The blinding white light was what he first saw.
His eyes immediately closed again, self-protecting from the intrusion. A few moments later, they reopened diffidently. It was still harsh, but the light at least could be tolerated. Slowly the stinginess faded into comfort. Then routine.
Squall blinked a few times. He allowed his eyeballs to roam around the room, recognizing enough substances to identify that he was lying in a hospital bed. It was a bit cold. Squall pulled the white standard blanket closer to himself, turning his head at the same time.
He was expecting to see someone sitting in the chair next to him, but it ranged in the field of Ellone or maybe Fujin. Not Seifer Almasy. Most certainly not. Sitting perched on the hard chair with his head lolled to the side in an exhausted sleep, the blond didn't show any acknowledgement that he heard Squall's rustling. Squall frowned.
As if his gaze could actually be felt, Seifer opened his eyes as Squall stared at him in confusion and distrust. Two crystalline beams met in the air between them and sparked.
"Are you okay?" Seifer spoke.
"What are you doing here?" Squall glared at him.
The expression on Seifer's face cleared showed he was trying not to roll his eyes. "You still hurting? Want something to drink?"
The glare was replaced by awe. "Uh, actually . . . yes. . . . . . Could you?"
Seifer stood up and walked to the far corner of the room. He poured a glass of water from the table, then came back by Squall's bed. Squall shifted himself up, leaning on the pillows. The movement sent a stream of sharp pain from his tailbone, causing him to hiss back a breath.
Seifer didn't miss it. He set the glass down by the bedside lamp and helped Squall readjust so he could half-sit half-lie comfortably with the pillow as his support. Seifer then raised the glass to Squall's lips and watched him swallow the cool nourishment.
"Is anyone else here?" Squall wiped his mouth with his fingers.
Seifer nodded. "Pretty much everyone. They're all sitting outside waiting for you to wake up. Do you want me to get them?"
". . . No." Why did it feel so odd? And why was he being so nice? Squall's mind twisted. "I'm . . . sure the nurses would inform them anyhow." He hastily added.
Seifer smiled a little. "If you don't want me to leave, just say so." Squall quirked an eyebrow. "Kidding. Kidding. I think I should just go, though. Finish the water. You need it." Seifer instructed, at the same time picked up one of Squall's hands and placed a soft kiss on the back. Before Squall even utters a word, he had already gone out the white door.
Squall blinked.
He removed his gaze from in front of him after a few moments and looked at the glass beside him. His thoughts stopped on the line of Seifer, instead, refocused on the reason why he's in here in the first place.
Unpleasant memories shot through his brain, causing his breathing to pick up and hitch. His back echoed in pain, reminding him vividly that hospitalization is actually not over the top. He grabbed the leftover water from the table and downed the rest in a gulp. Slight sweat broke out of his fair skin.
A gentle knock at the door forced him to reopen his eyes. After swallowing harshly to jump start his voiced box, Squall answered.
Ellone walked in. Her face was pale and tear-streaked. She took one look at Squall and her expression contorted. He could tell she was about to cry again, but managed to hold it back. She walked quickly to his bed and sat down on the chair beside it.
"How –"
He shook his head.
Ellone clamped up. She closed her eyes for a brief second. "Squall. The police are here."
He looked at her. It was expected that the order of law is going to interfere when an innocent is wronged. But she seemed to be hinting at something else than the obvious. However, he was in no condition to figure it out.
"They are already questioning people." Ellone continued. "They . . . they'd want to question you soon."
Squall understood. Are you ready to talk about it this soon? That's her question. To be more specific, Are you ready to talk about it to a complete stranger?
He didn't know. The experience was a dead weight. So far his bones hadn't recovered from the crush, but would providing information to punish the crusher help alleviate his pain? It may just be the trick.
It may also make things much worse. At least at this stage.
Squall took in a breath. "Whatever."
"So, your bike broke, you walked down the alley by yourself. Now may I ask you why were you walking alone down somewhere you knew was shady in the middle of the night?"
"I . . . I wasn't thinking about that. I was looking for a hotel."
"Did you know the area?"
"No."
"So why would you just get off in the middle of nowhere?"
"I was angry. I wasn't really thinking back then, all right?"
It was just him and the officer in his hospital room. The questioning hadn't even really begun, and Squall was already pissed at the way this officer had addressed him.
"Calm down," the policeman said. "Okay, so you were attacked, how many of them were there?"
"Six."
"All male?"
"Yes."
"Where did they got you?"
"I don't know. An abandoned warehouse, I guess."
"So they got you in, then what happened?"
"They . . .they beat me up. Tied my hands and feet -"
"Where?"
"On the floor. Then they -"
"In what fashion?"
"I . . . they – what does it matter?!"
"It matters, boy. In what fashion?"
". . . spread eagled."
"Okay. Then what?"
"Then . . . they put some kind of drug in me."
"Ah, I'm assuming you don't know what that is. Don't worry about it, I'll ask the doctor. Now when they popped you, where did they get you?"
Squall glared. "In me."
"Where in you?"
". . . In my ass!"
"Hey!" The officer sensed the hostility. "Look, I'm asking you this so I can figure out exactly what's going on here. I'm helping you here, okay? I'm doing this for your benefit, not mine. Now you can cooperate so I can actually catch those guys, or we'll call it a day and hope those guys turn themselves in. You got that?"
" . . . . . Yes."
"Good. Now, did they all have you?"
Squall nodded.