TomTord •Old Friends•

Chapter 2

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The sound cut through the black void of Tord's sleep. It slowly stirred his mind, waking him up.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Tord groaned. He wasn't in pain, but he didn't feel quite right either. His entire body was a dull ache.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Tord opened his clouded eyes, trying to pinpoint the sound. He was met by a blinding white color. He squinted, trying to block it out. After his vision adjusted, he realized where he was. It was a hospital room.

"What the...?" Tord looked around, curious as to how he had gotten here. The walls were a baby blue color, but nearly everthing else was white. The tiles on the floor, the ceiling, the sheets of his bed: all white.

Tord furrowed his brow in confusion. He turned his head and saw that the beeping sound beside him was a heart monitor. He stared at it, as if hoping it could provide some answers. After a long silence, Tord rest his head back on the pillow. It took a moment for him to notice the flash of red on his left side. He glanced down at it.

His arm was gone.

It was replaced by one of the scarlet-painted mechanical arms from his robot.

Tord's eyes widened as he remembered the robot. The events replayed in his head and he laid back again, peering at the ceiling as memories came back. He had blown his friends' house to smithereens. He had killed a man in the blast. He had been shot by a harpoon. He had been caught in an explosion. He could recall nothing after that.

As if on que, the door to Tord's right opened to reveal a nurse. She walked inside, humming contentedly. Or she had been. Until she noticed Tord was awake.

She smiled politely and rubbed her hands together, folding them delicately in front of her. "O-oh! Good aftern-noon, sir. You're awake I s-see."

She was nervous. Tord could tell. He was always good at telling when he was making someone uncomfortable.

"Yes, I'm awake. Good to know your eyes are working, ma'am."

She gave an awkward chuckle. "W-well, while I'm here, can I get you anything?" she asked, most likely out of courtesy and not actual concern.

Tord shook his head. "I'm fine. But could you tell me how I got here?"

He wanted to know who had saved him from the explosion, and who he had to thank for allowing him to live another day. He wasn't as cold and heartless as he seemed. Most of the time.

The nurse nodded and opened her mouth to speak. "Three men dropped you off, all in hooded jackets. One of them was a ginger, and insisted you be taken to the ER immediately. The other two seemed a bit less concerned," she replied with a thoughtful tone. "D-do you know them, by any chance?"

Tord stared at her like she had three heads. They all had hoodies and one of them was ginger. Edd, Matt, and Tom saved me? But, why? I nearly killed them...

Tord took a moment to let this process before masking his emotions by smiling at the nurse. "Thank you. That will be all," he muttered.

The nurse gave a little bow and hurried out of the room, probably to inform whatever doctor that he was conscious. This did not concern Tord, though. He was too busy reeling over the concept of Edd and the gang taking him to the hospital. Of all the people in the world, he had never expected them. Especially not after he had destroyed their house and tried to murder them. His shock quickly transitioned into suspicion. Why? After what I did, they shouldn't have gave a crap what happened to me. And Tom surely would have been thrilled to have me dead and gone. So why?