So, I've read all of your reviews, and all of you who commented on it said that there's no need to change the rating which I'm quite pleased with! So thank you for helping me out with that! One reviewer suggested I change the genre of the story, so I've taken that into account as well and changed that! The only other suggestion was some cursing during the argument, and I'll admit in my first version there was swearing, but I decided it was better for T rated story not to have curses, that's why I changed them! Really, your reviews are always so sweet and helpful, so thank you to CreCra, TheBlueAlienRobotZombie, pretyguardianofhyrule, ShadowNinja1011, LeilaEditer, Hanyoualchemist1, PrincesscharmingKnight, LEva114, 'Random Reviewer', Joyma, Franne, and Neez!
Thank you to Princess Zelda-figure skater for beta reading!
Dark Reflections: Chapter 5: Steel Pliers
Midna's POV:
"I mean… can you believe he'd be so shallow and clingy?" I say, throwing a piece of popcorn into my mouth, allowing it to melt into a salty mush on my tongue, just the way I like it…
I can hear Pipit sighing on the other end of the phone line, "Bummer…"
"And he's got some nerve telling me I'M over reacting! Talk about a hypocrite!"
He sighs again, sounding exasperated. "Look Midna, as much as I'd love to sit around all day listening to you narcissistically droning on about your relationship problems, there's a bowl of dirty dishes in my sink begging me to wash them that looks oh so tempting right now!"
I scoff, rolling my eyes as I curl my legs up next to me on the sofa, leaning against the armrest, "You know, if I was talking to Zelda right now she's be a lot more sympathetic! She may even try to help me… hint hint!"
"So call Zelda!" He exclaims.
I sigh, "I tried, she won't answer her phone, looks like I'm stuck with you!"
"Well I'm charmed Midna," He says, laughing lightly, "Nice to know I'm just a backup pair of ears for you!"
"Hey, that's what friends are for!" I reply, laughing as I click my tongue on the roof of my mouth, helping myself to another piece of popcorn, "I just call you to tell you what a jealous, petty, douche Sheik is!"
He sighs again, quickly becoming tired of the conversation, "Look Midna, I'm not taking sides in this, Sheik is my friend too!"
I frown, blowing a loud raspberry into the microphone of my cell, "Oh boo you Pipit!"
He's about to reply, when suddenly two quick beeps ring out from the phone, I frown, glancing at the screen, it reads "Incoming call – Line 2".
"Hold on," I say, "I've got a call coming in on the other line."
He laughs lightly, "Fine, go take your other call, but I can't guarantee I'll be here when you get back! I've got better things to do!"
"Rubbish do you!" I retort, before pressing the "switch call" button on screen. As I hold the phone to my ear I can hear busy hub-bub in the background.
A voice I don't recognise eventually speaks. "Hello, is this Midna Shard?"
"Yeah…" I murmur carefully, "Who's asking?"
"I'm nurse Romani calling from Castle Town central hospital. You're listed as the emergency contact for Sheik Stone, your relationship is listed as girlfriend?"
"That's me," I frown, sitting up a little straighter as my heart jumps into my throat, "Is he ok? What's happened?"
"There was a car pile-up at the traffic lights just outside the city university, he was brought in about an hour after the event and was registered with injuries to his legs."
"Oh my Goddess…" I mutter, resting my head in my hands, "How bad is it?" Guilt twists in my stomach as I think about the harsh words that tumbled from my mouth shortly before he left… wishing I could go back and change what I said.
"He was lucky, his injuries weren't too serious, but he's asking to see you."
I nod determinedly, my mind already made up. "I'm on my way."
The car park is bustling as I step out of the way of an approaching ambulance. My heart is thudding so hard against my ribs that it's making my chest ache. How bad is this going to be? The nurse on the phone has said he was lucky, she wouldn't say that if it was really bad… would she? I purse my lips, shifting my bag a little further up my shoulder. Imagine how it must have been for him, imagine how he must have felt when he realised that he was going to crash, no matter what he did… I shake my head, quickly exhaling as I try to push the thought out of my mind. I approach the golden glow of the glass entrance doors to the hospital, and from the moment I step in I'm immediately hit with the strong smell of antiseptic disinfectant. A middle aged doctor with a thick bushy beard pushes an old man in a wheel chair and a blue and green striped dressing gown past me. Young nurses bustle busily around the corridor under the dim glow of the hospital lights as a cleaner sets to work disinfecting the medicine counter. I swallow hard, pushes my nerves to the bottom of my stomach as I approach the front desk, my brown knee high boots tapping on the tiled floor.
I smile warmly at the young Zora receptionist, trying to act confident, "My name's Midna Shard, listed as emergency contact for Sheik Stone?"
She smiles, tapping away at the keyboard. I try my best to ignore the butterflies in my stomach as she clicks her mouse twice, before turning around to face a tall slender nurse with long red hair down to her waist.
"Nurse Romani," she says, "I've got Midna Shard here to see you about Mr Stone."
"Thanks Ruto," Nurse Romani replies, giving her a bright smile, before turning to me and offering the same expression.
I return the smile as she approaches, gently taking me by the arm, "I'm sure my call worried you, but there's nothing to panic about. Your boyfriend has some skin damage on his legs and shoulders but the bones and muscles are all working fine. There's some deep cuts, and serious bruising, but nothing that won't heal within a few weeks!"
It's only when I sigh with relief that I realise I was holding my breath all this time, "That's such a relief!" I exclaim.
She smiles, giving me a small laugh as she glances over the clip board in her hands, "He also may have some concussion as during the impact his head collided with the windscreen, so there may be slight short term memory loss, but our experts have given him a check-up and he's suffered no serious memory loss. Due to his concussion it's not a good idea for him to sleep any time soon, so you need to keep him awake for the minimum of the next six hours, ok?"
I nod silently, chewing my lips as she steers us both along the complicated hospital corridors. Eventually we both come to a stop in front of a pair of double doors reading "Skin Injury Ward". She gives me a bright smile, pushing one of the deep blue doors open and inviting me into the room. The layout of the ward is fairly small, with just ten or so beds, two of which are empty. A little girl sits in one of beds with scratches on her arm, in fact, on quick survey of the room it's clear that the majority of patients are suffering from cuts or bruises. My eyes scan the room searching for Sheik, and eventually, I find him. He sits about two thirds of the way into the room on the edge of a bed, his legs dangling over and down to the floor. His trousers are rolled up around his knees as another red headed nurse rolls bandages around his shins. He watches her carefully, his floppy blonde hair falling over his calm red eyes.
He smiles as she finishes up, pinning the bandage in place, "Thanks nurse Malon," he says, smiling goofily as he watches her leave, rolling down his trouser legs. As she approaches the door he suddenly realises I'm here, his eyes light up as he sees me, jumping to his feet. I hurry over, wrapping my arms around his neck as he squeezes me tight, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Midna I'm so sorry…" he murmurs.
"No! I'm sorry!" I reply, "I should have realised that me being so close to Zant would upset you…"
"I don't care anymore!" He exclaims, "I trust you! I was just being petty and pathetic… sorry…"
We break apart, his warm hands still resting on my shoulder as his amber eyes come into contact with mine. I smile a little, so washed over with relief that he's ok. Today's events have been crazy, and right now, more than anything, I just want to go home and get back to normal.
I sigh, softly kissing his smooth lips, "What happened?" I ask as I pull away.
He looks down a little, putting his hands into the pockets of his black jeans, shrugging, "I don't know, the brake just wouldn't work as I came to the traffic lights."
I gently cup his cheek, pouting sympathetically, "Oh baby…"
He looks down, a little crestfallen, "I just hope everyone else was ok… it's me that caused the crash! My car went into the one in front and caused a four car pile-up! I just hope no one else was hurt…"
"We can check at reception on our way out, ok?" I say, giving his arm a comforting squeeze.
He gives me a thin smile, nodding as nurse Romani approaches, "Well it looks like everything is ok, you're free to go Mr Stone!"
He nods his thanks as we make our way towards the exit of the hospital, when suddenly our path is blocked by a man and a woman in police uniforms. Both hold their hands clasped in front of them, the younger, female officer holding her cap in her hand.
The male officer approaches Sheik, taking his hat off in greeting, "Mr Stone?"
Sheik nods nervously, "That's me."
"I'm officer Rusl of CTPD," he says, flashing a silver badge at us from his wallet, "And this is my police partner, Officer Nabooru," he gestures the girl standing to his left, "We're here to talk about the accident you were involved in earlier today."
Sheik nods nervously. "Of course…"
"Is there any where we can talk in private?" Officer Rusl asks.
A few moments later, I find myself sat in a small side room of the hospital, four cups of canteen coffee sit on the table between us, as Officer Nabooru leans forward, her ponytail swishing over her shoulder, "Before we begin I'm obliged to ask if you have insurance on your car?"
"Uhh… yeah," Sheik replies, "Of course I do."
"Very responsible." Officer Rusl says, nodding, "Now the accident investigation unit has done a thorough inspection of your car, and they believe they've found the cause of the accident…"
Sheik's grip on my hands tightens, causing my stomach to flutter with nerves.
"Well?" Sheik asks.
Officer Rusl sighs, "The brake wire on your car was cut."
Sheik stops still, staring at the police man in silence for a few moments, the disbelief clear in his flame coloured eyes. "Wh… what? Are you sure it couldn't have been broken some other way?"
"I'm sorry," Officer Nabooru says, shrugging, "It was a clean cut, whoever did this intended for an accident. And unless you can find the culprit, it's your insurance that will have to pay for your car to be repaired."
I frown, glancing over at Sheik. "Who would do that?"
"We don't know," Officer Rusl replies, "We don't know when the wires were cut or who by, all we can say for sure is that it was done using steel pliers."
And suddenly my breath catches in my throat as I remember that cold night just outside the university library, I remember what I saw so clearly… Link was underneath Sheik's car when I came to leave…
"What were you doing on the floor?" I ask, watching him cautiously.
"Oh…" He says, laughing casually, "I just dropped my keys."
"Oh… ok…" I say, though I don't entirely believe him, "And the pliers?"
"Uhh…" He mutters, "Borrowed them from Sheik! I was going to return them!"
I swallow hard. This is Link I'm thinking of, he wouldn't do that to Sheik, not to his best friend. Besides, I drove the car home that night… he couldn't have cut the brake wire otherwise I'd have crashed… unless…
And that's when it's all so clear to me, he didn't drop his keys, he was trying to cut the brake wire when I interrupted him, so he couldn't, he didn't have the chance… and when he came round earlier he had pliers with him. I was too busy arguing with Sheik to question it, but I assumed her was just returning them, and that was before Sheik got in the car, just before he crashed… but what would be his motivation?
"Midna… MIDNA!" Sheik says, dragging me from my own thoughts, "You ok? What you thinking so hard about?"
I swallow hard, squeezing his hand gently. "Baby… there's something I have to tell you. You might not believe me and you might not like it, but I think it might be true…"
