Lilium

Nine

Nine

Oliver opened his eyes and was immediately blinded by the light. His head throbbed and his back was sore in three different places. He could barely move his arm to shield his face.

I feel like I got hit by a bus... Oliver moaned, the sound strained in his throat. The world spun when he tried to move.

What...?

"I was wondering when you'd wake up," said Rei from somewhere around him. He couldn't pinpoint where she was, nor what sort of environment they were in. He just knew that he lay back on something hard and everything was bright. He finally mustered up enough strength to sling his arm over his face.

"Dear God..." Oliver huffed, his breath coming out in strangled gasps. When he spoke, it was only with a staggering amount of effort. "What... happened?"

"You passed out. Kind of. Actually, you went on a rampage. Or tried to. I caught up to you before you were too far, and good thing I did. I got a call from Gonzalez not too long ago telling me a Scourge is on the loose and to make sure that you were alive. You are awake, aren't you?"

Oliver squeezed his eyes shut before opening his left eye a sliver. He flinched.

"Yeah... I think so." Except I can't move much and I feel like I got run over. "I feel fucking terrible."

"I figured as much." Oliver heard Rei's footfalls as she approached. "It's a good thing I brought you here, huh?"

"What...?"

It dawned on Oliver that his apartment was never that bright. The curtains were always closed, no exceptions. Which meant either Rei had violated his lifestyle or she'd taken him somewhere else.

"Please tell me we're in my apartment," he muttered. It would've been better to hear that she'd decided to torture him over the possibility that the both of them were vulnerable.

"Unfortunately, no. We're at Sullivan's house."

Sully... "Since when did he have a skylight? It hurts, dammit. Agh..." Oliver managed to roll to his side and let out another moan. Stars danced behind his eyelids.

"He's not like us. He isn't affected by that big ball of radiation you stared into."

"You don't say." Fucking ghouls. "What time is it?"

"Noon. You've been out for about eleven hours."

"Makes sense. What did I do?"

He felt Rei grab his hand. "You don't remember?"

"No... should I?"

Rei made a noise. "No, I guess not. Though it'd be convenient. Honestly, you didn't do much. You ran off, knocked over some trashcans, scaled a building, and tried to set fire to someone's balcony plants. Why those plants specifically, I'll never know." She chuckled. "But the good news is no one was hurt... except for you. You kind of fell from three stories up."

"Damn. Sounds like it hurt."

"It did. You were out like a light after."

Oliver blinked several times, forcing himself to get used to the sunlight around him. He lay out on a bed covered in white sheets, a threadbare blanket pulled up to his waist. His toes stuck out from the bottom, chilled by the air conditioning that was blasting.

"I feel awful," he said after a moment.

"I know."

"Like I got dragged by my ankles across miles of gravel." Oliver massaged his temples and growled, giving Rei a sideways glance. "Why aren't you bothered?"