What Wouldn't I Give

[Nox]

Continued from The Brutal Reality with @"Ivan Sarkozy" and @"Lih"

The tunnels had been suffocating and dark.  The pain had been overwhelming.  There was very little blood loss thanks to the searing pain, but that didn't mean it had been rainbows and flowers.  Nox didn't really remember much after getting bitten.  It was all a bunch of hazy memories.  But mostly the blinding panic of becoming one of those things.  A hell of a way to go.

And when Nox opened his eyes everything was blurry.  The sounds of machines beeping and the clean smell told him once again he was in the hospital.  Another stupid mistake landing him in a room where his identity was best kept a secret.  But Ivan and Lih probably hadn't thought about that.  Not that it mattered either way.  He was already an enemy of the Atharim.  He was surprised they hadn't tried again.

There was no one there.  Not that Nox expected anyone to be there when he woke up.  Everyone he know had lives and families and Nova wouldn't be allowed inside.  Even if he had survived.  Nox remembered the blur of fur and flesh saving him from one of the creatures just before the one that bit him latched on.

Everything hurt.  He was starving, in a way he hadn't ever felt before. Nox tried to move but found the loss of the left arm and he stared at the bandage wrapped around it.  Fuck!  At least his allegiance to the Atharim went with it.  But now hunting was going to be limited.  Fuck getting dressed was going to be limited.  Nox growled in frustration.

A nurse passing by looked in and Nox gave her a smile.  But she didn't stop, hurried on past.  She was cute.  He wondered if his nurse was cute.  The last one had been when he was in the hospital last.

Shortly after the first one walked by another one came in with a smile, "Mr. Durante, it's good to see you awake.  How are you feeling?"

"Ravenous."  She looked at him a little concerned.  "And it hurts all over."

"That was some damage done to your arm.  Do you know what happened?"

Nox nodded.  "I had my friend cut it off."  

She laughed like it was a joke, but it wasn't.  Her face fell flat.  "Why?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."  Nox squirmed to try to sit up and the nurse helped Nox readjust and Nox refrained from the urge to growl at her for her assistance. "I need to get word to the Ascendancy and whoever the fuck my boss is.  No one has touched my blood have they?"

"We drew some when you came in."

Nox growled loudly.  "You need to stop now.  It might not be safe.  I was bitten by a creature that from my assumption propagates the same way a chubacabra does, and I don't know if we cut off the bite before it spread to the rest of my body.  So from this point forward you need to treat this as a case of biological warfare.  Someone is making these things and I don't think I've stopped them."

She nodded and slowly headed for the door  "I'll go see about finding you a doctor."

Nox laughed.  "I told you, you wouldn't believe me.  Can I have my wallet?"

She sighed and went to the closet and rummaged through a black plastic bag.  She found my wallet and brought it to me.  And she left quickly.

Nox didn't really have any idea of how to really contact the Ascendancy.  He'd believe him.  The only thing Nox had was the number that had asked him to meet.  So he sent a text.

Need contact update. Got bit by a chupacabra like creature, so far with severed arm, symptoms are nil, but unknown time lapse occurred. Blood drawn - possible epidemic if not cleared of parasite.  Please assist. Likely going to psyche ward.

Nox had no idea of @"Ascendancy" or who might get it, but someone would and hopefully they'd pass it on to the right person @"Marcus Dubois"

With the important bits done Nox went to the personal bits.  He had no idea how long he had been out of it.  And no one knew where he was staying.  So Carmen and Raffe were probably wondering why he flaked after the performance had actually gone well.  Now it looked like dancing was out.

Another text was tapped out carefully with his wallet on the bed and his only working hand typing.

I'm not dead.  Probably wished I was though.  Went hunting, got hurt, woke up in the hospital.  Will send you details soon as I get them.

The next time the nurse came by Nox would shoot that information off to @"Raffe".  Hopefully he hadn't fucked that up too much.  It was his only home at the moment and just the thought of seeing Raffe made Nox smile.

All the boring things that happen in hospitals Nox was waiting for the doctor and probably a psych eval.  Nox flipped through old text messages and found one from Sage with articles he thought he'd find interesting.  He'd shoved them away but now he could actually sit down and watch.  He had nothing better to do while he waited.