[FIN] We Have to Stop Meeting Like This

[BlackFireKitsune]

'I want to meet up for dinner,' Alyssa had texted him, and Abel had dutifully told Taavi - not without a long, drawn-out groan and copious amounts of 'I really absolutely do not want to do this thing' - that he had to do so, and would probably be back in a few hours at most, hopefully sooner. After changing and getting ready, the blond left his apartment and headed out into the darkened streets, illuminated both by the moon overhead as well as the lamp posts that dotted the sidewalks. Several minutes later they met up and headed to a restaurant for dinner.

As expected, an hour and a half later the pair stepped back out into the chilly night air, and made their way back towards his apartment. Alyssa suggested a shortcut through a nearby alleyway; Abel did not want to take the shortcut. Memories of the last time he'd cut through an alley with her came to mind, as well as the repercussions of doing so, but the redhead smiled her Cheshire smile and guided him into it anyway. He wasn't really in any position to oppose her on anything less than critically important matters, and while to some his safety and well-being probably were critically important, he didn't think so. So, when he felt an odd pressure in his chest and lifted a hand to it, only to jerk it away when he pricked his fingers on the knife protruding from it, he really couldn't be that surprised. He couldn't be that surprised when the knife withdrew and sliced through skin and muscle and tissue again, at an angle this time.

What did surprise him was how cold and numb he felt at first, but as the knife twisted in his back before it slipped out - or did she pull it out? Was she still there? There was an odd sort of buzzing in his head and his eyes didn't want to focus anymore - a tight knot of heat manifested in his lung. It exploded outwards, the fiery tendrils of pain winding around his lungs, his heart, his ribs, the holes in his chest; it was like someone had lit a fire in his chest and used his insides for kindling. It hurt, it hurt it hurt like nothing he'd ever experienced before, it--

Hands, hands at his hip, hands on his arm, pulling him backwards, pushing him away. His back collided with something hard - a wall maybe? and he slumped to the ground against it, his arms wrapped around himself tightly as he stared at the ground without seeing it. Someone was saying words - words he recognized in a voice he recognized, so probably Alyssa - but then the hazy redheaded shape disappeared from his peripheral vision. A few moments later another voice burbled up from somewhere, one he wasn't familiar with, but he couldn't see who had spoken. Trying to focus on his breathing and on the voice, Abel struggled to regain some awareness. "...your emergency? Hello?"

"Help me," he rasped in a voice much too hoarse than it should've been, and he coughed violently. Something warm and wet dripped down his chin. "Please help me.."


Eventually various sounds and voices filled his head, blurry shapes approached and started touching him, and then suddenly he was horizontal. He felt like he was underwater, like he was trying to swim but unable to surface. Abel drifted in and out of consciousness and sometimes he could swear he heard familiar voices, saw familiar, hazy shapes, but ultimately couldn't focus enough to be sure.

Some time later - much later - his bleary eyes opened and he let out a tired groan as he slowly became aware of things again. White walls, uncomfortable bed, somewhat familiar atmosphere... Smell of disinfectant. Hospital? Abel squinted a bit, trying to recall the events leading up to this point.  

[TawnyAngel]

This was the second time this year Abel had turned up in his ER - and Dith did subconsciously consider it his - the second time that he'd ended up with holes in his lung too. Thankfully however he would be alright, also for the second time; there had been some worrying moments but his vitals were bleeping away reassuringly now as Dith sat beside his bed working his way through his enormous stack of emails.

When the blond started to stir however the giant man looked up from his work, removed his half-moon reading glasses and lent into Abel's field of vision with a wry smile. "Good morning, how are you feeling?" Probably terrible despite the painkillers but terrible and concious was better than many of the possible alternatives.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Not just a familiar atmosphere; a familiar voice drew his attention too. A familiar face soon joined the voice, and the relief Abel felt manifested in his face. Despite how groggy and exhausted he felt, he could at least focus well enough on the question to give it due consideration. "Fffffffuh. s**t," he responded eloquently in the somewhat slurred tones of someone who'd just woken up from a dead sleep, though his voice held traces of breathlessness in it.

Okay, for real though, how was he feeling? Thoughtfulness crept into his expression as he slowly tried to muddle through whatever medication they'd give him so he could take stock of the various hurts he'd sustained. Overall he felt like he'd been run over by a truck - run over as in it hit him and knocked him over, then once it realized it had, it backed up and drove over him. A hot, persistent ache throbbed in his chest with each beat of his heart - it hurt but probably not nearly as much as it would without whatever they'd put him on - and he had quite a headache, but he didn't really think he'd been injured beyond that. "M'alive," he mumbled at length once he'd duly thought of his injuries and how he felt. "Head hurts a little, chest hurts a lot. How--hm.." Talking was tiring him out quicker than it should, but he had so many questions... He now found himself in quite a dilemma; which question should he ask first? The blond frowned as he set about trying to puzzle this out, but it was like trying to fumble his way through a thick fog.  

[TawnyAngel]

Abel's first reaction was probably the most honest description of how he felt; Dith closed his laptop and set it aside before shifting the rather flimsy plastic chair a bit closer to Abel's bed. "Don't try to say too much at once; you were stabbed, three holes in your right lung." One of the wounds went straight through him, it must have been quite a knife to achieve that. "You'll be fine, just rest and give yourself a chance okay?" Dith had plenty of questions of his own but none that needed to be asked right away, perhaps in a day or so when Abel had had a chance to sleep more and get his brain back in working order.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel frowned, though the expression contained the tiniest hint of a pout. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, and even if he hadn't quite figured out which one to ask first, he at least wanted to be able to ask. It was beginning to sound like he couldn't. Something wormed its way into the back of his mind, something important that he couldn't quite remember or figure out what it was. Maybe he'd realize whatever it was soon enough...

The blond lifted his right arm a bit, but the ache in his chest turned into a raging fire and he inhaled sharply as he dropped his arm back down. Bad idea, bad idea, very bad idea. Squeezing his eyes shut and not bothering to try to prevent the grimace that twisted his expression, he instead lifted his left arm - cautiously at first, until he realized it wouldn't hurt like his right arm - and pressed his hand over one half of his face. "s**t," he said again. "Okay."  

[TawnyAngel]

Dith winced sympathetically at Abel's obvious pain and reached out to rest a gentle hand on his shoulder, his left shoulder that was. "Easy there, okay? We can give you more for the pain if you need it; you're on a codeine pump but not too high a dosage, we can give you some non-opioid a**l- painkillers that is..." Oh, well, he hoped Abel hadn't caught that just in case it made him laugh because that would hurt quite a lot at the moment! Let that be a lesson, never stop half way through a word.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His grimace and hand both remained on his face for a few seconds. "Okay," he mumbled at length once he'd processed Dith's words. More pain killers... Those would be nice, but if he just stayed still or slept then he'd probably be fine. Probably. "Maybe later." He didn't need them just yet.

Sleep...

He didn't want to sleep.

Something was still bothering him, something in the back of his mind. Yes, he'd been stabbed, but none of his pokemon were with him, so they were all safe and sound at home... He wished he were home safe and sound too, but oh well.... ...oh. "Oh." His eyelids snapped open and his colorful eyes darted to Dith. "Taavi," he said, his expression morphing to one of concern, "please call Taavi. I never went home." That was it. He'd never made it home the night before, and his friend was probably worried sick. All of his pokemon would be too, but Isaac especially.  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi; the kid who'd brought him in before, he'd seen him again more recently at that assault course even the league had run. "I will get your phone and call him from it," Dith agreed, giving Abel's shoulder a light squeeze. "It had rather a lot of blood on it, it should be cleaned up by now though. Is it locked?" He didn't expect that Abel would remember Taavi's number off the top of his head, there was really no need to do so these days.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Blood?" Why would there be blood on it? Abel's brow furrowed for a few moments before his expression cleared. "Oh. My blood." Duh. Whose else would it be? "No it's not." A moment or two later, he aimed a tired, slightly pained smile at Dith, relief and gratitude evident in his expression and voice. "Thank you."  

[TawnyAngel]

Egh, poor Abel; Dith smiled sympathetically at the young man and nodded as he got to his feet. "Yes, your blood. There was quite a lot of it on the outside but we gave you some more. You're welcome though, I will go and do that now if you get some rest for me okay?" It was well into reasonable hours of the morning now, Taavi was probably panicking quite a lot so the sooner he could relieve his misery the better.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ah... Losing blood was bad, but it was okay. He was okay. Foregoing nodding in response in case that made something hurt more like moving his arm had, Abel simply replied, "Okay." He was tired, so tired, and his chest hurt something awful... Nothing really bothered him in the back of his mind like it had before - nothing important, anyway - so once he allowed himself to relax he dozed off relatively quickly.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Great?" Taavi said incredulously down the phone. "What- I don't, what about this is great?"

A wry chuckle came from the other end of the line. "Okay, okay, I admit great is perhaps a strong word but he will be fine no? There's no need to be worried anymore."

No need to worry; he wished! "Uh... yeah, that's what the doc said. Anyway I'm going to go in now so I'll ring off. You've got the room number?"

"Si, si, I have it. I will be with you when I can, I'm just waiting for a cab now."

"Okay," Taavi exhaled and rubbed a hand down his face, "okay I'll see you soon then, bye."

"¡Chao!"

He ended the call with another heavy sign and slipped his phone back into his pocket. No need to worry, no need if you didn't have a very strong suspicion about who had done this and even of why. Alyssa didn't like to have her fun spoiled, did she? Taavi opened the door to the room and stepped inside quietly just in case Abel was sleeping. It was good that he'd got here before Zev really, if Abel wasn't asleep then he could find out if his suspicions were right or not.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel was asleep - or rather, he had been, but hearing voices just outside his room had roused him enough that when he heard the door creak open, his eyelids fluttered open. Actually fluttered was too dainty a word; they opened like a window did the first time you tried to open it after a long winter - begrudgingly and with a good deal of effort. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, the blond rolled his head over to see who'd entered, half expecting it to be Dith. It wasn't, but it was a familiar face; his expression brightened when he realized who it was. "Taavi," he said in the same tired, slightly breathless voice he'd spoken in earlier. He didn't care for it, but it wasn't the first time he'd felt like it took a lot more effort to breathe than normal.  

[TawnyAngel]

He was awake, kinda. Taavi crossed the room quickly and reached out to take one of Abel's hands carefully between his own. "Hey there," he said with a weak smile, "you- you had me pretty worried you know. We were out looking the whole night, I thought-" Aware that he was about to go on a long ramble Taavi stopped himself and sank down gratefully into the chair by the bed, it was an awful plastic thing but it felt pretty comfortable after the night he'd had. "I'm glad you're safe," he added after a moment, once he trusted himself not to overwhelm Abel with a huge stream of chatter right away.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As he curled his fingers around Taavi's hand, guilt and an unspoken apology contorted his features; he voiced the latter a moment later. "I'm sorry," he murmured quietly. He knew his friend would worry, but all night? He wasn't really out looking for him all night long, was he? "All night?"