The Gift of Loot Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Give The Man A Hand

Read chapter 13 of The Gift of Loot by Jack_Golightly on NovelPedia.

The town wasn't large, and the single hospital was more meat for accidental bone breaks by hapless rich skiers than dealing long-term with anything critical. But as Thomas pulled his car into the parking lot, he saw that things had changed. There were now temporary tents set up outside, and it was hard for him to find a parking spot anywhere close. Dungeon diving had its dangers, and after the injured were somewhat stabilized by the National Guard, this was the closest place to go. The parking lot was full of the walking wounded. Thomas weaved in and out of them, muttering sorries and excuse me's, all the while with one eye on his phone. Derek hadn't returned any of his frantic texts. Thomas hoped he was just being an asshole and it wasn't that he couldn't. He got into the waiting room and saw every seat was full, with a couple of people even sitting on the floor. Derek was nowhere to be seen... but there was Ashton, curled up with his knees against his chest while managing to frantically tap at a mobile phone. It looked like he was playing a game. Thomas called his name and crossed the room. His nephew looked up and unfolded in an instant to practically launch himself at his uncle. "Uncle Thomas! What the hell? I called and you didn't pick up!" "Sorry, kiddo." Thomas didn't want to go into the why right now, especially with listening ears. No one else waiting to be seen had anything better to do. "What's happened? Where's Derek?" Ashton spoke in a rush. "They finally took him in—we were waiting for hours—but they wouldn't let me in without another adult. And the little kids are going to get out of school in an hour or so, and I didn't know what to do." Thomas nodded and noticed that Ashton didn't mention what Derek had been up to, either. "Here, follow me." Steering him by the shoulder, they walked to the main desk. Luckily, there was a receptionist open, though she looked frazzled by the deluge of people they'd been getting over the last couple of days. It was probably going to get worse for her. "Derek Coldstrike came in earlier. I'm his brother," Thomas said. She nodded, tapped something on the computer, and within a few minutes, he and Ashton were being escorted to the back by an equally frazzled nurse. To Thomas's memory, there weren't many beds in the hospital, but it looked like they were making room with hastily added curtains to create temporary space for gurneys. In the distance, someone was screaming, and Ashton went very, very pale. Thomas thought he might have gone pale too when he saw his brother laid out on the hospital bed. He was in one piece... except he was missing his left hand at the wrist. The problem was his dumbass brother was left-handed. "Oh shit," Thomas muttered, glancing up at the beeping lines that showed his status. Honestly, he didn't know why he did because he had no idea what any of that stuff meant. "Is he going to be okay?" Ashton asked anxiously. That was like a slap in the face. He was supposed to be the adult here. He had to keep it together. "Yeah," Thomas said out of reflex. "Yeah, of course he is. We have magic now, kid." "But our teachers say it'll be six months until the full System intergration." "Yeah, sure, but... the beginning stages are happening now," Thomas corrected, desperately trying to find a silver lining to this very dark cloud. "And your dad's going to live a long life. Soon all sorts of things will be possible." Ashton gave him a narrow look. "That sounds like you're guessing. Can magic grow his hand back?" Thomas reached into his backpack and pulled out the healing mana crystal. "Yeah, maybe." Instantly, his nephew lost his skeptical look. "Whoa, is that a real mana crystal?" Ashton reached for it, and Thomas snatched his hand back. "Yeah, it is. Let's wait for the doctor first and see what they can do with it." As if on cue, or more likely because voices carried very well between curtains, a young man entered. Like, he looked like he just graduated from high school,