Chapter 3.

“Arie just messaged me he’ll be on in about five minutes, he’s running late from work” Kahl announced, putting her Omni away. “Anything from Terri yet?” Frudore asked, inspecting the intricately carved staff he used when not in battle. The unique white iridescent rod was made from a Unicorn’s horn and was only gifted as a reward for defeating an Elf warrior in Badabar whose quest only appeared under special circumstances. It wasn’t so much that it was a great weapon seeing as how Frude didn’t even use it in battle, rather it was a flashy display of ‘Look what I got, neener neener neener!’ he liked to shove in people’s faces as he walked past.

It wasn’t exactly like everyone in the game had the thing, either. In fact, Frude was the first and only person to have retrieved it and word spread like wildfire that the great lone wolf Frudore had gotten it. The thing miffed Lio, if she was honest. The damned thing was like a beacon saying ‘Come at me, bro!’ whenever anyone saw it and within minutes of entering any town or village the entirety of the guild was recognized and whatever sense of peace they had ends up short lived.

“What do you think, Lio?” Sval asked; her voice right in Lio’s ear as she leaned forward into her back and slung an arm around her shoulders lazily. Blinking and snapping out of her thoughts, Lio looked around the table to see everyone looking at her expectantly. “Uh….what?” she squinted. “We were talking about putting the raid off until tomorrow and just enjoying the hall for tonight” Nodding her head slowly as she took in the explanation, Lio held her thumb up in acceptance. “Great, now that we’re all settled – I’m buying booze” Kahl pulled up her omni and started inputting her shopping list.

“Is Terri logging on tonight or he busy again?” Lio asked the woman latched onto her from behind. Snuggling her face into the Archer’s hair, Sval made a noise similar to that of a groan. “If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll stay away tonight” she mumbled. Quirking a brow at the girls’ behavior, Lio mouthed “What’s with that?” to Kahl and got a shrug in response. “You still mad at him for bailing on you the other day?” Sling asked, popping up behind Kahl looking like he’d just done something he shouldn’t have.

Looking between the two with her brows furrowed, Lio had absolutely no idea what was going on. “Apparently, “ Shedim leaned in to whisper. “They were having a date and in the middle of it he just logged out without saying anything” Her mouth going into an O as she understood, Lio patted the girl latched onto her on the head. “He more than likely had a good reason for it, Sval. Knowing Terri it was probably important and he’ll apologize when he logs back on” Sval sighed, releasing her hold on Lio and sitting beside her with a pout. “I guess, but if he doesn’t grovel it isn’t happening again”

~

Pushing a stack of double stuffed Oreo’s into the middle of the table where a few other stacks were, the brunette man raised a brow in challenge at the other player and at the same time they placed their cards down face up. “Oh!” he exclaimed in defeat upon seeing the Ace and Queen of Hearts over his Seven of hearts and Jack of Diamonds. “You cheated, didn’t you?” He asked incredulous as the brunette girl grinned in victory. “C’mon, Blaine. You know you can’t fool me.” She teased, happily scooping her winnings into the rest of her massive stash she’d won from him. “I demand a rematch!” he pouted, already grabbing the cards and getting ready to shuffle them without waiting for her reply. A chuckle from the doorway caught their attention and they turned to face the nurse who’d just walked in. “Unfortunately, Blaine. You’re gonna have to wait until tomorrow ‘cause it’s time for Mel’s treatment and time for you to go home and get some sleep.”

The two brunette’s looked at each other before turning on the nurse with wide, innocent puppy eyes. “Can’t we just play one more game, Glenda?” Mel pleaded, doing her best sad expression. Placing her hands on her hips, Glenda gave them both a stern look before focusing her gaze on the male half and pointed a finger at him. “I know you’ve been here since Wednesday and you ain’t got a lick of sleep in the last 48 hours, Boy. You better get yourself home and in bed before I sedate your skinny white ass and have you tossed in the Psyche ward.” Holding his hands up in defense, Blaine replied. “I’m fine, Glenda. You don’t gotta scold me like I’m twelve anymore.”

The elder woman’s brow twitched, giving the only sign that he’d said the wrong thing before she was around the bed and had grabbed hold of his ear, pulling him up to his feet with the force of it all. “Don’t sass me, boy. I’ve known you since you were twelve and I’ve scolded you since then, and will continue to well into your old age. Now, get your ass in gear and get home before you pass out from lack of sleep – You’re making Mel upset.” Groaning in pain from being assaulted by the woman, Blaine finally conceded and nodded his head. “Good, and don’t forget to eat something. You’re skin and bones as is, don’t need you withering away now.” She gave him a final tug on his ear and let go, returning to her task of getting Mel all ready for her treatment while he was left holding his ear like she’d just ripped it off.

Mel chuckled, a smile on her lips that barely made it to her eyes and showed him just how tired she was. Sighing, Blaine grabbed his jacket and stood next to her bed so he could hold her hand. “I’ll go home for a few hours, but I’ll be back up here first thing in the morning, okay?” he said, placing a kiss on her knuckles. Lifting her other hand up to clasp his hands between her smaller ones, Mel shook her head. “You go home and get a full night’s sleep, I know you’ve been up for two days watching over me but I’m fine. Doc Easton say’s it was just a bad reaction to my meds but I’ll be fine now that he’s stopped giving them to me. Please, go home and sleep. I’ll still be here tomorrow and I know Glenda won’t hesitate to call you if anything happens, okay?”

He didn’t want to tell her he wasn’t going to be able to sleep after the panic he’d gone through when he’d gotten that call, didn’t want her to know that while she slept he kept a close watch over her breathing in case something happened and she didn’t wake up. But he knew she wouldn’t go to her treatments unless he promised to sleep, so he indulged her and nodded. “Fine, but I want a text message before you go to bed and a phone call as soon as you wake up, alright?” he insisted, giving her a stern look. “I promise I’ll text and call, now go home and get something to eat and go to bed.” She flashed him a smile and he brushed her midnight black hair behind her ear before placing a sift kiss to her forehead. “Alright, I love you Mel.” She giggled, swatting him away with her left hand. “I know, silly. I love you too.”

He reluctantly let go of her other hand and picked up his helmet from beside her bed, waving at her as she smiled and waved him off. “Bye, Glenda. Take care of our girl, now.” He received a short wave from the nurse and a mumbled goodbye as she pulled the railing down on the side of Mel’s bed so she could get to her easier. He lingered at the door a minute longer, enjoying the sound of Mel’s laughter before Glenda shot him a look that said she’d do more than just pull his ear if he didn’t leave them and he scurried out of the room.

He hated leaving her, the last time he had was Tuesday night and the next thing he knew, she had a seizure and nearly had another heart attack. He’d been on Gahenna when it’d happened, the first time he’d been able to actually enjoy the game since he’d gotten busy with a new build and the constant hospital visits. Blaine had gotten a call from Glenda sounding absolutely terrified and he’d just dropped everything to run to Mel’s bedside, scared to death that he wouldn’t be fast enough and by the time he’d get there she wouldn’t be okay. But he’d made it, and when he’d gotten there the seizure had ended and the Doctors had sedated her to keep her calm as they did CAT scans and MRI’s to make sure she was fine. It’d ended up being a reaction from her meds; her body simply rejected them and left the Doctor’s stumped on what to do with yet another failed medication.

He felt so helpless, not being able to do or say anything to fix her illness. He hated himself for not being at the hospital instead of playing the stupid game, but even if he despised everything to do with the game and this incident, he couldn’t find it in himself to exclude the game from his life. He’d made friends, real friends that actually gave a shit about him and it gave him an escape from the constant routine of Work, Hospital, Sleep, repeat. In Gahenna, he was able to forget his worries if only for a minute and just embrace the world.

But there was the part of him who hated himself for that, the part that whispered in the back of his head that it was wrong to want an escape; that he was a selfish bastard to want to forget about Mel for even a moment. Blaine didn’t want to forget Mel, he couldn’t go a second without thinking about her and anything that he could do to give her even the tiniest bit of happiness. He just needed a small reprieve from the panic that he was gonna get a phone call with the worst news he could ever imagine.

It hadn’t always been like this, he thought. As he strode past the Nurses station and waved goodbye to the men and women he’d come to know like family and went for the elevators. There was once a time where Mel had been healthy and happy, an enthusiastic thorn in his side since before he could remember. It’d been a simpler, happier time back then. But he didn’t like dwelling on the past, too many painful memories lie there and he’d rather look on the brighter side of things or at least attempt optimism before he gave up completely.

Sighing, he heard the ping from his Omni and pulled up his messages to see a new one from Liora. Opening it, he heard the girls’ heavily accented southern voice and couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. “Terri~ Shed and Frude got into another spat over their rooms and Sling’s too scared to break them up, we need you~” She paused, the silence ringing in his ears before she continued. “Sval’s worried, says you just logged out without saying bye but she’s too prideful to say anything.” He knew he should’ve said something, but when he’d gotten that call all he’d thought about was rushing to Mel before it was too late. He hit reply and recorded a brief message. “I know, I fucked up. I’ll fix it, I promise.”

The elevator dinged, signaling it had made it to the lobby and the doors opened, letting him walk out of the small contraption and head for the exit. His Omni rang, telling him he had an incoming call from Liora and he answered it. “I know we have this whole ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ thing, but I think you should know that Kahl and I share a bit more than we let on.” Lio exclaimed, not even giving him time to say hello. “Uh…Okay?” He replied, unsure of what she was trying to hint at. She sighed, clearly agitated he wasn’t getting her point. “I was trying to subtly tell you to tell Sval whatever it was that happened, Terri. You don’t have to tell her everything, just let her know that you’re alright and you don’t hate her.”

He went through the automatic doors and out into the parking lot, transferring the call from his Omni to his helmet so he could put it on as he walked to his bike. “I didn’t mean to worry you guys, I just had a bit of an emergency to deal with. “ He explained, making it to his bike and straddling the sleek Kawasaki he’d worked his ass off to buy. “Is everything okay now?” she asked, worry in her tone. “As okay as it can be for now.” He answered, being as truthful as he could. “You would tell us if there was something we could do to help, right? I mean, even if it’s just you needing support you do know we’d all do anything for you.” Liora said, her usual jokes and sarcasm gone, leaving her sounding far more serious than he’d ever heard her. He was taken aback by her admission, temporarily forgetting that he had a group of friends he’d known for almost 5 years now. “I promise, if I need your guys’ help I’ll let you know. Thank you, Lio.”

“No problem, now – Call Sval or log in, I don’t care what you do as long as you two talk. We’re all on ‘cause the Haroh update came out and we bought the guild hall. It’s fuckin’ awesome and you should totally see it.” She declared, excitement evident in her voice. Chuckling, he said. “I’m heading home now; I’ll be on in about 20. Think you can keep her busy until then?” she huffed a long, dramatic sigh. “I guess, but it’s gonna cost you.”

~~

This is unedited, so I apologize immensely for any typo's or dumbness.

Also, I may or may not have written this while drunk.

So sorry.