Maverick let out a loud, disbelieving laugh that had no humor in it at all, his shoulders jerking slightly with the force of it before he suddenly shoved Elias backward with brutal strength.
“What a fucking fool,” he snapped, his voice sharp with contempt.
The impact hit Elias hard in the chest, sending him stumbling back several steps before his footing completely gave out. He crashed onto the ground with a rough thud, one hand hitting the floor to break his fall while the other scraped against the surface as he steadied himself.
For a second, there was only silence except for the sound of uneven breathing.
Elias quickly pushed himself up on one arm, his jaw clenched so tightly it looked like it might crack. His eyes snapped up, blazing with fury. “You think I’m the fool here?” he barked, his voice low and rough. “Have you completely lost your mind? What the hell is wrong with you?”
His chest rose and fell sharply as he glared up at Maverick, disbelief written all over his face.
Above him, Maverick took a slow step forward again. His hands were still curled into fists, his shoulders tense, rage still burning hot in his expression, clearly ready to strike again.
At the same moment, Elias pushed himself up from the floor, rage burning across his bruised face as he moved forward to swing at Maverick too.
But before either of them could reach each other, Xavier quickly stepped between them.
“That’s enough!” Xavier shouted.
He grabbed Maverick tightly by the shoulders and forcefully held him back.
“You want to take care of Zoe, right?” Xavier said quickly, trying to pull him out of it. “Then come on. Let’s go see her—we’ll talk to the doctors and figure out if she can be discharged so you can take her with you.”
Maverick still struggled furiously against him.
“Let go of me!” he roared. “I’m going to kill him!”
But Xavier refused to release him.
“You just found your sister again,” Xavier snapped firmly while dragging him backward toward Zoe’s room. “Don’t waste your time fighting here when you could be with her.”
Maverick continued fighting his grip, but Xavier forcefully shoved him toward the hospital room anyway.
A few seconds later, both of them disappeared inside Zoe’s ward.
The hallway finally fell quiet.
Cassian walked over to Elias just as Elias wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Blood still dripped slowly from the cut beside his eyebrow, caused by the ring on Maverick’s hand, while bruises were already beginning to darken across his face.
When Cassian called for a doctor earlier, one had immediately rushed over.
Now the doctor carefully cleaned the blood from Elias’s face before applying medicine to the cut near his eyebrow.
Elias sat there silently through the treatment, his jaw tight with restrained anger.
Once the doctor finished and stepped away, Cassian moved closer.
Elias immediately looked at him and barked angrily,
“Keep him under control.”
He pushed himself to his feet while wiping the remaining blood from his lip again.
“I’ve tolerated his bullshit and tantrums for over a year,” Elias snapped irritably. “But he’s getting out of hand now. He’s completely losing his fucking mind.”
His breathing was still uneven with anger.
“What the hell is going on inside his head?” he growled. “Did the doctors forget to check his brain while treating his damn legs?”
