"Hey Connor..." The unconscious boy heard a foreign yet familiar voice. It was quite quiet and masculine, yet soft at the same time. He had definitely spoken to the person before though.

"Hey Conman!" A slightly louder and much more well known voice spoke up. Jared Kleinman. That means the other boy was Evan, but why were they visiting him? He knew he had mentioned them in his note, but that doesn't mean they had to see him. He was just apologising...

"I'm sorry man, I really hope you're okay." Jared again, but why was he sorry? Sure, the guy was a dickhead at the best of times, and he did pick on Connor a bit, but he wasn't that bad. Sometimes, only sometimes, the teen could be kinda funny. Connor wouldn't admit it, but he didn't mind Kleinman.

"I'm sorry if I said anything-g to up-pset you..." Evan trailed off. Why did he think he'd done something. It was Connor who pushed him against the lockers and shouted at him, not the other way around... 

He heard a slight suffling and presumed the boys had left him alone, but then he heard a startled gasp from the doorway and a chair be knocked over. "Oh, I'm so sorry, who are you?" His mother. Of course. She had hardly left his side while he'd been in the hospital, and she never stopped speaking. It was as if she had nothing else to do with her life. Like, Connor understood that he was in a coma of sorts, but why did she care now? She had never cared about him before...

"Oh, sorry Mrs Murphy. I'm Jared Kleinman and that's Evan Hansen. Sorry he knocked over the chair, I think you startled him." The least anxious of the two spoke up, putting on a polite façade for Cynthia. He let out a soft chuckle as Connor's mum started apologising profoundly.

"Thank you for visiting him, he could probably do with the company..." Wow, thanks mum. Why did she think that Connor wanted them here. Like, sure he wasn't annoyed that they visited him, but she didn't know that. She didn't even know who the were for god's sake. All that she was aware of was that Connor apologised to them for something. "He's not been the best mentally, obviously, and I think he could do with a friend or two."

"You know, it's rude to talk about people." Connor found himself speaking up. Hi throat hurt and the bright light of the room hurt his eyes, but the pain was manageable. He probably should have guessed that using his voice would pain him, with him being unconscious for over a week, but he didn't really think before speaking up. Actually, he didn't think he would speak out loud.

Cynthia let out a loud gasp and rushed to take her son into a tight, albeit one sided, embrace while Evan went to find a nurse in the hallway. Connor opened his eyes fully, his eyes adapting to the intense light and looked around, surprised to find he had his own room. His mother probably paid someone for that. His father most definitely didn't and he knew that not everyone would get their own room usually.

"Heyy Conman." Jared said, trying to be quiet as not to give the comatose boy a headache. Connor appreciated that. It was a small gesture, but a sweet one. 

"Hey Asshole" 

"Hey Connor," Evan smiled sweetly in Connor's direction followed by a woman who looked around 30. "This is my mum Heidi..." The woman was wearing a green uniform, so he guessed she was a nurse at the hospital.

She looked like a kind woman. He eyes were welcoming, but unmistakably tired. Pieces of her dirty blonde hair fell out of her scrunchy at the back making her look scruffy and fatigued. She must have been a beautiful young woman at some point, but work drains people.

Cynthia finally released him from her death grip and gave him a loving look before sitting in the seat next to Jared. She looked just as drained as Heidi actually. She must have been kept awake by the thought of her son being in a hospital bed.

"No offense mum... Actually, take all the offense you want, but why are you here?" Connor asked bitterly. She had never cared before. Last time he cut too deep, he woke up to an empty hospital room and a doctor saying that no-one had visited him. So much for loving parents.

 "Connor, why would you ask that?" She had a pained expression on her face as she reached out to grab his hand, only for him to snatch it away and hold it to his chest. Heidi took this as her cue to leave.

"Well, you didn't come last time! You say you care all the time, but you don't! You're a fucking liar and you know it!" The bedridden boy's eyes were watering rapidly as he screamed in his mother face. He took a deep breath before muttering  quiet "leave".

She didn't move.

"I SAID GET OUT!" The Murphy boy screamed as loud as he could, tears streaming down his face. In a moment of recklessness, he threw a pillow in her direction, hitting her in the head. Finally, she accepted the teen's wishes and left the room swiftly.

The room was filled with a silence. Connor didn't usually mind the quiet. He thought that it was good to have peace in a world which was always too lively. Too raucous. Too much. However this silence was also loud. The quiet seemed screech at him. Ambush him for being the one to cause the tense atmosphere choking all the boys in the room.

"You can sit down" Connor muttered at Evan who had been lingering uncomfortably at the foot of the bed. The boy in question shuffled over to the seat that was once inhabited by the older of the Murphys and got to work at picking the skin surrounding his nails.

"Sorry about that..." Jared looked up, surprised at the long haired boy's apology. "It's just, she was acting like she was concerned about me, but she isn't really. She goes through these phases of caring about different things. I guess this time it's being a mother." He let out a dry chuckle.

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Shit chapter again. Just needed to get Heidi introduced, Connor awake and some Murphy family tension worked in there before I make the boys interact properly. Sorry about how short the chapters are. Next time should have some more light hearted stuff in, but be expecting sibling drama at the end too. Still not proofreading because I am a lazy author, so tell me if you see a mistake. See ya!