Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me.
Arthur wheezed, and coughed. Turning his head, he spat out a mouthful of phlegm. He blinked. Normally, he would condemn what he considered to be gross behaviour, but it had tasted of the smoke that had threatened to choke and potentially kill him.
He wiped his mouth with his hand, then wiped that in the grass. He blinked again- his vision was starting to clear, and he felt the tears running down his face. His eyes were smarting.
"Arthur?"
He coughed again, and looked up. Cobb, his face a mask of concern, was bending down next to him. "Hey, its ok." He rubbed Arthur's arm.
"Where's Eames?" Arthur muttered, thickly. A groan alerted the two men to the other man's presence. As Cobb helped Arthur to his feet, he began to quickly scan the area. Eames was lying facedown on the grass verge, and groaning softly.
"Eames?" Cobb walked over, and gently placed his hand on his shoulder. "Eames, are you-"
He studied the other man, carefully, as Eames turned his face to his.
Cobb blanched. Eames' face was grey, and his features were contorted in pain. "My...leg.." he gasped.
Cobb leaned down and looked. Eames' right leg was trapped underneath his left, and seemed to be slightly bent. Cobb stood up, and pulled out his cellphone.
"Hello. Ambulance please. Where? J. Edgar Fox High School. And police. Thank you."
Ariadne jumped at the sound of her cellphone. Frowning, she checked her watch. Reaching across, she snatched the sleek black phone from her bedstand. "Hello?"
"Ari? Arthur."
She sank back on to the pillows, exhaling slowly. "Where- are you?"
"The hospital." Arthur's voice was faint, and tired sounding. "Would you-" she swallowed as he paused. "Come over?"
She checked her bedside clock. "Its nearly 1am!" she said, horrified. "What happened?"
"Long story."
She began getting up. "I'll be over in 30 minutes."
Robert yawned and stretched. His BlackBerry was emitting a low hum, and propping himself up, he reached for it. "Hello?"
"Robert. Dom Cobb. Where have you been all night?"
Robert blinked. "In my apartment. And I'm currently in bed. And no, there is no-one to verify, as I've been alone all evening."
Cobb swallowed. "Well, I need you to come to the hospital. There are some people who want to talk to you."
"Oh, really? Who?"
"Myself. Arthur. Eames."
Robert laughed, a harsh, dry sound. "Dom. Let me get this straight. It is quarter to one in the morning, and you want me to get up, get dressed, and come over to the hospital? To talk to three people who I will be seeing tomorrow at work?"
"Robert. I mean it. The hospital. Now."
Robert scowled, stung at Cobb's tone. "All right. I'll be there in about half an hour."
"Ow, oh, God!"
The young nurses' face contorted in sympathy. "Please, Mr Eames, try and relax. We're going to get you to plaster as soon as possible, but we have to find out how badly the bone is broken."
Eames gasped, and turned to the young man. "Well, its bloody painful! That badly enough!"
The nurse nodded. "I appreciate you're in agony. I can give you something."
Eames nodded. "Anything. And all of it!"
"OK, just breathe for me. That's great."
Arthur exhaled slowly, his mouth covered by the plastic apparatus. As he took another breath, the nurse smiled. "Well, your breathing is normal. I think we can rule out smoke damage."
Arthur leaned back, permitting the mask to be removed from his face. The doctors had insisted on him staying overnight for observation, concerned about damage done by smoke inhalation. Eames, Arthur reckoned, would be in for more than one night.
He shivered. Eames' face had been a sickly grey by the time the paramedics had arrived. Arthur had surmised that when they had been forced off the porch by the explosion, Eames' leg had taken the brunt of both their weights. He swallowed, and reached for the water that had been thoughtfully left by the side of the bed.
"Arthur?"
He looked up, relief crossing his face as Ariadne stood in the doorway. Her face was creased with concern. "What happened? What happened to you? Are you allright?" the words came out in a rush.
He nodded. "I'll be fine." She moved closer, and began to position herself on a chair next to the bed. Without thinking, he reached for her hand, and felt the warmth of her fingers as they closed around his.
"Arthur, I wondered-" she gave his hand a squeeze. "I heard on the news, on the radio, as I drove over...the school-"
Arthur nodded. "Yep, it just went up." He shook his head. "God knows what we're going to do. About the students. How we're going to provide for them now."
Ariadne bit her lip. "But why were you there?"
Arthur swallowed. "I was there with Eames. We were trying to find a few things out."
"Such as?" she pressed.
"We were trying to find out if Robert was working with a student. A student who had a grudge against me." Arthur sighed and leaned back into the pillows.
Ariadne bit her lip, her face paling. "Arthur, you don't think - you don't mean - you think Robert is behind this-"
"Behind what?" a cool voice stated from the doorway.
Arthur and Ariadne turned their heads. Robert Fischer stood, framed in the doorway.
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