Dead Men Have No Legacies: Stories of a Seasoned Bounty Hunter

Chapter 50

(...??? days later...)

The faintest of beeps roused me from my deep slumber. My vision was blurry at first, but it started to become clearer as time went by. When I was done blinking the spots out of my vision, I heard several muffled voices nearby. I wasn't entirely sure, but it sounded like they were...I dunno, far away?

"When will he wake up?"

"I don't know Alannah. We have no idea what Mayfield did to him when he was still imprisoned, so we'll have to give him time."

"He's been out for four days, Boreas! It's hard for me to sit here and twiddle my thumbs when he's been unconscious for this long! We've given him time, and I'm now starting to get uneasy."

"Please keep in mind your boyfriend was shot several times. In addition, he's also been put through hell for a week straight. If anything, he's getting some well-earned rest. Honestly, it's a miracle he isn't dead yet."

I felt a soft groan escape my lips. However, it sounded...Muffled? The beeping continued, and I cracked my left eye open to see a blurry object sitting by my side. Is that a...Heart monitor? Where the fuck am I?

Unaware of the fact I was starting to wake up, my friends continued their conversation: "So...Jackson's totally okay with us staying here?"

"Yes, Alannah. Jack's an old friend, and he's told me ever since we got back on his ship that we've earned the right to stay here. He's expressed interest in meeting the man who managed to kill the UTF's lap dog, but I told him he'll have to wait."

"Damn right he'll have to wait. I love Jack to bits, but I don't want him crowding Cylus."

"You know he wouldn't do that. He understands you care for him, Ali, so take a deep breath before you pass out."

"Yeah...I know, I know."

Boreas and Alannah's voices brought a little more clarity to my shattered mind, but I was still heavily disoriented. Damn it...What the hell happened to leave me in this condition?

Blindly, I reached a shaky hand out in search of anything to knock over–Anything to catch my friends' attention. I would try speaking, but my vocal cords didn't want to comply. In addition, my throat felt dry as sandpaper. I...Need water...

Finally, I felt something and gave it a careless shove. Shattering glass could be heard a moment later, and I had two pairs of eyes trained on me in disbelief. At first, a flash of trepidation glittered through Boreas' eyes before he quickly realized I was awake. The poor guy looked like he was about to faint with relief. As for Alannah...Well...

"C-Cylus?" she stammered, her lower lip quivering. Glints of silver could be seen in her flawless amber eyes, and I felt my heart break in response.

Oh, don't cry... I could only manage a weak wave since I couldn't speak.

I watched as mijn sintel stumbled over to my side, fell to her knees, and reached out for my hand. When she had a hold of me, I managed to offer her a reassuring squeeze.

Oh...Shit...That one motion proved to be too much for Alannah: she bowed her head and started to cry. Sobs racked her entire body, and I squeezed my eyes shut in a vain attempt to halt my own tears from escaping.

"Damn it Ali..." Boreas grumbled. I opened my eye again to see him avert his gaze while attempting to conspicuously wipe away his tears. "Why you gotta cry?"

"Shut the fuck up, jackass!" she snapped.

I rumbled out a laugh and forced myself to raise my right arm. Since Ali was on my left side, she was currently holding onto my prosthetic hand–which was currently visible. Shit, they must've taken my armor off... After some trial and error, I managed to grab the breathing mask attached to my face and started to fiddle around with it.