Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Hymn for Cowboys Led Astray ❯ Anything Goes ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Obviously, Cowboy Bebop isn't my brainchild. It's the delightful creation of Sunrise Inc., and Bandai. (Or however. I really don't pay that much attention.) Either way, I'm not making any money off this story. It would be really great if I did though, considering that just about all college students are dirt poor. (End rant.)

Thanks to everyone hanging on to this story. I again sincerely apologize for the long wait between chapters. My muse decided to go on vacation for a while, but she's back now whispering ideas in my ear. Onward ho!

Chapter 5: Anything Goes

I drifted in and out of sleep for another day or so. It really wasn't that exciting; lying in a hospital bed with nothing to look at but the ceiling. Unfortunately, it gave me a lot of time to think. As Vicious had once remarked, it was dangerous when anyone gave me time to think.

The hours passed by slowly, and my brain cast itself back to the past few weeks. The growing animosity between Vicious and myself became less worrisome as time went on. He may have been the closest thing I had to a brother within the syndicate, but there was bad blood running between us now.

I focused on that little smirk he had worn before stepping through those ornate doors and the warning he had issued me days before concerning Julia. There was something hidden there, and my mind replayed it in a constant loop. No matter how long I puzzled over it, things didn't make sense.

Vicious had claimed many girlfriends in the past, but he had never issued any kind of warning to me before. The women were a pastime for him, nothing more. I wondered how he had met Julia, and how she was different. She WAS different, and something told me it had to do with how I had ended up in this sterile building for old timers with failing organs.

Time for me was measured in the intervals between meals. While hungrily wolfing down what vaguely resembled chicken and rice, I made a list of things I wanted. Number one for me was to get the hell out of this hospital. No more tubes, wires, or nurses who wouldn't tell me anything.

Secondly was to find Vicious. I was still trying to decipher Mao's cryptic comment that he had been captured. How was that possible? I had watched him practically waltz through the doorway with my own eyes. The thought made me pause. Gingerly, I lifted my hand and touched the gauze around my injury.

It was so tightly packed with cotton that I almost made myself believe for a minute that once unwrapped, there would be nothing there but cotton stuffed into an empty socket. For a life like mine, that handicap could mean death. I tried to shrug off the disturbing mental image that brought, and went back to my pathetic meal.

~

Mao visited me three times in the hospital, but always changed the subject when I asked about Vicious. It was aggravating to have every question pushed aside, but there wasn't much I could find out until I was back on my own.

Fortunately for me, that wasn't long. After skipping out on physical therapy for my right arm, I found myself back in my tiny apartment. A few friends had stopped by before I even had the chance to take off my coat, but other than that I had been undisturbed.

The apartment was dark and musty, so I walked over to the window by my bed, intent on opening it before heading for a wonderful shower. To get to the window, I had to step around the small nightstand by my bed.

Through my good eye, untouched by heavy gauze, I noticed a corner of white sticking out from underneath the alarm clock. My curiosity has never been one to wait, so I yanked the piece of paper out, knocking the clock onto the floor where it landed with a thunk. Oh well. I thought, kicking it underneath my bed. It was quickly forgotten as I unfolded the note.

A warm scent of cologne drifted up to me as I read the unfamiliar handwritten script.

Spike,

I stopped by to see how you were, but one of your friends said that you were in the hospital. Vicious said that you had been hurt while on security detail, and I was worried for you. Please call and let me know that you're all right.

Julia

A phone number and an address not far from my own apartment followed. My brain couldn't comprehend the simple note, and I had to read it over several times before everything registered. Julia. She had been worried about me. And she had been here. The thought warmed me in a way that layers of blankets never could.

Adolescent thoughts filled my head as I went to take my shower. For the moment, I forgot about Vicious and the warning he had given me about her. After I dressed, I would go over to her place. Anywhere had to be better than this lonely little apartment, especially in the company of a beautiful woman.

A beautiful woman who belonged to my former best friend. I paused midway through putting on my right shoe and focused on that. I wasn't doing anything wrong going over to her place, was I? It wasn't like I was going to sleep with her. I just wanted to reassure the beautiful angel that I was fine and get to know her a little better.

There was nothing wrong with that, right? I grabbed my keys and was out the door before I could think about what I was doing.

CAREFUL, COWBOY…