^^^***Damien concept art included***^^^
It had been three days since the accident. Three days of the Male Block gossiping about the accident. Three days of Danny not waking up. Nate's eyes drifted open as he stirred from his unrestful sleep. His eyes felt heavy and burned slightly, he had been struggling to sleep for the past three days. Watching that visceral display of violence...and to have his friend be the victim of it? It broke something in him.
Nate pulled himself out of bed with a low groan, he wanted to go see Danny, even if he wasn't awake yet. Nate walked down the hall towards the infirmary and felt an overbearing pressure on his shoulders as he walked down the populated but silent hallway. Ever since the incident, the halls of the compound had been disturbingly quiet. Nate assumed it was out of fear that Damien would appear around the corner at any time. Nate however, was hoping for it, he wanted to give Damien a piece of his mind for what he did.
As Nate approached the door to the infirmary his chest began to feel tight. He gripped the door knob and held it for a moment. Nate took a deep breath and turned the knob before opening the door. He looked up to see a wonderful sight that caused the first smile in three days to spread across his face.
"Danny?" Nate said in disbelief, Danny's head turned to look at Nate as the nurse was holding a stethoscope to his chest.
"Hey Nate." Danny responded, his voice sounded hoarse, probably from not opening his mouth in three days. Nate's gaze softened as he saw the state of his friend. His orange jumpsuit was open and off his arms and his undershirt was off, he was absolutely covered in bandages across his entire body. Nate could see a scabbed cut on his chin and a bandage wrapped around Danny's head. Danny's eyes looked sunken and dark, like he hadn't slept a wink in a week, even though he was unconscious for three days. Nate stepped towards him and pulled over a chair as he walked to Danny's bed. After sitting down in the chair, Nate rested his elbows on his own knees and interlocked his fingers.
"How ya doing?" Nate asked quietly as he looked at his own hands, he didn't have the strength to look at Danny directly.
"Nate, look at me." Danny's voice was stern. So much so that it almost forced Nate to look up at him. "I'm alive. That fact alone is enough for me to be amazing. To be honest, after what happened in the hall that day, I kind of expected him to try to kill me but...he didn't, and that's what matters." Danny finished as the nurse stood up and looked at Nate.
"That's right dear, your friend was very lucky. Those spikes missed every vital organ and just slightly tore his stomach. He's a little miracle." The kind nurse placed a hand on Danny's head, slightly ruffling his hair. Danny pulled his head away from her hand slightly with a small hint of a smile on his face. The nurse smiled warmly and left to go back to her desk and give the boys some privacy.
Nate slightly smirked as well. "Danny I...I'm glad you're okay. We were all really worried about you." Nate said sincerely as he caught Danny's eyes and held them for a while. It seemed as though Danny was struggling to find his words. Nate watched quietly with an unwavering expression as he noticed Danny's eyes beginning to mist slightly before he looked away.
"I...saw something...before Damien stabbed me. All of that time figuring out Nyx's ability, I didn't even have a firm grasp on my own." Danny chuckled a little bit after he finished the sentence.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Nate asked, confused.
"It turns out I'm more than a human supercomputer. I think that my "calculating" ability isn't just restricted to finding out the combination of an electronic lock. I saw this... vision as I was rushing him. I SAW him stab me a second before he actually stabbed me. Even though my mind was foggy from his kick, it worked in overtime to warn me of the impending danger. If I had known I could do that, I wouldn't have been so confused and shocked and I could've avoided it." Danny's voice got quieter as he spoke. Nate could barely see his eyes through his hair as it hung in his face but he saw that Danny's eyes were open wide and staring into space. Nate knew that Danny's mind was showing him that fight all over again and he was stuck in the memory.
Nate placed a hand on Danny's leg. "Danny?" He called out quietly. He snapped back to reality and looked at Nate, Danny looked so tired. "It's not your fault that Damien went way too far. It's this horrible place's fault for putting you against him, but I swear to you, he will NOT get away with this." Nate's voice turned darker.
"Nate, you can't get cocky like I did. I know I said I wasn't but...hindsight is always a cruel mistress. I got too over confident and that's what almost killed me..." Danny sounded like he was going to continue but he cut himself off. Nate didn't have it in him to speak, in case Danny wanted to say anything else.
After a moment of silence, Danny finally broke it. "I thought...I was going to die." Danny's voice broke a bit. Nate looked up at him without moving his head, waiting for Danny to vent in peace. "You know, when I collapsed in the arena...I didn't fall unconscious right away." Nate's eyes widened in horror and he sat up slightly.
"You...stayed conscious?" Nate spoke in disbelief.
"Trust me, there was nothing I wanted more than to be unconscious. That didn't happen until they started filling the arena with sleeping gas, but in that short time...I simply... couldn't move. Either way, I didn't expect to wake up again. The nurse told me I had been out for three days. I'm sorry if I made you guys worry." Danny said as he began to choke up a little bit but desperately trying to hide it. Nate knew what he was feeling, it was fear. It was exactly what Nate felt that day that he was attacked outside his school with Nyx and Alex. Although, that seemed like a lifetime ago now...he felt it again that fateful morning when Zachariah beat him and his family to death's door and arrested him and Nyx.
"Danny, what matters now is that you're alive. Of course we worried about you, we saw everything live on the stream. We're your friends and we just wanted you to be okay. You should've seen Rhys, he was freaking out like he was your wife." Nate laughed as he teased his friend.
Danny chuckled before he winced slightly and brought his hand to his stomach. "Yeah, that sounds like him. He is always worried about me because my ability isn't very effective for powered combat." Danny sounded pained a little bit from laughing aggravating his wound.
"Do you know how long they're gonna keep you in here?" Nate asked him to change the subject, he didn't want to make Danny laugh again if it would hurt him.
"I assume until they remove these stitches. On the bright side, I'll have some cool looking scars." Danny said as he looked down at his bandaged body.
"That's the spirit, I can bring you some food from the mess hall, if you want." Nate added after a small chuckle.
"Thanks but I'll be okay, honestly the infirmary food is way better than the shit they serve at the mess hall." Danny tried to push up is glasses, but got slightly upset when he remembered that they were smashed into the dirt of the arena.
"Are they gunna do something about your glasses?" Nate asked quietly.
"I assume so, maybe I can convince them that I can't fight if I can't see." Danny responded as he leaned his head back. He rolled his head to look at Nate and gave him a small smile. Nate smiled back in response before the infirmary door opened again. Nate's smile became brighter when he saw Rhys and Drake enter the room.
"Danny! Oh man you scared the SHIT out of me!" Rhys yelled as he rushed to the other side of Danny and slid onto his knees up to the bed before tightly grabbing his hand and holding it up with both of his. "Don't you EVER do that to us again, you idiot." Rhys said to him with tears of relief.
Danny's brow furrowed in annoyance, "I didn't have a choice in the matter, you loser." Danny responded to him in a flat tone. Drake approached the bed at that moment, he stayed standing behind Rhys and reached into the pocket of his jumpsuit. He pulled out a pair of wire rimmed glasses, just like the ones Danny had before.
Danny's eyes widened, "Drake, how did you-"
"Don't worry about it." Drake responded, showing his own brand of relief that his friend was okay. Danny put the glasses on as he talked to his two other friends, Nate's eyes drifted to the nurse sitting at her desk. She locked eyes with Nate and gave a warm smile. Nate realized that the nurse had told a guard to retrieve Rhys and Drake so they could see that their friend was okay. Nate's heart warmed a bit, he knew now that there were some true kind hearts in this prison. Some people understood that these prisoners were super powered, yes, but they were still people. Some were just teenagers, taken straight from their high school and normal teenager activities just because they were born gifted.
Unfortunately, because this was a prison, there were people who had been broken and hurt to the point that their minds drifted into a dark place. Some people chose to hate the world instead of looking for the good. Some people who chose to turn away from the good.
People that would hurt good and kind people like Danny.
People that were dangerous.