"He needs ze rest, and so do you, Herr Sniper. You haven't left his side in ze past four hours." A German-accented voice broke the silence, interrupting the boy's peaceful sleep.
"I'm not going until he gets better." The BLU Sniper argued stubbornly.
"Du sind unerbittlich! Fine! You can stay, but only for another hour. If any of my team comes in, and you are caught…"
"I know, I know, Doc. Y'don't have to remind me every time I come over." Scout's eyes opened at the BLU's words. "S-snipes? S'that you?" he mumbled.
"Hey gremlin. How ya' feeling?"
"Honestly? Like shit."
Sniper chuckled. "Sorry t'hear that, mate. The Doc says you can leave the med-bay on Wednesday."
"Really? Sweet!"
"But…" Sniper added quietly.
"But what?"
"Scout…" He sighed. "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the Doc and I agree that it's better for me to tell you…"
"Tell me what, Snipes?"
"You won't be able to run any more…" He said quietly.
"WHAT?" Scout yelled, then winced in pain. It hurt his chest to yell that loudly. "What do you mean, I can't run any more? Both my legs are perfectly fine!"
"Scout… you don't have both your legs." Sniper whispered.
Scout's eyes grew wide. "No, no no no. There's a hidden camera in here, right? You're punking me! Right?" His voice grew shrill. "Right?"
"I wish we were, Scout. I really wish we were…"
Scout struggled to pull the blankets off his body, not able to in his weakened state.
"Here mate, I'll help you." Sniper slowly pulled back the blanket, revealing Scout's full body.
"Oh god… I think I'm gonna be sick…" Scout mumbled, closing his eyes.
Sniper felt nauseated when he looked at Scout's leg. His right leg was completely normal, but his left leg ended at the knee. The RED's Medic had needed to amputate it, or infection would have spread across his body and killed him.
Scout's stump ended right above the knee, and it was wrapped in a clean bandage. "Snipes…" the boy whispered. "What's going to happen to me?"
Sniper knew that his friend wasn't talking about his physical health. "I don't know, mate."
"If I lose this job… They don't let people just quit… They don't let anybody out alive."
"I know…"
"Are they going to kill me?"
"I won't let anybody touch ya, mate. I promise." Sniper whispered, taking the younger boy's hand in his.
