More. || Eric Coulter

Fifteen.

"Crazy how they managed to use fish skin as skin grafts for humans." Vinnie said as Eric and her were sitting next to Freyr's bed the seventh day.
He was in a coma for a week now, healing fairly well and even though the nurses told them that he was doing fine, it still scared Vinnie especially when there was a tube stuck in his throat and needles in his arms.

"Good thing they don't smell like fish. Do you think if they did, it would leave him smelling like fish, too?" Eric asked jokingly, earning a laugh from Vinnie.

Right when Vinnie was about to answer, there was a sudden noise coming from her right.

Both of their gazes jumped to where Freyr's head was laying and noticed a jerk in his throat.
Only a second after, Freyr started gagging and coughing trying to fight the tube.

"We need a nurse in here!" Eric shouted while Vinnie frantically pressed the emergency button. Meanwhile, Freyr kept gagging and coughing not able to move his arms because they were still too weak after being in a coma.

Vinnie was pushed aside after the nurses rushed in and took care of Freyr, all of them moving so fast that it left her startled and overwhelmed by the whole situation. Eric was equally as startled because, even though Freyr just woke up, he knew that the situation could still end bad so he only allowed himself to calm down once the nurses left.
Freyr was examined and now laid in the hospital bed, fully awake but still weak and exhausted.

When they were finally alone again, Vinnie carefully took his hand in hers and kissed it before she cautiously whispered his name as if he was the most fragile thing in the universe.
He slowly turned his gaze towards her and gave her a faint smile once he recognized her. That alone was enough for the weight on Vinnie's shoulders to drop, eliciting a smile as she was leaning closer to caress his cheek.

"Hey, babe." Freyr whispered weakly while giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. He observed her face carefully as if he couldn't believe that she was actually in front of him. His gaze eventually jumped behind her where part of the wheelchair was visible making him look at her questioningly. "Babe... are you alright? What happened to you?"

"I'm okay. Thanks to you." she smiled and glanced down at her legs. "Someone shot me in the legs but it's nothing compared to your injuries. Are you in pain? Do you feel any discomfort?"

Freyr shook his head slowly and glanced at Eric for the first time since he has woken up. Eric approached him on the other side and greeted him by giving him their typical handshake and fist bumping carefully.

"You alright?" He asked, getting a nod in return.

"Where's Frank?" Freyr eventually asked when he noticed that one in their group was missing.

If only he knew what had really happened.

Vinnie gave a quick glance to Eric which he returned with as much worry in his eyes. None of them wanted to break the news to Freyr but it was the only right thing to do even though it would hurt to hear.
His girlfriend took a deep breath, contemplating how to word it.
"Frank," she paused again to get rid of the tremble in her voice, "Frank... is not here... anymore."
Freyr stayed silent as if he had just heard something in a foreign language.
"What do you mean with 'not here anymore'? Is he like... factionless now? What did he do?"
A wave of sympathy rushed trough Vinnie as well as Eric at his cluelessness. Freyr wasn't stupid though. He probably went through the same shock that Vinnie had when she first heard the news and was now in denial of what he had heard, his mind refusing to think clearly for his own emotional protection.
While she thought about how she would deliver the truth, her vision started getting blurry, tears soon rolling down her cheeks. And then, before she could speak the first word, a loud sob escaped instead. She let go of her boyfriends hand to cover her face instead and started crying heavily once she felt Freyr caressing her, trying to console her as best as he could in this state. No further words were needed for him to finally realize how the situation truly looked like and he swallowed to get rid of the lump that was forming in his throat but to no avail. He diverted his gaze from his girlfriend to Eric who was standing on the other side of the bed closing his eyes to control himself as the scene unfolded and threatened to lure tears out of his eyes.