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Michael saw Ryan’s car on one of the monitors. He put down the beer, took a deep breath and went upstairs.
He met them at the door. Gavin looked shitty. Ryan was wearing his mask.
“Are you ok?” Michael was actually talking to both of them, but Ryan took a step to the side and walked right past him.
“What the fuck?”
Ryan ignored him completely.
“Always a pleasure!” Michael turned back to Gavin. “Didn’t even know he had the fucking”, - he waved a hand in front of his face in frustration, - “with him”.
“Put it on as soon as we got in the car and said nothing the whole way”, Gavin said quietly.
“Unbelievable. All right, let’s get you cleaned up.”
***
Michael was working on grazes on Gavin’s face when they heard a noise from upstairs. Gavin flinched.
“Is he breaking furniture now?” Michael raised his voice.
They heard a louder noise, then again, and again. Then the house was silent.
Michael finished, put the kit back in the cupboard and stood still for a long moment, staring at the wall thoughtfully.
“Damn it! I’ll go check on him.”
***
“Ryan!” He knocked on the door again. “Dude, just say something or fucking throw something and I’ll go away! Make a noise!”
Still no answer.
“If you don’t say something right now I’m breaking in!” Michael put his ear to the door and heard nothing.
He smashed one of the matted glass panels with the back of his gun and hunched to look inside. All he saw was an empty bed with Ryan’s mask on it and some medical supplies scattered around. He stuck his hand in the hole and unlocked the latch.
***
Ryan was laying on the floor by the bed. Michael crouched next to him, grabbed his elbow and shook him. Then pulled to sit him up.
Ryan let out a pained yell, snapped into consciousness and kicked Michael off his feet. He stood up, lost balance, took a few wobbly steps back and smashed into a bedside table.
When Michael looked up, he saw Ryan pressing himself into the corner, holding a knife in front of him. Michael reached for his gun.
“Wait!” Gavin yelled from the door.
“W-what’s happening?” Ryan was looking around groggily.
Michael saw blood flowing down the man’s neck, soaking the collar of his shirt.
“Ryan, turn around! I think you hurt your head.” Gavin came closer to them.
Ryan hesitantly put down his knife and reached to touch the back of his head.
Michael walked up to Ryan. “Dude, come sit on the bed.”
“Don’t… touch my arm.” Ryan moved and dropped on the bed heavily.
There was a gnarly long wound on the left side of the back of his head.
“Oh my God… What?? What the fuck do we do???”
“Michael, calm down.”
“You calm down! He looks like a fucking zombie from behind!”
“We need to call Jack.”
***
Jack received a message from Gavin and froze.
“What is it?” Geoff glanced at him, worried.
Jack just showed them the picture.
“Is that… Ryan?” Ray asked.
Jack dialed Gavin’s number.
“Is that Ryan?”
“What? Yeah.”
“How long was he out?”
“Ten minutes. Fifteen, maybe.”
That was actually better than Jack expected.
“Is he awake now?”
“Yes.”
“You need to keep it that way. Talk to him… If he’s not responding, don’t shake him, don’t move his head at all. Just call his name or pinch him. If he really drifts away, use smelling salts. Have him tell you if he feels something weird.”
“Like what?”
“Like he’s going blind. Don’t tell him that, though!”
“I think he knows”, Geoff said quietly.
Jack let out a long breath.
“Okay, Gavin. We will be there in half an hour. Lay him down on his side, - he might throw up by the way, - and put an ice pack on the wound. The bleeding should stop soon. Make sure he’s breathing. Do you know CPR?”
“Yes.”
“Be ready to do it.”
***
They arrived at the house in less than twenty minutes. Jack went straight inside. He gave a nod to Michael, who was keeping watch on the porch, grabbed his kit and went to Ryan’s bedroom.
Ryan was laying on his side, legs still on the floor, with Gavin next to him, holding an ice pack to the man’s head.
“He stopped talking a couple minutes ago.”
“Jack”, - Ryan said suddenly in a really reserved voice, - “my left shoulder is dislocated. Please help me fix it.” Ryan pushed himself to sit up.
“Okay… okay.” Jack put down his kit and looked through it to confirm what he already knew. “I don’t have anything to give you a shot with. Just some pills and an anaesthetic spray. We’ll have to wait for the pills to kick in and you might throw them up anyway. The spray won’t help much.”
“Do it now.”
“Okay.” Jack went to stand in front of Ryan and paused for a second, looking at his face. He shook it off.
Ryan was still wearing a suit. Jack tried to take off his jacket, starting with his good shoulder, but it was too tight and Ryan groaned. Jack cut the back of the jacket in half, pulled it off carefully and started unbuttoning the shirt.
“I think I should go?” Gavin was already at the door.
Jack nodded. He cut the shirt too, took it off and sprayed Ryan’s shoulder.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Jack started twisting Ryan’s arm. Ryan kept silent, but his breathing became irregular, and when Jack finally put his arm back in the joint, he fell to his side, panting.
***
Jack checked Ryan’s ribs only to find that at least two of them were cracked or broken. He helped the man to the bathroom, sat him on the floor with his back to the tub, washed the blood off his head and shaved the hair around the wound. Then he sat on the edge of the tub behind Ryan and put the man’s head on his thigh. Ryan was oddly relaxed and drawled words.
“I’ll stich now. You really need to talk to me.”
“Okay.”
“So how did you hurt your head? And why is the closet door hanging on one hinge?”
“I tried to fix my shoulder.”
“I thought you hurt it when you fell.”
“I did. When I fell from a window at Corpirate’s mansion.”
Jack froze.
“Four hours ago??”
“I guess.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you ask Gavin to help?”
“…I was mad at him. He was mad at me.”
“Glad you have your fucking priorities straight!”
“I decided to wait for you to do it right. To avoid habitual… habitual dislocation.”
“But you didn’t wait.”
“I couldn’t find any painkillers and I… lost it.”
***
Jack finished stitching, wiped the blood off and put a dressing pad on the wound. Ryan turned his head to look up at him. Jack stared at the man’s face in awe, taking in the features, familiar blue eyes and a small smile.
I would’ve said ten out of ten, Michael. Jack flinched at his own thought.
“Thank you, Jack.” Ryan’s smile widened.
“You are welcome,” Jack mumbled and looked away. For a moment, he thought Ryan was a mind reader.
Jack took Ryan back to the room, suddenly very aware of the other’s shirtless state. He measured the man’s blood pressure and pulse and finally laid him on the bed and put a blanket over.
“I’m going downstairs to talk to the others. I’ll ask Ray to keep an eye on you.”
Maybe I should ask Geoff to keep an eye on me, too.
Jack fled Ryan’s bedroom, feeling like the worst person in the world.
***
“Jack said you are in need of an X-Ray.” Ray closed the door behind him.
Ryan said nothing. Ray walked up to the bed.
“Ryan?” There was no response and Ray frowned. He called again, raising his voice. Then yelled. Then pinched the man’s leg. Ryan still didn’t react and Ray put a hand in front of his face to feel Ryan breathing. Finally, he used smelling salts. Ryan breathed in and turned away.
“…Huh?”
“Jack said you are in need of an X-Ray.” Ray repeated in the same cheerful tone.
Ryan gave a small chuckle.
***
“How is he?” Michael jumped off the counter as soon as he saw Jack coming into the kitchen.
“He’s an idiot. And not as superhuman as he thinks he is.” Jack sat down at the table and sighed. “He dislocated the fuck out of his left shoulder when he fell from a window at the mansion.”
“What?”
“He drove like this?”
“Why didn’t he say anything?”
“He said he wanted to wait for me to fix it properly. But then he apparently changed his mind and started jumping into furniture arm first, passed out from the pain and split his head in half on the edge of the bed.”
“Isn’t he supposed to be all professional and shit?” Michael shook his head in disbelief.
“He… had a bad day.” Jack stared at his own hands. “I think his skull is still in one piece, but I can’t tell if his brain is bruised without an x-ray. He may seem fine and then develop all kinds of nasty symptoms and die at any time during the next week or so.”
They sat in silence for a minute. Geoff was drumming his fingers. Then he spoke up.
“Gavin, I need you to find a place around here where we can use an x-ray without getting noticed.” Gavin nodded. “Jack and I will take Ryan there. If the results are bad, he’ll have to make use of his anonymity and hope for the best. We’ll drop him off somewhere quiet, he’ll call an ambulance and tell them he doesn’t remember anything.”
***
Geoff was driving carefully and slower than usual. Ryan was buckled up in the seat next to him, with Jack holding his head from the back to keep it from bobbling.
Ryan was a rag doll at this point. They used smelling salts two more times and eventually gave up on keeping him awake. At least Jack said he could feel him breathing.
Geoff couldn’t wrap his head around what was happening.
This motherfucker is smart and loaded. I missed Edgar and had to get into this shit completely unprepared, like a 25-year-old retard. But he knew. He could’ve prepared. I’ve always thought he has a backup plan and if things really go south he’ll leave us and take off in his precious mask to regroup and try again. So why the fuck is he laying in my car instead of being fucking flown to some doctor he blackmails?
Geoff turned to look at Ryan. He remembered his surprise when he saw the man without his mask or his baggy jacket. Ryan was younger, thinner and less harsh-looking than Geoff expected.
First he takes off his mask. Then he goes on an unplanned rampage with no chance of survival. Then he fucking suffers in silence, which is actually more in character. But freaking out in his room?
Geoff shook his head and took a deep breath.
He is not who I thought he was. He is not a cold calculating asshole and this is not an elaborate operation. This is the last desperate attempt of a tired man who doesn’t care if he lives or dies anymore.