Fear the Night

Chapter 16: The Heartless

“She doesn’t have a concussion,” Joshua explained to the three as the sun began to set. “She’s just unconscious. She’ll wake up when she’s ready. In the meantime, I put some ointment on the bump on her head to cut the swelling and when she finally wakes up, I’ll give her some tea for her headache.”

“So, she’s in a coma?” Natalie shuddered, gripping Yukio’s arm. He yanked his arm away and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Not exactly,” Joshua replied. “Trust me, you’d have known if she was in a coma.”

The three sighed in relief as Natalie hugged Yukio around the waist and Joshua looked to Maverick as he leaned back on his desk across the room.

“She’s only unconscious?” he inquired and Joshua nodded.

“Think of it as a deep sleep,” he suggested. “Certainly not life threatening, but hard to wake up from.”

“Can you tell when she’ll wake up?” Yukio wondered and Joshua raised a brow at him.

“I’m a doctor, not a fortuneteller,” he replied. “She’ll wake up when she wakes up.” He looked out the door then headed toward it, saying, “In the meantime, you three had better stay here. It’s too late to go anywhere now.”

“Do you have enough room?” Maverick wondered as Joshua shut the front door and locked it.

“You can have your old room, Maverick,” he answered. “Yukio and Natalie can have the guest room. Or, you and Yukio can share your room and the lady can stay in the guest room.”

“I’m staying with Yukio!” Natalie replied instantly, holding on a little tighter to him. “I promise I won’t go wondering anywhere without him.”

“Learned your lesson, did you?” Maverick smirked, shoving off the table and heading toward the hall. Yukio shot a glare at him as Natalie buried her face into his chest at the memory of the cave.

“Don’t talk to her like that!” he snarled and Maverick stopped to glare back at him as Yukio turned himself toward him, Natalie still attached to him. “She’s not like you! You shouldn’t joke about it when she could have been killed!” Yukio hugged her a little tighter. “She could have been killed, just like Izzy could’ve been killed by those Suits! After you take her away, I wouldn’t have had anyone if Natalie had died! Two of the greatest things in my life could have died, and you sit there and ask if one of them has ‘learned her lesson’?! Do you have no heart?!”

That was all Maverick could take. He marched toward the younger man and Joshua stepped in to pull Natalie away as Maverick grabbed Yukio’s collar to pull him to his face.

“No heart?” he echoed through clenched teeth. “You tell me I have no heart after I saved your girl?! After I saw Faye lying dead on the floor and nearly died myself because even though she was a Drone I had some strange bond with her?! After---?!”

He stopped and looked at Isabella, still unconscious on the couch and shoved Yukio away as he looked back at him.

“I probably didn’t have one before meeting you guys, but after meeting Isabella…apparently I grew one. So, what do you want from me, Yukio? An apology? I’m sorry we’re in this situation. I’m sorry I dragged all of you into this and I am especially sorry that Bell was knocked out and almost killed by a damn Suit. There, now I’m going to bed.”

Maverick sighed in exhaustion, glancing at Isabella once more then turning to the hall and walking toward his room, he disappeared through the door as Yukio, Natalie and Joshua watched him. Natalie ran back to Yukio who looked at Joshua over his shoulder just in time for her to latch onto his arm.

“Did he mean any of that?” he asked and Joshua raised a brow at him then headed toward the hall himself.

“If you believe him, then he was telling the truth,” he said. “He’s not a very good liar. I’ll prepare the guest room for you two.”

“Thank you,” Natalie called as she and Yukio still stood in the middle of the room. She let go of Yukio’s arm and sat on the couch with Isabella.

“Do you believe him?” she asked, meekly and he looked at her as she met his gaze.

Did he believe him? It was hard to say. Maybe what he had said about Maverick not having a heart was a bit harsh? He had been surprised and seemingly devastated when he saw Faye dead, but the way he had killed one before their first night there had frightened Yukio. He’d done it with such a straight face, but with each slam of the door, all Yukio had seen was anger and hatred. It was almost as if Maverick had been a Drone.

Yukio looked to Isabella lying peacefully on the couch and realized, as much as Maverick had that anger and hate in him for Drones, he had feelings for Isabella. If he hadn’t, they wouldn’t have been where they were now. He did believe him, and realized he was just as scared as any of them, he just hid it with his anger and hate.

“I’ll be right back,” he told Natalie and headed toward the hall but she stood and caught his arm before he walked completely away from her.

“Wait!” she breathed. “What are you doing?!”

“Don’t worry,” he smiled reassuringly and ran a finger softly down her cheek. “I’m just gonna talk to Mave. You sit with Izzy for a while.”

He kissed her cheek and headed down the hall just as Joshua was walking out of the guest room.

“Miss Keith,” he called. “Would you mind helping me bolt the windows?”

Yukio frowned in wonder at the man but shrugged as Natalie replied to the doctor and he only headed to the door Maverick had disappeared through. He knocked as he leaned on the doorframe.

“What?” Maverick grumbled through the door.

“It’s the Greenhorn,” Yukio called back with a smirk. “Open up.”

“Why?” Maverick wondered and the younger man could hear the indignation in his voice.

“‘Cause I wanna talk,” Yukio replied and waited when he heard shuffling in the room. The door opened so Maverick could lean on the door frame opposite Yukio so he could face him.

“Alright,” he nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Talk.”

“I’m sorry about the, ‘You have no heart’ comment,” Yukio said immediately. “I should’ve known better after seeing the way you are with Izzy.”

Maverick glanced at him but said nothing.

“So, after Izzy wakes up, what are we gonna do?” Yukio wondered.

“One thing at a time, kid,” Maverick replied. “Let’s get Bell to wake up first, then we’ll worry about what we’ll do. Why don’t you get some rest?”

“You’re not still mad, are you?” Yukio wondered and Maverick chuckled, patting him on the shoulder.

“Nah, I can’t stay mad at ya too long, Greenhorn,” Maverick smirked. “Go get some sleep, and tell that little heiress of yours to get some sleep too.”

“I don’t think she’ll sleep after what happened earlier,” Yukio replied and started down the hall but Maverick had more to say.

“Hey, kid,” he called and Yukio stopped and turned to face him. “That’ll be the last time I call you ‘Greenhorn’.”

“Thanks, Mave,” Yukio smirked and continued down the hall, waving as he did. Maverick scoffed and shut the door to his room and waited for everyone to go to bed. He wouldn’t get any sleep tonight.