Polo, Girleh and... A peanut. :)

Leon lay like a statue in the hospital bed, his chest slowly rising and falling as his reluctant lungs drew in oxygen from the mask strapped over his face. His heart monitor beeped feebly beside him, though its rhythm was regular. An IV hovered beside his bed, connected into the pulsing veins in his arm by a single needle. It dripped steadily - the clear liquid falling from its sack to trickle down the long tube directly into his bloodstream at regular intervals.
Finally, Leon felt himself begin to inch toward consciousness. He became vaguely aware of the fact that he was in the hospital, and he felt momentary relief. Then he became aware of Anna's presence, and another wave of relief swept over him - this time powerful enough to drag a soft sigh from his lips. With this new-found knowledge, a sense of peace and contentment eased his worry and he found himself able to relax. He was just about to slip back into the darkness when, as though from a distance, he heard the muffled sounds of Anna get up and start walking toward the door. "Anna..." He murmured softly, the hoarse whisper barely coherent above the beeping of the machines as it escaped his semi-conscious lips. He seemed to be drifting in a state of limbo - neither conscious nor unconscious, yet incapable of regaining consciousness, and unwilling to lose it again.

Leon remained silent for a while, struggling to arrange his tongue and his lips in the correct positions to form his words. Finally, the darkness slackened its grip, and Leon winced at the sudden burst of pain before his eyes slowly flickered open. He blinked a few times to bring the room into focus, then glanced over at Anna who now stood beside his bed. He hated feeling so vulnerable... And he hated letting her see him in this state, but he was glad she was here all the same. He would just have to get over the rest... Finally, Leon managed to choke out a few soft, disjointed words. "You... Want me to... Explain... Right?" He asked quietly, speaking between precious, painful breaths. "I... I owe you... That much." He concluded, his eyes sliding shut again for a brief moment as exhaustion crashed down on him. He forced them open and glanced back at Anna, anxiously awaiting her response.

"I have no sob story..." Leon muttered, wincing as he attempted to push himself into a sitting position. "And I know what I said was cruel, but I also swore to you that it was not true." Leon concluded softly. "Look - I'm going to explain this to you whether you like it or not. Think what you want of me after that - I daresay I'll not care much anyway..." He shrugged vaguely, then took a deep breath and cast his oxygen mask aside before starting to speak, pausing every so often to catch his breath. "I'm a dead man, Anna." He stated bluntly, shrugging slightly before going on. "It's a long boring story, but it all boils down to this: I'm sick, and I'm not going to get better. When I found out, I knew I'd have to quit the music industry... But after so many people were relying on me, and my friends, and my fans... I just couldn't let them down like that. So I liked, and I created this new person... A person they could all hate. Somebody they'd be glad to see the back of... And it worked. I'm a jerk, and people hate me, but it's perfect, because I planned it that way. I never mean what I say... I just say the meanest thing that pops into my head at the time. You were unlucky enough to cross both sides of me... And I'm sorry." He fell silent then, staring blindly into the glowing face of the heart monitor. There was nothing else he could say. It was her choice, now... What she would do. He half hoped she would hate him all the more... For her sake. But at the same time, he wanted somebody beside him... Just one person who could share his secret, and stand beside him to bid him farewell as he left the world.

Leon goaned, leaning back against the bed. "What difference does it make...?" He murmured softly, his eyes sliding shut from weariness, then opening again as he continued. "This is your choice, for you are the one who had a future here. I could be dead by morning. Perhaps I will be... Or perhaps it will be as long as 3 years from now? Who knows... The point is, of course nobody wants to die alone, right...? I'm no exception. But all in all, I just want you to do what's right for you." Leon trailed off with a subdued sigh, then concluded his speech. "My personal opinion is that it'll be far more logical for you to cut the cords now, while you're still mad." He concluded with a slight shrug. "We were good friends once, chances are it could happen again and quite frankly, I'm the only one who would benefit from that - and I've never been one to follow selfish aspirations, despite the evidence to the contrary." His case stated, Leon released a shuddering breath and dropped back into his bed again, already feeling weakened by his efforts.

"I... Wow..." Leon murmured quietly, turning his gaze away from her. "That's a powerful thing to say." He added in a hushed tone, though he did not elaborate on his point and soon let it slide. "You should go." He encouraged quietly. "Once Quinn is sober, that is. He's a good guy, really... At least from what I can tell. You shouldn't do anything to jeopardize your relationship with him, especially not on my account." He concluded with a faint smile. "I'll be fine, at least for now. And I'll see you back at school soon... Only don't expect me to act... Civil." He gave a faint chuckle, but it did not last long, for his lungs seemed to scream in protest and he ended up coughing painfully for a minute before slumping back against the pillows again - his face seeming gray and gaunt.

"He may be your brother, but if he threatens your life, I'll have my lawyers on him like a pack of starving wolves." Leon stated bluntly, offering an unconcerned shrug. "Even he can't get away with something like that..." Leon added in a bitter mutter, shaking his head in cold disappointment. He had believed in Quinn... Could that jerk not take his responsibility as a brother seriously? Did he not understand what it meant...? Leon glanced at Anna again as she began to speak, unsure what to think of her words. "I'll suffer and burn regardless." Leon informed her with a helpless shrug, a faint trace of twisted humour in his feeble smile. Somehow, jokes on one's own life just never seemed all that 'right'. "Though I can't deny I appreciate you staying..." Leon wen on in a hushed tone, dropping is gaze for a moment before raising it to meet her eyes again - sincerity showing in his sickly features. "Thank you." He murmured softly. "I suppose you'd need to be stubborn to deal with me." He added with a faint smile, "And as for trust... I would give it to you, and I wish I could, but it isn't so simple for me... I've already entrusted you with more than I'd dare let anybody else know... But trusting for me is... Complicated." He finished simply, dropping his gaze again and hoping she wouldn't pursue the subject further. He couldn't just trust... He would have to learn how to again... But he doubted he had time left for such a lengthy procedure. Not unless Anna could work some kind of miracle on his wary mind.

"Thank you.." Leon murmured quietly, retrieving his oxygen mask before sliding back into his bed and dropping immediately into a slumber that was somewhere between sleep and unconsciousness. The heart monitor continued to beep rhythically as his chest rose and fell in shallow breaths, his feeble lungs reluctantly agreeing to keep him alive.

Leon slept soundly for hours on end, occasionally waking for brief spells of time when a nurse entered to change his IV, or something of the sort. Even when he woke, it seemed he was barely aware of his surroundings, for he simply watched the actions around the room unseeingly before drifting back intohis slumber. It may have been as long as 2 days by the time he finally awoke, though he was barely aware of the pasing of time, so he could not propery tell. He frowned and blinked, raising his fists to rub his eyes before starting to glance around his room, wondering vaguely if Anna was still there. She was a fool if she was... Only this time, he felt he would gladly suffer a fool of the sort.

"Anna?" Leon asked hesitantly, his words slurred beneath the oxygen mask on his face. Was sh still there...? He couldn't quite decide... His vision was taking a while to come into focus, and all he could make out was a wide array of shapes and colours - but nothing with defined form, and certainly nothing that he recognised as Anna. Yet somehow, he had a feeling she was still there... Then again, perhaps it was just a desperate hope...

"I see..." Leon murmured softly in response, blinking a few times to bring her into focus, and even then still trying to decide which of the 5 Annas he ought to be looing at. "Thanks." He added sofly, seeming to tare right through her. He frowned as se coughed, shaking his head to clear it before pushing himself into a sitting position with a wince. His vision was in better focus now, and he was able to look directy at her, concern seeded in his gaze. "Are you okay?" He demanded gently, "And don't lie to me." He added, raising hs eyebrows in warning.

"What?!" Leon exclaimed, evidently furious at this news. For a moment it seemed he planned to leap out of the bed and confront Quinn there and then, but the illogical thought left his mind before he even began to act, and he slumped back against the headrest. "I should hope you'll be fine..." He muttered bitterly, glaring at the wall while a nerve ticked in his jaw. "Has he tried to get help?" Leon asked quietly, the fury in his voice draining to leave his tone calm and gentle. "He can't go on hurting you like this... It isn't right." Leon concluded firmly, "I mean, he's your brother for Goodness sake!" He added, his voice rising in indignation, then breaking off into a fit of weak, painful coughs that left him bleeding from the corner of his mouth. He swept the blood away irritably with the back of his hand before fixing his attention back on Anna, clearly disregarding his own health.

"I-I'm calm..." Leon muttered feebly, though his expression clearly contradicted his words, for he was staring at her hand around his as though it was some sort of demon come to take his soul. Even as he sat there, tension crept through his muscles, and the rhythm of the heart monitor sped up slightly with his pulse. As he felt his breathing getting slightly shallower, Leon gently pulled his hand away, glancing down awkwardly. He didn't do well with people touching him... "Sorry." He said simply, the words leaving his lips in a barely coherent whisper.