked it up to his deadbeat of a father finally leaving him for good, but I never thought his mother would be the cause of all his strife.

Tyler and I have gotten close over the last three years. He’d stay after school most days I offered extra studio hours. He didn’t always have schoolwork, but he’d come and chat with me while I helped other students. I assumed he was trying to avoid going home so he wouldn’t have to deal with his father. As far as I knew, while his dad was a deadbeat, he never hurt Tyler. Not that it was any better, but Tyler told me his dad ignored him, acting like he didn’t exist.

I think that’s what confuses me now. Tyler had told me about his home life. How his dad was never faithful to his mom, but she always took him back. How his mom tried to keep Tyler out of his dad’s hair but that she was always around when he needed her. I wanted to do something about it, but legally, there wasn’t anything wrong with what was going on in his home. I may not have liked it, but that didn’t make it unsafe for him.

I’m struggling to understand that he told me about everything going on with his dad but didn’t tell me what his mom had been doing since his dad left. Was there more he wasn’t telling us about?

“You’re here.” Tyler’s quiet voice breaks through the silence.

“Where else would we be?” I ask softly, placing my free hand on his arm.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers so quietly I almost miss it.

“No. You don’t apologize for a single thing,” Quinn tells him sternly. “You’ve done nothing to deserve this, so no apologies.”

“Tyler, what happened?” I ask.

“I don’t know.” His voice cracks, and I see a tear trail down the side of his face.

“Just start at the beginning. What’s been going on?” I urge.

“It started after my dad left. I think my mom thought he would come back, and when he didn’t, she got so angry. She’s never been an amazing mom, but she’s also never been mean.”

“Has she ever hit you before?” Quinn asks.

Tyler hesitates, his eyes searching for mine. I gently squeeze his arm, trying to tell him it’s okay. “Just tell the truth.”

“She never hit me before Dad left,” he finally says. “It was like something flipped in her brain. She started blaming me for everything. Telling me it was my fault he cheated on her, that it was my fault he left.” He looks at me again. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“No, Tyler. I don’t want you to worry about that right now.”

“If I had just told you when you asked, I wouldn’t be here now.”

“Tyler, trust me when I say you can’t think like that. You cannot blame yourself for other people’s actions. There is no excuse for you being here right now. Nothing makes it okay.” I reach for Quinn, hearing the strain in her voice.

“She’s right. Nothing you did excuses your mother’s actions.”

There’s a knock at the door before it opens. Caleb steps into the room, Gage Flynn, a local deputy, behind him.

“Hey, Tyler, this is Deputy Flynn. He’s got a few questions for you about what happened this evening,” Caleb says before turning to Quinn and me. “Why don’t you two step into the hall with me for a minute?”

“Do they have to?” Tyler asks, trying to sit up in the bed.

“Whoa, hold up there.” I reach for Tyler when he winces in pain.

“I don’t want them to go.” Tyler ignores me and pushes himself to sit, looking at Gage.

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