Mangled (A NateWantsToBattle/NateMare story)

Eight

I immediately had my dad take me up to see Mat. As soon as we got up to the ICU area, we noticed several guards standing at the door. My dad had a confused look on his face as he knew he didn't have anybody looking after Mat, only after Nate.

"What's going on up here?" My Dad asked.
"The suspect wanted to see Matthew." A guard responded. "And one of the officers took him up here to see him."
"Are you guys idiots?" My Dad asked, "I directly stated that you keep Nathan in his room and away from any of the victims unless they grant permission!"
"But sir, he's calm." The officer responded. "Ever since we let him up here, he hasn't thrown any violent fits or harmed himself."
"Is Matthew talking to him?" My Dad asked.
"No sir, he's still unconscious." The officer responded.
"Maybe he's calm because at least he knows Mat is alive." I butted in.
"Maybe..." My Dad responded.

Dad then looked at me.

"Maybe you shouldn't go in there if Nate is in there." Dad stated.
"Dad, I'll be fine." I assured him.

Dad was silent for a moment before he finally wheeled me into the room, where I noticed Nate sitting in one of the chairs, looking at Mat and holding onto his hand. Mat was still asleep, and in better shape than I thought. The only thing I could see was an oxygen tube connected to his nose and several plugs extending out from his chest area.

Nate then looked over to me and had a nervous look on his face as he looked at my Dad. But after my Dad had finally left, he calmed down.

"H-How is he?" I asked.
"They said he would recover." Nate responded. "That's all they basically told me and that's all that matters to me."
"That's good." I nodded.

Suddenly, we heard Mat beginning to cough, breathing loudly between each cough. I became nervous as a little bit of blood came out of his mouth also. But then it stopped, and he was awake.

The first thing he saw, was Nate.

Nate smiled as he went and hugged him carefully. But Mat seemed more nervous, which made me nervous. Was he just nervous over the fact that Nate nearly killed him? Or was he nervous or something else... something he didn't want to tell Nate.

"I-I was so worried about you." Nate cried to him, "I-I was hating myself ever since last night when I pulled the trigger on you. I never meant to hurt you I hope you understand that."

Suddenly, his tears of sadness and guilt, and the innocence and upset in his voice suddenly turned into rage and fury, almost demonic sounding. Like the sound I heard when we were both held hostage underground.

Nate suddenly lunged at him and grabbed his shirt, tugging him forward. Mat just looked at him wide eyed.

"WHY'D YOU DO THIS MAT?" Nate exclaimed. "WHY DID YOU THREATEN TO END OUR RELATIONSHIP."
"I did it so that you could put down your weapon and surrender to the cops." Mat simply stated, and surprisingly, in a calm manner. "But obviously, that wasn't the case... and I nearly died again."

My eyes widened in surprise. Again? You mean he nearly died more than once?

My thoughts were interrupted when the two cops who were standing at the doorway came in and grabbed Nate to take him out of the room after his outburst.

"No, no! Please! I'm sorry!" Nate pleaded, panicking and nearly crying.
As the guards kept dragging him out, he suddenly began to kick and scream and grow angry again. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"

Suddenly, one doctor and two nurses to hold him down to keep him from kicking and flailing even farther. The doctor then took out a syringe and stuck a needle in his neck. Almost immediately, Nate's body almost went limp.

I sat and watched in shock and grew nervous.

The doctor then saw the look of concern on me and Mat's face.

"It's to help calm him down." The doctor assured us.

The two of us didn't say anything, we only nodded as we watched them all carry Nate out into the hallway.

I then looked back at Mat, who was still surprisingly calm, but his face then grew red with emotion.

"I-I shouldn't have said those things, should I?" Mat asked. "Back in the bunker?"
"I think it would've been the same way no matter what." I responded. "One or more of us getting shot, maybe even killed."
"But... even after what he did to me, nearly killing me, I still love and care about him..." Mat confessed. "I-Is that bad... or messed up?"
"No..." I assured him. "You're trying to help somebody who really needs it."
"By allowing him to beat the living crap out of me almost every day?" Mat asked.
"Well, it's not something neither of you can fully control." I explained. "But by showing him that you love him, show concern and support him even after all the stuff he's done shows how amazing of a person you are."
"I don't know if what I'm doing makes me an amazing person, but thank you..." Mat responded.

I then decided to change the subject.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"My chest hurts pretty badly and I'm exhausted still..." Mat said.
"Well, having emergency surgery on your chest, I guess that's normal." I said.

He let out a slight chuckle, which only made him cough up some more blood. After seeing the blood this time, he suddenly began to panic. I tried to calm him down, but it wouldn't work and he suddenly began to breathe abnormally and gasp for air. The heart monitor then began to go crazy as several doctors walked in, making me leave the room. My dad immediately came to get me and wheeled me out of the room.

"W-What's happening?" I asked. "I-Is he going to be okay?"

My Dad didn't respond until we got into the elevator at the end of the hall. As soon as the doors closed, he knelt down and looked me directly in the eye. His face was serious, which scared me.

"Sarah, the doctors still aren't sure if he's going to make it." Dad said.
"What?" I asked confused. "But they told Nate he was going to recover and from what I saw, he seemed better than I thought!"
"They only told him that to keep him calm." Dad responded.
"Dad, he's going to be so upset." I told him.
"I know, but what else can you do, sweetheart?" Dad said.

The elevator door opened and my Dad wheeled me back into my room. I was completely silent as I was thinking of what would happen if Mat wasn't going to make it and if Nate were to find out.

All the concepts I was thinking of were all terrible.