Unimpressed with the orb-like creature’s statements and actions, Nathan would barely register the high-pitched squawking that it issued to him. Taking it all as little more than lip-service, he would restrain a growl in the back of his throat; making sure to keep his cool in the situation, the last thing their group needed was more attention after the recent string of events. Huffing out an irritated sigh, Nathan would carefully begin to pick and choose his words, while at the same time motioning with his hands to punctuate his sentences and give an extra bit of pungency to them. “Don’t misunderstand me…,” unable to verify the gender of the alien by eye sight nor by any visible name-tag, the captain went through an awkward pause. In turn the orb to turn its three eyes towards him in both surprise and mild disgust. “I respect the station that you hold and the authority of the hospital at this time; however, I need to see my friends. Lily just recently lost her only real family and has been under my care since, Garrus is under my supervision as well as he is a co-worker and has no means to contact his family right now.” As Nathan said this, the orb spun around slightly; grey eyes dilating and realigning as it flipped through the clipboard for a moment.
“Mr. Blackholm,” the alien announced much to Nathan’s confusion has he had not introduced himself, “but our patients health and safety are our utmost concern. I can assure you that both of them are in the most capable hands Mr. Arkhum’s considerable budget has allowed him to purchase.” At the final statement, his fists would clench tightly before he rose his hand up and squeezed the orb tightly. Its body was no bigger than a softball and easily fit into Nathan’s outstretched hands. Infuriated, he started to wind up to throw the alien; however, stopped and released it, watching it dip a little in the air before speaking.
“It has been a long day, I would very much like to just know my friends’ conditions and possibly see them before making my way back home. Honestly, if that isn’t too much to ask, could you please see to it that the information I require is relinquished before I end up using a certain round object for a game of Freeway Hacky-sack? “ Saying this with a rather disarming smile, the alien would only shiver for a moment before letting its eyes expand in horror.
“I….understand Mr. Blackholm, please forgive the rudeness. Mr. Arkhum is being outfitted with the latest cybernetics; his internal organs and bones were almost all completely destroyed. More than half of his brain along with it upon impact; so the information that he held is being reconstructed using a team of specialists who are using the recorded information in his ‘black box’ to recreate his entire personality, memories and everything else about him. It will completely restore him to how he was before the accident, along with the knowledge of what happened and how he was turned into what he is now.” As the creature finished this statement, Nathan would carefully pick up its clipboards and pins, passing them over to it before raising an eyebrow slowly. “Oh….your other friend was just released, she was in the room next to Mr. Arkhum’s, she should be completely recovered aside from a small scar on her stomach now. If you’d like to see her, her room number is C-42.”
“Thank you, have a nice day.” Nathan responded after the end of the orb’s explanation, at which point he made his way down the hall to an intersection that read: “C-block, in dedication to Dulok R. Catch, a Tresadorian of many ideas, inspirations and four hearts full of kindness for those in need.” At the sight of the sign, Nathan would turn and start walking down the path; letting his eyes roam over the light blue and green tiles that somehow managed to make his eyes feel uncomfortable. It was clear that the hospital was more designed for aliens that humans, as much of architecture and design was inspired in ways that made humans feel uncomfortable and often unsafe. Abstract paintings hung from the walls, confusing the eye; meanwhile, overly bright lights constantly made Nathan hold his hand up to shade them. All of it was disconcerting to him, making him feel as if he was in a psyche ward rather than a normal hospital.
Taking a little walk around the area, he eventually came to the room that he was searching for. Taking a hold of the handle and passing through the white door, he found Lily sitting alone inside. The blonde girl’s head turned toward one of the barred windows and looking out of it longingly; while the yellow walls of the room seemed to cage her in that much more. Pausing, Nathan would let himself lean against the door, realizing just how exhausted he was, not to mention beat up from his earlier encounter. “Hey.” He finally stated before stepping into the room, Lily turned her head and nodded to him slightly before bunching up the fabric on her legs. At the moment, she sounded distant as if she was deep in thought and wanted no interruptions; even if they were coming from Nathan.
“Hey.” She replied and let her emerald colored eyes twist over to Nathan’s face, outstretching one hand, she motioned for him to come closer. As he did so, her gentle, feminine fingers began to curl against his cheek; before she leaned forward and kissed him softly. Her brief peck soon became slightly more intimate, as Nathan let his now full beard of his scruff rub against her face. God, I really need a shave, he thought to himself and it just became more abundantly clear how bad he needed one as he could feel her pressing against his face. After a moment, she pulled back before looking out the window once more, letting her hands curl up into her lap once more. “You weren’t there to protect me again….You keep getting hurt and all I can think is that….this time you won’t come back or this time I’m actually going to die. That stupid dog, Faulkner and now this new one….Nathan….I can’t keep doing this; I’m going to have a heart attack if this keeps up. Look at us…we’re in a hospital and Garrus….Garrus isn’t even alive anymore; oh sure, they say he is, but they’re in there basically completely reconstructing him. That’s not Garrus…it is a shell programmed to act like him!”
“Lily…I.”
Lily cut him off again, pressing one finger up to his lips before shaking her head slowly. “Look…Nathan, you and Garrus and though I’m loathe to say it, Tesla. Are the only family I have left, Ludma over time could become something, but right now….I only have a history with you three. Every time we go anywhere now, I’m terrified…because I know something is probably going to try to kill us; because you’re going to do something stupid or Garrus is going to say something insulting. Nathan….I can’t lose you two….I just can’t. Knowing Garrus might as well be dead just made this all too real. I need to be alone, Ludma sent me a message with where we’re staying; I’ll go there when I get released, but for now…..leave me alone. It hurts just to look at you.”
At this, she abruptly turned her back on him, starting to weep a little. Nathan paused at this point and just pulled back; giving Lily her space. As he stepped out of the room, he walked towards the next one over; leaning his head against the door as he could hear the operation going on through it. Just standing there, he knew the door would be locked and that there was no way in aside from waiting for one of the doctors to leave. Pressing his hand up against the door next to his head, he took a step back and sat down on a nearby bench; just staring at the door until he eventually collapsed.
After some three hours of sleeping against the walls of the hospital, Nathan would be roused from his slumber by one of the nurses shaking him awake slowly. Yawning and looking back up at her, his eyes blinking constantly as they adjusted to the light; he could see that Garrus’s door was slightly ajar. Standing up slowly, Nathan could see the nurse leaving, while he walked through the door to his friend’s current room; as he walked in, he could see the pilot laying there with his head turned to the window. His body looked just like any other human’s; however, there were clear lines running across his arms, legs and chest where he had been pieces together. Small flashes of LED’s would fire off in light blue as he exhaled, illustrating the flow of his ‘bodily fluids’. Parts of him were still flesh and bone, used to be a support for the system that was he currently attached to. His head being a glaring example of this where most of the back had been replaced with a storage unit and had been constructed to look just like the older parts. Yet, his face was almost completely intact aside from some metallic sections running across his jaw and cheek bones.
“I figured you would have barged in here during the operation.” Garrus stated, being the first of them to speak as he awkwardly moved his new cybernetic appendage to examine the construct of his arm.
“I thought about it, just wasn’t willing to screw up your operation.” Nathan said with a short, but nervous laugh as he walked into the room and stood next to the window. Garrus acknowledged him by nodding for a moment, then casually began to examine his chest; running his hand down the almost solid plate of metal.
“Never thought this would happen to me; always figured I would just stay out of trouble and end up dying of old age in obscurity. Now I look like a fucking lawyer.” Saying this, Garrus would drop his hands down to the sheets of the bed and begin to squeeze at them slowly. All of the motions he made, just as silent as they would have been if he had been completely human.
“There is nothing we can do about it….we’re just lucky we had the money to pay for it.” Nathan said almost coldly, not knowing what else to say in that moment.
“You know…there are times I wonder what luck really is anymore.” As Garrus said this, he would turn his head back towards the window, both he and Nathan being silhouetted by the cascading beams of light. Night was setting in and the small cracks of sunlight that they were getting were being drowned out completely, leaving almost absolute darkness out on the streets. A few street lights whistled to life, but Nathan and Garrus hardly noticed; instead, they tried to meet each other’s eyes but were unable to. “So, what happened to our attacker?”
Nathan bit his lip, not wanting to answer the question as he huffed out a brief sigh and finally shoved his hands down into his pockets. His head leaning back against the wall, before he finally stated. “It turns out that he is Tesla’s husband and….as a penitence, is going to be traveling with our crew and working his ass off to repay the now massive debt he has managed to build.
Not responding, Garrus blinked a few times then turned his head looking towards the door; shaking his head, the red-locks spun around for a moment. Inhaling, then exhaling heavily, Garrus would look back at Nathan with his mouth set in anger. “You let that fucking monster into our home…our lives….into everything without so much as asking us first? What the fuck is wrong with you….?” As Garrus said this, he clutched his sheets hard enough to drive his fingers through the fabric creating holes for each of his fingers.
“I wish I knew at this point Garrus, I wish I knew. I saw the begging in his eyes and in Tesla’s….I beat the man down, fought with him on a rooftop and battered him around. We almost fell to our deaths and he ended up saving my life….yet, I still beat him to a bloody pulp, but in the end I couldn’t kill him. I just…I couldn’t fault him for wanting to get his wife back.” As Nathan said this, he looked away from the rage that was surging in Garrus’s eyes before he had to duck under the flower pot that the pilot flung at him.
“HE WENT ABOUT IT IN THE WRONG WAY AND PUT THE ONLY FAMILY YOU HAVE IN THE HOSPITAL, THEN YOU JUST LET IT SLIDE!? GET OUT!” Garrus screamed at Nathan as both of them could see his heart rate starting to accelerate rapidly on the screen; until, the red-head finally slammed his head back down in the pillows. “God damn it, Nathan….at least tell me you at least made him bleed at least.”
“Enough that he was vomiting it for a while, not to mention he got a knife through his back.” Sighing, the captain left the room, looking back at his friend whom was now rubbing his face slowly. As he continued to walk, he could see Lily looking wide-eyed towards the wall as a nurse walked in to check up on her. His conversation with Garrus obviously being overheard and now, she had gone into shock from the news; continuing to walk away, he knew that he wasn’t going to be welcome by either of them for a while.
