Bleed, Patch, And Keep Moving - An Apex Legends Story

Chapter 88 - Take Off Running

The same routine went on for days. Ajay would come and visit Octavio at the hospital in Harmony. She would bring him clean clothes, food, and music to listen to. She would get him cleaned up and change his dressings. Eventually her visits with him became shorter, even though he protested it. Octavio began to grow bored with being in the hospital. He didn't think he could take the monotony of being in the hospital much longer. He had counted every single ceiling tile hundreds of times. He knew all of the staff on a first name basis and their personal routine's. He had to get out of this prison soon. In a few short days he had a very important meeting that he could not miss.

The evening that he was going to rip all of his hair out Ajay sauntered in with a large duffle bag. Her body slumped as she walked over to his bed. She was physically exhausted and pushed to her limits. "What did you bring today Che? More food and music?" His voice sounded bothered by her presence as he mocked her. She set the bag down on the floor with a light clank noise and opened it. Ajay pulled out two silver legs and gave Octavio a weary look as she presented them to him.

Octavio's eyes grew wide. "Che...." She helped him get the prosthetic legs on and showed him how to adjust them. He smiled, "Where did you get these?" She sat on the floor with her chin on the bed. "Don be stupid. I made them for ya. Like ya asked me to. Like I promised ya I would." He stood up for the first time in a month. He felt a little unsteady at first but that fleeting feeling passed. She half smiled as she watched him, "Ya gonna need some rehab and ya need to stay away from the fucking adrenaline junkie shit for a while."

He nodded and walked in place, "What are these made out of? They don't weigh anything. They don't feel real." She tried to keep her eyes open as she watched him, "A junked Stryder class Titan. A Northstar in particular." He began running in place. He noticed something engraved on his left leg. He leaned down to take a better look. Bleed, patch, and keep moving ~Che He smiled at her and looked down as his legs to admire them some more.

"They are perfect, Che." Octavio ran circles around the room as Ajay watched him with tired eyes. The legs felt weightless. He felt like he could take flight at any moment. Octavio was so excited that he wanted to run all night to make up for all the running that he had missed out on during the last month while he was trapped in the damn hospital prison. Ajay had worked endlessly to get his legs finished. He kneeled down and looked at her. His fingers tapped her shoulder but she didn't move. She had fallen asleep.

Octavio's heart skipped a beat as he gently scooped her up into his arms. The last time he held her like this was at her parent's gala. It was one hell of a night; so much so that it made his body shiver thinking about it. He swayed with her in his arms and smiled down at her. He gazed upon her beauty as if she was the only woman in the world; as if she was the only woman for him.

He gently set her in the hospital bed and placed his forehead to hers as he played with her hair. He loved the feeling of her hair. It was so soft against his fingertips. He brought her hair to his face and inhaled. She smelled like home to him. No matter where he was, as long as she was there he was home. He whispered into her ear, "Forgive me Che. I promise to make it up to you." He quietly gathered his belongings and left.

Ajay felt like she had slept for days but when she was finally able to make out the time it had only been a few hours. She was still at the hospital but Octavio was nowhere to be found. When she started looking for him she noticed his stuff was gone too. She saw a tray of half eaten food on the bedside table with a piece of paper crumpled up beside the plate. She pulled the paper open and briefly read through it. The header was one from Octavio's fathers, Eduardo, Pharmaceutical Company 'Silva Pharmaceuticals.' It was a household name on Olympus.

The paper was something from Silva Pharmaceuticals about a job offer. Ajay actually wasn't surprised to see a job offer from Eduardo. Octavio's father had wanted him to work there for years and eventually take over the business. She had heard about this from both Octavio and his father on a daily basis when they were growing up. She stuffed the paper into her pocket as she got up. She pulled out her phone and turned the screen on. She had no calls from Octavio. Her hands shook as she began to call him. She cringed as she was sent to voice mail. She tried again with the same result. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or Octavio's disappearance or both but she was getting angry and upset.