PoA Ch2
Summary: All he'd ever known was pain and the constant feeling that he would always know nothing but suffering for the simple crime of being born. When the chance at a 'normal' life arrived he felt it was too good to be true and would surely be ripped away from him at any moment. How long would this normalcy last before the curse he was certain his birth had placed upon him would tear it all away? What was it that had brought about his suffering and why was it that he seemed important and yet despised by those from his place of birth?
Rating: R/MA
Status: W.I.P.
Genre: Sci Fi, Fantasy, Drama
Warning: Violence, Language, Gore
Chapter 2
December 22, 2993
The first thing he was aware of when he finally came back to consciousness was the thin mattress beneath him and that only his back seemed to bother him. Unlike the last few times he had fallen asleep he woke to only an aching pain. After a few hazy moments of confusion he stirred and opened his eyes cautiously.
Once hearing and sight came back to his awareness he could hear the distant sound of a pen scraping across paper and see that the lights were dimmed in the room. It had to be late for the lights to be dimmed, turning his head just enough to look around a bit more he could see the door leading to the center of the school. It was firmly closed thankfully, he turned over and a hiss passed his chapped lips from the tug and pull that motion generated from his still healing wound.
He heard a chair scraping across the tile floor he knew the infirmary had and then the familiar voice of the doctor, "You shouldn't move around too much. Serenity managed to heal the worst of it but it is still not completely healed."
He nodded once, his head spinning from that minute action making him close his eyes miserably, he opened them again when a gentle and warm hand touched his forehead and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. His blue eyes met with kind and concerned green eyes, "How long-" his voice was far to raspy for his liking and as dry as his throat was it was a wonder he managed those two slurred words at all. A soft smile met his question before she knelt down next to his bed and answered softly, "Three days."
It was then that he noticed the I.V. poking him in his left hand, most likely there because it was his left side that was injured the worst. Though he didn't trust himself to sit up yet or move much he was grateful not to feel a bandage wrapped around his head. Those things never helped when one was dizzy or had a headache which he could feel building up to a pounding aggravation.
That hand fell away from his forehead only to brush back his longer hair from his face, "You were running a fever throughout most of the day, I worried something was infected but it turned out that you were under far too much stress. I managed to tend to that nasty gash on the back of your head without having to cut any hair away but when it heals there will most likely leave a scar."
He made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, he had plenty of scars already so he thought nothing of yet another one. Her fingers continued combing gently through his hair as she told him of his injuries; "You have a lot of bruising and Serenity healed the cuts and lacerations from the glass, she found a good number of shards in your skin. The worst and most frightening of your injuries was that stab wound. She closed the deepest parts of the wound but couldn't heal the last few centimeters of it. Mostly it is a flesh wound now, but you should still be mindful of it tearing and becoming as serious as it once was. I stitched up what she couldn't heal but still be careful."
He gave a very short nod, not wanting a repeat of that dizziness from earlier, especially with his head pounding mercilessly now. "Where-" he began to ask about his two friends but couldn't get the words out. Having not spoken in so few days was leaving his throat far too raw and dry for him to say a complete sentence. Tetsuka seemed to catch on to what he was asking for and smiled as she stood up, making her way to her desk from the direction her footsteps headed and returning with that soft smile on her face as she knelt down before him once more. In her hands was a small white card, it read Get Well Soon, on the front in black ink. The handwriting he recognized to be that of his red haired friend, Angela.
"They left this for you, I told them I would read it to you when you woke up. Unless you are too tired and want to get some more rest," those last few words sounded more like a question. He debated with himself for a while, he was feeling rather low and exhausted from so little effort of just staying awake and speaking those three words but he shook his head and managed to lift his right hand enough to motion to the card.
She gave a nod and continued smiling before clearing her throat and shifting so that he could see the handwriting as she read it in a light hearted tone he could sense the positive energy through hearing; "Hello Tye. This is Angela and Gabie, we want you to know that we did come by but you looked so worn out we thought it best to let you sleep," he smiled to himself, Angela was always so formal even at only eight years old.
Tetsuka continued reading much the same as before; "We will try to come and see you again when we get the chance, most likely you will have to wait until the weekend. Get well soon and please take care of yourself, Gabie is persistent I hand over the pen to her."
His caregiver paused a moment to look at her patient with a almost motherly light in her eyes before she looked back to the card and commented, "It's a wonder those two girls could write small enough to fit all of this on this card and still make it legible." Tye chuckled at that and almost fell into a coughing fit from the action but covered his mouth fast with his left hand wincing from the way the I.V. needle pulled on his hand. He set his hand over his stomach and saw that his doctor still had that smile on her face.
"Gabie is much less formal even though she is older than both of her friends. Her part is longer as well, you ready?"
He merely nodded in affirmation, after nearly coughing from laughing he didn't want to really push his throat any further. She nodded and started to read while showing him what was written like she had done for Angela’s part of the card;
"Hey brat, so you ended up getting hurt again. That just reminds me of how much I want to leave this place, every time I turn around you're hurt or all of us are getting punished for petty and childish things. I already know you will be fine in time, you're damn strong for a boy, stronger than even high school kids. Don't know why the hell Red here is always so formal, but whatever. Try not to get yourself killed and don't be an idiot, stop fighting back so hard just long enough to heal okay? I know you won't but I had to say it, or write it rather. Going to have a lot of school work to make up when you can come back to class, you know that teacher we have the same class for, that bitch gave us this really long and pointless paper to write about discipline and consequences for our actions. It's garbage making a bunch of kids that are pretty much imprisoned in a shitty place like this write a paper on that. Anyway, take care, heal quickly, and watch out for yourself."
Tye shifted on his bed and looked to Tetsuka, "Burn it," he managed to rasp out and she looked startled for a moment before she nodded understandably. Gabie never worried about the consequences of her actions too much but if someone other than those that cared about the three of them read what she had written, or even if that card was discovered then all three of them would be facing some very dire consequences. He didn't disagree with his oldest friend in the least but he would protect them however he could. Tetsuka got to her feet and said with a smile, "They both signed it with love by the way. You should get some rest, you look ready to fall asleep as it is."
He gave her a short nod and watched her as much as he could walk back to her desk, when he could smell the paper burning he closed his eyes and fell back into a blissful darkness unplaqued by nightmares or worries. One of the few adults he could trust watched over him silently for a few moments before falling back into the rhythm of filling out her paper work, the ashen card sitting in the small trash bin on the right side of her desk.
Her mind wandered as she worked as she contemplated just how unique the three young friends truly were. Each of them strong in their own way and each of them determined to be friends despite the consequences, it was rather ironic that Gabie would mention the paper she was given to write.
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December 26, 2993
He couldn't believe that he was still in the infirmary even four days later, nearly an entire week he had spent here and luckily had avoided a confrontation with his godfather in that time. It also helped that his godfather had apparently left for a business trip to Earth only one day after he had so brutally 'punished' him.
He was grateful for the peaceful time but was feeling restless being confined to a hospital bed. Of course he was made to work through some physical therapy to keep himself from getting too weak but that was not the same as being able to wander through the school like he usually did on those rare occasions when he was left here without his godfather present. Most of the time he was forced to accompany his godfather on his trips the reason being that he wasn't to be trusted.
He frowned at that before he shifted and pushed himself up to sit up in his bed. "Good morning Tye, would you like some breakfast?"
He looked over to his doctor and nodded once, grateful the dizziness and throbbing had subsided so much in the last few days. She stood up from her desk and turned to the small door behind it, it was a cooler for many different things and he almost missed the cafeteria food when it came to eating the dried out food that came from that cooler.
He wondered how she could stand to each such bland food all the time. She came out a few minutes later with a small container of milk and a even smaller box of cereal that he knew would only suffice to quench his hunger. She closed the heavy door before she turned to the cabinet to the left of her desk and grabbed a bowl.
Once she had poured the cereal and milk in the plastic bowl she dug a spoon out from one of the drawers beneath the cabinet and walked over to him carrying his breakfast. He scowled at it but nodded his thanks to her. She stood over him to make sure he ate all of it before she took the bowl and spoon away with a satisfied smile. He wondered if maybe they wished to kill their staff by forcing them to eat such disgustingly fake and stale food.
"The cafeteria food is less detrimental to your health you know," he said before he could stop himself. To his relief she laughed and turned to him after placing the dishes in the small sink located within the makings of the cabinet, "I know. However most of the time I have patients that need twenty-four hour surveillance so I end up having to eat what they provide in that cooler."
"They should have someone bring food from the cafeteria then."
She laughed again, "Believe me, I agree and you are definitely one to make such a comment given the number of times you have unfortunately had to eat such rubbish from that cooler. But, you will be released from my care at the end of today and can have dinner in the cafeteria if you like."
He remembered her saying as much yesterday and felt foolish for his complaints, usually he would keep his thoughts to himself but perhaps he was feeling a bit rebellious since he knew his godfather wasn't presently on the colony let alone at the school itself. He sighed and looked to her again, "Sorry, thanks for taking care of me."
She was silent for a few moments and a sad expression came over her face as she smiled a melancholy smile at him sitting down on the end of his bed and idly smoothening the blankets with her hands. She looked away from him as she said, "You have nothing at all to ever be sorry for Tye. You have never done anything wrong at all. I wish that you were not harmed to the degree that requires myself and Serenity to take care of you. You do realize that you are only a child and don't deserve the way that bastard of a godfather treats you don't you?"
He remained silent, there was nothing he could say to that. For all the time he had spent here on the colony since his sister was born he was told that his stay here and all the punishments he received were justified for his being born and the incontinence that placed on his mother. His godfather had told him that it was his fault his mother had died and his own existence and mistakes he had made, that he had no memory of, were nothing but a hindrance to his father.
He was never told what it was he was guilty of doing but he truly believed he did deserve some of the punishment he received. He was not foolish enough to believe he could have done something so terrible to warrant his godfathers' cruelty, he would have remembered doing something so horrible, wouldn't he?
He looked down at the blankets and noticed that his fists had clenched in the blankets, he looked up sharply when Tetsuka covered his hands in her own. Her eyes were glazed with tears but none had fallen yet. She released his hands to embrace him and he tensed from the embrace not expecting it and being surprised of the gentle and comforting touch, more often than not the only physical contact he ever received was violent. She cried softly as she embraced him but he could not find it in himself to shed tears with her. He hardly thought himself worth the tears others may shed for him.
Now was no different, despite whatever this very compassionate woman believed he deserved most of what he received and knew that others were worse off than himself. Self pity was weakness and unnecessary. He lifted his left hand, ignored the I.V. still there and put his hand on her shoulder, "You shouldn't cry for me-" She sniffed and pulled away to take her place at the end of the bed and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hands.
She looked to him, "I apologize, that was uncalled for."
She stood and went back to her desk silently and he couldn't help but feel as though he had somehow hurt her feelings. There was nothing he could think of to make her feel better so he remained silent and waited out the rest of his stay. It would be hours before lunch and a few hours more before he was released. The time went by at an achingly slow pace and just as he was deciding to take a nap once lunch had come and gone the door to the infirmary opened and two girls near his age walked cautiously inside the room. At once his entire mood lifted and the heaviness to the air lifted as Tetsuka smiled in greeting.
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The eldest of the two girls had long auburn hair she wore much the same as himself, braiding along her back. Her eyes were a very rare color of bluish green that sometimes changed from one shade to the other depending on her mood. The other girl was the same age as himself and she often wore her long, deep red hair loose about her back and shoulders.
Her eyes were what he could only call jade green. Unlike himself or the older of his friends she had pale skin and naturally reddish lips, why he noticed that was because that stood out against her hair, eyes, and skin. Gabie like to say that he noticed as much for an entirely different reason.
Both girls were wearing the usual uniform for their age and grade level, the green and red plaid skirts that were knee length with white, short sleeved, button up shirts with a green tie around their necks that cross to form an 'X' and buttoned in the middle. The girls' uniforms were much more complex and colorful than that of the boys which consisted of black slacks and a white shirt with black dress shoes and a belt. His older friend often complained about having to wear a skirt and a uniform she often said was ugly. He agreed with that statement though the green and red went well with Angela's complexion.
At the moment both of them were sitting on either side of his bed and he was sitting up leaning back against the small headboard of the bed with a pillow placed behind the right side of his back to keep any pressure off his still injured left side. They had greeted him excitedly and with hugs and even handed him a handful of letters to read from each of them. Currently those letters sat on Tetsuka's desk and she assured him she would give them to him once the girls' left. They risked getting into a great deal of trouble being here so he knew that their visit was going to be short.
"So kiddo, you feeling any better now that the asshole isn't here to bother you for a while?"
Angela intercepted him before he could answer and said with her hands folded on her lap, "It is rather fortunate that Mr. Jones is not presently here, I don't believe Tye would have had the chance to heal if he were."
"Ain't that the truth, that guy is a sick fuck-"
"Miss Crystallia watch your mouth please."
Tye chuckled at the reprimand his friend received to which he received a glare from her for. She then stuck her tongue out at him to which he did the same in return. Their red haired friend sighed in exasperation at their antics making the three of them laugh when Gabie proceeded to blow a raspberry at her in reply. Both of them fell into talking about their classes and the assignments he could be expecting when he returned to going to school again. The elder went on to talk about how the teachers couldn't threaten that many students with sending them to the principal when the jackass wasn't at the school.
She was scolded yet again by Tetsuka to which Angela chuckled at their friends' expense. What his older friend had to say next surprised him. "There was this high school kid who got a hold of those brats from the junior level, he roughed them up a bit and threatened them. I overheard him talking to them and then he went on to address all the other students that had stopped to watch the fight that if he heard anyone else pinning the blame for their stupidity he would do the same to them. He ended up being sent to solitary for three months for that, should have waited until the bas-principal jerk left to do that."
"Who was it?"
"Don't know, I never caught his name or anything."
"I believe the student you are speaking of is a frequent patient of Serenity's. I have spoken to him on a number of occasions and he always expresses concern for you and your friends Tye."
He looked to the doctor at that, shocked that she had never told him about that. For some reason he felt like he should know whoever this teenager was and he almost wanted to believe it was the same guy from . . . he cut his own thoughts off at that. He didn't want to remember his time spent there anymore than he wanted to remember what had happened there. He couldn't have false hope like that, he had witnessed his friends' death, it was closer to slaughter or murder than death, they had killed him for defending and protecting him.
He suddenly wasn't feeling all that happy even with his friends there so he wasn't too surprised to hear a hint of anger in his voice as he said, "He should just mind his own business."
"Tye-" Angela began only to be silenced by their older friend getting to her feet. She was scowling at him and he had not expected the slap across his face he received from her, he merely touched his hand to his cheek and looked at her angrily. She scoffed, turned and walked out of the room slamming the door behind her. His other friend jumped to her feet and made to call out but paused to look at him, "I'm sorry Tye, but I have to go. She may get into trouble in her mood."
He said nothing only watched as she bowed to Tetsuka in farewell and hurried out of the room. He hung his head and dropped his hand to his bedside only glancing up when something was placed at the end of his bed. She was watching him carefully and after a few moments she finally said, "You cannot push others who wish to help you away. It only hurts more in the long run."
"He's an idiot for trying to help me, he'll only lose his life in the end. I think that hurts much more."
"Tye, your two friends would do the same thing if they were capable-"
"But they aren't so I don't have to worry about them being killed. If they were then I wouldn't be friends with them."
"That is not like you nor considerate."
"That guy isn't considerate to how I would feel if he lost his life doing stupid things like that."
"He risks his life because that is his choice. You can be grateful-"
"He's a fool, I'm surprised he had managed to make it this far without being killed for helping-"
"Tyereke, that's enough. Take a moment to calm down and then you and I are going to go to the cafeteria to get you some decent dinner."
He remained silent, it would be pointless to argue further with her when she was determined to believe this guy was some sort of hero. Didn't anyone understand that he simply didn't want them to die just to keep him from being punished severely a few times? For the last few years he had received nothing but cruel punishment and he knew he deserved a good amount of that punishment, he could handle more of it just as he handled all the times before that. He healed, he came here to the infirmary and healed and then he had to go back, it never ended and it never would.
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January 3, 2994
He was not looking forward to meeting with his godfather even if he had fully recovered from his last encounter with the man. The secretary he saw nearly everyday had informed him the night he returned to his own room that he was not expected until Mr. Jones' return. Well, he had received word early this morning that his godfather had returned. After having spent most of his morning cleaning his room and half the night ironing his clothes after receiving word of the man's return he could no longer put off the inevitable. With a heavy sigh he headed to the showers.
His shower was quick and scalding enough to relax some of his tension and when he stepped out and dried off he felt somewhat better. He dressed in his weekend clothes of a pair of blue jeans and a plain black T-shirt with a worn out pair of tennis shoes. It took him a few extra moments to brush out his hair and braid it but that was something he had learned from years of practice.
He looked at his reflection, there was a slight discoloration on his cheek from the cut he had received from his godfather but at least he didn't have anymore scars on his face. The rest of him was not so lucky, he even had scars on the knuckles of his hands, at least most were faded and barely visible with the exception of the scars on his back.
Take a deep breath, he told himself and then followed his own instructions before he straightened up and turned away from the mirror. He gathered his belongings and headed back to his room. He paused, shocked to what awaited him in his room. He knew he was expected to see his godfather today but he was completely caught off guard to see that very person standing at the end of his bed in his room. After a moment for the surprise to fade he bowed his head and said just as the man turned to look at him, "Good morning sir."
James nodded his head and said, "Good morning Tyereke, take a seat."
Tye was thrown off by James' words, unless he was deceived James was in a good mood, more than he ever was. Tye sat down on the foot of his bed and kept his head bowed. James took the chair from Tye's desk where stacks of school books, his own collection of books and the movie Tetsuka had given him last year for his birthday sat organized neatly on the desk.
As the man took his seat before him he could not help but to detect a hidden cruelty behind the unusually kind and calm way he was acting at the moment. It was as though he were merely acting as though he cared only to plan on being even more sadistic towards him later on. Despite this nagging bad feeling he remained silent and waited for what his godfather had planned without allowing that anxiety to show through.
James cleared his throat and handed Tye a piece of paper, Tye glanced at it taking in what it was in muted shock as his godfather told him what the paper said, "This is a letter of approval for you to move to Kyoto, Japan on Earth and live with your younger sister and her foster mother. I will escort you there and you may be pleased to hear that your two friends are being transferred as well. I wouldn't get any ideas however since I took the liberty of ensuring the three of you are nowhere near one another. This is an opportunity for you that I fought not to allow you to have but was unfortunately over ruled."
The principal stood up and put the chair back in its place then took a deep breath as though what he said next was hard for him to say, "I hope your life in Kyoto doesn't cause you to forget the life you led here. I don't believe a life with two naive simpletons from Earth will present any benefit to you. You may grow to be soft and secure in a world like that, which will make it harder if you ever have to leave. Such a simplistic life has indeed made your sister nothing but an ignorant and spoiled child. It is rather sad that one of your own blood will become nothing but a pompous bitch and you will be nothing but a sniveling whelp."
Tye's hands fisted where he was without his knowledge until he was digging his nails painfully into his palms. He felt that anger steadily rising the more his godfather spoke his hideous words regarding his sister and his mother; "Not to mention I predict that your sister will grow up to be the same sadistic whore your mother was. But that completely explains why your were placed into my care and not your sister. Your father did not want his daughter to be the same as his wife. To have had to watch over such a waste of space such as your sister and yourself would have been entirely too much for I could not have changed anything that would stop the two of you from being worthless were you together. This will do nothing but ruin what progress I have made in regards to you."
His godfather was arrogant and confident enough to turn his back on his charge as he continued on with his dialog. He did not see his godson rise from his chair and make his way towards his bed to reach beneath the mattress while he was staring out of the glass door towards the center of the school. There was a glint to the mans' eyes that seemed to belay the true depths of his cruelty as his godson closed his hand around what he had fetched and scowled with unconcealed rage burning in his eyes and marring his expression.
Finally the man turned to regard his godson not feeling any amount of fear or trepidation from the expression or tension of the child before him. He continued his litany with a smirk, "Living with a former orphan will indeed make your sister turn into a slut, she may be one already. Perhaps she will be wise enough to whore herself to make ends meet much like the woman who raises her. But no matter I will just have to keep an eye on both of you since you'll both be together."
Tye hurled the rock at James hitting him in the face hard enough to force his head to turn and his hand to cover his face before he feel to one knee with an anguished growl. Tye nearly screamed his angry words not thinking at the moment what the consequences for his actions would be only enraged at what this man had said, "Shut up, what do you know? All you've ever done is cause others harm and torment people how could you know what a simple family is like?"
It did not register to the boy until the second growl of anger escaped the cruel lips of his godfather what he had done. In a moment of panic he stood frozen as the man started to push himself to his feet. In that short moment of racing thoughts and dreadful consequences he made a split second decision, he turned towards the door to his room and slamming it open tried to run. Before he could get through the threshold a larger shadow cast over him and a low cry escaped him as his braid was seized harshly forcing his head to arch back.
His smaller hands instinctively flew to grasp at his hair but before he could fully accomplish that his world toppled over as he was yanked to the ground.
Again instincts took hold of him and he scrabbled to get away only to be seized about the ankle and hoisted into the air. After a few blinded moments from the change in how the world presented itself to him he noticed there was a trail of blood running down his godfathers hideous face. He couldn't help but to feel some satisfaction from that, he had drawn blood at the very least and that made him feel that he had somehow accomplished some amount of retaliation against his godfather.
The world was fading and spinning as he was held upside down by his ankle which was making it near impossible to get his bearings.. Before he could take in his next breath it was knocked violently from his lungs as he was thrown into the wall next to his desk. A blinding light and sharp pain in his head left him temporarily dazed and blinded as his head struck the wall from the throw. He helplessly crumpled to the floor managing after a few breaths to pick himself up enough that he was on his hands and knees before his hand came up to cradle his pounding head.
The next sensation he felt was a suffocating grip about his throat and being lifted from the ground and slammed into the glass door, the shattering glass startled him enough to distract him from the pain of some of the shards embedding themselves into his skin.
It wasn't until he forced his vision to clear and found himself being thrown through the air once more to slam into the wall above his bed that he started to think of how he could get away. If only he could get to the knife his older friend from before could give to him, but he wouldn't make it in time. He jumped off the bed with frightening clarity despite the state he was in when his godfather reached for him yet again.
He couldn't avoid the next attempt to harm him considering that it was a kick landing squarely against his chest that sent him flying into the wall next to his closet. He was sure that his ribs were cracked, bruised, or broken or possibly a combination of all three as he fell to the side in agony riddled surrender. He felt the blood rise to his throat and forced from his lips as the air was knocked out of him from a kick to his abdomen where he lay on the ground further slamming him into the wall behind him and making him see stars as his head hit the wall once again.
After a few breathless moments he managed to push himself to his feet and staggering sharply to his left allowed him to avoid his punishers' grasp. Not pausing he forced himself to move quickly towards the glass door. He had to fully concentrate to make his legs support him as he fought to make his way down the stairs. He no longer worried about what fate awaited him only wanting to escape before he surely lost his life or ended up more injured than he already was.
A sharp cry was freed from his throat when a piercing pain shot down his leg crumpling it from beneath him and making him lose his footing. In blind desperation he managed to grab hold of the staircase in which he was walking with both hands. He wasn't aware that the man standing on the platform was watching what next took place in muted, frozen horror because the next sequence of events would soon blind him to anything else.
A startled cry escaped him as something sharp sliced across his face and his right eye before he knew what had happened. Blinded and unwilling to let go of what was keeping him from falling into the seemingly endless depths below he found he couldn't blink to clear the vision in his eye and that doing so sent excruciating pain burning through his face to stab at his head with what he was sure had to be hot pokers mercilessly.
Unable to see out of his injured and bleeding right eye he turned to look and saw James walking down the stairs towards him. Without any sign that he was going to cause further harm a cleaving amount of torment arced through his arm embedding itself into the top part of his right shoulder. Knowing what could follow such a blow he gritted his teeth through his numerous injuries and closed his left hand around the hilt of the blade to try and work it free while holding himself up with his right arm.
His godfather bent down and took hold of his shirt pulling him up above the stairs before he was able to release himself from the ensnaring grip of the blade in his shoulder. The jostling the movement cause made him choke on a cry of pain. His hand fell limply to his side all the energy leaving him in a rush now that he was no longer fighting the gravitational pull of plummeting into oblivion. A breathless gasp managed to pass through his lips as the knife was jerked free only for a scream to envelope the silence as that same cold blade sliced through the skin and muscle of his elbow.
He could no longer stop himself from letting out any amount of noise to give voice to his suffering as the blade twisted and was pulled further through his arm. Surely he would pass out from the torture he was being put through but that would be merciful and never something he was accustomed to receiving. The blade was pulled through to his wrist but he was lifeless from the agony he had undergone and too numbed by it to do anything. He wasn't aware that screams were still torn from his throat or that both Mike and the nurse he dealt with often were both frozen as they watched with eyes glazed with tears.
He didn't react at all when the blade was jerked free from his mutilated arm or when he found himself laying on the platform at Mike's feet. He was trembling and shivering and could barely breath so reacting or moving was entirely out of the question. It wasn't until the heavy footsteps of his tormentor turned and left that he found the strength to try and rise regardless of how long he may be able to hold himself up for. He managed to merely shift to lay on his back before strong arms were lifting him off the ground cradling him with an arm beneath his knees and another behind his shoulders.
The jostling would have ripped yet another pained sound from him were he not worn out from that last inhuman act of cruelty. He could feel himself fading in and out and noticed when he suddenly found himself in a too bright room with a concerned Tetsuka looking at him. Her voice sounded distant and broken as she had a one sided conversation with someone on the phone.
He was placed on a none too soft hospital bed and tried to arch away from the pressure against his severely injured arm only to be held down and told to calm down. He wanted to scream to fight back to do anything but all he could do was fight to breath and fight to live.
Tetsuka had to take deep calming breaths as she addressed Serenity over the phone, the other woman had sensed from what the nurse could guess was the tone of her voice that this was more serious than any of the previous times involving the child in her care. "Stay calm Tetsuka, make sure to keep him awake for a while and apply pressure to his arm. Tend his other injuries while you wait for me."
Tetsuka nodded more to herself than anything to try and recapture her composure, the cry from her patient threatened to bring her to tears again and she had to take in a shaky breath to keep her voice from escaping her entirely. "Okay. From . . . f-from what I see of his arm . . . y-you made need auto-"
"It's alright, I figured as much. Just hang up the phone girl and do your job to make sure we don't lose him."
Another nod and a swallow as she did as she was asked without further comment. Turning to regard her patient she took a few more calming breaths, squared her shoulders and snatched her medical bag from the desk with determination. She would not allow all the other times of close calls and all of this child’s' struggles to survive be in vain by losing him now.
She directed Mike to remove his hand only to hand over gauze and whatever bandaging she could to try and stop the bleed of his arm. Then she addressed the wound to his head, another gash that would require stitches, and then the initial wound to his shoulder, it did not look as though with all the damage to her patients right arm that he would be able to have any use of it again.
The next injury she looked at was the deep cut along the right side of his face, it looked as though that shard of glass the sick bastard had cut her patient with had indeed cut deep enough to permanently damage this child’s' eye. Two things lost, an arm and the sigh in his right eye because his godfather was in a foul mood. The selfishness and cruelty of it made her want to kill the man herself for doing this to a mere child.
Every time he was in her care she wished to somehow stop this but what could she do, a powerless mage against who she knew to be a powerful and feared Feiteran would be the death of her and then who would watch over and take care of this child before her when it was surely to happen again?
Tetsuka only deterred from her task when footsteps were heard, looking up she saw Serenity and two others accompanying the healer standing in her doorway. Sharp, intelligent, and enraged at the situation her blue eyes locked with her own. Then she turned her gaze back to the eight year old boy laying on the bed fighting to stay alive and awake through murmured words from Mike.
In the short moment Tetsuka had looked up she had also noticed that one of the people accompanying her happened to be the very young man that often watched out for and defended her patient from afar. His young face was marred with horrified shock at the sight before him but he snapped his mouth closed, took a deep breath and nothing but determination lit his brown and hazel eyes.
Serenity raised her hands and quickly tied her long golden blond hair back into a make shift bun before she said to the young man and the other young man accompanying her, "Wash your hands and find some gloves. You two had better make yourselves useful and do as I say."
Both of them nodded and it took the female nurse a moment to realize that both of the young men were indeed around the same age. She knew the one with the brown and hazel eyes was called Terrance and the other she assumed from his larger, heavy set build was likely to be his best friend Gomez. She turned her gaze back to her patient when Serenity addressed her as she pulled on a pair of gloves and set her medical suitcase by the foot of the bed, Tetsuka had not even noticed her bringing the bag or seeing her carrying it and passed it off as something one of the boys must have had.
Together both of the women set to work tending what wounds they could and securing a tourniquet for their young patients' right arm. With instructions from the healer both boys moved, Terrance taking over what Mike was doing while his friend helped Tetsuka find a stretcher for their patient. It did not take much thought to know that the child they were trying to save would indeed need to undergo surgery, most likely to have the arm that was beyond mutilated amputated. With the combined effort of Terrance, Serenity, and Mike they managed to transfer Tye to the stretcher Tetsuka and Gomez had found without jostling him too much.
Tears marred their patients' face and intermingled with the dried blood from the wound to his eye and with a soft smile his nurse brushed his bangs back carefully and said softly to him after Mike had taken over holding the stretcher in her stead, "Be strong Tye, be strong and it will be alright soon."
He gave no reply and the healer gave no time for one to be given before she was rushing them out of the room and to the elevator reserved purely for medical staff and transfers. Ocean deep blue eyes were glazed with tears and agony as they rode up to the fifth floor even as the steady litany of kind words assuring him it would be alright attempted to console him.
In a blur of motion he could not differentiate he suddenly found himself in an ugly and familiar green room with bright lights, equipment incessantly beeping, and even more people to stare and gawk at him. If he had the strength he would rather be anywhere else but here, this was the surgical wing and surgery meant even more pain regardless of whether he was conscious or not.
The healer instructed her two helpers to transfer her patient from the stretcher to the operating table while the other doctors and medical staff got things ready for their new patient. The healer was relieved to see her two helpers and the nurse who often took care of Tye were doing as they were told and holding themselves together.
She moved into action once more instructing the other doctors to administer and I.V. while she had another go over his wounds. The orderlies were scrambling to get medical supplies and in short moments things were ready for her to begin surgery and perform any healing she may need.
She was aware that this eight year old boy had just gotten a letter granting him the right to live with his sister and the foster mother taking care of her. Just when he finally had a window to escape something this tragic and horrendous had occurred. She was certain she could heal most of his wounds but there was no rushing the installment and surgery for a prosthetic limb. No amount of magic could have him safely healed enough nor could they force him to grow used to the prosthetics within the time frame he would be granted before they revoked words granting him an escape.
She ran a tired hand through her hair and let out a sigh then turned to the sink to again wash her gloved hands and get a new pair of gloves. Around her everyone else was doing the same. She was grateful to have the experience she did in regards to seeing gore and violence because in those few seconds where she watched the water turn red and then pink she felt weak and sick to her stomach. This could so easily happen to her own son some day and what could she do to stop it while trapped in this cold and hateful world and place? Just when she was sure she would faint from that train of thought a warm hand settled on her shoulder.
She turned and regarded the one before her, the same young man that made her life here entertaining and cared a great deal for the child on that operating table was gazing at her with determination and strength. He said in that single look that they had to be strong and save this child and like him she knew that this very boy she was trying to save was the only one who could possibly put all this suffering to an end one day.
She finished washing her hands and a nurse helped her put gloves and a gown on over her clothes doing the same for Terrance as Gomez escorted a distraught Mike from the room. Tetsuka looked pale and close to tears and instead of having to address her herself again the strong young man she often had to take care of took the initiative. With a comforting hand on her shoulder and a few soft spoken words he was escorting the younger nurse from the room.
A deep breath later she found herself standing over her young patient and looking into those pain filled blue eyes. Her heart tugged at the plea and fear in his eyes.
She brushed his bangs from his face as they inserted the I.V. into his left arm, she was standing on his right side. He didn't even flinch from the prick of the needle in his arm and considering the fever pitch torment his right arm was in she could imagine minor things would bother him much. She continued idly brushing the blood stiffened bangs from an overly pale face as she said in what she hoped was a comforting tone, "Tye, we're going to have to remove your arm. I need you to stay calm and cooperate with all of us. I will make sure no one hurts or mistreats you while you are in my care. We're going to have to put you to sleep because I don't think you want to have to withstand that kind of pain."
Tye mouthed okay and shut his eye tightly and clenched his left fist before he turned his head to look straight up at the ceiling. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks nearly constantly as he fought to stay lucid for as long as he could. When panic began to set in as a nurse placed the oxygen mask that would be putting him to sleep over his face. He told him to try and count backwards from twenty and he made it to thirteen before he lost the fight to stay conscious and fell into a numb abyss.
*****************************
Pacing outside of the operating room she fought to keep from crying, how in the world could anyone do something so heartlessly atrocious to a child? To do something so barbaric to an innocent was beyond sinful. As she paced back and forth down the hallway dark thoughts filled her mind. She paused when the young man that had convinced her to step out of the room broke the heavy silence that had fallen over all of them, "He's going to make it through this and in time to get out of this hell hole."
"How can-are you blind, didn't you see what that asshole did to him," the stockier of the two teenagers demanded of his friend. The other shrugged and said, "That has never stopped that kid before, not to mention that you have to have an escort to leave the colony or any fucking A.U.C. facility anyway."
"Guess who his escort will be Terry, what makes you think he won't just end up killed-"
"He won't not even that cold hearted jackass can kill A.J. I've seen the shit that kid has been put through on the worst place possible and he will make it through this."
"Where did A.J. come from," the nurse finally managed now that she had something else to concentrate on other than her own dark and fearful thoughts of what could happen to the eight year old boy that she loved as dear as her own child.
Terry stuttered for an answer finally settling with the truth as he looked at her, "That was the name I called him by when we first met."
She had a vague idea of when that was and what that pertained to but not enough to know why either of them simply acted as though they did not know one another when they were around each other or why Tye was so adamantly against Terrance’s' friendship and help. She finally sat down along the bench where the two boys and Mike were seated. Before long she and Mike would have to return to their duties on the second floor and both of these teenage boys would have to return to their classes and their own part of this floor. But until then she intended to find out as much as she could about the connection this young man and the strong willed boy had.
"When was this and where?"
He did look away with obvious reluctance to answer her but after a moment he let out a sigh and ran his hand through his long, dark brown hair making her notice their were indigo streaks in his dark hair and that his ears were of the pointed variety of Avalonians. She took in this information silently not worrying herself over the matter considering that young Tye was of the same galaxy and planet so far from her own. There were more than one could count that made the population of those at this orphanage who were not truly human and tried to pass off as such.
Serenity and her husband, these two boys, Tye and his two friends, all of them masqueraded or tried to as humans because in being human the consequences and penalties were less harsh. She found it ironic that she could think as such while worrying over a very child that would prove such an idea wrong in so many ways. As the young man she had addressed lowered his hand to his lap she could not help but notice that a dark expression had fallen over his face and that his brown and hazel eyes had darkened to a deep and dark brown.
"I first met A.J. on Planet Hell, he was a scared and very little kid, barely two years old then. I didn't know what to do trying to take care of someone else in a place like that. But when they ganged up on him and nearly killed him I couldn't very well sit back and watch huh?" There was cynicism in his voice as he asked that rhetorical question before he continued with a glare directed at the wall across from him, "But naturally both of us were punished and I realized that this kid was tough even though he was just a toddler. As time went on and days became weeks and then months I ended up growing pretty attached to the little guy. I treated him like a kid brother and I like to think he look to me like an older brother and that. But-"
He paused and closed his eyes with a heavy, grief ridden sigh, "that mother fucker who says he's A.J.'s godfather didn't like the little guy having friends or some shit. Had us cornered and punished for hanging out and sticking together. We were just trying to survive that place and we get punished for it, pretty fucked up if you ask me. I was damn near dead after they had their round with me and they had to mess my ass up so I couldn't fight back before they got A.J. cause I wasn't letting them touch him unless they killed me first. Found out how fucking tough I was."
He stopped there and it didn't look like he was going to say much more as several minutes passed. She reached forward and placed a hand on his shoulder making him jump and look at her before he seemed to realize it was only her and not someone that would hurt him. He gave her a weak and tired ghost of a smile before taking a deep breath, "Pretty certain the kiddo though they'd killed me he was only around three then after all. The next thing I remember is just . . . " He swallowed and lowered his head raising his hands to fist them in his hair in anguish and not even the hand on his shoulder was able to quench the suffering of what he was reliving in his mind.
"I've heard it twice now and I don't want to hear it again. He's tough, he can get through everything but why does he keep havin' to get through it anyway?"
She didn't need him to explain what he meant, she knew that there was a sound that could stop her cold and make her heart stop in her chest. She had heard it only hours ago and to this moment it still enveloped her into a cocoon of fear and anxiety and heartache for the child in the operating room. To hear him scream, to hear one so strong and determined, innocent and pure, and so selflessly driven to protect his friends and even those who brought about his suffering from enduring what he too often had to endure so riddled and overtaken with agony by a monstrous man was something she never wished to go through again.
"He will be alright, he'll make it through this and get the fuck outta this place and away from that goddamn bastard son of a bitch and be safe. He will and if I have to drag him out of here myself then I damn well fucking will."
There was such angry determination in his voice that she could not help but to believe he would follow through with his words. Somehow knowing what Tye had already been through and being able to make the assumption that he had made through the most notoriously barbaric torture device in A.U.C.'s arsenal she felt more confident that the young boy in that operating room would indeed make it through this. If nothing else the healer and doctor inside of that very room overseeing the surgery would ensure that he did. She had another hour before she had to return to her station but until then she would sit and do all that she could at this present time . . . wait.
To be continued . . .
Previous Chapter
Rating: R/MA
Status: W.I.P.
Genre: Sci Fi, Fantasy, Drama
Warning: Violence, Language, Gore
Chapter 2
December 22, 2993
The first thing he was aware of when he finally came back to consciousness was the thin mattress beneath him and that only his back seemed to bother him. Unlike the last few times he had fallen asleep he woke to only an aching pain. After a few hazy moments of confusion he stirred and opened his eyes cautiously.
Once hearing and sight came back to his awareness he could hear the distant sound of a pen scraping across paper and see that the lights were dimmed in the room. It had to be late for the lights to be dimmed, turning his head just enough to look around a bit more he could see the door leading to the center of the school. It was firmly closed thankfully, he turned over and a hiss passed his chapped lips from the tug and pull that motion generated from his still healing wound.
He heard a chair scraping across the tile floor he knew the infirmary had and then the familiar voice of the doctor, "You shouldn't move around too much. Serenity managed to heal the worst of it but it is still not completely healed."
He nodded once, his head spinning from that minute action making him close his eyes miserably, he opened them again when a gentle and warm hand touched his forehead and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. His blue eyes met with kind and concerned green eyes, "How long-" his voice was far to raspy for his liking and as dry as his throat was it was a wonder he managed those two slurred words at all. A soft smile met his question before she knelt down next to his bed and answered softly, "Three days."
It was then that he noticed the I.V. poking him in his left hand, most likely there because it was his left side that was injured the worst. Though he didn't trust himself to sit up yet or move much he was grateful not to feel a bandage wrapped around his head. Those things never helped when one was dizzy or had a headache which he could feel building up to a pounding aggravation.
That hand fell away from his forehead only to brush back his longer hair from his face, "You were running a fever throughout most of the day, I worried something was infected but it turned out that you were under far too much stress. I managed to tend to that nasty gash on the back of your head without having to cut any hair away but when it heals there will most likely leave a scar."
He made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, he had plenty of scars already so he thought nothing of yet another one. Her fingers continued combing gently through his hair as she told him of his injuries; "You have a lot of bruising and Serenity healed the cuts and lacerations from the glass, she found a good number of shards in your skin. The worst and most frightening of your injuries was that stab wound. She closed the deepest parts of the wound but couldn't heal the last few centimeters of it. Mostly it is a flesh wound now, but you should still be mindful of it tearing and becoming as serious as it once was. I stitched up what she couldn't heal but still be careful."
He gave a very short nod, not wanting a repeat of that dizziness from earlier, especially with his head pounding mercilessly now. "Where-" he began to ask about his two friends but couldn't get the words out. Having not spoken in so few days was leaving his throat far too raw and dry for him to say a complete sentence. Tetsuka seemed to catch on to what he was asking for and smiled as she stood up, making her way to her desk from the direction her footsteps headed and returning with that soft smile on her face as she knelt down before him once more. In her hands was a small white card, it read Get Well Soon, on the front in black ink. The handwriting he recognized to be that of his red haired friend, Angela.
"They left this for you, I told them I would read it to you when you woke up. Unless you are too tired and want to get some more rest," those last few words sounded more like a question. He debated with himself for a while, he was feeling rather low and exhausted from so little effort of just staying awake and speaking those three words but he shook his head and managed to lift his right hand enough to motion to the card.
She gave a nod and continued smiling before clearing her throat and shifting so that he could see the handwriting as she read it in a light hearted tone he could sense the positive energy through hearing; "Hello Tye. This is Angela and Gabie, we want you to know that we did come by but you looked so worn out we thought it best to let you sleep," he smiled to himself, Angela was always so formal even at only eight years old.
Tetsuka continued reading much the same as before; "We will try to come and see you again when we get the chance, most likely you will have to wait until the weekend. Get well soon and please take care of yourself, Gabie is persistent I hand over the pen to her."
His caregiver paused a moment to look at her patient with a almost motherly light in her eyes before she looked back to the card and commented, "It's a wonder those two girls could write small enough to fit all of this on this card and still make it legible." Tye chuckled at that and almost fell into a coughing fit from the action but covered his mouth fast with his left hand wincing from the way the I.V. needle pulled on his hand. He set his hand over his stomach and saw that his doctor still had that smile on her face.
"Gabie is much less formal even though she is older than both of her friends. Her part is longer as well, you ready?"
He merely nodded in affirmation, after nearly coughing from laughing he didn't want to really push his throat any further. She nodded and started to read while showing him what was written like she had done for Angela’s part of the card;
"Hey brat, so you ended up getting hurt again. That just reminds me of how much I want to leave this place, every time I turn around you're hurt or all of us are getting punished for petty and childish things. I already know you will be fine in time, you're damn strong for a boy, stronger than even high school kids. Don't know why the hell Red here is always so formal, but whatever. Try not to get yourself killed and don't be an idiot, stop fighting back so hard just long enough to heal okay? I know you won't but I had to say it, or write it rather. Going to have a lot of school work to make up when you can come back to class, you know that teacher we have the same class for, that bitch gave us this really long and pointless paper to write about discipline and consequences for our actions. It's garbage making a bunch of kids that are pretty much imprisoned in a shitty place like this write a paper on that. Anyway, take care, heal quickly, and watch out for yourself."
Tye shifted on his bed and looked to Tetsuka, "Burn it," he managed to rasp out and she looked startled for a moment before she nodded understandably. Gabie never worried about the consequences of her actions too much but if someone other than those that cared about the three of them read what she had written, or even if that card was discovered then all three of them would be facing some very dire consequences. He didn't disagree with his oldest friend in the least but he would protect them however he could. Tetsuka got to her feet and said with a smile, "They both signed it with love by the way. You should get some rest, you look ready to fall asleep as it is."
He gave her a short nod and watched her as much as he could walk back to her desk, when he could smell the paper burning he closed his eyes and fell back into a blissful darkness unplaqued by nightmares or worries. One of the few adults he could trust watched over him silently for a few moments before falling back into the rhythm of filling out her paper work, the ashen card sitting in the small trash bin on the right side of her desk.
Her mind wandered as she worked as she contemplated just how unique the three young friends truly were. Each of them strong in their own way and each of them determined to be friends despite the consequences, it was rather ironic that Gabie would mention the paper she was given to write.
**************************
December 26, 2993
He couldn't believe that he was still in the infirmary even four days later, nearly an entire week he had spent here and luckily had avoided a confrontation with his godfather in that time. It also helped that his godfather had apparently left for a business trip to Earth only one day after he had so brutally 'punished' him.
He was grateful for the peaceful time but was feeling restless being confined to a hospital bed. Of course he was made to work through some physical therapy to keep himself from getting too weak but that was not the same as being able to wander through the school like he usually did on those rare occasions when he was left here without his godfather present. Most of the time he was forced to accompany his godfather on his trips the reason being that he wasn't to be trusted.
He frowned at that before he shifted and pushed himself up to sit up in his bed. "Good morning Tye, would you like some breakfast?"
He looked over to his doctor and nodded once, grateful the dizziness and throbbing had subsided so much in the last few days. She stood up from her desk and turned to the small door behind it, it was a cooler for many different things and he almost missed the cafeteria food when it came to eating the dried out food that came from that cooler.
He wondered how she could stand to each such bland food all the time. She came out a few minutes later with a small container of milk and a even smaller box of cereal that he knew would only suffice to quench his hunger. She closed the heavy door before she turned to the cabinet to the left of her desk and grabbed a bowl.
Once she had poured the cereal and milk in the plastic bowl she dug a spoon out from one of the drawers beneath the cabinet and walked over to him carrying his breakfast. He scowled at it but nodded his thanks to her. She stood over him to make sure he ate all of it before she took the bowl and spoon away with a satisfied smile. He wondered if maybe they wished to kill their staff by forcing them to eat such disgustingly fake and stale food.
"The cafeteria food is less detrimental to your health you know," he said before he could stop himself. To his relief she laughed and turned to him after placing the dishes in the small sink located within the makings of the cabinet, "I know. However most of the time I have patients that need twenty-four hour surveillance so I end up having to eat what they provide in that cooler."
"They should have someone bring food from the cafeteria then."
She laughed again, "Believe me, I agree and you are definitely one to make such a comment given the number of times you have unfortunately had to eat such rubbish from that cooler. But, you will be released from my care at the end of today and can have dinner in the cafeteria if you like."
He remembered her saying as much yesterday and felt foolish for his complaints, usually he would keep his thoughts to himself but perhaps he was feeling a bit rebellious since he knew his godfather wasn't presently on the colony let alone at the school itself. He sighed and looked to her again, "Sorry, thanks for taking care of me."
She was silent for a few moments and a sad expression came over her face as she smiled a melancholy smile at him sitting down on the end of his bed and idly smoothening the blankets with her hands. She looked away from him as she said, "You have nothing at all to ever be sorry for Tye. You have never done anything wrong at all. I wish that you were not harmed to the degree that requires myself and Serenity to take care of you. You do realize that you are only a child and don't deserve the way that bastard of a godfather treats you don't you?"
He remained silent, there was nothing he could say to that. For all the time he had spent here on the colony since his sister was born he was told that his stay here and all the punishments he received were justified for his being born and the incontinence that placed on his mother. His godfather had told him that it was his fault his mother had died and his own existence and mistakes he had made, that he had no memory of, were nothing but a hindrance to his father.
He was never told what it was he was guilty of doing but he truly believed he did deserve some of the punishment he received. He was not foolish enough to believe he could have done something so terrible to warrant his godfathers' cruelty, he would have remembered doing something so horrible, wouldn't he?
He looked down at the blankets and noticed that his fists had clenched in the blankets, he looked up sharply when Tetsuka covered his hands in her own. Her eyes were glazed with tears but none had fallen yet. She released his hands to embrace him and he tensed from the embrace not expecting it and being surprised of the gentle and comforting touch, more often than not the only physical contact he ever received was violent. She cried softly as she embraced him but he could not find it in himself to shed tears with her. He hardly thought himself worth the tears others may shed for him.
Now was no different, despite whatever this very compassionate woman believed he deserved most of what he received and knew that others were worse off than himself. Self pity was weakness and unnecessary. He lifted his left hand, ignored the I.V. still there and put his hand on her shoulder, "You shouldn't cry for me-" She sniffed and pulled away to take her place at the end of the bed and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hands.
She looked to him, "I apologize, that was uncalled for."
She stood and went back to her desk silently and he couldn't help but feel as though he had somehow hurt her feelings. There was nothing he could think of to make her feel better so he remained silent and waited out the rest of his stay. It would be hours before lunch and a few hours more before he was released. The time went by at an achingly slow pace and just as he was deciding to take a nap once lunch had come and gone the door to the infirmary opened and two girls near his age walked cautiously inside the room. At once his entire mood lifted and the heaviness to the air lifted as Tetsuka smiled in greeting.
**************************
The eldest of the two girls had long auburn hair she wore much the same as himself, braiding along her back. Her eyes were a very rare color of bluish green that sometimes changed from one shade to the other depending on her mood. The other girl was the same age as himself and she often wore her long, deep red hair loose about her back and shoulders.
Her eyes were what he could only call jade green. Unlike himself or the older of his friends she had pale skin and naturally reddish lips, why he noticed that was because that stood out against her hair, eyes, and skin. Gabie like to say that he noticed as much for an entirely different reason.
Both girls were wearing the usual uniform for their age and grade level, the green and red plaid skirts that were knee length with white, short sleeved, button up shirts with a green tie around their necks that cross to form an 'X' and buttoned in the middle. The girls' uniforms were much more complex and colorful than that of the boys which consisted of black slacks and a white shirt with black dress shoes and a belt. His older friend often complained about having to wear a skirt and a uniform she often said was ugly. He agreed with that statement though the green and red went well with Angela's complexion.
At the moment both of them were sitting on either side of his bed and he was sitting up leaning back against the small headboard of the bed with a pillow placed behind the right side of his back to keep any pressure off his still injured left side. They had greeted him excitedly and with hugs and even handed him a handful of letters to read from each of them. Currently those letters sat on Tetsuka's desk and she assured him she would give them to him once the girls' left. They risked getting into a great deal of trouble being here so he knew that their visit was going to be short.
"So kiddo, you feeling any better now that the asshole isn't here to bother you for a while?"
Angela intercepted him before he could answer and said with her hands folded on her lap, "It is rather fortunate that Mr. Jones is not presently here, I don't believe Tye would have had the chance to heal if he were."
"Ain't that the truth, that guy is a sick fuck-"
"Miss Crystallia watch your mouth please."
Tye chuckled at the reprimand his friend received to which he received a glare from her for. She then stuck her tongue out at him to which he did the same in return. Their red haired friend sighed in exasperation at their antics making the three of them laugh when Gabie proceeded to blow a raspberry at her in reply. Both of them fell into talking about their classes and the assignments he could be expecting when he returned to going to school again. The elder went on to talk about how the teachers couldn't threaten that many students with sending them to the principal when the jackass wasn't at the school.
She was scolded yet again by Tetsuka to which Angela chuckled at their friends' expense. What his older friend had to say next surprised him. "There was this high school kid who got a hold of those brats from the junior level, he roughed them up a bit and threatened them. I overheard him talking to them and then he went on to address all the other students that had stopped to watch the fight that if he heard anyone else pinning the blame for their stupidity he would do the same to them. He ended up being sent to solitary for three months for that, should have waited until the bas-principal jerk left to do that."
"Who was it?"
"Don't know, I never caught his name or anything."
"I believe the student you are speaking of is a frequent patient of Serenity's. I have spoken to him on a number of occasions and he always expresses concern for you and your friends Tye."
He looked to the doctor at that, shocked that she had never told him about that. For some reason he felt like he should know whoever this teenager was and he almost wanted to believe it was the same guy from . . . he cut his own thoughts off at that. He didn't want to remember his time spent there anymore than he wanted to remember what had happened there. He couldn't have false hope like that, he had witnessed his friends' death, it was closer to slaughter or murder than death, they had killed him for defending and protecting him.
He suddenly wasn't feeling all that happy even with his friends there so he wasn't too surprised to hear a hint of anger in his voice as he said, "He should just mind his own business."
"Tye-" Angela began only to be silenced by their older friend getting to her feet. She was scowling at him and he had not expected the slap across his face he received from her, he merely touched his hand to his cheek and looked at her angrily. She scoffed, turned and walked out of the room slamming the door behind her. His other friend jumped to her feet and made to call out but paused to look at him, "I'm sorry Tye, but I have to go. She may get into trouble in her mood."
He said nothing only watched as she bowed to Tetsuka in farewell and hurried out of the room. He hung his head and dropped his hand to his bedside only glancing up when something was placed at the end of his bed. She was watching him carefully and after a few moments she finally said, "You cannot push others who wish to help you away. It only hurts more in the long run."
"He's an idiot for trying to help me, he'll only lose his life in the end. I think that hurts much more."
"Tye, your two friends would do the same thing if they were capable-"
"But they aren't so I don't have to worry about them being killed. If they were then I wouldn't be friends with them."
"That is not like you nor considerate."
"That guy isn't considerate to how I would feel if he lost his life doing stupid things like that."
"He risks his life because that is his choice. You can be grateful-"
"He's a fool, I'm surprised he had managed to make it this far without being killed for helping-"
"Tyereke, that's enough. Take a moment to calm down and then you and I are going to go to the cafeteria to get you some decent dinner."
He remained silent, it would be pointless to argue further with her when she was determined to believe this guy was some sort of hero. Didn't anyone understand that he simply didn't want them to die just to keep him from being punished severely a few times? For the last few years he had received nothing but cruel punishment and he knew he deserved a good amount of that punishment, he could handle more of it just as he handled all the times before that. He healed, he came here to the infirmary and healed and then he had to go back, it never ended and it never would.
**************************
January 3, 2994
He was not looking forward to meeting with his godfather even if he had fully recovered from his last encounter with the man. The secretary he saw nearly everyday had informed him the night he returned to his own room that he was not expected until Mr. Jones' return. Well, he had received word early this morning that his godfather had returned. After having spent most of his morning cleaning his room and half the night ironing his clothes after receiving word of the man's return he could no longer put off the inevitable. With a heavy sigh he headed to the showers.
His shower was quick and scalding enough to relax some of his tension and when he stepped out and dried off he felt somewhat better. He dressed in his weekend clothes of a pair of blue jeans and a plain black T-shirt with a worn out pair of tennis shoes. It took him a few extra moments to brush out his hair and braid it but that was something he had learned from years of practice.
He looked at his reflection, there was a slight discoloration on his cheek from the cut he had received from his godfather but at least he didn't have anymore scars on his face. The rest of him was not so lucky, he even had scars on the knuckles of his hands, at least most were faded and barely visible with the exception of the scars on his back.
Take a deep breath, he told himself and then followed his own instructions before he straightened up and turned away from the mirror. He gathered his belongings and headed back to his room. He paused, shocked to what awaited him in his room. He knew he was expected to see his godfather today but he was completely caught off guard to see that very person standing at the end of his bed in his room. After a moment for the surprise to fade he bowed his head and said just as the man turned to look at him, "Good morning sir."
James nodded his head and said, "Good morning Tyereke, take a seat."
Tye was thrown off by James' words, unless he was deceived James was in a good mood, more than he ever was. Tye sat down on the foot of his bed and kept his head bowed. James took the chair from Tye's desk where stacks of school books, his own collection of books and the movie Tetsuka had given him last year for his birthday sat organized neatly on the desk.
As the man took his seat before him he could not help but to detect a hidden cruelty behind the unusually kind and calm way he was acting at the moment. It was as though he were merely acting as though he cared only to plan on being even more sadistic towards him later on. Despite this nagging bad feeling he remained silent and waited for what his godfather had planned without allowing that anxiety to show through.
James cleared his throat and handed Tye a piece of paper, Tye glanced at it taking in what it was in muted shock as his godfather told him what the paper said, "This is a letter of approval for you to move to Kyoto, Japan on Earth and live with your younger sister and her foster mother. I will escort you there and you may be pleased to hear that your two friends are being transferred as well. I wouldn't get any ideas however since I took the liberty of ensuring the three of you are nowhere near one another. This is an opportunity for you that I fought not to allow you to have but was unfortunately over ruled."
The principal stood up and put the chair back in its place then took a deep breath as though what he said next was hard for him to say, "I hope your life in Kyoto doesn't cause you to forget the life you led here. I don't believe a life with two naive simpletons from Earth will present any benefit to you. You may grow to be soft and secure in a world like that, which will make it harder if you ever have to leave. Such a simplistic life has indeed made your sister nothing but an ignorant and spoiled child. It is rather sad that one of your own blood will become nothing but a pompous bitch and you will be nothing but a sniveling whelp."
Tye's hands fisted where he was without his knowledge until he was digging his nails painfully into his palms. He felt that anger steadily rising the more his godfather spoke his hideous words regarding his sister and his mother; "Not to mention I predict that your sister will grow up to be the same sadistic whore your mother was. But that completely explains why your were placed into my care and not your sister. Your father did not want his daughter to be the same as his wife. To have had to watch over such a waste of space such as your sister and yourself would have been entirely too much for I could not have changed anything that would stop the two of you from being worthless were you together. This will do nothing but ruin what progress I have made in regards to you."
His godfather was arrogant and confident enough to turn his back on his charge as he continued on with his dialog. He did not see his godson rise from his chair and make his way towards his bed to reach beneath the mattress while he was staring out of the glass door towards the center of the school. There was a glint to the mans' eyes that seemed to belay the true depths of his cruelty as his godson closed his hand around what he had fetched and scowled with unconcealed rage burning in his eyes and marring his expression.
Finally the man turned to regard his godson not feeling any amount of fear or trepidation from the expression or tension of the child before him. He continued his litany with a smirk, "Living with a former orphan will indeed make your sister turn into a slut, she may be one already. Perhaps she will be wise enough to whore herself to make ends meet much like the woman who raises her. But no matter I will just have to keep an eye on both of you since you'll both be together."
Tye hurled the rock at James hitting him in the face hard enough to force his head to turn and his hand to cover his face before he feel to one knee with an anguished growl. Tye nearly screamed his angry words not thinking at the moment what the consequences for his actions would be only enraged at what this man had said, "Shut up, what do you know? All you've ever done is cause others harm and torment people how could you know what a simple family is like?"
It did not register to the boy until the second growl of anger escaped the cruel lips of his godfather what he had done. In a moment of panic he stood frozen as the man started to push himself to his feet. In that short moment of racing thoughts and dreadful consequences he made a split second decision, he turned towards the door to his room and slamming it open tried to run. Before he could get through the threshold a larger shadow cast over him and a low cry escaped him as his braid was seized harshly forcing his head to arch back.
His smaller hands instinctively flew to grasp at his hair but before he could fully accomplish that his world toppled over as he was yanked to the ground.
Again instincts took hold of him and he scrabbled to get away only to be seized about the ankle and hoisted into the air. After a few blinded moments from the change in how the world presented itself to him he noticed there was a trail of blood running down his godfathers hideous face. He couldn't help but to feel some satisfaction from that, he had drawn blood at the very least and that made him feel that he had somehow accomplished some amount of retaliation against his godfather.
The world was fading and spinning as he was held upside down by his ankle which was making it near impossible to get his bearings.. Before he could take in his next breath it was knocked violently from his lungs as he was thrown into the wall next to his desk. A blinding light and sharp pain in his head left him temporarily dazed and blinded as his head struck the wall from the throw. He helplessly crumpled to the floor managing after a few breaths to pick himself up enough that he was on his hands and knees before his hand came up to cradle his pounding head.
The next sensation he felt was a suffocating grip about his throat and being lifted from the ground and slammed into the glass door, the shattering glass startled him enough to distract him from the pain of some of the shards embedding themselves into his skin.
It wasn't until he forced his vision to clear and found himself being thrown through the air once more to slam into the wall above his bed that he started to think of how he could get away. If only he could get to the knife his older friend from before could give to him, but he wouldn't make it in time. He jumped off the bed with frightening clarity despite the state he was in when his godfather reached for him yet again.
He couldn't avoid the next attempt to harm him considering that it was a kick landing squarely against his chest that sent him flying into the wall next to his closet. He was sure that his ribs were cracked, bruised, or broken or possibly a combination of all three as he fell to the side in agony riddled surrender. He felt the blood rise to his throat and forced from his lips as the air was knocked out of him from a kick to his abdomen where he lay on the ground further slamming him into the wall behind him and making him see stars as his head hit the wall once again.
After a few breathless moments he managed to push himself to his feet and staggering sharply to his left allowed him to avoid his punishers' grasp. Not pausing he forced himself to move quickly towards the glass door. He had to fully concentrate to make his legs support him as he fought to make his way down the stairs. He no longer worried about what fate awaited him only wanting to escape before he surely lost his life or ended up more injured than he already was.
A sharp cry was freed from his throat when a piercing pain shot down his leg crumpling it from beneath him and making him lose his footing. In blind desperation he managed to grab hold of the staircase in which he was walking with both hands. He wasn't aware that the man standing on the platform was watching what next took place in muted, frozen horror because the next sequence of events would soon blind him to anything else.
A startled cry escaped him as something sharp sliced across his face and his right eye before he knew what had happened. Blinded and unwilling to let go of what was keeping him from falling into the seemingly endless depths below he found he couldn't blink to clear the vision in his eye and that doing so sent excruciating pain burning through his face to stab at his head with what he was sure had to be hot pokers mercilessly.
Unable to see out of his injured and bleeding right eye he turned to look and saw James walking down the stairs towards him. Without any sign that he was going to cause further harm a cleaving amount of torment arced through his arm embedding itself into the top part of his right shoulder. Knowing what could follow such a blow he gritted his teeth through his numerous injuries and closed his left hand around the hilt of the blade to try and work it free while holding himself up with his right arm.
His godfather bent down and took hold of his shirt pulling him up above the stairs before he was able to release himself from the ensnaring grip of the blade in his shoulder. The jostling the movement cause made him choke on a cry of pain. His hand fell limply to his side all the energy leaving him in a rush now that he was no longer fighting the gravitational pull of plummeting into oblivion. A breathless gasp managed to pass through his lips as the knife was jerked free only for a scream to envelope the silence as that same cold blade sliced through the skin and muscle of his elbow.
He could no longer stop himself from letting out any amount of noise to give voice to his suffering as the blade twisted and was pulled further through his arm. Surely he would pass out from the torture he was being put through but that would be merciful and never something he was accustomed to receiving. The blade was pulled through to his wrist but he was lifeless from the agony he had undergone and too numbed by it to do anything. He wasn't aware that screams were still torn from his throat or that both Mike and the nurse he dealt with often were both frozen as they watched with eyes glazed with tears.
He didn't react at all when the blade was jerked free from his mutilated arm or when he found himself laying on the platform at Mike's feet. He was trembling and shivering and could barely breath so reacting or moving was entirely out of the question. It wasn't until the heavy footsteps of his tormentor turned and left that he found the strength to try and rise regardless of how long he may be able to hold himself up for. He managed to merely shift to lay on his back before strong arms were lifting him off the ground cradling him with an arm beneath his knees and another behind his shoulders.
The jostling would have ripped yet another pained sound from him were he not worn out from that last inhuman act of cruelty. He could feel himself fading in and out and noticed when he suddenly found himself in a too bright room with a concerned Tetsuka looking at him. Her voice sounded distant and broken as she had a one sided conversation with someone on the phone.
He was placed on a none too soft hospital bed and tried to arch away from the pressure against his severely injured arm only to be held down and told to calm down. He wanted to scream to fight back to do anything but all he could do was fight to breath and fight to live.
Tetsuka had to take deep calming breaths as she addressed Serenity over the phone, the other woman had sensed from what the nurse could guess was the tone of her voice that this was more serious than any of the previous times involving the child in her care. "Stay calm Tetsuka, make sure to keep him awake for a while and apply pressure to his arm. Tend his other injuries while you wait for me."
Tetsuka nodded more to herself than anything to try and recapture her composure, the cry from her patient threatened to bring her to tears again and she had to take in a shaky breath to keep her voice from escaping her entirely. "Okay. From . . . f-from what I see of his arm . . . y-you made need auto-"
"It's alright, I figured as much. Just hang up the phone girl and do your job to make sure we don't lose him."
Another nod and a swallow as she did as she was asked without further comment. Turning to regard her patient she took a few more calming breaths, squared her shoulders and snatched her medical bag from the desk with determination. She would not allow all the other times of close calls and all of this child’s' struggles to survive be in vain by losing him now.
She directed Mike to remove his hand only to hand over gauze and whatever bandaging she could to try and stop the bleed of his arm. Then she addressed the wound to his head, another gash that would require stitches, and then the initial wound to his shoulder, it did not look as though with all the damage to her patients right arm that he would be able to have any use of it again.
The next injury she looked at was the deep cut along the right side of his face, it looked as though that shard of glass the sick bastard had cut her patient with had indeed cut deep enough to permanently damage this child’s' eye. Two things lost, an arm and the sigh in his right eye because his godfather was in a foul mood. The selfishness and cruelty of it made her want to kill the man herself for doing this to a mere child.
Every time he was in her care she wished to somehow stop this but what could she do, a powerless mage against who she knew to be a powerful and feared Feiteran would be the death of her and then who would watch over and take care of this child before her when it was surely to happen again?
Tetsuka only deterred from her task when footsteps were heard, looking up she saw Serenity and two others accompanying the healer standing in her doorway. Sharp, intelligent, and enraged at the situation her blue eyes locked with her own. Then she turned her gaze back to the eight year old boy laying on the bed fighting to stay alive and awake through murmured words from Mike.
In the short moment Tetsuka had looked up she had also noticed that one of the people accompanying her happened to be the very young man that often watched out for and defended her patient from afar. His young face was marred with horrified shock at the sight before him but he snapped his mouth closed, took a deep breath and nothing but determination lit his brown and hazel eyes.
Serenity raised her hands and quickly tied her long golden blond hair back into a make shift bun before she said to the young man and the other young man accompanying her, "Wash your hands and find some gloves. You two had better make yourselves useful and do as I say."
Both of them nodded and it took the female nurse a moment to realize that both of the young men were indeed around the same age. She knew the one with the brown and hazel eyes was called Terrance and the other she assumed from his larger, heavy set build was likely to be his best friend Gomez. She turned her gaze back to her patient when Serenity addressed her as she pulled on a pair of gloves and set her medical suitcase by the foot of the bed, Tetsuka had not even noticed her bringing the bag or seeing her carrying it and passed it off as something one of the boys must have had.
Together both of the women set to work tending what wounds they could and securing a tourniquet for their young patients' right arm. With instructions from the healer both boys moved, Terrance taking over what Mike was doing while his friend helped Tetsuka find a stretcher for their patient. It did not take much thought to know that the child they were trying to save would indeed need to undergo surgery, most likely to have the arm that was beyond mutilated amputated. With the combined effort of Terrance, Serenity, and Mike they managed to transfer Tye to the stretcher Tetsuka and Gomez had found without jostling him too much.
Tears marred their patients' face and intermingled with the dried blood from the wound to his eye and with a soft smile his nurse brushed his bangs back carefully and said softly to him after Mike had taken over holding the stretcher in her stead, "Be strong Tye, be strong and it will be alright soon."
He gave no reply and the healer gave no time for one to be given before she was rushing them out of the room and to the elevator reserved purely for medical staff and transfers. Ocean deep blue eyes were glazed with tears and agony as they rode up to the fifth floor even as the steady litany of kind words assuring him it would be alright attempted to console him.
In a blur of motion he could not differentiate he suddenly found himself in an ugly and familiar green room with bright lights, equipment incessantly beeping, and even more people to stare and gawk at him. If he had the strength he would rather be anywhere else but here, this was the surgical wing and surgery meant even more pain regardless of whether he was conscious or not.
The healer instructed her two helpers to transfer her patient from the stretcher to the operating table while the other doctors and medical staff got things ready for their new patient. The healer was relieved to see her two helpers and the nurse who often took care of Tye were doing as they were told and holding themselves together.
She moved into action once more instructing the other doctors to administer and I.V. while she had another go over his wounds. The orderlies were scrambling to get medical supplies and in short moments things were ready for her to begin surgery and perform any healing she may need.
She was aware that this eight year old boy had just gotten a letter granting him the right to live with his sister and the foster mother taking care of her. Just when he finally had a window to escape something this tragic and horrendous had occurred. She was certain she could heal most of his wounds but there was no rushing the installment and surgery for a prosthetic limb. No amount of magic could have him safely healed enough nor could they force him to grow used to the prosthetics within the time frame he would be granted before they revoked words granting him an escape.
She ran a tired hand through her hair and let out a sigh then turned to the sink to again wash her gloved hands and get a new pair of gloves. Around her everyone else was doing the same. She was grateful to have the experience she did in regards to seeing gore and violence because in those few seconds where she watched the water turn red and then pink she felt weak and sick to her stomach. This could so easily happen to her own son some day and what could she do to stop it while trapped in this cold and hateful world and place? Just when she was sure she would faint from that train of thought a warm hand settled on her shoulder.
She turned and regarded the one before her, the same young man that made her life here entertaining and cared a great deal for the child on that operating table was gazing at her with determination and strength. He said in that single look that they had to be strong and save this child and like him she knew that this very boy she was trying to save was the only one who could possibly put all this suffering to an end one day.
She finished washing her hands and a nurse helped her put gloves and a gown on over her clothes doing the same for Terrance as Gomez escorted a distraught Mike from the room. Tetsuka looked pale and close to tears and instead of having to address her herself again the strong young man she often had to take care of took the initiative. With a comforting hand on her shoulder and a few soft spoken words he was escorting the younger nurse from the room.
A deep breath later she found herself standing over her young patient and looking into those pain filled blue eyes. Her heart tugged at the plea and fear in his eyes.
She brushed his bangs from his face as they inserted the I.V. into his left arm, she was standing on his right side. He didn't even flinch from the prick of the needle in his arm and considering the fever pitch torment his right arm was in she could imagine minor things would bother him much. She continued idly brushing the blood stiffened bangs from an overly pale face as she said in what she hoped was a comforting tone, "Tye, we're going to have to remove your arm. I need you to stay calm and cooperate with all of us. I will make sure no one hurts or mistreats you while you are in my care. We're going to have to put you to sleep because I don't think you want to have to withstand that kind of pain."
Tye mouthed okay and shut his eye tightly and clenched his left fist before he turned his head to look straight up at the ceiling. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks nearly constantly as he fought to stay lucid for as long as he could. When panic began to set in as a nurse placed the oxygen mask that would be putting him to sleep over his face. He told him to try and count backwards from twenty and he made it to thirteen before he lost the fight to stay conscious and fell into a numb abyss.
*****************************
Pacing outside of the operating room she fought to keep from crying, how in the world could anyone do something so heartlessly atrocious to a child? To do something so barbaric to an innocent was beyond sinful. As she paced back and forth down the hallway dark thoughts filled her mind. She paused when the young man that had convinced her to step out of the room broke the heavy silence that had fallen over all of them, "He's going to make it through this and in time to get out of this hell hole."
"How can-are you blind, didn't you see what that asshole did to him," the stockier of the two teenagers demanded of his friend. The other shrugged and said, "That has never stopped that kid before, not to mention that you have to have an escort to leave the colony or any fucking A.U.C. facility anyway."
"Guess who his escort will be Terry, what makes you think he won't just end up killed-"
"He won't not even that cold hearted jackass can kill A.J. I've seen the shit that kid has been put through on the worst place possible and he will make it through this."
"Where did A.J. come from," the nurse finally managed now that she had something else to concentrate on other than her own dark and fearful thoughts of what could happen to the eight year old boy that she loved as dear as her own child.
Terry stuttered for an answer finally settling with the truth as he looked at her, "That was the name I called him by when we first met."
She had a vague idea of when that was and what that pertained to but not enough to know why either of them simply acted as though they did not know one another when they were around each other or why Tye was so adamantly against Terrance’s' friendship and help. She finally sat down along the bench where the two boys and Mike were seated. Before long she and Mike would have to return to their duties on the second floor and both of these teenage boys would have to return to their classes and their own part of this floor. But until then she intended to find out as much as she could about the connection this young man and the strong willed boy had.
"When was this and where?"
He did look away with obvious reluctance to answer her but after a moment he let out a sigh and ran his hand through his long, dark brown hair making her notice their were indigo streaks in his dark hair and that his ears were of the pointed variety of Avalonians. She took in this information silently not worrying herself over the matter considering that young Tye was of the same galaxy and planet so far from her own. There were more than one could count that made the population of those at this orphanage who were not truly human and tried to pass off as such.
Serenity and her husband, these two boys, Tye and his two friends, all of them masqueraded or tried to as humans because in being human the consequences and penalties were less harsh. She found it ironic that she could think as such while worrying over a very child that would prove such an idea wrong in so many ways. As the young man she had addressed lowered his hand to his lap she could not help but notice that a dark expression had fallen over his face and that his brown and hazel eyes had darkened to a deep and dark brown.
"I first met A.J. on Planet Hell, he was a scared and very little kid, barely two years old then. I didn't know what to do trying to take care of someone else in a place like that. But when they ganged up on him and nearly killed him I couldn't very well sit back and watch huh?" There was cynicism in his voice as he asked that rhetorical question before he continued with a glare directed at the wall across from him, "But naturally both of us were punished and I realized that this kid was tough even though he was just a toddler. As time went on and days became weeks and then months I ended up growing pretty attached to the little guy. I treated him like a kid brother and I like to think he look to me like an older brother and that. But-"
He paused and closed his eyes with a heavy, grief ridden sigh, "that mother fucker who says he's A.J.'s godfather didn't like the little guy having friends or some shit. Had us cornered and punished for hanging out and sticking together. We were just trying to survive that place and we get punished for it, pretty fucked up if you ask me. I was damn near dead after they had their round with me and they had to mess my ass up so I couldn't fight back before they got A.J. cause I wasn't letting them touch him unless they killed me first. Found out how fucking tough I was."
He stopped there and it didn't look like he was going to say much more as several minutes passed. She reached forward and placed a hand on his shoulder making him jump and look at her before he seemed to realize it was only her and not someone that would hurt him. He gave her a weak and tired ghost of a smile before taking a deep breath, "Pretty certain the kiddo though they'd killed me he was only around three then after all. The next thing I remember is just . . . " He swallowed and lowered his head raising his hands to fist them in his hair in anguish and not even the hand on his shoulder was able to quench the suffering of what he was reliving in his mind.
"I've heard it twice now and I don't want to hear it again. He's tough, he can get through everything but why does he keep havin' to get through it anyway?"
She didn't need him to explain what he meant, she knew that there was a sound that could stop her cold and make her heart stop in her chest. She had heard it only hours ago and to this moment it still enveloped her into a cocoon of fear and anxiety and heartache for the child in the operating room. To hear him scream, to hear one so strong and determined, innocent and pure, and so selflessly driven to protect his friends and even those who brought about his suffering from enduring what he too often had to endure so riddled and overtaken with agony by a monstrous man was something she never wished to go through again.
"He will be alright, he'll make it through this and get the fuck outta this place and away from that goddamn bastard son of a bitch and be safe. He will and if I have to drag him out of here myself then I damn well fucking will."
There was such angry determination in his voice that she could not help but to believe he would follow through with his words. Somehow knowing what Tye had already been through and being able to make the assumption that he had made through the most notoriously barbaric torture device in A.U.C.'s arsenal she felt more confident that the young boy in that operating room would indeed make it through this. If nothing else the healer and doctor inside of that very room overseeing the surgery would ensure that he did. She had another hour before she had to return to her station but until then she would sit and do all that she could at this present time . . . wait.
To be continued . . .
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