The room was silent after the doctor stopped talking, Sylva concentrating on the lab results, triple checked by 3 separate equipment with calibration checks done in between. 9 identical results all were showing the same results. Her son's blood were normal except in 2 key areas: the scourge was present at a rate 5 and a half time higher than any medical case report she had ever read and he had an equal amount of an unidentified type of Eosinophils, the white cells that deal with parasitic infestations.
She looked out the corner of her eyes, seeing her husband bring their sleeping closer to himself, their eyes meeting briefly before Lance's dipped down to his son. Raising her gaze to meet the doctor's, Sylva declared, '' I will be bringing my son back to Insomnia, the levels in his blood indicate a lengthy infection which my son has never shown any signs of and which simply proves that he is harmless.''
Doctor Ranbor waits patiently for Sylva to finish, ''Unfortunately that is not your choice. I understand your concern about your… child but a plague infected patient cannot be released from our care if their blood level is about a certain thresh hold. You told me you were a nurse in Insomnia. Surely you must know the directives concerning such cases yourself.'' He got up, '' The hunters have been warned and so has the Crownsguard in Insomnia. You and your husband are free to leave if you so desire but your son will remain here under direct observation until a more permanent decision is made concerning his case.''
Lance tightened his grip on his son, making Prompto grunt in pain as his father accidently pressed on his injured arm. '' We are not leaving him alone and we are not staying here.'' He knew what his wife was going to say and do if he didn't step in. ''What about the other man? The one who saved Prompto, how is he?''
Sylva had gotten up, her hands crushing the papers in her grip but her anger was interrupted by her husband saying what she had in mind, though in a more polite way of saying it. She walked briskly over to her family and sat down on the over side of her boy, leaning over to wrap her arm around her boys.
The doctor sighed, he was a father himself but he was duty bound to his oath to protect and help those in need even if it means protecting others from his patients. '' He is out of surgery and will live though it will be a while before he wakes up. His blood came back clean from the scourge.'' He hesitate a bit before heading towards the door. On the other side, Lance and Sylva could see 2 hunters standing on either side of the door. It was obvious why they were there.
Cor Leonis woke up sore, tired and with a scattered mind; a feeling he knew all too well after a long fight. He didn't bother opening his eyes, knowing from experience that doing so would only give him a headache. His memories were a bit fuzzy and confused, he clearly remembered being surrounded by daemons and then…. The memory of a slightly overweight, pale skinned with blond hair and clear blue eyes caused him to open his eyes then close them shut from the pain.
His movement were noticed by someone as a soft spoken voice called out to him, ''Sir? Can you hear me?'' A gloved hand slipped into his, '' Don't try to speak or move, just squeeze my hand if you can hear me?'' Cor's sluggish mind took a few seconds to process what was said before he was able to respond by squeezing the nurse's hand. '' Very good, my name is Elis and I am your have been unconscious for 2 days now. You needed surgery when you arrived, it went well and you are expected to make a full recovery.''
The voice continued in the same soft way, ''You are receiving several medications to prevent infections and to help with your pain. The last ones are known to make a person groggy. I have a few more questions to ask you, I need you to try to squeeze my hand once for yes and twice for no. Do you understand?'' Cor had gotten used to the nurse's voice and his mind was steadier and faster to understand the situation. He squeezed the nurse's hand once.
'' You are doing well; I'm going to diminish the light now. When I count to 3 I want you to try and open your eyes again. Do you understand?'' Cor squeezed once more; the gloved hand moved out of his own. A few seconds later, the voice came back, '' 1,2,3.'' Cor Leonis slowly opened his eyes, he had to blink a few times before he could make out anything other than blurred objects.
As he had expected, Cor was in a hospital room, the white surroundings typical of hospitals. He had a mask over his mouth and nose; slowly moving his head sideways, he spotted what he assumed to be his nurse. The person was tall, close to 5'10; dark brown hair and brown eyes on a smiling face. Elis approached slowly, grabbing a glass of water that had been sitting on a small table beside his bed.
'' Can you try to drink this? We've been keeping you hydrated through your IV but you might still be thirsty.'' Cor grunted and he pushed himself to a sitting position, his body felt heavy and sore and he needed help from Elis to sit back comfortably against the headboard of his bed. His movements were slow but steady as he grabbed the glass of water and after removing the mask, drank slowly from it.
He had been in similar situations before and didn't need Elis to tell him not to drink too much nor too quickly. While he did so, Elis continued to talk with him, measuring his reactions and reflexes while they did. Cor learnt that he was still in Galdin Quai, he had needed surgery to stop some internal bleeding that couldn't be stopped by potions nor elixirs. He would have a few new scars to add to his ever growing collection. He had answered a few questions about his identity, slightly amused at his nurse's reaction to his name.
'' What of the boy, Prompto? Is he alright?'' He needed to know if the boy was safe. Elis looked at him with surprise then grinned, '' The young boy is alive, his only injury was a cut on his upper right arm. It required a few stitches and will leave a scar but will likely make a full recovery.'' Elis hesitated for a few second, his smile fading. '' I cannot tell you much more but neither him nor his parents have left the hospital since they arrived.''
Cor frowned, it was unusual for a simple cut, even one requiring stitches to require prolonged hospitalization. Something else was going on but he knew that the nurse couldn't say anything more and doubted they knew anything either. He had an idea why that might be, if his memories were correct and that the boy's blood had indeed reacted to the daemons on that night.
Still, his body reminded him he was still in no condition to do anything more than rest and recover as he slipped back into sleep. He could figure out what to do when he woke up, the boy would still be there.
It took an extra day before the doctors in charge of his care declared him well enough to receive visitors after being moved out of the ICU and into a private room. He had expected to see a few hunters, perhaps even Dave himself if he was in the region but in the end the first visitors he received were the blond boy and his parents.
Cor Leonis stared in slight amusement when Prompto knocked on his door and entered without really waiting for a reply. A thin man followed after him quickly, scolding him quietly for being impolite and the importance of waiting before entering closed rooms. Behind them stood a woman Cor had not seen in quite a while.
''Sylva?'' his surprise was visible as he stared at the woman. Sylva was grinning in amusement as she entered the room and joined her son and husband. '' Hey Cor, it's been a while. May I introduce to you my husband Lance?'' she motioned to the tall man, ''and my son, who you have already meet, Prompto.''
Prompto tilted his head, he had learnt the name of the man who had saved his life a few hours ago, and had been puzzled by his mother's reaction to the name. His father had explained to him that Cor Leonis was a well known Crownsguard and had been called the Immortal by many but had stayed silent on his beloved's amusement.
Prompto gave a small bow to the injured man, still looking a bit pale and tired to the young boy, '' Thank you for saving me Mister Leonis.'' Cor's attention shifted to the boy quickly enough even as Sylva chuckled fondly.
'' I should be the one thanking you young man,'' came the reply, '' the doctor told me that your first aid saved my life. So why don't we call it even?'' Cor extended an hand towards the blond and waited patiently.
Prompto couldn't help but stare and stammer as he processed what Cor had told him, he a simple commoner had saved the life of a great warrior like Cor? After a few silent minutes as Prompto simply stared at the outreached hand, Lance knelt down and put an arm around his son, '' I think he's waiting for you to shake his hand, Prompto.'' Prompto nodded once, moving his eyes to meet his mother's who smiled and nodded herself before reaching out to shake Cor's hand.
Cor's hand was rough from years of fighting and training but his handshake was firm and calm which helped calm Prompto down enough for the child to ask a burning question, '' How do you know mom? You know her right? If you know mom, why haven't I ever seen you before? How did you do that cool whooshing thing?''
Cor was slightly stunned by the sudden barrage of questions then laughed, he ignored the pain that the sudden movement caused in order to answer the cheerful boy's questions. ''Calm down a bit, I'll answer what I can. Let's start with the first one ok?'' He patted the side of his bed, '' It's a bit of a long story so I'll just give you the short version.'' He waited until the boy clambered to sit gingerly on the bed, carefully not to hurt him.
Sylva and Lance smiled at each other, Lance knew the many stories that involved his wife and Cor but hearing them from Cor's perspective would be interesting. Not to mention that Prompto had been withdrawn and very silent the last few days only cheering up when he had been told he could visit Cor and see how he was for himself. The parents had decided to keep the real reason for their prolonged stay at the hospital secret for now and simply told Prompto they wanted to thank their son's savior themselves.
'' I grew up in the same neighborhood as Sylva, your mother.'' Cor leaned back as he recounted his memories. '' We were in the same class for most of our childhood but until we were a bit younger then you, we hadn't really talked to each other.'' Prompto was already drawn into the story and the deep voice that told it.
'' One day after school, she showed up in front of my house and demanded I help her plan something.'' He grinned at the memory, '' Your mother had quite the reputation for being a prankster and had never been caught in planning or pulling any of them. I ended up spending the next 2 hours planning how to change make the new school banner change from saying 'To the future of Insomnia' into one that seemed to be covered in blood when it rained. It worked perfectly and we never quite stopped doing them over the years.''
Sylva chimed in, '' You could have stopped me at anytime and as I recall you're the one who decided to prank the King's parade.'' Cor shoot back, '' Only because if I hadn't you would have tried to pull a prank in the Citadel himself and would have gotten in even worst trouble!'' His voice sounded amused more then anything.
Prompto laughed, '' I had no idea mom knew how to pull pranks! But why did you stop being friends?'' Cor turned back towards the boy, '' I don't think we ever stopped really being friends but after the prank on the Parade, I was asked to train for the crownsguard and did so. Sylva took extra classes and well, I left when I was 15 to help King Regis with some negotiations. By the time we came back, I was too busy to do much more then send her a message every once in a while and we grew apart.''
Cor looked a bit sad before turning his gaze to Lance, '' Sylva told me about you but I never had the time to meet you before the wedding. And then I got called out before I could talk with you anyways.'' Lance inclined his head, '' I recall the day, Sylva had been planning quite a surprise for you but you left before she could enact her plan. She was quite mad at the affair and spent most of the night complaining about all the wasted planning. And how she would prank you next time we meet. I'm looking forward to seeing her plan for the occasion.'' Cor lost his smile and glared at Sylva, who smiled innocently at the man. Prompto looking between his parents and a man he was already mentally calling uncle.