The news rocked Tiny's world in the worst possible way. His small thirium pump had stalled at the news. Shot? Someone had shot Gavin? How? When? Why? His LED burned red as Chloe continued to cling to him, crying into his small shoulder. Tiny was too stunned to cry at first. He simply allowed Chloe to hold him. Gavin had been shot, and Chloe was crying. That didn't bode well for his physical condition. It wasn't like those other smaller wounds that Gavin had come home with, bound and looking sheepish as he told stories of drug deals gone awry and fighting in the streets. This was bad enough that Chloe had come home to break the news to him in the early hours of the morning, and Elijah hadn't returned at all.
Elijah did return, eventually. Chloe had moved to the parlour by then, the saline tracks drying into her delicate cheeks. She'd busied herself with cleaning. It was one of the ways she handled stress. Falling back on her hostess programming. Tiny had a similar method. He'd curled up anxiously on the sofa for a while before being overcome with the need for activity. At that point, he'd get to his small feet and run a circuit of the room, hands and feet skittering across the carpet and up onto chairs and cabinets. He'd then settled in place once more while Chloe righted whatever items he'd knocked aside. It was late afternoon by the time Elijah's car pulled up and he stumbled out like a ghost. Tiny had never seen him so pale. Not even during those long nights when Gavin had briefly disappeared from their lives.
Chloe hurried to meet him at the door, burrowing into his chest the moment he was inside. He seemed dazed and tired as he returned her embrace, closing his tired eyes as he rested his chin on top of her blonde head. His skin may have been pale, but his eyes were red, with dark shadows underneath where he'd been awake all night. He'd clearly done his share of crying at the hospital and in the car. Now he was simply drained. He allowed Chloe to guide him into the front room and lay on the sofa, languishing in the fading afternoon light. The day was grey and miserable, very much matching his mood. Elijah rested one arm over his tired eyes as he lay there. Tiny chittered miserably. The news was clearly not good.
Tiny felt miserable as he padded through to the kitchen. Chloe had cut out a section of pie, clearly hoping she could coax Elijah into eating some later. The little jam pockets were still sitting on the plate where Tiny had left them earlier. He hopped up and picked up the small triangle he'd made for Gavin. The pastry would go bad after tomorrow. He'd been so excited to have made something for Gavin. Gavin wouldn't get to eat his pastry. He felt saline trickle from his eyes as he clutched the small triangle hard enough for the pastry to flake and crumble. He had jam all over his claws. Seeping into his joints. It was sticky.
The next few days were no better, and Tiny felt as lonely as ever. Elijah couldn't leave Cyberlife unattended, so he was mostly splitting his time between the office and the hospital. He barely returned to the mansion at all besides to shower and change clothes. Tiny would skitter to the door hopefully each time he returned, but he'd always shake his head. No positive news. No Change. Gavin had survived the emergency surgery, but he'd lost a lot of blood prior to being found. He was extremely weak and had flatlined twice during the operation. At the shake of Elijah's head, Tiny's chest would drop and he'd return to the front parlour.
Chloe was also out of the house a lot. While Elijah was at the office, she would be at the hospital. She'd told Tiny about Gavin's physical condition. He was breathing on his own, but he'd shown no sign of waking since the surgery. They'd had to feed and hydrate him intravenously to keep his body functional. They'd replaced the blood he'd lost, but it seemed the damage had been done. After almost dying twice during surgery, Gavin's body had placed itself in low-power mode. Chloe called it a coma, but it sounded like an emergency shutdown to Tiny. If he lost too much energy, his body would force him into stasis until he was charged enough to function. It seemed the same thing had happened to Gavin with the massive blood loss.
Despite the blood loss, Gavin had apparently been extremely lucky. The bullet had pierced his diaphragm at a downward angle, somehow missing most of his internal organs before settling in his gut. The damage to his intestines had been found and sealed, and his body had been hooked up to a catheter to allow the wounds to heal without getting infected by internal waste. Ironically, the coma was helping with this healing since his body didn't move and disturb the stitches. Tiny didn't understand what his body was waiting for. If he was infection free and slowly healing, then why hadn't he woken up? Chloe didn't have an answer for that either.
Days stretched to weeks. Weeks stretched to months. Tiny became less and less hopeful as time wore on. At around three months, Chloe and Elijah started visiting the hospital less. That made Tiny feel worse. Had they given up on Gavin? The hospital staff would call if he showed signs of waking, of course, but surely Gavin would be comforted by having someone there. Despite spending more time at home, Elijah's condition showed little sign of improvement. His weight had dropped massively, and he'd been fairly slim to start with. It didn't help that he'd neglected his grooming routine as well. His cheeks were stubbled with growing dark hair. He wore his thick glasses more and more often around the house. His hair was often in a messy tail rather than its usual slick bun. The food Chloe brought him would often be left uneaten as he threw himself into his work, making his cheeks gaunt.
He said he was working, but Tiny's extraction model had heard him. Quiet sobs would carry through the ventilation shafts from the lab. Helpless sniffles and lamenting sighs. Sometimes he'd get angry. The extraction model had crept closer to check on him once, worried by the loud thuds and clatters. He'd watched through the mesh panel as Elijah had tossed his chair and thrown his computer monitor clean across the room, knocking one of his latest projects off the workbench. He'd continued his warpath, overturning a tool bench and smashing his reading pad, before finally sinking into a small heap in the centre of the debris. He'd sobbed and cried until he'd passed out.
The extraction model had taken pity on him then. He understood the stress Elijah was under. Gavin was his family. His blood. The only living relative he had. This experience was difficult for all of them. The extraction model had climbed down silently and righted what he could. The tool bench had been stood up and the tools returned, one by one. The chair had been brushed down and returned to the desk. Scattered blueprints had been gathered. Old designs for the RK800 and a newer one of an RK900. The extraction model was curious to find that this model shared his facial structure. He laid the plans aside before gathering the plastic parts of the android that had been knocked on the floor. The pad and monitor were beyond repair, so the extraction model set them aside before returning his attention to Elijah's sleeping form. He lifted him gently, concerned by how light he felt.
It was many hours later that Elijah roused himself with the murmur of Gavin's name on his lips. He opened his hazy green eyes and looked around the dimly lit room, confused, as a warm fleece blanket fell from his chest. He'd been laid on a padded workbench, and the room he was sure he'd destroyed had been somewhat set to rights. The only reason he knew anything had happened at all was the broken monitor and pad left by the wall. He groaned as he massaged his sore neck, quietly wondering how on earth he'd gotten to the bench.
Tiny tried to ignore the passage of time after four months. It hurt too much. He watched winter come and go, lamenting the time he'd missed with Gavin. They hadn't celebrated Christmas. It would have been Tiny's first, but he didn't want to take part without Gavin, and Elijah and Chloe were in a similarly low mood. Chloe had said they would celebrate it once Gavin woke up, but how long would that take? Tiny had watched spring arrive right after. That was around the time they'd first met. When he'd been tentatively exploring the pool, still hiding to escape Elijah's keen eyes. He remembered the fluttery feeling he'd gotten in his stomach when he'd first laid eyes on Gavin. He'd looked so kind, with such a nice smile. The memory still stirred heat in his extraction model. Feelings and interests his smaller body couldn't comprehend. He remembered the days they'd spent exploring new flowers on the mountainside. Getting caught in sudden downpours. Gavin would always carry him back, tucking him carefully inside his jacket to save him from the rain and wet mud. They'd huddled in blankets and watched the storms. Fallen asleep to the flashing of lightning and sound of thunder and rain.
It was around six or seven months when Chloe finally convinced Elijah to let her take Tiny to visit the hospital. Elijah was reluctant to let him leave the safety of the estate. He was a unique model. Highly illegal. Combat models like his had been banned. Androids couldn't risk humans using them against them to regain control, and humans couldn't risk them attaining deviancy and going on a mass killing spree. It had suited both sides to completely ban the production. Models already out in the world had been assessed and physically altered. Their strength had been lowered. Their casings changed to a less durable material. Any extra combat features had been removed. They'd been reduced to mere security models. Shells of their former selves.
Elijah had started building the extraction model and reconnaissance model slightly before the ban as a private commission for the military. With the executive order, he should have halted production, but Tiny's mind had already been fully complete at that point. It would have been wrong to simply erase him from existence, so Elijah had gone forward with the production of this singular model. He'd intended to keep him simply as a private security system, however Gavin's arrival had somewhat changed things. He wasn't sure that Tiny had deviated, but he certainly didn't follow his programming like a rigid machine.
It had taken days of convincing, but Chloe had persisted. She would tuck Tiny inside a duffel bag and keep it zipped shut until they were in the privacy of Gavin's room. She would close the curtains and shut the door before letting him out, and keep a constant watch over the door. If anyone came in, Tiny knew he was to either hide out of sight or return to the bag as quickly as possible. Hiding was one of his main features. It was in his nature to duck into cover and blend with the shadows. Elijah was still reluctant, but he couldn't refuse when Tiny looked at him with such large, pleading eyes. He'd been patient. He'd been good. He'd been separated from Gavin for over half a year.
"Alright, remember what Elijah said," Chloe murmured softly as she settled Tiny inside her large pink backpack. He was touched to find she'd even packed him a soft blue blanket to curl up in. He chittered his agreement excitedly as he hunkered down. He would be good and stay out of sight. Despite his small and innocent appearance, he had an adult mind, and understood the precariousness of his situation. He tucked the blanket over his head and coiled his tail around his feet as he felt Chloe zip and lift the bag. She was careful as she pulled it over her back and headed out to the car, where she placed it carefully on the floor between her feet as Elijah drove.
Tiny clicked and chittered excitedly the whole way. Gavin! He was going to see Gavin. He felt the car stop, and the bag was lifted once again. He listened to the loud hustle and bustle, wincing at the abuse on his audio components. There was so much noise. Beeping. Shrieking. Crying. Talking. Shouting. Rushing footsteps. He missed the quiet of the estate already. He lowered his sensitivity, focusing only on the sounds directly surrounding them. He paused as a nurse updated Elijah on Gavin's unchanged condition. She said something about the transfer being scheduled for later that afternoon. Elijah thanked her kindly before they finally entered a quiet room with a single low beeping sound.
"Alright, you can come out," Chloe murmured as she opened the bag and allowed Tiny to poke his head out. He blinked in the poor lighting of the dimmed hospital room. It may have seemed brighter with the curtains open, but they'd been drawn tight against the summer sun to keep Tiny's visit a secret. Tiny chittered cautiously as he climbed out of the bag and onto the end of Gavin's bed. He looked pale and sickly. Worse than he had after escaping Davey's clutches. His cheeks and eyes were sunken. His lips were dry and pale. His stubble was growing through, having not been trimmed for a few days since Chloe's last visit. His hair was longer, though not too overgrown. He wouldn't be able to tie it back just yet, but it was brushing his lobes.
"Gently…" Elijah cautioned as Tiny gingerly padded further up the bed. Tiny nodded his agreement. Gavin seemed so small as he lay there. There were wires coming from his loose green gown, hooking him up to fluids, drugs, and machinery. Tiny looked up at the various screens. His brainwaves were low and lazy, and his heartbeat was steady. It was like he was sleeping. He couldn't see the damage beneath the duvet, but he knew the wound was in his abdomen, so he skirted to Gavin's side and claimed a small space beside his arm, tucking up against his side. He was warm, and he still smelled like Gavin. "Hey, Gav…Look who came to visit…" Elijah murmured in a gentle voice as he took Gavin's hand on the opposite side of the bed. Tiny clicked and chittered as he nuzzled into Gavin's side, rubbing his face against his ribs.
They sat in relative silence for a while. Chloe wandered around, straightening up cards and other small items. A teddy bear, a stuffed cat, synthetic flowers, unopened coffee chocolates. She fingered the small cat with a smile. Someone certainly knew Gavin. Tina Chen. She knew the moment she read the note. Wake up, asshole, or I'll come to dreamland and kick your ass! She'd never met Tina, but she'd heard plenty from Gavin. It was as she was distracted with cleaning that the door creaked open and a young man stepped inside with an embarrassed stammer. Chloe's LED span yellow as she looked across. Tiny had remained curled beside Gavin, perhaps hoping to avoid notice, while Elijah looked up in shock. They both seemed surprised to see each other.
"I-I'm sorry, I just came to check in and see…" the man trailed off in a hushed and anxious tone. Chloe ran a search. He was relatively young, with dark skin and eyes. His physique and the fact he knew Gavin suggested he worked with the DPD. It didn't take long for her to search the local precinct files to come up with a name. Christopher Miller. She knew that name. He was one of Gavin's friends, and he'd been present at the time of the shooting. In fact, he'd been injured himself during the incident. It had healed somewhat, but he still had the scar along his hairline where he'd been knocked down. "I-is that…" He seemed hesitant as he looked down at Tiny's small form.
"Please don't tell anyone…He's a rather unique model," Chloe murmured quietly as she approached the bed to rest a hand on Tiny's side. Tiny looked up cautiously, distrustful of this newcomer. He was dressed casually, so it clearly wasn't a workday. Was he perhaps still in recovery? A scan revealed a mostly healed head wound and a bullet hole in his side that must have caused him some discomfort. He shook his head as he approached the bed and looked down at Tiny curiously.
"Sure…Look, I'm really sorry…I-I-really-"
"It was Gavin's choice. You did nothing wrong." Elijah cut him off firmly, though Tiny knew it had taken a lot to say it out loud. He didn't know what had happened, but from Elijah's words, he guessed that Gavin had saved this young man. Miller seemed timid and subdued as he wrung his hands at the edge of the bed. It seemed he'd also been a regular visitor at Gavin's bedside. It was somewhat comforting to know he had such friends.
"Still, I never wanted Gavin to take a bullet for me," Miller murmured guiltily as he looked down at Gavin's sleeping form. Tiny bristled quietly at the news. He'd put himself in harm's way to protect someone else? When he knew he'd promised to come home to him? Why would he do such a thing? Looking up Miller's records, it didn't take long to figure it out. He was newly married, and a first-time father. He had a son. Barely two years old. Of course, Gavin would do something selfless to save a child from growing up as he had. But I was waiting for you…"Is it true about the transfer? You really think it'll help?" Miller asked after a while.
"I'm not sure…but this hospital doesn't exactly specialise in care for long-term coma patients…The transfer will ensure a dedicated and experienced team will be ready in the event he wakes up…" Elijah replied as he released Gavin's hand. Tiny raised his head at the shift in conversation. A transfer? They were moving Gavin? Where to? Elijah winced as he met Tiny's accusing gaze. Was that why he'd been allowed to visit? Because Gavin was going away? Tiny's tail coiled around Gavin's wrist in reflex. He didn't want Gavin to go. He trilled softly as he felt Chloe's gentle hand stroke his hair.
Miller stayed a while longer, but Tiny was too distracted by the most recent revelations to care. They were moving Gavin? How far was this specialised hospital? How long would he be gone? No one seemed eager to enlighten him either. His searching looks were met with either evasive glances or apologetic winces. Once Miller was gone, Tiny burrowed deeper into Gavin's side, small claws gripping his gown as his tail remained coiled tightly around his wrist. They couldn't take him. They couldn't take Gavin away.
"It's not so bad…If Gavin wakes up, then he'll come home much quicker from a place with specialists on hand," Chloe assured in a sympathetic tone as she leaned down beside him. Tiny shrieked his resentment, frowning as he raised his head. At what point had when turned to if? When had they given up on Gavin's recovery? What were they planning to do if he didn't wake up? Leave him alone in a darkened room, in the care of strangers, until his body gave out? Send him away and forget about him? Elijah sighed softly as he got to his feet.
"I told you this would end badly…" he mumbled as he nodded towards Tiny.
"He deserves the chance to say goodbye! You have no idea what could happen, or how long he could be-" Chloe stopped her tirade as Tiny shrieked again. He didn't want to say goodbye. He wanted to stay with Gavin. He also didn't like it when Chloe and Elijah were at odds. It wasn't natural. They hardly ever disagreed, and Chloe never raised her voice. Chloe softened as she stroked his small head in sympathy. "It's time…The doctors will be along soon to get him ready to transfer." Tiny chittered and grunted his disagreement as he continued to hold Gavin's wrist with his tail.
"She's right. I don't want you to get found out…Gavin would never forgive me if anything happened to you," Elijah added meekly as he got to his feet and grabbed Chloe's bag. "Please?" He held the bag open and tilted it towards Tiny. Tiny shrieked his refusal as he buried himself in Gavin's side and gripped his gown. He didn't want to leave Gavin. He hadn't been able to see him in months, and now they wanted to send him away? It wasn't fair. Saline trickled down his small cheeks and he held on tightly.
"Come on, Tiny…" Chloe soothed as she picked him up by the waist and tried to lift him off. Tiny held tighter, screeching and wailing as he held on. Elijah was gentle as he reached out and tried to loosen his claws from Gavin's faded green gown. "Tiny, come on! We have to go!" Chloe encouraged as she tried to force an interface. Tiny screeched and sniffled as he lost his grip, holding on with his tail and tugging Gavin's limp arm. Elijah reached down to steady Gavin's body as he was jerked by the movement. Tiny kept his tail coiled around his wrist, screeching as he looked up at Chloe's distraught expression. She didn't like it any more than Tiny did. Chloe was gentle as she placed his small feet on the bed. "Please, Tiny…"
Tiny chittered miserably as he looked over his shoulder at Gavin's sleeping form. It was too soon. He wasn't ready to say goodbye. He'd barely had a chance to see him. Elijah watched as Tiny returned to flop down against Gavin's chest and nuzzle into his pecs. He wrapped his small arms across his chest and shoulder as he clicked and trilled softly. Elijah felt his breath catch as he watched the miserable display. Tiny pushed himself up sadly and padded towards the backpack, leaving his tail coiled around Gavin's wrist until the last few seconds. He slowly loosened his hold and let his tail slide away, dragging it down Gavin's arm, all the way to his fingertips.
"Chloe!" Elijah exclaimed as he looked at the monitors. Chloe joined him, noticing a definite uptick in brain activity. Tiny screeched as he felt a twitch near his tail, followed by the slightest squeeze. Gavin's hand had moved. He screeched at Chloe and Elijah again. Gavin was holding onto his tail. He wasn't squeezing it tightly, but he was definitely holding it. Chloe turned at Tiny's shriek and joined him in staring at Gavin's hand. His fingers twitched again, closing further over his tail.
"Elijah! Get the doctors!" Chloe ordered gleefully as she laid a hand on Tiny's back and ran her fingers through Gavin's long fringe. He seemed to take a deeper breath at that. Chloe slowly replaced Tiny's tail with her hand and held open the bag for Tiny to crawl inside. He watched from the open zip as two doctors and a group of nurses flooded the room. Chloe left her place beside the bed as Gavin was poked and prodded. A penlight was shone in his eyes, getting positive reactions from the doctors as they leaned in to examine his vitals on the screen. His heart beat increased. He could feel the people buzzing around him. Tiny clicked and trilled quietly as he finally watched Gavin's green eyes flutter open.
"T…T-T…Ti…" Gavin's voice was weak and cracked as he looked around deliriously. The nurses and doctors quietly assured him he was going to be alright, but Tiny knew that's not what he was looking for. "T-Ti-Ti!" He was struggling to get the word out, but Tiny understood. It seemed Chloe did too as she opened the bag and held it up enough for Tiny to poke his head out. He let out a single trill that was almost lost in the beeps of machinery and the flurry of people, but Gavin had heard. He knew he had. He turned his head and almost seemed to sigh before his eyes closed and he was sleeping once more.