Inky blackness descended upon the Lust ring only prevalent in the darker corners where the buildings were disheveled, and the neon couldn’t reach. Deep in the bowels of one of these buildings a scream of agony radiated only eclipsed by a malicious cackle. Tied to a chair in the depths of this decrepit building Chaz panted heavily with his head bowed to his chest, his usually pristinely styled hair drooping down over the one side of his face. Black blood trickled from a fresh cut on his shoulder, Crim stood in front of Chaz casually taking a drag of his cigar before reaching forwards to snatch Chaz’s chin in his hand as he exhaled a puff of smoke.
“You seriously thought you could escape from me?” Crimson chided with a hiss.
“Mm…please…I said I was sorry…” Chaz whimpered out, eyes pleading for mercy from the crime boss.
“Sorry? Sorry? Oh, you’ll be sorry alright,” Crimson taunted with a malicious smirk, shoving Chaz’s head to the side releasing it from his grasp.
“Please give…me another chance,” Chaz begged.
“You’re all out of chances,” Crimson snarled pulling a decorative blade from his belt.
Chaz’s eyes grew wide as he began to struggle against his restraints desperately as Crimson approached, thrusting the blade forwards into the shark’s abdomen eliciting a strangled gasping whimper from him. Crimson gave a malicious smirk as he yanked the blade free causing a cascade of black blood to spill from Chaz’s torso with a pained yelp however Crimson failed to notice he’d nicked the ropes wrapped around the shark demon. Chaz’s body shook violently as pain racked his scrawny frame, Crimson nonchalantly starting to move towards the ascending stairs while whipping out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the blood from his blade.
“What do you want us to do, boss?” A bulky henchman shark asked.
“Wait for him to tap out then dispose of him…and this time bring me the proper set of jaws,” Crimson demanded in a warning tone. Ascending the staircase to exit the basem*nt of the dilapidated building with
his right-hand man, Alessio not far behind him.
Chaz slumped forwards, squeezing his eyes shut, teeth gritting in agony when he unexpectedly felt the ropes around him give a bit. Flexing his arms slowly outwards Chaz felt the ropes give again prompting him to continue pushing against them till finally they tore apart. Leaping up Chaz clutched at his bleeding abdomen with a pained whimper, yet he managed to sweep his tail at the couple goons who’d been tasked with watching him, knocking them to the ground followed by snaping the ones neck with a swift kick to the jaw and knocking the other one out by punching him in the face a couple times. Panting heavily Chaz staggered his way up the stairs and out of the building making a beeline for the elevator system to get out of Lust ASAP. The next elevator was headed to Imp City, Chaz couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at the irony then slumped down in a seat making sure to be towards the back, so no one asked questions. Gingerly Chaz pulled his hand away from his bleeding abdomen, his heart rate increasing at what he saw, the stab wound had torn open a bit from him moving around too much making it look like his guts might spill out of it. Pressing firmly despite the pain Chaz prayed to Satan that he would be able to make it to Imp City.
…
Chaz couldn’t recall when the world around him went black, but he could hear sirens now with the feeling of being moved around. Managing to pry his eyes open a little Chaz was met by a bright set of white lights above him to match the new wave of white-hot pain searing it’s way through his body promptly pulling a cry of pain from the demon shark. A female voice cut through the agony though asking him questions he couldn’t quite make out however eventually he caught a couple, ‘what’s your name?’ and ‘Is there anyone we can call?’ Chaz answered both these in a strangled tone with the last one being an unconscious response of ‘Moxxie and Millie of IMP’ before falling back to the silent world of blackness.
Meanwhile…
Moxxie was relaxing in the living room of the apartment he shared with Millie, he read a book while Millie casually cleaned her knife collection opposite of him. It had been so quiet the sound of Moxxie’s phone going off next to him caused both imps to jump, taking a moment to calm down before Moxxie reached for it. The male imp’s expression faded from surprise to confusion upon reading the screen ‘Imp City General Hospital’ was written across the screen. Moxxie answered with a confused ‘hello’ receiving a ‘hello, is this Moxxie?’ from the other end, the voice seeming to be from a female.
“Yes,” Moxxie confirmed again his voice carrying a heavy confused tone to it. Millie was now watching intently with a firm confused furrow to her brow.
“This is Imp City General Hospital calling, sorry to bother you but we were wondering if you know a shark demon by the name of Chaz Thurman?” The female voice asked. Moxxie’s heart skipped a beat for a moment, anger bubbling up in his gut at the name drop yet he managed to calm himself enough to answer the question.
“Y-yes…yes, I do,” Moxxie simply responded.
“That’s great unfortunately we’ve got some bad news, Chaz was admitted this afternoon after being discovered on the level elevator unconscious and bleeding profusely from a stab wound to the abdomen,”
The female voice explained. Moxxie’s anger faded almost immediately, his heart dropping into his stomach as his expression shifted from confused anger to concerned. Apparently Moxxie’s shift in expression was obvious because Millie’s features instantly softened.
“How is he?” Moxxie asked, a little afraid to the answer he might receive.
“He’s currently in surgery…if you want details you’ll need to come down,” The female on the other end encouraged.
“Alright, we’ll be there,” Moxxie assured the female whom he assumed was a nurse.
“Just check in at the front,” The nurse finished the conversation then hung up the phone.
“Moxx?” Millie inquired, voice conveying her concerned confusion as he hung up the phone.
“Chaz is at the hospital…he’s been stabbed,” Moxxie briefly explained, his own tone racked with concern.
The duo left almost immediately for the hospital, taking a bit to get there on the crappy Imp City transit system however once there they headed inside. Walking up to the emergency check-in desk Moxxie explained to the male nurse imp behind it who they were and why they were there at which point the male nurse disappeared for a few moments through a back door. A tall female nurse imp appeared a short time later coming straight over to the two smaller imps with a gentle smile on her features.
“You are Moxxie?” The nurse asked.
“Yes, are you who I spoke to on the phone?” Moxxie wondered shaking the nurse’s hand.
“Yes, thank you for coming. My names Kale. And you are?” Kale introduced before turning to Millie.
“I’m his wife, Millie,” Millie introduced.
“Oh, so you’re Millie. Chaz mentioned your name as well,” Kale explained.
“Really?” Millie asked, brows furrowing upwards in confused surprise.
“Yes, now let’s go talk in the emergency surgery waiting area,” Kale insisted gesturing towards a side door.
The three of them walked through the side door into a hallway then into a small room where M&M sat in a pair of armchairs while Kale stood in front of them.
“Has there been any news on Chaz?” Moxxie asked, concern lacing his tone.
“I’m afraid not, he’s been in surgery for a few hours now however he suffered multiple injuries including a deep stab wound to his abdomen,” Kale explained clearly trying to be as gentle as possible.
“Do Ya know what happened?” Millie wondered curiously.
“We were hoping you might know; Chaz was unresponsive when he arrived and even upon regaining consciousness, he barely managed to give us his name and yours,” Kale continued to explain. Millie was about to say something when Moxxie cut her off.
“I’m sorry, we don’t know what happened. Would you keep us updated though on his condition?” Moxxie requested.
“Of course, feel free to remain here and if you need anything ask one of the nurses or request me,” Kale assured Moxxie with another warm smile. The tall imp nurse left the room making sure to close the door as she did so prompting Millie to turn to Moxxie with a questioning eyebrow raise.
“Honey, Ya know this has to do with Yer pa, right?” Millie asked pointedly.
“Yes, but it’s best we keep that quiet. Whatever happened to Chaz if we bring to much attention to my father or…what he does it could put us in danger as well.” Moxxie explained.
“Okay…do you…think he’ll be okay?” Millie wondered with an intense concerned expression on her features.
“I don’t know, it depends on what my father did to him,” Moxxie admitted, sorrow filling his voice.
Moxxie grew really quiet after that getting lost in his thoughts obviously, he was angry at Chaz for what he tried to pull the last time they’d seen one another then there was the heist incident back in the day, but despite all that he didn’t wish this sh*t on him. Millie seemed to be deep in her own thoughts too as she sat quietly sipping on some water, they’d both been done wrong by Chaz in the past however neither of them could deny he had a certain charm about him, sure he was obnoxious in every sense of the word, but in a sort of naïve, adorable way. A long time passed before nurse Kale returned drawing both the smaller imps attention.
“I just came to inform you that Chaz was just released from surgery and is going to be taken to the intensive care unit. He’s in critical but stable condition now,” Kale explained.
“Okay, can we see him?” Moxxie wondered trying to hold back his eagerness.
“of course, I’ll show you too him now if you’d like,” Kale offered.
“That’d be nice,” Millie agreed offering a gentle smile.
“Follow me,” Kale offered gesturing out the door.
The duo followed Kale to a far section of the hospital on the second floor, a hallway deathly quiet compared to the rest of the hospital. They stopped in front of a door that Kale gently opened with a casual gesture inwards, walking into the room however they were not prepared for what they saw. Laying in the bed covered in tubs and wires looking paler than a sinner fresh to hell was Chaz. Kale closed the door to provide them some privacy while M&M hesitantly approached Chaz’s bedside, glancing over the shark demon’s motionless form. Moxxie hesitantly reached for Chaz only to pull back moments later, his torso was covered in bandages that had splotches of blood on them.
“They really did a number on him,” Millie whispered voice filled with anguish as she gently reached over to brush some of Chaz’s floppy hair out of his face.
“Yeah…doesn’t really surprise me, I’m just surprised he made it out alive,” Moxxie responded tone just as anguished as Millies.
“It’s goin’ ta sound crazy, especially after everythin’ but…seein’ Chaz like this…I actually feel terrible,” Millie admitted caressing her fingers down Chaz’s pale cheek.
“I know exactly what you mean…we’ll stay with him and make sure no one tries to finish the job,” Moxxie declared, determination written all over his face.
Moxxie stayed by the door to keep an eye on things while Millie proceeded to fuss over Chaz, dampening some paper towel from the bathroom. Gently Millie cleaned Chaz’s face of the sweat and blood that gathered there then cleaned the rest of his body up a bit. A few hours later Millie was settled in the singular chair in the corner of the room when Chaz started to stir, surprising both the small imps who hurried to his side. Millie gently laid a hand on Chaz’s shoulder while Moxxie put his hands lightly on Chaz’s opposite forearm just as the shark demon started moaning softly, eyes blinking open moments later. Chaz seemed calm at first however moments later he jerked upwards in a panic followed by a cry of pain as he clutched at his abdomen.
“Damn it Chaz, stay still,” Moxxie groused, pressing a hand to Chaz’s chest to get him to lay back down.
“Just relax, you’ll end up openin’ yer wound up if Ya keep this up,” Millie gently explained helping Moxxie ease Chaz back into a laying position.
“W-where…am I…wait…Millie…M-Moxxie?” Chaz asked looking from one of the small imps to the other with bewildered confusion on his face.
“Yes, it’s us sweetie. Try ta relax,” Millie confirmed, rubbing Chaz’s shoulder gently.
“I-I…Ow! sh*t!” Chaz shuddered, teeth clenching with a pained expression. Millie gently slipped her hand under the one Chaz was currently clutching around his abdomen, pulling it away as he squeezed her
hand instead. Chaz whimpered as he laid back with tears beginning to stream down his face prompting Moxxie to cup Chaz’s cheek, using his thumb to swipe the tears away.
“Sshh, hush sweetie,” Millie encouraged.
“S-sorry…I’m…so sorry…” Chaz apologized through little hiccupping whimpers.
“It’s fine Chaz, we forgive you. Please just rest,” Moxxie insisted in as gentle of a tone as possible. It was clear Chaz was not fully in his right mind.
“I’ll go get the nurse,” Millie stated, placing Chaz’s hand down on the bed beside his body before quickly exiting the room.
“Ugh! I-It hurts…so f*cking…bad…” Chaz sobbed out.
“I know, I know…” Moxxie chided, still lightly rubbing Chaz’s cheek as well as his arm in a bid to provide comfort.
Millie returned a little bit later with nurse Kale in toe who went straight to work assessing Chaz’s condition. Once finished Kale grabbed a vial with a syringe, Millie returned to the side of the bed she’d been on previous, carding her fingers soothingly through Chaz’s hair while massaging his shoulder. Kale administered a healthy dose of Morphine to Chaz then left with the promise she’d return to check on him in an hour or so. Slowly Chaz started to calm down clearly becoming more comfortable until he fell unconscious again.
This time Chaz remained unconscious for nearly two full days only stirring occasionally from what appeared to be nightmares. Chaz started coming back around on the second day this time far calmer then previous, glancing around for a moment only to get a little blush across his cheeks as he averted his gaze from the two imps hovering over him.
“How Ya feelin’ sweetie?” Millie gently asked, playing absently with Chaz’s floopy hair.
“Um…not great, but better,” Chaz responded, wincing slightly.
“At least you’re feeling a little better,” Moxxie commented with a small smile.
“Y-Yeah…” Chaz quietly agreed keeping his gaze down turned.
“What’s the matter?” Millie wondered, noticing Chaz’s odd behaviour.
“Nothing…I just, my egos a little bruised that’s all,” Chaz admitted.
“Why?” Moxxie wondered arching an eyebrow curiously.
“Well, you know…the way I reacted before…” Chaz vaguely explained.
“Wait, you mean the crying?” Moxxie suddenly realized.
“Do you have to say it so loud?” Chaz whined, puffing his cheeks out in a pout.
“Chaz, it’s fine sweety. You were in a lot of pain,” Millie assured him with a little giggle.
“Still…I can’t believe I couldn’t control myself,” Chaz continued to pout.
“Did…did my dad do this to you?” Moxxie finally asked in hopes the turn in subject would distract Chaz.
“Hmm? Uh…yeah…I managed to escape after the whole wedding thing but, he found me recently in Lust,” Chaz briefly explained.
“I’m sorry…this never should have happened,” Moxxie apologized, hanging his head slightly with a deep frown.
“What? It’s not your fault, I was the idiot,” Chaz assured Moxxie finally turning to face him.
“Alright, enough of this talk. Ya just need ta rest Chaz, me and Mox will keep an eye out for anyone tryin’ ta get to Ya,” Millie assured the shark demon earning a surprised yet appreciative look from him.
M&M kept their promise to watch over Chaz as he healed, helping look after him till the hospital was comfortable with discharging him. Chaz leaned on Moxxie as he limped out of the hospital doors with only his jacket and a bandage on his torso along with a pair of hospital scrub pants. Chaz hung his head for a moment before starting to pull away from Moxxie only to have the small male imp’s grip tighten around him.
“What are you doing?” Moxxie wondered, looking up at Chaz.
“I’m going to head back to my car…where I’ve been staying,” Chaz explained a little tentatively.
“You’ll do no such thang, yer comin’ with us, right Moxx?” Millie cheerily insisted.
“Exactly, we’re going to take you back to our apartment where you can finish healing,” Moxxie agreed.
“Oh…really?” Chaz asked in surprise.
“Yeah, now come on we’ve gotta catch the bus,” Millie exclaimed cheerily.
Chaz smiled allowing Moxxie to help him walk till they got to the imp’s home where they settled Chaz in the small extra bedroom.
