Pandora's Box

Chapter 21

What did you do when you knew nothing about the person, yet your heart felt as if it was going to blow into smithereens as you sat in the waiting room, just waiting for a result? From the time Pandora had  got to Rhys after he had fell to the ground, it was a whirlwind of panic and worry, and the worst part was she could not even put her finger on why she felt this intensity of panic over someone she had just met. She had felt like an idiot when the nurses asked her for his emergency contact, yet all she could tell them was his name, and the rest was left to the hospital staff to look through his documents.

There was little to identify him with, which made Pandora wonder even more. Had he no family? No friends? In the end, they were left with little choice but to use his first speed dial, yet what confused her most was that it was a number that made her mind race, as if she should know it. It led to the operator telling them the number was no longer in service. Why would he keep a number no longer in service on his first speed dial?

Seated inside the room where they had parked Rhys after he had emerged from the emergency theater, she did not move a muscle, unable to tear her eyes away from his familiar features. Her brain screamed at her that she should know him... but how? And who?

The creak of the door opening made her look up, to see a dusty haired male walk in. Was that surprise she saw on his face? With the dim lighting and the curtains drawn, Pandora couldn't tell, but she had a faint suspicion on who he was. "Mr. Anthony Hodgins?"

"Pandora?"

The blonde girl blinked in surprise. "How do you know me?"

"Oh! Um, I mean... Rhys has spoken about you before." he hastily covered, closing the door behind him.

"He has?" she asked, in surprise, looking at the sleeping figure on the bed, hooked up to a monitor. 

Anthony laughed. His number had been second on the speed dial list. As he stepped closer, a sudden familiarity struck Pandora again, just like the very first time she had seen Rhys. "Do... Have I seen you before?"

"No!" Anthony replied, a little too quickly for Pandora not to be suspicions. "Of course not. I... It's just... Rhys probably mentioned me before? He's really talkative. He talks about you all the time." Anthony paused, realizing he was probably being a little too suspicious. "How is he?" he changed the topic.

"Doctor extracted the bullet from him, but it's going to leave a scar. He's just sleeping to recuperate, he's lost quite some blood. But its the fractured wrist that's going to keep him in the room for a bit more."

"What actually happened?" Anthony asked, as he headed over to peer at his friend's sleeping figure.

Pandora shook her head. She could've left half an hour ago when the doctor pronounced him stable, but... she couldn't bring herself to leave before he woke up. "I'm not entirely sure. We were having coffee in a small place, and as we left, some masked dude caught me by the neck and... he pulled a gun and shots were fired and...." she trailed off. How did you tell someone that you somehow knew how to use a gun, even when you had no memory of training to use one?

"Why does he have a gun?" she asked, instead.

Anthony froze, his mind racing for an answer. "He... is a very cautious guy. Paranoid." Anthony attempted to pass off as a joke, chuckling. Pandora however, knew better then that. Yet she only raised a brow, and let it slide.

"You can leave you'd like to, Miss Talbott. I'll stay here with him." It was Howard's orders anyway. He wanted an immediate report upon Rhys's awakening, and it was his task to get it to Howard.

"I... I can't leave." 

Anthony frowned. There was something about the way that Pandora turned her glance back to Rhys, that seemed almost familiar. "Why not? Does he owe you something? I'll make sure the rascal returns it."