AMC:R Part V

After injuring his wrist, Leon had been forced to sit on the bench during the match. Although he disliked being off court, he had other issues on his mind. The primary one being Marie. 'Don't lose your focus! Concentrate and aim!' Then, just behind his primary concern was the yelling from Erica. Angrily, he clenched his uninjured hand into a fist and then relaxed it. Hadn't he already sorted out all the trouble? Shaking his head, he decided he'd have to have words again. However, he had to put the secondary thought at rest. His wrist was in excrutiating pain. Getting to his feet, he looked at Marie one last time before walking away to an awaiting medic who led him away to the doctor's office.

Once the match was over, he found himself full of pride towards Marie, for one of his team mates had told him the good news, and thus he desperately wanted to go and see her. But, stuck in the doctor's office for longer than expected, he was unable to do so straight away. It had been bad news for him. The fall had seriously damaged his wrist. Stuck with his wrist, and part of his arm, in a cast tied up in a sling, he knew he wouldn't be able to write in class for a while.

"You be careful alright Arnaud? If it comes to it, you can always ask the school for an aid. They do that when students are unable to write." Leon was about to interupt the doctor but found a hand infront of his face preventing him from doing so. "I know you don't like to ask for help, but for once... just let that go, otherwise it'll be you who suffers."

Thinking over the Doctor's words, he nodded slowly, hesitantly and left the office looking down at his injured arm and walked to the arena and glanced around. Not only had he missed the remainder of the match, but most of the party after the match too. Smiling weakly, he knew that he himself would throw a party later on. He wanted to congratulate Marie himself, that and... he found himself blushing. Shaking his head he decided it was high time he left the building.

"You know Leon, Marie really saved us today!" Mark patted Leon on the back. The redhead boy had been thankful for his company for he had taken time after the party to go and see the captain of the team. "If she hadn't have stepped in, we'd have lost the match!"

"I know... I'm really glad she did that for us." Leon smiled faintly, prodding his arm, wincing faintly. An idea formed in Mark's mind and he knew he'd have to carry it out.

"Here! Gimme a pen!" Pen surrendered, Mark decided to sign Leon's cast and chuckled when he had finished writing his name. The injured boy went to take the pen from the latter but was rather surprised when he continued writing again. "I'm not done yet!"

"What are you-....What?!" Leon blinked as Mark wrote Marie's surname on his cast, hidden under the sling: 'Marberg', and then adding 'for Arnaud'. "W-What are you doing?"

"You're so stupid..." Mark chuckled to himself as he handed the pen back to him. "Can't you tell that Marie's in love with you? She admitted it to me herself at the party... she's... too shy to tell you that herself. How could you Leon?" Mark sighed faintly. "She's in love with you and you didn't even realise it.

Leon blushed at Mark's words from earlier and found his heart ache unusually. But soon put that to the back of his mind as he prayed that Roger wouldn't jump at him when he came through the doors when he got home, that would really hurt even if the dog was still a puppy. Wandering around aimlessly he decided to take a trip down memory lane and walked the path that he and Roger had taken to escape the rain.

"M-Marie....?" His heart sank, no, it did more than sink. It did a complete nose dive down his body and he nearly found himself throwing up. Seeing her dangling from a tree, supported only by a rope his eyes opened in horror and he had to force nausea back down his throat as he rushed over, nearly tripping on the wet ground. "Marie!" He screamed again as he raced over to her and very cautiously moved a few strands of hair behind her ear, as if to confirm it was her and not someone else. "Oh shit.. Marie..." Swallowing nervously he climbed the tree, which was very difficult with one damaged arm, took out a pocket knife from his pocket, which he often used for emergancies, and cut her down.

Jumping down, he raised her up slowly with his free arm, just so he could put his bag under her head to support her, and cut her wrists free. Pressing his head against her chest he was relieved to find she wasn't dead, but her injuries... Gritting his teeth, he fished out his mobile phone and rang for an ambulance. He had to repeat almost everything three times over, his voice was shaking brokenly.

"Hello? Arnaud residence!" Two hours had passed since the incident and Leon was now sitting in the corridor outside of Marie's hospital room with a payphone pressed against his ear. "Leon! Where the hell are you?! I had to put your food in the fridge! It won't taste as good anymore and-" The female voice at the other end of the phoneline froze. "L-Leon? C-C'mon you know me! It was a joke... why are you crying? You-"

"It's..." Leon swallowed hard. "C-Can you come to the hospital?"

"Hospital? Leon what have you gone and done to yourself? Honestly men these days! They're terrible! They can't do anything. Well, my boyfriend can do everything but that's because he's-"

"It's not about me!" Leon suddenly snapped, his eyes growing moist. Snapping at anyone, let alone his sister, was a very rare occurance. "Just... please... sis..." His saddened tone of voice pulled at the female's heart strings. She had never heard her brother so sad.

"Alright, I'm coming. Give me a moment." Hanging up, Leon slowly pushed the phone back into place and, pushing his elbows onto his knees, and pressed his face into his hands as he tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to escape.

"Marie... what I have done..."