I hope you like this chapter. I followed the advice of user catholicorprotestant, and hopefully it's better!
It was a perfect day. The sky was a perfect, cloudless blue, the sun shone brightly yellow in the sky, and it was warm, but not too warm. It was the exact opposite of what Arthur wanted this day to be. He wanted it to be storming so hard each blast of thunder shook the halls, and the rain heard like thousands of soldiers with metal boots marching across the roof. The eerie silence of the apartment wasn't helping his mood, and he had the curtains drawn closed, so no natural sunlight was poking through the blue fabric.
His head felt like a million bees swarming around, stinging his brain. With nobody to stem the headache, like Alfred, who always helped him into bed, then left the door closed with classical music playing softly in his dark bedroom, the headache wasn't getting better anytime soon. It was actually getting worse with each grind of his teeth. Finally, after he felt he had taken too much, Arthur stood up and made sure everything was turned off or alternatively, closed off. Staring at the closed door of Alfred's room, he shook his head, muttering, before grabbing his keys and locking the door to the apartment behind him.
The twenty-six year old stormed down the stairs, going as fast as he could. He wasn't about to stay in the quiet apartment, where he was assaulted of memories of Alfred and Matthew. His nephew had been coming over every other year for 8 straight years, and never had anything like this happened before. In the back of his mind, a little voice nagged at him. 'What if it's because of you being on this case? What would you do then?'
As soon as he was in the gray car, he started up the car, the purring of the engine soothing his headache somewhat. Cruising down the road, he allowed himself to just let his hands take over, and watched the road ahead of his for obstacles. Billboards advertising miracle workers, insurance agencies, and fast food places flew by as he drove. Before Arthur knew it, he was pulling in front of a familiar apartment complex. Before he could think twice, he grabbed his keys and stuffed them in his pocket, and then ran to his partner's complex.
When the door opened, Francis stood wearing an old white t-shirt, and sweatpants. Arthur nervously stumbled through his explanation.
"I couldn't stay... It was too quiet..." Arthur stopped when he felt his friends arms around him in a hug, and he sucked in a breath. "What? Francis?" His friend simply hugged him harder, and before long he found himself hugging back in one of his rare moments of weakness.
Soon enough, Francis stepped back inside and motioned for him to come with. Closing and locking the door behind him, Francis walked over to his dining room table and pulled out a chair before sitting down. Arthur also sat down.
"You see, after Mathieu went missing, I looked at all the previous kills and missing reports in New York in the past few weeks and centered out some that looked like kind of like Mathieu's disappearance. It turn out that Natalya, Lars and Laura, and Eduard were all reported missing a few weeks before they were found dead. All of their disappearances were like each other. Something happens that puts everybody's attention on a certain person, and the killer nabs them during the confusion. Only Gilbert and Feliciano were dragged out of their beds during the night. How we didn't find that in the original investigation, I don't know." Arthur sat back after that information overload.
"So, Alfred being attacked was just the instrument for Matthew to get kidnapped?" Arthur asked.
"Actually, I find something oddly peculiar. Before I left, I tried to find Mathieu to say goodbye, but I couldn't find him. I suspect he was nabbed after Alfred left the apartment. So Matthew was the odd one out in this case."
Arthur twisted his mouth into a frown. The air between Francis and Arthur was filled with tension. Francis stood up to go change and told him he could make something of he felt like it. Before Arthur could say anything, his phone rang.
"Hello? Is this Arthur Kirkland?" A voice rang out from his phone.
"Yes, this is Arthur Kirkland." He gave a confused glance to Francis, who had stepped out of his room, with a pair of jeans on. He left his shirt on, though.
"Well, Alfred woke up, and he's been asking us for you. I was wondering if you would visit him?" Arthur's face lit up, and he grinned at Francis.
"Sure! I'll visit right away." He hung up after exchanging goodbye's, and then, pausing, "Do you want to go with me?" Seeing the nod, he hit the stairs two at a time, getting to the car before Francis was at the door. The drive to the hospital was charged with energy, the day feeling right for his mood for once. The headache had mostly subsided, but he still needed some aspirin.
When the massive structure of the hospital came into view, Arthur parked as close to the entrance as he could. Stepping into the lobby felt like stepping from Africa to Antarctica. Without a jacket on. Walking over to the receptionist's desk, he was greeted by a middle-aged lady talking on the phone. She held up a finger, and Arthur halted in front of the desk. When she finally set the phone down, Arthur asked her where Alfred's room was. She monotoned, "Room 236." Arthur nodded politely and set off for the the elevator, followed by Francis, who was chuckling. He frowned at the Frenchman, and hit the 2nd floor level button. The silver elevator was nothing fancy, but it served it's purpose. It glided slowly, and jolted when it reached the second floor, and Arthur stepped outside with a little more headache, but oh well.
The bustling and moving of doctors jostled Arthur on his way to Alfred's room. When he stepped into the dim room, Alfred sat up, his expression bright. "Arthur!" He called out to the blond man. The sixteen year old smiled at his older brother happily as he walked closer to the bed. "I missed you so much!"
Arthur looked around at the room. There was very little in the way of decoration, and machines were along the cream walls of the room. There was a small white bear holding an axe in the corner of the room. Alfred noticed Arthur's gaze and told him that it was from Matthias. Arthur nodded and crossed the tiled floor to Alfred's bedside.
"How are you doing?" He tried not to look at the bandages covering his arms and stomach. Alfred enthusiastically answered him.
"I've been great, Arthur! The food isn't that good but the people are really very nice!" Alfred's hands moved as he talked, and Arthur found himself following their movements. Francis had been lounging in the back, but now he decided to talk to Alfred.
"Hello, Alfred." Alfred's eyes snapped to the figure behind Arthur's hunched one.
"Oh, hey Francis!" He waved at the Frenchman, who chuckled and waved back. For the next thirty minutes, the three conversed until Alfred's nurse swept in and asked them to leave. Arthur, ever the gentleman, followed her orders with Francis once again behind him.
Thanks for reading! This chapter is longer than my usual chapters, thanks to the advice of catholicorprotestant! Thanks for reviewing every single one of the chapters so far! I don't mind any advice you give, in fact keep it coming!
