The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]-Chapter 438: Discharged
When Damien finally finished handling all the formalities (for now), Lane had already washed himself in the hospital bathroom and was getting changed into clean, casual clothes. His wound dressings were all gone - although Catherine hadn’t bothered to fully heal him, she had still done a fairly decent job. She had done it publicly, on the record, after all, so her professional reputation was at stake. Not to mention, Lane was her son... She might not have cared, but others wouldn’t necessarily feel the same. Think of what kind of rumors could spread if she had left his own child suffering in a hospital with heavy injuries!
Either way, thanks to her ’help’ (if it could be called that), Lane was now more or less functional. Good enough to be discharged.
Damien, however, seemed to think otherwise.
"What are you doing?" he asked, furrowing his brows, as he watched Lane pull a T-shirt over his head.
"Getting ready to leave, what else?" Lane shrugged his shoulders. He grabbed a light jacket and threw it over his shoulder, glanced around to make sure that he didn’t leave anything, and headed toward the door. "Should we grab something to eat on the way? I’m starving! I know a few fast food places that should still be open..."
"No, wait." Damien reached out to stop him. Just as he was about to grab Lane’s arm, he hesitated for a moment, though, and in the end, he only took a step to the side, stretching his arm to block Lane’s way. "Why are you leaving?"
"To go home, duh!" Lane couldn’t help but roll his eyes. "Why, do you have any work left to do? ’Cause if so, then I can wait... Or I can go grab some food for both of us to save time?"
Damien closed his eyes, holding back a sigh. "No, not this... Why are you leaving the hospital already? You were badly injured..."
"Well, I’ve been healed! Catherine Allen had been here earlier, and she used her ability on me."
Naturally, Damien had already been informed of that. He had even spoken with Catherine and Miles personally. It was just that...
He looked Lane up and down. The man was wearing clothes now, so nothing could be seen, but...
Damien had seen his bare back before Lane had put on his T-shirt. And his right arm as well. Although his wounds were all closed, they were not fully healed just yet...
And that was only the external injuries. What about Lane’s fractures? Or any internal bleeding that he might have had?
Now it was Lane’s turn to sigh. Damien was really... Almost too caring at times. For Lane, who wasn’t used to such treatment, it left him at a loss for words and not knowing how to deal with it.
That’s not to say that it was displeasing or anything, quite the opposite. To have Damien worry so much about him... It made Lane feel all warm and tingly inside.
It also activated his flight response, since he didn’t know how to handle such fuzzy emotions. He was able to suppress it, though, and cover up his feelings, which could be best described as ’uncomfortable comfort’, with laughter.
"I’m FINE, seriously! You don’t need to fret over it so much," he chuckled, awkwardly patting Damien on the shoulder. "All of my serious injuries are healed, and besides, I can recover better at home... None of the medicine or treatment that this hospital is able to provide could possibly measure up to the Recovery Pills."
Damien stared at Lane for a bit longer, unconvinced. What Lane had said was an exaggeration. The Recovery Pills were just a Mana medicine that boosted the recovery rate, but they weren’t a fix for all. At the same time, while the medicine that the Association’s hospital had was indeed inferior to the Recovery Pills, that didn’t mean that the hospital was useless. They provided many treatments that could nurse the injured Awakened back to health... Even if they took longer than some of the better, private Awakened hospitals.
Still, Lane had a point. With his innate recovery rate and the stash of the Recovery Pills that Lane most likely had, it made no difference if Lane stayed in the hospital, or returned home.
And Damien would much rather have his boyfriend back home. He just felt more at ease when he could keep an eye on Lane. Lane was a menace not only for others, but even for himself, after all.
"Alright," he finally gave in. "You can go back home if you’re truly fine... I just need to check on everyone first, so you can go ahead if you want."
"Oh. Alright... I’ll grab a meal for us on the way then." Lane was about to walk away to disappear from Damien’s sight before the man could change his mind...
Just as he was about to step out of the room, he paused, glancing back.
"You’re checking up on everyone?"
"Yes..." Damien nodded, approaching Jasper’s bed. The Esper was still asleep, though, so for a moment, he didn’t know what to do... Waking Jasper up to ask him how he was doing didn’t seem right. He wanted to talk to the man for a bit, but he could just visit again in the morning. For now, it would probably be better to ask one of the nurses about Jasper’s condition instead... 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
"So you’re going to Ethan’s room now?" Lane’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts again.
"Yes, that’s right," he nodded, confirming Lane’s guess. Unlike Catherine, who had gone to check on (meaning: interrogate) Ethan first, Damien had gone straight to Lane’s room as soon as he could. There was no protocol that dictated in which order he was supposed to check on his subordinates, so naturally, Damien followed his heart, rushing to his boyfriend’s side first. Now that he had seen Lane, though, it was time to check on the two Guides...
"I’ll go with you!" Lane almost instantly announced, pushing his plans to grab some takeout aside. Food could wait, he wanted to see how Ethan was doing (and whether he was suspecting anything) first...
Damien stared at Lane in silence for a moment. He was very well aware that if Lane wanted to see Ethan, that was hardly out of concern... At least not out of the type of concern that anyone should have towards their teammate. Or any other human being, really.
Still, in the end, he just sighed. "If you want to..."
