Hi.
Honestly, I'm happy with the reviews. Special thanks to Legal-Assassin-006 and .. They reviewed within like half an hour of Chapter 8 being published. Thanks : )
Meghan.
Chapter Nine.
Arthur.
Arthur ran out of the apartment, and jumped in the car. Stuck at a red light, he dialed Eames' cell phone. "And why would you ever bother to call me?" Eames voice says after a couple rings. "Ariadne is in the hospital" Arthur says, making the car leap forward as the light changed. "What?" Eames asks, obviously surprised. "Yeah, she was attacked this morning" He says, now pulling into the nearest hospital. After much thought, he decided they would probably take her here. "You know what hospital she's at?" Eames asks. "The, uh, hospital down on west street" Arthur responds, forgetting the actual name of the hospital. "I'm on my way" Eames says, his voice turning more serious.
Arthur approaches the front desk of the hospital, and the nurse looks up at him. "Can I help you?" She asks. "Yeah, I'm looking for an Ariadne Nichols. She is here isn't she?" He says, trying to look at the patient list by her elbow. The nurse looks at him for a second, and starts typing at the computer. "Yes, here she is. Ariadne Nichols, floor 7. Ask the nurse upstairs for the room number and visitor sign in.
Arthur nods in thanks, and finds the elevators. Punching the button to the seventh floor, he stands there watching the floor number go up. Finally, the doors open and Arthur steps out into a waiting area type setting. He goes to the nurse, and again, asks for Ariadne. "Room 29, and name please," The nurse says. "Arthur Clarke" He says, anxious to get to Ariadne. The nurse types his name in, and shakes her head. "I'm sorry, you can't go in right now. She already has a visitor".
"What? Who is it?" Arthur asks, his eyes narrowing. "A, Chase Robinson?" The nurse said, looking at the log to be correct. Arthur whips around, and storms into the hallway. "Mr. Clarke! You can't go in there!" The nurse calls after him. Ignoring her, he finds room 29 and peers into the window. Sure enough, Ariadne is in the hospital bed, but with Chase sitting on the chair next to her.
His fingers curled into fists, and his fingernails bit into the skin of his palms. Slowly, he turned the door knob, and coolly stepped inside. Chase looked up, and Arthur saw he still had cuts on his face from their last encounter. Ariadne was sleeping, and Arthur was glad she would miss this. "What are you doing here?" Chase spit at Arthur, standing. "Well, I should direct that question to you since last time I've heard, you two separated" Arthur responded, never dropping Chase's eyes. Chase narrowed his eyes at him.
"It was your entire fault we split. If you hadn't attacked me, then-" Chase was cut off by Arthur's chuckles. "Attacked you? Are you serious? You're the one who attacked me" Arthur said through his chuckles. "So what? Are you and her, like together?" Chase asked quietly. Arthur was surprised at the question. "No, I wouldn't call it that" Arthur responded. Suddenly, Eames walked into the room. "Arthur? How's she doing?" He said. Eames saw Chase and inched over to Arthur's side. Chase looked quizzically at Eames, and shook his head. "I shouldn't have even been here," Chase mumbles, and steps around Arthur to the door. He opens the door, and looks back at Arthur. "This doesn't change anything, Mr. Clarke. You caused all this to happen" He said coldly. Chase walks out the door, slamming it behind him.
"What was all that about?" Eames asks. "I don't know," Arthur mutters. He takes Chase's chair, and Eames sits in a chair across from the bed. "You know how she's doing?" Eames asks again.
"No, but by the looks of things she only got beat up"
"Ah. So how long will this take?"
"As long as it needs"
"Your going to stay here until she wakes up aren't you?"
"That's the plan"
"Okay, I'll just sit here. In silence. Watching you stare at her. All alone. In this corner. By myself"
"Eames," Arthur sighs, "You can go whenever you want"
Ariadne.
The bright lights sting her eyes as she flutters them open. Slowly, she takes in her surroundings. The chairs across from her bed are empty, but she knows Eames was there. Ariadne feels a slight pressure by her feet, and she looks to her left. Her eyes rest upon Arthur's sleeping form, and his feet propped on her bed. It takes a minute for her to realize that it's dark outside, and Arthur's probably been here the entire time. He looks so peaceful, She thinks. He finally actually looks relaxed, instead of the up-tight point man she is getting used to more often.
"Arthur?" She whispers. He doesn't wake. Sighing, she looks out the door, and sees Eames winking at her. He brings his finger to his lips, gesturing for her to be quiet. He slowly opens the door, and closes it. Positioning himself right behind Arthur's body, and yells into his ear, "ARTHUR!". Arthur almost falls out of the chair, jumping at the scream.
Ariadne giggles, and Arthur looks at her. "Your finally awake," He sighs. "How long was I out?" She asks. "You know, only all day" Eames chuckles. "Wow, what happened?"
"We were going to ask you the same thing. What do you remember?" Arthur asks, suddenly getting serious. "I-I was walking over to the warehouse," She starts. "And, I was going through a parking lot, when-when these two guys approach me,". "Did you recognize them?" Eames says, walking over to the other side of her bed. "Chase was one of them," She says, and Arthur stiffens. "But, he never hit me, he only yelled, and yelled". "Them, who hit you?" Arthur says quietly. "It was Chase's friend, Wilhelm. After Chase was yelling at me asking me why I chose you over him, Wilhelm hit me from behind, and after a couple hits, everything just went," Ariadne says, quietly trailing off. "Black" Eames says solemnly. Ariadne nods.
Arthur grips her hand, and she couldn't help think of last night. He actually said something that gave her a clue to what he was feeling. It wasn't hatred, but love. "How bad do you feel?" Arthur asks. "Not too bad, it's just my left arm, its hurts like hell," She responds, lifting her arm to see that it was fully bandaged. "What happened to it?" She asks, in shock. "The was a major cut, doctors had to wrap it to prevent infection" Arthur responds. She looks into his eyes, and she sees that he only wanted to protect her. "Will I be okay for the job?" She says, worried. "Yeah, it should heal in a couple weeks. Also, their letting you leave tomorrow afternoon" Eames says. Suddenly, she drops her head back onto the pillows, closing her eyes. "Are you okay?" Arthur asks, his voice filled with worry.
"Gabby is going to be pissed"
Mech. Not one of my better ones. This was just more like a filler. Byeee
