The Love Bite [boyxboy]

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight (Alexander)

The hospital was cold.

Everything was white and sterile. The only colors came from the clothes people wore as they sat around in the waiting room or the papers on the nurse's desk as she phoned people and wrote down little notes. Storm and I sat there in silence, waiting outside the ER as a couple more nurses rushed in.

"He can't die now," I managed at last, clasping my forehead as I tried to think correctly, but it was far too hard with all my thoughts bouncing around at once, "It's too early. I would've smelled it. I wouldn've noticed. Why now? Why all of a sudden--"

"Alexander," Storm ordered, making me blink and look up at him, "Enough. You're thinking too hard. You could not have known. Humans are very complex creatures. He was probably jumped by some kids at your school. Can you think of anyone who'd want to hurt Mark?" I stared at him, letting that sink in before I laughed, which surprised me. Was I going insane?

"Anyone? The whole school," I laughed, "The whole school hates Mark. Everyone. The students, the teachers, the principal, his grandfather..." My voice trailed as I looked at Storm, who looked back. His face suddenly looked blurry and distorted. It took me a moment to realize I was about to cry. I blinked once and the tears streaked down my face from my right eye, but Storm reached out and wiped it away, brushing the trails off my cheeks as my other eye overflowed with tears.

"Not everyone hates Mark," Storm said softly, wiping the rest of my tears away and cradling my face in his hands, "You don't. Amber doesn't. I certainly do not. Mark still has us. You need to think hard, though, Alexander. Someone hurt Mark. Did you hear or see anything earlier when we first lost Mark?"

I took a deep breath and sat back in my chair as Storm studied me closely, probably thinking back as well. I closed my eyes tightly, gripping the wooden arms of the seat as I concentrated.

After I left Nicholas, Amber and I went to find Mark. I checked the snack bar, the main entrance, the bleachers. We found Storm and set up a full radius check. What did I hear then?

That voice... A male's voice. Stern and cold, like a human wanting to crush and gain power.

"A voice," I said aloud, making Storm snap his head to look at me, "Someone was talking about Mark. At least, I'm pretty sure it was Mark. I heard his name, then some guy... was talking about making Mark pay or something?" Storm averted his eyes, studying the floor thoughtfully when I heard my name, making me look up.

Storm and I shot to our feet to see my mother coming toward us, wearing her hair up in a bun held by white chopsticks to match her lab coat. She wore a dark brown pencil skirt to match her ruffled blouse and high heels that clicked as she approached.

"What are you two doing here?" She asked in disbelief, her blue eyes wide.

"Alexander's friend was attacked," Storm informed, his voice taking on that regal tone, "We called an ambulance and they escorted him here. He's currently in the ER." My mother blinked, looking a bit confused before she seemed to realize who we were talking about. She frowned a little.

"Were drugs involved?" She asked, making me glare at her. I was surprised as my control snapped.

"No, mother! Just because Mark does some stupid things, doesn't mean he does it all the time! It had nothing to do with the fact that a couple of stupid, stupid fucked up humans almost killed him!" I yelled, my voice echoing in the waiting room. A couple of people glanced up, staring at me in shock as the nurse at the front desk stood up. My mother stared at me, then quickly waved the nurse to sit down.

"Alexander Lee Grey," My mother began, her voice hard as her blue eyes sharpened, "Watch your language and don't you dare expose us speaking that way. It was a mere protocol question. I need to know if maybe he got into an argument or maybe something he took caused him to become violent and get himself into trouble."