What Wouldn't I Give

[Nox]

The conversation went well considering he was talking to a fourteen year old and Nox had been fourteen not too terribly long ago but he was hardly a typical kid. He was hunting monsters by then. Had several kills under his belt too. Not to mention living on the road and school online. Nothing typical about his childhood. But she was supposed to be telling her parents. The last thing Nox wanted was to be arrested because of some kids parents and a misunderstanding.

But he needed to keep his mind off of things, so Nox scrolled through his texts and still found his last one to Jay unanswered. That was concerning. He could be ignoring him, but Nox didn't have any idea why. Their last messages were good. Sweet even, if you think a guy in a cowboy hat in the dark was sweet.

Nox growled and took a bed ridden selfie. He hated taken pictures of himself but maybe it would lighten the mood. His face wasn't in the shot and it was awkward as Nox tried to fidget with the voice controls. Having only one arm made the whole process all that much more difficult. The timer just wasn't cutting it.

The shot included only the hospital gown, the lost arm and the hoses and lines on the floor. It was a shitting shot. Nox sent it.

To @"Jay Carpenter" :

Taking a selfie just became that much more difficult. Lost an arm. You better be doing better than me! ... Really Jay, I'm worried. Tangled webs and all that. (with picture)

The text sent and Nox hoped that he'd get a message from Raffe or Jay soon. Raffe more so than Jay, but Jay's lack of response was concerning.

The doctor still hadn't come in...

A message from Sterling popped up just as a tall man, a blond woman, both in white, and the nurse from before walked into the room. "Mr. Durante, It's good to see you awake." He offered Nox his hand. "I'm Dr. Tkachenko Yanovich"

"Great to be awake, doc. I really need you to get your people to hold off on touching and playing with my blood."

"See I told you." The nurse said. She got a glare from Nox in return for her comment.

"Do you have some sort of communicable disease we need to know about?' He glanced at Nox's records on his tablet. "I see nothing from your prior stay."

Nox sighed, Why the fuck do you think I had my own fucking arm cut off? Really enlighten me!"

The three medical professionals looked at each other and started whispering. Nox rolled his eyes and reached for the power. But it didn't feel the same. It was like reaching through mud. The light was just the other side of the muddy puddle, but that first attempted made Nox let go as soon as he held the power in his grasp. He swore he heard the sucking sound of the hole closing back up after he let it go. Nox shuddered. "You didn't think it would be so easy to escape death did you, little brother." Aurora's voice wasn't Aurora's as it had been. The visage in his head was her dead body. "Fuck me!" Nox said out loud....