How Things Changed Forever...

CH 18 - An Unexpected Comeback

When Kai finally woke up, excluding the number of times he had slipped in and out of consciousness, things weren't so bad. Except for the pain shooting through his body every time he shifted his left shoulder, and maybe the constant throbbing in his temples, he was fine.

Kai reminded himself to take in deep breaths. Silent as a shadow, quite as a mouse, he found himself thinking. First thing on his priority, he needed to know what the heck is going on! His memories were completely distorted, the last thing he clearly remembered was calling out to Tyson for a championship match at the talk show, and everything got hazy after that.

He slowly opens his eyes so as to not alert anyone keeping a watch on him and to get his bearings of the situation. Starting with where he was. To his utter relief, the room he was in was empty. The room was dark, with moonlight through the window being the only sourse of illumination. 

Random memories trickled back into his head. Books. Gunshot. Blood. A warm hand. Screams... These minutes details, though they made no sense, were more than enough to get him started. 

The utter unnecessary fiasco the talk show ended up to become... He hadn't seen so much blood, so much chaos since... never mind. This is not the time. He didn't want to re-live the most hellish day of his life at the moment. He had a lot on his plate as it is.

He tries sitting up straight, completely forgetting about the wound. A surprised gasp escapes his lips as he swallows down his pain, but it brought him relief in a way.

He could remember being the only one who was struck by the bullet that evening, so the blood he remembered must have been his, unless there was someone else..., but no. He also remembered that Hillary had been helping him. The blade breakers had been the only people left in the hall. And none of them had looked hurt, except for a graze on Max's head. So, he must be in the hospital, he concluded. The whitewashed walls and that eriee silence surely fitted the discription. His observation was furthe reinstated by the strong scent of disinfectants blocking his nostrils.

Kai tries sitting up again, careful not to move his shoulder this time, to get a better look at his surroundings. Silence was exactly what he wanted. Silence to get his thoughts in order. Though he was sure he was in a hospital and out of harm for some time, he still wasn't sure he was safe. What if Voltaire had taken him back to Russia again, after teaching his friends a lesson, for he was sure that those dumb buffoons wouldnt have the slightest thoughts of self preservation! What if... 

Stop, he reminded himself. Priorities, one thing at a time. First, piecing his memories in the right sense and order. To try and remember everything that has happened in the last few... days? weeks? heck, he had a lot of catching up to do.

I was attacked once, twice...twice! Of course, how could I not remember the attack that took place right in the hospital!... and Hillary had been there! He was sure of it. Yes, she had come in just as he was about to stab him in the heart, finishing him once and for all. Yes, and he knew her.

He had gone on rambling as she stood there, for once looking speechless. And  just like her impulsive crush, had made a rash decision and attacked him, and that to with a pair of scissors! Didn't she not see that he was a trained fighter and could have killed her in a minute if had really wanted to? Had been prepared for her?

And then, even he shuddered remembering what had happened next. He had struck his assassin just as he had been... hurting Hillary. How he had been at his mercy, how Hillary had pleaded with him as he crouched down on the floor, unable to stand up again. How much it had reminded him of his earliest memories of his childhood.