The halls of the hospital were plain white. Everything was white, too white, too clean, smelt too much of cleaner. I hated every bit of coming to this place, especially when it involves family. There wasn't much to do but wait for the moment to see my brother again. All I could do was pace the white and shiny floor with my hands clasped behind my back.
"Son, sit yer ass down." My father was seated in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs with his legs crossed as I went up and down the row past him every time.
"Wvhy wvon't they let us see 'em yet? Wvhat if-" Before I could finish my father interrupted
"He'll be fine. Just worry 'bout yerself for once." I stopped in front of him with a minor squint of my eyes as he held the ice pack from the check-up earlier. He proceeded to toss it towards me as I caught the still frozen thing and plopped down with an extended sigh. Hesitantly, I placed the pack on my left eye which was now bruised like hell and back followed with a throbbing constant pain. "I don't understand ya always gettin' into scraps with this Carlos kid."
With yet another sigh, I responded, "His name is Kurloz, an' it wvasn't my fault this time... Mostly anywvays." My tone was bitter at the very mention of the green-eyed bastard.
"I told ya to stay away from any an' all gang-related shit back then, now ya got yer twerp of a brother involved. What the hell am I suppose to do with ya troublesome kids?" The older male muttered as he shook his head in disapproval.
It was useless talking to this man about my problems, so why waste my breath? I don't have anyone to actually talk to about what happened, other than the police, which already had interviewed my side of the story. They were now talking to my brother in private about the whole ordeal and we can't go back to see him until they're satisfied with the case on their hands.
I leaned my head back against the wall and stared up at the colorless ceiling, doing my best to distract my dispersed thoughts. So many questions have been swimming around in my mind. Who sent the Makara after us? And what does that message mean? It has to be some gal I screwed over at one point in my life, but there are so many to count it would be impossible to point out. Why is life beginning to get so complicated?
From discovering my interest in Kankri to now being targeted by the malicious gang of this small town... And for what? A jealous ex that took it way too far.
'You're Mine'
I'm nobody's personal object and never will be to one of those disgraceful women. Who can I trust now? What the hell am I even going to do with Eridan? It was all my fault he's gotten into this mess. Closing my one good eye as the other had the ice pack, I tried to focus on one thing that makes me happy…
Imagining the cool waves rocking against my pale flesh as I dip myself into the water. Inch by inch, I start to lose myself in the blue depths. My feet hit the floor of the pool as I look up above me. The water glistened around my body as if I was one with it, my lungs having no trouble holding in the gulps of air as if it were life or death. A silhouette then blocks the light above me, slowly fading the beautiful waters into darkness.
Curiously, I began swimming upwards towards the figure. I wasn't afraid nor weary but drawn to it as if it were calling to me. Getting closer, I saw a hand reach down into the water. I reached out and grabbed the hand as it pulled me out of the water.
As I opened my eyes, I was met with the beautiful smile of Kankri. He was wearing his favorite red turtleneck as he stood waist-deep in the water with me. Our fingers intertwined as soon as I noticed it was him, but then he frowned. His grip on my fingers tightened as his brows knitted and those doe brown eyes covered in fear. I went to ask what was wrong, but no words came out as our positions switched. Kankri was now under the water and I on the breathable surface.
As I attempted to reach out and grab him as he did with me, my hand was stopped by an invisible force. I saw his curly head of hair wave around under the water as he looked up at me expectantly. His hand did the same but was stopped by the same invisible force.
Fear started to seep into my very being at the very thought of Kankri being trapped nonetheless underwater. He had no way out, no way to breathe the fresh air that I was privileged to on the surface. He too had succumbed to the realization and began to panic, placing one extended palm on the glass-like barricade. It was as if he was waiting for me to do something, anything, but I was unable to free him.
I placed my palm on his through the water and painfully watched as he slowly ran out of air. His eyes drooped as bubbles left his mouth, his body sinking down and leaving my hand on the glass alone.
I couldn't move, I couldn't scream, I couldn't do anything but watch as he drowned and I calmly stared back with no emotion.
"Cronus-" My body jolted in surprise as I felt an unfamiliar touch. As I took in my surroundings, I was still in the hospital and my father was standing over me. "Cronus, are ya awake? We can head back now."
A hand came up to rub my good eye, blinking a few times before slowly nodding my head. "Yeah... Yeah! Let's go!" I jumped up from the uncomfortable waiting room chair and began to follow a male doctor with a clipboard tucked underneath one of his arms.
The doctor scanned his badge and the automatic door opened with ease. We walked through pretty quickly as the maze of long dull hallways greeted me with confusion. Everything looked the same, so there was no way of finding my way back here by myself without getting lost. Taking a few turns, we stopped at a door that was slightly cracked open and had an officer standing right outside of it.
The man gave us one look and stepped out of the way. I made sure I was the first to enter the room and pull the privacy curtain to the side. What I saw was a normal-looking pre-teen on his phone, awake and alert, seemingly doing fine. Other than the IV hooked into his arm for fluids and the obvious dark bruising on his young features, he seemed pretty content.
A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I gave a weak smile to the boy relaxing in the hospital bed. "Hey, there Squirt. Howv are ya doin'?"
Eridan looked up from his phone and immediately showed signs of distress from me. "I d-don't wanna talk to you right now, Cro."
"Wvhat...?" I was shocked as my mouth gaped open from his response. He didn't want to speak to me? "Wvhat did I do?"
"Kurloz said what he was goin' to do to me was all because of you! An' you just stood there and watched! Fuck you." He sneered my way as he focused on the phone once more, ignoring my presence fully.
I stood there in the room, confounded and hurt by the one kid I waited hours to see. And for what? Him to rudely diss me off without a second thought. Maybe I deserved the attitude, but I surely didn't drag his ass to the hospital for nothing. Apparently, I did.
Leaving the room and obeying my brother's wishes, I drooped my shoulders a bit as the bleak hospital walls became my leaning support. Maybe Eridan had a valid enough reason to hate me right now. I was the one technically at fault here, but I was just too stubborn to admit anything.
A burning sense of anger rose inside me as I thought about Kurloz. His cocky little smirk from getting away with his gruesome actions rose my blood pressure through the roof. I needed to get back at him and soon, but what? What does Kurloz treasure most that would affect him? Just then a perfect idea of revenge started to hatch inside my turning mind. I needed help though and I know just the perfect people that would help me no doubt.
As I fished for my phone inside my pocket but found nothing. My phone was missing. Where the hell did I misplace it at? Oh, yeah. From all the mixed chaos going on, I probably left it at Kankri's house by accident. Shit.
My old man then came out of the room with the doctor right behind him. He noticed my presence and immediately turned to face me. "They're keepin' him overnight just to make sure of a few things."
"Okay." A sigh escaped my lips as I thought back to what Eridan said to me, but this only became the fuel for my plan. To protect Eri, to rightfully get revenge even if it means breaking a few laws in the process. I needed to get my phone back first in order to contact my make-shift team for the mission. If I didn't have a car yet, then... "Hey pops, do ya mind droppin' me off somewhere?"
●◉◎◈◎◉●
As the truck squealed to a stop, I could already tell that Kankri was already there from the small figure sitting on the steps of his house. His curly mess of hair looked up from the phone he had in his hands. I then started to get nervous. All of my texts, calls, photos to girls were all in Kankri's hands. Realizing he could have looked through all of the obscured items made my heart race. Why? It wasn't like we were in a real relationship, just friends with minor emotionally turmoiled lust. He made it perfectly clear that he did not want one in the first place, yet, remembering that he hasn't been the only one I've seen recently puts me on edge.
"Who's the pip-squeak?" My father piped up as he gave a raised eyebrow to the small individual that was now slowly making his way to the vehicle.
I opened the door and jumped out, landing on my two feet. Kankri stopped in his tracks as he locked eyes with the older male staring back at him. I could tell the brown-eyed boy was getting nervous as he hesitantly approached the one man I've told all about his drunken rages. This was the first time Kankri and my dad had any interaction, no wonder Kankri would be nervous. "This is Kankri, my good friend from school." I began by introducing, "An' Kan, this is my pops."
Kankri then gave a brief nod and 'hello' before taking a step back, folding his hands respectively behind his back. My dad eyed me down a bit and then Kankri before blurting out, "You need some meat on you boy. Look at you, don't your old man feed ya more than just lettuce?"
"Wh-What?" The curly boy's eyes widened in shock as his mouth gaped open a bit.
"Dad!"
"What? I'm just sayin'. I'm sure the boy can take it." He then shrugged with a serious expression on his bearded features.
"That's not right," I stated, but again my old man just sat there with his ice-cold eyes trained on Kankri. "Get outta here!"
With a 'tch', the man drove off and left me alone with the curly-haired boy. He stood there with my phone in hand, slowly giving it back to me as we both walked towards the house. I gave a nervous smile towards the boy, but he looked away as if ashamed to even be in my presence. He then opened the door without a single word leaving his precious lips.
"Kanny... Are you okay?" I finally gained the courage to ask as we walked in, Kankri first then me.
"Hm?" He looked back up and gave a weak smile that faltered as soon as I made eye contact with his chocolate irises. "Oh, yes. I'm just glad you're okay."
"As okay as I can be with a shiner." I joked as I winked at him with my good eye.
"I..." He hesitated before continuing, "I went to the police station."
An eyebrow raised as I glanced down at the phone. "Why?"
He then tucked a few curls behind his ear as he spoke, "I took a video of the whole scene and gave them your phone for a bit. They have a warrant for Kurloz, assault charges actually."
My eyes went wide at the news. Did he really just single-handedly take down the gang leader himself? Kurloz was going to get what was coming to him all because I accidentally left my phone with Kankri. I then laughed, a joyful kind of laugher as I wrapped my arms around his small frame. I couldn't help my excitement at this moment, exploding out of me as I twirled him around once before setting him down. "I could kiss you right now!"
As his expression never changed, he held onto the material of my leather jacket. That weak smile played a role in his tanned features once again. "Cronus... Can I ask you something?"
"WVell... Yeah, Kan, wvhat's on your mind?" A hand came up to cup his flushed cheek as he leaned into my palm, those irresistible doe-eyes staring at me with unclear intentions. Did he look through my phone? Was he angry? My anxieties about this situation rose with every passing second that he said nothing. "You can ask me anythin', ya knowv that... Right?"