Chapter 12

1.1K 87 25
                                    

Alfred's POV

"Is my dad gonna be okay?" Peter asks me, leaning against me as tears drip down his cheeks. I called him and told the poor boy what happened, telling him to get down to the hospital as fast as he can.

"The paramedic said that, with time, it'll be like the physical wounds never happened," I respond, rubbing his back as he sobs into my shoulder. God, this kid has gone through so much. I may not be religious in any sense of the word, but I'm willing to pray that Arthur is okay, for both of our sakes.

He nods and continues sobbing heavily. I sigh quietly, holding the poor boy close and trying to give him some comfort. I want to fall apart right now. My entire world is in the hands of the hospital and the doctors. I just hope that this has a cliche, fairytale ending. I've never wanted anything to be more cliche in my entire life.

I notice, out of the corner of my eye, someone slowly approaching us. Turning, I find it to be Eric, the captain of the football team and Peter's love interest throughout this entire ordeal. He looks heartbroken, studying Peter as if seeing the boy like that destroys him, and if he feels for Peter like I feel for Arthur, I completely understand.

"What happened?" he asks, and Peter finally notices the boy's arrival, doing his best to silence his crying as he sits up straight.

"There was a fire at the auditorium," I answer, swallowing thickly and pushing through the overwhelming urge that I have to cry. "Arthur got caught in it, but I managed to get him out."

Eric looks shocked, completely thrown by the news. He swallows and looks to Peter longingly, whose eyes refuse to leave the floor. I get up and push him into my seat, where he immediately takes Peter into his arms. The poor boy starts sobbing once again, clutching onto Eric as if he's his lifeline, and in all honesty, he probably is. The poor kid has been abused by his parents and run through the system. The one parent to actually show him some sort of affection is now in the hospital with God knows how many wounds. 

Collapsing into a chair across from the two of them, I close my eyes, leaning my head back as I try to block out everything. Even thinking hurts when I know that somewhere in this building Arthur is being handled by strangers. The thought of all the different things that can happen to him makes my blood run cold and my stomach chrun in disgust. I won't feel complete again until he's by my side.

Leaning forward onto my knees, I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. I feel so restless and helpless. Why can't I do something? Sniffling quietly, I look to Peter, finding the kid curled up in a very obviously concerned Eric's lap.

"Do you think he's gonna be okay?" the captain asks me, and I chuckle bitterly.

"Peter or Arthur?" I ask.

"Both really..."

"I'm not sure, kid," I say with a shrug. "I don't have a good feeling about this entire thing. It's putting me on edge, like something is going to happen." I give Eric a serious look. "I can't lose Arthur. I can't. It'll destroy me."

He looks taken aback by the revelation, but as his gaze wanders back to Peter's sleeping face, he seems to understand what I mean. "After all this is over," he says, making me raise an eyebrow as he brushes a small strand of hair out of the boy's face. "I want to ask Peter to be my boyfriend."

I grin in spite of myself, clapping his shoulder proudly. "Good for you, kiddo. You two are cute together."

He blushes and smiles shyly, pulling the blonde boy closer to him. God, they're so cute.

The doctor emerges from one of the long hallways, and I immediately stand up as they approach us, looking as if they're going to tell us something we won't like.

"His wounds were very minor and easily treatable," she starts as Eric wakes Peter up. "He's taking some cough medicine because the smoke somewhat irritated his lungs. He has minor burns that will heal easily within a few weeks." She sighs, looking between the three of us with dread on her face. "The trauma has caused some...temporary amnesia, but it's not to too bad of a degree. He can remember people and details about them, but he can't remember events or how he came to know these things."

It takes a few moments for everything to process, and Peter is just as thrown as I am. I don't even think Eric cares about anything other than Peter's wellbeing, so he isn't really perturbed by this information.

"C-Can we see him?" Peter asks softly.

"Immediate family can," she says.

Peter shakes his head. "I'm the only family he has left! He's the one that my dad loves!" he exclaims pointing wildly to me.

I feel a blush stain my cheeks, and I look to the doctor hopefully. She relents, sighing and nodding. "I'm not supposed to allow it, so if anyone asks, you're his husband," she orders, pointing at me with a calculating look.

"Fine by me," I breathe out, trying not to seem too excited by the idea. She grins, gesturing towards the hallway she just came from. "You can go see him. He's in room 305. Now, I have to attend to my other patients." She hastily walks away, leaving us to ourselves.

"Thanks for coming," Peter murmurs, leaning against Eric.

The football captain grins before spontaneously placing his lips over Peter's. My eyes widen before I start smirking. It's about damn time. "Go see your dad," he says, pulling away from a wide-eyed Peter.

The blonde teen stammers nervously, trying to find the right words to say, but he's taking too long. "Come on, Romeo," I tease, dragging him along by the back of his shirt.

That was obnoxiously cute.

"Holy crap," he whispers, suddenly grinning ear to ear. "He just kissed me!"

"So I noticed," I remark, spotting Arthur's room almost instantly.

I stop dead in my tracks, feeling my breath catch in my throat. What do I say? I mean, what does anyone say to someone who has lost their memories? It can't be that easy.

"What? What's wrong?" Peter asks me, looking concerned.

"What do I say?" I ask, chewing on my lip nervously. "I have no idea what to say to him..."

The teen rolls his eyes, pushing me towards the empty doorway. "How about you start out with 'hello'," he tells me.

"You make it sound so easy," I return, suddenly being flung into the doorway, where I meet gazes with a startled Arthur. "Uh, hi," I say stupidly, making the corners of his lips raise in amusement. His lips are so cute.

I nervously walk into the room, glancing back at a grinning Peter, who stands in the doorway to watch it all go down.

"Hi, Alfred," he returns, smiling shyly at me. 

I step into the bright, white room, looking around to find something else to focus on, anything but that intense gaze of his.

Realizing that I have no other choice, I sit next to the bed in the chair that was placed there. "C-Can you tell me what you remember about me?" I ask softly, looking at the Brit hopefully. For some reason, it makes him blush.

"I remember that I love you," he murmurs, taking me by surprise. "And I remember that you love me, too, but I don't remember how I know that." His thick brows furrow in frustration, and I reach up to grab his hand, to comfort him.

"That's good enough for me," I whisper, stroking his hand lovingly. "I love you...so much." Not caring whether or not he remembers much, I leap up and hug the idiot as tightly as I can. Pulling away, I cup his face, staring into those beautiful green eyes that I love so much. "We're gonna figure this out," I murmur, kissing his forehead softly.

"Thank you," he returns, and before I even have the chance to comprehend what he's doing, he does something that pleasantly surprises me.

Arthur kisses me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heylo, my lovely little nuggets! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave any comments or suggestions, if you have them. They always make my day :) Anyway, I'll see y'all nuggety readers in the next update! Until then, have an absolutely fantastic and fabulous day! Bai!!! >:3

-IggyScones

Teachers USUKWhere stories live. Discover now