We pulled up to the hospital, Renegade parking in one of the farthest corners so he didn't take up half the parking lot right near the front door. The doors opened and he settled onto his axles. I helped Jeremy step out of the bus. His one eye was not helping now that his depth perception was almost gone. I walked Jeremy into the hospital and sat him down.
Renegade had taken us to a hospital that was near a military base. I had Jeremy sit down and calmly marched up to the check-in. The black lady looked up from her paperwork.
"Hi, how can I help you?" She asked, a hint of a drawl in the words.
"It's not me you can help, it's actually him. I found him in a state of hysteria. He had nearly scratched his eye out and I had to perform first-aid." The lady stood up and dinged for a nurse before walking over. She crouched down in front of him, getting to eye level.
"Young man? I'm Miss Collins, can you tell me what happened?" He shook his head slowly.
"I don't remember..."
"Okay, that's okay. I've got a nurse coming to check you out right now." A nurse walked over and helped Jeremy to his feet. I started to follow them, but Miss Collins blocked me with a hand. "Sir, I might need you to stay here for a minute." I nodded.
"I understand," She started to walk away, but I kept speaking, "But right now I'm the face he woke up to. It might be best to keep him calm if he has a familiar face, even if only slightly familiar, to see." She thought about that, then crooked a finger at me.
"Follow me," She quickly walked after the nurse, and I was on her heel. I saw Jeremy enter a room, and Miss Collins called out to the nurse. "Candice," The nurse paused, "He's going with you two." The nurse nodded and waved me into the room. I stepped in and saw Jeremy sitting on the main seat. I took a seat on one of the chairs against the wall. The nurse stepped in and shut the door.
"Obviously you aren't coming in here for a routine checkup. What happened?" I glanced at Jeremy, who was staring at the floor. I turned to the nurse.
"He doesn't remember, but I will catch you up to speed on what I know." She nodded. I started telling my side of things.
««{{¤}}»»
"...And that's when I decided to bring him here. It was the closest hospital, and I didn't want to risk his injury getting infected." The nurse nodded and made a few more notes, then looked over at Jeremy.
"Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?"
"Like a cyclops with amnesia." He deadpanned and I barely covered up a snort by coughing. It was not a good time for that matter.
"Well, if you do start to remember something, just let me know okay? I'm going to get the doctor and update him so we can get you officially checked out." She stepped out of the room and shut the door. We both visibly deflated. I ran my fingers through my hair.
"I'm not even in here for myself and I'm stressed out. I hate hospitals," I breathed. Jeremy nodded.
"I just wish I could remember what happened. It's all just a blur."
"Don't try to force it. Your mind might make a fake situation to compensate." He raised an eyebrow.
"Alright, since when are you my therapist?" I shrugged, a smirk just barely lifting the corner of my mouth.
'He's a quick witted one.'
"I've studied the brain a lot. This thing needs all the information about itself it can get." I tapped the side of my head while shrugging. He gave me a strained smile. "You're tired," I stated. He sighed and his shoulders lowered.
"Yeah. And confused," He added. I nodded.
"I wish I could help. It would really help explain how you got there without a car." His eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah. There weren't any cars in the parking lot. I wasn't expecting anyone to be inside."
"That's weird."
"We'll figure it out."
"We?" I smiled at the question.
"Well, I'm not going to just leave you here. That would be cruel." He looked hesitant.
"I mean, you don't need to do this."
"Kid, I'm not going to leave. I'm too soft to do that."
««{{¤}}»»
While the doctor checked on Jeremy, another one pulled me into a separate room away from the surgery viewing window.
"Sir, there are a few thing we need you to clarify." My brow furrowed.
"Is he going to be okay?"
"Oh, yes. We believe he will be just fine, even if adjusting to half his vision for a short time won't be easy. I just have a few questions."
"Oh. Okay?"
'Crapbaskets.'
"Now, my question is, how do you know him?" The doctor asked.
"No." That earned me a raised eyebrow.
"You've never met him before?"
"No sir."
"So this young man, whom you've never met, just happened to be at a rest stop when you arrived." He eyed me and tucked his clipboard under his arm.
"He was in a state of near hysteria, shouting at someone when we were the only ones in the area. At least that I saw of.
"I'm sorry, but you do realize how this looks?" I nodded.
"It is a, strange situation. I would be concerned if you weren't looking into this." He stared at me for a minute.
"Stay here please." He stepped out of the room and shut the door. I dropped into a chair and sighed.
"Great." I knew he was calling the cops. This situation was too strange to explain properly. I couldn't reveal Renegade, I couldn't tell them about the robotic eye, and I definitely couldn't explain how the kid got to the rest stop.
««{{¤}}»»
It had probably been 30 minutes when the door opened. I internally groaned when I saw a blue uniform and sat up.
"Are you Neal?"
"Yes sir." I answered formally.
"I have some questions."
"Well, hopefully I have the right answers."
'I'm so going to jail…'
««{{¤}}»»
After a grueling hour of interrogation, the cop was surprised to see he couldn't get anything more out of me than the doctor had.
'Thank you dad, for the tips and tricks…' The cop led me out of the room and into another one. I stepped in and saw the doctor from earlier. He turned and didn't look pleased.
"Why is he not in cuffs?" The cop shrugged.
"I've got no reason. All I could get was what you told me."
"I hardly believe that!" I walked over to the bed and rested my hand on the plastic railing. Jeremy was asleep, and his head was wrapped in clean bandages.
"How is he?" I asked. The doctor whirled around.
"That is none of your business. You need to stay away from my patient!" I turned around calmly.
"Actually, Doc, it kind of is. As of right now John Doe here doesn't remember anything. I'm the only one who knows he is here, outside of you two and a few nurses, and I promised him I wouldn't leave." The doctor went red in the face.
"Of course you're the only one who knows where he is, I bet you kidnapped him!" The cop stepped up.
"Now Doctor, I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable solution for this."
"There is, in fact. Now, do your job and remove him from the premise!" The cop sighed and walked over, placing his hand on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry son, but I need you to step out of the room." I nodded. The cop had been cordial this whole time, so I wasn't going to make his life any more difficult. He shut the door and turned to me. "Do you have a phone?"
"No sir." He blinked at that, to which I simply blinked back. "Lost it the other day while snowboarding." Wasn't a lie at all. The cop gave me a once over before continuing.
"Email?" I nodded and told him as he pulled out a note pad, scribbling on it. "I will send you an email when I get an update on this one, alright?" I hesitated before responding.
"I told him I would stay." He nodded.
"I know, but I'm not leaving because we need to find out who he is. I'll tell him they asked you to leave due to strange circumstances."
"...Thank you, officer." He nodded as we shook hands.
"I don't know all of the details, but I do know you probably saved his life. There's no telling when someone else might have come along." I nodded and sighed.
"As long as he gets back to his family safe, then I guess I'll get headed out then."
"Of course, safe travels." I waved at him as I walked out of the building. I tapped on Renegade's door. It slid open and I stepped inside. I dropped onto the bench and sighed.
"Is everything alright Neal? You were in there for a long time," The bot asked, concerned from seeing my tired state.
"The kid's gonna be fine. But I was interrogated by a cop for an hour," I rubbed my face. "If he had kept going for another 30 minutes I might have cracked."
"Interrogated? Why?"
"Because they found it a little suspicious that I had found the kid by himself and there was no identifying details on him," I scowled out the window, "The doc thought I kidnapped him and wanted me in jail. Not that I blame him, I would have thought the same thing."
"Shall we continue?"
"Yeah, the cop said he would give me an update on the kid when they find his parents." Renegade rumbled to life. We rolled out of the parking lot and he hopped onto a freeway. I yawned and curled up on the bench.
"Rest Neal, we have a long drive ahead." I smiled.
"Yeah. Thanks Renegade."