Page 84 of Bend Him, Break Him
Colton wanted to scream, to demand Isaac retrieve it, to warn him that Leon had another weapon.
As expected and feared, Leon pulled out his knife and began swinging chaotically at Isaac, who darted back, avoiding the erratic swipes.
Isaac didn’t remain on the defensive very long. No, his feet moved to strengthen his stance, and his arms weaved in a way that drew Leon into an unsuspecting trap. Colton had seen this movement before, but only in a flash of a few seconds. This was the same technique Isaac had used when Colton foolishly attempted to attack him and ended up flipped over and knocked onto the ground.
But Isaac didn’t snatch Leon up and hurl him away. Instead, he pivoted to break Leon’s grip on his knife and twisted their bodies around in such a way that, even from the outside, Colton had difficulty tracking Isaac’s movements.
One moment, they were swirling, the glint of the blade shining under the blacklights of the room. A blink later, Leon was screaming, and blood was everywhere.
“You motherfucker!” Leon shouted.
“Can we normalize fatherfucker?” Isaac asked, aloof and wearing a twisted smirk. “Because I’d never bang your mom, but I’d one hundred percent bend your daddy over.”
“Aaaaahhhh!” Leon shouted, grabbing ahold of his forearm as he stared at the blade protruding from his wrist. His throwing arm. Colton suspected Isaac knew that, too. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the crazy homophobe swinging a knife at me and hurling slurs.” Isaac shrugged. “Not sure why you’re screaming at me. You’re the one who came at me. I just returned the weapon to sender. I didn’t even charge you postage. Very friendly on my part.”
“Stop making jokes!” Leon screamed. “This is serious, you fucking psychopath!”
“Yeah, very serious.” Isaac eyed Leon, his injury, the room and the situation. “But I’m not the psycho here.”
“You fucking stabbed me.”
“Once again, I defended myself against your assault. First with the bat, then the knife. You’ve already drugged someone. Who knows what other weapons you have on your person?” Isaac’s eyes flitted over to the phone propped on the dresser, the one recording everything, the one Leon had at the ready for an awful assault. “Your attack. An attack on me because I interrupted your attempted sexual assault on my boyfriend. Not cool.”
Isaac framed his words in such a way that it carefully laid out all of Leon’s culpability. Colton found himself awed by Isaac’s strategic mind, but he knew Leon had already confessed to his part in tonight and everything else he’d arranged. That phone held all the evidence they needed. Now, he just needed to pray that Isaac didn’t do something impulsive like murder Leon on camera.
“I wasn’t—” The pain must’ve hit Leon’s nerves hard because he stopped mid-sentence and winced.
“Yeah, you might want to go get that checked out. Like, stat. Before it becomes permanent.” Isaac nodded, then held up a hand to count off. “Next thing you know, you won’t be able to usethat hand to write, to jerk off, to wipe your ass, to throw things at unsuspecting gays, to play baseball, to—”
At that, Leon’s eyes went wide, the realization finally sinking in that this pain might leave lasting damage, that it might be a career-ending blow. He bolted past Isaac, his feet stumbling as he ran out of the room.
“Rude.” Isaac brushed imaginary dust off his shirt. “Didn’t even say excuse me.”
Colton gurgled, attempting to say ‘excuse me’ in a sarcastic snarky way. An utter failure since he couldn’t even form the words, let alone the attitude.
Isaac’s demeanor completely shifted when his gaze fully landed on Colton. It was as if he’d avoided directly staring at him when he entered the room, and for good reason. Colton saw the calm in Isaac’s piercing blue eyes gloss over; he watched Isaac’s body become rigid as he fought off a nervous tremble. Soon, he collected himself and swooped over beside Colton, examining him to the best of his abilities.
“You’re okay,” he said, repeating the words again and again more to himself than to Colton who he repositioned, gently rolling him onto his side. “I’m gonna call help, all right?”
Colton moved his jaw, ignoring the tingling pain, but he still couldn’t form words.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Thehours following Leon’s deranged plan left Isaac dazed. Between the hospital visit, where Isaac spent more time avoiding medical treatment to check on Colton, and the grueling examination of Isaac’s throbbing arm, it was no wonder he hadn’t erupted on the poor medical staff trying to help him.
He had two fractures in his humerus bone, on the upper bicep where Leon’s bat hit particularly hard. He had another fracture in his forearm but couldn’t recall the name since apparently there were a lot of bones in his arm, and his doctor felt the need to review all of them. Surprisingly, Isaac only had one break located in whatever the other forearm bone was called. He could handle the pain, any pain, so long as he knew Colton was okay. That said, he hated the uncomfortable sling wrapped around his arm and the already itchy cast.
While the hospital visit had been excruciating with the waiting, the testing, the waiting again, the lectures, the explanations, the billing information Isaac wouldn’t be able to follow up on, he was grateful when they discharged him. Though only after a lengthy review of recovery timelines, physical therapy, and potential surgery. Isaac didn’t care. He needed to see Colton, who had an even longer wait time.
As if the hospital wasn’t exhausting enough, soon came the questions from the police. Witness statements. Victim statements. A barrage of questions that felt leading to Isaac, so eventually, he told them to watch the video and leave him alone. When they badgered him for clarification, when they insisted he needed to cooperate, when they wanted him to go over the timeline of events for a third time, Isaac told them to fuck off.
“Listen, young man, you attacked another person,” the officer said, side-stepping and blocking Isaac’s path in the sterile hospital hallway. “It’s important you cooperate so we can clear you of possible assault charges.”
“For defending myself?”
“Ifyour actions are deemed within the bounds of self-defense,” the officer clarified. “Some might consider stabbing someone an excessive action, and if I don’t feel your story adds up, there might be a need to continue this conversation down at the station.”
