Three weeks had passed since the incident with Saive and the medic. Roenan turned his head to look at the empty bed in the corner. A small team of medics and janitorial staff had come in not long after Drakke had left the room on that day. One of the medics had come to change Roenan's bandage while the others helped to re-set up the destroyed bed and IV drip. The janitorial crew mopped the floors and attempted to buffer scuffs out of the wall. Roenan thought they looked very worn-out and underfed, unlike the medics.
As he was staring at the dent in the wall that had proven unfixable on the day of the clean-up, Drakke opened the door with its annoyingly familiar small creak. He entered carrying books in his arms and also adorning and incredibly painful-looking black eye.
Drakke had been coming to the hospital during his guard duty so they could hold their "secret" study sessions during those hours. He had passed his Jaedan exam a few days ago and had come into the hospital room in an extremely good mood. He even brought Roenan a chocolate bar, which was strictly sold in the country of Vernajjan, as a thank you. Roenan felt bitter to have enjoyed the treat. He jokingly pretended to hate the chocolate as he devoured it, making Drakke both laugh and promise to bring him some type of alcohol the next time he was feeling generous instead.
Roenan whistled, "What happened to you?"
Drakke huffed a small laugh. "Training."
"What kind of University training..." Roenan muttered, shaking his head in disapproval.
Drakke snickered. "You find out soon enough." Drakke said in a cheerful tone, raising his eyebrows as if excited at the prospect.
"You will." Roenan corrected with emphasis. "It indicates the future. The action hasn't happened yet."
"You will find out soon enough." Drakke mumbled, eyebrows creasing, as he set the books down on the bed to the right of Roenan which may as well been labeled 'Drakke's desk'. He patted himself down for his pen before sitting to jot down that note.
"No, but really. Did you get in a fight or something?" Roenan pressed.
Drakke finished writing and looked up at Roenan from under his eyebrows. "It was training," He said again as snapped his notebook shut. "There is a lot of physical training here." He smiled proudly after using the word 'physical'. Roenan had just gotten over teaching him the words 'physical' and 'psychological' in Jaedan so he would stop saying 'body' and 'mind', which had annoyed Roenan for no good reason.
There was a small silence before Drakke added, "The one who did this," He gestured to his face, "I did anger him."
"Oh yeah?" Roenan asked in a tone that pushed for Drakke to elaborate. He grabbed a glass of water sitting on the stand attached to his bed and took a sip.
Drakke ran his fingers over an eyebrow, smiling in an almost bashful way, not looking at Roenan. "I have known him since we were child. I-uh..." He snickered quietly until he could contain himself. "I fucked his sister."
Roenan choked on his water he'd been drinking causing it to slosh down his front before he entered into a coughing fit. The coughing hurt his abdomen, but not nearly as much as they had a couple of weeks ago. Drakke laughed loudly as he watched Roenan's struggle.
"What kind of friend are you?" Roenan gasped, scolding Drakke with his finger. "That's not right. Also, I don't think that's what your university meant by 'physical training' homework."
Drakke laughed. "Ahh. They should have been more clear."
"Yeah, okay." Roenan said, rolling his eyes and with another disapproving shake of his head. "Also, where did you learn that nasty word?"
Drakke shrugged. "Is that not the type of thing that many try to learn from another language first?" He said as he shook his head with the small smile that still lingered from his laughter.
"I guess you're right..." Roenan paused. "Well, do you like her?" He asked. "The sister."
"Hmm," Drakke began. "I leave feelings aside. It does not do to get attached."
Roenan tried to ignore the relief that washed over him as he nodded in agreeance. This World War was particularly brutal than those of the past. It was rare to come across someone who hadn't lost some friends or family to the chaos anymore.
"What about you?" Drakke asked as he reached for the Vernajjian book he'd brought, searching for the page they had stopped on the day before. "Do you have a girl you like back at your home?"
Roenan cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably. "I had someone I'd see." He said quietly. He was spared any continuation when the door opened suddenly.
Drakke slammed the book shut and looked back over his shoulder. He had disguised a Vernijjian book with a Jaedan book's cover so he wouldn't look like he was assisting a prisoner of war by teaching them the country's home language before he received the confirmation that were even going through with sending Roenan to the University.
Drakke stood into his rigid salute.
Four military personel were carrying an unconscious Saive into the room. He looked mortifyingly terrible. Roenan's jaw dropped and even Drakke made a bizarre noise of shock deep in his throat, quiet enough for only Roenan to hear.
Saive's olive skin had turned pale-white and dark bruising stood out vibrantly against it. The scratches and bruising were all over the exposed parts of his body. He looked unbelievably thin too. Roenan wondered how it was even possible that he could have lost all that weight and athleticism in only three weeks.
They dropped him onto his bed in an insultingly careless manner.
"Hey!" Roenan shouted in Jaedan, sitting up. Draake pushed Roenan's shoulder back to press him to his bed, giving him a warning look when Roenan met his eyes.
The men didn't strapped Saive back down to the bed with the cloth like they had last time. Apparently they weren't worried about him trying to escape anymore. There wasn't even a medic to hook Saive up to the IV this time.
The military personel turned to stride out of the room. They nodded toward Drakke as they passed and he gave them a weak nod in return. The door shut behind them and the room when quiet.
Drakke whispered something to himself in Vernajjian before striding over to the side of Saive's bed to get a better look at him. Roenan rolled off the bed to do the same.
His legs felt unsteady and the bottoms of his feet felt like they weren't used to holding so much weight. Roenan hadn't moved much except to use the restroom that was in the center of the wall on the opposite the main door. He attempted to exercise every day, but was too nervous about re-injuring himself to push himself too hard. He was desperate to become well as soon as possible due to his situation and spent more time doing small exercises lying down.
Roenan realized he had never stood up in front of Drakke before. Drakke was about three inches taller than he was. He looked over to Roenan as Roenan was staring down at Saive.
"Roenan." Drakke said sternly. Roenan turned his face to look at him. The shine that was normally in Drakke's caramel eyes was gone. He looked more serious than Roenan had ever seen him. "You must always obey their orders. If you obey their orders, you will never find yourself in the state he is in." He nodded toward Saive.
Roenan didn't know how to answer so he remained silent. He went to touch Saive's bloodied and bruised hand, but stopped himself when he remembered Saive didn't seem to like being touched. He hand stayed frozen in midair.
After some time Roenan dropped his hand but Drakke's grabbed his wrist and squeeze. "Look at me." Draake said quietly.
Roenan looked at Draake and he could almost feel how pale he probably was. He had an empathetic expression on his face as he searched Roenan's eyes. Drakke dropped his hand and turned his look toward Saive. "You will be okay. Obey orders, work hard, you will be okay."
Roenan looked down and his vision blurred as he thought distantly. He really hoped that Drakke knew what he was talking about when he spoke about Roenan's future out of the hospital. He made it sound like Roenan would join this university ordeal, easily obey the orders, graduate, and get away scotch-free. He knew there was something more to this. A lot more to this. He was being kept alive for a reason, and he was going to find out that reason soon enough. He felt a storm coming and the thought of it make him shiver.
Drakke began nodding slightly to himself and he looked distracted in his own thoughts. "I want to see you make it through university without much trouble," He turned to look at Roenan. "If you can trust me, I promise to help you during your time here. I will be a brother you can turn to." He gave a weak smile. "Let us take a break from studies today. You might do well to rest. We can pick up from where we left off in Vernajjian tomorrow."
Several moments of silence passed before Roenan spoke. "Yeah, okay." He responded quietly.