Octagon Project 3: Zachary McHall

~-19-~

Zack awoke on Mel's carpet bedroom floor with her comforter covering half of him just like how he'd fallen asleep. Groaning in annoyance that he'd fallen asleep on the carpet, Zack checked the alarm clock on the nightstand nearby and sighed. He'd overslept. Grunting in pain as he got up, he looked around for his shirt but couldn't find it; so heading to his room, Zack quickly changed into a pair of sweat pants and walked out into the kitchen, rubbing the back of his neck that was sore from sleeping without a pillow.

"Geez dude. I don't know what to say is worse: your bruises or your bed-head?" Justin commented as he helped Roy put away the ingredients used to make breakfast.

"What?" Zack asked; his voice groggy and hoarse- foreign enough to his own ears for him to clear his throat.

"Your hair is a mess." Dean repeated with a mouthful of a cinnamon roll. Pressing his palms to his eyes, Zack sat down on one the stools and sighed.

"Did one of you drug me last night?" He asked- his voice still hoarse- as he tried to blink the sleep from his eyes. Everyone looked between each other and shrugged.

"I don't think we would have had the opportunity to. Why do you ask?" Roy questioned, eyeing Zack in curiosity.

"I feel unusually tired and my throat hurts."

"Welcome to finally being a human. It sounds like you're getting sick." Roy smirked as Zack groaned and rubbed his eyes again. When he opened his eyes, Mel was sitting next to him with her head resting on her palm and she pushed the box of medication towards him. Staring at it for a moment, he sighed and looked up at her almost begging.

"We agreed." She reminded him.

"So you guys made up?" Roy asked.

"Something like that." Mel sighed, giving him a soft smile before going to pour a cup of coffee. Zack looked about as he prepared the syringe to find that all eyes were turned on him.

"I'm taking medication, not shooting heroine. You don't all have to stare." He noted.

"Are you sure you should be doing that yourself?" Kaylee asked from the couch as Zack turned his arm out.

"I have been for most of my life." He told her.

"Yeah, but Zack, you sound sick. Drowsy in the least since you just woke up. I don't think it's the best idea to be handling a needle right now."

"I've done it under worse circumstances." He sighed, pushing the needle into the bend in his arm and releasing the medication into his system.

"So what exactly is wrong to the point you need medication?" Vanessa pressed. "Cuz from the looks of it, that's how you guys got caught at the hospital in Ashland."

"Hemophilia." Zack sighed. "I don't have any clotting factors in my blood so I bruise and bleed very easily."

"That explains a lot." She sighed. Mel took the needle to sterilize and placed a cup of coffee in front of Zack to take.

"So," Roy took a seat at the kitchen island counter and stared Zack down with firm hazel eyes, "are we gonna talk about last night?" Mel nearly froze as she was pouring herself a cup of coffee and Zack looked taken aback by the comment.

"You walked into the house looking almost the same way you did when Mel..." Dean trailed off and cleared his throat. "We were afraid you'd try to hurt yourself again." Zack stared down into the abyss of the coffee in his hands as he felt Mel's green eyes burning questions into his skull.

"You told me that the Octagon was going to torture you once they got your old Division mate back."

"They did." Zack interrupted with gritted teeth.