Chapter 12 - You're Never Really Fixed.

Legosi stared down at the slip of paper, comparing it to the address he had just arrived at. It was a herbivore only hospital, and he was nervous as hell.

Last night was rough. He had called Gosha and told him what happened. Against Legosi's wishes, his grandfather said he'd send them a check in the mail with even more money since Louis would probably be unable to find work for a while.

He barely slept that night and got up as soon as the sun rose. He pulled on his last set of clean clothes, the silky green button-up, and slacks that Louis had liked so much, and headed out without breakfast.

Taking a deep breath, Legosi walked toward the main entrance, pushing the doors open and finding himself in the lobby. All the herbivores in the waiting area turned to face him, looks of shock on their faces. He cleared his throat and trod across the carpet to the reception desk.

The woman behind looked up, blinking at the carnivore who has just strolled up to the counter. "May I help you, sir?"

Legosi fumbled with his large hands, making sure to hide his claws. "Y-yes. Hello. My name is L-Legosi and I called yesterday about Louis the red deer? I want to visit him."

She looked up and down at him, then slid a clipboard with a paper on it. "You're going to have to fill this out."

Legosi nodded, taking a pen, and looking at the paper. General things like name, species, address, and...relationship with the patient. He tapped his pen at that line, unsure of what to write. After some deliberation, he went with the truth.

Fiance

He placed the clipboard back on the counter, hoping that she wouldn't read it.

The nurse looked and blinked at the information, nodding. "You'll have to wait your turn. Please, wait outside so as not to scare the herbivores. We'll send a nurse out to get you when he's ready to see you."

Legosi felt his fur bristle, but he simply nodded, heading outside once again. He sat on a nearby bench, staring up into the overcast sky.

A few minutes later, his phone was ringing.

The wolf brought his phone out, squinting at the screen. It was Bill. His ear flicked and he accepted the call. "Hey?"

"Legosi! It's Bill! The tiger?"

"Yeah. I have you in my phone, Bill."

"How are you? Good? That's great to hear! Listen...Pina and I were wondering if we could come over and get some sex advice from you. We had a little...incident and we thought you guys would know what to do."

Legosi covered his face with a hand. "N-now's not the best time, Bill. Louis is in the hospital and I'm about to go see him."

"Woah! I didn't know you guys went that rough! You're nasty, Legosi~"

"Bill, Louis had a mental breakdown and ran away. This is serious."

"Wait, what?" There was mumbling in the background. "Oh, okay." There was some noise and then Bill spoke again. "Legosi, you're on speaker. Pina's here."

Legosi sniffed, feeling like he might cry again. "Hi."

"Yo, Lego! What's up? What happened to Louis?" Pina's chipper voice sounded slightly farther away.

The canine swallowed, deciding to tell everything. "Well, back at Horns, Louis had one of his butlers help us escape and after doing so, he ran away and quit being a butler. Yesterday we saw him again and found out his sick brother died since he lost his job, and Louis blamed himself and ran away. I called the police and they found him and now he's in a hospital."

"Hospital? Like a...mental hospital?" Bill asked.

Legosi looked up at the building. "Uh, I think it's a general herbivore hospital? Maybe he's in the mental health ward. I don't know. They made me wait outside."

"Well, that's racist," the tiger huffed. "Wow...Poor guy. We'll call you later and check in. Hang in there."

"Hey, yeah. Let us know when he's getting out, okay? Or maybe text us where it is so we can see him." Pina's voice now sounded a bit more concerned.

"Yeah. I'm sorry this happened, dude," Bill consoled. "We're here for you. Talk to you later, man." He hung up.

Legosi sighed and put his phone back in his pocket. He awaited a while longer and then noticed twenty minutes had already passed. Was it really taking that long? He stood up and strode over to the doors again.

Everyone inside looked to be doing their own thing. Not one carnivore in sight. There were a lot less animals than before.

Legosi pushed the doors open once again, going to the desk. "Excuse me, but how much longer is it going to take?"

The receptionist looked up. "Oh! You're still here."

The wolf clenched his fists, out of sight of the receptionist. "Yes, I'm still here. I'm here to visit my fiance, who is sick. He needs me."

"And you're sure it's Louis the red deer?"

"I'm sure." Legosi brought his left hand up and splayed it on the counter. "He should have a ring that matches this one. Our engagement rings."

"Fine." She pushed a button. "I have someone here to see patient D-44. Bring him to the visiting room and send a nurse up front, please." She sighed and looked at Legosi. "Anything else?"

"No." The canine fought the urge to say 'thank you'. He turned and went to sit in a chair in the corner, far away from anybody else.

Not long after, a doe nurse came through the door. "Louis the red deer?" She looked around the room for his matching female deer partner.

Legosi stood up from the shadows, lumbering forward. "Me," he said, simply, pointing a clawed finger to his chest.

The doe looked bewildered. "A-alright...Please follow me." She waited for him to get closer and then walked through the door, beginning to walk down the halls of the much to bright hospital. The lights were almost blinding and everything was so...pure and sterile. "You get ten minutes. When you get in the room, the patient will be handcuffed. If you touch the patient, you will be removed from the room. If you yell at the patient, you will be removed from the room. We want to make sure this visit goes as safe and smooth as possible. Do you understand?"

"Of course," Legosi grumbled. His patience was wearing thin, whittled down by stress and lack of sleep.

They arrived at the room. "There will be a security camera recording the whole visit. Any other questions?"

Legosi shook his head. His heart was pounding, suddenly terrified of what he might find beyond that door.

The nurse opened the door and the wolf stepped inside. Louis immediately looked up, then looked away. He was wearing a clean white shirt and soft white pants and no shoes. He still had his eyepatch on and just like the nurse had said, his hands were cuffed together in front of him. His earring was gone from his right ear to who knows where. The worst part was...the bandages around his head and the lack of antlers that could be seen. The face he wore was that of defeat and shame.

"L-Louis!" Legosi quickly sat in the seat across from him. "Louis, are you okay?"

"..." The deer sighed. "I'm fine."

The words cut through the wolf. "Clearly, you're not." He tried his best to keep his voice steady. "You had a mental breakdown."

"I thought we were happy. I wanted to believe it. Sorry for being so...naive."

"Louis...we can be happy. We can help Shogi! We can live together! We can do anything if we stay together, remember? We're a team. It's us!"

"I thought I was fixed...I mean, I was happier, making jokes, eating better...But I guess you're never really fixed." He spoke in a soulless voice that lacked the life and fire the deer usually had. "It's all just a balancing act for me."

"This is just one thing, Louis. It doesn't mean you can't keep getting better. I'm here for you! I can help you, just as I have been." Legosi tried his hardest not to raise his voice, but he was growing more and more emotional. Seeing Louis like this was wrong. His eyes kept flicking up to his antlerless head.

"I've been lying to you and myself this whole time. I wanted to believe you were what could save me forever, but I guess it's not true...Every time I'm alone I just fill my thoughts with you because I spiral off if I think about anything else. We really rushed into this, didn't we?"

Legosi shook his head. "No! If I'm not enough to fully help you then you can get help from a doctor! A therapist! We'll do anything we can to help you get better!" The wolf's heart hurt, realizing he didn't know his love was still suffering this whole time.

Louis looked down at his hand, no longer wearing his signature ring that symbolized their eternal love. "I think we should end it. It took this to realize how bad I am for you. I'm always putting you through trouble and running away. I'm sorry."

Silence. The clock on the wall ticked slowly. The lights buzzed. Legosi looked around the room, trying to determine where a camera might be. He turned back to his fiance. "Louis...what are you talking about?" His voice came out just above a whisper, shaking.

"I meant us. I was stupid to believe I could do something this reckless and get away with it. We need to break up."

The wolf doubled over, feeling a kick to his gut. He stared at the floor, which was spinning and morphing in his vision. The buzzing of the lights filled his head. The clock grew louder.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Legosi stood up so fast his chair slid out behind him. "What did they do to you?"

Louis kept looking down. "Nothing. This is just what's right. Please understand. It's unhealthy to be with you. I'm ending things now before they get worse."

Tick.

Tock.

"I-it's not unhealthy! This is the only good thing that's happened in my life!" Legosi looked around frantically, now trying to address the hospital staff. "What did you do to him! Why is there a bandage on his head! Did you go into his brain and do something! Because he loves a male carnivore!?" Tears were already flowing freely from his eyes. "There is nothing wrong with our love! Our love is beautiful, and pure, and nothing can get in the way of it! We-we're a team! We can do anything together!" Legosi paced the room, rubbing at his arms as his tail swished aggressively.

TICK.

TOCK.

Louis sighed again. "Legosi. It's over. You should go. I'm sorry it had to end this way."

Two nurses entered the room after this. "Alright, big guy. You're getting too rowdy. I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave."

"NO!" Legosi stepped in front of Louis and got on his knees, clasping his hands together, begging. "Please! Please don't do this, Louis! Don't leave me again! I-I can't do this again! Don't leave me! Please, please don't leave me!"

"I'm sorry, Legosi..." Louis mumbled. "Please, before this gets any worse."

The two nurses grabbed under his arms and pulled to lift him up. "Come on. We'll show you out."

TICK.

"Louis! J-just think about this! Louis! I can't live without you anymore!" Legosi tried to stay in the room, but the nurses that were sent in were horses with enough muscle to haul him out.

TOCK.

"Lou! Lou! No! Stop! Lou!" Legosi was brought out of the room, the door closing. Louis could hear his shouts continue down the hall, growing slightly fainter but never stopping.