Post by GalaxiaD on Oct 8, 2011 14:20:45 GMT -5
Chapter 17: Reunion
Meanwhile, at the Sunny Falls General Hospital, Xavier paced the floor anxiously in the lobby. He had been waiting there for two days straight, now going on a third, and he had received no word on Coty's condition. Xavier had tried to keep himself busy, reading magazines and listening to songs on his iPod, but no matter what he did to try and calm his nerves, his mind always traced back to Coty. The poor kid is only 14, he thought. He doesn't deserve to lose his hand, let alone his life. Finally, an answer to Xavier's prayers arrived, as a nurse began to approach him.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Xavier blurted out. He could think of nothing else but Coty's well-being. The nurse gave him a reassuring smile.
"He's fine," the nurse stated. Xavier let out a long, deep sigh of relief. "But..." the nurse continued. "Since you were unable to retrieve his hand, I'm afraid all we could do was stitch his wound closed and bandage it up. Once the bleeding has stopped, we may be able to remove the bandages and put a hook on it, just so he has something on his right arm to grip things with, but his hand is permanently lost."
Xavier's head hung in disappointment. He realized that none of them, not Brett, Kyle, nor himself, had made an attempt to retrieve Coty's hand after Smilex had chomped it off. Brett did, however, manage to stop the bleeding and save Coty's life. Perhaps that's the most they could ask for. Coty may have lost a hand, but he was still alive, and that's what truly mattered.
"I'm so sorry, sir," the nurse said, noticing the long face on Xavier. "He's conscious now, if you wish to speak with him." Xavier's expression quickly changed to one of excitement.
"I would like that very much," Xavier said. The nurse smiled and led him to Coty's room. Other nurses and doctors rushed past them as they made their way down the hallway. No doubt there were others that needed care, and Xavier made his best attempt not to get in their way.
"Here we are," the nurse said. "Room 24C. Your friend is just inside."
"Thank you," Xavier said with a smile. He shook the nurse's hand and made his way through the door to where Coty lied. Once inside the plain, white room, he immediately noticed Coty, sleeping like a log. There was an IV injected into his arm, and a heart monitor beeped at a healthy pace. His right arm didn't look as good, though. At the end was a cluster of white bandages, with faint blood stains on the surface from seeping through. Xavier took a seat at Coty's bedside and studied him for a minute, until Coty finally sensed his presence and awoke from his nap.
"Xavier?" Coty asked faintly.
"Yeah," Xavier said with a smile and a nod. "It's me." A smile overtook Coty's face as well, as he finally got to see a familiar face after two days of surgery and intensive care. Coty turned his head to his right arm and noticed the bandaged stub. His smile quickly faded as he lifted up his arm to examine it more closely. Xavier's smile faded, too; he truly felt bad for the kid.
"I'm so sorry about your hand, Coty," Xavier said sympathetically. "In the heat of the moment, all we could really do was stop the bleeding. I wish we could've done more." Tears began to stream from Coty's face, as he came to grips with the reality that he had, indeed, lost his hand. He was a lefty, but that did little to console him. Xavier immediately noticed Coty's melancholy and threw his arms around him in a brotherly embrace, which Coty reciprocated. This went on for another ten minutes. When they finally broke the embrace, Coty began to stare off into space, as if he were caught up in deep thought. Eventually, he reached a conclusion.
"I'm just thankful to be alive," he said. Such a response caught Xavier off guard. This is truly a strong kid, he thought.
"I mean, yeah, it sucks that I don't have a hand anymore, but if you guys hadn't been there, I would've lost much more than my hand," Coty said. "I would've lost my life." Xavier beamed at his younger friend with pride.
"That's the spirit," Xavier said reassuringly.
"Besides," Coty continued. "This means I can have one of those hooks on my stub now. I'll be one step closer to becoming a pirate, like I always dreamed." Xavier and Coty shared a laugh. If there was one, truly redeeming quality about Coty, it was the fact that he could find the silver lining in any dark cloud. Their happy reunion was cut short, however, as Xavier's cell phone began to ring. Xavier was surprised to see that it was Brett calling him. He hadn't heard from him nor Kyle in days, and he wondered what had become of them since the last confrontation with Smilex.
"Hello?" Xavier answered. "Brett! Man, where have you been? I've been trying to get a hold of you since-" Xavier was cut off as Brett began to rattle off the whole story to him, including his and Kyle's whereabouts. Xavier's eyes grew wide with horror.
"What?!" he exclaimed. "Are you serious?!"
"Yeah, man, but don't sweat the details," Brett said. "You gotta meet up with us so we can end this. Kyle and I are already setting our next plan in motion, and it wouldn't be complete without the Big Three orchestrating it."
"Dude, how can you think about that when you..." Xavier started. Xavier smacked his hand against his face and began to pace the room nervously, much like he did in the lobby. "Ugh, alright. But I gotta see if it's okay with Coty. I can't just... yeah, he's fine... you wanna talk to him?"
"Just tell him I'm fine," Coty interrupted. "You guys have a beast to kill." Xavier looked at Coty with a puzzled look on his face.
"So you don't mind if I leave?" he asked.
"Not at all," Coty said reassuringly. "But, do me a favor." Coty ushered in Xavier to lean closer, which Xavier obliged.
"Make sure that it suffers," Coty said menacingly. A wicked smile overtook Xavier's face, and he gave a reassuring nod to let Coty know that he'd do just that.
"Alright, man, I'm on my way. See you then," Xavier said, as he hung up his phone. He gave Coty one, last hug as he made his way out of the room and out of the hospital. He wasn't sure what to make of Brett and Kyle's current situation, but he figured that killing Smilex was the top priority. With a bit of hesitation, Xavier started up his truck and headed back into the suburbs to reunite the Big Three.
The stage for the final battle is being set. Can Brett and Kyle dodge the authorities long enough to ensure the Big Three's victory? Or will Smilex's Sunny Falls feast continue until no one is left? Find out in the next exciting chapter of "Smile"!