Elric slowly opened his eyes.
The ceiling above him was a discolored white, but aside from a dim lamp somewhere off to the side, there was no other light.
'Where…?'
Memories started to stream back into his mind. Getting beaten up, Ember's successful performance for The Boys, and the crazy ride to the hospital.
'But why does my memory just cut off there?'
Something shifted against Elric's side, and his eyes opened wide as he looked over to identify what it was.
'Ember?! Why is she ?!'
The girl was half laying over his bed, her upper body covered by the hospital sheets.
'Don't tell me we did… that… in the hospital room?!'
Elric hurriedly rubbed at his head, trying to recover whatever memories he'd lost overnight. He quickly found some bandages wrapped around the side of his head, covering up a bump.
'Ow… when did I get this?'
Elric shook his head in confusion, and the world seemed to swim a bit.
'Damn, I think I might be concussed. I mean, obviously nothing happened here with Ember, either. She's still fully clothed and must've just fallen asleep here. Ugh, It feels like my brain's been run over by a semi. I can't think straight.'
Elric closed his eyes, but it didn't do much to help with his headache. Just as he was shifting around, a soft knock was heard at the door.
'Someone's coming!'
Elric wasn't sure why, but he decided to pretend he was asleep.
Keeping his eyes open just a tiny bit, he tried to replicate the position he'd been in before, going still before the door opened.
A crack of light seeped through the door, and two silhouettes could be made out peering into the room.
"Anyone awake?"
After a few moments of silence, the two figures slipped into the room, leaving just a tiny bit ajar.
'Who's in here?! I can't see… if I roll over, they'll definitely realize that I'm awake…'
Elric heard the ruffling of papers, and the same voice from before spoke.
"Elric Melov, twenty years old. Was in a fight at a bar. Two cracked ribs, some nasty bruising, and a concussion. Currently receiving liquids."
A second voice questioned after the first one finished.
"So, what you said before… if something is injected into the fluid bag, it can be quickly fatal, right?"
Elric's heart tightened a bit, and he had to focus to not reveal his consciousness. Were these people here to silence him? How? Why? As far as he knew, he didn't have any real enemies.
Surely WStar wouldn't come after him just for going to a bar with a singer they don't like, right?
"I don't know, and who cares? Let's just get the job done and move on. I want to take break early today."
After pausing for a moment, the male voice spoke again.
"And don't say stuff like that in front of patients. Doctor Eldan is already in a poor mood, he'll snap if he hears something like that."
Elric heard more paper-flipping noises, and he heaved a sigh of relief. From the quiet muttering he heard, it sounded like the two mystery people were nursing aides.
The girl- the one who'd asked about the liquids- seemed to be new to the job, and didn't know much yet.
"Um, aren't his vitals a bit high? This resting heart rate is a bit much, right?"
Elric couldn't stop himself from reacting to the nursing aide's words, and his heart rate jumped again.
"Ah! I think he can hear us!"
"Cassie, just leave it. It makes our jobs easier if he keeps pretending to be asleep."
Squinting her eyes to make out some text on the charting sheet in the dimly lit room, Cassie spoke again.
"But look, it says he has been unconscious before arriving! If he's woken up now, we should ask him some questions! There were still quite a few areas his girlfriend wasn't able to fill in on his information sheet, right?"
Pointing with her finger, she held the chart up for the other aide to see.
"Look, we don't know if he has any allergies. Doctor Eldan normally waits to see if he'll be allergic before giving common pain meds, right? With a concussion, this guy probably wants meds, right?"
The other aide didn't even have a chance to respond before Elric rolled over to face them.
"No allergies here, except to shellfish. Please hook me up with something, my head is killing me."
"See? I was right, talking with the patient was the correct idea!"
Cassie cheerfully walked over to a pager, then pressed a button to call for a nurse.
"Alright, Mr. Melov. We'll finish taking your vitals, and a nurse will be in soon to bring you some meds. Please try to relax in the meantime."
The rookie nursing aide smiled as she looked at her mentor.
"Well? Did I do good?"
"Sure. I don't care, as long as I get to go home soon. Working doubles sucks."
Elric normally had trouble falling asleep if there was anyone else around, but somehow, listening to the idle chatter of the two aides as he lay there, he slowly slipped away into a peaceful dreamland.
~
"Yoo~"
"Elric. Elricc~"
Something soft poked at the young man's cheek, accompanied by a weight leaning against his shoulder.
"Urg, I'm awake. Could you turn down the lights?"
After a few seconds, the sound of a light switch being flicked off sounded, and the room went back to the same dim state it'd been in the previous time Elric had woken up.
"Hm. Good morning, Elric."
Shifting around in the hospital bed, Elric scanned the room. Ember was sitting to his left, being the one who'd poked him awake. Near the end of the bed, a middle-aged man wearing purple scrubs held a clipboard in his hands. On his chest, there was a name tag reading 'Doctor Eldan'.
Standing a meter to the doctor's left was a police officer.
"I'm sorry to wake you like this, but after I finish a quick checkup, this officer would like to ask you a few questions. Will that be okay?"