Roman groaned, as the moment he gained consciousness, pain shot through his right shoulder and his hissed in pain. Slowly opening his eyes, Roman looked around at a bleach-white room, everything the same, eery color. That's when he realized where he was and groaned further.

"Damn these hospitals to hell." Roman muttered, attempting to sit up but feeling a strap against his chest. Again, another groan.

Roman examined the room. It was completely white, as stated, other than some hickory-wood cabinets in the right corner, pressed up beside a door against the left wall.

Roman himself was in a white hospital bed, bandages around the bullet wound in his shoulder, which hurt significantly less, but still ached; It felt fuzzy, as if it was slowly regaining pain after anesthetics. He was in a white hospital gown and was strapped down to the bed by his stomach and chest, just below the wound.

"C-could someone please explain what's going on here?" Roman called out, "Hello?"

Roman's attention instantly swept to the wooden door that he'd seen earlier on the left wall, clicking a few times before opening. Who looked like a doctor walked in, he was dressed in, you guessed it, all white.

"Who are you...?" Roman murmured cautiously.

"Ah, Mr.Princeton...glad to see that you're," The man flipped a page on the clipboard he held, marking something down, "Alive."

Roman paled, "A-alive?"

"Well, you took quite a blow there- really, you did, next time I suggest not provoking a cop?" The man smiled sarcastically.

"He was going to shoot my significant other." Roman's eyes narrowed.

"I see..." The doctor hummed, "Well, nevertheless, you should be able to be admitted out of here in the next few days if the antibiotics do their job." He turned back to the first sheet of paper on his clipboard, "You're lucky to have the parents you do."

Roman gritted his teeth, "Why do you say that?"

"It was your mother that paid the hospital bill- however, it's your father who'll be your downfall. You boys think you're made of titanium..." The doctor shook his head before turning to leave, pausing at the door, "Even the strongest of metals get bent."

Roman looked down at he straps around him, "What are these for?"

"You're a wanted criminal, Mr.Princeton, you didn't think we would trust you in a room by yourself?" He have another smile before exiting, "I'll have dinner brought to you soon!" He called before the door closed.

Roman frowned, twitching slightly to test the straps before sighing in defeat. He'd have to accept this until he was released.
Staring up at the ceiling, his mind only went to one thing...

Was Virgil okay?

***

Meanwhile

"See, it's really not that hard, it's just a matter of numbers, patterns, and memorization."

"Hm..."

"Interesting..."

Logan continued to twist the miniature rubix-cube that he had managed to smuggle in before getting it perfect, "And there you have it!" He looked at the two cellmates around him, mesmerized in their small cell.

"Astounding!" Valery gasped.

"Impressive." Terrance added, "Can we use it as a weapon?"

"Terrance!"

"What! I'm just curious, Val."

Logan paused.

"You know, we actually could."

"aW yE-!"

"TERRANCE!"

***

////A very short chapter but hey, just gotta' push past the exposition ;)

-Jay 🏳️‍🌈