Elias had subconsciously leaned back and tried to get some rest to get rid of his headache. He tried to keep his eyes open, but tiredness began to set in. The last thing he registered were his eyes drooping and his breaths slowly evening out. He was asleep within a minute of laying down on the couch in the waiting room.
He was only woken up when he heard footsteps enter the lounge. The surgery was still ongoing, so it couldn't be the surgeons...it was Louis' family. And, well, this was the first time Elias was meeting them. Not a great first impression he was making, but hey, he'd had a rough evening.
Elias sat up groggily, trying to wake himself up and shake the sleep off. He rubbed his eyes a little before focusing on the three people who had entered. It was obvious that they were Louis' family, and he could tell in an instant that they were rich. The father was a tall, red-haired man, looking exactly like an older version of Louis, while the mother was a petite, kind-looking, brown-haired woman. They were led by a familiar face, Yerenika.
Yerenika didn't meet his eyes, instead going to sit on one of the couches in the corner of the room, while the man and woman approached Elias.
The father, who was in his mid-forties, seemed to be a pretty calm and rational man. His hair was graying at the edges, and he had a stern look in his eyes. The mother had a soft look in her eyes, with her hair in an elegant bun on the top of her head. She held an air of kindness about her, and her gaze was warm and soft as she looked at Elias. Elias was clearly meeting them for the first time, yet there was a complicated look in their eyes. The father had a very conflicted look in his eyes, like he was barely holding himself back, while the mother had an understanding look and had one hand on the man's arm, clearly telling him not to say something he'd regret.
Elias, meanwhile, sighed and got up. Whatever the look in their eyes meant, he was still the one who'd been with Louis during the crash, and... he was also the one Louis had even protected until the end. He owed them an explanation, at least. He calmed himself as much as he could while he looked like he'd been run over by a truck. "Hello. I'm... I'm Louis' friend. I... I was with him in the car when it happened."
The mother nodded, and her gaze flitted to his bandaged hands for a second before looking back up at his face. "I'm sorry that you were in this accident. I'm Elizabeth, and this is my husband, Benjamin. And you are...?"
She had an elegant but soft voice, and she sounded genuinely concerned for him. The father, Benjamin, just nodded his head in greeting, his eyes taking in every detail of Elias' form. There was something sharp in his gaze. It was almost as if he were dissecting him mentally.
Elias continued, still too shaken up to derive much meaning from their expressions. "...My name is Elias. We were in the car. Louis was driving, and this other car slammed into us out of nowhere, and-" He took a deep breath as his voice broke for a split second. "Louis- he...he has a punctured lung. That's the most serious injury right now."
Elizabeth's eyes widened, and she let out a strangled gasp. She was clearly a caring mother. Benjamin's gaze turned even sharper, and it was clear he cared a lot too, in his own way. His gaze focused on Elias' bandaged hands. He spoke up, his voice low. "And what happened there?"
He had a commanding voice, very businesslike. On the surface, he looked quite calm, but his gaze was sharp, studying and calculating as he looked at the bandaged hand. Elias didn't know them, but they knew him. It would be kind of hard not to know the person your son had been obsessing over for years, after all.
"That- I had to cut the seatbelt off him while help arrived. It was crucial to stop the air leaking out of his chest cavity. There was nothing there except glass shards," Elias explained.
The mother let out an even sharper gasp, and even Benjamin's face seemed to turn a little pale at the information. "Glass shards? You cut the seatbelt with that?"
Elias nodded. "Yes... It was stuck, and if I waited for the ambulance to arrive, his lung would've collapsed completely, and he would've suffered a heart failure."
Maybe it was Elias' imagination, but the sharp look in Benjamin's eyes seemed to soften just a little. "I see. And...How are you feeling now? You were in the crash as well. Are you hurt?"
"... I'm fine. I was in the passenger's seat. It- it didn't take much of the impact. It's just some scrapes," he replied quietly, the feeling of guilt still clouding his mind. Louis had jumped in to save him... What if he doesn't make it? Won't it make Elias his killer?
He didn't get much time to go down the self-hating lane as Benjamin's sharp voice sounded again.
"May I ask how close you are with Louis?"
Unknown to Elias, he was trying to assess the situation, to see if Louis might have been driven to do something stupid because of him.
Elias replied, somehow confused by the sudden, seemingly random question, "Huh? How close we are...? I think... We're...good friends, I guess?"
Benjamin's gaze darkened a little, and his eyes turned more calculating, sharper, losing the softness they'd gained earlier. He was taking in every word with cold eyes, and a lot of analysis was going on behind them. A car slammed into them out of nowhere, and even fled the scene? Nothing about it seemed "accidental." He spoke again, his voice still cold. "And do you think he might have done something stupid? Like, you know, get into a crash on purpose?" He spoke slowly, and his eyes were on the other's every movement, as he analyzed every twitch, every change in expression. He was very observant, and if Elias tried to falsify anything or lie, he'd know immediately.
"...Why would anyone do that?" There was pure confusion and disbelief on the blonde's face as he heard Benjamin's words. "Who in their right mind would do that? And why?"
Benjamin just let out a bitter chuckle, while Elizabeth looked on with a sad, resigned smile. She knew the boy wasn't to blame, not really, for what had happened with Louis, and they should be understanding. But Benjamin? Not so much. The situation was desperate. He needed someone to blame. And Elias, right now, seemed like the perfect choice.
He spoke again, his voice hard, harsh, and there was a slight bite to it. "Maybe to get the attention of someone. Who knows? Sometimes people do stupid things. You never really know."
Benjamin was clearly on edge, and his tone was harsh. Elias couldn't understand his words, or the context behind them. He replied, not able to hide the slight nervous waver in his words, "I... Honestly don't think it could be something like that. I don't think Louis would do something so reckless."
There was disbelief in his tone. The Louis he knew was charming and confident. Why would a person like that... do something so reckless and desperate? And to catch whose attention, exactly? His? Louis didn't even like him like that. Hell, Louis was probably straight. So to Elias, their words made no sense.
Benjamin saw the disbelief in the other's tone. He spoke again, his voice even harsher than before. "You would be surprised what people would do for the ones they love." The last word was almost sneered out, and his voice was cold and harsh. He knew. Of course, he knew what Louis thought of the other. He was a smart man. He'd seen the graduation picture Louis always kept on his desk and in his wallet. Yerenika and his wife might've missed them, but he noticed. And he was noticing everything right now.
Elias, meanwhile, continued, unaware of the thoughts of the Williams family. "But... That would be extremely stupid!" There was disbelief in his tone as he continued. "Why would he- Louis wouldn't. He wouldn't do that. He...he could've died. And I'm really, really not saying this lightly. If the situation would've been just a little bit worse- He could've really died."
Benjamin kept watching the other. He could see the confusion and the denial. It made him more suspicious, and he spoke again, his voice authoritative. "I agree, it would be stupid. You don't know just how much I agree with that. But love can make people foolish and drive them to do stupid things. You don't know. Maybe it was to get the attention of someone he secretly loves. People do stupid things for love, and it's even more stupid when the loved one is completely oblivious of their feelings, or maybe just keeping them in the loop for the sake of it..."
He trailed off when his wife held his hand, silently signaling him to stop. She mumbled a low, "Careful, dear. It's not your place to say more."
Elizabeth's interference made Benjamin stop. Even then, he kept his eyes on Elias, studying the other. He could feel his wife's hand tight around his own, as if a silent signal to control, to stop. He exhaled and silently squeezed back Elizabeth's hand, as if to show he understood.
He wouldn't say more. He understood it was Louis' decision, and they had no right to interfere in it. Right now, it was obvious that the person in front of them wasn't aware of Louis' feelings. And Benjamin had no right or place to say it.