"Does your jaw hurt a lot?" Ada asked in a concerned voice.
"Kinda," Kevin answered as best as he could, cradling just jaw and left cheek.
Her eyes showed concern. "It looked like he really hit you hard."
"He did, take my word for it."
Kevin tried to ease the pain in his jaw and lower left side of his face. He held the ice pack one of the nurses had given to him against his face as he waited for a doctor to enter the temporary room that he was in at the ER. One of the nurses had seen him get punched and met him and Ada as they reentered the hospital. He'd been brought to one of the rooms, was given an ice pack, and was told to wait a little while for a doctor to arrive to the room. The entire time, he didn't fully admit to the excruciating pain running through his jaw.
Ada had grown nervous after witnessing her boyfriend getting punched. She knew that the two had been sitting as friends in the waiting room just a few minutes before- so after seeing what had happened, she was utterly confused. She didn't really understand why Alec had punched and knocked down her boyfriend, and she had no idea what had brought the action on. And what did he mean when he said, "This is what you get for screwing around with her!"? she asked herself curiously and worriedly.
"What was Alec talking about after he punched you?" Ada asked a bit nervously.
Kevin moved his jaw around. "I don't know," he answered with an unsure shrug.
That was a lie. Kevin knew exactly what he'd been talking about. He knew that it was about that one night after the party at the Chinese gangster's house. The two had made up,, but there'd always be that night hanging right above their heads in their friendship. It was a night full of shame, passion, regret, hatred, anger, and self-loathing. But what did that night have anything to do with the present time? Why had Alec all of a sudden brought it up? And why was there an angry and physical reaction and retaliation to the unchangeable event?
"Well he's mad about something," Ada commented, "Should someone go check on Leslie?"
"Jules is on it," Wendy said, entering the doorway, "Jules went to go see Leslie, and Kirbby went after Alec- and I'm here. How's your jaw?"
"Painful, but that's what life mostly is," Kevin answered with a heavy sigh full of annoyance.
Ada started for the door. "I'll go see where the doctor is."
Once Ada left the room, Wendy spoke in a hushed tone. "You know why Alec punched you, right?"
Kevin shrugged a bit. "I only have a guess, but I don't think I know the whole story, believe it or not."
Wendy explained what had happened and what had caused everything, based off of what she knew from Jules and Leslie. She explained all of what she knew to Kevin, trying to clear everything up for him. It was all very complicated, and very inducing of the feeling of guilt over all that had happened. It all was clear now, after everything had been explained- and it was clear what the problem was.
"Well this is bad," Kevin announced with another heavy sigh.
-/-/-
"He's just overwhelmed," Jules said in a gentle tone, attempting to comfort her friend and roommate, "He just needs to think."
While Wendy went to go and talk to Kevin, and while Kirby had gone off in search of Alec, Jules had gone back to the hospital room that Leslie was in. They had all gone after and to look after one of the three in the very complicated and aggressive love triangle. What made the whole thing worse was the fact that the three had all been good friends at one point in the past- but that seemed like a hundred years ago at this point. Sure they had- sort of- made up after what had happened, but so what? All the relationships between the three had been ruined and altered for the rest of their lives, and their relationships would never be the same again.
"He's not thinking about what happened," Leslie insisted, "He's trying to figure out of he can seel this engagement ring back to the jewelry store."
"Stop that," Jules reprimanded, "He's not doing that, Les', he loves you."
Leslie scoffed. "Does he?"
"Yes! If he didn't love you, he wouldn't be so freaked out about this! Come on, you know he is, Leslie. This is how he shows concern."
"You told me that he punched Kevin."
"Yeah he did. But he did that only because he gets jealous."
"You're not making any sense, Jules," Leslie snapped, "If Alec wasn't so stubborn, I could just talk to him."
"I don't think that's such a great idea just yet," Jules said honestly, "The both of you really should cool off a bit first."
Leslie was silent for a moment. "Where's Kirby and Wendy?"
"Wendy went to check on Kevin, and Kirby went to go and find Alec. You should get some rest. You get to go home tomorrow."
-/-/-
Kirby walked through the halls of the hospital alone, in search of his angered friend. He searched every men's restroom, every waiting room, every empty hallway, and anywhere else that patients and visitors were allowed to be in the hospital. He'd been looking for around twenty minutes now and had no luck in finding his friend. It was like he'd just vanished, which was weird since he'd seen him rush back into the hospital after hitting their other friend.
After another ten minutes of searching, Kirby headed toward the hospital cafeteria. When he got there, he bought himself a cup of coffee and stood against the wall instead of finding a seat. He held up the cup to take a drink, but stopped when he saw a familiar figure outside the window. He got up off of the wall then headed toward the door, in silent pursuit of the familiar sitting figure. He walked out the doors of the hospital cafeteria and to the figure where he sat.
"You ok, Alec?" Kirby asked in a soft voice as not to startle his friend.
Alec kept his gaze fixed on the ground. "Sure," he sighed, "Just peachy, thank you for asking." His voice dripped with sarcasm.
Kirby was silent for a moment. "Kevin went to go and get his jaw checked out."
"Ok."
"Leslie's really upset, you know."
Alec didn't say anything for another minute. He sat quietly, keeping his gaze locked on the pavement. "Yeah," he finally spoke calmly, "I believe that."
"You gonna go up and talk to her?" Kirby asked, "And I don't mean arguing or anything, I mean like, really talking."
"In a little while, yeah."
It pained Kirby to see that it was like the two were right back where they'd started after that night. He thought that the two were made for each other, just like the rest thought- but the two were both way too stubborn for the good of their relationship. If they didn't talk like the civil adults that they were, it'd lead to the definite fall of their relationship. He didn't like thinking that, but that was how he felt about the whole thing.
"It's all in the past," Kirby said, "Everybody makes mistakes."
"Sometimes it seems like only me and Leslie do that," Alec mumbled.
Before Kirby could say anything else in response, Alex had already gotten up from where he was sitting and was headed back into the hospital.
I apologize for the four week long wait for an update, rather than two week. But I've had a lot of schoolwork these last few weeks, since I just started my senior year. The job I was going to get also feel through, and I didn't start- in fact, I quit my first week, but if you were me and knew all the details, you'd understand why. And it wasn't like I decided on a whim to quit, I got opinions from people who know me well and are very important to me.
Anyway, I don't know if I will update in two weeks or four weeks again. My life is kinda hectic at the moment- good hectic- so I'm a bit overwhelmed at the present time. I'm also trying to finish a few stories and start a new one, and try to write something on Episode Interactive (don't judge me) and try to finish a book I'd been writing to get published, plus I volunteered to make story covers for a website that is for writers. So yeah. Not to mention I'll be applying to colleges soon- plus my 17th birthday is this month (September) so yeah.
Most likely it'll be in another four weeks.
Also, before I finish- Rest in Peace, Gene Wilder. My two favorite roles of yours were as Willy Wonka in the amazing "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and as Dr Frankenstein in the hilarious "Young Frankenstein". You were a comic genius, a genius of your trade, and a true legend. Your death is grieved by people of all ages and generations, creating some of the best films in comic and film history. Thank you for all you've done throughout the years, and thank you for all the laughs. June 11, 1933 to August 29, 2016.
Anyway, hope you liked the chapter, and peace from all the hippies of the world. =^-^=