Chapter Text
They say the night is the darkest just before dawn and at that very moment, Altair would probably agree with them. The sky was about to turn into the shade of a soft purple and blue before the sun would rise to greet a new morning, the birds were already singing outside and it looked as if it was about to be a beautiful early spring day. He could almost smell the fresh air and blooming flowers, could feel the wind brushing over his skin and tousle his hair but in the end, the breeze he felt was the air conditioner, the flowers sanitizer and the sky a white sterile ceiling Altair was currently staring at as he'd leaned his head back, rubbing his face with both palms.
It was way too early to be up at such an ungodly hour but the staff of the hospital was busy with their morning routines. Altair hardly noticed them as he was sitting in the ER together with Leonardo and Ezio, worried sick to the stomach and he sighed again, leaning forwards on his knees using his elbows and head hanging low between his shoulders. They'd been here for two hours now and still, nobody had come yet to talk with them. Apparently, since Malik had no family left living in the city besides Kadar, Leonardo was on his list of contacts in case of an emergency so the hospital had called him. Now all they could do was to wait and it slowly ate Altair away, leaving nothing behind but an empty shell.
He glanced sideways and watched both men from the corner of his eye. Ezio was sleeping, his head resting on Leonardo's shoulder, collar around his neck and hair pulled back into a hasty ponytail – it looked like as if he'd just rolled out of bed, it was the same with Leonardo. He'd put his shirt the wrong way on, the little label sticking out at the front underneath his chin. Altair couldn't blame them, he didn't even have bothered with making his hair but had rather grabbed a few clothes to jump into and followed Leonardo to get to the hospital as soon as possible.
They only knew that Malik was currently in surgery, Kadar hadn't been brought to the same hospital and since Leonardo was only on Malik's list of contacts they didn't tell them anything about the younger brother so they would have to wait until they could speak with Malik.
Leonardo hadn't told Altair much – there'd been an accident, that's all he knew and that Malik's in surgery but Altair doubted he only had minor injuries. He's been in the damn surgery for more than two hours now and all he really wanted was to know if he was alright, if he was going to be okay and... shit.
Fuck!
Altair didn't know what to feel, he was angry and afraid all the same and maybe that was the worst combination ever. He was close to freaking out and he suddenly stood up, startling Leonardo and Ezio. “What is it?”, Leonardo blinked at him, “Did they call us?”
“No”, Altair growled, “but I need to do something, I can no longer sit here and wait.”
“Oh”, Leonardo rubbed his eyes with one hand and Ezio slowly sat up as well but he still looked like as if he'd just woken up from a coma. “Want me to come with you to get us some coffee?”, the artist offered.
“No. I think I saw a coffee machine down the hall, I get us some – wait here in case they call us”, Altair shook his head and reached into his pocket to see if he had some change left. Yes, seemed like it.
“Alright”, Leonardo nodded and rubbed Ezio's thigh and Altair turned around, following the smell of cheap coffee which would probably not taste better than piss. There were hardly people on the floor, mostly just staff who were getting ready to change shifts, get breakfast for the patients, change the sheets and just about everything which included the daily routine of a hospital. Altair pulled out his phone and opened his messages. A sharp pain went through his heart when he saw that Malik's were on the top and it took him great willpower to not open and read them – it would only hurt him all the more. Instead he went into his contacts until he found Rauf's number.
I'm not coming in today.
Altair put his phone back into his pocket and tried to flatten out some of his dollar bills so the machine would take them and soon enough the coffee was running and gathering into a small plastic cup. When Altair took a first sip he pulled his face into a grimace. This could be very well called brown water.
He kept standing there for a moment and turned towards the large window. The sun was rising, crawling across and ripping apart a bright blue sky, its rays slowly finding their way through the urban canyons of the city, creating large shadows on the grounds. Altair snorted, the image was not fitting his mood at all and he wanted for the night to not end forever, he wanted the world at chaos just as his own world was.
He turned away from the windows and made his way back towards Leonardo and Ezio but not before he threw his own empty cup away and got two more although he almost felt pity for the men to drink shit like that but it was better than nothing and would keep them a little while longer awake.
When he turned back into the lobby of the ER, Leonardo and Ezio were standing. Leonardo saw Altair and he waved at him. Altair's pace quickened so in the end he was almost jogging when he stopped next to both men. “What is it?”, Altair asked and shoved both cups into Ezio's hands – otherwise he would have let them fall with how excited he was all of the sudden, his heart beating widely and his breath short.
“He's out of surgery”, Leonardo said and pressed his lips tightly together and brushed a strand of hair back behind his ear.
“But?” Altair shifted his weight and he was close to just curl his fingers around Leonardo collar and shake him. “What's with him? Where's Kadar?”
Leonardo sighed while Ezio simply put the two coffees down on the chair behind him. “They had to reanimate-”
“Reanimate?” Altair's face went all the more pale, his legs shaking and the tips of his fingers tingled as if his arms had fallen asleep, tongue thick and furry. Maybe this is how it felt when you had a stroke.
“Because of the trauma”, Leonardo muttered, “He's in no good condition.”
“But he's going to make it, right? We can go and see him”, Altair asked hopefully but when Leonardo put his hand on his shoulder and slowly guided him towards another chair and pressed down so Altair had to sit, he knew this weren't good news he was about to hear. Leonardo sat down next to him.
“They didn't say much of what happened but Ezio searched the news on his phone while you were gone. There was only a short notice from the police about an accident downtown. For unknown reasons two cars have collided, leaving two injured and one dead-”
“You think it's the accident Malik had?” Altair watched Leonardo carefully and pressed the tips of his fingers tightly together while gritting his teeth and it hurt his jaw.
“I don't know but-” Leonardo's voice broke. “But if it's the accident Malik's been involved then... Kadar...”
Only now did it dawn on Altair and for a tiny second, the world stopped turning and it felt like as if he was falling all over again but the impact never came. “Then it means either he's dead or the second person injured”, he whispered and looked puzzled. This didn't make any sense – none of it made any sense at all! They've talked just yesterday, Altair had said his good byes to Malik just yesterday, had kissed him, laughed with him, had been annoyed with Kadar, it- no. No. This wasn't happening. He refused to believe that, he refused to face reality.
“Kadar's dead?”, Altair whispered again and slowly turned his head to fully face Leonardo but the man just shook his head.
“I don't know, we don't know I mean- all we have is this tiny article about an accident downtown, it could be another one, I- I guess we have to wait until Malik wakes up but-”
“But what?”
“They said he needs to recover from the surgery and the trauma to his body and that he's spending the next few days in an artificial coma.”
“He's not going to wake up soon?”
Leonardo shook his head. “No he isn't Altair.”
“But what did they do? How badly was he injured?”
He watched how Leonardo licked slowly over his lips, then pressed them tightly together and Altair knew by now that it's how he looked when he didn't want to give somebody the bad news – it's exactly how he looked when he'd come to Malik's place the night to tell Altair about the accident. “Few broken ribs, brain concussion and a broken collarbone.”
“But that doesn't sound like as if he needs to be under a coma”, Altair shook his head in disbelieve.
“No”, Leonardo agreed, “but they told me they had to remove his arm at the scene.”
“What?”
“They couldn't get him out of the car without amputating his left arm”, Leonardo said again, speaking louder now and his voice sounded hoarse and tired. “They gave him a few blood transfusion and took care of the rest in surgery... he lost his arm”, he concluded.
“Fuck.”
Altair sat with slumped shoulders on his seat, not able to think a straight thought. “But he's in no life threatening condition?”
“They can't tell for sure, he fell into shock at the accident scene, the wound might get infected – they... they said it needs time to see but for now that's all they can do for him. His body needs the rest so they let him sleep” Leonardo muttered while Ezio sat next to him and rubbed his palm over his shoulder. “Malik's tough”, Ezio said slowly, “he's able to take it.”
“I hope so”, Leonardo nodded.
“And there's no chance they might say us something about Kadar?”
“No”, Leonardo shook his head, “they would tell me if I were a relative but I'm not and Kadar never took care of stuff like that so we really do have to wait until Malik wakes up and tells us what happened.”
“Can I at least see him?”, Altair muttered and felt like shrinking, his whole world just getting smaller and smaller and in the end it was crushing him.
“He's not allowed to have any visitors at the moment and he just got out of surgery”, Leonardo explained. “Why don't you come home with Ezio and me? I think it'll be better for you not to be alone today”, he suggested instead. “His doctor said we could stop by tomorrow to see him but now isn't a good time.”
Altair looked slowly up and it was then that he reached for the collar around his neck, feeling the cool simple steel underneath them. Somehow, and it sounded probably very strange, but somehow the constant feeling of it pressing down on his skin made him feel as if Malik was just a step away – all he really needed to do was to reach out for him and collect him in his arms. He still hadn't looked in his phone for the combination to open the number lock. He doubted he would look at it as long as Malik was in a coma. Taking it off would hold the same meaning as them breaking up.
“Thank you for your offer but I think I rather stay home today-”
“And doing what?”, Leonardo pondered, standing up and wrapping his fingers around Ezio's hand, pulling the man close. “Don't tell me you're as stubborn as Malik. This is a time to rely on friends and I think you could really need some.”
Alair pursed his lips and thought for a little while, weighing his options and eventually decided for the one thing which made the most sense. “Okay, I stay with you guys for the day-”
“You can stay the night just as well.”
“We'll see about that but I-” Altair looked back down the corridor, “I don't think I can go yet.”
“You want to stay because you think you're closer to Malik this way.”
Altair nodded weakly and felt drained of all of his energy. He felt small and lost and the walls of the hospital just got higher and higher and he feared they would soon collapse around him. “I can't leave him behind like that, can I?”
“You don't leave him behind but sitting here will do him no good. We stop at Malik's apartment and you pack him a few clothes – we take them with us tomorrow. If you really want to do something for him, I guess that's a first step.”
“And what about Kadar?” Altair felt his heart skipping a beat – it didn't feel right to speak the younger brother's name, it somehow made him feel uneasy and there was this thick black cloud lingering at the back of his mind making his hair stand to end.
“I have no idea”, Leonardo said and yes, that was exactly how Altair felt. All helpless and confused, not having a clue of what to do next.
All he really knew was that he needed Malik.
Now.