Chapter 2_ Hit and Run

His body was suddenly heavy and his lids fought to shut. He was battling to keep his lids open because he does not want to lose sight of the white cat but when Zakariah lifted his bleeding head off of the floor and the cat scurried away, he finally gave in and allowed his lids their rest.

He could still hear the inaudible voices approaching him and the siren of the ambulance when it arrived even though he felt as if his whole body was paralyzed by the heaviest object in the world. He was hit by a truck so it was definitely a heavy object that hit him.

How did he not see or hear it coming?

Whose truck was that?

Why did the driver swirl towards the burnt haven?

The damn foolish driver should have focused on the road!

Now, his leg was the heaviest part of his body. When the people he did not see but was hearing their footsteps and noises ran to lift him from the ground and onto the stretcher, the throbbing ache he was feeling increased on a rate of 100%. If he could, he would say it was 120%.

His half unconscious self could barely open his eyes but he was seeing a blurry vision of Zakariah's panic stricken self and how his brother was squeezing his arm gently in the ambulance as it conveyed them to the hospital, urging him to hold on and that it would be okay soon.

If anyone told him Zakariah would be this concerned about him, he would have bet all his savings and damned his coaching fees on the fact that his big brother would not care. But he was seeing it right in front of him now, even though he could barely see well. Zakariah was shaking and almost drenched in miserable sweats as he continued to whisper to him to hold on.

He felt his throat choked up and he made attempts to open his mouth to let out whatever was in his throat but ended up faintly coughing out the hot red liquid which splattered on his shirt and also Zakariah's hands.

" Blood!... He coughs blood!" Zakariah shouted almost immediately the blood gushed out and LSR could not help but to smile a little.

Zakariah was this worked up because of him?

His smile aggravated the hemoptysis and the blood increased. Soon, two medical staffs in the ambulance came nearer to him with sedatives. " We will sedate him now to reduce the pain, I think he must have had inner injuries" he heard one of them say even though he was in too much pain now to focus on the words of others or anything else except for the pain, it was overwhelming and he think his head would explode from pain overload.

The sedative was taking its toll on him now, and then as fast as a snail, everything went bleak and he felt at ease for a little while until he woke up again to find himself on the hospital bed, Zakariah sitting close to him, hands still on his arms.

LSR tried to move his neck at first but found it was still as stiff as a pole the way it was stiff earlier. His jaw that hit a thick object on his neck made him notice there was a cervical collar around it.

His leg still felt heavy and when he traveled his eyes upward, he found one of his legs heavily banged and hung in a traction.

A short cough let out of his mouth and that drew Zakariah's attention to him. " You are awake" he heard his brother say faintly.

LSR tried shifting his body but found it was a fruitless action " Uhm" he groaned, trying to reply his brother whom he knew should be at work now.

Zakariah skipped work for him?

" Are you in pain? " he saw Zakariah's furrowed brow and he tried to smile a little.

If his neck was not as stiff, he might have nodded reassuringly at his brother but.. " Not really Zak, I can manage"

He was one of the few people who calls his brother Zak. He only calls him that when he feels good about him not when his brother was being his arrogant self.

The only response he got from Zakariah was a nod.

He looked down at his hung leg once again and Zakariah followed his gaze " I cannot move it" he whispered.

He saw his brother countenance turned more sour the moment he mentioned that .

Zakariah moved closer to him and patted his shoulders " They say it's damaged and that you would not be able to use it anymore but I have faith in you brother…" his brother was saying but he cut him off.

" What?… what did you say they said?" His shaky voice broke as realization of his brother's words dawned on him.

Zakariah faced the other side of the room, trying to avoid his eyes " I'm sorry Asher, you will not be able to work for now " again, came the dreadful words LSR never thought he would ever hear all his life. He never imagined anything would happen to his legs, he never even for once played with the thoughts that he would get hit by a truck in front of burnt haven which would land him in the hospital and also make him lose one of his legs.

Now, he could care less if his neck was kept in place by a cervical collar or if his entire body ached. He made attempts to get up on his feet to show Zakariah what the doctors said were lies " No Zak, I… I can.. I can walk" he cried as he stumbled to get up.

Zakariah turned to face him almost immediately " Lay low Asher, you would only do more harm than good if you try to stress the leg the more" he hollered as he pinned LSR to the bed tighter with his hands.

LSR wanted to protest again and make his point noted but when he met his brother's somber eyes, he saw a pleading look in them and gave up before accepting and wallowing in his pool of self-pity " What does this mean Zak?" he scoffed, still finding it hard to believe he would not be able to stand on his feet anytime soon.

" This means that it is the time to show them they are wrong, you have always been striving to show the world you can do better, this is your chance " Zakariah said to him and he thought this was about the most tender words Zakariah had ever said to him all his life.

He wanted to open his mouth to say anything to his brother but the tears streaming down his face dripped into his mouth and caught the words off it.

The sound of the door opening diverted both their attention and they saw two men walk in.

Zakariah stood straight in readiness to meet the two strangers, hands in his pocket.

" Hello," one of the two men greeted.

Zakariah nodded and LSR only looked on, now wiping the tears off of his face. " Good day" Zakariah returned his greeting.

The young man who greeted should be about Zakariah's age and that is age thirty five even though his brother looked younger than his age with his long dark hair always packed in a low ponytail right below his under skull and his beardless rectangular face which had bony features.

" I am detective Cabal, this is my partner, detective Dante" he said pointing to the young man beside him who looked like he was given birth to few years before detective Cabal.

Detective Dante waved shortly " Hi" he muttered and brought out a detective badge from the inner pocket of his trousers. They were both dressed casually, hard to figure they were detectives " We are from the Orange City police force. We are the officers in charge of investigating your brother's hit and run" Detective Dante finalized.

Hit and run?!

It was a hit and run?

LSR could almost not believe his ears. Someone had tried to kill him, why?

He barely keep friends or enemies, all his life after college was to commence his artistic training. Who would want him dead?

" Hit… hit and run?" He stammered, directing his question to Zakariah instead of the officers. He wanted to speak to only a familiar face. He was suffering enough from the sad news about his leg now another awful one came?

Trying to saw off burnt haven's chains he thought the universe was finally smiling at him not knowing it was preparing him for a more awful phase.

Zakariah nodded and LSR thought he saw a look flashed across his brother's face. It was a guilty one, was Zakariah feeling guilty that maybe he was the cause of his awful fate perhaps?

He wanted to hold his brother's shoulders assuringly and ensure him this was not his fault. " You got hit by a truck Asher and I ran to you first. Before I could check who was driving the truck that has collided with burnt haven's gate thumping you away, I found the driver's seat empty with no blood stains whatsoever. I mean, whosoever was driving that truck would surely be badly injured if not dead with that ugly accident but then, there was no one in it" Zakariah said at length and LSR noted that was by far the longest lines his brother had said to him in months.