Lag 6.3 (Beta Read) (Patreon)

Lag 6.3

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“You know people can go up to almost like two or... three, yeah, three-hundred hours without sleep?” The question hung in the air, almost echoing in the relative silence.

“Well, close to it, I guess. Really, it’s just two-fifty.” His mouth dipped into a frown at that, eyes narrowing for an instant. “Which seems like a lot until you realize it’s only, like, ten days.”

Greg Veder blinked, staring straight forward as he searched for something to say.

“Anyway…” he finally managed a few long seconds later, “I know it’s been a while since I was here but the last ten days have been kinda hectic. So... forgive me?” His frown threatened to shift into a smile, a decidedly awkward one at that, but his expression barely managed a twitch. “For that, at least. Also, I didn’t bring flowers this time… so that too.”

More silence.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

He felt a laugh threatening to make itself heard from within his chest at his own joke but nothing actually managed to make its way out. “You know, you’re really forgiving. I’d think most girls would be angry if their boyfriend forgot to visit them or bring them flowers… but I don’t really know much about girls, so they could be okay with it too.”

Greg let out a breath, blinking a few times as he glanced straight up. “I doubt it, though. I don’t know why but I do. Either way… I’m sorry it took me so long. I’d have tried to come earlier but I had to pull a favor for this time slot. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get in to see you without your family and… well, your dad kinda hates me right now.”

The blond bowed his head, staring at his hands. “I’d hate me too, though, y’know… It is kinda my fault you were there. You could have been home safe, like the rest of your family but… noooo. I had to impress you and take you somewhere fancy so you wouldn’t get bored of me and now you’re… now you’re like… this.”

Greg glanced back up to look at the only other occupant of the hospital room, silent as ever. Emma Barnes laid there under the covers of her hospital bed, dressed in a long white T-shirt he was sure some nurse aid made sure was changed at least once a day. The MedHall symbol was clearly visible on the chest, embossed in bright silver. No such thing aslike a ‘cheap hospital gown’ infor this place, he mused. Even for the coma patients.

It had been weeks since the Barnes had their youngest daughter transferred to a private MedHall facility — one of the larger ones too — dotting the city, and Greg knew Emma had received nothing but exceptional treatment. If he had to guess, her dad had called in a favor from a certain client to get her put here.

If he didn’t, I might have tried at least. Tried and failed, maybe, but still tried. Private hospital rooms and top-notch medical care were in short supply right now, what with a whole hospital and a lot of medical staff still out of commision. Greg’s thoughts flickered over to his mother and the way she still kept well clear of windows and refused to even acknowledge the presence of any sort of glassware. She loves my cooking, though, so win-win, I guess.

The blond shook his head, letting out a wry laugh along with the motion. “I’m not that great at feeling sorry for myself, I’m sorry. It doesn’t really stick. Didn’t really stick before either, but I think that was more my attention span than…” He let himself trail off, letting out a slight breath of air as he cupped his chin. The simple beeps of her heart monitor continued on in the quiet of the room, the dull noise of the hospital outside barely audible with the door closed.

“Anyways, I feel like I should feel bad about that too. I don’t know if you’d call it ironic or meta, but it just is, I guess. It definitely feels ironic complaining about not getting enough sleep when you’re…”

Greg trailed off again as he glanced back at Emma again. Looking at him, his expression would seem like it was almost set in stone.

“A real Sleeping Beauty, I guess.” Wait, red hair? The blond scoffed out loud, folding his arms across his chest as he remained standing at the side of Emma’s bed. Wrong Disney Princess. “Sleeping Little Mermaid sounds really stupid, though,” he muttered to himself.

Still, she really did look the perfect Sleeping Beauty - Sleeping Ariel? - as she laid there in the hospital bed, seemingly untouched the way she had been for the last few weeks. Really, if it wasn’t for the IV attached to her arm and the various monitors she was hooked up to, she would look to anyone else as if she was simply and peacefully asleep.

Which was odd… to everyone.

The doctors, nurses and her parents.

Odd enough for Greg to give her a surreptitious glance with his Analyze, even, the last time he had been here.

Emma Barnes Lv 7

Student - Model

HP: 200/200

It’s a coma.

There’s not much else going on here.

If you’re looking for more information you already know, she has red hair, I guess.

And that had only been slightly more annoying than it usually was when it came to providing information. Either way, it was just another annoyance to add to the growing list.

Greg sighed again.

“You know, about the not sleeping thing… it’s not nightmares or anything like that, you know. That’d be way less annoying than what it actually is, no joke.” Greg shifted his gaze over to the wood-paneled door of the room, craning his head to look through the glass pane in the center of the door. His eyes narrowed, blue eyes shifting into a bright yellow for only a single moment.

Satisfied with whatever he saw, Greg turned back to Emma and leaned forward, arms still folded over his chest. “Honestly, imagine your phone constantly blowing up with notifications and you can’t turn the volume off or anything. The only way you can get some peace is to take care of the problem and by the time the problem is taken care of and you’re back home, it’s already morning and you have to make your mom breakfast.”

Greg drummed his fingers against one arm, biting his lip in a tight smile. “Like, I literally had to get some guys to help me out. I mean, I have to pay them… y’know, to keep them loyal, I guess, but that’s literally no problem.” The blond paused, one eyebrow raised as something came to mind. “Although, I’m pretty sure a bunch of them would stick around anyway. I feel like they think of me as more than a paycheck, considering I’m keeping their neighborhood safe, y’know. Like… respect or something.”

Greg Veder shook his head, letting out a slight laugh. “Forget it. I’m being stupid.”

His lips quirked up at the side, turning the slight smile on Greg’s face into a smirk for a few moments.

“I think you’d be really proud of me, though.”

He nodded his head at the whispered words. “I’m keeping people safe every night, doing my best in training too. I know I can’t promise that nothing like this is gonna happen to you or anyone else but I’m gonna do my best, you know? Whenever you wake up, you’ll feel safe, I promise.”

Greg’s gaze flickered back to the door as the sound of footsteps neared it, straightening up his posture as it opened fully. A brown-haired woman poked her head and shoulders in, the MedHall logo embossed in silver on the chest of her all-white scrubs clearly visible. “Greg, baby, I’m gonna need you to wrap it up real quick, okay,” she said gently, her eyes crinkling softly as she smiled. “They do a check on high-tier patients every ten minutes, and I can’t have either of us getting in trouble.”

The teenager smiled back, letting out a slight sigh as his arms dropped to his sides. “No problem, Aunt Bex. I’m pretty much done anyway. Didn’t have too much to say.”

“Alrighty, babe,” she smiled again, easing back out as she began to close the door behind her. “Just walk straight out when you’re done.”

“Gotcha.”

“Also,” Greg glanced back at the still open door, his aunt’s face still staring back at him, “Ask your mom if she wants to come over this week. We haven’t had a girl’s night in forever.”

As if I’d let her leave the house.

“... Sure. I’ll do that,” he lied.

“Great.”

The door finally closed behind her, allowing Greg to turn his attention back to Emma again. The blond stepped forward and nodded, feeling sure of himself in a way he hadn’t for a while. “Whenever you wake up, okay.”