Dark Hearts

[sugakookie]

Matt looks at Emmalia. There's a sharp pain in his neck, but he's still dazed. "Ow. I'm fine. Emmalia... what..." he was going to ask what happened, but the memories found him before he could get the words out. Matt tries to sit up, but gasps and falls back on the bed. He tries to reach up to hold his neck, but realizes his right arm is wrapped. "Fuck!" Matt hisses. A man slides in through the doorway, almost slipping. "Matthew! What happened to you?! A car accident?!" The man in the doctor's apparel runs to Matt's side, his bright green eyes wide in horror. Just after him, an older man that looks very much like the doctor and Matt comes in with a woman following. The woman looks disinterested, but when she sees Emmalia she runs to the bed with her arms spread. "My Matty!" She gasps out and touches his arm. The older man just watches, frowning. 


In the midst of all of this, Matt looks rather lost and overwhelmed. He looks to Emmalia for reassurance, and that takes even him by surprise.


Mason looks at Eli for a moment, then nods. "Yes. Please." Eli's presence seemed to calm Mason, even in the short time they've known each other. The two make their way to the hospital, and Mason is stressing out in the car. He talks to keep his thoughts busy. "I um... I have a twin brother. Well, I have 4 brothers, but one of them is my twin. He works at the hospital were going to. In the ICU. He's studying to be a surgeon, too, so he's hardly ever free. I think he doesn't get much sleep. He works night shifts and goes to school in the mornings."


"Hmm... fascinating~" Maven taps her fingers on her chin. "Nothing and no one to tie you down? No... woman?" Maven wasn't totally sure why she asked that. She only realized it was off topic when she felt a blush rise to her cheeks. Well, now that it was out, she might as well follow through.

 

[Dragongal]

Emmalia had stayed back and pretended to be fine with everything, even though she knew that Matt wasn't in a condition to be crowded, and she didn't like that girl. When Matt looked to her, though, she moved to his bedside and laid her hand lightly on his. It just felt... right. And to know that he looked to her... that just felt even better. "It's okay Matty, don't try to sit up. You broke some ribs, and what you're feeling in your neck is whiplash. I got it too, but minorly. The doctors think you may have a concussion of varying severity, so you might be confused, and things might seem loud, but it's okay." Em looked to the girl practically leaning over Matt, the one who had been so obnoxiously loud, and said, very politely, "Miss, If I may, it would be best if he isn't crowded at the moment, with his concussion. I'm an EMT, trust me...."


To Eli, it seemed best to just let Mason talk as he wished. All Eli could do was listen, of course, and ask a question here or there, which he did. "Was it your twin in the accident?"


Conroy looked up t her, his eyes widening in surprise a bit before he smiled and shook his head. "Woman? No, no, nothing and nobody to tie me down at all. as for a woman... I'm not exactly the kind of person a nice lady should be spending much time with." He had no family to tie him down, and definitely no woman... he didn't think he deserved anyone nice. To change the subject, though, he said, "What about you? No guy you left? No family?" The idea that she had willingly left family behind to some extent boggled his mind.

 

[sugakookie]

The woman looks at Emmalia and narrows her eyes. "I don't know if you know who I am, but my name is Desaray and Matt is my boyfriend. I have every right to do whatever I damn well please. Please don't touch my boyfriend," Desaray says. The man who hasn't said a word speaks now. "Dez, calm down," he says. Matt sighs, or tries to, but mostly ends up just wincing. "Emmalia, my girlfriend Desaray. The creep by the doorway is my father, Lucian. The freak with the lime green eyes is my younger brother, Max," Matt tries to keep the atmosphere loose, not wanting any stress to bother him. Max mutters under his nose, "They're not lime..." Before taking a light out of his pocket and shining it in Matt's eyes. He holds a finger in front of Matt's face and asks him to follow it, then turns off the light and puts it away. Matt glares at Max. He has a splitting headache and a neck ache so bad he wants to puke, but he does well in not showing his pain.


Mason shakes his head. "No, Max doesn't drive. He likes taking the train. He has a car but prefers not to drive it. My brother who had the accident is a year older than me, his name is Matt." None of this information was useful, but Mason was calmly parking in the parking lot. The pointless chatting got him through a car ride.


Maven stares at Conroy a bit, then shakes her head. "Um... no, not really either of those." Her response was short. She didn't want to lead him into too much information too soon. Actually, she didn't really want to talk about her life. Luckily she was saved by Conroy's food arriving.

 

[Dragongal]

Being the better woman was tough sometimes. Emmalia wanted nothing more than to lean in and ask Desaray, "Which boyfriend, number one or two? or a higher number?" but she did not. Rather, she calmly said, "Miss Desaray, I don't think anybody should be touching him much at the moment unless he asks for it. I set my hand on his to make sure I had his attention as I explained things to him, as I was with him, and previously an EMT." So far, Em only really liked Lucian, because he told Desaray to calm down, and Max, because he knew what to do medically. Past those things, she didn't know them, so she couldn't like them. Her attention goes back to Matt. She leaned in so she could whisper, "Do you want me to stay?"


For some reason, Eli was trying to memorize the names. Mason wouldn't get frustrated by having to repeat them then, and Eli wanted to know these little things about Mason, they were part of what made him... him. Before they could go inside, though, Eli reached out and took Mason's hand, looking him in the eyes. "Mason, I just... I want to say... the doctors might not let you see Matt right away. But I'm here, I'll stay here as long as you want or need. And if you want me gone...." He paused and looked down, then back to Mason's eyes. "If you don't want your family seeing me, I can leave or pretend I'm there for someone else. I'm not going to just leave you, no matter what, okay?"


Conroy could tell that he'd touched on a touchy subject, but before he could make a recovery his food came. He glanced down at it, then chuckled. "You know, I'm not that hungry, I don't know if you ordered food for yourself, but if not, we could split it?" In the back of his mind, the thought, almsot like a date.... but he daren't entertaint he thought.

 

[sugakookie]

Matt looks up at Emmalia. He can't nod without hurting himself, so he just says, "Yes." He ignored Desaray's offended expression and looked to Max. "Can you tell whoever my doctor is to get me pain meds?" Matt wasn't one to complain about himself much, so he didn't say what hurt if he didn't need to.


Mason turns to Eli fully. His words made Mason feel bad. Did he give off the impression of being ashamed of Eli? Because that definitely wasn't the case. Mason just smiles. "My dad is bisexual. So is Matt. If you're scared I'll get in trouble or something... don't be. I'm not ashamed and I'm sure as Hell not going to ask you to go away, not when you help me feel so... secure." Mason doesn't let go of Eli's hand and continues walking inside the hospital. He hopes Eli doesn't have to be concerned about his presence anymore.


"What, are we on a date now? Sharing food?" Maven smiled almost mischevously. She had meant that to be a tease or joke. "I won't take your food from you. I'm fine with my tea. Please, eat," Maven says. Her stomach growled as she looked at the food. She hoped he didn't hear that. In fact, Maven wasn't fine with just her tea. She was so hungry, it was painful, but she wouldn't want to take someone else's food, especially someone who was essentially a stranger.

 

[Dragongal]

Despite the situation, Emmalia couldn't help but smile. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and stepped back, though her hand stayed on his. If he wanted her there, then she'd stay there. Especially if it meant pissing off Desaray.


Not only was Eli relieved that Mason was okay with publicly showing their relationship, but he was also overjoyed that Mason took some comfort from his presence. Eli followed Mason, prepared for whatever was waiting for them.


For a second, Roy was worried that Maven though he actually did think of it as a date, and he was about to hurriedly inform her that he didn't think that. He wouldn't insult her in that way.... When he realized she was joking, though, he relaxed. At Maven's answer, and the growling  from her stomach, Conroy turned his head to the side slightly and smiled softly. "Are you so certain that you don't want any food? I'm not going to eat it all anyway. I mostly come here at this time of night to pester Eli and get tea."

 

[sugakookie]

Max nods. "Sure thing," he says, then scurries out of the room to find Matt's real doctor. Desaray takes a seat in the chair near Matt's bed. Matt doesn't look too happy about this. "I want to be alone with Emmalia for a little bit," Matt says. Desaray scoffs. "I'm not leaving you alone with some stranger. You might be cheating on me."


Matt looks at Desaray, unamused. She thought that he was cheating? "Why did you come here with my father?" He knew that question would catch her off guard. He knew that Desaray was hopelessly attracted to his father. Sure enough, his question gets her silent for a few moments. "He... invited me over." To this, Lucian scoffs and cracks a laugh. "No, don't throw me under the bus. You know full well that it was your idea to come over. I wasn't expecting you." Lucian's presence is powerful. His voice is strong, firm. His aura is one of control and authority, and yet at the same time it's warm and caring. At that time, Mason and Eli walk in. They let go of each others hands when they entered the hospital for convenience's sake, but now Mason's hand reaches for Eli's in an attempt to seek comfort.


Maven laughs. Now she knew more of who he is. "Ah, so you're the difficult customer Eli always complains about? Understood. No, I don't want any food." Lies. Again. Why was she doing that? Her stomach's growls were betraying her.

 

[Dragongal]

Emmalia cocked her head to the side and looked at Desaray for a moment in silence, then very calmly said, "You don't have to act decent for me, I already know you have another man - at least one other. I think everybody in this room knows. You don't have to put on a front of insult." Her manner of speaking and expression was such as if she were doing Desaray a favor and not bluntly calling her out. "Also, give me a touch of credit, miss, I refuse to do anything with him while he's dating you on an official end. I'm not like you. Anyway. It was Matt's request to be alone with me for a short time, not mine." Her tone, while still very polite, hinted that Desaray was better tying to take on Emmalia than Matt - she'd defend her wounded soulmate tooth and claw.


Eli looked around the room at the people, trying to ignore the apparent minor catfight happening at the moment. Once he realized that Mason was reached for his hand, he stepped a bit closer and laced his fingers through Mason's to hold his hand tightly.


"Does Eli complain about me? And here I thought he was my friend." He laughed and looked her over for a second, then leaned back in the booth and said, "Maven, I'm not going to eat until you do. I can hear your stomach growling from across the booth. Hell, take all the food, I don't care. I'm not going to eat while a nice miss is sitting across from me, starving. Call me old fashioned."

 

[sugakookie]

Matt touches Emmalia's forearm. "Please don't give her the time of day. I want to talk to you." He's staring only at Emmalia, completely blocking out Desaray. Lucian takes the hint and goes to Desaray, guiding her out of the room as well as Mason and Eli, though that doesn't go as well. Mason fights against his father and gets a word in to Matt before being forced out. "Once you're done, let me back in, I want to talk to you too." Mason leaves, and the door shuts.


Maven leans forward on her forearms and chuckles. "You're old fashioned." She says, jokingly taking his request seriously. She reaches over and cuts half of the BLT for herself with the knife and fork placed next to the plate, then starts eating. If he was going to be so stubborn, she might as well humor him.

 

[Dragongal]

Now alone, Em looked down at Matt and smiled softly. "What did you want to talk to me about? Or did you just want them to leave? If you want quiet, I won't talk, just tell me what you want, okay?"


Eli followed Mason out - he didn't want Mason to get into trouble wiht his father, so he had encouragingly tugged on Mason's hand. Now they stood outside, and Eli was wondering if he'd be introduced or not.


Conroy chuckled and shrugged. "Well, I got you to eat, so I'm happy." With that he started in on his half of the sandwich.

 

[sugakookie]

"I was wondering... why aren't you injured like me? What happened? Are you okay? Did the truck only hit my side of the car?" That was possible, but Matt could have sworn he remembered the truck hitting them head on. He was worried about Emmalia. Was she hiding some bad injuries? But how? There were bandages in some places, but they didn't look as bad as he looked.


The group of them stood in the hall near Matt's room in awkward silence for a moment or two before Mason spoke up. "Um... father, this is Eli. Eli, my father Lucian, and Matt's girlfriend Desaray is this woman." Mason looks behind Lucian and sees his twin brother walking towards them. Mason grins. "And that's my twin, Max." Now near each other, the twins look almost identical. The only thing to differentiate them was the stark contrast in eye color. The way they carry themselves was different, too. Max looked more serious, whIle Mason looked looser.


"You should at least be happy, because I feel awful for taking your food," Maven says. She watches Conroy eat, happy that they could share a meal together even though they didn't know each other well.

 

[Dragongal]

Em had hoped to have some time before he'd ask her that. She knew she had to lie... but she didn't want to. "I... I don't know. I just.... I don't know. I'm fine, just a few cuts and bruises, I don't know...." She didn't know what to say, how to lie, anything. Oddly enough, she wanted to tell him the truth... but in his current state, that could be too risky. "The truck hit us head - on, but I'm just...." Again she paused, then said, "I don't know."


Eli smiled shyly and nodded to each person in turn. Desaray was awkward to look at, since apparently she wasn't Matt's girlfriend - or else, not his only girlfriend, and everyone knew it. "Uh, hi, I suppose. I'm sorry to meet you all under such circumstances."


"Oh I am very happy," Conroy said jokingly between bites. Now that their conversation was idle, he had less of an excuse to look at Maven - her eyes, her lips, everything. So he looked at her only at times he was sure would be appropriate, otherwise he looked at his food or the table.

 

[sugakookie]

Matt could tell she was hiding something, but had no idea what it could be. So he decides to give her the benefit of the doubt. "Okay.. well it's good that you were fortunate enough to not get hurt. I'm happy," Matt says with a small smile.


"No worries. Our family gets injured quite a lot, so these are fairly normal circumstances," Lucian says. Mason smiles a little and puts his forehead against Eli's head, feeling comfortable with being close.


Maven finishes her half of the sandwich and her tea. "Thank you for the food... but please let me pay," Maven says. She felt bad enough taking his food, might as well pay for it.

 

[Dragongal]

Emmalia smiled slightly and gently squeezed Matt's hand. "Well, let's wait for the doctor so you can get some pain meds. We've got a few weeks of recovery ahead, with that arm."


Eli had just smiled slightly and nodded to Lucian, though his eyes widened and he smiled as Mason leaned against him. Eli just held still for Mason and squeezed his hand. 


Immediately Roy shook his head. "No, no, I put down the order, please, let me pay. Honestly, giving you food was no problem, and it was actually really nice to have someone to talk to." He went silent for a moment, just looking at Maven's eyes, then caught himself and looked at the table. 

 

[sugakookie]

As if on call, the doctor walks past the group of Matt's family and comes into the room. "Ah, you're awake, Matthew." The doctor looks satisfied. A nurse is next to the doctor. "Your brother told me you needed pain medication? We didn't know how much pain you'd be in, so we figured we'd give you a small dose right away and do anything else later. Where does it hurt?" The doctor takes something out of his pocket while the nurse checks Matt's IV. "Um... my head, neck, ribs... my arm isn't bad though." His body had a dull ache to it in general.


"I see. And in those areas, on a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain? Ten being unbearable." The doctor goes to the computer in the room and starts doing things that Matt can't see. Matt responds, "12, Doc. 10, I guess, if I stick to the rules. Maybe a 7 for the ribs." Matt was always good at ignoring or suppressing pain. He always was. The doctor paused then looked down at Matt. "That bad, huh? Whiplash, most likely. And your head..." The doctor ditches his computer and does a few checks to see if Matt has a concussion. "Are you nauseous?" The doctor asks.


Matt hums. He was. He felt horrible on the inside. Though he knew if he threw up, his neck would hurt more. "Yeah. Kinda feel like puking." 


"I'd say you have a moderate concussion." The doctor types something into the computer, gives Matt more medication, tells the nurse some things, then says, "We're going to keep you here for a night or two, and we'll take you to one of our inpatient rooms." Once Matt gets his medicine, they unlock his bed and roll him out of the room. Matt grunts. "I feel ridiculous," Matt says.


Mason sees Matt being rolled out. "You look ridiculous, too," Mason says. The group follows the rolling bed.


"You're too kind. I rather liked talking to you, too." Maven gets slightly upset when he looks away from her, simply because she likes looking into his eyes. "But next time, I'll pay." She adds on, hoping that sparks his interest.

 

[Dragongal]

Emmalia kept quiet and simply followed, concerned for Matt. In fact, it was almost upsetting how very concerned she was for him. When they had met up, she'd been fond of him, but now there was this protectiveness... twice she had wanted to call him, "love," and now she was peripherally keeping an eye on Desaray... though she' have done that anyway, since she didn't trust the woman as far as she could throw her. Matt's description of his pain concerned Em, since she now knew how much he had been hiding his pain. 


When Mason and the rest of the group began moving, Eli would have been lying to say that he was slightly upset by having Mason's head move from his, but it was something unfortunately unavoidable. For now, he could only hold on to Mason's hand.


After a moment of surprise, Conroy looked up at Maven and smiled. He wouldn't even let her pay next time, she needed to save money and he didn't, but just the prospect of a next time excited him immensely. His smile faded slightly as he recalled that he couldn't have a girlfriend - he would only be leading her on. But maybe they could still be friends? He met her eyes and smiled again. "We'll see who pays next time." That would settle the payment matter for the moment. "So, you just went on break, which I think is legally an hour for over eight hours, would you just like to continue talking?"

 

[sugakookie]

Once Matt was settled in his room, the staff leaves him alone and says they'll come back again soon. Matt looks up at Emmalia with big, innocent eyes. The other people in the room, his family, might as well not even be there. "Emmalia..." he starts, but gets shy and blushes. He has to use the bathroom, but has no idea how he should go about doing that.


"I'd like nothing more. I'm having a very good time right now, the best break ever," Maven says with a grin. She looks outside and sighs a bit. "If we snuck out for half an hour... you think anyone would notice?" She asks.

 

[Dragongal]

Em had looked at him for a moment in confusion, then understood his request. She smiled slightly, then walked out of the room and grabbed a nurse. With whiplash, one had to be extremely careful in moving a patient, and she knew it well. The nurse was happy to help, and with a very stern tone, ordered the rest of Matt's family out of the room.


Conroy smiled slightly and shrugged. "I think that on your break you ought to be allowed to leave for a bit, and I'd be happy to walk you anywhere you want to go. I'd drive you, but I walked here."

 

[sugakookie]

Matt managed to do his business after some struggle, then everyone was let back in. Matt is in bed again. Desaray walks in first and marches over to Matt, leans down, and kisses him possessive for the sole purpose of showing Emmalia what's hers. Matt, still dazed from medicine, pain, and a concussion, doesn't think much other than the kiss feels good and he's not sure what's going on. Lucian snorts in a laugh and averts his eyes.


"I don't want to go far. Just want to breathe some fresh night air." Maven stands up and steps away from the table then faces him. "I'd really like it if you joined me," she says with a soft smile. Maven doesn't bother too take off her waitress uniform.

 

[Dragongal]

Emmalia sighs and looks over to Lucian, silently mouthing, "Is she always like this?" before looking back to Matt. Desaray was so desperate it was deplorable. "Miss Desaray, if I may suggest that you allow Matt to breathe some?"


Shifting a bit uncomfortably, Eli leaned in and whispered to Mason, "Desaray doesn't seem very nice... and I don't know about the new girl, but I kinda agree with her.... Des doesn't seem to be thinking about Matt...."


Who was he to say no to a pretty lady's request? With a smile Roy stood and put his hands in his jacket pockets. "Just a little walk, then? Let's go. I'll pay for my food when we return."

 

[sugakookie]

Emmalia's voice registers with Matt and Matt moves away from Desaray as much as he can. Desaray frowns and pulls away. Lucian shakes his head. "Desaray, please leave him alone," Lucian says.


Mason gets a bit ticked off at Desaray's behavior, no matter how typical it is. "Matt clearly doesn't want you here. Do us all a favor and leave," Mason says.


"Okay, let's~" Maven leads the way out of the restaurant and opens the door for Roy, then waits to walk beside him.

 

[Dragongal]

Emmalia looked to Lucian in shock, then Mason, and smiled slightly to both of them. Evidently Matt's family wasn't nearly as bad as she had suspected....


Even though he knew it was wrong of him, Eli wanted to laugh at the sudden turn of the tides. Instead he just squeezed Mason's hand and smiled, feeling oddly proud of him.


Conroy was happy to walk with her and chat about small things. At one point, though, they went to cross a street and a car doesn't slow down as they were almost to the other side. For the first time, Conroy pulled his hands out of his pockets. In a quick movement, he jumped aside to the sidewalk and took Maven's hand to pull her with, just out of the car's way. However, in that moment, they both saw each other from each other's perspectives for a moment. Conroy paused and looked at Maven with wide eyes, for  moment elated that he had found his soulmate... then horrified, because that meant he was her soulmate as well, and in his mind... she didn't deserve to have to deal with that.

 

[sugakookie]

Matt stays quiet and reaches for Emmalia while looking at Desaray. "I don't want to be with you at all, Desaray. Please leave. I'm breaking up with you, and I'll tell my mother that too so don't complain to her." Matt closes his eyes while facing Emmalia. His eyebrows furrow. A wave of nausea comes over Matt. He already had enough to deal with, he didn't want Desaray dragging on his unhappiness any longer. Especially now that he sees Emmalia and Desaray near each other... he realizes he wants Emmalia to be his and won't let Desaray get in the way of that.


Mason wondered if now was a good time to mention that Eli is his soulmate, but when Matt speaks, the thought is pushed from his head. Now was not the time to bring up his own life when the focus was on Matt.


Maven freezes and stares at Conroy with shock on her face. He... they... she had just seen herself. But how..? Why? Was that possible? "What... what just happened? Did you see that?" Maven asks, stepping away from him and suddenly being very wary. That wasn't supposed to happen, definitely not. Maven thought she was crazy.

 

[Dragongal]

Without hesitation, Emmalia took Matt's hand and squeezed it. Her thumb slowly brushes along the back of his hand in a comforting manner. Still, she was prepared in case Desaray decided to cause trouble during her exit. 


Eli leaned in and whispered to Mason, "I'm glad you said something, I think that might mean something to Matt. I'm proud of you."


Conroy looked from his hands back at her and found himself at a loss for words. This explained a lot, but it was so... wrong. "I-I did,  I saw it. That... what happened, it's..." He looked at her, then shook his head, a pained expression on his face. Would she run? Be scared? Think he was crazy? And wouldn't all of that be for the best? But he couldn't stop his heart from aching at the thought. "I... you'll think I'm crazy, but you can even research it, it... it's an out of body experience that happens when soulmates touch for the first time." His eyes flicked down to his hands, then up to her eyes as he shook his head slowly, looking distraught, pained, scared... and extremely sorry. "I am so sorry, this is... I... I'm so sorry, I wish this were a mistake...."

 

[sugakookie]

Desaray scoffs, apparently very offended. "How could you..." She says. Her face flushes and she looks rather embarrassed. "... Fine! I don't need you, and you're shit in bed anyway." Desaray storms out of the room. Matt glares at the door. She had to be lying just to piss him off.


Mason smiles at Eli when he says what he says, then looks at Desaray when she throws a fit. He sighs and shakes his head. "I hate her..."


Maven stares up at Conroy and takes in this new information. Didn't one of her friends mention soulmates before..? She had zoned out while her friends were talking at lunch one day because she wasn't particularly interested in the topic, but that had caught her ear for a split second. She now saw how apologetic Conroy looked. She even caught the moment of excitement he had shown.  She'd be lying if she said the thought of him being her soulmate didn't excite her. "Please don't apologize. If... if this is real, I can say I'm more than satisfied with who my soulmate is," Maven blushes and looks down. But how old was he? Did it matter? No, she quickly realized it didn't. She liked him, even though she hasn't known him for long. An instant connection.