Int. ?
Gabriel lay floating in the middle of a white room. Around him, various images played out, almost as if he was watching a TV. Semi-conscious, he saw his body moving on its own, an almost bright light coming from his back in an almost wing-like pattern that was almost too bright for his eyes to see. The screens soon switched to the woman's face surrounding him, her teary-eyed expression as she glanced upon his face. "Remember who you are, my son," repeated all around him. Her words were low, soft, the tone very melancholy, tugging at Gabriel's heart strings. Tears began falling down her face, even though she tried her best to wipe them off her face. The room, as if feeling her emotions, began to rain down. Oddly, Gabriel couldn't feel the rain, his skin and clothes remaining dry, though he could hear the water hit the ground. Each drop was a rhythmic echo as the woman turned away from the screen and wrapped herself around his body.
Gabriel tried to move from the spot he was floating, but his body ignored everything he tried to do. Worried that if he doesn't leave this room, something may happen to his body, Gabriel believed he was trapped in his mind. He felt like a game controller that died and someone still kept trying the buttons. Struggling with all of his might, Gabriel couldn't get his arms to move, his legs also useless, stuck floating in the air. With nothing better to do, Gabriel looked at the various screens. Each screening showed a different view of what was going on. The screens themselves felt as if he was watching a movie. Instead of seeing the world through his eyes, Gabriel watched as the bright light from when the woman hugged his body began to transform it from looking like himself to a woman in golden armor. The wings of light on his back formed into pure white wings, similar to giant bird wings. The woman was tall; Gabriel estimated she was about the same height as the guy that threw himself and Blake around earlier. Gabriel not really catching his name during the fight.
The woman now controlling his transformed body quickly summoned a giant spear of light to her hand before kicking a demonic-looking creature in the back, catching the grotesque-looking creature off guard as he was standing above Blake's body. The creature was bald with its skin looking burnt as if it went through a fire. The creature rolled across the ground a couple of times before stopping. The woman quickly caught up to the creature, not hesitating to lift her spear before ramming it through the creature's heart, leaving it stuck, unable to move. The creature's mouth roared, but a huge white light came out of its mouth, its body melting from the inside until it was charcoal. The woman then snapped her fingers, summoning a giant shield of light before shrinking down and the screen going dark. As the room turned dark, like Gabriel had just closed his eyes, the last thing heard echoing around the room was "I'll always protect you, my child." The woman's voice was heard for the last time before it ended, the entire room becoming dead silent.
Gabriel sat there in the dark, his mind trying to understand what was going on, his breath starting to come in hard, fast. His lungs started to have a slight burn to them, the feeling of not getting air strong as he kept trying to take deep breaths. "Am I going to die here?" He said to himself. "I don't want to die, not here, not like this!" Gabriel failed to keep his cool, as a list of failures started to run through his mind. How he should spend more time with his parents, how he should spend less time away from work. How he could've been less hard on Blake, forgiving him for the actions he has taken. All of these raced through his mind as his conscience began to fade before ultimately everything grew quiet.
Int. Inside Hospital Room (Night) October 25, 2025, 10:30 P.M.
Gabriel quickly sat up, his breaths panicked as he gripped his chest, trying his best to suck in as much air as possible. His mind racing with the gripping feeling of nothing but dark scared him, the gripping chill of the dark tugging at his mind. Gabriel began to rock back and forth, crossing his arms across his chest, his body shivering at the memory. If the light made him feel whole, especially when the lady was around, the light's absence made him feel weak, worthless. He thought he had died, the feeling of regret, knowing that he couldn't stop his end from coming. Tears formed at his eyes as his mind kept going to that woman's face, her watery smile helping him heal him from the chilling cold.
Arms suddenly wrapped around Gabriel's body, helping to fight the extreme cold feeling that had spread earlier. "Come on, Gabe, I need you to breathe in slowly for four seconds, then breathe out slowly for eight seconds," a soft feminine voice said. Gabriel didn't recognize the voice, but tried following the instructions. He slowly took in a breath, filling up his lungs, before slowly releasing it. Gabriel slowly repeated this action, his heart that felt like it was going to burst from his chest slowly easing down into a subtle but steady beat. "Good, just keep breathing like that, nice and slow," the feminine voice encouraged.
Gabriel assumed it was her hand rubbing circles on his back, the small comfort helping to ease his mind from the lingering feelings. Finally, after a few more minutes, the hand moved away from his back. Gabriel's eyes were still closed as he slowly leaned back into what he would assume is a bed. He could hear a chair moving across the floor, before a soft sound of it being set down next to his bed was heard. Gabriel could feel the gaze of the person on him, but he still refused to open his eyes. Scared that he would see the man in the cloak again, would see Blake dangling there, both unable to do anything to the man. Gabriel's hands began to shake unconsciously, the panic slowly beginning to come back as he remembered the feeling of being thrown around, his head being crushed into the ground. Gabriel has never felt so weak, not being able to move an inch, the feeling of easily being thrown around, his bones breaking.
He could feel his heartbeat speeding up once again, then he felt his hands being grasped. That warmth helping him to calm down once again. "Gabe, you're safe, it's okay, you're in the hospital," the feminine voice once again soothed, rubbing small circles on the back of his hands.
"I'm fine," Gabriel muttered, his wavering voice giving away his true feelings.
The woman let out a sigh, her hands retracting from his as he heard the chair squeak as if sitting back. "You're not even willing to open up your eyes and expect me to believe that you're feeling okay?" the voice sassed back.
Gabriel sighed; he understood that he was being unreasonable in letting his fear get to him. He could feel the softness of the bed underneath him, well as soft as a hospital bed could be. Steadying himself by taking a couple of deep breaths, Gabriel finally opened up his eyes. Thankfully the room was dim so it didn't take Gabriel too long before his eyes adjusted to the lighting. Gabriel glanced around the room. His bed was in the middle of the room; to his left was the machine that monitors his vitals in case a change happens. "Strange, it didn't start to go off when I panicked," he thought to himself. To his right was a woman sitting in a chair, though he did his best not to look at the moment. Nothing else was noteworthy to explain; it was just a standard hospital room.
Gabriel let out a sigh of relief, finally feeling safe instead of feeling the need to run. Besides the flashes in his memories, the last thing he remembers was being thrown into a shelf, then feeling his ribs broken as he tried to breathe. An idea came to Gabriel as he felt his side and didn't feel any lingering pain. In excitement, he stretched out his arms, a smile forming on his face. He started punching the air, his arms feeling stronger than before the unfortunate incident.
A loud snort made Gabriel jump, before he looked down at his lap, embarrassed at his actions and forgetting the person sitting next to him. "Hey, hey, none of that. I'm glad Mr. Grumpy finally is smiling for once," the voice sassed, the chair squeaking as she sat forward.
Gabriel raised his head quickly to look at the person, but his reply died on his lips as he realized who had been sitting here. If Gabriel remembered correctly, Nadia was one of the new members on the team, having joined just a few years after he did. He always thought she was kind of weird, always looking away when he was around or being shy. Gabriel studied her face, looking at her in a new light. Maybe the issue wasn't with her but himself. He always did have a hard time connecting with others, and now he let it affect his professional life. With his new lease on life, Gabriel plans to at least try to learn more of the officers' names he works with.
A loud snap broke him from his running thoughts as he saw a light brown hand in front of his eyes posed to snap again. "Earth to Grumpy, are you there or should I go get a nurse?" She asked, her face blushing as she continued to try and get Gabriel's attention.
Gabriel took Nadia's hand out of the air before holding it before she could try snapping again. "Sorry about that, I've been thinking over the case and how difficult it has been," he admitted.
"Right, what does the case being difficult have to do with you still holding my hand? I think we might be moving kind of fast. Should at least take me out first," Nadia mocked, a smile on her face as she used her right hand, the one not being grasped, to tuck a piece of her hair behind her head.
Gabriel hurriedly let go, a look of embarrassment on his face as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I wasn't trying... I mean I was just… ugh, sorry, I'm not used to having conversations with people."
Nadia used her hand to cover her face, a small laugh could be heard coming from behind the hand. "I suppose it can't be helped. Honestly, I'm a loner, too. It's why I'm usually so shy around you and the others."
"It seems you're talking fine now," Gabriel pointed out, resting both his hands in his lap. He was still surprised that his body was fine; he swore before being knocked out that one of his arms was broken.
Nadia shrugged. "I saw you almost cry, I reckon that makes us friends. Honestly, we better be friends. If not, I'll totally spread gossip around the office." A mischievous grin spread across her face as she finished her sentence.
Gabriel cocked his head to the side, his hand resting on the underneath of his chin as he pretended to think over the conversation. "Two rejects being friends, I don't know, it could lead to problems."
"If it helps, I was the one who volunteered to watch the room in case someone attacked," She added.
Gabriel crossed his arms, nodding his head sagely as he listened to what she said. "Yes, those are brownie points and good reasons to be friends then."
Nadia reached across the bed, grabbing one of his hands, forcing Gabriel to uncross his arms. "Oh, what an enjoyable time! I can't wait for the amount of chaos we can come up with, Mr. Owens," she joked, using a fake southern accent.
Before Gabriel got a chance to respond, the door opened up. A tall man, standing what looked to be six foot four, entered the room. He was wearing a full black suit with a blue tie, the man's long dreadlocks tied in a neat ponytail. Behind the man was a woman in a long black dress, matching the suit of the man, holding a small purse and wearing a hat came into the room. Both were African American, both looked in their late 50s to early 60s and looked very well dressed. "Sorry again, Officer, we wanted to see my—" the man started before his words trailed off, seeing Gabriel sitting up in the bed holding Nadia's hands. "I'm sorry if we interrupted something," he finished.
Nadia quickly jumped up, releasing Gabriel's hand as she jumped back into her seat. Her face was blushing as bright red as could be. "We were… No, you guys… nothing was going on," she stammered as she tried to explain herself.
The man just let out a sigh as the woman let out a loud squeal as she ran over to Nadia, ignoring her son in the bed. "I'm so happy my baby finally found someone! I was so worried with his quiet nature, and the fact that he works long hours, he'd never find anyone," the woman gushed as she looked over Nadia, shaking Nadia's hand in excitement. Tears flew down the woman's face as she continued on. "And look how beautiful you are! We must know everything about you, all the details, leave nothing out."
Gabriel had a giant sweat drop fall from the back of his head as he stared at the scene, his mind drawing a blank at how all of this got mixed up so quickly. "Mom, we aren't dating, she's just a coworker from my job," he maintained, doing his best to keep his tone even.
The woman turned her head to Gabriel, having a frown on her face as she looked at him. "Gaby, we raised you better than to lie, come on now," she chastised, leaving one last glare before turning back to Nadia with a smile on her face. "I know you talked to my husband earlier, but I know how rude he can be. My name is Natasha, or Tasha for short. My husband's name is Nathan, though he generally prefers to go by Nate. Of course, we are Gabriel's parents," She spoke quickly, giving introductions.
Gabriel just moaned into his hands at the situation, not knowing how he could do his best to clean it up. Nate, still chuckling, approached his wife, gently pulling her back towards the door. "Now, now, honey, they could be recently dating, and we don't want to embarrass the new couple any more than we already have," he finished, turning, looking back to send a wink at Gabriel. "We can catch up with him tomorrow. We are going to be driving home anyways if he is released."
"Fine, fine, but Gaby, we better see her and you for dinner soon," Tasha demanded before allowing herself to be dragged out the room. Nate's loud laughter echoing around the hallways.
Gabriel sat awkwardly in the bed, his head still resting in his hands, doing his best to hold back his embarrassment. "I think I'll go and grab some coffee," he heard Nadia mutter before hearing the door click close. With a sigh, it was the worst night ever for Gabriel, though he couldn't help but smile at the fact he survived. He never noticed the bright light in the corner blinking before disappearing.