Chapter 30: Promised

Jaxir honestly never expected to wake up. So, when he first saw the burning, fluorescent light hanging from above him, rather than squinting at it, he stared quite deadpan even as his eyes burned along with it.

It took him a while to realize that this wasn’t a light at the end of the tunnel, but instead hospital lights.

The echoing tinker of a heart rate machine to the side beeped away.

He looked down at his wrist and found that a series of clear tape and needles were injected into his arm, and then soon after, a dull ache in his heart faded into existence as well.

"You’re awake! Hold on, I’ll get the nurse."

It took a while before Jaxir registered where he recognized the voice from.

Lue? What was he doing here in his house?

Oh, right... he probably wasn’t in his house right now.

The doctors must have used his Kinext to reach out to whoever made the most sense. It wouldn’t be a surprise for the AI to pick out Lue, he was the only one he had spoken to in years, let alone spoken to twice.

It wasn’t long before a trio of nurses came in. They said some stuff and made some admonishments that Jaxir, honestly, didn’t quite hear. He was sure what they were saying was important, but he was honestly having a hard time getting himself to care.

Then they said something about alerting the doctor and how he would definitely have to stay another day or two for monitoring before they went away.

"Damn, man. You really scared the shit out of me. When the hospital called I thought it was my gramps that finally croaked. Hoo―," Lue patted at his chest. "I knew you were too young and raring to go to keel over that easy. Good thing you finally woke up."

Jaxir squinted through the bright lights and finally let his pupils adjust properly. He barely managed to lean his head over on his pillow enough to see Lue.

The man was buffer than he remembered. The Lue that Jaxir had grown up with had always been a bit lanky, so much so his big head made him look like a live, walking bobble.

This Lue, though, had filled his frame and his head finally looked proportional. He sported a short, military cut, and he even wore the painted black and gold camo of the elite unit.

"Not bad." Jaxir said in a voice Lue almost had to lean over to hear. "You kind of look like a man now."

Lue was aghast. "I come here and spend hours waiting on you hand and foot, and the first thing you do is insult me?"

"... I may not have interacted with many people recently, but I’m pretty sure that was a compliment."

"If those are the kind of compliments you hand out, keep them to yourself. I’m hurt. You’d think I recently transitioned or something."

"Oh, you had plastic surgery? That makes a little more sense."

Lue burst into laughter and Jaxir coughed out one of his own.

"Goddamn, you’re gonna die at this rate. Drink some water."

Lue handed Jaxir a cup and let him struggle to sip at it himself. He had been heavily injured more than once during his military service, and the last thing he wanted during times like those was for another man to feed him.

Pretty nurses, though...

Lue grinned.

"Did you slip something in my water? What’s with that look?"

Lue laughed. "No, nothing like that. If you want me to help you take a few extra sips, just let me know."

Jaxir gave him a weird look. "I’m good, thanks."

Lue’s grin only grew wider.

"What happened? How the hell did you end up like this? Your family doctor said that if he didn’t swing by to check on you, you would have died."

"I, uh..." Jaxir chuckled a little less dryly this time thanks to the water.

"You fought the Golden Fleece Guild, didn’t you? Integration Phase II has been a real bitch. They updated the system, but didn’t update the health and safety rules yet. During Integration Phase I, so long as you weren’t on your death bed you would probably be fine.

"But Integration Phase II puts too much stress on the body. You can’t log onto the game until you’re in better condition, man. You have to care more about your health."

Jaxir just smiled, but didn’t say anything else.

At this point, the game he kept dismissing as "just a game" was about the only thing that made him feel like he was living these days.

Could he really just abandon it for several weeks?

"What happened?" Lue asked again.

"You already know," Jaxir said.

"Yeah, but I don’t have the details. The Golden Fleece Guild put on a huge gag order. Well, one of their lieutenants did. That guy’s a huge hot head and he’s insistent on burning everything to the ground."

Jaxir raised an eyebrow. "How do you know so much about what’s going on in the first place? You knew they were targeting me before I did."

Lue just smiled mysteriously and put a finger to his lips.

"Trade secrets. A gentleman never tells."

"... You know that’s a saying people use when they’re banging, right?"

Lue choked on air. He coughed out his awkwardness.

"Glad to see your tongue is still sharp."

Lue seemed like he wanted to say more when Dr. Obrey, Jaxir’s family doctor, walked in with a stern expression on his face.

A bit of an awkward expression appeared on Jaxir’s own.

"I thought we spoke about this, Jaxir."

"Uh... yes...?"

"Is that a question?"

Jaxir coughed. "Doc, I’m sick. Can’t you go a bit easy?"

"Yes, I can see that. And you’re ’sick’ because you did exactly what I told you not to do. I will be holding you here for the next half week since you can’t be trusted to follow simple instructions."

He spoke as he checked a few things off the list. Then he put the chart away into a slot, gave Jaxir a final glare, and then walked out.

Lue stifled a laugh. "You heard the doctor. Bed rest. Tons of it. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure no one bothers you too much."

Jaxir smiled and shook his head. "Thanks."

Lue grinned. "It’s nice to see you too, buddy."

That was when something Jaxir had overlooked settled in for him...

This was the first time he had been out of his house in years...

**

"Did you do as I asked?"

Dr. Obrey had been walking speedily down the hallway, still a bit frustrated with Jaxir. He didn’t want to see the kid die, but he was so self destructive.

He froze the instant he heard the voice, coming to a screeching halt.

The silhouette of a woman appeared down a right turn. She leaned against the wall near the hallway, seemingly collecting herself. She half wasn’t looking at Dr. Obrey all that much at all, her curly hair obscuring much of her face.

"I did. We will hold him here for the next four days at the very least."

"I see. Thank you then, Dr. Obrey. Look after him."

She turned to walk away, the clicking of her heels echoing down the quiet hallways.

"It is still visitors hours if you would like to see him still," Dr. Obrey called out.

"That’s okay," she said. "He’ll find me when he’s ready. Don’t worry, I’ll have my father do as promised."