"You're damn lucky he's alive. But unfortunately for you, he's pretty messed up right about now."
"I didn't fuckin' do it! It's not my fault!"
"Bullshit if you didn't do it! You were right on top of him!"
"Performing CPR! Look- you can't keep me here. I know my rights."
This was seldom true- Axel hadn't really paid any mind to his Social Studies class in high school. He knew the basic Miranda rights; although that was probably because the policeman had read them in monotone as the burst through the door, just as he attempted to give another breath of life to the young man.
"Your rights? You'd like to believe that, wouldn't you. Just sit here, and we'll see what your rights can offer you."
The policeman left the room, leaving Axel in the blank interrogation room, leaving him with nothing but lingering words with a bitter aftertaste.
The child nuzzled against his parent's leg.
"Mommy, is Venny gonna be okay? Why is he sleeping?"
Sora ran a hand through Roxas' hair.
"Yeah Roxy, he's going to get better."
Sora scrunched his face, looking towards the ceiling in an attempt to stay calm. Riku squeezed Sora's hand, and shifted in the uncomfortable waiting room chair. They had been waiting for about three hours, to the cold fear and wonder of what had become of Ventus's life.
Finally, a man with a crisp white coat came through the doors. Sora hungrily sought out little things. Did the doctor trudge or walk with a sorrow? Did he have a solemn expression on his face, or did he have an exhausted look in his eyes?
When the answer, for the most part, came to a 'no', Sora held his breath as the doctor approached them.
"Hello, are you the family of Ventus Amoré ?"
"Yeah, essentially. Is he going to be okay?" Riku began to chew on his lower lip.
"I'm afraid to tell you that he went into shock not too long ago. There was a large cerebrial contusion, but he's made it through. However, he may not remember anything that's happened recently."
"How recently?"
"When he woke up he didn't say. He was terrified and confused though."
"Did he say anything about a guy with red hair?"
"No."
Sora nodded, and the doctor patted his shoulder.
"I'll let you know when he's awake again."
Sora ran a hand through his hair, breathing out,
"I can't believe it. How did this happen again? I mean, I've known Ven a while and he isn't the type to just put himself out to guys like that freak."
Riku placed a hand at the nape of Sora's neck and rubbed gently, trying to will away the stress.
"I don't know Ven, but I know Axel. He's sleezy, but he wouldn't hurt anyone."
Sora pushed Riku away.
"You don't know that. That psycho was in our apartment! I've had experience with Axel, believe it or not. Look, Roxas was there and he could've been hurt- god knows Ven was. Who else could it have been, Riku?"
Riku shrugged.
"I don't know, but it wasn't Axel. He might be different, and likes to frequent the bottle, but he's not a psycopath. Trust me. In fact... I have to talk to you later, about Roxas."
Roxas pulled on Sora's pant leg.
"Mommy, is the scary guy gonna come fo' me too?"
Sora shook his head and picked up Roxas, who stuck out his tongue and nuzzled his Sora's shoulder.
"No buddy, he's not going to come back." Sora narrowed his eyes at Riku, saying coldly, "It's about time to go home. I'll talk to you about this later."
"Right. I'll, uh, call you later then... right?"
Sora was tucking Roxas in when the child made a face.
"Mommy?"
The man blinked, rubbing the corner of his eye. Sleep was calling for him with a megaphone.
"What's up, little man? You have to go to bed. We've had a long day, and thankfully tomorrow I don't have class, so I'll stay home with you."
Roxas shifted on the bed.
"Why don't you touch me like Riku does?"
Sora blinked hard, making sure he was still awake.
"What do you mean, bud?"
"Well..." Roxas looked away. "No, I'm not allowed to teeellll...Riku said not to..."
Sora put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey little man, you can tell me anything. You know that, don't you Roxy? Tell me. What did Riku do to you?"
Roxas shifted, playing with the thin quilt that spread across the bed.
"Uh... Well..."
"Well what? I told you the kid was fuckin' insane!"
Riku had come here with the need of reassurance he wasn't going insane. A part inside of him knew what had happened to Ventus. The demonic child, Roxas, had to be blamed. Although there was a chance it was Axel, it was highly unlikely.
"Tell me, with a guy like Sora, why do you think he's single?"
"The kid. He probably scares away anyone who gets too close, like what he's trying to do to me, right?"
Axel tapped the bars,
"If he only scares them away, why hasn't there been anyone else that's told Sora 'bout his kid, huh? Isn't that a little weird to you? I mean, I would."
"You don't mean to say that he... He-?"
"Kills them? I don't doubt it, the little bastard. Aside from how he does it and why the little freak never gets caught, the next question we have to ask is why the hell would he attack Ventus? I mean, he'd never met Sora before, and from what you said he didn't hit on him neither."
Riku shrugged.
"I don't know, and that's why I wasn't totally sure it wasn't you. I can understand if by some chance I got hurt or you, but Ven hasn't done anything."
Axel narrowed his eyes.
"You're kidding me right? You know I wouldn't. Stop dicking around and let's get serious."
Riku nodded.
"You're right. Okay... He might've heard me mention Ven was my friend."
"And my phone call to Ven probably didn't help either. This is insane though, what's made that little freak go from killing random strangers?"
"I don't know- I mean, maybe I could try to talk to Sora later about this."
"And tell him that his kid is a freak who likes to kill for fun? I'm sure that will go over swimmingly. Especially if he finds out that you're hanging out with the alleged assailant of his babysitter. Yeah, great idea."
Riku rolled his eyes,
"Let's just talk in the morning, okay? I don't want to talk about it anymore tonight."