Free Web NovelChapter 295: Elf in the Ceiling
A few hours earlier...
Scott was relaxing in his hospital room, casually eating from a cup of cherry jello.
Dr. Bellwood stood near the edge of the bed as he adjusted his glasses.
"Do you need more jello, Mr. McQueen?"
Scott scraped the last bit from the plastic cup.
"Yeah, more will do."
The medical director looked back at the two attending nurses and gave them a sharp nod, gesturing for them to go fetch some more. Turning back to the bed, Scott glanced around the somewhat bare walls of the room.
"Can we get a TV in this room?"
Scott asked, setting the empty cup on his lap.
"I need to know what’s happening on the news."
He didn’t want to miss a moment of the Megaman domestic abuse saga, nor the ongoing Sage drama. At the same time, however, there were still many other matters he was worried about... as usual, his plate was unreasonably full.
Dr. Bellwood immediately squeezed his face like he was deeply annoyed by the request.
And well, maybe he was.
"We don’t have any more TVs available. You should just remain like that. After all, you didn’t come here to watch TV, did you? This isn’t a cinema, it’s a hospital. I think the fact we’ve done our jobs is enough."
Scott didn’t get upset.
He simply nodded and gave a cool reply.
"It’s fine if you don’t have one. This place doesn’t really look all that developed either. Not that I’m trying to insult you or anything like that. In fact, I’ll just donate some TVs and some other stuffs here when I’m discharged."
The doctor’s face darkened further.
"Whatever..."
He frowned deeply and turned to leave.
As he stepped out into the hallway, Dr. Bellwood was angrily thinking to himself.
『Who does that guy think he is to come and talk about my hospital like that?! It’s not like I get much money from the higher-ups, and I still manage to run this place smoothly, hmph! All this nonsense will stop after we take care of Jonah Hawks for a few days.』
The man clicked his tongue and walked faster.
...
Back inside Room 1173.
Scott was still enjoying the final scrapes of his jello.
The two nurses who were supposed to go bring him more hadn’t moved an inch. Instead, they just stood by the door and smiled at him like he was some sort of fascinating foreign object.
Scott tilted his head, looking between them.
"Hm?"
The first nurse was lost in her own thoughts.
『This guy is so in shape... and those bandages on his body look so friggin’ good on him! If only he was just a teensy bit older, then I wouldn’t feel bad about fantasizing all this weird romance bullshit... kyaaahhhh!』
The second nurse was trapped in an entirely different train of thought.
『I’m really surprised he survived that accident. The truck ripped his car apart. Last night, he looked so wounded and in so much pains that I was sure he was gonna die. How’d he manage to survive that? Still... given his strong body it does make sense. He must gym really hard.』
Seeing the two nurses completely spaced out, Scott waved his empty jello cup at them.
"Uhm, the jello...?"
The nurses snapped out of it and nodded shakily like they’d only just spawned into the room.
"We’ll get right to it!"
They both said then hurried off.
Now that Scott was alone, the only thing on his mind wasn’t just the snacks anymore. If he hadn’t spent over 300,000 credits to receive special surgery from the system, he was absolutely certain he’d have died. The fact that he was able to see Denise was proof enough of that.
He’d forgotten how Denise explained it.
But death is like a distant river in the night. The closer you get to it, the more you can see the river and make out its details... the moonlight reflecting off it, how transparent it is, or the swimming fish.
That is how death is, too.
A dead man will always see the Grim Reaper.
That Grim Reaper is a beautiful goth chick.
『It’s almost laughable...』
He smiled at the thought of her face.
[Notice! Host has critically low credits!]
It was like this system didn’t want him to be happy.
Remembering that 300,000 credits loss killed him.
The cost was steep.
He wasn’t even sure he had up to a hundred thousand credits left in his balance.
『I’ll need to do a big stream sooner or later to get some more credits...』
He sighed miserably.
The unfortunate thing about the system was the sheer volume of things Scott had to maintain out of his own pocket. There was the Overwatch Headquarters on the outskirts of Metro City, along with all of its automated security robots, as well as the high-tech facility located way out in the North Pole.
Scott took a deep breath as his hand instinctively moved to grab his chest. If he didn’t have those 300,000 credits saved up, he’d be dead, and Maya’s current situation wouldn’t change at all. He’d barely escaped death this time.
"Phew... that was real close..."
BAM!
The room door flew open with tremendous force and startled Scott. He tensed, but relaxed slightly when he saw a heavily panting Jake standing in the doorway.
"Are you out of your mind?!"
Scott shouted as he glared at his friend.
"Why’d you jump in here like that? I could’ve killed you!"
It wasn’t an exaggeration, either.
Scott had already positioned the plastic spoon in his hand exactly like a throwing needle. If he had thrown it with enough force, he could have cleanly split Jake’s throat open before realizing who it was.
An oblivious Jake saw that Scott was perfectly fine and that made him feel instant relief. In fact, he was even laughing between his pants before he lunged forward and gave Scott a deep, deep hug.
Scott squeezed his face, trying to pry himself away.
"Bro, look... it’s not that I’m not happy to see you here, but you have so much sweat all over your body, and I just had a shower..."
Jake finally pulled back, laughing quite sheepishly as he wiped his brow.
"Sorry, man! I’m just so glad you’re alive. There was crazy traffic out there, so I had to run the remaining way here and almost passed out after a few blocks."
Scott’s expression softened.
"You ran? I’m touched, bro."
Jake chuckled proudly, puffing out his chest.
"Scott, you’re my cabrón. For you, I’d even eat my mom’s burnt, low-sugar cookies."
Scott laughed a little at the image of those horrible cookies finding its way to his head.
"I wish I could show you the awesome present I got you for Christmas. It’s so cool."
This completely shocked Jake. His jaw dropped.
"Wait... you got me a gift?"
Scott folded his arms across his chest and smirked like a proud one:
"Of course. While I was over at the Trevors’ place, I found out that the chairman is a big fan of Star Conflict. He has the rare 1991 Dragon Ship sets—the one with 5,000 pieces that can be remodeled into a combat robot mode or a space station."
Hearing this, Jake’s eyes actually began to tear up a bit.
"I... I didn’t get you anything..."
It was made sense.
Scott was never big on celebrating Christmas, since the holidays usually just reminded him of his family and everything he’d gone through in the past. Because of that, he always preferred to spend it alone or just pretend it was any other ordinary day. The fact that Scott had actually gone out of his way to get him a gift made Jake realize that his identity as Nightwatch had changed Scott in more ways than one.
Jake quickly wiped the tears from his eyes.
His soft voice started to crack.
"I’ve always been scared that, at some point, you’re gonna outgrow me as a friend. I know you’ve told me several times that it won’t happen, but it’s not easy to live as a normal person in your world. Especially after Maya just left us like that... I’m just scared to lose more friends."
Overcome with emotion, he hugged Scott again.
Scott pulled a deeply grossed-out face from all the fresh sweat soaking into his hospital gown, but he ultimately relented, letting Jake enjoy the hug.
Then, a dull, monotonous voice suddenly sounded from above them.
"Now kiss..."
Scott and Jake instantly froze, looking around the room, but they didn’t see anyone. Scott slowly tilted his head upward and looked toward the ceiling.
Hanging casually from the open air vent was Dark Elf.
She was wearing nothing but an ash-gray sports bra and matching panties.
Scott’s face went entirely deadpan.
"Does he even need to ask?"
In fluid motion, Dark Elf dropped straight down from the air vent and landed squarely on Scott’s crotch which nearly knocked all the wind out of his lungs.
"Oof—!"
Ignoring his pain, she reached up and grabbed both of his cheeks with her soft hands.
This was her way of forcing him to look at her.
But Dark Elf isn’t a hard lady to look at.
"Are you okay? Have you fully healed?"
Her voice was so incredibly dull and unenthusiastic that if someone else was listening, they’d think she didn’t even care whether he was dead or alive.
Scott winced slightly under her grip.
"Yeah, yeah... I’m fine."
His crotch was still throbbing from the impact of how hard she had fallen on him, but the saving grace was that the plush softness of her bubble butt had cushioned the worst of the blow.
Without thinking, the words slipped right out of his mouth.
"Thank god you have a soft butt."
Dark Elf tilted her head blankly. "Hm...?"
Scott’s eyes bulged as he realized what he just said.
He waved his hands frantically in front of him.
"I didn’t mean it like that! I’m not saying you don’t have a soft butt, but... that... I mean..."
He quickly gave up, lowering his head in defeat.
"Please don’t tell Gwen."
To no surprise, Dark Elf’s expression didn’t change at all.
"Thank you for liking my butt."
Scott immediately looked away and scratched his cheek with his index finger as he mumbled:
"You don’t have to say it like that..."
Jake stood by the bed with a smile.
"I’ll go get us some drinks."
Once Jake was gone, Dark Elf continued to play with Scott’s face, pulling at his cheeks with a unamused expression. Despite having his lips stretched wide apart, Scott still managed to mumble out a question.
"Shouldn’t you be in Woodhull Private Hospital getting treatment from Dr. Rosen? And why the hell are you in your underwear?"
Dark Elf stopped pulling his cheeks and slowly began to pull his ears apart instead.
"Since it’s winter, I’m using it as my first training since recovering. They haven’t officially discharged me yet, but I was tired of being cooped up in the hospital. Especially since this would have been the first Christmas I was celebrating with my first and only friend."
Scott blinked. "First and only...?"
Dark Elf nodded slowly, looking like a loyal pup.
"Gwen."
"I’m your friend too."
Scott told her gently.
"And so is Jake and pretty much everyone else."
Dark Elf paused as her hands froze on his face.
"Really?"
"Mhm. Why would you think any different?"
She stared at him blankly.
"I thought you only kept me around because I was friends with Gwen."
Puhahaha!
Scott didn’t waste time to laugh.
"Definitely not. Besides, who wouldn’t want to be friends with a super-hot assassin?"
Hearing this, Dark Elf rested her dainty hands flat against his shoulders then leaned in until her big, round breasts were squeezed tightly against him.
She calmly looked him straight in the eyes.
"Do you like my body?"
Scott’s breath hitched.
"Uh, it’s not appropriate to say..."
A tiny, perhaps imperceptible smile pulled at the corner of Dark Elf’s rosy lips.
"If you ever want to touch me, I’ll let you. But I can’t promise to make those noises Emma and Gwen make. I’ve never done that before, after all."
Scott’s entire face flushed bright red.
『HOLY SHIT, SHE’S A VIRGIN!』
Dark Elf gave a slow nod.
"Yes, I am."
A literal chill ran down Scott’s spine.
"Uhm... I didn’t say anything out loud."
"But you thought it..." Dark Elf replied smoothly.
Scott could only smile defeatedly.
Someone with her instincts could easily read him like an open book.
It was around this time that a now thoroughly terrified Dr. Bellwood politely entered Room 1173, having finally realized the insane level of VIP status Scott possessed.
Fast forward a little later, and Scott was now fully relaxed in the actual VIP suite, located on the highest floor of Platinum Care Hospital. The room was massive, featuring a floor-to-ceiling glass window that offered a stunning landscape view of the deeper parts of Metro City with its flyovers and skyscrapers.
Scott took another bite of his newly delivered jello as he appreciated the skyline.
"This looks nice."
Dr. Bellwood was sweating through his lab coat.
"Right?! I’m sure it’ll look even better if we get more publicity so that big names can visit us more in the future. I’ve actually been thinking about looking for a celebrity who will help us raise awareness for the hospital and the new children’s clinic we’re opening soon."
The doctor edged closer to the bed with a desperate smile plastered across his face.
Scott just shrugged.
"Well, good luck with that."
Dr. Bellwood swallowed his smile.
"I should go call your visitors up!"
He was about to leave when he saw Dark Elf sitting quietly in the corner of the room.
"Would Mrs. McQueen like anything?"
Dark Elf didn’t even bother to look away from the nice view outside. She adjusted her unnaturally tight grip on her snack bag and gave a bland reply.
"Get me more chips. And I’m not his wife, by the way. You should go kiss ass with any of the girls that are part of his visitors, I’m sure you’ll pick the right one. After all he has five girlfriends to choose from."
Dr. Bellwood let out a very loud, awkward cough as his face turned an interesting shade of purple before he hurried out of the room.
...
Meanwhile, a furious Jonah Hawks marched down the lower corridors of the VIP floor. He was being closely followed by two panicked nurses who were desperately trying to explain the situation to him.
"Mr. Hawks, please understand! Your VIP room has been taken by someone else due to an emergency—"
"I don’t give a crap!"
Jonah roared, ignoring them as his heavy boots slammed against the trembling floor.
"Do you know who I am?! How can a random bastard just come and take my room like that?! I won’t take this kind of disrespect!"
"But sir, the other patient’s condition was very—"
Jonah turned and shouted right in their faces.
"Shut up! My broken arm is my whole career! That’s bigger than that loser’s entire life!"
Glancing around corridor in a blind rage, Jonah’s eyes landed on a janitor’s cart. He lunged forward and snatched a wooden broomstick from the bin.
Claire felt her heart drop to her stomach.
"What are you doing with that, Mr. Hawks?"
Jonah gripped the broom handle tightly.
"I’m going to use it to beat the shit out of that patient!"
"You can’t do that!"
Claire cried out as she rushed forward to grab his uninjured arm to hold him back.
"Get off me, bitch!" Jonah snarled.
He threw an elbow backward jab that struck Claire squarely in her delicate, rose-like face. free𝑤ebnovel.com
CRACK.
The force of the blow sent Claire collapsing hard onto the floor. The surrounding nurses immediately let out terrified screams as dark blood began to rapidly pour from her nose.
The commotion was so loud that it caught the attention of the occupants inside the VIP suite. Hearing the screams, Scott pushed his blankets aside and rushed out from his hospital bed to see what was happening.
He stared at the woman clutching her bleeding face.
Scott’s eyes narrowed gently.
"I know that lady..."
