Thanks to the advanced medical technology of the hospital, William's injury stabilized within an hour, though the doctor warned us that he would need proper rest before leaving the building.
We were given permission to visit him briefly, but taking him back to the hotel immediately was out of the question.
When we approached his room, Erik hesitated outside the door while looking at us uncertainly, clearly unsure whether he was supposed to enter such a personal moment with us.
Anthony noticed his hesitation and simply waved his hand toward the door while saying quietly that he should come inside with us since he had already seen more than enough chaos tonight anyway.
The moment we stepped into the room...we saw William lying on the hospital bed under a thin white sheet, his head wrapped with a medical bandage while the soft humming of monitoring equipment filled the otherwise quiet room.
His eyes were open, but the moment he saw the three of us standing there his expression broke instantly, tears forming faster than he could hide them.
He sniffed once and quickly turned his face toward the other side of the bed.
Anthony stepped closer first and placed a hand on his shoulder, while I moved beside the bed and spoke softly.
"William… are you good?"
"Yeah," he replied almost immediately, though his voice sounded hollow. "I didn't see the wall."
Anthony and I exchanged a glance without saying anything, because both of us understood instantly that he was lying.
"Your chip wouldn't break like this," I said quietly while resting my hand on the metal rail beside the bed.
William slowly turned back toward us and pushed himself up against the headrest, though his eyes still refused to meet ours. For several seconds he stared down at his hands, rubbing them together nervously while the silence in the room grew heavier.
Anthony looked toward me, I looked toward Erik, and Erik simply looked confused because he clearly had no idea what conversation we were actually having.
"You're right," William finally said while wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "I shouldn't have done that."
None of us spoke after that.
We knew he wasn't finished yet.