Chương 52: Double Bind

As he leaned forward in his chair, watching the nurse check Ace, Steven thought, a wry chuckle escaping him at the notion. After spending so many years following orders, now he had to think. He thought about the usual things, of course, finances, work, more finances. How were they ever going to afford this hospital stay? On his right, Kellevra slept, his elbow bound up with metal wires and rods. In the bed to his left, Ace shifted, a low groan rumbling in his throat.

Next to Ace, a nurse pressed fresh telemetry pads against his chest, avoiding the cauterized surgery mark on his stomach. His children lay broken, nearly killed by a monster in disguise. He'd had his doubts in the beginning, but Gloria had hit the nail on the head. He had been disarmed. From how helpful the kid was, to his quiet, docile nature, Steven had completely let his guard down. The constant poking from his wife was no help. Charlotte was a wonderful person, kind, gentle, and caring to a fault, literally.

At first he found it cute, back when they were dating, how she'd insist on taking care of injured animals. It reminded him of that movie with the little girl and the birds, or was it ducks? Had she kept them in a drawer with a work lamp? Ahh, it doesn't matter, but now it's going to bug me! He shook his head, and, slapping his thigh, startled the nurse.

"Sorry," he said, when she turned a glare on him. Oh this was so frustrating! Why? Why did his wife have to pick that boy as her broken bird? Why did she have to have such a big heart? And why? Why in the hell did he have to sacrifice himself to heal Ace? Steven was grateful, yes. There was no doubt about that, none at all. It was fantastic and amazing that Ace was up and walking again. Aside from being a dumbass about his catheter, he was better than ever! The problem was the debt.

As a Marine, Steven understood the weight of a life owed. Hours ago, he had washed his hands of Kurisu. Now, his son was standing, bought and paid for by whatever the hell trade Kurisu had done. Why not just use magic? Just cast a healing spell, like he'd done with Kenji's leg. No, of course, he had to martyr himself to do it! How could he turn away someone who'd fallen on a grenade to save his son? It just pissed him off. That person had been the one to throw it in the first place.

Honor and guilt were going to shackle him to that kid forever. He was completely trapped. White lights, fluorescent—jeez they were bright. His insides ached, burned, maybe they throbbed. Where was Kenji? Where was all the blue he remembered? Was it blue? No, there was orange, fire—he was on fire! Ace shot up in his bed, looking at the covers, then down at his stomach where a black scab line was surrounded by an angry red circle.

"They got it out?" He gagged, his tongue dry. It stuck to the roof of his mouth, dry and swollen.

"Welcome back." He looked to the voice. A nurse was there to his left, putting a stethoscope in her ears.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, pressing the scope to his chest before he instinctively took in a large breath and slowly let it out.

"Like my HP is stuck at one," he muttered around his sticky, thick tongue. Smacking his lips, he looked at the nurse.

"Can I have some water?" She gave a short nod, laughing slightly.

"Yeah, I'll grab you some. Press the call button if you need something before I get back." He watched her leave, and when the door shut, he suddenly had a sinking feeling form in the pit of his stomach. He felt alone, with only the steady chirp of the heart monitors. Oh, monitors! Kellevra was asleep in the bed across from him. A squeak made him jump and turn to find his father pushing out of a chair and walking next to the bed.

"Kenji got the balloon out. You're good."

"Where is everybody?"

"Kenji went back down to get his own damage looked at. Roland and Gloria are with him, trying to get him moved to a different room. And your mom's down the hall raising hell about Kurisu." Ace stared at the ceiling tiles, his shoulders rigid against the mattress.

"He tried to kill me, Dad. He completely lost his mind. That piledriver—I'm lucky I was just paralyzed. I should have died." The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"I know," Steven said, quiet. Ace stared into his father's eyes.

"He traded his life for my legs. He's so old and fragile—I heard a snap when the cop grabbed him by the bicep, Dad! He's like a glass skeleton with skin, and he did it so suddenly, like he didn't even think about it. You and Mom're always telling us to think before we act, I know! But, who does that? Like, that's next level, Dad!" Great, now I'm crying!

"Yeah." Steven placed a hand on Ace's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

"I wanted to hate him. I did hate him. I think I still do! But, I feel like I can't be mad at him. Dad, what do I do?!" For the first time in his entire life, ever, Ace saw a tear trace its way down his dad's cheek. His father's eyes were glassy and wet, like there were more waiting, but Dad wouldn't let them fall.

"I wish I knew, buddy." Steven rocked him.

"I think we're all in the same boat here. I think we're going to have to wait, have a talk with him, and go from there. I wanted to kick him out. I even told your mother he was getting kicked out—""Bet that caused a fight."

"Yeah, it sure did. But that was before he healed you and made himself a cripple in the process. I still would rather get rid of him, but I don't know how we kick him out in the shape he's in." Through a flinch of pain, Ace sniffled.

"I moved without thinking when he fell down. Does that mean I want him to stay?" With a sniffle of his own and a soft chuckle, Steven sighed.

"Oh buddy, I think it's way more complicated than that."

"Look, I'm sorry, but the hospital is currently crowded and the agent wanted the boys in one secure location."

"I don't care, I want my son in a different room!" Gloria told the poor staff member behind the counter for what had to have been the hundredth time.

"Mom, can we just go back already?" Kenji tried to interrupt again.

"I don't know how many times we gotta say it, kiddo. You're not going back anywhere near that boy," Roland told him.

"You've been arguing for hours! You started before I went in to get the X-rays, and were still doing it when I got out, and it's been over an hour since then. They're not going to cave. Just give up. I want to go back to my bed, my ribs hurt."

"I told you, you can sit right there. They were going to push your bed down here, which you'd be able to lay in if you hadn't stubbornly decided to walk instead."

"You're right, I should have taken the bed, because then we'd be back in the room and this dumb argument wouldn't be a thing!" Kenji snapped.

"They told you 'no.'""And I told you 'no.' Now, sit down," Roland said, shoving his finger in Kenji's face before pointing at the chairs in the waiting area.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To lay down. Don't tell me what to do." Roland and an officer both moved toward him, his dad to stop him, and the cop likely just as an escort. They both vanished. Kenji, having raced down a stretch of hallway faster than even he could track, watched everything blur past him before he finally stopped. In fact, he only stopped because he hit the wall. Rattling his head, he grimaced at the rough, crumbling imprint of his body in the drywall. Oops, glad I didn't go through it!

In a quick spin, he confirmed that no one was looking at him, so maybe he'd gotten away with nobody seeing. There weren't many people down this hallway, with the suits having blocked it off from normal people, but the space was getting taken back by the hospital little by little as more casualties came in needing help. I hate this! Why's everybody gotta be losing their shit? Why's it all gotta be so fucking complicated! I need to lay down. My chest hurts.

"Mr. Tetsuya, where are your parents, and where is the officer assigned to you?" God damn it, that was Cox's voice.

"Don't know, don't care. What's up with Kurisu?"

"Sharing the medical information of another patient is a gross breach of conduct."

"Yeah, so's kidnapping a bunch of kids just because they have superpowers!"

"You were not kidnapped; you were arrested."

"It's not delivery; it's Digiorno!" Kenji rolled his eyes, spinning on the agent.

"For killing a giant spider, you're welcome. Now, fuck off!"

"You should be in your room, under guard."

"No shit, that's where I'm headed! To go get watched by people with nothing better to do than make sure I don't escape. Never mind the fact that if I wanted to leave, there's nothing any of you can do to stop me."

"So why don't you?" Cox asked. His foot halfway in the air, Kenji stood, looking at the ground.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

"Part of me wants answers? I wonder if we're still…" He turned back to Cox, frowning.

"Why the hell do you care? You're the one who 'arrested' us." Cox smiled, saying nothing.

"Oh God damn it! Fuck you, dude! Go 'act like you care' interrogate someone else!" Kenji stomped away from the agent, growling as he approached the room, desperate to lay down and stop thinking for five minutes, maybe get some sleep. He didn't stop thinking, and he didn't fall asleep.