Chapter 13 his own misery

Chapter 13 his own misery
Madelyn did what he asked and slowly lifted her head up. Fred grimaced in pain when he saw the exact condition of the bruises.
“Bstard.” He muttered angrily but started rubbing the ointment on the bruises gently. He followed his grandma’s instructions and kept the pressure as light as he could.
“Who will take care of your meal tonight?” He asked Madelyn in a concerned tone while rubbing the ointment.
“Stella.” Madelyn only spoke her name. Although Fred wasn’t applying the pressure, she was in pain.
Fred stiffened when he felt pain in her voice.
He knew that she got slight internal injuries too, but with her grandma’s prescription, Madelyn will be healed soon, but she will be in pain for at least two days.
“What? Stella is still here?” he asked her in astonishment, stopping the application of the ointment in the process.
Madelyn nodded in agreement but closed her eyes.
She was in pain, but she was feeling dizzy.
"Where is she? Will she come back?" Fred asked her in panic.
"Yeah." Madelyn replied with great difficulty, and her eyes almost rolled back.
“Maddie??? Hey…. What’s wrong?” he asked her worriedly when he noticed that her eyes were unfocused.
“Lie down. You will feel better.” He immediately wiped his hand on his pants and adjusted the cushions to make her lie down.
Madelyn didn’t resist. He gently changed the position of her body.
His first instinct after hearing Stella's name was to run away as soon as possible, but he couldn't muster the courage to leave Madelyn in this state alone.
"Forget it. Why do I need to run away? I did nothing wrong." He muttered to himself while adjusting the pillows.
“I am feeling dizzy.” She complained in a very low and slurred tone.
“I am going to make something for you to drink.” He looked around while talking to Madelyn and saw a folded sheet on the bed.
He ran towards the bed and took the sheet.
Madelyn closed her eyes as her head was really spinning badly.
Fred covered her with the sheet, but he paled in worry.
Madelyn sighed softly and adjusted herself on the couch to get a comfortable position, especially for her neck.
Fred walked towards the kitchen while dialing his grandma’s number.
He could feel that something was wrong with Madelyn. For the first time, he felt a protective urge towards her.
“Grandma. I applied the ointment on her neck. She…. She has internal swelling on the left side of her neck, and … and she is dizzy… her eyes are unfocused.” Fred explained Madelyn’s condition to his grandma while looking for vegetables or fruits to make a soup for Madelyn.
“Did anything else happen to her at that time, Fred? She can be in pain, but unfocused eyes and dizziness are not because of the injury.” His grandma asked him in a concerned voice.
“I…. I think she had a panic attack. I don’t know the details, but something happened to her when she was young, leaving a trauma to her.” Fred told her in a low voice, looking at Madelyn cautiously.
He found some ingredients, and he started the preparation while talking to his grandma.
Madelyn heard him clearly and felt a pain in her chest too.
So, they all knew that something happened to her apart from being abandoned by her mother.
And yet they kept on harassing her, hurting her for a momentary pleasure.
She had no thought about what Fred was doing for her, but after listening to him, she wanted to yell at him to get out of her home, but the pain in her neck was still unbearable.
“No, Grandma. I found her when she was having a panic attack. I did nothing to hurt her, I swear. Whe…. When she recovers, you can ask her.” Fred swore desperately when his grandmother scolded him suspiciously.
“I am preparing egg drop soup for her, Grandma. Will it help her a bit?” Fred asked her worriedly, still glancing at Madelyn from time to time.
His grandma instructed a few things and then hung up.
Fred didn’t know what to talk about with Madelyn when she couldn’t speak.
“You know, Maddie. I am a good cook.” He spoke to her, glancing at her while prepping for the soup.
Madelyn didn’t react but slowly opened her eyes, looking at her blankly.
“My parents…. Both are working. So, they barely spend time with me. I didn’t like food prepared by my nanny or the chef Mom hired at a high salary. I was… ummmmm. …. I was only 10 at that time. I complained to Mom, but she didn’t listen to me and asked me not to be childish and to show my gratitude to the people who work hard for my comfort. Can you believe that?” He didn’t know why he was telling her all this, but the words came out of his mouth automatically.
“I threw tantrums, went on hunger strike, and even ran away from home in the hope that they would pay attention to me and would listen to me, but I was so wrong. They brought me back home, and Dad locked me in my room for two days straight – no food, no water, nothing else.” He only wanted to speak something to Madelyn to distract her but felt heavy in his chest when those memories surfaced at the back of his mind.
“What do you want to do after school?” Madelyn asked him in a low voice.
He blinked, coming out of his trance, and looked at her in confusion, trying to process what she asked.
She didn’t speak but stared at him, waiting for him to answer.
“After school?” he asked to confirm that he heard her right.
She slightly bobbed her head in response.
Fred smiled bitterly. “What else? Finish my graduation with the majors selected by my parents. They want me to pursue medicine, but I don’t want to do that.” He replied in a bitter tone, concentrating on preparing the soup.
“I want to become a pilot, you know? A fighter pilot, to be specific.” He added it with a light chuckle, laughing at his own wishful thinking.
Madelyn listened to him intently and felt his disappointment towards himself.
“Let me guess what you want to do after school.” Fred changed the topic, and Madelyn smiled at his attempt at masking his own misery.
“You are good in math, and I heard that David is pursuing you to join the math club. You …. You should go to research.” Fred speculated while giving her a knowing look.
She slowly shook her head.
“No?” He speculated her answer in a surprised tone.
“My father was an aeronautical engineer.” Madelyn told him in the same low and hoarse voice, but she was now feeling better.
Fred’s eyes widened in surprise.
Of course, this was something related to aircraft. He was amazed and wanted to know more about Madelyn’s father, but she can’t speak much.
He lit the gas and put the pot on it after preparing everything for the soup.
"What are you doing here?"