The Tale of Capture Trilogy: Species of The North

17: Lucas: Here We Go

The elevator ride is awkward. I glance up and down and then and Mered.
She's looking at me with a trickle of hatred. I don't blame her though. She doesn't understand what's happening.

The elevator stops at our floor. Mered glares at me one last time before sliding past me, out of the elevator. I can tell she's mad at me. But I have to explain the unexplainable to her. Here we go.

I run to catch up with her and grasp her arm. She flinches.
"Stop it.", she murmurs.

"Please, listen to me."

My chest hurts as I breathe heavily. I'm a little dizzy.

"Get away from me, you still haven't told me what I need to hear."

"You don't get it, it's personal."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah.."

My vision is fading.
I grab her arm.
"I need your support."

"You don't have my support."

"I'm serious , I can't see."

It feels cold, and I'm lightheaded.
"Mered.. Please, I'm about to..."

***
" Lucas?"
My eyes open and I'm terribly blinded by the lights.
"Lucas, wake up."
My eyes clear and I peer at Mered, next to my bedside.
She rolls her eyes and continues a conversation with the Doctor.

"I think he has overworked himself to an extent that he is exhausted. He also has some bruises to his ribcage. I fear some symptoms such as blindness in one eye or such if he doesn't get rest."

"Alright, doc. I'll be sure he gets enough."

"Mered?.."

"Oh Lucas, your awake. You need to get rest."

"Look I can't tell you about that secret because your just not ready to-"

"It doesn't matter now, just get some rest."

I can't get rest right now at all. My chest is throbbing ,just below my second rib, the pain agonizes. I try to concentrate on a chair opposite my bed to clear out the pain.

Oh great.

All I needed was to fight Jeffrey, my one and only fiend. That's right, he's not my friend, he's my fiend, as in enemy. It seems as though Mered really cared to bring me to the hospital.

No one has ever done that for me before.

The doctor turns his attention away from Mered, to me. He inspects me closely, looking for more vital signs. I hold my breathe, hoping he doesn't find anything weird.

He finally returns to writing on the notepad in his white doctor-ish jacket.

I guess he didn't find anything.

After a couple minutes of jotting down notes, he reassures Mered that I'll heal soon and then steps out the room.

I'm left alone in the room with Mered.

"I guess you did something about the hair, huh?"

Trying to brighten the atmosphere?

"It kind of just reverted back to brunette on its own, ha."

That was the fakest laugh I've ever done.

"To be honest, Lucas, I think you are a complete jerk."

Huh?

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, you annoy me. Why get yourself hurt by fighting Jeffrey?"

You are the real jerk here. Does she realize that I saved from dying at the hands of Jeffrey? Hmm.

"You little-"

"You little what? Huh? What were you going to say? This whole time, I've been trying to protect us from the enemy, police. The only reason I stayed by you side was because I wanted to protect myself from getting caught. Your stupidity nearly got us killed. It's all your fault we had to run away constantly. I hate you."

Maybe that part just slipped out.

"Well you know what? That's fine. You can survive on your own, right? Go ahead. See if I care, cause I really don't. The next day I'm going to look for my own shelter and hide myself. Let's just hope that none of us get caught."

"Agreed."

Wait, what?

With that, Mered leaves the room.
With that, we part ways.