"Hey, Lloyd…" Kai walked over to him. "It'll be okay, alright?"
Lloyd glanced at him, shaking his head. An hour had passed. A whole hour. With no word on his father. He bit his lip, continuing his pacing.
Kai grabbed his shoulder. "He'll be fine. He's somehow survived way worse…don't worry."
Lloyd shook his head again, pulling away. You don't understand…this is MY fault. It's my fault this happened… He started pacing again.
Kai frowned. He glanced at the other ninja.
They all stared back helplessly, not knowing what to do.
Lloyd ran a hand through his hair again. His jaw clenched.
He has to be okay.
Everyone waited impatiently, a few more hours passing. No word came on Garmadon.
Lloyd continued to pace, starting to mumble to himself. His hair was a mess now, with how often he ran a hand through it, but he found he didn't care.
He glanced back at the doors to the ER. He knew staring at it wouldn't make anything go any faster, but he couldn't help it. His dad…
He sucked in a breath, vision blurring. He'll be okay. He has to be…but it's been so long…what if he's not?
He glanced at the others, and at his mom and uncle. He'd seen his mother and Wu get increasingly nervous as well, though they were good at hiding it. But his uncle was clutching his staff so tightly his knuckles were white, and his mom glanced every so often at the doors. The ninja were worried as well, but not as much. They'd been mostly sending worried glances at him.
Lloyd bit his lip, glancing back at—
One of the double-doors swung open.
He perked up, hopeful but dreading. Doctors had gone in and out of the place many times, but they'd always—
The doctor was walking towards them.
Wu tensed, his grip on his staff tightening.
Lloyd hurried over to his uncle, of whom the doctor was heading to.
The doctor stopped when he reached them. "Are you the family of—"
"Is my dad okay?!" The words were blurted before he could stop them.
"—Garmadon…" The doctor coughed awkwardly. "Um…we have an update on his condition."
Misako immediately came over as well.
The ninja gathered behind them.
Lloyd searched the doctor's face, that feeling of dread and hope coming back. What if he wasn't okay? What if he…what if he hadn't made it? Did…it would be his fault…all his fault…
The doctor looked at them a little nervously, most likely because of the amount of people. Or the fact that they were the ninja, who knew…
He coughed again. "Um…" He glanced down at his clipboard. "He'll live. Though he has many injuries, some more major than others."
Lloyd sighed in relief, his vision blurring. He bit his lip, hard.
He's alive. He's alive…
"What are his injuries?" Wu asked.
Then the anxiety was back. How badly hurt was his dad…?
The doctor paused. He coughed, looking back at his clipboard. "Um…I'll, uh…I'll read off of here…"
Wu frowned.
Lloyd swallowed.
The doctor coughed again, nervously, before he cleared his throat. "Let's see…his left leg is broken but it's healed up fairly well, his right leg is now broken, his right shoulder took a hard hit…but, uh…it appears to be robotic, so it should be fine once someone takes a look at it. He's lucky he mostly hit his shoulder on that glass…otherwise we would have been dealing with potential brain damage…"
Lloyd blinked. He'd thought he'd hit his head…but…that was good it was mostly his shoulder…
"Of course, he did hit his head, but there doesn't seem to be any major damage. Just a small cut from the glass, and he'll have bump for a few days. And probably a headache. We don't think he got a concussion, but we' d like him to stay for a few days just in case."
Wu nodded.
"And his left arm is broken, as well. Um…it seems to have been healing fairly well, though."
"Seems to have been healing…?" Wu blinked.
"Yes…um…not all of his injuries were from the car. In fact, I don't think most of them are…"
"What?"
Lloyd's eyes widened.
The doctor coughed. "He also has few broken ribs…um…" He coughed again. "A-and…he's missing a few…"
There was silence for a few seconds.
"He's…what?" Wu asked.
"Three ribs are missing. In their place are metal ones…"
They all stared at him.
The doctor coughed. "Um…we also found these scars…? It… Based upon our scans, it seems he had…multiple surgeries…?"
"Surgeries? Are you talking about those scars…the ones that seemed to be stitched up?" Wu asked.
The doctor nodded. "Er…yes. And he had other scars, too…words, on his back…like 'murderer', 'monster', 'oni', 'ich—"
Wu nodded. "Yes…I knew about those."
Lloyd gaped. What…?
The doctor swallowed. "Um…"
"Is…that all…?" Misako asked worriedly.
The doctor sighed. "I'm afraid not…he also has a deep cut on his left leg. It's infected. He's lucky we didn't have to amputate…"
Wu and Misako paled.
"He also has many cuts and bruises. We…also found whip marks. Um…" He stared down at his clipboard. "And, he's dehydrated and starved, as well. We're giving him nutrients to try and stabilize that…"
Lloyd was still gaping—in disbelief or shock, he wasn't sure. Maybe both.
"He has that metal in his face—I'm sure you already knew about that. We ran a few tests. It's…nailed into his skull. He's…I don't even know how he doesn't have brain damage or something from that…and his eye behind that is gone." He paused, scanning his clipboard.
"Is…that everything…?" Wu asked hesitantly.
The doctor nodded. "Yes, I believe that's everything…" He looked at them. "And…like I said earlier, most of these were not from the car accident."
Wu and Misako exchanged a look.
Lloyd bit his lip. "Which…which injuries were from the accident…?"
The doctor glanced at him, then back to his clipboard. "Um…one broken rib was from the car, and his right broken leg. Along with a few bruises. And the cut on his head, the possible concussion, and his banged up right shoulder."
My fault. That was all me… Lloyd bit his lip again, harder, and blinked rapidly.
Wu sighed, taking a breath. "Alright…when can we see him?"
"Soon. We're running some final tests right know."
Wu nodded. "Alright…thank you."
The doctor nodded, then quickly left.
Lloyd took a shuddering breath. My fault…my fault…
Wu and Misako exchanged another look, worried.
"This is my fault…" Lloyd shook his head, whipping around—
Kai caught his shoulder, standing in the way. "You're fault? How?"
Lloyd bit his lip, blinking rapidly. "I…I should have been paying attention, I should have jumpe out of the way, I should looked both ways twice, I shouldn't have let him come!"
Kai blinked. "Lloyd…none of that was your fault…"
"I agree." Wu walked over. "You cannot blame yourself, nephew. This was not your fault."
Lloyd shook his head, shuddering. He looked away. "No…it was…" You don't understand.
"Yeah, Lloyd. This couldn't have been your fault," Nya said.
The other ninja agreed.
He didn't believe them. Lloyd looked away.
They exchanged glances.
"Lloyd…this was not your fault." Misako hugged him.
He stiffened in surprise. He didn't pull away…but he bit his lip, not hugging her back. He didn't deserve it. He allowed the tears to slide down his face, and he shut his eyes tightly.
Any hope I ever had of fixing my relationship with my dad… It was gone, now. After this. After he'd screwed up so badly…
He tried to stop a sob from coming.
I lost him…
He'll never forgive me.
Wu watched the ninja sit Lloyd down on a chair, all crowding around him protectively—as if they could ward off his nephew's self-blame that way.
He was glad they were so supportive. There had been a time when…they'd been enemies.
He sighed, looking at Misako. She looked…pale. Worried.
"Misako?"
She looked at him. "You…didn't tell me about his other scars…or these…whip marks…?"
Wu frowned, shifting. "I'm…sorry. The words…shocked me. The other scars and the whip marks did as well, but not as much… I'm sorry, Misako. Normally, I would have…" He winced.
She frowned, nodding. "Alright…" She looked away. "What…do you think happened?"
Wu stared at the floor, clutching his staff. "I…don't know…"
"How did you not notice that his arm and leg were broken? And two of his ribs?"
"He had a lot of bruises and cuts. I…really couldn't tell. Not when he wouldn't let me touch him, and when he didn't show many signs of being in pain…"
"Hmm…"
"I can only see one possibility."
She looked at him. "Only one?"
"Yes…there's nothing else it could be. Not with everything we've learned…"
"And that is?"
"I…believe Garmadon was tortured."
"Tortured? By who? Why? When?"
"I don't know. But the evidence all points to that. Especially the whip marks and the words on his back."
Misako frowned. "But…" She shook her head. "Tortured…"
Tortured.
Wu looked away, gaze going to the ER doors.
His brother had been tortured…but why? Misako was right…why would someone do that? He supposed people may hate him for what he'd done…but how had this even happened? And by who? And when?
I need to ask him. He needed to question Garmadon. He had to know who had done this. And why.
He shook his head, frowning.
Tortured…