Breakthrough

Chapter 26: Unravelled

In the hospital waiting rooms. 15:42pm.

Luke hadn't left the hospital once. He hadn't slept, eaten, or even had a shower. It had now been three days since the assault on his village. The government had a real tough time calming the panic stricken civilians and containing the aftermath of the tragedy that Kai and Robin left on the town of Rainwood.

Refusing to leave his sister alone until she came to, Luke instead gave the location of Sophie and Brooke to Kasper who went and retrieved them, explaining the situation and bringing them to the hospital.

In hindsight, this was probably not the best idea as Lewis was looking for them. However Luke believe the girls would be safer with the rest of them as a group.

Brooke hadn't showed any recognition to Kasper or any other familiar faces, instead she looked scared. Sophie greeted everyone with a bright smile but a look of worry crossed her face once she saw Luke. He was sat away from the others, his head in his hands. He looked like he had given up.

The juxtaposition of this side of Luke compared to the one Sophie had come to know recently was shocking. She'd started seeing him as some positive light that illuminated the darkness and could never be put out. But the boy sat in front of her, he wasn't positive and bright, he was for lack of a better word, broken.

"I could seduce him to take his mind off of it all?" Ruby suggested quietly on the other side of the room.

Kasper gave her a mortified look and shook his head slowly.

"My bad. Does he swing the other way or something?"

"Didn't you get in the shower with him already? Wouldn't you know?" Ava replied looking a little annoyed.

"He kinda ran away screaming bloody murder." Ruby shrugged.

"Maybe it's because he isn't into girls who flaunt their bodies at him."

"Flaunt?? At least I don't hide my looks away from the world!"

By this point, Ruby and Ava had gotten quite loud.

"Girls, please can we-" Kasper started.

Ava cut him off immediately. "No! Don't get in the way, Kasper. Listen, I don't hide my looks at all!"

"Oh sureeee. Tell me, how baggy is that hoodie you're wearing right now?"

"W-Why does that matter!?" Ava's cheeks turned rosy red.

"Because I'm not even trying to fight you, babe. I'm trying to show you that you don't have to hide yourself away. If you showed off what you've got maybe you'd get his attention too."

A loud bang turned everyone's heads towards the noises origin. Luke had stood up so fast that his chair had flown backwards, he was already out the door and leaving the building. Both Ruby and Ava looked regretful when they saw what their mini argument had done.

"I'll go after him." Kasper, looking for an excuse to get away from the catfight, graciously got up and chased after his friend.

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Kasper found Luke sitting out on a bench by some vending machines around the side of the hospital building. The sky was growing darker with every passing minute, it cast an almost golden glow on to the scenery around them, showing off the last hour of daylight.

Silently, Kasper bought two canned ice coffees from the vending machine ahead of him. The cans almost froze his hands on contact, the weather was really getting cold this time of year.

He walked over to Luke and held out one of the cans. Luke had wiped his face abruptly and took the can from Kasper with a quiet "Thank you."

It was obvious that Luke had been crying, although given the circumstances it was understandable. Kasper sat down on the other side of the bench and cracked open the cold beverage, sipping it slowly and savouring the chilling feeling that travelled down his throat.