TWs: Implied/referenced parental issues, arm amputation, and cardiac arrest. I think those are all the major ones.
'My face... my beautiful face... why Tord?'
'I thought we were... I thought we were friends!'
'I... am not... your friend!'
His friends— ex-friends now hated him. He supposed it was for the best. His father would hopefully express something close to happiness at hearing the news.
Then he would hear about the robot, and he would go apeshit on him all over again.
It was the same thing practically every day, which is why Tord was somewhat happy to get away from his father for a few days.
His father wasn't the best, but he also wasn't that bad. All fathers are harsh on their kids, right? They only want what's best for you.
And if it's Tord being the leader of a whole army, then so be it.
Even if it meant giving up his dreams of becoming a full-time inventor.
Tord didn't think he was fit to lead. He was deemed the social outcast in high school, not only for his different accent but because he was 'different' than everyone else.
He didn't flinch when two students were fighting a few inches away from him, he didn't go to the nurse when he scraped his knee on concrete; though he stared at the wound for a while, and he would only pipe up whenever someone talked about guns, knives, or vulgar video games and movies.
Whenever he was placed in group projects, he never took charge, only managing to work on his part of it.
So no, he wouldn't say he was fit to lead an army.
Though if he refused to go along with it...
Tord slightly glanced down at his lap.
He didn't want to know what would happen if he ever defied his father.
"-rd, how you d—ere?" A voice asked, making Tord blearily look up.
Pat was looking in the rearview mirror, light concern in his green eyes.
"Wha..." Tord squinted, confused. His head hurt, and his ears were ringing.
Pat repeated what he said, at least that's what Tord thought.
Yet, he still couldn't understand. It was as if he was suddenly underwater, and everything was just muffled and ringing.
Tord shook his head, hoping to give some kind of answer to him.
Pat's concern only grew as his eyes widened and he looked at Pau, "We need to step on it, Pau."
"What? I'm going as fast as I can." Pau replied, a bit confused at Pat and Tord's exchange.
"Well, do you want Tord to lose his hearing forever? I didn't think so, so step on it!"
Pau's eyes widened a bit, then he furrowed his eyebrows, "I suggest you hold on tight."
Tord could only lean forward as a blanket of darkness overtook his vision.
He didn't know why it was so comforting.
Pat and Pau rushed back to the temporary HQ, where they carried Tord to the ER; which didn't look like much compared to the one back at their base in Norway.
Other soldiers looked on as Pat and Pau handed Tord over to the doctors. Most looked as if they didn't care, which was true. They didn't care. They knew Tord was going to crumble on this mission one way or another.
The doors closed behind the doctors as they took Tord on a stretcher, silence filling the room before—
"Is he dead?" A soldier asked.
Honestly, not the dumbest question the duo heard in their military lives.
"If he was dead, we wouldn't have brought him here," Pat answered, trying hard not to break down.
There was a chorus of dismay as they all continued what they were doing.
The door to the ER swung open and a nurse popped out, shifting her gaze until they landed on the duo.
"Pat. Pau." She spoke softly so none of the other soldiers could hear.
"How is he?" Pau asked.
"He's in stable condition. Although... his right arm suffered a lot of nerve damage. So much so that we're going to have to amputate it." She bowed her head.
They didn't look that surprised. Of course, he had to lose something vital in that explosion.
"We understand. Go ahead." Pat nodded.
"Right away." The nurse turned on her heel and back into the ER.
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧Meanwhile...✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
"Go ahead and start the amputation." The nurse reported.
The head surgeon nodded, already putting Tord on the anesthetic.
After a few minutes of preparing, they got to work on removing the arm and shaping the bone and soft tissue. They were almost finished with the surgery when Tord's heart monitor started to skip beats.
One skip...
Two skips...
Three skips...
Flatline.
Immediately, a surgeon was performing chest compressions while another got a defibrillator as a backup.
After a few minutes of chest compressions, they used the defibrillator.
"Clear!"
Nothing.
They tried again.
"Clear!"
Something.
The heart monitor sprang to life in little pauses.
Everyone in the room sighed in relief as they finished up.
Pat and Pau sat in the waiting room chairs, Pat's head on Pau's shoulder. No, they weren't a couple. Just really good friends.
The doors to the ER swung open again, the same nurse swooping out. She stepped up to the duo as they stood up.
"I have good news and bad news." She said with an anxious look on her face.
"Good news...?" Pat asked.
"The good news is his surgery was successful. For the most part." The nurse glanced away at the last part.
"For the most part?" Pat furrowed his eyebrows.
"Ah... and the bad news is," The nurse took a deep breath, "he nearly died during the surgery, but thankfully we saved him just in time."
Pau was about to speak before the nurse cut him off.
"And he might be blind in his right eye and could very well be close to being deaf as well. Who knows? Maybe it's only partially deaf."
Pau, again, was about to speak before the nurse cut him off.
"Anyway, he'll wake up soon. You can either visit or go home and we call when he wakes up. Now I have other patients to attend to, ta-ta!"
The nurse ran out of the room to not face the duo's wrath.
More like Pau's wrath.
He was fuming.
"Um... Pau..."
Pau said nothing as he grabbed Pat by the arm.
"Wo-okay!" Pat stumbled a bit, "Where are we going?"
Pau slammed open the doors to the ER, "Tord's room."
They got to a room at the end of the hallway. The nametag was labeled "T. Larseing".
The taller opened the door while Pat was still struggling in his grip.
Pau stepped into the room, prompting Pat to follow him.
Tord was hooked up to multiple machines, one of his arms was gone and bandaged, and the right side of his face was also bandaged.
Pat and Pau would wince and feel grossed out, but they've seen worse stuff than this. And have done worse stuff than this.
Pau finally let go of Pat's arm, much to his relief as it was starting to feel numb.
"Did you bring the robot arm in?" Pau spoke, his voice was uncharacteristically quiet.
Pat rummaged through his bag, "Uh, yeah, I'll put it on the table for him."
The shorter set the red robot arm down as well as a few tools for Tord to use just in case.
When Pat turned around to face Pau, he froze. Pau's eye seemed hollow, showing no emotion, yet his eyebrows showed a type of sadness and regret as if he knew this was going to happen.
"Pau...?" Pat spoke, softly so as to not startle him.
Then it was gone.
The hollowness. The sadness. The regret.
It fled from his eyes once he looked up at Pat.
"Yes?" He responded.
Pat hesitated for a while, which made Pau shift in place.
"Right, let's stay at the motel near here," Pat said.
"Sure." Pau nodded.
They both headed out of the HQ and to the nearby motel, Pat making sure to keep a close eye on his friend from now on.