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Chapter Twenty-Eight: Reunion

8:56pm

Reis's body was sour. The feeling of thick plastic against his back, cool metal under his arms, and inability to sit back in the chair he was sitting in, that was bolted against the wall, was the only thing keeping him awake. He laid his head backward against the cold wall, eyes half open, slowly taking in each breath as he stared at the dark ceiling. The hospital's lobby was an unwelcoming, confined place. Reis figured it was this way to discourage people from sleeping through the night there so that they could be near their loved one if something happened; it certainly wasn't going to allow him to sleep. Joji suggested that he go home, but he refused. How could be alone now? Or ever again? He knew very well who would come to visit him in the dark of night as he tried to force himself to sleep. It would be the apparition of a young female cat, with bright eyes that would turn pale, and silky white fur that would become stained red. Twenty-four hours ago...she was filled with life. Probably making love to her boyfriend, resting her head against his chest, listening to his breath and heart as they drifted off together. He might have told her that things would always be like this. No school, no parents, no work...just each other. They...she...completely unaware of what awaited them a few hours later; and through no fault of their own, only that they stuck themselves with the wrong crowd. Those who they thought were their friends hauling them into a van, pressing a needle into each of their arms and letting them plunge into oblivion while they drove them to the school.

I wonder if she fought back?

Reis ran his hands past his face and against his ears, pulling his eye lids up. Having regained some of his sight, he stared at the T.V. hanging from the wall. The gray and blue lights shining from the screen filled the dark room with an eerie glow. But this was not the only light that penetrated the lobby; to the right of the room is where the hall of patients' rooms began. The door to the first room was open; yellow light rayed out of it. From where he was sitting, Reis could see the bottom half of a hospital bed, which was occupied. Sitting on a stool beside the bed was Joji, gazing in devastatingly at the bed's occupant. Reis turned his head back to the T.V.; all he needed to know was that Joji was still there, he did not need to see anything more. The female otter, Amy Schaffer, was on the screen again. She had been covering whole day; apparently, she got a national screening since many nationwide networks could not get to the event in time, so they feed off the local reports.She'll probably get job offer with a major network, Reis thought to himself.

"It's now the top of the hour. For those of you just joining us, we will recap the day's events. Tragedy strikes Chemung County today as early this morning two teenaged felines entered Mayfield High School, armed with fully automatic rifles, and began a massacre that lasted for almost two hour. The shooting was ended thanks to a daring rescue by Chemung County Police, led by Sheriff Joji Barkin himself, as well as a fearless apprehension of one of the shooters by a group of students. The other shooter is reported to be dead..."

Reis leaned forward, sinking his face in his hands. He wished he had the strength to get up and turn the damn T.V. off.

"The Chemung County Police Department is not yet releasing the names of the shooters. But it has stated that tests on the shooter who is now in custody, as well as the autopsy of the dead shooter, show that both had high quantities of Bristol in their systems, a rare but extremely powerful hallucinogenic stimulant."

Reis shook his head as it rested in his hands.

"At 4pm today, at a press conference, Sheriff Barkin stated that a confession given by the shooter now in custody allowed for the department to obtain enough warrants to search dozens of properties within the county allegedly used for the development of Bristol. 'A few hours ago, we obtained warrants to search fifty premises within this county. Of the fifty, we've had forty-one affirmative hits. All of which were being used for the production of Bristol as well as other drugs. We also uncovered stock piles of illegal weapons, false identifications, and over two million in cash. In the process, we've arrested over twenty-five suspects, a few of which have confessed to have known of a plan to attack the school today.' Sheriff Joji also gave a sincere, tearful word of sympathy to the families of the victims of today's tragedy. 'As...as a guardian who has a child in the hospital right now, fighting for his life...I know your suffering. Today I failed in my oath to ensure security for you and yours. But we've taken immediate action...and we've prevailed. There is still a lot to do but...all you can do now is hope...pray. But I promise you that you can with peace of mind that those...all of those responsible for this unspeakable tragedy have been brought to justice.' As of now, there were forty-seven students injured in today's shooting. Nineteen of them are still in critical condition."

Reis looked back over to Joji, who was stroking his hand against the covered legs of the person in the bed. It was strange to look at him with his disembodied voice sounding throughout the room.

If only the news could get half of it.

The day's events played through Reis's mind like a projector. As soon as they got all the warrants signed by Judge Shirk, Joji dispersed them among teams of officers. The warrants took the department to all corners of the county. Joji and Reis hit four places. The first was a shabby country house where they pounded through the door and a young woman came running out of the hall covering her naked body with a bed comforter. She was followed by a young, scruffy leopard who tried to jump out the window on the first floor, but Reis tackled him before he could go through the glass. In the cellar, they found dope and unregistered guns, but the key find were papers that were casually stored in the drawer of an old, broken wooden desk that contained the logistics of drug operations, including storage facilities.

The next place they hit was an abandoned warehouse, where they found a sizable lab; all over there were needles, Bunsen burners, and traces of Bristol. After that, they cleared out an old motel where they discovered of weapons and more Bristol.

However, the last place was their only negative search: it was the apartment of Calmonte Lighthorn. The apartment was located in Maine, an old county village on the edge of the county. The small conglomerate of buildings on a single strip of road, which made up the village's main street, contained a few upstairs flats; Lighthorn's being one above a small pawn shop. The apartment had brick walls, the windows were cracked, and the floor had no carpet or tile, only planks of old wood. There was no one in the apartment. The two began by pulling the drawers out of a metal desk located beside the window and emptying them out. Reis tore up the bed as Joji flipped through the books on a small bookshelf at the iron foot of the bed, throwing each one down one at a time. They pried through the chipped cupboards above and below the rusty stove. They even stomped on the planks of the floor as to search for openings. All they could find of interest was an old photograph of Lighthorn standing with a group of others; Joji's father was included in the picture.

Nothing. Not a hint of criminal activity. Any at all. Not the slightest connection. All Joji could do was stomp his foot against the floor once more as he threw the picture to the wall, shattering it into smithereens.

Reis rubbed his eyes again and looked back to the bright beckon coming from the open hospital room. Joji was still caressing the blankets one gentle stroke after another. The tears in his eyes shined within the bright yellow light.

Joji looked at the young Dalmatine laying before him. He was as motionless as a corpse; he had been uncurious since that morning. Although his blankets would slowly rise up and down with each breathe, the mask strapped to this face shielded the sound of him breathing. That troubled Joji greatly. There were times, though Alex never knew of it as far as Joji knew, that Joji couldn't help but sneak into Alex's room in the middle of the night while he slept to make sure that he was still breathing. The soothing sound of him inhaling and exhaling with easing rhythm was enough to reassure Joji for the night. Joji knew that it was silly, but there were times when the feeling of responsibility, and intense need, was enough to force him to do it regularly. But now, no matter how close he put his ear to the boy's covered muzzled, there was not a sound. The only sound the signaled Alex's life now came from the mechanical beeping of the respirator.

Joji grasped Alex's purple jacket in his hands. A young otter identifying himself as Luke, and a friend of Alex's, stopped by earlier to drop it off. The kid did so with an overbearing look of guilt on his face_._

I am so sorry...I am so...so...

Joji rose from his stool, letting the jacket fall to the ground. The hours sitting on it made themselves known as a wave of soreness crept up Joji's back. He prostrated his face over Alex's, almost touching the inner edges of his left ears with his soft nose.

"Alex...I am so sorry..."

A sense of redundancy befell Joji. He had said that same thing to him over and over, probably more than a hundred times over the past few hours. He gazed at the youth's closed eyes; what he would give to see his blue irises again or at least the lips move in the slightest. Joji looked back at the door to see if anyone was there, but all he could see was Reis leaning his large body against the wall in the lobby as he sat on a plastic chair. There were no doctors or nurses. They had told him not to move Alex, but the hours sitting there, with all his emotions confined to that one stool, made his impatience run wild. He looked back down at Alex, who looked ever so peaceful, and wrapped his arms around the Dalmatian's small head, gripping him with an embrace that Joji had to seriously control as he did not want to disturb the mask, or hurt Alex's head. He ran his nose between Alex's ears, kissing him on the top of his forehead.

"You were so brave...so brave...you saved my life..."

Joji's tears finally fell on Alex's head.

"Please Alex...please...don't you..." Joji could not finish, instead he broke out into sobs, holding the Dalmatian's head to his chest like a child grasping onto a doll that was being blown away by a fearful wind, his tears continuing to fall on the boy.

Joji heard something from behind him, which made him hastily turn. Standing in the doorway was the nurse. Though she looked at him disapprovingly, she nonetheless showed a hint of empathy in her face, and in her silence. Joji released Alex, gently laying his head back down on the soft, white pillow. Then he picked up the jack off the floor and spread it over Alex's chest.

Joji stood upright and walked past the nurse without saying a thing; turning to take one last look at Alex before he walked out of the room.

Joji walked over to Reis a little weary; the contrast with the bright room and the dark lobby filled his sight with a purple haze. As he reached out his hand, it took Reis a minute to collect himself in order to notice it.

"Come on. I'm taking you home," whispered Joji.

Reis grasped Joji's hand and Joji pulled him up with all his might, as it appeared that Reis was not making much effort. The two walked down the dark hall and toward the glass doors that led to the parking lot. The light coming from outside led the way. Reis was almost leaning against Joji, which was not convenient for Joji considering Reis's massive size. Finally they pushed through the door and into the cool night air. As the two walked across the sidewalk that surrounded the building and through the parking lot towards the car, a proverbial voice cried out,

"REIS!"

Reis and Joji both turned their heads to see a short fennec running up the parking lot.

Marcus.

Marcus charged right into Reis, squeezing his abdomen with all his might and pressing his face into Reis's chest. Reis stood motionless. Marcus's tears stained Reis's uniform.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Marcus sobbed, "Why didn't you fucking answer my calls?" Reis remained silent, making Marcus look up in desperation, "Tell me you are not hurt!"

He hasn't said a word all day, Joji thought as he carefully backed off.

Reis was dazed. Having Marcus in his arms that night only topped how surreal things felt. He could not met his eyes with Marcus's; having them give off any sign of lifelessness would be too much for Reis to bear if Marcus were to see them.

"Reis? Reis?" cried Marcus. it was no use, Reis would not lower his face down to Marcus's. Again, Marcus pressed his face into Reis's chest, "Oh God Reis...what's happened to you..."

Finally, Reis began to stir. Though he still aimlessly stared straight, he began to move his arms forward, slowly encompassing Marcus, entrapping him in a tight grasp. His grip was so strong that Marcus thought that Reis would squeeze the air right out of him, making him almost gasp for breath.

"Reis..."

Reis lowered his head until it pressed intensely against the side of Marcus's face. Marcus suddenly felt the side of his face becoming...very wet. Reis only pulled his arms together tighter. Marcus tried to push him off a little just to be able to move a little, but Reis showed no signs of loosening his grip. Then, Reis let out a loud wail, which made Marcus's ears ring. He began to cry uncontrollably, severely jerking his head side to side. Suddenly, Reis began to let go of his grip, allowing Marcus to suck in a load of air before he noticed that Reis was falling backwards. Marcus grabbed on Reis's torso, trying to muster all of his strength to keep Reis from hitting the ground, but it still was vastly disproportional to the big wolf's weight. Thankfully, Joji sprung up from behind Reis and helped to lower him down gently. Once he lay on the asphalt of the parking lot, Reis tried to turn over on his side, but Marcus cradled his head as to not let it touch the ground.

"REIS! REIS!"

Reis grabbed onto Marcus's jacket, pulling him in, "I FUCKING KILLED HER!" he shouted with gargled words "I...I fucking killed her..." His tears fell like a river onto the asphalt; his sobs severely shook his lower jaw. Marcus laid his head onto Reis's, holding it tightly, trying to make him just...stop.

"Shhhh...Reis...Shhhhh."

Reis released Marcus from his grip and allowed for his arms to spill down onto the parking lot. His crying only grew more intense. He started to spew out uninterruptable slurs. Joji knelt down beside the couple, "Reis...Reis listen to me. You did the right thing. I know..." he spoke slower, "I know exactly how you feel right now. But you saved my life, and yours, and..." Joji looked back to the hospital; the moist in his eyes reflected the neon light coming from the building. Then he looked back to Reis, reaching his hand out toward his face.

"Get away from him you psycho!" snapped Marcus as he pulled Reis's head away as if desperately trying to shield him.

Joji drew his hand back, staring at Marcus with his cold brown eyes.

"If it weren't for you, he never would have..."

"-Now you fucking listen up, Marc! I told him to stay outside the school! Not only did he not listen, he fought off another cop in order to come right after me! And you know what? It's the only fucking time in my life I'm glad someone ever disobeyed me! I only wish that he...FUCK ..." Joji sprung to his feet and made a swift one-eighty toward his car. Once he got to it, he kicked the tire and pounded his hands on the hood. "MOTHERFUCKER!"

Dead silence followed. Reis had finally stopped crying, but his stillness only made Marcus all the more terrified.

"Joji...look..." Marcus fought to make the words come out, "...I'm sorry. And I'm sorry about Alex."

Joji raised his head, looking out in the opposite direction. He pushed himself up off of the hood of the car and began to circle around it. Then he opened the driver's door.

"Wait. Where are you going? We got to get him back inside."

Joji looked up again, staring in the opposite direction towards the moonlight. "Blood. There's gotta still be blood on the floor," he said in a way that was not directed at Marcus, but sounded like his thoughts manifesting in sound. "I had better clean it up before somebody else has to." He then disappeared behind the door that echoed after it was slammed shut. For an instant, the lot was illuminated by the red and blue lights of Joji's police car, which were soon only glittered into a distance until they disappeared from sight.

They were left alone. The two of them...and the cold asphalt.