Arthur cracked his eyes open, squinting at the bright florescent lights above him. Where was he? He looked around at where he was and found he was in a hospital bed, with multiple machines all around him. Why was he in the hospital? Just then everything came back, the cave, the voice in his head, pushing Lewis.
Arthur sat bolt right up in bed panting heavily. Oh god Lewis. He… he…
Arthur would have started to hyperventilate at that point if he hadn’t noticed there was another bed in the room. He looked over to see, to his great surprise and relief, Lewis. Most of his body was in bandages and he didn’t move in his sleep but the steady beat of the heart monitor and the rise and fall of his chest showed that he was still alive.
The relief that filled him at seeing that filled him drained all panic he’d had away. Lewis was ok. Everything was going to be ok.
If only he knew how wrong he was.
It was the next day that Lewis woke up. Vivi had been there to visit them when they heard a groan from the other end of the room. Both of them turned to the other occupant of the room and smiled at seeing him open his eyes.
“Lew-Lew!” Vivi cried as she ran over to the large man.
Lewis smiled and happily accepted the gentle embrace of his girlfriend. “Hey Viv it’s good to see you,” he said as he tried to lift his arms to return the hug. Before he could though, Vivi pressed his arms back down to his sides.
“Don’t push yourself, we don’t want you anymore hurt than you already are,” she scolded. Lewis just gave the woman a smile and laughed a bit.
Arthur watched all this from his own bed, glad to see that things were still the same as they were before. He looked down at his arm and sighed, well almost the same. A wave of guilt slammed into him at recalling the last thing he ever did with that arm. He’d hurt and almost killed his best friend, how could things go back to the way they used to be?
As if to prove his point when Arthur looked up he locked eyes with Lewis and that warm, caring, kindness he’d always gave him before was gone, however, there wasn’t the hate filled anger he’d been dreading either. No instead there was something far worse, there was fear. Not just fear there was terror in his eyes as he pressed himself as far away from Arthur as possible, pulling Vivi protectively with him.
“Lewis what are you doing?” Vivi asked.
“Stay away from him Vivi,” Lewis ordered not taking his eyes off Arthur.
“What are you talking about?” Vivi demanded.
“He’s dangerous; he’s the one who pushed me off the cliff. He tried to kill me,” Lewis told her, his voice wavering with fear.
Vivi’s eyes widened and she looked to Arthur, who only looked away in shame. “No…” she breathed, “He… he wouldn’t …”
“But he did, Vivi pleas you have to believe me,” Lewis pleaded.
Vivi looked from Lewis to Arthur and back a few times before tears started to fall. “Arthur…? Why?” she asked.
Arthur only winced and looked away. He didn’t have an answer. How could he explain he didn’t want to push Lewis but didn’t have a choice? He was a monster anyway, he deserved to be feared and hated.
Not getting a response Vivi broke down crying as she ran out of the room. Lewis watched her leave before tensing and looking back to Arthur warily. It was clear he was still scared Arthur might try something.
Arthur only curled around himself in shame.
The next few days, things only seemed to get worse for Arthur. After Vivi had left Lewis had called a nurse and begged to be transferred to a different room. He was out of Arthur’s room in the next hour. The only time Arthur got to see him anymore was during their physical therapy sessions once they were healthy enough to go. Lewis was making a lot of progress, while Arthur on the other hand seemed to only get worse with his new prosthetic arm.
Eventually he stopped going to the sessions all together. He couldn’t stand the fearful looks Lewis shot his way, as if he expected him to attack out of nowhere. He knew he deserved it, but it still hurt. Vivi had also stopped visiting him, not knowing what to think about him and believing it was better to just ignore him. That was fine she deserved a better friend then him anyway. After what he did being alone was the least of what he deserved.
A few weeks later Arthur’s Uncle Lance burst into Lewis’ hospital room, where he and Vivi were talking about how it was almost time for him to go home. The short man went up to both of them and somehow managed to grab a hold of both of their shirts and pull them down to his level. The anger in the bearded man’s eyes was terrifying.
“What is wrong with you two?” he demanded.
The two younger adults looked blankly at the man.
“What do you mean?” Lewis asked.
“I mean what is wrong with you treating my nephew like he’s some kind of monster?” Lance nearly shouted as he turned his attention to Lewis, “Don’t think I don’t see it. You two have been avoiding him like you’re afraid he’s going to attack you. I came to see him earlier today and the nurse told me I was the first visitor he’s had in almost a month. Now what gives?”
Both of the younger adults looked away in shame.
“The boy’s tearing himself apart without you. He barely even realized I was there when I saw him. Now you two are going to tell me what’s going on or you’re going to be happy you’re already in a hospital,” Lance growled at them.
Not being able to face an angry Lance they eventually told him what was going on and why they had been avoiding Arthur. Lance listened to them, not showing any emotion as they talked. When they were finished Lance pulled them back down again and smacked them both over the head.
“You two are so stupid. You honestly believe that my nephew, who won’t even step on the spiders that come into the garage, would try to kill one of you?” Lance was so angry his face was red, “Now you listen to me. I don’t care what you saw in that cave or how Lewis got hurt. Whatever happened wasn’t Arthur’s fault and he needs you now more than ever. So stop being a couple of scared children and do what’s right for once.”
With that Lance turned and left the room, leaving Lewis and Vivi with a lot to think about.
“We messed up big, didn’t we?” Vivi asked.
Lewis only nodded, looking at the door.
“Come on we have to fix this,” she said and headed for the door.
Lewis hesitated before following his girlfriend. It wasn’t long until they got to the room Arthur was in. When they walked inside their eyes landed on the blond and they froze. Arthur looked awful. He was barely more than skin and bones and all he did was stare blankly at the wall in front of him.
Instantly guilt slammed into them like a train and Lewis almost fell over from the impact. Oh god what had they done? How could they have ever thought that this man would ever want to hurt anyone, let alone had the ability to attempt murder.
The two then ran over to him and scooped the small man into a hug as they cried and apologized but Arthur still didn’t respond. This only broke their hearts more. How could they have been so blind to let it get this far?
Lewis buried his face into Arthur’s neck as he cried, “I’m sorry Arthur, I shouldn’t have blamed you like that. I know you would never want to hurt me, I’m sorry.”
There was still no response from Arthur, however, a single tear made its way down the man’s cheek as his two friends cried over what they had done.