Hospitalized

Hours passed before a doctor came out to speak to them. As everyone stood up, the doctor raised a hand.

"Who are the young man's parents?" Multiple people spoke at once including Lyla, Issac, and Derek.

"I'm his legal guardian." Lyla stated but Issac's voice almost drowned hers out.

"I'm his father!"

"He lives with me." Derek added. They all looked around at one another and the doctor sighed.

"Okay, fine. The legal guardian…"

"Yes?" Lyla stepped forward.

"Is it safe to assume I can just speak to everyone present about Aiden's condition?" Lyla nodded. "Alright. I should first start off by saying that as of right now, Aiden's okay." There was a wave of relief that passed through most of the group. "However, there are some things you need to be aware of. The most important being that he may get worse over the next few days."

"What?! Why?" A simultaneous outcry filled the waiting room.

"Quiet down!" William stepped forward to address the doctor. "I thought you said he was okay so what's the problem?"

"He is okay, at the moment. We managed to raise his body temperature almost back to normal and we treated his broken leg and sprained ankle. The problem is that severe hypothermia can trigger many other problems. His organs weren't able to function properly due to his low body temperature. Now that he's warm we are running tests to check his organ function. There's also a risk of developing pneumonia or heart problems. He has a mild fever that we're keeping an eye on but it wouldn't be unexpected for it to spike. Adding to that his broken ribs, concussion, and decreased oxygen levels, he's in for a rough few days." After a moment of shocked silence, Silas asked,

"Is that all?"

"Unfortunately, no. There's also the fact that his brain wasn't receiving enough blood and oxygen for an unknown amount of time. It is possible that there could be temporary or even permanent damage. We won't know one way or the other until he wakes up."

"And when will that be?" Derek managed to ask quietly.

"We don't know. It could be any minute now or it may take days. A nurse will come by in a few minutes to inform you about what room he's been moved to. If you'll excuse me." The doctor turned and walked away, leaving his words to sink in. When the nurse showed up, she told them that only two people could visit at a time and in the end, Derek and Issac were the first to go see Aiden.

Neither of them spoke to the other on their way to his room and, when they arrived, they each sat down in a chair on each side of Aiden's bed. It was quiet except for the noise made by the medical equipment in the room. An entire hour went by without anything changing. Then, Issac stood up to leave.

"Leaving so soon?" Derek asked without taking his eyes off of Aiden.

"I'm going to find the doctor. I have more questions to ask." Without another word, Issac left the room. Finally alone with Aiden, Derek slid his chair closer to the bed and held Aiden's lifeless hand in both of his own.

"You have to wake up, Aiden. Please, just wake up soon." A nurse walked into the room with a clear bag in her hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know anyone was in here. She placed the bag in the empty chair. "These are his things." Derek nodded and the nurse left. A few minutes later, Yuki shuffled in. There were tears in his eyes and he kept sniffling. Then, he saw the bag and gasped.

"What is it?" When he heard Derek's voice Yuki flinched.

"Uh, um, it's…can I uh, c-check his phone…please?" Derek's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"...Why?" Yuki flinched again and struggled to calm down enough to speak.

"T-That's…There was s-something going on b-before the…avalanche. H-He may have…recorded it since…that's something he'd do." Derek looked at Aiden, then the bag, and then at Yuki. He hesitated for a second before releasing Aiden's hand and walking over to the bag. He rummaged through it and pulled out the phone. The screen was cracked in various places but it still turned on. The phone could be unlocked with a fingerprint so Derek went back to Aiden and gently pressed his finger to the phone.

As soon as it unlocked, Derek checked the last few text messages and then went into the video gallery. He turned the volume up and clicked the most recent recording. He and Yuki both heard Aiden's voice first.

"So, how much did she pay you?" They both listened to the recording all the way through. They heard the slight panic in Aiden's voice when he warned the unknown man that he'd get hurt too and then they heard the blast. The recording kept going but was filled with unidentifiable noise. Then the recording came to an abrupt end.

Yuki was speechless. He just stood there trembling as more tears filled his eyes. Derek was trembling too but from rage. Someone had intentionally gone after Aiden. The anger that washed over him was unlike anything Derek had felt before. It was all consuming. All he could think about was destroying anything and everything even remotely related to Aiden's suffering. He was about to lose complete control when he was pulled back from the edge.

"Aiden!" Yuki's shout brought Derek back to his senses in time to see Aiden's eyes flutter open and squint in the bright light. Derek was next to Aiden in an instant and Yuki ran out to call a doctor.

"Aiden! Can you hear me? Do you remember what happened?" Derek took Aiden's hand in his own again. Aiden moved a bit and groaned.

"Ugh! W-Where…?"

"You're in the hospital. You were caught in an avalanche. Do you remember?" Aiden slowly nodded.

"Are the other's…?"*cough* Aiden started coughing and Derek quickly brought him water. As he took a few sips, Derek answered him.

"Your friends are fine and so is everyone else that was on the mountain. You were the only one unaccounted for."

"That's good." He turned to Derek and gave him a small smile. "I thought I saw you there."

"Where?"

"On the mountain, before I fell asleep." Derek smiled too and caressed Aiden's cheek.

"You did see me. I was there with the search and rescue team. We saw the reflective cloth you tied up. Smart move by the way." Aiden's eyes widened.

"You really came all the way to the mountain in a snowstorm to find me? What if you got hurt too?" Derek actually laughed out loud at that.

"So what if I got hurt too? I'd brave a thousand snowstorms to find you." Aiden laughed despite the tears that filled his eyes.

"You're so cringey! Who actually says stuff like that in real life?" They both laughed together and Derek gently hugged Aiden who did his best to hug Derek too.

After that, the doctor arrived with Yuki close behind him. He checked Aiden for any signs of lasting damage and happily told them that there weren't any. The doctor also said that Aiden would have to stay in the hospital for the next few days for observation. Then, he went to tell everyone else the good news.

Yuki cried in relief and carefully hugged Aiden before saying he'd go back to the waiting room so someone else could come in and see him. Once Yuki left, Derek sat back down next to Aiden and continued holding his hand.

The next person to come in was surprisingly William. He expressed his happiness and relief that Aiden was awake and on the mend and then the conversation turned more serious.

"I've been informed that the avalanche was caused by an intentional explosion that happened right where you were. Investigators will surely be around later to ask questions so I'll ask in advance. Would you mind telling me what happened?" Aiden tried to sit up and groaned again.

"Ugh!" Derek immediately moved to help him. When he was sitting comfortably, Aiden looked at both Derek and William before asking,

"How much do you already know?" Following his question, William and Derek both listed out all the information they had gathered regarding the incident. When Derek mentioned the contents of the audio recording, William was stunned.

"That's all I know." Derek said.

"Then that's basically it. To summarize, Becca hired someone to mess with my friends in order to hurt me. Since she didn't tell him exactly how she wanted it done, he came up with his own plan. He intended to provoke Zeke into attempting a slope too difficult for him so he would end up getting injured or worse. When that idea failed, he moved on to 'plan b'. Although I have no idea how or why 'plan b' involved a grenade." Aiden sighed and leaned his head back against the pillow.

"You should rest," Derek said in a worried tone. "You've been through a lot and you still have a fever. Don't worry about all of this, we'll handle it. Just focus on getting better, okay?"

"I agree. Let us deal with everything. There's no need to tire yourself out." William added. It was shocking to see the two of them agree on something but Aiden didn't have the energy to comment on it. He really was tired all of a sudden.

"Alright. Thank you." With perfect timing, a nurse came in at that exact moment to say that the patient needed rest. William left first and Derek followed after one last glance back at Aiden. When he was left alone in the room, Aiden let his eyes close and instantly fell asleep.