Meanwhile...
Aspen strode angrily along the corridors as the vivid image of Stuart and Berry kissing flashed in his mind. He was regretting ever going there in the first place only to be fed dog food by those two who only started dating a day back. As he walked, he could barely see as he had just taken treatment for his eyes. His eyes, red, slightly irritated, and swollen, made him unable to see properly the things he passed by.
Suddenly, his hand was jerked, and he was pulled into a room. With his mind on alert, especially since he could barely see, he raised his fist, ready to hit the person who had pulled him inside, but he paused when he heard a small, polite voice speaking to him. The voice did not sound like that of a bad person, and the touch of the person was gentle, making him lower his guard. At least he was sure that he wasn't getting kidnapped.
"I wanted to apologize for today. I'm sorry I put you through so much trouble," the voice apologized and actually sounded sincere. But Aspen still could not recognize the person's touch or voice, and what trouble did this person cause him for him to apologize like this?
"The accident today was not your fault. I carelessly entered the road without looking, so please don't feel guilty about it," the voice continued, seemingly oblivious that he was talking to a momentarily blind person.
Aspen closed his eyes, trying to get some relief from the pain and to also get his sight back. He didn't need more information to know that this was the kid whom he allegedly ran over today. Now that he had learned that he wasn't really at fault, he wanted to see this kid clearly and probably scold him for putting him through so much in one night.
"Are you okay? Why are you crying?" the voice asked again, his voice cautious and gentle. "I said you are not at fault. You did nothing wrong; don't cry," the boy said again. He sounded worried and even raised his hand to touch Aspen's face, but as soon as his fingers touched Aspen's face, his hand was swatted away harshly, causing him to hiss from the pain. He felt like his wrist was dislocated.
"Oww!" the unsuspecting boy cried from the unexpected pain, holding his wrist and scowling at Aspen. "I already apologized, didn't I? Why are you still mad?"
Thankfully, he was slowly starting to regain his vision, and Aspen saw the boy glaring daggers at him. Though he could only see a blurry picture, Aspen could still very well see the boy's face.
He was a teenager, quite all right, but never in a million years would Aspen expect that the person with such an angelic voice would have such a roguish look. He was wearing a black shirt that was at least four times his size, making him look like he was swimming in it. He could still hear the voice in his head, but when he tried to match it with the face of the boy, he ended up cringing so hard from the thought.
The boy was quite tall for his age, with red hair that looked wild, maybe because he was just waking up. His eyes that were now slightly red were small with a down curve at the corners, and his disturbingly pale lips were pressed into a thin line, probably from anger.
"What happened to you?" That was the first thing Aspen asked after studying the boy's face for a while. As a doctor himself, he knew that something was wrong with the boy at first glance because he looked pale and sick. He didn't see the boy before the accident, so he was not sure if he was like this normally or because of the car accident.
"Really? That's the first thing you say to someone you just met? Really, dude?" the boy gave Aspen a look that seemed to be asking if something was wrong with his head. Because who on this earth asks a question like that to someone he barely knows?
Aspen didn't answer and looked away, blinking multiple times to alleviate the tingling sensations in his eyes. He also knew that it was a stupid question to ask, but if not that, he wouldn't have said anything else because he was not very good at communicating with people.
But he knew that he could not ignore the boy since he was in the hospital because of Aspen's carelessness. "Why are you still here?"
The boy had probably figured out by now that Aspen was hopeless with words, so he smiled and said, "the doctor insists that I stay for further examination. The shock from the accident caused a relapse of my heart problems. By the way, my name is Seth, what's yours?"
Aspen did not respond as usual, but he did something that left the boy and even himself surprised. Since the shirt he was wearing was oversized, his shoulders and collarbones were visible. To satisfy the sudden curiosity that awakened in him, Aspen reached out and raised the shirt. Before the boy could even stop him, the shirt was removed, leaving him half naked.
The boy gasped as the cold air hit his naked skin, and he grabbed his shirt from Aspen and wore it immediately. "What do you think you are doing?! Do you realize how offensive this is?" The boy yelled, his face red from anger. Suddenly he started wheezing and coughing so hard that he had to sit on the bed for support. He had his hand over his mouth as he coughed, and when he removed it, it was covered with blood that seeped through the gaps of his fingers. "Shit!"
He brought out a handkerchief with his clean hand and wiped the corners of his mouth before proceeding to clean his blood-stained hand.