One Punch Man: Attitude Adjustment
Chapter.9 Recovery and Remorse
"Everyone please, get back." The doctor said as he helped Kathy onto the gurney.
A team of doctors were there to rush Kathy into the emergency room. Randal, Mia and Jeremy had to wait while they tried to help Kathy with her frozen arm. It was a tense, quiet wait. Mia was pacing back and fourth impatiently. Jeremy tried to take his mind off of it by reading waiting room magazines but it wasn't working. Randal sat down without a word, his eye looking down at the floor. The only thing that made him look up for the briefest of moments was an especially cute nurse walked by. After what felt like an eternity, one of the doctors finally came over to speak with them.
"The arm had been thawed, and it should be okay." The doctor said, which made everyone sigh in relief. "Luckily, Ms. Irwin is tougher then most. She'll be staying overnight, but we believe she should have most if not all the feeling back in her arm tomorrow."
"Thank goodness." Mia said, wiping away a worried tear from her eye.
"Any chance we can see her doc?" Randal asked.
"Yes, she's waiting for you in room 3." The doctor said before leading the way.
Everyone followed the doctor into Kathy's room, she was sitting up on her hospital bed with her arm in an extra thick sling to help warm it up. Her Hero costume was folded on a chair beside the bed, with her outback hair siting on top on the pile. She smiled as the others came in, but it was easy to see she was exhausted.
"Hey guys, how do I look?" Kathy asked, pretending to fix her hair until she was suddenly hugged by Mia. "I'm okay, really." She said to reassure her friend.
"That doesn't mean I can't worry." Mia said with a small smirk. "After all, what are we supposed to do without our fearless leader?"
"Well...if we go by seniority that would put Randal in charge." Kathy replied with a laugh, but then noticed the look on Randal's face. "You okay big guy?"
"Kathy...I..." Randal said after a long pause, trying to find the right words.
Before Randal could speak, the door was pushed open with an assertive force. A blonde haired, expensive suit wearing and very angry looking man entered the room. As soon as he saw Kathy his eyes went wide with shock.
"Oh god! You okay sis?" The man said as he rushed over the Kathy's side.
"Hey Stevie, I like the new haircut." Kathy said, hoping to lighten the mood.
"Don't joke with me right now, just look at you!" Steven said as he pointed out Kathy's arm. "How the hell did you let this happen?!" He said as he looked at Mia, Jeremy and Randal.
"Steve, calm down." Kathy said with a sigh of exasperation.
"Calm down?! You're lucky it wasn't your head that was frozen. You could have at least made the body guard jump in front of it for you!" Steven said while pointing directly at Randal.
"Excuse me?" Randal said, not bothering to hide how insulted he was.
"He's not a bodyguard Steve, he's part of my team!" Kathy shouted angrily.
"Oh yeah, some team you got sis. So tell me, what exactly were Karate Girl and the Starving Artist doing while you almost died?" Steven said with no regard for respect toward Jeremy and Mia.
"Trying to fight a giant, living pile of sand." Jeremy said with a very annoyed expression. "I'd ask what would you do, but I'm guessing the answer is just piss yourself."
"Jeremy!" Mia said with an embarrassed look, Steve certainly was being rude but there was no need to sink to his level.
"Nice one kid..." Randal mumbled under his breath with a smirk.
"Oh haha, what a funny remark from the goddamn dumpster kid!" Steven said, ironically furious from the disrespect.
"What did you just call me?" Jeremy asked, looking like he was ready to punch Steven in the face.
"You heard me you filthy, stupid...!" Steven said like someone about to go on a long rant.
"That's it!" Randal yelled, clearly having enough as he grabbed Steven and dragged him out of the room.
"Should...should we stop him?" Mia asked Kathy, worried that someone else might need a doctor soon.
"No, I don't think so." Kathy said without any enjoyment, Steven definitely crossed a line this time.
Randal dragged Steven out to the hall, pushing his back up against the wall. A few of the hospital staff were around to witness a very large man get face to face with another man who looked scared for his life.
"You get the hell away from me!" Steven said, trying to act like he wasn't intimidated. "My family has access to the best security force in the world, if you even think of touching me I will..."
Once again, Randal interrupted Steven before he could finish. He grabbed the small man by his collar and lifted him off the ground. The hospital staff watching were even more worried than before, two of the, started to whisper about calling the police.
"Don't write checks that even someone with your money can't cash." Randal said through gritted teeth, staring at Steve directly in the eyes. "If all you're gonna do is bitch and moan while your sister is the one who's hurt, then you should probably just run home to mommy and daddy you obnoxious, trust fund brat!" Randal yelled into his face before letting Steven go.
"You know what...I knew you were gonna be like this." Steve said, trying to pick himself up with a little bit of dignity. "I read your file, and everything about it said you were nothing but a violent thug!" He said before stomping away and pulling out a cellphone to tell his parents what happened.
After Steve was out of sight, Randal realized there was other people watching him. He felt like an idiot, and rubbed her eyes with in a tired way before going back into Kathy's room.
"I don't think he's coming back for a while." Randal said awkwardly as the other three looked at him.
"It's okay, my brother always says dumb things when he's riled up." Kathy replied, still holding up her smile.
"So he's been riled up every time we met?" Jeremy asked.
"No, he just doesn't like you." Kathy replied with a sigh.
"Guys...can I talk to Kathy alone for minute?" Randal asked Mia and Jeremy.
"Well, I don't mind. What about you?" Mia asked as she checked in with Kathy.
"Fine by me, go hit the vending machine I saw down the hall." Kathy replied with a smile.
"Works for me." Jeremy said as he left with Mia.
After the two left, it was quiet as Randal walked around and moved Kathy's cloths so he could sit beside the bed. They didn't now each other for very long, but Kathy could tell that Randal wanted to get something off of his chest.
"Let me guess, you're in love with me." Kathy said, putting a hand over her heart while pretending to swoon. "There's no need to be shy, to be honest if I was thirty years older I could see myself thinking you're attractive." She said with a bubbly smile.
"Kathy...I'm sorry." Randal said, his eyes on the floor. "You might not agree, but your brother is right. You hired me, and I didn't do my job." He said in a very pessimistic way. "You know what I used to do. With that kind of work, the boss always expects that you're ready to take a bullet. I just...wasn't ready this time I guess."
"Come on, don't be like that." Kathy said, her good hand reaching out to pat him on the head. "Things like this can always happen for Heroes. Heck, Mia almost got eaten by an evil sand castle. And please don't think of you're a member of my staff or something like that, I honestly didn't mean to give off that vibe when I hired you."
"Well you have to admit, it's hard not too when I'm the only one getting paid." Randal said, looking up again with a smirk.
"No you're not." Kathy said while shaking her head. "Mia told me to give her money to charity and Jeremy just wants me to pay for his food. When my parents saw his first bill they thought I was hosting a banquet." She said as she laughed at the memory of her Mother's face that day.
"Yeah...sorry about your brother again." Randal said, sighing as Kathy mentioned her family. "Something tells me your folks are gonna hear about this."
"It's okay. Steven's usually not like that, I think he was just worried about me." Kathy replied. "He's really nice most of the time, part of his paycheck goes to the wildlife preserves he started back in middle school."
"Huh...you don't say." Randal said, somewhat surprised.
"Yeah, he used to drive our parents crazy with all the exotic pets he wanted. There were penguins, giraffes, bears, crocodiles...I always felt bad for the butlers that had to clean up after them." Kathy said as she happily reminisced. "He's also great for taking the pressure from mom and dad off me."
"How so?" Randal asked, curious about what she meant by that.
"Steven wants the finer things in life, and he's willing to work hard to get them. That means the Irwin Construction Conglomerate has a willing and capable successor." Kathy said, her smile dropping. "Mom and Dad get a good little worker, Steven gets everything he wants and I get to be left alone while enjoying all of the perks. Everybody wins..."
"Not a big fan of the C.E.O lifestyle?" Randal asked, even though he could already guess the answer.
"I just don't like things being boring." Kathy replied. "I know this is gonna make me sound spoiled, but getting everything you ask for all the time just gets dull after a while. I thinks that's what made me always want to be an adventurer, like in my favorite movie; Montana Jane.
"I remember that one, fun flick. Saw it on opening night at a drive-through." Randal said, smirking as he remembered something else. "And then me and Amber climbed into the back seat and...umm...never mind." Randal said, realizing he said that last part out loud.
"Mind if we let Jeremy and Mia back in, it might help take away the mental image you just gave me." Kathy replied like someone who really wanted to change the subject.
"Sounds good to me." Randal said as he stood up.
As Randal walked to the door, Kathy smiled in a relieved way. Not just because it looked like she put him in a better mood, Kathy also felt like she could put her worries about Randal's past away. He talked like someone trying to make up for his mistakes, and she could tell the apology he gave her was real.
"So, what did we miss?" Jeremy asked, walking in with a small bag of chips in his hand.
"Not much, just some mushy stuff." Kathy said, smirking as she noticed Randal trying to hide an embarrassed blush. "But you know guys, I could really use something to take my mind off this arm. How about we all sit back and let old man Randal tell us a story?"
"Umm...aren't we a little old for that?" Mia asked, wondering what Kathy was talking about.
"Yes, you are." Randal replied, also confused. "What exactly did you have in mind?"
"Well I heard that you have a fascinating story involving a strange bald guy, and that somehow meeting this person lead you to being in this hospital right now." Kathy said playfully.
"Gee...I wonder where you heard that." Randal said as he looked at Jeremy.
"What? It just came up in conversation." Jeremy said as he shrugged his shoulder. "Did you want it to be a secret?"
"No, it's not that." Randal said before letting out a long sigh, knowing this wouldn't be easy to explain. "Do you really wanna know about it?"
"Oh, definitely." Kathy said, eagerly waiting to hear the story.
"Sure, why not." Jeremy said, not caring either way.
"Only if you don't mind telling us." Mia said, not wanting to any pressure on Randal.
Before he talked, Randal reached into his jacket to pull out his flask. He took a long swig before setting it on the window sill and letting his mind go back to that fateful event. Some parts of that day were burned into his memory forever, and he would pay any amount of money to forget the rest.
"It all feels like such a long time ago..." Randal mumbled to himself.