Catch a Glimmer of Your Star

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Red.

Black.

Then red again.

Seconds of dizzy confusion passed before Sunny realized that someone was wiping the red out of his vision. He blinked multiple times, waiting for his eyesight to come back. When it did, it revealed a blurry image of Basil desperately calling out to him.

The last thing he remembered was reaching for his pocket pepper stray to use it on his attackers. He figured he'd been too slow.

"Sunny...please be alright..."

My head hurts.

"Come back...Sunny..."

Sunny closed and reopened his left eye as he felt his vision stabilizing.

Even after months of living with only one working eye, he still found it difficult to accurately judge depth perception. He saw Basil standing nearby, but failed to figure out whether he could grasp Basil's hand if he reached out. The expression on Basil's face, those teary red eyes and trembling lips, told him enough about what had happened for him to understand that he was not in a good situation.

I messed up again.

Something gushed out of his nose.

Sunny breathed in air but found red splattering over his eyesight again. A hand wiped away the blood with a wad of tissue.

Judging by the plain white walls, the glaring ceiling light, and the unfamiliar bed he slept on, he was inside a hospital. Several other faces showed up within his limited field of view. Doctors started tending to his wounds.

He faced Basil, looked into those gentle eyes that showed so much care and concern for him.

"Basil...I'm sorry," Sunny managed to say. "I wasn't careful enough."

"Sunny, you're going to make it," Basil replied, a wave of relief evident in his voice. "Don't worry about anything. Just get plenty of rest."

"What happened?" Sunny asked.

Basil's teary expression already spoke half of what he was about to say. Sunny sensed a note of anger and saw a rare emotion in those clear blue eyes.

"Those...bullies...attacked you," Basil replied. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop them in time. I..."

It's not your fault, Basil.

I'm so dumb!

"You've broken your nose," a doctor clarified. "We'll do some scans to see whether you'll need surgery or not."

That explained all the blood.

"We managed to stop you from losing too much blood," another doctor explained. "Your attackers are currently being interrogated at the police station. Your friend here has already told your mom about what happened."

That's good.

Thanks for taking care of everything, Basil.

If only I'd listened to you and paid more attention to who might be coming after me...

"I'm sorry, Basil," Sunny said again. "I should've listened to you."

"Please don't be mad at yourself!" Basil said. "Just...let yourself relax and tell me if there's anything you need, okay?"

"I will," Sunny said, nodding.

He felt far worse for Basil than for himself. Why didn't he heed Basil's warnings? Pepper spray was no guarantee of his own safety.