[Milex]There is a light that never goes out

Chap 10

Chapter 10

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Alex wakes up to the familiar smell of the clinic yet again. He's been in here more times during the last three months than in the past three years. His limbs feel like they are made of cotton and his head hurts. The light is threatening to blind him. Alex groans, struggling to keep his eyes shut. He vaguely remembers them getting back, people shouting and someone helping him up.

"You had a serious overdraft, Alex." He recognizes Alexa's voice. "You've been out for a day."

Alex's eyes blink open. He hauls himself out of bed. "How's Zach? And where's Miles？"

Alexa passes him a glass of healing medicine. "Miles woke up earlier and went to see Zach. He was not as burnt out as you. Zach's still in the hospital. Ariella took out the bullet, but he lost loads of blood and it was pass the best rescue time...he might wake up soon. Alex, there's not much that we can do now, sorry."

Her voice gets so low in the end that Alex has to hold his breath to make out the words. Alex feels numb. He drinks his meds and begins to climb down. "I'll go see him." He says quietly, stopping at the door. "The Explorers—"

Alexa shushes him and waves him to go. "Don't worry. Homme said he'd handle that."

Handle? Alex snarls. How?

Alexa doesn't have an answer for him. Nobody does.

Alex receives way too much attention on his way to the hospital. It feel sticky. Zach is still in ICU and he's only allowed to see him from outside the room. Ariella is in the unit alone. She walks out immediately after seeing Alex standing there, staring. "Alex!" She examines him with worry. "You need to rest some more."

"Is Zach going to be okay?" Alex blurts out. He feels so stupid asking, but he's desperate right now. Ariella seems to be more positive than Alexa. She gives him a tired smile. "Zach is a strong man. Miles did pretty well on the emergency treatment. It may take some time, but his chance to full recovery is pretty high."

Alex lets out a shaky breath of relief. He's still worried though. "Why is Zach still...unconscious?"

"Honestly, we weren't sure if he's going to wake up or not yesterday. But now I think it's probably only the effect of that magic bullet being too strong. It can last for a while. Lana is coming down to the hospital in a bit. They are concerned about the weapon that caused the wound. I'll check on Zach again when I'm back and keep you updated, okay?" Ariella adds. "Miles was here a few minutes ago. I think he went out for a smoke."

Alex murmurs a thanks. He stays outside the unit for a while, looking at his friend. Zach's body is covered by a huge monitor hanging on the side of the bed and he looks lifeless. Alex stays until he couldn't bear the scene any longer.

Right now, he needs to see with his own eyes that Miles is okay.

The emergency exit at the back is on the ground floor, leading to a small greenhouse full of herbs. The door is slight ajar when Alex arrives. He can hear Miles' voice coming from outside and he gladly pushes on the door, wanting to fetch him. However, what he hears makes his blood freeze and Alex's brain seems to have jammed.

"...no, he's not dead. What were you thinking, Eva?" Miles keeps his voice low and he stands with his back to the door. His arms are up like he's holding something in his hands. "It was so close! You could have shot me!"

A deep, unfamiliar female voices sneers in the air. "I could have asked you the same question. You were supposed to lead all of them to the ambush."