"What happened?" Phoenix demanded, "Speak to me Hangman. I'm only two minutes out."
"I have no idea what happened." Hangman answered, setting down his phone.
Bob was curled up into a small ball in the small cavity between the desk and the wall. He was as pale as a ghost, sweat trickling down his brow. His eyes were unfocused, from what Hangman could see in the dim light. His breathing was irregular, short gasps. There was warmth radiating from him, and he was shaking like a leaf. He was also still in his flight-suit, which explained why the bed wasn't messed up.
Hangman knelt and reached out to tough Bob. But Bob flinched away, suddenly acknowledging that Hangman was there. And the only thing Hangman could see in his eyes was…fear, pain.
"Hey, hey," Hangman said shocked, retracting his hand. "It's me! Hangman!"
Bob's whole, small body was tense, ready to move, ready to get out of there. Hangman was searching his eyes for any hint of recognition, but he found none.
There was knocking at the door, and Bob jumped, Hangman was momentarily distracted when Phoenix called out for him. Bob made a run for it.
Hangman didn't mean to do it. Honestly, he really didn't. But it was a reflex, fast and unthought about. Hangman grabbed Bob to stop him from running. And Bob just…stopped. He broke down, falling to the floor and tears ran down his face. Hangman was shocked. This wasn't the calm, calculating, funny Bob he knew. "Please, don't hurt me…" he heard him whisper, "not again…"
Again? What happened to him.
Phoenix entered the room and saw what was happening, her eyebrows raising high into her hairline. Following her was Rooster and Maverick. Hangman was now on the floor with Bob, trying to comfort him. Eirwen was whining worriedly, her blue eyes a deep look of concern.
Maverick found the room's light switch and turned it on. He knelt to the ground as well and looked into Bob's eyes. Maverick frowned when he saw the fear and distress in them.
"Give him some space," he whispered.
The three daggers obediently took a step back.
"Robert." Maverick said quietly, careful not to touch him should it cause further panic. "Robert."
Recognition flashed across Bob's eyes. Maverick sighed in relief. "Hey, buddy. You with us?"
Bob nodded slowly, his body starting to relax a little. His breathing was still irregular, and he was still pale and sweaty, but at least he knew where he was.
"Can you move?" Maverick continued talking cautiously.
Bob worked his jaw as he thought about the question. Then he slowly shook his head, "Migraine, nauseous," he muttered softly. Maverick nodded in understanding, then turned to Rooster, "Dim the lights, please."
Rooster looked relieved to be able to do something of assistance. He turned down the lights. Phoenix meanwhile turned to her phone, "Payback, Fanboy. You're with each other, right?"
"Yeah, we're roommates." Payback answered.
"Where are you at this moment?"
"We're about five minutes away from NEX and the commissary."
"Could you go in and get some medicine for migraines and nausea?" Phoenix asked.
"Oh, yeah, we're on it. I'll call you back when we're almost there." Payback answered and they hung up.
Maverick was pulling Bob's arm around his shoulder, "I'm going to lift you up and bring you to the couch, alright?"
Bob nodded his consent and Maverick picked him up into a bridal hold carefully. He felt so weak, so fragile. They walked carefully to the living room, and Maverick placed him on the couch. "Hangman, do you know where his bedroom is?"
Hangman nodded.
"Could you go get him some fresh clothes?"
"Yeah," Hangman answered and headed for the bedroom. In a drawer he found a white T-shirt and some sweatpants. He grabbed them and headed back to the living room.
Phoenix was in the kitchen, rifling through all the contents. She finally found what she was looking for and held up a thermometer. "Got it." Then she noticed that Hangman came back with some clothes and turned around again. "Don't worry, I ain't looking."
The boys helped Bob change into the fresh clothes and finally settled him on the couch with a blanket over him. Eirwen took it as permission to climb up and curl at her master's feet.
Phoenix walked over with a bowl and the thermometer and put it under Bob's tongue. They then heard the front door open again and Fanboy and Payback walking in holding plastic bags.
"So," Payback said, putting the bags on the counter, "We weren't exactly sure what kind of medicine Bob should take, or if he was allergic to anything, so…we kinda, sorta-maybe bought a lot." He pulled out medicine bottle after medicine bottle. The others stared in amusement. "Oh, and we also brought the Nintendo Switch and Mario Kart 8. You know, for entertainment." He gestured to Fanboy, who held up a HDMI cable, controllers, a council and a Switch.
"You got a be kidding me." Hangman muttered, a twinkle in his eyes.
The thermometer started beeping and Eirwen picked up her head. Phoenix read the temperature and frowned. "Let me try that again." She muttered, putting it back in Bob's mouth.
They waited for about a minute and it beeped again. Phoenix frowned again when she saw it.
"What is it?" Rooster asked.
"It's at 104." Phoenix muttered.
"We're going to have to keep an eye one him then." Maverick said.
"Well, I guess we're having a sleep over." Payback said, smiling.
Hangman walked into the kitchen and glanced at all the medicine bottles. He then looked at Bob's medicine cupboard and read the notes taped to the door. He wasn't allergic to any known medicines, thankfully. He then read on to find that Bob put his wrote down what his weight was, (he weighed that much? That was so little!) that would be helpful, now he knew how much medicine to give him, how much he took at certain times, and what he took. Bob was a very organized and orderly person.
Hangman grabbed some Tylenol and poured out two tablets. He found the water cups stacked neatly in another cupboard and grabbed one. Going to the water faucet, he turned it on, and filled the cup halfway. Hangman walked back into the living room and nudged Bob gently.
Bob turned to look at Hangman and saw the Tylenol and water. He muttered his thanks taking the tablets and water.
"I'm going to get some things from home. Y'all need any change of clothing or anything?" Maverick asked, grabbing his keys.
Everyone answered 'yes,' and Rooster volunteered to help out. With everyone's addresses in mind, Maverick and Rooster headed out, promising to be back as soon as possible.
Hangman sat down on an plush armchair. He watched as Payback and Fanboy searched around for the TV remote and tried to figure out how to let everyone play Mario Kart with them. They could only allow four players on at a time, and since Bob was out like a light, Mav and Rooster were gone, everyone could play.
They sat there peacefully for at least fifteen minutes before Bob was twisting and turning in his sleep, muttering softly. Phoenix took his temperature again, only to find that it went up a little bit. Then they got a call from Maverick.
"Hey guys," they heard him say, (Hangman had put him on speaker) "So, I was texting Penny and let her know what was going on. She told me that Bob has panic attacks every now and then. That must be why he has Eirwen. Keep in eye on him, okay?"
"Okay." Hangman looked at Bob more closely. His best teammate had panic attacks? He'd never known. Aww, poor guy.
"Me and Rooster are about three minutes out, okay? We'll be there as soon as we can. Call me if anything happens, alright?" Maverick continued.
"Alright, deal." Hangman was about to finish the call when Bob let out a startled yell.
He was shaking and jerking in his sleep. Nightmare probably. Eirwen was whining and nuzzling her master worriedly. "Bob!" Phoenix called, shaking him lightly, "Bob!"
Bob screamed, jerking up, panting, shaking, and sweating.
Oh, boy. This was going to be a long night.
…to be continued….