Chapter 75 – Take Off Running
The same routine went on for days. Ajay would come and visit Octavio at the hospital in Harmony. She would bring him clean clothes, food, and music to listen to. She would get him cleaned up and change his dressings. Eventually her visits with him became shorter, even though he protested it. Octavio began to grow bored with being in the hospital. He didn't think he could take the monotony of being in the hospital much longer. He had counted every single ceiling tile hundreds of times. He knew all of the staff on a first name basis and their personal routine's. He had to get out of this prison soon. In a few short days he had a very important meeting that he could not miss.
The evening that he was going to rip all of his hair out Ajay sauntered in with a large duffle bag. Her body slumped as she walked over to his bed. She was physically exhausted and pushed to her limits. "What did you bring today Che? More food and music?" His voice sounded bothered by her presence as he mocked her. She set the bag down on the floor with a light clank noise and opened it. Ajay pulled out two silver legs and gave Octavio a weary look as she presented them to him.
Octavio's eyes grew wide. "Che…." She helped him get the prosthetic legs on and showed him how to adjust them. He smiled, "Where did you get these?" She sat on the floor with her chin on the bed. "Don be stupid. I made them for ya. Like ya asked me to. Like I promised ya I would." He stood up for the first time in a month. He felt a little unsteady at first but that fleeting feeling passed. She half smiled as she watched him, "Ya gonna need some rehab and ya need to stay away from the fucking adrenaline junkie shit for a while."
He nodded and walked in place, "What are these made out of? They don't weigh anything. They don't feel real." She tried to keep her eyes open as she watched him, "A junked Stryder class Titan. A Northstar in particular." He began running in place. He noticed something engraved on his left leg. He leaned down to take a better look. Bleed, patch, and keep moving ~Che He smiled at her and looked down as his legs to admire them some more.
"They are perfect, Che." Octavio ran circles around the room as Ajay watched him with tired eyes. The legs felt weightless. He felt like he could take flight at any moment. Octavio was so excited that he wanted to run all night to make up for all the running that he had missed out on during the last month while he was trapped in the damn hospital prison. Ajay had worked endlessly to get his legs finished. He kneeled down and looked at her. His fingers tapped her shoulder but she didn't move. She had fallen asleep.
Octavio's heart skipped a beat as he gently scooped her up into his arms. The last time he held her like this was at her parent's gala. It was one hell of a night; so much so that it made his body shiver thinking about it. He swayed with her in his arms and smiled down at her. He gazed upon her beauty as if she was the only woman in the world; as if she was the only woman for him.
He gently set her in the hospital bed and placed his forehead to hers as he played with her hair. He loved the feeling of her hair. It was so soft against his fingertips. He brought her hair to his face and inhaled. She smelled like home to him. No matter where he was, as long as she was there he was home. He whispered into her ear, "Forgive me Che. I promise to make it up to you." He quietly gathered his belongings and left.
Ajay felt like she had slept for days but when she was finally able to make out the time it had only been a few hours. She was still at the hospital but Octavio was nowhere to be found. When she started looking for him she noticed his stuff was gone too. She saw a tray of half eaten food on the bedside table with a piece of paper crumpled up beside the plate. She pulled the paper open and briefly read through it. The header was one from Octavio's fathers, Eduardo, Pharmaceutical Company 'Silva Pharmaceuticals.' It was a household name on Olympus.
The paper was something from Silva Pharmaceuticals about a job offer. Ajay actually wasn't surprised to see a job offer from Eduardo. Octavio's father had wanted him to work there for years and eventually take over the business. She had heard about this from both Octavio and his father on a daily basis when they were growing up. She stuffed the paper into her pocket as she got up. She pulled out her phone and turned the screen on. She had no calls from Octavio. Her hands shook as she began to call him. She cringed as she was sent to voice mail. She tried again with the same result. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or Octavio's disappearance or both but she was getting angry and upset.
She gathered her belongings and marched her ass out to the nurse's station. The same nurse that had been taking care of Octavio recognized her. "Hi Ajay. What can I do for you?" Ajay smiled, "I know Silva… Err… Octavio checked out but I need ta see his records and give him some information for his job." The nurse nodded and handed her his chart, "Good timing. I was getting ready to take this bad boy to medical records." Ajay nodded as she took the chart, "Well ya know Octavio, always running out before takin care of business."
Ajay clutched the chart firmly to her chest and sat down on a nearby bench. She cracked the chart open and peered over the documentation from staff. It took everything in her not to cry in a fit of rage as she began to digest everything she was reading. From day one had been lying to her.
'Patient will need extensive rehab but he will be able to walk again with the use of his own legs. Under no circumstances will he be able to perform his prior job functions. With the extensive injuries to his legs they, just won't be able to handle the kind of work that he does. Spoke to the patient in great detail about this. Patient is in denial and states that he "will show everyone." Patient would like surgery to remove injured portion of his legs. Patient states that he knows "a guy that will fix him up." Explained the risks of surgery. Patient opted to go forward with surgery.'
Ajay sighed and sat there for a moment. She closed the chart and rubbed her forehead. When she was finally able to calm herself down she got up and returned the records to the nurse, "Thank ya." The nurse smiled and took the chart, "Do you need anything else?" Ajay shook her head and turned and headed towards the exit of the hospital. She pulled out her phone and reluctantly made a phone call to Eduardo as she left the hospital.
Ajay returned to the Frontier Corps to her combat medic position. After almost two months of being with Octavio at his bedside. The war was almost over and which meant that her position would no longer be needed. She couldn't bear the thought of returning to Olympus; to her parents. She was on bad terms with her parents and, now, her best friend. She sat on the sofa in her living room and began browsing through her phone. She froze in place when she received a text message from Octavio.
Silva: by the time you read this I'll be gone…
Che: ?
Che: Silva?!
Che: Hello?!
Che: When I woke up at the hospital ya were gone.
Che: WHERE DA FUCK ARE YA?!
Silva: Sorry, chica. I fell asleep on the train.
Che: THOUGHT YA WERE DEAD!
Silva: Who said that? Hospitals r boring. Took my new piernas & bolted.
Silva: New legs work great BTW. Thx for asking.
Che: They do now? We wouldn't know because the doctors haven't even checked them out! Get off that train and get back to Harmony!
Silva: I would, hermosa. But u know me. Can't stay in 1 place 2 long. Sore joints. JAJAJAJAJAJAJA
Che: ya think ya funny? What if ya catch an infection? Lose a lot more than ya legs.
Silva: Then you can get me those prosthetics 2!
Che: ya about "2" seconds from getting blocked.
Che: Spoke to ya father.
Silva: ?
Che: Don't ? me. Ya think I wouldn't try to track ya down? What, ya just meet me yesterday? I told him how ya were brought into the hospital with ya legs blown off, how taking a desk job with them at Silva Pharm was the last thing ya wanted… ya know what they told me? Guess!
Che: THERE IS NO JOB WAITIN YA SILVA.
Silva: ?
Silva: was there supposed 2 be?
Che: There was an offer letter from ya parents by ya dinner tray last night. I saw it after ya left. And don't ya go pretendin there wasn't. We've know each other too long to pull this crap.
Silva: Don't know what ur talking about. No letter here. Never said anything about re a job. U assumed that. And u know what they say re people who don't look b4 leaping, chica. Jaja
Che: ….
Che: That's how ya gonna play this? Really?
Silva: Who's playing?
Che: I have the paper in my pocket. Last chance to fess up, before I get a better look at it.
Silva: Che. Come on. U sounding crazy.
Che: Crazy? No. Crazy would be ya father endin a job offer letter to ya with "We can't wait to board the Octrain."
Silva: Maybe he can't?
Che: That was sarcasm.
Silva: Busted. But look. Know what I had 2 look 4ward 2 if it wasn't for u? PT rehab. Worst of all? BEING BEDRIDDEN. U saved my life, Che. I owe u 1.
Che: Ya got that right. I risked my job for ya. So pay me back by NOT doing something as stupid as this again. Usin a grenade to launch ya self into a world record... Ya damn near died! Wam wit ya?!
Silva: Just following what that guy in that sim-vid did.
Che: Sim as in SIMULATION. NOT REALITY. What don't miss ya pass ya. Ya have a second chance. Learned ya lesson awa?
Silva: Si. Yes.
Silva: I learned the most important lesson of all…
Silva: …jump higher before setting off the next grenade.
Silva: JAJAJAJAJAJA
Silva: What about a jump-pad instead? Trust fund'll cover it.
Ajay hit the block button on her phone. She looked down at the two gold wedding bands in the palm of her hand that she had pulled out of her backpack during their long text conversation. She gripped them hard in hand as she pulled her fist to her chest. Her heart raced against her hand. She sighed and threw the rings across the room and listened as they hit the wall and rolled somewhere in her small kitchen. Ajay thought they were on the same page about things but apparently she was sadly mistaken. Once again Octavio's intentions were elsewhere and he was only in it for himself. It wasn't the first time that this had happened but it was definitely his biggest betrayal.
She was done with him. She ran out of tears when she found him in the hospital. She put herself on the line for this man and he left her like it was nothing. It was only a matter of time before he died and she didn't want to be around when it happened. She wanted to live out the rest of her days on her sofa but unfortunately she had to go back to work soon and for how long she didn't know. The war was almost over and she had nobody left to go back to.