Hey, cool, this story just broke 8000 views! Rock on, you guys, rock on.
Here's chapter 25. It's not super long, but it's something. At least, for all those of you that have read my profile recently, you'll know I'm alive. Never fear, Linkin Park is keeping me locked in my room lately. No speeding taxis in there, least not last time I checked. :)
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Hospitals are never quiet. One may find peace in a storage closet, or a private hospital room with the door closed, but there is never total silence. The squeak of rubber from the heels of nurse's shoes, the beeping of a heart-rate monitor, people calling each other, phones ringing, gurneys rolling down the tile hallways; all non-stop, all keeping him awake as he lay, waiting for sleep to come.
After what must have easily been three hours, Kevin decided that resting peacefully was not an option, and growled at the curtain that surrounded his bed. He had nothing else to growl at, after all. Once out of surgery, and kept under close watch in a private room, and infection was found in his bloodstream, and he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit. The particular wing of the well-funded hospital had twelve other beds in it, all hidden behind curtains that hung from the ceiling all the way down to about a foot off the floor. Kevin sighed and inhaled slowly through his nose, smelling the iodine and cleansing fluid in the air.
He was wearing hospital pajamas. It didn't take long for him to decide that he hated them. The pants were a little too long for him, and the ankles gathered at his feet unceremoniously. The draw string was tied loosely around his waist, and his right leg was about three times as thicker than his left due to the cast that wrapped around the limb under the fabric. It was sore, but numb. Oxycontin the nurse had said. It's a very strong pain killer, but it will help with your leg and head.
Head… Why his head? Kevin reached up and brushed his fingers across the bandage that stuck ever so persistently to his forehead. Then he remembered what the woman had told him after she applied the painkiller to his I.V.; You got hit on the head pretty hard, honey. It didn't affect you right away, but you'll have some memory loss for a little while.
Great. Kevin dropped his hand down onto the mattress and felt it bounce. He was chilly, in that irritating way where you weren't exactly cold, but it was still horribly uncomfortable. It was about then that Rei peeked around the curtain, blinking and smiling down at the younger.
"Hey Kev."
"Hola Rei." Kevin mumbled, unable to speak any louder. His voice was raspy, like he hadn't used it in a long time, and it worried Rei. Perhaps he was worse off than the nurses let on? Sitting down beside the bed, Rei lay a hand across Kevin's upper arm and smiled supportively.
"Feeling alright?"
A nod. Kevin looked at him and smiled. It was the smirk he threw around when he felt spontaneous and mischievous, but it was dull. Still, being the persistent youth he was, Kevin refused to remain in the boring state that he had been in only moments before.
"I'm okay. Anything interesting happen while I've been here?"
Rei shook his head. "Nah, not really. Mariah's awake and dizzy, Lee is searching for the guys who were arguing and caused the accident, and Tyson isn't allowed near the vending machines anymore. Nothing you wouldn't expect."
"Ah." Kevin breathed, a look of disappointment on his face. He sighed, and as Rei thought about it a moment, recognized it to be a yawn; a very weak yawn.
"You sure you're okay, Kev? You look pretty sick." Rei asked in a concerned matter, placing a hand on Kevin's forehead to check for temperature. Kevin laughed in an odd, quiet manner and pushed Rei's arm away.
"I'll be fine. This isn't the first time I've been sick, you know."
"Well yeah." Rei said almost instantly. His mind began to wander through memories of when his childhood friends had all been ill at one point or another, and raised an eyebrow at one particular memory.
"Was it you that had pneumonia? Or was that Mariah?"
Kevin made a 'ff' noise to express whatever emotion he was experiencing.
"Me, Rei. God, you have no memory."
"You're one to talk." Rei replied, leaning back in his chair and smiling. "You probably can't even remember that you have a head injury."
"I-" Kevin started, and then blinked. He blinked again. Then he reached up and felt his forehead, frowning. "Oh yeah."
Rei's smile faltered a little. It was one thing to make a joke about it when he would understand it, but to have Kevin actually forget about something like that made Rei feel like a jerk for saying anything at all. Thankfully, a nurse pulled the curtain a little and slid into the area around the bed. In her grasp, she clutched what appeared to be a pale-blue colored heating pad, big enough to cover most of Kevin's stomach and lower chest.
"Hey dear."
"Hi… Rosemary?" Kevin replied cautiously, silently praying that he got her name right. She smiled and nodded.
"Very good, Kevin, very good. You're going to be fine in a few days, so far as memory is concerned."
Though Kevin smiled and kept his violet eyes trained on the nurse, Rei furrowed his brow and leaning forward, sitting upright.
"How about how everything else is concerned?" He asked slowly, trying to word it without worrying Kevin, who didn't seem to notice anyway. The nurse shifted awkwardly and sighed, turning to Rei, and then back to Kevin.
"His tox-screen will be back in an hour, so we can see where the infection has spread too. Hopefully it won't be that big of a deal and we can kill it off with antibiotics, but…"
"But what?" Kevin asked, voice cracking a little. The nurse gave him a practiced, supportive smile.
"There is a chance it's gotten to your liver. You know what the liver does?"
"Filters blood and creates bile." Kevin repeated from memory. He had always done well in health class when they were younger, and Rei could remember the exams at the end of one school year, and how Kevin had aced anything related to biology in some way. So, it didn't surprise Rei when Kevin knew the answer to such a simple question. But the nurse seemed taken aback.
"Goodness, that's impressive. Have any interest in a career in health?" The nurse asked optimistically. Rei stepped in.
"You're changing the subject." He started, but was unable to direct the woman back to the point she had left off of, as Kevin spoke again. His voice was clear and void of emotion, and yet each word he spoke stung in the air and forced both Rei and the nurse into silence.
"It's going to shut down my liver."
A long pause followed. Kevin gazed at the nurse blankly before the woman nodded apologetically.
"Yes. But don't worry," The nurse said quickly, noticing Rei was just opening his mouth to debate the statement, "if we can tell its heading there we can fix it with minor surgery. "
Rei stood.
"No. No more surgery. He's been through enough already."
"That or I die, Rei." Kevin said, almost sarcastically. The nurse nodded.
"If it gets to his liver, it will not only be sent everywhere, but it will shut down the liver itself. We'll just have to hope the antibiotics do the trick." The nurse shifted her weight from one foot to the next and took a deep breath. "This heating pad should help relax the muscles in your abdomen should we have to perform surgery. You won't be as sore afterward."
Kevin sighed and nodded, lifting his head and watching as the nurse adjusted the heating pad across his stomach and pulled the blankets back over it. She stepped back and noticed the utter distress on Rei's face, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I know this is hard, honey. But he's in the best of care; you all are." She turned to Kevin. "Can I get you anything?"
Kevin screwed up a pathetic smile. "Do you have any hard candy?"
The woman smiled and nodded. "Yep. I'll bring you your own bowl. How about you?" She asked comfortingly, looking at Rei. He shook his head and didn't look up from his hands. The nurse parted with an "I'll be right back," and the two neko-jin were left in silence.
He's in the best of care; you all are. Yeah, right. Rei had been convinced of that after the first hostage situation, but now? The security of an international organization was no longer hovering around him like a shield. The only thing that protected then now were the walls of the hospital. After that? Who knows what was waiting around every corner.
"Rei."
"Hm?" Rei looked up as Kevin spoke his name.
"Why are you crying?"
Crying? What? Rei blinked a few times and looked down at his lap, finding his pant legs stained with small wet circles of tears. His face was wet as well. He sniffled and leaned back, wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand. Slowly, he looked up to Kevin.
"You're dying."
A pause. It was so long that Rei had to break eye contact with the younger, and a fresh wave of tears began to surface. Then Kevin began to chuckle.
"Aw man, you think I'm going to die this easily? How well do you know me?"
Rei blinked and looked back to him, bewildered. "Huh?"
"Come on, Rei. I'll be fine. I'll be 'sickly' for a little while until the infection is out of my system, and then I'll be just as irritating as always."
Rei just looked at him, amazed. How could he be so calm? He thought about it a moment and decided that Kevin being in a peaceful mood about the whole thing was a blessing in itself. So he laughed, once, through the tears.
"You're not actually that irritating, you know."
"Oh?" Kevin asked, smiling. He rolled his head to face Rei. "How should you know? You're never home."
Well that stung, Kev Rei thought. It was true, he was always with Tyson and the others. Suddenly, he felt guilty for it all. He hadn't had much time with his friends lately, or at least, not real time. Not with his old friends, his best friends.
"Here you go!" The nurse the chimed in, poking her head around the curtain and handing Rei a bowl of individually wrapped hard candies. Once he took it, and nodded to Kevin after he thanked her, she vanished, leaving them to their conversation.
"Here." Rei said with a sincere but pathetic-looking smile. Kevin took it and smiled, lifting his head to see what was in the bowl. Rei noticed and pressed a button on a remote beside the bed, and in the next few seconds, Kevin's bed went from flat across to a forty degree angle. He took a piece of candy and offered the bowl back to Rei.
"Don't tell me you don't want that one." He said with a smile. Rei looked into the bowl and saw what he was talking about; a particular piece of candy was shaped like a little beyblade, wrapped in foil. Rei took it between his thumb and index finger and held it at up to his face, before the two of them broke out laughing.
How ridiculous.
-x-x-x-
"Rockefeller Center of Health Studies?" Tala mused with distaste.
"Well, that's what Pav said. Do you trust Pav, Tala?" Kai asked mockingly.
"Shut the fuck up, Hiwatari. You know I don't. I just trust-"
"-His computers." Kai finished. It was exactly what his grandfather would say about him. "Well, at least we watched him locate Dickenson so we know we're not being fed bullshit."
"Yeah, whatever." Tala snorted, glaring out the car window. "Albany, huh? Ever been there?"
"No. I don't spend much time in this country."
"Because it's America?"
"No." Kai sighed. "Because everything fun is illegal here."
Tala snorted again, this time with laughter. Kai changed the subject.
"What do you think Dickenson is up to in there?" He asked almost innocently. Tala sighed.
"If I knew, Kai, we could just report him, let the police take care of it, and then testify against him."
Kai shook his head. "Hell no. We're going in, we're killing the bastard and whoever stands in our way, and then we're leaving the country. No more of this 'American Justice System'. What happen to the days where they just lynched people?"
Tala laughed again. "They still do in Washington, I think."
"Eh, most of it is lethal injection nowadays." He sighed, as though disappointed.
"Not true. I read that in Utah you can take four bullets in the heart if you don't want lethal injection."
"Bull."
"Truth."
"Damn." Kai said, a smile faintly visible on his lips. One day's drive, an inconspicuous stay at a motel, and then he would be killing Dickenson his own way. Or perhaps, four bullets in the heart. Whatever Kai saw fit when he got around to it, really. In the mean time, he would speed up a little; no one was in front of him on the road, anyway.
-x-x-x-
"I don't give a damn how you do it, Stanley, I just want that brat. I can't push these tests off much longer, and if we don't have a subject, it'll be your head."
"Matherson, Matherson, please." Stanley Dickenson said, shaking his head disapprovingly. "You're getting impatient. I'll have the boy for you just as soon as I can, but things have been set back for me as well."
"Well what are you going to do about that?"
A smile. "Well if I told you, it wouldn't be so fun to watch later on, would it?"
"Dickenson, enough of your damn games. What are you going to do to get me my test subject?"
A sigh. "Intolerant young man, you are. Alright then, I'll clue you in. Do you have any surgeon friends at the hospital your 'test subject' is being held at?"
"… Yes, why?"
"Well, they might get a little beat up in the process of this plan…"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
xChewy; Aww. Kevin is really sick. Poor kid.
Tala; … So, we have to stay in a crappy roach motel?
xChewy; Actually, things are about to get pretty epic for you two. Just sit tight.
Tala; What? Since went did roach motels become epic?"
xChewy; … It's Flame Boy! He combusts!
Tala; … What the fuck.
xChewy; It's something from my deviantart account. It's so funny.
Kai; Can I kill you, too?
xChewy; No, but I could always kill you off.
Kai; Um. Right. I was just kidding.
Tala; -snicker-