Bang and Burn ~ Dreamnotfound + Skephalo

Chapter 26

George and Clay found themselves waiting in the same ER room from earlier when they brought Zak here. They felt the same fear and anxiety as before. While George was sure that Nick wasn't going to die, he was still worried. It was one thing seeing his teammate hurt, but a whole different thing seeing his best friend hurt. He couldn't believe that he was still alive by the time they got there.

Someone had helped them from the inside, but no one knew who.

A nurse came out with a clipboard and called, "George?" She looked up and motioned to the hall behind her when George stood up, Clay close behind him. The rest of Clay's team was hanging out with Zak at the moment, deciding that it would be best to only have a few people with Nick at a time.

They followed the nurse down the hall and to the right, entering the second room on the right. Inside, Nick was laying on his stomach while another nurse wrapped his left arm up, his right arm already being wrapped. There was another man in there that Clay recognized to be the Forte psychiatrist who was usually called in to see how an agent is doing mentally after something traumatic. When Zak was shot, Darryl convinced everyone that he didn't need someone to talk to, which ended up being true.

Nick, on the other hand, needed all of the help he could get.

"They took turns doing shit to me," Nick recalled, a blank look on his face.

"Avocado was first. They were sent in to intimidate me. They threw knives at me, making sure that one grazed my body every once and a while. Then it was Thundah. She came in and injected me with some drug while she told me how she killed Zak. I'm just so thankful he's alive. Then, Feni came in and waterboarded me, telling me that everything would be ok. After her was Angel, who tore up my back with his fucking whip. He then brought Straw in and the two cut me up and the grand finale was going to be when Ambxon killed me with boiling water. But when the place started getting invaded, they left before they could finish the job. Amb panicked and killed the other guards, I assume because he was trying to get out as fast as possible. I don't know. I don't remember much from the rescue."

The psychologist's phone went off, prompting him to stand up.

"Nick, we can continue this later. For now, I need to go take care of a few things. You have my number, so call me if you need me."

Nick buried his head into his pillow. "Thanks, Callahan."

As he passed by Clay, Callahan whispered, "Take care of him."

"I don't know him too well, but I'll try."

Callahan shook his head, then motioned to George, who had already sat in a chair by the bed. "I wasn't talking about Agent Sapnap." Without another word, Callahan stepped out of the room, answering his phone as he exited.

George had grabbed Nick's hand, looking at him with a face full of concern. "How are you feeling?"

"Awful, but better." He thanked the nurse as she finished wrapping his arm and watched her as she left with the other nurse that brought George and Clay in. As they left, Darryl walked in with a large dragon tattoo on his cheek with the words "dragon power" written under it. Despite the depressing weight everyone felt on their shoulders, they couldn't help but crack a smile at him. George had to cover his mouth to keep from giggling.

Darryl, just as oblivious as always, walked over to Nick with a reassuring smile. "Hey there, agent. I'm glad to see you back."

Nick pointed at Darryl's cheek. "So, dragon power?"

Darryl snickered and looked away. "Yeah. It's something that I promised Zak I would do."

"Are you two a thing now?" Nick asked.