Firebug: Ch. 33 - The Visitor

Theo could've been held like that for the rest of his natural life, and never wanted for anything more. Roman still loved him. He was over the moon by that knowledge. Still, there were a few things that unsettled him. Why had Mrs. Durant kept Theo's messages from Roman? Surely she meant no malicious intent. Roman was her son after all, and as far as she knew Theo was merely a schoolmate to Roman. She might've been trying to keep his mind off anything to do with Hill Academy, so he could focus on healing.

That must be it. She had no way of knowing what Theo truly was to Roman, or about Theo's abilities. There was no other logical explanation. So why was Theo still driving himself mad overthinking the issue?

Roman was beginning to drift off again, so Theo - quite reluctantly - wriggled out of his embrace. He thought he'd been rather careful about it, barely disturbing the mattress a whit in the process. As soon as Theo was on his feet, however, Roman's heavy eyelids opened again .

"Hey," Roman mumbled, his face rumpling in a sleepy frown, "Please tell me you're not leaving already?"

"Hardly," Theo scoffed, pecking his lover's lips with a cheeky little grin. "I just didn't think you wanted to explain to your mum why you were spooning another bloke... That, and I'm still sopping wet."

"Oh... yeah. Good point," Roman stretched and rolled onto his back, nodding to the gym bag on the sofa across the room, "Help yourself to some dry clothes before you rust."

"No, it's alright," Theo perched on the foot of the bed, poorly hiding how much he was shivering with a nonchalant shrug. "I'll just air dry... eventually."

"Bello," Roman frowned, "I'm serious. You're gonna catch a cold otherwise."

"But Romeo-"

"This isn't up for debate," Roman insisted, folding his arms across his chest. Although his tone was serious, his frown was suddenly quite playful. "Mom always overpacks. I'll bet there's two weeks' worth of clothes in that bag. Just pick out something to wear and go change in the bathroom. If you try to argue with me again, I'll get out of this bed and dress you myself."

Theo couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, when you put it like that, it seems I have no choice but to accept. Thank you."

It didn't take long for Theo to make his selection: a well-worn blue hoodie and a pair of jeans, the latter of which he had to cuff twice. He even borrowed a pair of tube socks, as his own were doubling as sponges at the moment. By the time he came out of the hospital room's attached bath in his fresh dry togs, there was an extra person by Roman's bedside.

Theo didn't really look at the man twice before sliding into the chair on the opposite side of Roman's bed. Clearly he was a member of hospital staff, based on the scrubs, latex gloves, and booties he wore. The fellow seemed to know what he was doing, too, the way he studied the IV lines feeding into Roman's arm. After watching him for a little longer, however, something about the man struck Theo as odd. In addition to the scrubs one might expect a nurse or orderly to wear, the man had on both a surgical cap and mask. And there was a syringe in his hand.

"Erm... can I ask what you're doing?" Theo inquired meekly, "J-Just curious."

The man gave a small start, as if he didn't realize Theo was in the room. His head turned sharply toward the Brit, just for a moment, before fixing his gaze back on the array of bags hanging before him.

"Just making sure things are where they're supposed to be," he said, his unusually high voice muffled by his mask, "...and giving your friend here his medication, of course."

Roman blinked sleepily at the nurse, his brows furrowing in confusion. "Huh? But I've already had my meds today. Twice. Not that I really need 'em. Is that really necessary?"

"Oh, yes," the nurse said, tapping his hypodermic dutifully, "Very. It's vital you receive this dosage to manage your pain."

Roman recoiled from the nurse, suddenly wide awake. "I'm not taking any painkillers," he insisted, "Are you sure you have the right room?"

"Oh, yes. Yes, yes," the nurse murmured, his bright blue eyes flashing above his mask. "I'm very sure. Believe me, Mr. Durant, you'll feel much better in a few minutes. Much, much better."

The alarms in Theo's head were screaming at full capacity now. When the strange nurse brought his syringe closer to the port in Roman's IV catheter, Theo reached across the bed. Grabbing the nurse's rail-like wrist.

"He said he didn't want it," Theo said firmly, "Don't patients have any rights in this country? If he says no, then you can't give it to-"

Theo's sentence was cut off in its prime, ending in a startled choke, when he became aware of an intense, sudden silence washing over his being. The silence was so jarring - so eerie - it took him a moment to realize what he wasn't hearing anymore. The thrum of his own pulse... it had stopped in a blink. But why? How?

While Theo was still trying to puzzle it out, a new terrifying realization hit him. He couldn't breathe. Well, technically he could. In fact, he was breathing harder than ever before. No matter how many deep breaths he took, however, Theo felt no oxygen making its way into his body.

He was being suffocated from the inside out.

As Theo vainly struggled to suck in air, his wide eyes fell to his hand, still gripping the nurse's wrist. The veins running across his knuckles stood out like nylon cords under his skin, purple and quivering from the blood sitting stagnant in them. His heart pumped vigorously, trying to force his circulation to start again to no avail. By the time he realized there was an external force being exerted upon his body - ceasing his blood flow on purpose - Theo's limbs already felt as if they were filled with cement.

Pins and needles stung every inch of his flesh from scalp to toes as his muscles and tissues were rapidly starved of oxygen. In a matter of seconds, Theo's vision had darkened significantly and gone spotty. He collapsed across Roman's lap, gasping like a freshly-caught salmon, as his body could no longer stand under its own weight. Theo managed to look up at the nurse then, just able to make out the curve of a cruel smile through his mask.

He was doing this... wasn't he?

"Theo?! Theo!!" Roman shook Theo worriedly, turning the Brit onto his side, "What's wrong?! Theo, can you hear me?!"

"He'll be fine. Yes, yes," the nurse murmured, prying Theo's shaking, numb hand off his wrist, "Not to worry. Now, for your medicine."

Theo managed an angry scowl at the so-called nurse. He wasn't sure how much longer he'd be conscious, or what was in that syringe, but his instincts told him it was vital he act. With his last bit of strength, he grabbed the fiend's scrawny wrist again, concentrating all his anger on the rapidly blurring figure. There was a loud sizzle, followed by a high-pitched scream from the man. Smoke and the familiar, nauseating odor of seared flesh tickled Theo's nose nanoseconds before he heard the hypodermic clatter to the floor. Only then did he release his grip.

Just as quickly as the invisible attack began, it ceased. Theo's chest heaved as he greedily gulped air, groaning at the liquid fire surging through his bones. His entire being was plagued by body-wide cramps as oxygen flooded his system anew, dwarfed only by the ache in his chest. His heart fluttered like a caged hummingbird on crack cocaine, trying to break through his ribs it hammered them so viciously. The sound of his own pulse rushing through his ears again was absolutely deafening. Everything was spinning. Theo wasn't even sure which way was up for a good five seconds.

As his blurry, spot-filled vision steadily cleared, he saw the scrub-clad stranger kneeling on the floor. Hunched over and snarling like a wounded animal. Smoke still curled off his forearm from the ugly, ruby red handprint branded into his flesh, which he kept cradled close to his skeletal chest. Despite the obvious pain he was in, however, the man showed nothing but rage.

"Pyro," he spat, "Filthy scum! No one said-!"

Roman's hands turned to iron around Theo's biceps. His face was still calm, but the rapid beeps from the heart monitor beside his bed betrayed his panic.

"Who the hell are you?!" he demanded. Instead of waiting for an answer, though, he just grabbed the remote by his hip. "I'm calling my actual nurse, right now!"

The strange man didn't seem to be listening. His intense eyes were still studying the burn on his arm as if Roman and Theo weren't even there. After a moment, Theo realized he was muttering to himself like a lunatic.

"Have to do it... Nothing's changed. The Council gave the order... Mustn't disappoint them. Yes... Do it. Kill them both: the Half-Breed and the filthy Pyro! Yes... Yes, yes, yes!"

He sprang to his feet again immediately, his eyes wide and manic. Theo knew he couldn't withstand another attack of that caliber, so he threw a hand out automatically. He intended to summon a fireball and hurl it at the fiend, but it struck him suddenly that he didn't know how. Theo had only done it once before, in a fit of pure anger. Even if he could manifest that much rage again, his energy was already spent.

But he had to try. If he didn't, Roman would surely be dead within seconds.

While Theo was still scraping together his energy, a wave of heat hit him from behind. A massive ball of yellow fire flew across the room without warning, slamming into the unhinged man at center mass. He flew backwards a full meter from the impact, eyes wide from pain and shock, crashing through the window behind him a second later. There was no scream afterward. No sickening thud. Only silence. The man was simply gone, as if he were never there at all.

It happened so fast, Theo didn't believe what he'd just witnessed. He stared at the jagged, broken window and his own hand in a stupor, trying to logic out where that fireball came from. Until heavy breathing from the doorway made him sit up and look over his shoulder.

Nurse Flanagan leaned against the doorjamb, clutching her right elbow. Her right hand was limp at her side, steam billowing off her cherry red fingers. She was trembling, sweating profusely, and clearly exhausted, but her expression was as stony and grim as ever.

"You kids ok?" she panted.

"Uh... I'm gonna say no," Roman snapped, "Who was that guy?! How did he know where to find us?! Was... W-Was he really gonna kill us just now?!"

"Dunno, no clue, and probably," Nurse Flanagan grumped. As soon as her fingers stopped smoking, she slipped her injured hand into her cardigan pocket with a grimace. "Anyway, he's gone now... and we should probably move you to a different room. This one's suddenly drafty."

Theo tried to push himself off the bed, but his legs wouldn't support his weight just yet. "H-Hang on... he said... 'the Council gave the order'. Have you... any idea what he was on about?"

Nurse Flanagan's green eyes widened a bit, but she was clearly trying not to react. "Council?" she echoed, "You sure you heard him right, Kid?"

Theo nodded, immediately cradling his swimmy head afterward. His body was still plagued with aches, and his heart had yet to return to its normal rhythm. When he could open his eyes again without feeling like he may vomit from vertigo, Nurse Flanagan was unhooking all of Roman's tubes and sensors at breakneck speed.

"You two are coming with me," she insisted, "Right now."