We're Only Animals: Book 2 - Part 1: Building the Tower

Chapter 13 - Deeper Than Heartbreak

The visitors in the waiting room looked up from their phones and magazines when they heard deep, mournful sobs. That huge wolf from earlier was being escorted out by two large horse nurses who held him under the arms. He was being dragged backward, his legs kicking weakly as snot and tears dropped onto his shirt.

"L-Lou...Lou...pl-please...n-n..."

They watched as the two nurses opened the doors and dumped him unceremoniously onto the concrete outside, brushing their hands as they turned around and entered the hospital once again.

...

Legosi shakily got up to his feet and quickly noted that one of the nurses was standing just by the entrance inside. The horse glared at him, forcing him away. Legosi slunk off, still shaking all over. He glanced up at the large building, trying to determine if there was any other way inside. Unlike the Horns building, the hospital was entirely vertical with no place for footholds. He jogged around the structure, trying to find something. Anything.

Eventually, a yak security guard lumbered over to him. "Sir? Sir, I'll need to ask you to leave."

"L-Lou. Lou's in there! I-I need to save him!"

"Sure, buddy. Look, the doctors there can take care of him. Go home."

"D-doctors. They did something to him. His head. His head. He was okay. He was okay. We were okay." Legosi paced back and forth mumbling into his hand, face still stained from tears and snot. The security guard said something into the radio on his shoulder but he couldn't hear it.

Legosi's chest hurt. It felt like his organs were going to spill out. He felt like his lungs were going to pop out from his mouth. His eyes were bulging out. His teeth burned. His feet were frozen. Spiders with thousands of needles for legs climbed up his arms. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe.

The wolf turned tail and sprinted off, leaving the yak to scratch his head and shrug.

    Legosi didn't know how he got there, but the Hidden Condo soon appeared. He couldn't feel his legs. The lobby walls melted into each other and encroached upon him, threatening to swallow him. He held his head and whimpered. His stomach burned and his head swam. He was in the bathroom suddenly, retching into the shower drain. Nothing came up. His stomach grumbled and his throat was like sandpaper. The prickling feeling on his skin never left. He quickly shut the curtain and started to strip his clothes off, practically ripping the shirt to get it off. He let the clothes fall inside the stall, and once he was naked he turned the water on, ice-cold as it hit him.

A long, mournful wail escaped him at the sensation. His chest still ached and his skin still prickled. His head was about to explode. He was going to die.

Legosi brought his sharp claws up to his shoulder, sinking them into the flesh as he exhaled slowly. Warmth ran down his arm, picked up by the water and fell to the ground. Red circled around his feet and exited the drain. He dragged the claws down, drawing long, red gashes as more red spilled. The pain from his arm registered as stronger than the pain in his chest, allowing him to breathe more steadily. His hyperventilation began to cease, and he stood in the shower for a few more minutes before shutting the water off. He stared down at his body, his vision blurry.

Drip.

Drip.

Blood still flowed from his arm. He picked up his mangled shirt and wrapped it around the wound. He pulled on the rest of his wet clothes with difficulty and stumbled out.

The trip to his room didn't register in his brain. He was just suddenly at a door that read 504. He opened it, realizing he never locked it. He stumbled in, not bothering to take his shoes off, approaching the futon and collapsing onto it, face buried into Louis' pillow. His scent was still fresh. Louis was there. He was there for him. He would help him.