Chapter 10: Hospital
Lenalee wasn't at school all day. Allen stopped by the office to see if anyone there had heard what happened, but no one seemed to know. By the end of the day, Allen was getting worried.
"You can always visit to check up on her," Lavi pointed out to Allen at his locker. "Take her homework and all that, ya know? That way, Komui won't kill you."
Allen nodded. He'd been trusted with all of Lenalee's homework and was supposed to deliver it to her anyway. "You think she's home sick?"
"She has to be," Lavi said with a shrug. "She'd never skip school."
They left school together and walked to Lenalee's house. Lavi was going too slow for Allen. Why can't he walk faster? Allen thought, jogging despite the deep snow.
"She's not going anywhere," Lavi said, not speeding up his pace.
"But..."
"She's not going anywhere," Lavi repeated.
They reached the house, and Allen knocked on the door. When no one answered, Allen knocked again, a little less patiently this time. Again, no one answered.
"Maybe they're not home?" Lavi offered.
"Are you looking for the Lees?"
Allen and Lavi turned. The woman who spoke frowned and nodded to the house. "An ambulance came last night. I'd assume they're both at the hospital."
"H-hospital?!" Allen repeated, wide-eyed.
"Yes. I hope everything's all right." The woman looked thoughtful a moment. "I saw the younger Lee come home early yesterday with the older..."
"Thank you, ma'am," Lavi said, taking Allen's arm. "We'll be going now."
Lavi dragged him down to the street and hailed a cab. The cab driver reigned his horse in right in front of the two and opened the door.1 Lavi pulled Allen into the cab told the driver to go to the hospital.
"There's no need to be so worried," Lavi said gently. "I'm sure things are fine, 'specially if Lenalee's in the hospital."
"I don't see your logic," Allen muttered. He balled his hands into fists in his lap. He knew what hospitals meant. They meant sickness and death. Mana had died in a hospital. That's all hospitals were: a place to go if you were sick or dying.
Lavi practically read his mind. "Allen, Lenalee's not gonna die. She's just sick."
"But..."
Again, Lavi interrupted him. "This isn't like when you were a kid. Everything's gonna be fine. You'll see."
The cab stopped outside the hospital and Lavi paid the driver. Lavi walked a few steps toward the hospital, but stopped when he realized Allen wasn't moving.
"You okay?" he asked. Allen looked pale, almost as bad as he had the day they'd seen him in his room that day back in October.
"Y-yeah... I... don't like hospitals."
Lavi patted Allen's shoulder. "I understand completely." He gave Allen a small push to get him walking. "Best way to get over your fears is to face 'em, right?"
"Right," Allen replied nervously. Before he'd been hurrying to see Lenalee; now, he was practically frozen in place and unable to move.
Once inside, Allen had a sinking feeling in his stomach not unlike the feeling he got before the first snowfall. His scar throbbed painfully while Lavi asked the person at the front desk about Lenalee's room. Allen touched his scar and winced as if it was really hurting.
"Okay, Lenalee's in room—What's up?" Lavi asked.
"N-nothing," Allen muttered, "I don't think."
Lavi took Allen's one arm and led him to the stairway, away from prying eyes. He then pulled Allen's hand away from his eye and scar, poked it himself, and showed Allen his clean hand. "No blood," the redhead stated simply.
"What?"
"You were having a flashback, right? There's no blood. You're not here because you're hurt. Stop freaking out." Lavi grinned. "I read somewhere that if someone can prove there's nothing wrong with you, it helps."
Allen did feel a little better, even if his scar was still throbbing a little. "Thanks."
They hiked up the stairs to the third floor. It was easy to find Lenalee's room once they were in the right hallway. Komui was in front of the door, blocked by a nurse and begging to be let in. When Allen and Lavi approached, the nurse didn't look away from the sobbing brother.
"Can I help you two?" she asked.
"We're friends of Lenalee," Lavi said, trying to keep a straight face while watching their principal sob hysterically. "We wanted to give her the work she missed and see how she's doing. If now's a bad time, we can come back later."
"Oh no, you two are fine," the nurse replied. "It's this guy I'm worried about." She gestured to Komui, who was still begging. "He's disturbing her and the other patients with his whining." She then stepped aside to let Lavi and Allen into the room but kept a firm hold on Komui.
Once Allen and Lavi were inside the hospital room, the nurse closed the door behind them, muffling Komui's begging and sobbing. The room was rather plain, with off-white walls, a small nightstand with an empty vase (it was middle of winter, after all), and a small window next to the bed.
"Hi!" Lenalee said with a huge grin on her face. "I guess my brother's still out there?"
"He probably hasn't left since you got here," Lavi assured her. He spun when he heard a thump behind him. "Allen!"
Allen's knees had given out and he was sitting on the floor, pale as a sheet and tears rolling down his cheek. "I-I'm okay," he said quietly as Lavi helped him up and over to the chair at Lenalee's bedside.
Lenalee reached out and wiped Allen's tears away for him. "Not a fan of hospitals?" she asked lightly. She smiled when Allen nodded. "But you came anyway?" Again, Allen nodded. "Silly, you didn't have to come see me if you're that scared. I'm perfectly fine, see?"
"But... I was worried that..." Allen started, but stopped. He tried again. "When I heard you were in the hospital..."
Lenalee laughed. "Allen, the fact I'm in a hospital means I'll be fine. The doctors know what they're doing."
"So what was wrong?" Lavi interrupted. "Appendicitis?"
"I had a feeling you'd figure it out," Lenalee said, smiling brightly still. She seemed a little tired, but that wasn't dampening her mood. "They took my appendix out last night. I'll be home by Thursday, but I probably won't go back to school until next week."
"Aw, really?" Lavi pulled the chair from the corner of the room over and sat down. "Reever's gonna be thrilled." When Allen raised an eyebrow at him, Lavi explained, "If Lenalee's out, so's Komui. Not that he does much work when he there anyway..."
"Allen, are you sure you're okay?" Lenalee asked, touching Allen's forehead. "You look pale."
Allen blushed. "Er... Um... It's probably the hospit—" he broke off when he scar throbbed again. "Ouch!" He touched his cheek where the scare ran down it. "—al," h finished.
"Maybe you should head home." Lenalee frowned a little. "If hospitals bother you enough to give you flashbacks..."
"I'm fine," Allen lied.
"Allen, I know you're lying." Lenalee stroked his cheek gently, her fingers brushing lightly over the scar. "I won't mind if you go home. You look terrible. Lavi," she said, turning to the redhead, "could you call Allen a cab?"
Lavi sighed. "Sure. Get well soon, Lenalee." He helped Allen out of the chair and led him out of the room.
Allen took one last look at Lenalee, who smiled and waved from her bed. He felt the color rising in his cheeks again, but it only made him look a little feverish since the rest of his face was paler than usual. Why...?
Lavi didn't notice as he led Allen down the stairs and out of the hospital. He waved over a cab and pressed some money into Allen's hand to pay the cab driver when he reached his house. "See ya, Allen!" He waved over his shoulder before walking away.
Allen was surprised to find Cross sitting at the kitchen table when he arrived home. It was almost five, much earlier than Cross usually got home from his dates with Anita or whatever else he usually did during the day.
Allen sat down in his chair and rest hid forehead against his arms on the table. "What are you doing here?" Whatever his reason, Allen really didn't want to deal with Cross. He still felt sick to his stomach from the hospital visit.
"You're finally here," Cross said, standing up.
Allen heard him walk away, then heard the clink of ceramics on wood. He looked up and stared at the steaming plate and teacup in front of him. "What's—?" But Cross was already gone.
1 The time period DGM takes place in had horse-drawn cabs.
Thanks for reading and sorry for the lack of update! I've been busy with school and other fanfiction, so... yeah...
...Sorry that this chapter is so short. I'll try to make it longer next time.
As always, feel free to correct my typos. I have the tendency to overlook some of the stupidest things. XD