The Once and Future Monster

Chapter 10

Levi had a gut feeling, he just knew when that call came in from dispatch, that the injured teenager referred to was Eren. Levi thanked whatever entity above was watching over him because he happened to be the closest cop car to the scene. He also happened to be closer than the ambulance, arriving first.

A woman, Levi placed her age in the mid-forties, paced back and forth in front of the bus stop, glancing behind her periodically before returning her gaze to the street, twisting a strand of wavy brown hair between her fingers. Levi parked the car and made it three steps before the woman rushed towards him.

"Thank heavens you're here." The woman released a dry sob. Levi continued to walk forward, forcing the woman to walk backwards and speak, wringing her hands, her eyes darting behind her every so often not to watch where she was walking but to check on the body slumped inside the bus stop.

"I was on my way back from the post office when I saw him. Oh god, there was so much blood! I tried to stop the bleeding, but there was so much, so much blood."

Levi brushed aside the static that occupied his mind since receiving the call from dispatch and focused his attention on the woman, softening his eyes as he connected with her blues.

"Ma'am, you've already helped him greatly by calling for an ambulance. Now, I'm going to check on him. Could you please wait over there?" Levi pointed a few feet away and the woman moved in the direction of his finger, releasing a long-held breath.

Assured that the woman was relatively calm and keeping her distance, Levi rushed to Eren's side, not caring about the dirt and grime that clung to his navy pants as he fell to his knees. Levi grimaced at the pallor of Eren's skin and the bloodstained sweater wrapped around his arm, but relaxed slightly after pressing two fingers against Eren's neck and feeling the faint but steady pulse of his carotid artery.

Despite her obvious panic, the woman did an impressive job wrapping the wound tightly to slow the blood flow. Leaning back to appraise Eren fully, Levi's gaze dropped from the stained sweater to Eren's side. For how terrible the situation was, Levi couldn't help but marvel at his luck. The woman had been too preoccupied with stopping the bleeding to pay attention to other details as Levi was able to, such as the monumentally illegal quantity of cocaine on the teen's person.

He'll just take those baggies for safe keeping.

The ambulance arrived shortly after and medics rushed to Eren's side, transferring the unconscious teen onto a gurney and wheeling him into their vehicle. Levi took a statement from the woman before following the ambulance to the hospital.

It was fortunate — though Levi knew it was truly unfortunate — that their city had a reputation for drug selling and abusing, because it meant the doctors hardly batted an eye at the narcotics in Eren's system. They did insist he stay for a few days because of the cuts on his arm, so Levi called out of work due to family matters, knowing if he didn't babysit Eren — apparently it was his eternal role —, the brat would escape the hospital within an hour of waking up.

While the doctor oversaw Eren, Levi stepped into the hallway to call Hange.

"Levi? What's wrong?"

Levi wondered how Hange knew, but the answer came to him quickly. It was rare for him to call instead of text, even more-so in the afternoon while they both were at work.

"I'm at the hospital."

Levi winced at Hange's shrill voice, regretting his mindless decision to start the conversation with that fact. In his defense, he was still in shock from finding Eren slouched against a bus stop wall, bleeding from self-administered cuts with bags of cocaine at his side.