You're back, Mari

Chapter 4: The Truth

"Hero..." Aubrey spoke from a distance away. Hero, as he had been for possibly hours, continued to focus on Sunny who laid on the bed hospital, a bandage wrapped around his head and over the patch on his right eye. A soft sigh rang out, and footsteps drew near. "Basil...Basil woke up."

Hero finally looked away from Sunny, shifting in his hospital chair. His back somewhat ached from the cheap support.

"He..." Aubrey tapped her foot, moving her head back and forth. "He said he has something important to tell us...something that Sunny would want us to know, too. He'll also give an explanation for...what he did."

Hero met her eyes. She held his eye contact, pursing her lips. Hero didn't look away, and Aubrey seemed more and more uncomfortable the longer he stared. At some point, she groaned, ruffling her hair aggressively.

"Look, I–I'm angry too. So...so that's why hearing what happened is important. I trust him to at least...tell the truth. And, Sunny wouldn't want to talk about it anyways..." Aubrey seemed determined to get him to come. Hero opened his mouth, then closed it. He glanced at Sunny again, looking at the flowers nestled around him. After releasing a big sigh, Hero stood up.

"You're...you're right." Hero grit his teeth, feeling his chest tighten as he walked away from where Sunny lay. "We should hear him out." The occasional flickering of the florescent lighting almost reflected the instability of his fake calm. Aubrey gave him a nod, and after glancing at Sunny, she walked out of the room.

Hero clenched his hands to prevent them from trembling at his sides. He almost broke his lip again biting it. It's...it's fine. The doctors were clear that Sunny would be asleep for quite a while due to the injuries, and also his malnutrition. With a deep frown, Hero reluctantly turned to leave the room, and a few of the flowers followed him as he left.

The hallways were too silent. It was uncomfortable. At least Aubrey's footsteps gave him a rhythmic sound to pay attention to, to distract from the anxiety in his chest. He wanted to go back to Sunny.

"Will you...will you be able to listen?" Before entering, Aubrey held the doorknob and looked back at him, searching his gaze. Hero softened his eyes, hopefully enough to convince her he wasn't as mad as he truly was deep down.

"Of course." Hero smiled. Aubrey sighed but nodded. She opened the door and both of them stepped inside.

On the other side of the room was Basil, who had a black eye and a few other bruises distorting his features. Hero's mouth twitched. Those wounds were just from Sunny trying to esca–Hero looked down quickly, biting the inside of his mouth.

"Hero..." Kel called out to him, eyes shining with worry. Hero met those concerned eyes and began walking forward. He stayed a bit away, just so Basil was out of his reach. Aubrey went and stood to the left of Basil since Kel was already on the right. "Alright, we're all here now, so...please explain what happened." Kel gave a weak smile, obviously fully trusting there was some sort of misunderstanding, just as they had established when Aubrey pushed Basil into the lake.

Basil looked to each of them one by one, eyes wavering. He then took in a deep breath, either to calm himself or to gather the courage to speak. "It's...it's a long story...so...can you all just..." Basil clutched the hospital blanket, "I need to say everything at once. So please...just listen until the end, and then cast your judgments."

Hero frowned but nodded. Everyone else did the same. Basil took one last shaky breath, looking as if the world was collapsing onto his shoulders. Then, he spoke with more resolution than Hero had ever heard in his voice.

"Four years ago...I made a mistake." Collectively, they realized that what Basil was about to talk about was something much more than what happened last night. "It was something I did because I wanted to protect my best friend. I...I wanted Sunny to stay by my side, and I thought if I didn't do it, he would have to leave me." Basil stopped clutching the blanket in his hands.