26 – It’s Over (1)

 

At first, Sebastian could not understand how Yannick was able to get away with disappearing for long periods of time without anyone noticing. But he soon discovered that people had noticed. They just didn’t care.

“We don’t narc on each other here,” a servant named Jessie told him, as they ate lunch in the break room. They had noticed someone clock in to work, and sit right back down at a table to go back to playing on his phone. “It’s not our business what he does. And if we don’t tell on him, he won’t tell on us.”

“We’re not doing anything wrong,” Sebastian pointed out.

“Maybe someday you’ll want to sneak in another break or two. We’ve all done it, and we’ve all covered for each other. Just make sure Harold doesn’t catch you. But he’s too overworked to pay attention to us. As long as the mansion stays clean, he won’t notice.”

Despite his not-so-mysterious disappearances, Yannick managed to keep his side of the mansion clean enough. Sebastian munched on the sandwich he had gotten from the vending machine- going against Jessie’s advice on eating anything out of the vending machine.

His phone chimed, and he checked it. A message from Axel, asking if he wanted to hang out at the bar after work. Sebastian responded with a yes.

 

Axel and Jake were already seated at the bar when Sebastian arrived. Both men had a glass in front of them. Beer for Axel, water for Jake.

“No alcohol?” Sebastian asked Jake as he took a seat next to Axel.

Jake shook his head. “It’s not really my thing.”

“You were having so much fun on your birthday though.”

“Yeah, but I made such an ass of myself.”

Before Sebastian could make a comment about how Jake made an ass out of himself all the time sober, the bartender walked over to take his order. Sebastian asked for a beer.

“Anyway,” Axel turned to Sebastian. “How was work? Walk in on Yannick sticking it in Stellaluna yet?”

Sebastian flinched at the visual. “No!”

“Bummer.” Grinning, Axel took a sip of beer while the bartender handed Sebastian his.

All three of them had worked that day. Jake complained about an annoying customer, and Axel complained about a woman hitting on him. Sebastian had no complaints. His job was rather boring compared to theirs.

Something thumped the back of Sebastian’s head. Rubbing it, he turned around. His three ex-friends smirked down at him. Berkley, Tony, and Matt.

“Sorry,” Berkley said in mock apology. Tony and Matt laughed.

Stomach churning, Sebastian turned back around and ignored them. Thankfully the group chose to sit at a table, instead of next to him.

Axel picked up his glass, wincing. “Let’s finish our drinks and leave.”

“Why?” Jake asked. “Because they’re here? You’re gonna let them chase us out?”

It sounded like a good idea to Sebastian. His stomach was starting to hurt anyway. He took large swigs of his beer. Axel flagged the bartender for the check. Jake rubbed his forehead, muttering.

“We’ll find something better to do,” Axel said to Jake. “Maybe mess around a grocery store.”

“How exciting.” Jake drank the rest of his water, while Sebastian and Axel finished their beers.

Another stomach pang struck Sebastian. Maybe Jessie was right about the vending machine food. “I’m gonna hit the bathroom real quick.”

Axel nodded. “We’ll be outside.”

 

~~~~~

 

Axel followed Jake out the door of the bar, with a final glance over his shoulder. Sebastian's ex-friends were laughing about something, but paid them no attention.

“I can’t believe you’re letting those assholes scare you,” Jake said, letting the door close behind them.

Axel wasn’t scared of those men. He just wanted to avoid any trouble that could arise from them. “I only wanted one drink anyway. Besides, sitting in a bar is boring.”

“You do it all the time.” Jake walked behind the building. The sun had set, but there was still enough light enough to see clearly. Despite that, a few streetlights had turned on.

“Not all the time.” Axel’s eyes lingered on Jake’s lips, feeling a strong urge to kiss them. But, given they were in public, he had to resist it. Even if there wasn’t anyone around. Someone could easily walk right by them.

Jake gazed back at him. “Have I ever told you how sexy you are?”

“Shhh…” Axel’s eyes darted the parking lot. Only a few cars, and no people. Still... “You need to watch what you say.”

“There’s nobody here!” Jake draped his arm around Axel’s shoulder. “You worry too much.” Without warning, Jake kissed Axel’s cheek.

“Holy shit!”

Axel jumped away from Jake, but it was too late. Sebastian’s former friends had caught them in the act. His stomach sank. Had they filmed it? They didn’t have their watches up. Maybe they could get out of this.

“I knew you were a couple of fags.” The leader of the group sneered. The other two cracked their knuckles. Like they were in some shitty, elementary school cartoon.

Jake puffed out his chest. “And what if we are?”

“Then you’ll find out what we do to fags around here.”

Where was Sebastian? They needed to leave ASAP. Axel held his hands up. “Listen. We don’t want any trouble-”

Jake interrupted. “We’re not scared of-”

The leader threw a punch in Jake’s face, with enough force to knock him down.

“Jake!” Axel lunged down to check on him, but someone kicked his back, knocking him flat on the pavement. Fists rained down upon him. Upon Jake. Axel struggled to get up, but he could barely move. He could barely breathe. One of the men had him pinned on his stomach. A flash of silver caught Axel’s eyes. Was that a knife?!

Something hard struck his head, and the world went black.

 

~~~~~

 

Why hadn’t Sebastian listened to Jessie? She warned him not to eat anything from the break room vending machines. Who knew how old that sandwich was. He flushed the toilet, washed his hands, and quickly checked himself in the mirror- to make sure he looked good for Axel. Then, he left. Hopefully his two closest friends hadn’t been waiting too long for him.

Axel and Jake weren’t near the front door. Had they gone into the parking lot? Sebastian walked to the back of the building. There, they lay face-down on the ground. Heart racing, Sebastian squatted next to them. It was too dark to see clearly, but… was that blood on the sidewalk?

“Axel? Jake?” Sebastian shook Axel’s shoulder, but he was unresponsive. Jake too. What the hell did he miss? Shaking, Sebastian tapped at his watch, and called 911.

It felt like hours, but two ambulances and a police car were there within ten minutes.

“Will they live?” Sebastian asked one of four paramedics, after Jake and Axel were loaded onto stretchers.

“We’re not allowed to disclose that information.”

“What?!”

“Do you know what insurance they’re on?” another paramedic interrupted.

Sebastian shrugged, but the lone policeman (his name tag read “Gish”) tapped at a tablet. “Axel is on Medi-Son, and Jake is on Red Sword.”

“Huh?” the first paramedic stared at him.

“Blondie there is on Red Sword, and the Mexican is on Medi-Son.”

The paramedics wheeled the two unconscious men onto each ambulance. Sebastian followed the paramedic wheeling Axel. “Can I come with him?”

“What?”

“Please! I’m… family.”

“Do you have proof of that?”

Sebastian gave the paramedic his best facial impression of Tibby begging. The paramedic sighed. “Fine. Get in the front.”

“I can’t be in the back with Axel?”

“Someone is trying to work on him. You’ll be in their way.”

It was a fair point. Sebastian got in front seat, and got to experience the excitement of being in an ambulance with the sirens going off.

 

They arrived at a run-down hospital in Redding. The ambulance pulled up to a side door to the emergency room. Two paramedics rushed Axel in on the stretcher. An IV had been hooked up to him. Sebastian followed alongside them, down a corridor and into a large room filled with privacy curtains. Other patients laid in beds, in various states of consciousness. Axel himself appeared unconscious.

“Is he dead?” Sebastian asked one of the paramedics, after they transferred Axel onto an empty bed.

The paramedic frowned at him. “You don’t have permission to be back here.”

“But he’s my… brother.”

The other paramedic looked at Sebastian, then glanced over at Axel, then back at Sebastian. “You sure don’t look like brothers.”

Sebastian scrunched his eyebrows together. The paramedic turned away to call a nurse. Two nurses hurried over. Both winced at the blood covering Axel’s face.

“Help me get him undressed.”

A nurse led Sebastian away while the paramedic slid the privacy curtain in front of the bed.

“What happened?” the nurse asked Sebastian.

“I don’t know. We were leaving a bar. I stopped to use the bathroom. He and our friend waited outside for me. When I came back, both of them were knocked out behind the building.”

The nurse shook his head, and walked over to a tablet on a desk. He picked it up. “What’s his name?”

“Axel Bremmer.”

The nurse tapped at the tablet, and asked Sebastian to spell it out. He typed something into it. His jaw dropped.

“What is it?”

But the nurse ran back to Axel’s bed, whipping back the curtain. “Code H! He’s a code H!”

Code H?

The two paramedics and second nurse leaped back, as if Axel was contaminated with a deadly virus. The group chattered worriedly among themselves, their hushed voices reaching Sebastian’s ears.

“We need to do a blood test first.”

“But he’s lost so much blood already.”

“You willing to risk it?”

“I’m not going near him until he’s been tested!”

“Who’s gonna test him?”

“Not me!”

“Someone’s got to, or he’s gonna die.”

“So? You do it then.”

What the hell could be wrong with Axel that had doctors treating him like a leper? “What’s a code H?” Sebastian asked.

The nurse’s mouth thinned. “You need to get out of here.”

“Why? What’s happening? Will he be okay?”

“Get out now! You can check back in the morning.”

Did that mean they expected him to survive? Taking deep breaths to steady himself, Sebastian left the emergency room, cautiously optimistic. And then, realized he couldn’t go home because his car was back at the bar. He’d have to call a cab to take him to it.