eldia

26 | ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Jean snaps awake, his body jolting up from where he lay. He was resting in a hospital bed with several other beds surrounding his. All occupied.

He begins to frantically look around. "Where's yn? Where's the princess?" He asks to no one in particular.

Eren, who was seated right beside his bed, picks at some scabs on the back of his hand. "Calm down. Don't make a scene unless you want Ackerman to knock you out again."

Jean blinks with confusion. "Again?"

"How do you think you got here?" Eren questions.

Somehow that made complete sense. He couldn't recall hurting himself in any other way. In fact, he couldn't remember much at all. Levi must've knocked him unconscious. But why?

His hand comes up to the back of his head and his fingers come into contact with the throbbing bump that now inhabited his scalp. "God, what did he hit me with? A brick?"

"Close." Eren bites a hangnail off. "Back of a shotgun."

"Why?" Jean asks as he tries to gain his memory.

Eren keeps his eyes on Jean as he uses his teeth to rip more skin off his fingers. "You were hyperventilating. Your lungs were already filling up with smoke so you started turning purple because you couldn't breathe. No one could calm you down so Ackerman put you to sleep."

Jean quickly noticed all the fresh scabs and cuts all over Eren's hands. The wounds must've already existed prior to the bombing but his anxiety was causing him to make them look fresh again by picking at them. His eyes were also dark and tired.

He moves his sight away from Eren's consistently bleeding skin to all the other beds in area. He recognized most of the faces. Some no longer looked familiar to him at all.

At one bed, several nurses crowded around. It seemed all medical staff was mainly focused on whoever was laying there. Clearly, someone of major importance.

"Is that..." Jean begins.

"Prince Malakai." Eren finally breaks his eyes away and looks down at his hands.

Jean begins to feel a small glimmer of hope. "He's alive?" The last time he saw Kai, the poor prince was in horrible shape. He could barely even speak and blood spewed out his mouth each time he did.

Eren never looks back up. Instead, he continues to inflict pain on himself. It was almost like he was punishing himself by making the wounds hurt even more.

He takes some time to speak. "He's in a coma. They're trying their best but... it's not looking too good. He inhaled too many chemicals. He was next to one of the bombs when it went off. The impact made him fly back and he hit his head hard. He's suffering a grade 3 concussion."

The nurses leave his side and from the distance, Jean can see the faint outline of Kai's comatose body. Pascal hops onto the bed and curls up beside him.

Eren catches Jean looking. "Pascal doesn't leave his side. He growls at anyone who comes close besides the doctors."

Jean finds himself smile slightly. With Elijah being dead and his sister missing, Jean was happy Kai atleast had someone by his side.

"Where is Ambrose?" Jean asks. "Is he okay?"

Eren shrugs. "No one has seen him. They think whoever took the princess took him too."

Jean frowns. "Why would they want Ambrose?"

Eren sighs and leans back in his chair, his feet kicked up on Jean's bed. Thick chunks of mud stuck to the bottom of his boots. "I don't know. Leverage? Maybe as a hostage? I couldn't tell you."