Chapter 4: The Irving family has the floor.
Lloyd stumbled through the door of his house after a hard day at work. He set down his cooler and took off his hat when suddenly Shion came running up to him with little Mithos not far behind.
"Daddy!" she screamed as she ran up to hug her dad, he quickly scooped her up and hugged her tightly, then scooped up Mithos as well.
"Where's mommy? She closed early today." Raine used their house as a doctor's office, and the sign on the door read closed.
"Mommy's upstairs crying. She said not to ask about it." Lloyd got worried and ran up to his room. He opened the door to find Raine sitting on the bed with her head in her hands crying. He sat down next to her and started hugging her.
"Raine, what happened?"
"I can't. You'll storm off and get yourself killed!" Now Lloyd was really worried.
"Raine please! What happened?"
"Sh…Sheena…is dead." Lloyd's heart skipped a beat as his eyes filled with tears.
"How did this happen? Some one needs to pay!" He yelled.
"See? I knew you would do this! Your going to go find him aren't you?" Lloyd sat back down and held her tight.
"No…I can't put my life on the line… I have a family now" he said. The two held each other and cried for hours until Raine finally spoke.
"My brother… and Zelos… are in the hospital."
"What? Them to? Where are they?"
"They're in Mizuho. They we're visiting Sheena when she was killed."
"Is there any way we could get there?"
"Well, we can't take the kids on the Rheiards… we could use the Elemental Carrier!"
"Alright then. Tomorrow we'll head to Mizuho." Lloyd and Raine cried themselves to sleep and the next day they headed out to the docks with the kids. Shion was thrilled that they would be riding on a boat, but Raine wasn't so happy about it. They drove the elemental carrier for about 10 hours before they reached the river leading into Mizuho. When they finally got there, Lloyd lets Shion ride on his back, while Mithos walked alongside Raine. They entered the city of Mizuho and Shion was laughing at the men who seemed to be wearing dresses. Finally they got to the hospital and the clerk directed them to Genis' room. Genis got up out of bed when his family came in. His chest was covered in bandages. Shion ran up to him with delight!
"Uncle Genis! Hey, what happened to you? You look like a mummy!" Genis hoisted her onto his knee.
"Hey there Shion!" He looked over at his sister who was running towards him with tears in her eyes. She hugged him then backed up and slapped him across the face.
"What the Hell were you thinking?" she screamed at him. "You nearly got yourself killed!"
"Hey! How was I supposed to know that a serial killer was going to attack me?" he yelled back. Raine got ready to slap him again, but the lowered her hand and hugged him again.
"I could have lost you…" she whimpered between her cries. Genis hugged her in return and then let go. Lloyd walked up to him and gave him a manly hug/back pat.
"What's up Genis?"
"Not much"
"Got a girlfriend yet?"
"As a matter of fact I- hey wasn't that Colette?" Genis pointed towards the doorway, "I could have sworn I just saw Colette run past the door!"
"She must have been headed for Zelos' room" Raine inquired. Lets follow her.
"Wait for me!" Genis cried trying to stand up.
"You will stay here!" Raine shouted at him, glaring. The Irving family slowly stepped into Zelos' room where they found Colette crying with her head on his chest and he was hugging her tightly.
"I told you not to go! I could have lost you! How could I live without you? Tell me!" she yelled. Colette kept crying and said, "I'm sorry." Lloyd came walking into the room.
"You're still the same old Colette, always apologizing for things you didn't do." Lloyd laughed. Colette turned around and was filled with joy to see Lloyd. She ran up and hugged him then ran over and hugged Raine. Lloyd couldn't help but notice that she was wearing nothing but a nightgown and no pants or shoes.
"Um… Colette did you just get out of bed?" Shion asked. Colette bent down to her eye level.
"No way, this is what I always wear!" She said, hoisting Shion in the air and hugging her.
"Hey! I'm not a baby!" Shion said. Colette then picked up Mithos instead.
"Hey! I no baby!" he said, trying to sound tough. Colette just giggled and put him on her shoulders. Lloyd walked over to Zelos' bedside.
"Hey there bud." He said through the bandages covering his mouth and torso. Lloyd punched him in the face.
"That's for running off trying to get yourself killed!" Lloyd yelled.
"I… deserved that," he mumbled.
"Lloyd!" Colette yelled, "You're going to break him!" Colette rubbed her hand across Zelos' head.
"Oh Zelos… how long will you be like this? Does this mean we can't"
"Not in front of the kids," Zelos interrupted. He then sat up and removed the bandages from his mouth. "Look, I don't want to drag you guys into all this. You guys have a family now; I can't have you carrying my burden. The killer probably didn't realize who I was when he… took Sheena, but he'll be after me soon enough. I want you all to leave this hospital."
"No!" Colette screamed, tears swelling in her eyes. "I won't leave your side! If the killer wants to kill you he'll have to get through me!" She screamed.
"Us." Lloyd followed.
"Lloyd!" Raine yelled.
"I just want to watch him for a few days and make sure he isn't attacked. I can't bear to loose another friend!" Lloyd said in return.
"All right," Raine answered. "But me in the kids will stay with Genis and keep him company.