The Price of Loyalty ✝ Claude & Max
It had all fallen to pieces, just like that. In one moment, things had changed dramatically, the spray of bullets changing the course of fate.
In the days following the shooting and assassination of the Commissioner, Claude found himself incredibly busy, overworked to the point of being unable to sleep. As a result, it had taken Claude far longer to peel himself away from his work to visit Max than he liked, but little could be done about it. With the Commissioner dead and the department in chaos and two youths in his care, he had little time for caring for himself, much less for making hospital visits. Nonetheless, he made time on the Wednesday after the shooting, finally finding time to rest and to care for the personal relationships that had also been affected by the attack. Having made a fool of himself to his entire department, Claude found himself seeking the company of the one officer who consistently showed him respect and loyalty, Max Iver. It was perhaps unkind to take advantage of a wounded young man to stroke his own ego, but he needed to rally his allies within the department, wherever he could find them - especially with strangers in charge.
Striding down the hall with cool confidence, Claude avoided looking at the lowly rabble that crowded the ever-busy hospital, not wanting to soil his mood even further. Sleepless and feeling foul, he was not inclined to be faced with the consequences of the failure of the police. Finally finding the door which led to the room in which the fallen officer was being cared for, he took a deep breath before pushing down the handle. There he was, lying in his hospital bed, seemingly without a care in the world, as if he had not been shot only a few days prior. Claude wished that he had been able to have that kind of positivity when he had been in that situation. "Good morning, Officer," he greeted as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. "You're looking well." Not bothering to ask first, he strode over to the chair next to the hospital bed and sat down in it. He looked him up and down for a long moment before he spoke again. "How are you feeling, Max? Are you being cared for adequately?" The young man's first name slipped out casually, as if it hadn't been intentional, and Claude hoped that it would pay off.
