Chapter 26
It felt rather strange for Rob to return to St. Edens hospital, though not as a patient this time around. Walking down the hall with a small bouquet in hand, he briefly wondered how his friend's recovery was going.
Several days have already passed since Baako's kidnapping and the liliger actually wanted to visit him day one. Unfortunately, having to meet and be interrogated by the principal and guidance counselor dashed any hope of doing that.
He doubted they would have let him go without any form of discipline since he fought with Richard, Ludo, and Tyson, and would not have surprised him at all if they suspended or expelled him right away for injuring the white lion the way he did. Thanks to Lily, Lorde, and Baako—right before having to be sent to the hospital—testifying on what really transpired, however, they decided to forgo any type of disciplinary action on him. The three other lions, on the other hand, were nowhere near as fortunate and were quickly expelled from school thanks in large part to their previous records and the latest escapade was the final straw.
Rob was relieved nothing happened to him, yet the liliger couldn't help but feel guilt from his losing control of himself while battling against the Richard. He could barely remember exactly what happened at that moment, save the feeling of his chest and body burning with a fervent heat, similar to what he felt when sparring with Joe.
One other thing that he could recall was how…liberating and intoxicating it felt to let go of that rage—Rob could say he even enjoyed…?
The liliger flinched and shook his head furiously as he came to a stop in the hallway.
There was nothing enjoyable about fighting and watching Baako get hurt. Plus, the whole thing only served to exacerbate his panic attacks lately—almost becoming a daily occurrence for him.
Rob inhaled and exhaled slowly, rattling equations in his mind.
This isn't about you. Baako is the one that suffered the most. Get it together, he silently chastised himself. Don't think about it. It's over and done with…
A few moments passed before his thoughts grew more placid and his heart stopped beating so quickly. The large carnivore then sighed and continued walking with more resolve towards the room where Baako was.
His courage soon began to leave him as he found the door to be open and heard voices coming from the room.
Oh…I guess Baako has a visitor already?
Rob stopped and wondered if it was actually for the best to come back another time. While doing so, his eyes fell on the small bundle of lily of the valleys and two yellow roses in the bouquet he held.
With a gentle squeeze around the bottom stems of the flowers, he nodded resolutely and quietly stepped towards the door, rapping the edge of the door softly.
"Um…e-e-excuse me," he said, peeking only his head before slowly revealing the rest of his body. "I-I, uh…is Baako here?"
Of course he's here, he thought, briefly looking down and silently cursing his unnecessary awkwardness coming in.
"Oh, Robbie!"
"Huh?" The liliger lifted his eyes to find Lily sitting beside Baako, who laid on his bed while a cast-covered leg elevated on a sling.
"Oh! Hey, L-Lily. Didn't r-realize you c-came to–came to visit, too."
The tigress smiled and silently beckoned him to come into the room. As he approached the two, he briefly glanced at the herbivore who seemed to be actively avoiding eye contact.
Once again, whatever stoutness in heart Rob had built up prior began to leave him.
Even after the incident, there was still a major strain and awkwardness between them.
A few dozen moments of silence passed before Lily suddenly stood up, startling both the large cat and boar a little.
"Phew, my legs are more stiff than I thought. Guess I was sitting for a while," said the tigress, stretching her arms in the air and bending her back slightly backwards. "I'm going to go stretch them out for a little bit–maybe go to the restroom. I'll be back soon."
Without giving the two young men a chance to react or say anything, she proceeded towards the doorway where Rob was standing.
Lily motioned her head, asking him to let her through. The liliger did so, albeit slowly, while he silently pleaded her not to leave him alone.
The tigress giggled softly and patted his arm, giving him a reassuring look as she walked past.
Lily's footsteps receded while Rob stood awkwardly from the same spot, keeping his gaze fixed on a random spot on the white wall nearby.
He soon couldn't take the silence that stretched out between him and Baako and opened his mouth. "I-I…! Um, I b-b-brought some…fl-flowers," Rob awkwardly exclaimed.
The boar looked at the carnivore for a few moments, and then at the bouquet held tightly at the stems. "...So you did."
"Y-yeah…let me, uh, l-let me put these…i-i-in some water." Rob quickly trotted towards the desk next to the hospital bed and was extremely thankful there was a small flower vase with dried out plants just the right size for the small bouquet he held.
He then quickly replaced the dying flowers in the container with the white blossoms and added fresh water to the container.
"You know I'm more of a chocolate kind of guy," Baako exclaimed.
"O…Oh right." The liliger scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, suddenly remembering the fact that his herbivore friend was a huge sweet tooth.
"Eh, it's no big deal. 'Tigerlily' promised to hook me up with some premium goodies she and her club're making for the festival."
"R-really? Th-that's really nice of her…"
"...She's a real special girl, that one—almost too good for you. Better not mess this one up."
"...Y-Yeah. I know."
Rob turned away from the vase and gently leaned against the wall near the table. Silence fell between the two animals once more. Though this time, it didn't take for it to break.
"H-Hey, um, Baako…? I…I'm sorry a-about what happened w-with Rich—"
"For the love of Rex, don't start that again," the boar groaned loudly as he slumped backwards on his bed. "Last I checked, you weren't the one that dragged me to some random abandoned building to beat me to a pulp."
"B-But I…! I-I-If I hadn't b-been so c-cowar—cowardly back then, I c-could've—"
"Yeah, you were being a huge a$& coward—and in retrospect, I shoulda aimed that kick at your shins."
Rob winced a little bit before lowering his head somewhat, gritting his teeth in frustration.
"...Seriously, I don't get why you let everyone push you around. Not only are you built like a f $%&# tank, but you also know martial arts. You have everything going for you, so why are you so determined to act so weak and defensel—"
"I n-never asked for th-th-this kind of body!" the liliger bellowed, causing Baako to jump. "Y-you don't know…wh-what it's like to be g-gawked at d-day aft–day after day like s-some kind of…g-g-giant freak…! And w-worst of all…I'm s-still growing, e-e-even though I'm eighteen n-now!"
Rob then looked down at his shaky palms, which he soon squeezed into a fist after a familiar disgust welled up from the sight of his claws. "E-Every day…Every s-s-single day, I'm always af-f-fraid of accidentally s-sending someone to the…h-hospital with how b-big and s-strong I am. Even my t-t-tail could knock out a s-smaller animal if I'm n-n-not careful." The large cat winced inwardly at the memory of Kai's head getting smashed against a locker in the dressing room from a swish of the liliger's tail, giving him a black eye and a small concussion.
For another moment or two, Rob remained silent before finally releasing the tension in his fingers. "Uncle…t-taught me B.M.A and weight t-t-training not so I c-can get stronger…b-but to help learn how to c-cont–control my strength. I c-can't take strength reduction p-pills anyway, ...s-so he said that was…th-the best thing he could do to t-try and h-help me. It m-m-mostly worked for me, b-but…"
He gritted his teeth weakly and hung his head lower as his ears flattened almost pathetically. "I t-tried…I tried s-so hard to g-get better and overc-come my f-fears and hang-ups…but l-lately, it f-feels like I've b-been dragged…t-t-ten steps back. Even this…s-s-stupid s-stutter wouldn't get b-better…! *sigh* I kn-know I'm not…c-cut out to be s-someone amazing l-like the B-B-Beastar or whatever, b-but…I still wanted to be s-someone even I can be p-proud of…Now I j-just…"
Rob's voice receded into a small whisper until it fell completely silent. His lips began to quiver, but he then immediately pursed them, not wanting to look more pathetic if he began crying. The liliger couldn't keep the tears from welling up and threatening to spill over.
For what felt like more than a dozen minutes, neither the large carnivore nor the boar made a sound. The only thing that could be heard were the infrequent sniffs from the liliger's nose as he struggled to keep his emotions in check.
"...Heh, remember when we first met?"
Rob's ears twitched when Baako broke the silence between them and turned his head towards the boar. "H-Huh?"
"Well? Do you?" the boar asked emphatically.
The large cat quickly nodded. "Y-yeah, I remember."
It wasn't too hard for him to recall that day in his last year of middle school when he passed by a group of other students that were laughing and mocking a smaller animal on the ground trying to pull something from under one of their feet—which the liliger thought looked like a laptop—yelling at them to knock it off.
"Gotta say, I wasn't expecting to see a lion over seven feet tall—hey, don't give me that look! I was literally on the ground, so everything looked bigger."
Rob huffed softly as he continued remembering that time and how he nervously told those other animals to leave the smaller boar alone. They shrank in fear and then quickly fled when the liliger attempted to speak more emphatically, thinking that he wasn't loud enough. Trying to ignore the self-consciousness that welled up from people running away from him for the umpteenth time, Rob gingerly picked up the laptop and offered it back to the wary Baako.
"Didn't know what to expect when I finally had a better look at you, but I could tell right away that there was just something…off about you."
Why does everyone always say that!? Rob lamented to himself.
"And I was right: you were super awkward, wimpy despite your size, a little slow sometimes, easy to mess with…and you were also just an all-around genuine, good guy. That isn't something I see all that often."
That last comment surprised Rob a little since the herbivore spent most of this time ridiculing and criticizing him.
"...Look. I know your life hasn't exactly been sugar and rainbows, though," he continued, a bit more subdued than usual. "Losing both parents on the same day is hard enough. But watching your old man getting shot in the—"
Baako froze mid-sentence before his face contorted slowly into an almost painful wince, his head falling back on his pillow as he very quietly cursed.
"U-um…" Rob said hesitantly, already guessing what was going on in the herbivore's mind.
"You don't have to say anything," Baako mumbled. "I know I spat out something…I really shouldn't have back then. And, well…it was totally out of line and I was stupid for saying it, so stop looking at me that way…!"
The liliger lowered his arm slowly as Baako turned his upper body away from him. He knew the boar was clumsily trying to apologize, which was pretty rare considering how prideful he usually was.
Another few moments of silence passed between the two animals.
"I…I kn-know you think…p-pretty highly of m-me," the carnivore slowly mumbled. "But…y-you already saw w-what I'm capable of if I…i-if I lose control. I-I mean, Richard s-survived pretty e-easily since he w-was a li–a lion, but wh-who's to say I w-won't end up actually…k-kil–"
"I'm gonna stop you right there. You're not gonna kill anyone."
Rob turned to Baako once more, frustration and mild disbelief visible on his face.
"H-h-how do…y-y-you know…!? And why are y-y-you always acting like…I-I-I'm not a th-threat when I was c-c-covered in b-bl–bl–!?"
The liliger struggled to open his mouth fully to form the last word before shaking his head. "Why are y-you always p-p-pretending…you aren't af-f-fraid of me!?"
This time, it was Baako's turn to glare in disbelief at the riled up liliger. The boar furiously turned his body towards him, as though he was ready to start yelling next, but his hand slipped from the edge of his bed. The sling holding his broken leg stopped him from falling, albeit momentarily before the cast slid off its place.
Baako shut his eyes as he turned his hands towards the hard ground in an effort to brace the fall, but soon found himself dropping into something firm, yet strangely soft.
The boar opened his eyes to see himself staring at a mound with faded stripes, which he soon realized was part of Rob's flexed bicep.
Baako also could hear the carnivore's panting breath as he felt on his shoulder the rising of what he surmised to be Rob's chest. Turning his gaze upward, he saw a seamless mixture of worry and relief spread across the large cat's face.
After calming his breathing, he soon lifted the herbivore up slowly, cradling him gingerly, with a large hand very gently holding his casted leg. Wordlessly, he placed Baako back onto the middle of the hospital bed and slowly readjusted his broken limb securely into the sling.
Rob slowly took a step back, looking over the herbivore up and down, in which Baako let out a very loud sigh. "Seriously…how the h*ll am I supposed to be afraid of you when you're so d*mn gentle with everyone all the time? And you just saved me from adding "concussion" to my list of injuries."
The liliger flinched slightly, looking almost embarrassed. "I…I c-couldn't just let you f-fall…! Y-You're already hurt e-enough as it…i-is. And I w-wouldn't forgive…m-myself if I did n-nothing…"
"Hmph. And here you are saying all that crap about yourself, like you'll turn into some bloodthirsty monster any minute. I sure as h*ll don't see one anywhere in this room."
At this point, Rob was too exhausted to say anything more and merely slumped his shoulders.
"Listen…I'm not gonna pretend that your instincts don't exist and won't try to rear their ugly head whenever," said the boar, folding his arms. "But that doesn't mean that's all there is to you."
The liliger looked up slightly, almost curious about what Baako would say.
"I've been watching you all this time, you know? You've worked harder than anyone else to get to where you are now and I know for a fact that you'll be a great doctor and even greater man."
The boar then turned to Rob, his eyes glistening a bit while his face strained with earnestness and frustration. "And I'm your best friend, aren't I? If you were in trouble, why didn't you say anything to me? Even if I couldn't do anything to help right away, you should've already known I always got your back…!"
Rob stood completely frozen, his mouth slightly opened. Not once in all the years he had known the boar that he's heard him speak of their relationship so emphatically—the most he's ever given him in the past that hinted at his true feelings were jests, sarcasm, stretching out the liliger's face.
"...B-Baako, I…I-I'm sorry. I…I d-didn't realize th-that…" He paused.
The liliger then stepped slowly towards the hospital bed, knelt down beside it, and very gingerly grasped the young herbivore's trembling fist.
"F…Forgive me," Rob mumbled.
Baako said nothing, but his eyes soon softened before looking down at the clawed hand that so greatly dwarfed his. He soon placed his other hand over it and the both of them said nothing for a long while, letting their silence and touch speak for them.
Outside the room door, hidden from their view with her back against the wall, stood Lily, gently sighing as she grasped a canned beverage with both hands.
Those boys, I swear, she chuckled inwardly as she raised the drink towards her lips.
Author's Note
Been through a LONG hiatus this time with life and changes within it hitting me all at once! But never forgot how much I love Robbie's story and wanting to finish through it.
Bit of a slower burn this time, but it'll definitely pick up more soon, I promise!