Finally Free - Alex Rider

Chapter Eighteen

Wolf's POV

1 month.

3 weeks.

And 4 days.

That's how long Cub was gone for.

We didn't know what had happened to him, or where he currently was. MI6 didn't tell us anything. And the Sergeant had no information either.

And then he came back.

We all looked up as the cabin door opened, and a familiar blond-haired spy stepped in.

There were bruises down the side of his face, one hand was wrapped protectively around his stomach, and he was leaning heavily on his right-hand side walking stick.

We all jumped up.

"Where were you?"

"What happened?"

"Are you ok?"

"Where are you hurt?"

"Was the mission a success?"

Alex just stood there, waiting until the questioning was over, before taking a deep breath, wincing as he did so, and walking over to his bunk, sitting down on the edge of it.

Snake frowned, "Cub?"

"Come on, man. At least tell us something!" Eagle prompted.

I remained quiet, instead, opting to study our youngest member. Cub looked exhausted, thick dark bags under his eyes, both of which were already half closed. And I made my decision.

"Guys, come on, lay off" I said, "Let him sleep... We can ask all we want in the morning".

Eagle looked ready to protest, but my glare quickly silenced him, and we all reluctantly went back to bed. Tomorrow, I promised, tomorrow we would get our answers.

But tomorrow, Cub was missing.

"Snake?"

"Not in the Mess Hall" He replied, and I frowned, "Eagle?"

He slowed to a walk, breathless, "Checked all the training rooms, not there either".

I swore, "Dammit Cub, where the hell are you?"

"HEY, WOLF!" I sharply looked up at the yell, only to find Lynx walking towards us. "When Cubs done, give him my best, yea?"

"... Done what?" Snake finally asked, and he frowned,

"His check-up".

"Check-up?"

Lynx gave us a weird look, "Yea. In the infirmary, remember?"

Infirmary.

Cub was in hospital.

Fuck.

Leaving the dazed soldier behind us, we all quickly ran towards the white-washed building, bursting in and startling the doctors.

Snake quickly went up to the nearest white-coat, and returned less than a minute later, "Room 10".

We wasted no time in rushing there. When we pushed open the door, we all came to abrupt stop.

Cub was sitting up on the examination table, shirtless, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees as a doctor fussed around him.

When he saw us, however, he gave a weak smile, "Hey guys", which promptly ended with a rather violent coughing fit.

The doctor sighed, before handing him an oxygen mask, which Cub surprisingly took quite gratefully, "Your unit?" Alex nodded. "Right... I'll give you guys a moment then. But DO NOT push yourself" He ordered, "I know your history Cub, and I do not need you to offer yourself for kidnap on top of all of this, understood?"

He removed the mask and glared, "Hey, that only happened once!"

"So don't make it a second time" He shot back, before turning to us, "And you guys, don't stress him, alright? He can barely breathe by himself at the moment, let alone talk. So NO. DIFFICULT. QUESTIONS. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good" He replied dryly, giving one more look at Cub, before walking past us and leaving.

When we looked back around to face him, he had his back turned and was shrugging back on his shirt. When he was done, he slowly turned back to us, "... I'm guessing you want to know what happened?"

"Hell yea".

He gave a small smile, "I got the doctor... Well, technically, MI6 got the doctor, but I helped!" He tried to laugh, but it came out pained, and he started coughing, grabbing the oxygen mask again.

Snake took a wary step forward, "Why are you finding it so difficult to breathe? Judging by your posture you have no broken ribs... So, what's wrong?"

He stared at us for a minute, before looking down at the ground and muttering something.

I frowned, "What was that?"

He sighed, before looking back up, "... I missing a lung".

Oh my god.

"You're missing a what now?" I finally asked.

"A lung" He replied, "Or... well... part of a lung... Only half of my right side is working".

Snake stared, "That's not possible".

"I beg to differ".

It was quiet for a minute, before Eagle suddenly spoke up, "Is anyone else wondering just how, exactly, he's missing half a lung?"

We all turned back to him, "Cub?"

Nothing.

"Well, was it due to a sudden illness?" I asked impatiently, "A disease, or something?"

"... No".

"Then how?"

He paused for a minute, before slowly reaching down and lifting up his shirt, revealing a long jagged scar down his right side, "It was due to a psychotic maniac who never heard of painkillers".