Guardian of Healing - Etrian Odyssey 2 - Boyxboy

Chapter 2

AN: I'm so glad you enjoyed last week's cliffhanger :D There's likely more to come in this saga so I won't say anymore but hope you enjoy reading~!

-

Chapter 2:

Axel watched until Lynus was out of sight as he headed to the hospital once again, before he allowed a frown to appear on his lips. He knew that Lynus was a dedicated medic and that his skills were beyond extraordinary, but there were times that Axel was honestly starting to feel that the violet-eyed medic was taking on too much.

Perhaps he was just being protective, maybe a little bitter that he wasn't able to spend as much time with Lynus as he would like. And he totally understood Lynus' need to be constantly useful. He just wished that he would understand that there was more to him and his role in life than healing.

Besides...something about his request to the hospital just didn't sit right with him. Dr Stiles valued Lynus' input, but he had never sent a guard to the inn to request his presence at the hospital. Just to inspect a patient.

"Damn it," Axel muttered as he roughly ran his hand through his hair and headed off toward the tearoom to brood for a bit. "I'm completely over protective..."

As he walked into the tearoom, he immediately noticed that it was occupied by three of his guildmates. Jhon was stoking the fire place, Tobyn sat on the couch as he flipped through a codex of his, and Macerio sat at the table in the corner of the room, his face buried in his folded arms atop the table. He looked to be asleep.

After throwing a log into the flames, Jhon turned his head toward him and nodded with a slight smile. However, his smile faded slightly when he glanced behind Axel, seemingly confused as to why he was alone.

"Axel?" Jhon questioned he pushed himself to his feet. "Where's Lynus? Weren't you two planning something for his day off?"

Axel folded his arms across his chest. "He's been requested at the hospital," he said simply.

"What?!" Macerio unexpectedly squawked from the corner of the room, lifting his head up off his arms to look over in Axel's direction with a disgruntled expression. "But it's his day off!"

Axel felt the corner of his mouth twitch into a half smile, inwardly feeling better that he wasn't the only one disappointed that Lynus had been called into the hospital yet again. "The cons of being a highly skilled medic, I suppose."

Macerio snorted loudly. "Work him too hard," he muttered before he abruptly buried his face in his arms again.

"Another Code Blue?" Tobyn asked as he idly flipped a page of his book.

"Not this time, it seems," Axel answered as he dropped his arms from his chest and crossed the room to drop himself onto the couch next to the blond-haired survivalist. "Dr Stiles wanted his opinion of a patient or something."

Tobyn slowly lifted his head up, his brow deeply furrowed as he turned toward Axel. "That's odd."

Axel was again inwardly relieved that he wasn't the only one who felt that way. "Yeah. I think so, too. I wonder if something's happening at the hospital."

They lapsed into a contemplative silence for a while, only the sound of the crackling fire, the turning of pages, and the occasional snore from Macerio interrupted the quite.

There was then the sound of the bell at the front counter being rung and a voice calling out. "Hello?"

"In here!" Axel shouted upon reflex and it wasn't until the sound of shuffling feet did it dawn on him that he recognised the voice.