His Mistakes

Part 14

Thursday, 9:45 pm --Garrison Hospital

Lance pulled into the driveway 15 minutes 'til 10pm. It was a school night and he needed to get to sleep early, but he had decided hours ago that Keith was more important than getting sleep. 

He entered the emergency room with his ID, placing it on the table. He wouldn't be surprised if the others had made the staff refuse letting him come up, but he was met by surprise when they told him he was authorized.

 "I'm here to see Keith Kogane." Lance said in a raspy tone. The lady at the desk checked the card before giving it back to him.

 " Level 2, room 107. " she replied, her eyes glued back onto the computer. Lance found the elevator and waited for it to arrive before climbing in. He was thankful for there being no one else there to bother him. He wasn't in the mood to talk to strangers, which on a daily basis he might have been more than happy to chat with them. 

The elevator reached the floor and Lance stepped out. He could smell the scent of medicine and latex as he walked the empty white halls. Considering how late it was, there weren't many people roaming the halls except for a few doctors and nurses. A janitor, even. 

Lance knew he was getting close to Keith's room when he heard a few voices from around the corner. They were familiar. And that's when he realized who it was. Without turning the corner, he stood against the wall and listened carefully.

 "They don't know if he's going to wake up this week or not" an older man said. Lance recognized the voice of Shiro. 

 "If ever." Pidge replies under her breath.

 "Where the hell is Lance?"

 " he's not going to show up,I told you this already. He feels way too guilty to even make things right. If he doesn't have the guts to come then maybe he should stay out of this"

 "I texted him a while ago"

 "That's not going to do anything"

Lance didn't want to hear it anymore. He couldn't just walk around the corner as they were talking. Instead, he decided to wait until they finished. 

When they finally ended the conversation, Lance turned the corner and stood before them. The looks he received had not even a small hint of sympathy in them. 

Shiro was the first to speak.

 "We thought you weren't going to show."

 Lance said nothing at first.

 "Well?" Pidge asked. " why did you come here? " 

 "I..um..." Lance stuttered, staring at the wall with a sad expression. " I...came to apologize. "

 "Apologize!" Pidge mocked, crossing her arms and standing. 

 "Shiro," he turned to face the taller man. His brown eyes were filled with so many emotions that Lance could barely figure them all out. 

 " I didn't mean for this to happen--"

 "Of course not" Shiro interrupted in less of a sympathetic voice than he usually spoke in. 

 "I...I'm So sorry..." 

 " of course you are! " Pidge shouted, moving her hands to her hips and her eyebrows furrowed angrily. "It's all because of you that Keith threw himself off a roof and it's taken you just now to realize that what you did was wrong? Yeah, of course you're sorry!" 

 " I KNOW!! " Lance shouted, holding his fists to his sides to keep himself from getting violent. "I know.." He said much quieter.

 "What I did was more than wrong. I'm a horrible person. And I know none of you can forgive me--Keith will never forgive me. But all I can do is /try/ to make things at least a little better." 

 Hunk hadn't said anything to him since he had gotten there. The poor guy looked terrified to see the people he called his friends arguing and yelling at each other. 

 "What can I do?" Lance asked, his eyes drooped and his eyebrows tilted upward. 

 "Nothing." Pidge said, turning away from him. " you do nothing. "

 "Pidge, I--"

 "HE COULD HAVE DIED, LANCE!!" she screamed, turning back around. 

 " HE ALMOST DIED!! " 

 "He..almost died." She whispered. 

 Lance looked up, feeling a hand on his shoulder. Hunk stood above him, a soft look on his face. 

 "We all make mistakes" he said quietly. "This might not be one that you can fix so easily, but you are right by saying that things can get better" 

Lance glanced over at Shiro, who had sat down on the floor against the wall, his head tucked into his knees. 

 "I'll handle things out here" Hunk whispered. "Go talk to Keith"

Land's eyes began to get puffy as he looked at Hunk's dad expression.

 "He needs you most of all right now."