The room smelled of anesthetics, rubbing alcohol, and the stale smell of people. If Leon were to guess where he was the first place would be a hospital. He was right whenever his other senses began to work as well. He heard the electric beat from a heart monitor. He could feel all of the little tabs that had been placed on him. His arm had its own beat as well were a pick line had been entered into where his elbow bent at. The chameleon opened one eye and was instantly hit with a pang of pain inside of his head. He shut his eye quickly and groaned. Take it slow. Check your surroundings and take notes of everything.
His eyelids lifted slowly as he began to look around the room. White walls with shelves and medical posters surrounded him with a single door that had been left opened. Where am I? What happened? He his eyes scanned the room again and found to his surprise two people sitting near his bed. They were asleep and leaning against each other. Study them. Find out what you can. A human male, brown hair and short brown beard. Blue flannel shirt with grey t-shirt, blue jeans, brown hiking boots. A brown jacket had been draped over the arm of his chair as well. He looked vaguely familiar. Leon would get to that later, the other person began to stir.
Blue feathered pheasant. Black jeans, red hoodie, red bandana, and black shoes. If Leon remembered correctly he had blue eyes. "You brought me here?" Memories of the chameleon's recent events began to swarm into his mind. "Yeah I got you here alright. What the Hell happened to you?"
The fall. His window had been open whenever he was shoved. Leon felt panic begin to rise up through his body. Keep calm, check yourself. What's the damage?
Leon shifted slightly and immediately regretted it. Pain shot through his left shoulder and rib cage. "Fuck." The rest of his body felt sore from something else. The park, he remembered the park. Why had I fought? They'd followed him there, they wanted to know about the scar on his back. They'd seen it in the locker that day and felt they needed to check if Leon was a tough guy. Had anything been proven?
The pheasant opened his eyes and met Leon's stare. "You're awake early." Falco said as he begin to stretch. Leon continued staring at the avian with a questionable look as he was met with a yawn. "Glad to see that you still have your shits in check. You've been through hell."
"Don't for get the trip from said hell." Leon said while studying the avian. He received a chuckle and another smile. "What the fuck happened to you last night? I found you out in the middle of an alley bleeding to death in the snow."
Leon reminded himself of his landing on the second floor fire escape balacony. "It's a rather difficult story to explain in words alone."
The avian let his eyes wander the chameleon's body. "Your body tells a story itself buddy. You've cracked three of your left ribs and dislocated your shoulder which Michael and I popped back into place. Plus you've got a new scar forming on your back. Shit you look like someone's beaten you with a hammer. Fuckin' bruises all over your body."
Leon's eyes sank slightly. "Well isn't that what every man wants to hear?" It was going to be awhile before he was able to operate properly. All of it because he left his fucking window open. There was no use in blaming his foster father for what had happened. Leon left his fucking window open, a small error that almost cost him his life.
Falco noticed the chameleon's expression change. Fuck, smooth Falco. Smooth as fucking wood. "I'm just giving it to you straight...er...what's your name?"
The chameleon looked back at the avian and narrowed his eyes. "My name isn't important..." Leon stopped and remembered his situation. "is what I'd say if I were leaving, but clearly I'm in no shape to leave."
Falco snorted in annoyance. "So...you going to give me a name to work with? I could just ca' ya that kid who fell out a fucking window, but that'd take too long. Bitch works too."
Leon felt like slamming this guys head into a wall. The nerve he has. "Oh aren't you just a ray of fucking sunshine, call me Leon."
Leon huh? Sounds familiar. The avian smiled out of the corner of his beak. "Now was that so hard? I wasn't askin' you for your SS number or who your first pet was." Falco felt his stomach growl slightly and shifted in his seat to stand, but he stopped and looked at Leon's body again. "What happened?" He asked again.
"Shit happened. That's all I'll say at the moment." Leon said as he watched Falco more closely.
"Fair enough. Name's Falco, and the hummie's name is Michael."
"Good to know." Leon said as the avian stood up. Leon felt like he may have been too rude with Falco.
"You're not very talkative I take it. I'll keep things short then, I'm heading to the cafeteria to get breakfast. You want anything?" Falco asked as he stretched for a second time. Leon couldn't help but look down at Falco's exposed abdomen as he stretched. Blue feathers did little to hide a scar that ran across the pheasant's stomach. The chameleon felt something get caught in his throat at the sight of the pink exposed flesh. His eyes retracted back to the avian's blue eyes as he thought it over.
"Something edible that doesn't taste like shit." Falco smiled as he let his arms fall back down to his sides and his shoulders slump comfortably. "So I guess a Poptart won't do it for ya. I'll find something good."
Leon let out a chuckle, but quickly let it turn into a groan. "Don't move Leon, you'll need your strength to eat, cause I sure ain't feeding ya." Falco said with a smile. Leon returned the friendly smile and closed his eyes.
"Not that I would allow it to begin with Falco."
Leon listened to Falco chuckle before leaving, his footsteps echoing from the sound of his shoes. He waited a bit. No ones was coming into the room hopefully. His eyes shifted back open as he knew what was coming next. Despite a part of him telling him to lie still, he knew he had to see the damage first hand. See what works. Know what you can use. Leon took a deep breath in and felt a sharp spike of pain in his ribs. Lean to the right more. Put little pressure on those bones.
The chameleon began to sit up, pain struck through his body like lightning. He grit his teeth together before taking in a huge breath of air that only fed unto the pain as his lungs nudged his ribs. If karma was real then this was it, and it hurt like a bitch. Things needed accessing and Leon needed to know where he was.
Falco found his way to the cafeteria and bought both himself and Leon a biscuit with a side of gravy. Carrying the trays of food back to the room the pheasant's mind began to wander. What happened to Leon last night? What's up with the bruises over his torso? Why are his knuckles scarred? The pheasant contemplated that these things were linked somehow, and for some odd reason Falco felt that he should find out why. His eyes...there was something in his eyes...something...familiar.
Michael awoke to the sound of the Chameleon's cry of pain, and as the human's eyes shot open his hand went down to his right pocket instinctively. He left it home in last night's rush to get the reptile to the hospital. The sight he was greeted to was a bruised chameleon struggling to hold himself up at the end of his bed. Without hesitating the bartender went to the reptile's side to help him. "FUCK!"
The human realized that he had grabbed the shoulder that had been dislocated and with a gasp he let go and watched as the chameleon stumbled away from him. "Fuck, Michael other arm please." he said through labored breaths.
"Why are you standing in the first place kid?" Michael asked as he grabbed unto the younger man.
Leon felt like puking because of the intensity of the pain. Black dots began to invade his vision as he tried stand. His body ached and pleaded for him to sit down, but he wouldn't allow it. Push past the pain. Find the information you need. "Where am I? Were you the one who brought me here? Where's Falco?"
"Slow down buddy, one question at a time. You're in the hospital on the east end of Sector Four. Yes, Falco and I brought you here in my truck. And I don't know where Falco is. Hey! Slow the hell down kid." Leon began pushing the man off of him.
"Let go of me dammit. It fucking hurts!" Michael let go of the chameleon and watched as he slumped towards the wall. "I just...need to catch my bearings and check the damage." He said as he stood himself up with a pained expression.
"I-i'm...sorry." Michael didn't know what else to say as he looked down. He'd just tried to help the boy, but instead he'd hurt him. The chameleon saw the human's expression and body language change into one that resembled sadness; like a kid that had accidentally broken something.
"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm just in a lot of pain right now and I'm still a bit out of it." Leon said as he held an arm around his chest. Pain came with every breath and the bruises ached with each of the reptile's heart beat. You'd think that the nurses that treated him would've given him some sort of pain killer. But they didn't due to the small quantity they had left. "My name's Leon. I know you're Michael and the avian with you is Falco. He went off to get me and him breakfast."
"Leon...you're that kid who lives across the street with the foster parents right?" Michael asked. Leon looked at the human.
"You're that bartender who owns the Oldboy." Michael nodded and smiled.
"Uh, yeah. I guess we're not strangers after all."
"Guess not." Everyone knew every one in the dumpster.
Falco walked in and gave Leon his breakfast. Michael walked out of the room for a second to hunt down a nurse. "So, I was thinkin' Leon, with you being hurt an'all that you probably won't be going to school for awhile. You want me to get you're stuff for you?" Falco asked in between bites. Leon sat back into his chair and looked at the avian. He grabbed the napkin from his tray and wiped his mouth as he chuckled. "What?"
"It's just, you and me just met officially today. Why would you want to help me?" Falco cocked an eyebrow up a bit and returned to his food.
"Forget I said anything then." He said with his mouth full.
"Falco. I'd be thankful if you did. It's just I've got no idea what I'm going to do next. I'm not sure if I'm heading back to my foster parents or-"
"They were aressted." Falco said as he dipped his biscuit in gravy. Leon blinked absently and cocked his head. "Last night. The police had your blood analyzed to find out who you were. They didn't fucking give us your name, but they said that they knew where your foster parents were. So apparently they drive up to the place and whenever they knock on your apartment door your step-dad, or whatever you want to call him, opens the door and begs to be arrested. Says he did it, whatever he did to you. Says he didn't know if you were dead or not." Falco looked over at Leon. "Said he was fuckin' sorry." He plucked the biscuit into his mouth as he looked out the door.
Leon felt sick. His foster father said he was sorry. He said he was fucking sorry. He didn't even check if I was alive. WHAT THE FUCK? None of that made sense to Leon. "You're staying with Michael I guess. That's why he left. Told me last night he was going to take care of you to the police. They agreed and left you in his custody."
Leon left a little after mid-morning with Michael and Falco. One of the nurses gave the chameleon a fresh new pair of clothes and shoes. The truck ride home was quite at first. Falco in the back seat, Leon in the front passenger, and Michael driving. Falco was the one to break the silence. "I live over on 11th street. You can just stop at your place and I could walk home."
"You sure? I could just drop you off at your place, it is cold and snowing and..." Michael stopped for a second. "It's snowing. Shit, do you think you could stay with Leon for the night until I get home? I still have work at the bar and I haven't even started shoveling the sidewalk."
"Sure I don't mind." Leon said as he looked back at Falco for an answer.
"I'm not sure."
"I'll pay you. It's not that I don't trust Leon, I just need someone to help him around." Michael said as he pulled unto 10th street. Falco thought about for a bit and shrugged.
"Why the hell not? I'll stick around for awhile."
After Michael gave Falco the house key he drove his truck to work. It felt odd for some reason to be driving to work. He'd never been late before to his job, but considering the circumstances he felt like he needed to hurry. Funny. This was the first time he'd had to use his truck in a month. The bartender looked up to the sky and thought about the last twelve hours. Was this part of your plan?
There was no answer as Michael pulled up to the bar. He parked around back and grabbed his shovel and bag of ice salt that he'd stored by the back door. This is going take a bit of time. He thought to himself. He walked back around the front to start shoveling the snow that had fallen in front of the entrance and on the sidewalk.
Michael began to wonder what had happened to Leon in the first place. How old was the kid? He'd forgotten to ask him. Shit, I haven't even asked him anything. Hey. Michael realized he'd been day dreaming and placed the shovel into the snow. "Hey."
The human turned to where the deep voice emitted from and jumped slightly. There had been someone standing to his right for what seemed like awhile. An avian with grey feathers towered over the human. He was dressed in heavy pants, a grey sweater, and a black sports coat with a scarf. "You the bartender here?"
"Uh...yeah. How can I um...help you?" Michael studied the man closely. He held a long scar down the bottom of his left jaw which traveled to the back of his neck. Green eyes met the human's brown.
"I'm here to buy some Zoness Zuma." the man said as he hugged his arms around himself to keep out the cold. It was a code, and with every code there was an answer.
"I'm not selling that right now." This answer was followed by a question.
"When's your next shipment?" The man shook somewhat somewhat, his jacket only doing so much to keep out the cold.
"Later tonight." Michael's gaze met the other mans eyes. The avian nodded, smiled, then draped the scarf over his mouth.
"I'll stop by then to get some." He winked before he turned on his heel to walk away. The bartender cursed under his breath before plunging the shovel into the snow. As he pushed the white powder into the street he spread salt over the trail. Tonight of all nights? You sure do have a sense of humor for the wicked, God. Michael sighed before pushing another pile of snow into the street. Guess that guy would finally come by after all. His bar would be used to make the drop.
Falco would have to stay a bit later than what he'd thought.