Dead Leaves [Discontinued]

[4] Healthy Trip Down Memory Lane

Connor watched Liv follow some girl back to their table.

"Woah, buddy. You alright, man?"

He tore his gaze away from Liv and face Kris, who was frowning. "Huh?"

Kris tilted his chin in Connor's direction. "Your eyes. You look ready to kill someone."

"Oh." Connor blinked a few times, trying to relax his eyes. He glanced down at his tray, trying to focus on his food. He glumly poked his spoon in the egg yolk, causing a gush of yellow to spread on the white part. He began spreading the egg yolk on the whites absentmindedly, not realizing what he was doing until he hear Kris sneeze.

"Um, I'm done." Connor stood up from his seat, grabbing his tray. "Can I go back to my room now? I want to take a shower."

Although he looked surprised at the sudden change, Kris also stood up. "Sure, if you want. Let's go." He led Connor to the conveyor belt leading to the kitchen and watched him place his tray down before walking them out.

"Wonder if he's going back to Level One."

"Probably . . . never mind. They turned left."

Connor raised his chin a little higher, trying to act like he hadn't heard the two guys talk. He had learned a long time ago that snapping back at them only made things worse for him. Besides, they would only have more to talk about if he reacted in any way. However, the other part of him hoped that someone would find out what they were saying and stop them. Connor had considered bringing it up to Owen or Dr. Engel once but had decided against it. Although being at Auxilius meant he shouldn't have any secrets between he and his doctor, something stupid called pride blocked his way. Truthfully, he only had a small fraction of his pride to begin with, anyways, but this didn't mean he wanted to lose all of it.

What a stupid thing to have, Connor thought bitterly to himself as he and Kris walked up the stairs in silence. Pride, dignity, reputations to uphold. At this last thought, anger towards himself shifted to anger towards his parents as he remembered when he first heard of Auxilius.

"What is this place? What am I doing here?" Connor opened the window separating him and his chauffeur, Evan. 

Evan only stepped out of the driver's seat and opened the door Connor was sitting next to. "Please get out, Mister Walsh. Your parents told me to bring you here. Please wait while I unload your luggage."

"My what?" Connor stepped out dumbly, still unsure of what was going on, as Evan promptly shut the door and went to the trunk, pulling out a suitcase from there. Connor's eyes narrowed when he saw the name written on the tag. "Why is my bag coming out of there?"

"Hello there, you must be Connor Walsh."

Connor automatically stiffened at the female voice. Without turning around, he ran to the opposite side of the car, still facing away from whomever had spoken. He made his way next to Evan and gripped his sleeve tightly.

"What the hell am I doing here?" he asked in a low tone. "Who is that woman, and how does she know my name? What does she want with me?"

Instead of answering Connor, he turned around to face the female. "Could you please give us a few minutes?" he asked her. "We'll go inside later. And please ready a male nurse, instead. Thank you." When Evan was satisfied, he sighed and turned his attention to Connor.

"I'm sorry, Mister Walsh, for not being able to tell you in advance. This is Auxilius, a care center. Your parents believed it would be best for you to stay here for a while, so you can get . . . treated."