The Timeservers

Chapter 48

New York City, New York

The Spire

Infirmary

December 20, 227 P.F.E

0915 hours

The elevator reaches the spectre floor and Via sneaks to the main room first to check if anyone is there. It'sabandoned and Via ushers Kelly in. She holds his bedroom door open for him then follows him in and drops his bag on the bed. Kelly props his crutches against the wall next to his bed then starts hopping around. He heads to his dresser, takes out some clothes not issued to him by the infirmary, and slips into the bathroom. He leaves the door cracked so they can still talk.
"What's been going on out there? They've tried to keep me from the news. They said it might distress my fragile condition."
"I don't think I should defy your doctor's orders."
"Always following the rules, aren't you? Except for that one time, huh? Be a bit of an outlaw, just this once?" Kelly calls.
"Belova made it out. Four students were hit directly by one of the extremists, they're in critical care. Seven other students were injured with broken bones, concussions, and other things like that. Lots of minor injuries. There would have been a lot more if you weren't there."
"Not a hero, don't start thinking it."
"No guarantees." Via sits on the couch and looks through her screen, checking the details of what happened. "They think some of the extremists weren't caught. Most people are blaming the Historians, no matter what the extremists are saying."
"People are dumb."
"Belova's back at supporting the Historians again."
"Brave woman."
"Some people are saying so. Some people are also saying that we're going to have to keep investigating her. We'll have to head north. It seems like Sophia's plan is going ahead."
"Seems that way."
Kelly hops out of the bathroom, pulling an old t-shirt over his head. Via can see the bandages taped over the wound on his abdomen. He flops onto the couch next to Via, tossing his legs over the armrest. He winces and pulls his shirt back over the bandage where it fell when he sat down.
"I'm glad you made it through. You scared me for a minute there. I wasn't allowed to get any information about how you were doing. They even brought me to a different hospital. I- I thought you might have died." Via bites her lip, twisting her hands again.
"It'll take a lot more than this to kill me."
"Will it scar?"
"Probably. Kind of looking forward to it. It's not fun getting hurt when you get your injuries patched together so you can't show off the battle scars. Scars are attractive, right? Leo told me that though. He might have just been making it up to make his own scars seem better."
"How did you keep the one on your chin?" Via asks.
Kelly reaches up and rubs the spot where the scar is. There's the confused look again like he had with the tattoo. "Got into a bit of a scrape in Historian territory during my first few months. It was one of my first solo missions. Something went wrong. They made me. Got out of there, but it took almost all my energy. Passed out in a cave somewhere while hiding. Got out of there and it was healed enough that the doctors didn't think they needed to do anything. Most people don't notice it."
Via feels something brush against her side and looks down just as Kelly scoops up her screen. "Hey! Give that back!"
Kelly holds the screen out of Via'sreach, holding onto her shoulder to keep her from getting closer. "Can't. When Sis heard the doctor telling me to avoid news stations for a while she disabled every one of my screens. It's interesting to know what's happening in the world. Curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat."
"Good thing they have nine lives then."
"Oh, you haven't burned through eight of them already?"
"Cats don't know how to count."
Via folds her arms, giving up on fighting Kelly for the screen. "You won't find anything interesting there. You won't find anything that you couldn't already figure out on your own. It's all blaming and focus on the candidates and chancellors."
"Ehh, Sis thought ahead anyway. She'slocked your screen against me." Kelly tosses the screen back into Via's lap and settles back down again, closing his eyes.
"I'm sorry that they treated me first. I'm sorry that I freaked out and kept you from being treated longer. You didn't deserve that. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't make it, especially if it was my fault."
"You looked like a chancellor, that's the way things work."
"It shouldn't be."
"Well, for now, it is. We can't do much about it right now but put up with it and do the best we can to make sure people who need treatment get it faster than they normally would." Keep plugging away and don't die.
"It's not right. You should be mad about it."
Kelly sits up, groaning, and faces Via. "Totally furious. That's why Sophia's getting my help even if it is mad. Had a lot longer to accept this than you have. You've been sheltered your whole life. You didn't know. This is how it is for the rest of us. We've accepted it and you have to as well. Next time you might not be so lucky as to look like a chancellor. You're expendable now. You need to know that. We wouldn't want you to get hurt."
"The more I hear about this country the worse I feel."
"The way it's going we might not have to worry about that for much longer." Kelly shrugs then his eyes flick over to Via. He reaches over and brushes the hair out of her eyes. It falls there so often that she doesn't even notice when it does. "You were sheltered, Via. You know this stuff now though, and you're doing something about it. You're going to start seeing a lot more things soon. Everything you know is going to be flipped on its head. Sorry."
"You're getting a little personal there."
"This is a personal thing."
Kelly's looking at her again, his eyes staying on her. Via's heart seems to flutter. It's strange. Something must be wrong. Her heart never flutters. Maybe it's the stress.
"V, you okay?" Kelly asks. He puts a hand on her shoulder and cups her face with his other hand so she has to look at him. Her heart flutters more.
"I think so. I don't know. I think I'm better than I was though. I think I figured something out. You aren't wildly. I don't want to tame you."
Kelly laughs a little and his eyebrows rise. His hands slip from her shoulder and face. "What are you talking about?"
Via's heart stops fluttering. It practically stops. "Y-you said that I only wanted to tame you."
"When?"
"When we were in the infirmary at the school. You said I just wanted to tame you. You said you wanted to look at me."
Something shutters inside of Kelly and the smile he pastes across his lips is a poor attempt. "Don't really remember that. Don't remember a lot. There was a little bit of tunnel vision and, you know, excessive blood loss."
Tears start to prick at Via's eyes and everything about her feels heavy. "Kelly, you said you liked me."
"That's true. You're a great friend, Via."
"Why are you doing this again? You don't need to push me away. I know that you got hurt before but I'm not going to hurt you."
Kelly's not even looking at her anymore. He's hopping towards the bed to get his crutches. "Listen, emotions were pretty high that day. Most of the words said weren't controlled. Let's just agree to forget about it, okay? Make things a little easier? Sorry for giving you the wrong impression."
The tears are burning in Via's eyes, desperately trying to get out. She won't cry in front of him though. She wont show her emotions if he won't show his. The coward doesn't have the right to make her cry. Via can't turn off her feelings so she grapples for the closest one that isn't hurt or devastation. Anger.
"Yeah, let's forget that whole thing ever happened. Let's forget that I told you why I was broken and that all I ever wanted was to be loved by someone who wouldn't turn their back on me. Let's forget that you told me that chasing after Leo hurt you. It hurt me too. I would never stab you in the back. I never expected you to stab mine."
Via storms towards the door, opening it and then turning back. "I'm not seeking revenge, but I'm going to hurt you. I'm going after the last shot I have at someone who will show me the love I deserve."