"... that would be a lie as well. Wouldn't you agree?"

 

~~~~~

 

"Mr. Trayer? Can you hear me?"

Cobalt's eyes flickered open for a brief moment.

"Unngh..." he grumbled, wincing as the light hit his eyes.

"I'll take that as a yes, then!"

"Wh- What...?"

He was lying in a bed, he could tell as much from the cloth beneath his hands. The atmosphere around him smelled clean and sterile while the steady beep of a heart monitor sounded from somewhere to his right. As his vision cleared, the Incubus found himself lying in a bed in one of the private rooms in the Brimstone Memorial Hospital. He remembered coming here a lot when he was younger, but for what reasons, he couldn't remember.

Sitting on a chair by the bed, a cheery Glutton man with a goatee and a white coat was jotting something down on a clipboard.

"Doc Elliott...?" Cobalt breathed.

"Good to see my number one patient still remembers me! How've things been, Mr. Trayer?" the doctor asked, planting his hands on his hips.

The Incubus glanced around the hospital room. Sunlight was streaming from in between the blinds.

"What day is it...?"

"November 3rd. You've been drifting in and out for a couple of days since we found you."

"Wh- What...?"

Getting up off his chair, Doctor Elliott clamped his clipboard beneath his arms and slowly circled the bed.

"You had taken quite the fall, Mr. Trayer. Fifteen stories, straight onto somebody's station wagon. It's a miracle you managed to survive."

Squinting his eyes, Cobalt reached back and scratched his head, trying to remember the events that preceded his hospitalisation.

"Where's Elya...?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

The Glutton raised an eyebrow.

"You mean Elya Yalfre? I don't think I've seen her since you two were still in uniforms."

"But she..."

"Don't worry about her, Mr. Trayer. Right now, I'm going to need you to listen."

He sighed and set the clipboard aside on a small white table. Stepping over to the window, Doctor Elliot took a deep breath and leaned on the sill.

"When you were brought in, you were in a bad way. Your body was covered in a layer of torn, dead skin, for one thing. For another, every blood sample we took was oversaturated with some kind of foreign contaminant that we weren't able to identify. As for the results of the fall itself, well..."

The Glutton trailed off, his jubilant smile fading from his face. He gestured to the blanket covering Cobalt's legs, prompting the Incubus to lean forward and pull it aside. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, save for a few bandages wrapped around injuries he sustained that night on the roof. As he tried to bring his knees up to inspect them closer, however, his lower back twinged painfully.

"Agh! Wh- What the-?!"

Something was wrong. As he lightly pressed his fingers against his right leg, the sensation he felt was... faint. Like his nerves were deadened.

"D- Doc Elliott?! What's wrong with me?!"

The Glutton raised his hands.

"I'll put it plainly. Two of the vertebrae in your lower back were damaged. One of them was crushed quite badly, whilst the other is merely fractured. These fragments of bone have caused damage to your spinal chord. By hellfire's grace you're not paralysed, but your lower body has been severely weakened. Until we figure out what to do next, walking is completely out of the question," he sighed, wiping his brow.

Cobalt blanched. He was going to be wheelchairbound?

"It's not final, though. You'll possibly be able to get up and about given time, at least that's what I can gather from your results. As for anything you have need of your lower body for, it all should still be in working order. Just, eh... no 'roughhousing', alright?"

"What?!"

He just shrugged.

"You know what I mean. Your mom and your sisters came to see you after your surgery, but you weren't really in any state to talk, so I've already appraised them of your situation."

Suddenly, a device on the doctor's belt began to beep. Glancing down at it, he pressed a button before giving Cobalt a sympathetic smile.

"Speaking of visitors, reception says there's a veritable clown car of people waiting to see you, and they're being none too quiet about it. Do you want me to send them up?" he asked, making for the door.

Cobalt nodded solemnly. Returning the gesture, Doctor Elliott stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Alone with his thoughts, Cobalt sat back in the bed and pondered his situation. Not exactly paralysed, but seriously crippled besides... Even if it was only for a matter of months, just how was he supposed to teach? Though B.I.D. had taken great steps in the past regarding matters of disability access - the most prominent being the installation of stairlifts all around the campus - that still meant little when he himself had no experience with using a wheelchair. Not only that, but trying to keep his class under control was difficult enough when he had use of his legs; just how was he supposed to keep them fettered now?

"YOU'RE ALIVE!"

The door suddenly slammed open with all the force of a thunderclap, nearly stopping the Incubus' heart altogether. There in the doorway, Whitney Brode stood panting and gasping, looking like she had run here straight from the other side of town.

"I came as soon as I heard, sir! Omigosh, are you okay?!" the Nymph cried, pattering to his side.

"U- Um... For the most part. Whitney, what exactly are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off enjoying your midterm break?" Cobalt asked, raising an eyebrow has he hastily recovered his legs.

She scoffed.

"How am I supposed to enjoy my holidays when you're in hospital! What kind of friend would that make me?"

"Still... I'm sorry you felt the need to come all the way out here for my sake."

Whitney gave him a sweet smile, but it faded before long.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I just came here to see you. I was also worried that she'd try to make a move on you..." she said in a hushed tone, glancing over at the door.

Some of the colour drained from his face.

"Y- You mean Elya...?"

"What? The nurse? No, why would she- never mind. No, I'm more worried about- KUH!"

A sudden burst of purple mist enveloped the Nymph's electric-blue head, causing her pointed ears to quiver and her eyes to go a strange pink colour. She tensed up for a moment, before her entire body relaxed and a dreamy expression presented itself upon her face.

"I thought I was going to be the first one here, but you can't exactly fault a Nymph for being fleetfooted. Always want to be first to the glory, I suppose," sounded a familiar voice from the doorway, followed by a gentle laugh.

Karazelle placed a gentle hand on Whitney's shoulder and pushed her aside, fingertips still pulsing with latent magicks.

"It's good to see you awake, sugar. You had me worried sick," the Succubus cooed, placing a palm on his forehead.

He gave her a disapproving frown.

"Karazelle, could you please refrain from charming your classmates?" he sighed, nodding to Whitney as she stared blearily out the window.

She sighed.

"Really, you've fallen off a building and the first thing you do is worry about somebody else. Honestly, sugar; your altruism is gonna be the death of you."

In an impressive display of her psychomantic prowess, the Succubus simply raised a hand and snapped her fingers, causing the violet haze of magic to disperse from around Whitney's head. She blinked a few times and looked around confusedly, before her face twisted with anger.

"What the Hell was that for?!" she whined, squaring up to Karazelle.

"Don't be so petulant, Butterskin, it was only a basic charm. Besides, you looked like you enjoyed it."

"Oh go fuck yourself!"

The Succubus scoffed.

"Why? Too scared to do it yourself~?" she retorted in an almost purred tone, causing Whitney to break down into a fit of stammering outrage.

As everybody in the room struggled to recover from Karazelle's cutting words, Cobalt heard a polite knock on the already open door. There, Jelli stood holding a small wrapped box, her eyes already red from crying. Behind her, the imposing form of Izzbelle Suyas loomed, fists shaking with suppressed rage.

"M- Mr. Trayer... Y- You're okay...!" she gasped, nearly dropped the box she carried as she brought a hand to her welling eyes.

At once, Izzbelle charged forth and grabbed the front of Cobalt's hospital gown, nearly hoisting him right out of the bed.

"Do you have any idea how much shit you stirred up, you dumbass?! Didn't hear a fuckin' word from you for days, and now you get yourself fuckin' hospitalised?! Do you have any fuckin' clue how worried Jelli has been?!" she hissed, pointing a finger at the little Glutton as she struggled to both get a hold of the box and her own tears.

Cobalt forced on a weak smile.

"I- I'm sorry to have upset you so much," he stammered, wincing as her grip tightened.

"Tch! Like I gave a shit!"

Dropping her teacher back onto the bed, Izzbelle folded her arms and returned to Jelli's side. Over on the other side of the bed, Karazelle shot her a sideways glance.

"Oh, but you did though, didn't you, tiger?" she said, the corners of her mouth curling upwards.

"You shut your damn mouth-!"

She leaned in and cupped her hands over her mouth in an act of mock-whispering.

"She got drunk one night and kept announcing that if the hospital staff didn't let her see you, she'd burn the whole place to the ground," she stated with unsuppressed glee.

"GAAAH! I'LL FUCKIN' KILL YOU!"

As the squabble between Succubus and Nymph devolved into a three-way catastrophe, Jelli nervously padded over to the bed and placed the box on Cobalt's lap.

"We, um... W- We made you this. A gesch- I mean, um... It's a gift... F- From everyone, I mean..." she stammered, wiping her cheeks dry with the sleeve of her woolen sweater as her tail swayed nervously.

Pulling the lid off, Cobalt saw that what lay within was a simple cake, made from vanilla sponge and decorated with icing. A small card lay beside, wishing him a speedy recovery. It had been signed by all of the girls, as well as a few other students from his class.

"Jelli... I don't know what to say. Thank you, this is lovely. What did you-?"

"MR. TRAYA~!"

The cake was knocked off Cobalt's lap as none other than Lottie Deyeyr burst into the room. Throwing herself onto the bed, she locked him in a tight hug, threatening to suffocate the poor Incubus.

"The doctors said you had a fall and that you nearly had a carjack vest!" the Golem cried, pulling him close.

"I think she means that you nearly went into cardiac arrest!" Karazelle piped, struggling to pull herself free from Izzbelle's headlock.

"I dunno what that means but I got scared!" Lottie whimpered, crushing the Incubus between her arms and her chest.

"L- Lottie...! I'm fine...! Please let me breathe...!"

An orange hand suddenly grasped the back of Lottie's jumper and hauled her off the bed, freeing Cobalt from asphyxiation.

"You're gonna fuckin' kill him!" Izzbelle chided, her teeth bared.

"I'm gonna kill him?!" the Golem gasped, bringing her hands to her face.

"What? No, I meant-!"

As Lottie broke out in a fit of panicked screaming, Doctor Elliott chose that exact moment to return to Cobalt's room. Eyes wide, he glanced from the teary Glutton scraping cake frosting off the floor over to the brawl that was occurring over in the corner. Taking note of the pleading look in Cobalt's eyes, the doctor cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back.

"Ladies, while Mr. Trayer certainly appreciates your visit, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you all to make your way home. He's still in a bad way, and will need to rest soon," he announced in a firm voice.

Catching on to Doctor Elliott's subtle suggestion, Cobalt's students begrudgingly disentangled themselves from each other and began to head for the door. They each gave their goodbyes in their own way - Karazelle blew him a kiss, whilst Izzbelle deigned to just scowl in his general direction - and before long, Cobalt found himself alone once more. He thought to have been left in peace and quiet for good, before he heard a tap on the window.

It slid open, and an Imp hopped in, wearing a leather jacket and a beaten flatcap.

"Oi oi, blood brother," Quinn Redtile announced with a grin, raising her hand.

The wound had healed to leave a large but definite scar on the palm of her hand. Glancing down at his own hand, Cobalt realised he had one to match.

"I won't have to call you blood sister now, will I? That might raise some issues with the school staff," he said with a smile, watching as Quinn took a seat next to his bed.

She chuckled.

"Nah, 'course not. Wouldn't want old Hooknose Cain crawling up your arse, now would we?"

Though he knew he shouldn't laugh at a joke made at a colleague's expense, Cobalt made a special exception in Martha's case. Quinn joined in, but once they settled down, she fixed her teacher with a genuine smile.

"Thanks. For going along with my plan, even though it was bloody mental to begin with."

He sighed.

"You shouldn't be thanking me. Because of me, you and your parents got hurt."

"Pfft, takes more than a bout with Elly the Nutjob to put a Redtile down. Besides, Mum and Dad are fine. If anything, they enjoyed the excitement, though they wouldn't stop asking me where Copper went," Quinn replied, cracking her knuckles nonchalantly.

"And where did Copper go?"

She scoffed.

"Headfirst off a bloody building, from what I heard. But I'll tell them she moved or something. It'll be no big deal."

Leaning back in her chair, Quinn stared at the ceiling for a few moments, contemplating her next choice of words carefully.

"I've been reading up on Hellish customs. The proper old ones; shit you'd never hear about back on Earth. There's one I wanna do with you and the rest."

"Oh? Which one?" Cobalt asked, leaning forward.

She gave him that trademark sly grin of hers.

"No fun in telling you now. Just let me know when you finally get to wheel yourself outta here, yeah?"

Getting to her feet, the Imp sauntered back over to the window. Pulling it open, she placed one foot on the sill before taking one last glance at her bedbound teacher.

"Cobalt?" she asked.

"Yes?" he answered expectantly.

"Thanks again. For having my back."

With that, Quinn leaped out the window, no doubt turning herself into a raven as she did so. Though he couldn't see from his bed, Cobalt hoped as much, considering his room seemed to be on the third floor of the hospital.

With a sigh, he lay back and shut his eyes. Doctor Elliott had the right of it; he needed to rest.