Working it out | Dante

Later in the evening, Melanie found herself alone for a minute. None of the Doctors and Nurses who had been in and out of the room had been able to give her any information on Dante, which she fully blamed on Braxton. She couldn't quite blame him though.  Brax was hurting in a way that she couldn't quite help, for reasons only she could have prevented. Despite very thing, she felt the need to go check on her friend. That, and she needed an explanation for why he had done it. 

Quietly making her way down the hall, she found a list at the abandoned nurses station that would tell her where he was.  Her side and shoulder screamed in pain, but she simply gritted her teeth and kept walking. Brax was going to kill her when he found out she had left the room unassisted. Glancing our the door, she noticed that it was night time, though it really didn't matter. She was simply going to check on him and leave. It was the only way she would know he was still alive. 

The door was  heavy when she finally pushed it open, but the light was on and it allowed her to see Dante perfectly. Gods, he looked half dead. A chair beside his bed indicated that someone had been staying with him, likely his brother since she knew he wasn't seeing anyone.  Walking towards it, she sat down to catch her breath so that she could go back to her room and wait for Braxton or one of her brothers to come back. Dante appeared to be sound asleep and oblivious to her presence. 

@kkram265

Dante heard the door open and began to stir, stifling a groan of pain, opening his eyes he saw Mel sitting in the chair Nathan had occupied previously. Shifting a bit he turned to look at her and in a husky dry voice said, "Though I would love to have a night time romantic connection I don't think I will take you up on it." he smiled a bit trying desperately to remain in control. It was his fault she was hurt, it was his fault she could have died. Braxton should have ended him. Shifting again he pressed the button on the side of the bed to raise it a little so he could look at Mel.

Reaching for some water he took a few sips, "I kept my promise...though I had help. I never meant to..." the words caught in his mouth. He nearly lost his best friend and it was his fault.

Melanie laughed softly, but winced when the movement pulled at the stitches in her side. Of course Dante would crack a joke first thing. "Well, I assure you that wasn't my intention. No one would tell me anything, so I came down to see if you were alive." No, she ha stopped bringing up Dante early on. Everyone she knew was ready to kill him, so trying to find out information had been beyond impossible.


"I'm glad your awake, all things considered. I would've come sooner, but I've been on lock down all day." Alright, Dante was definitely in trouble, but he did deserve that much of an explanation. Even if he had tried to shoot her brother.

Dante listened to Mel but he could tell something was off, and he wanted to know what it was though. He remembered most of what happened during the battle but there was a part that wasn't making any sense, before he remembered waking up while Nathaniel and Aza were working on him he thought he saw someone that was dead. Mel's brother...Alex kept appearing in his nightmares, though he could have sworn the young man was dead. That could be what could be setting her on edge, then again he had only woken up from the coma he slipped into a few hours ago and he could just be seeing things. Hell he could honestly be in hell reliving his best friend preparing to tear out his heart. "I'm happier that you are alive... are you alright?" he said unable to really find a clever way to make her smile, he was still to tired to focus clearly on that. @accaila

created by rynstone

"I'll be fine." She quipped, looking down as she did so. They shouldn't have to be happy that she was alive. Brax shouldn't be so irritated at her right now for simply saying his name. This was all so messed up that she couldn't stand it. "Why, Dante? I wasn't in any danger. You could've killed my little brother before I even had time to realize he was there." The anger in her heart was boiling close to the surface, but she wanted to give Dante a chance to explain. She was his friend, afterall. right?

When her question burst out he felt like he should be moving further away, she was upset and at her words he realized what he thought was a dream had in fact been true, her brother was alive but how was that possible. "I was trying to protect you I saw you get knocked down, or maybe pushed to the side...the details are fuzzy. Either way I was trying to protect you I just saw a hooded man and thought he was with camp bast." He paused taking another sip of water trying to wet his dry mouth before he continued. It also gave him some time to focus his thoughts, though he still felt it wouldn't help much.

"Had I known it was Alex...I thought he was dead I didn't know he was still alive. I didn't want you to get hurt. Though I will say he does have a talent with that staff. I know there is nothing I can say, hell I can't forgive myself for hitting you. Especially now that I know you were doing it to save Alex." He took another sip of his water and then added, "Also if my face is any indication Braxton is in love with you, though I don't know if he knows it. I may need to transfer out of Minotaur...if looks could kill he would have done the deed."

"I didn't know he was alive either, or you would've known. He just showed up. The necromancer you were looking for? It was him. For five years, I thought he was dead. Five years. He wasn't trying to hurt me, or I would've kept going. He pushed me backwards to that I didn't hurt him. That's all." Her hands were shaking and it was hard for her to maintain her composure. Logically she knew Dante was right, that Alex had been a threat he was trying to eliminate. She wasn't a damsel in distress. She didn't need the boys to run in and save her, and the one time he tried she almost died.

But then the conversation took a more interesting turn. She knew that Brax's hands had been covered in blood. The longer that Melanie had been awake, the more she remembered about what had happened, the way things really went down. At the time she had just assumed it was from the battle. "If you think that's the case, your probably right. He left here pissed off earlier because I asked him if you were okay before all the pieces to the puzzle fell back together. If he was in love with me, or he thought he was, I doubt that's the case now." Melanie on the other hand, loved him more than she ever had before. The memories that had begun to resurface let her know that Espn was right. She was in love with Braxton and it was an inescapable truth. The only other one that she knew with that kind of clarity was that he had left, and he hadn't come back. She doubted he would.

Shifting in his bed he groaned but he still found a better spot to look at her, "Mel.." he swallowed the lump in his throat, he didn't feel as comfortable around her. She nearly died and it was his fault. "You are an incredibly strong woman who I know can protect herself but part of the training to to watch out for your comrades in arms. I did make a mistake with who my target was and you made a choice that kept him safe. I don't know if I will ever be able to forgive myself and I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to be near me again. But I won't stop caring for you." He took a breath again and sighed turning away from her expecting her to leave.

Braxton truly was in love with her if he didn't want her to be near him. How far had that friendship fallen due to one error, an error that nearly cost them both someone very important to both of them. He should probably look at transferring if he really wanted to keep his job or even his life. He started to laugh and soon he was laughing hard enough that he was moaning, "Brax will prbably try and kill me next time we meet and I won't stop him." Tears slipped down his face, thinking he was alone in the room.

"I doubt that Colonel Wyatt has much interest in killing you, or he already would have." The little bit of distance that title gave worked wonders for her resolve as it began to slip. No, she didn't need Braxton there, but she as sorely tempted to call him as she stood up with the intention of leaving. Part of her wanted to know if he was coming back, or if she was right. Then again, it would be better to wait and see. Dante needed her to find some way to reassure him anyways, even if her heart want quite in it. " have you even tried talking to him? He's been here the whole time, down in my room. Maybe that would be a good place to start." Before she could give anymore advice, the sound of foot steps in the quiet hallway promoted her to pause while she waited to see who was coming down the hallway so urgently.

(@taze here's your place to jump in )

It had been a difficult past twenty minutes. Taze and Deacon had started off drinking casually at the Horse and shooting pool when Braxton had busted in, enraged by something. Deacon suddenly had to leave, ditching Taze with the suicidal maniac. And then the drinking started. Ten whiskey shots and nearly twelve drafts later, Taze leaned across the counter and begged the bartender to keep on eye on Brax while he went for help.

Being one of Brax's best friends, Taze knew that the only good place to go would be to the cause of all this drama in the first place. So Taze ran up and down the halls of the Concordia hospital looking for Melanie Thorn. Finally, he found her and the reason for the stress Braxton was under become clear. She was with that Tyrell guy, "Hey Mel." Taze kcocked on the door frame and pushed his way into the room rudely, "I need you help." Taze made a face at Dante like he was uncomfortable outing the problem in from of him.

"Taze?" Melanie questioned, looking at Dante one more time before walking out of the room. "I'll see you...maybe." The tinge in her voice spoke of sadness, anger, and words unspoken. There had been so many more things she had intended to say to him, but now wasn't the time. Something had to be up if Taze of all people had come looking for her, and even more so if he didn't just barge in and tell her what was wrong. The yelling she had been planning upon coming to see Dante would just have to wait.

Walking out of the room and closing the door as fast as she could, Melanie turned to Taze. How long had it been since she had even seen the guy? Too long, that was for sure. "What's going on?" She demanded, a hint of worry evident in her tone. For a moment she wasn't sure whether to ask about Brax, though it was her only logical explanation for why Taze would even bother showing up here.

He ran his fingers through his hair and waved awkwardly at Dante as he backed out of the room. Turning he looked Mel over and shook his head, "What a dumbass." He grumbled, looking over his shoulder a final time before finally saying, "It's Braxton. I think he is trying to drink himself to death." He said, "Dude's at the Trojan Horse."

"Alright, why is he doing that? I thought he was going to shower and then come back?" Melanie cursed, her good arm flying in to the air in exasperation. "Wait, do I even want to know?" The question lingered in the air, as she started putting the pieces together. After everything that had happened, would something like this really push him over the edge? Of course it would, because this was Brax they were talking about. "Tell me on the way, let's go get him." Not even bothering to go back for her jacket, Melanie silently thanked the Gods that one of her siblings had the forethought to bring her a pair of jeans and a t-shirt after Brax left. At least she wouldn't be running around the island in a hospital gown again.

Dante had watched as Taze and Melanie left the room and realized though they had talked there really was so much more that had to get discussed between them but there was the complication with Brax. Why couldn't his life just be simple. Groaning he started to move the bed down again until he realized he really just needed to get some air, he had to get out of here. So he began to struggle to sit up and get out of bed.

((Thread over and Dante has moved to the roof.))