It was still dark outside, the clock on the white, bland wall read 5:38am.
Inside of a hospital room Virgil lay in a hospital gown, oxygen mask on over his pale face, the nurse having removed his makeup. The knife had been removed during a small surgery, there hadn't been too much internal damage and the wound had been stitched and bandaged up, with a sling around his arm.
Around his bed was Patton, sat on Logan's lap fast asleep, after the emotional turmoil he couldn't stay awake any longer. Logan however, was fully awake and blankly looking out the window, the nights' events replaying in his mind.
He had stuck around and answered the police officers questions, luckily there weren't that many and Logan was able to catch a taxi to the hospital, arriving just after Virgil got out of surgery.
Roman sat on the other side of the bed, holding Virgil's hand, silent tears still falling from his face. He now had light bandages wrapped around his hands, the damage from punching that man had left him with scrapes on his knuckled but he didn't care… he didn't even feel pain… the only pain he felt was in his heart, the image of Virgil being assaulted burnt in to his mind.
Logan's eyes drifted towards the clock "oh… crap" he muttered, his eyes widening at the realisation, they'd all forgotten about it in the panic, but in less than 30 minutes Virgil would transform - again.
As if he hadn't been through enough pain already…
Logan looked at Roman with sorrow, not wanting to bring it up but he had no choice, the nurse would return soon and see not a human, but a large black cat in the bed… this would only worsen the situation…
"Roman… I'm sorry… but we need to go home… now"
Roman tore his eyes away from Virgil to look at Logan; his expression was unreadable… He was clearly broken. Nonetheless, Logan continued, "Virgil is going to transform… It's almost 6" he spoke quietly but a bit rushed.
Roman's red puffy eyes widened a bit "Oh shit…" he outwardly gasped before standing suddenly, causing his chair to crash backwards. This sound startled Patton awake, jolting a bit in Logan's lap. Logan rubbed his back "Shhh, it's okay, go back to sleep" and without a single word Patton fell back in to a deep sleep.
Roman looked at Logan in a slight state of panic "W-What are we going to do?"
"First, calm yourself… Then unplug Virgil from the monitor, remember to turn it off first, we don't want the doctors running in here thinking he's flat lined." Roman nodded, following Logan's instructions as if he were in a panicked trance.
"Okay, now, I will carry Pat… You carry Virgil, we need to make it home before he transforms… otherwise I don't know how we will get him home…" He feared that with Virgil's large feline form, they'd have an even worse night if someone found out, or he transformed in the backseat of a taxi.
They dashed out of the hospital as fast as they could, hoping into a taxi and heading home, both sat in the back with an unconscious body on their laps.
Logan looked at his watch; he was beginning to show signs of irritation.
5:54am
"Please hurry" Logan told the driver, but knew this wouldn't help.
5:58am
The taxi parked up outside their house "Roman, take him inside now!... I'll deal with things here" without having to be told twice, Roman ran to the front door, cursing that it was locked! He sat Virgil down gently before grabbing his key and unlocking the door, his eyes widening as he heard the first moan of pain from the younger. "Crap!"
He picked the tensing form up quickly, kicking the door open and running over to the couch, laying him down and removing his hospital gown. He'd seen Virgil naked before, from previous transformations, it never bothered him but he still instinctively pulled the red blanket over him as he began to change.
6:00am
The front door slamming closed could be heard, as Logan walked in, Patton in his arms still, and looked at Roman who stood swaying slightly by the couch "Ro… Take my seat and get some sleep… I am going to take Patton to bed too… We will talk more later" Logan told him, trying his best to stay focused.
Roman simply nodded before collapsing in a heap on the armchair, falling asleep instantly. Logan glanced at Virgil in his panther form, covered with a red blanket "I'm sorry…" he muttered before taking Patton to bed.
1:24pm
Roman groaned as he began to awaken, momentarily forgetting the events of last night. He brought his hand to his head and sat up in the chair he'd apparently passed out in "O-Oww… My head…"
"Here" Roman opened his puffy eyes to see Patton holding out a bottle of water and two pills for him "Thanks pat" he took them, swallowing the pain killers with the water before capping the bottle once again. He then noticed the red, puffy eyes and the forlorn look in Patton's face as he walked back over to Logan silently, who sat at the dinner table just behind the sofa.
Roman's eyes then landed on the red blanket and then an unconscious feline Virgil, the memories of last night suddenly flooded his mind causing his heart to clench and his fingers to loose grip of the bottle in his hand.
He rose and moved to kneel beside the sofa, his hand gently placing itself on Virgil's jawline. "H-He… He hasn't woken up yet?" Roman asked, his gaze moving to the two at the table.
Patton sniffled and rubbed his nose with this sleeve before shaking his head "N-No… And… I couldn't wake him up…" Patton said, but before Roman could start freaking out Logan pitched in "I checked his vitals, and re-stitched his wound… Some stitches broke when he transformed so we may have to patch up his wound ever time his transforms…" Roman bit his lip at that before Logan continued, "Virgil is okay Roman, but the alcohol, plus the horrors of last night, must have his mental state in overdrive. I'll be surprised if he remembers anything from last night" He looked down at the mug of coffee he'd been nursing.
Roman frowned at that before sitting on the floor beside the sofa, looking at Virgil "It would probably be best if he doesn't remember" he spoke carefully, retrieving silent agreement from the others.
'If he remembers then he'll bring up his walls again… probably worse than last time… I wouldn't blame him either… The poor kid had been through enough… why can't fate give him a break…' Roman thought to himself.
All three stayed in their positions all day, Patton occasionally making some food for them, Logan reading a book, and checking Virgil's wound and vitals, and Roman just sitting and waiting for Virgil to regain consciousness. However, no one spoke a word throughout the entire time.
The afternoon grew darker, and everyone was sat in the living room, Logan sat in his armchair reading a book with one hand while the other wrapped around Patton who sat on his lap watching the TV. Roman's eyes remained on Virgil, unable to look away even when Moana was playing on the TV.
He suddenly gasped when he saw the youngest begin to move a little, his eyes flickering open "Virgil!" he sat up on his knees. Patton gasped and climbed off Logan, the latter following behind his boyfriend, all concerned eyes stared at the pale one.
Virgil blinked his eyes open, he could feel a pain in his shoulder and hissed "O-Ow…" he groaned, his head also killing him.
"How you feeling kiddo?" Patton asked from behind Roman. Virgil looked at them all and took in their expressions "Like shit…" he grumbled, unable remember a thing from last night "What's going on…? W-Where am i?" he asked, unable to move. Patton bit his lip at this and shrunk away into Logan's arms.
Roman visibly swallowed "Y-Youre at home, don't worry, you're safe"
Virgil frowned a little at their expressions "What… What happened…? I don't- ah!" he had tried to sit up but only whimpered and quickly decided against it. "W-Why does my shoulder hurt so much, what happened, why can't I remember anything.." his questions were fast and panicked, his breathing becoming uneven and in short bursts.
"S-Shhh… Shhh calm down Virge" Roman hushed, leaning over and stroking Virgil's cheek, looking him in the eyes "Look at me, yes, good, breathe, slowly, calm down, you're safe now" Roman continued to do this until Virgil calmed.
There was silence for a while, Roman had helped Virgil sit up, the red blanket wrapped around him dropped a bit to reveal his scared torso to the living room, but covered his lower half.
Virgil looked at his shoulder and frowned, having no memory of the past events. Roman sighed after a while "Virge, Listen and don't panic okay?" he asked, though he knew it was pointless "We all drank quite a lot last night, and had a good time… until… well… we think you were drugged" he began, Virgil's eyes widening.
But Roman continued, "You went to the bathroom… but were followed…" Virgil could see tears welling up in Roman's already puffy eyes, finding it difficult to talk about. "He tried to…to…" Roman felt a warm hand on his shoulder, silent support from Logan. Taking a breath he looked at Virgil and took his hand "We don't think he managed to … to… But he… had a knife… A-And…" he couldn't say it… he refused to…
However Romans eyes widened when he felt Virgil squeeze his hand, he looked up at the younger and was surprised to see him giving Roman a small comforting smile. The three in the room couldn't believe it; the young boy was trying to comfort them? After all he'd been through!
That did it, the tears fell down Roman's cheeks "I-I'm sorry… I failed to protect you" he squeezed Virgil's hand back. Virgil looked up hearing Patton sniffle too in Logan's arms, the latter was looking away as if upset with himself.
"G-Guys…" Virgil's voice was hoarse, causing them to flinch a bit "I… I don't remember but… I can feel that you saved me… I… I'm not sure how I got stabbed… but… I know you saved me, so make that counts"
All three looked at Virgil in shock 'was he really trying to cheer them up?!'
The clock struck 6pm, Virgil clamped his eyes together "Ah!.. shit!..." he cried out, this time around hurt a lot more than before, if he'd have to guess he'd say it was the injury.
Roman sat next to him and held him close as he transformed, trying his best to settle the pain as much as possible until he had a large black panther lying across his lap, unconscious. They had managed to tell Virgil most of the events but… They still needed to talk about the anomaly transformation…
They all sighed, exhausted both mentally and physically.
