The trip back to the hospital was a long and tense one. Vi tightened her grip on Caitlyn's delicate, spindly fingers. She had never held the older woman's hand before; her fingers were surprisingly thin and soft, nothing at all like Vi's own muscled and calloused digits. They weren't warm however, as Vi had always imagine they would be. They were wet and cold and covered in a light sheen of blood to match the wound on her forehead. Vi's heart constricted at the sight, and she held the fingers tighter.
She could feel Jayce's eyes flicker over to her every few minutes when he thought she wasn't looking. She could almost feel the envy pouring off him in waves. Idiot.
Jayce was a pompous asshole who could only think of the world in relation to himself. Everything was about him, his genius, his accomplishments, and his future prospects. Vi had no idea what his actual intentions towards Caitlyn were, and she didn't care to find out. Did he actually care about her? Or was she just another conquest, another shining medal to display in tribute to his supposed greatness?
Either way, it didn't matter. While Caitlyn respected the man, she showed absolutely no interest in him whatsoever. On several occasions she'd vented exasperatedly to Vi about her lack of desire to be dragged into a pseudo arranged marriage with the rich scientist. "I didn't work my arse off to become the youngest sheriff in Piltover just to become some socialite's trophy wife," she had moaned to Vi, who had snickered in response. It was true; to work so hard and to accomplish so much to still only be considered important because of your breeding and pedigree was an insult.
Not that Vi knew much about pedigree.
The sirens came back into Vi's ears as she snapped out of her reverie. She looked around, seeing Jayce had gotten up, large muscular arms holding himself steady as the jerking of the vehicle calmed down.
"We're here," he said, jaw tightened.
As they pulled into the receiving bay of Piltover General, a flurry of EMTs swarmed the ambulance, pushing Vi and Jayce and their weapons out of the way without hesitation. Caitlyn's stretcher was pulled out of the ambulance, the clanging and rattling of the metal almost imperceptible amongst the shouting of the paramedics. Within seconds, Caitlyn was being wheeled off at top speed through the swinging door of the emergency room, Vi and Jayce in hot pursuit. They were cut off suddenly, however, by a small, young looking nurse with a sympathetic but stern expression. Her sterile white uniform was blinding.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to two to stay out in the waiting area." She said, hugging a clipboard to her chest and gesturing down the hall with a slender finger. Vi's heart raced.
"Sorry, but I've got to make sure the Sheriff is all right. I need to be there." Vi exclaimed, her heart rising in her throat. She shifted her weight, tightening her grip on the heavy gauntlets underneath her arm. The nurse shook her head, her tight dark curls bouncing around her ebony-tinted skin with the motion.
"I'm sorry, Officer, but that's just not possible. If you want to make sure Sheriff Deramore pulls through, the best thing you can do is let the doctors do their work." With that, the young woman turned around and began speeding away. The clicking of her heels on the cold marble tiles began to fade as she turned a corner. Vi growled under breath, despising how helpless she felt. She knew logically that the nurse was right; her presence would help in absolutely no amount. Yet she still felt like it was wrong to leave Caitlyn alone in there. All Vi could see in her head was her beloved Sheriff, sprawled out on a steel operation table, the bright spotlight making her already pale skin look like she was already dead, the large spray of blood on her forehead not helping the scene. It looked like more like an autopsy than an operation. The thought made Vi's stomach do a nauseating flip. She began to take off for the closed doors when Jayce's large glove hand laid an iron grip on her shoulder.
"Did you listen to a thing she just said?" he inquired, his voice a low growl. His eyes were beginning to look a little bloodshot; he hadn't intended to stay awake for this long. The fatigue was beginning to catch up with him. He had been awake for what seemed like forever, and the stress of the night was wearing on his nerves. "You can't help her. Just go sit down." To Vi, that felt like a light to a fuse that was burning down fast. His grip tightened on her shoulder, and the pressure made her twitch.
"Don't touch me." Vi snarled, smacking his hand away with a forceful slap. She turned on him, her eyes filled with rage. "Don't you fucking touch me." Her voice trembled along with her clenched hands. She began to storm off, wanting to be as far away as possible from Jayce and his infuriating air of superiority that he carried around like a miasma.
"Well, it's true." Jayce growled. It seemed that he had finally been pushed to his limit. Vi whipped around, the rage inside of her more than ready and willing to have another outlet. "Whose fault is it that Caitlyn's in there right now, huh? Last time I checked, you're her partner. So what the hell happened, Vi?"
The implication in Jayce's tone was clear as day. Vi's eyes were narrowed and glassy as she glared him down, feeling her own restraint being pushed dangerously close to its limit.
"Don't you dare, Jayce. My priority is Caitlyn. I'd give my life for her. Jinx got the better of us, and the situation turned bad. You know what she's like." Vi snarled in reply. He had hit a sensitive spot, and she was sure he knew it. To her annoyance, he actually had the guts to scoff, his large eyebrows pulled into a hard crease.
"She got the better of you both, or just you, Vi? Because while I am well aware of how dangerous Jinx is, I'm also well aware of how you are. You are almost more of a danger to Caitlyn than Jinx is. Look back at your career so far; how many times has your giant ego almost gotten Caitlyn killed?" Jayce retorted, his voice beginning to get heated. Vi went silent, gritting her teeth. Despite her anger, her gut was telling her there was some truth to his words. It made her head spin. He scoffed again and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
"I will smash your face in, Jayce, don't fucking tempt me." Vi threatened, leaning into Jayce close enough to feel his breath on her face. Her own hot breath was coming out in ragged, enraged gusts.
"You are an animal, Vi." Jayce seethed through gritted teeth. Vi has never seen Jayce lose his cool. In conversation and on the battlefield, the Defender of Tomorrow was always calm, composed, and aloof. To many, it may seem as though nothing could phase him, that he was infallible. It almost excited Vi to see the fury behind Jayce's eyes, a fury that told her he was human and flawed just as she was. That he wasn't better than her like he thought he was. "You are nothing but a goddamn brute and a criminal, and that's all you'll ever be. You may wear that badge like a cop, but you're still just the same scuzzy gutter trash you were when Caitlyn found you." And that was Vi's last straw.
She pulled her aching and raw-knuckled fist back, and clocked Jayce across his strong jaw. Surprised, he reeled back from the blow, cradling his jaw in his hand. His eyes were wide with disbelief. He clenched his other hand, balling it into a fist, looking as though he were ready to strike back. With a cloud clang, the hextech gauntlets were dropped to the tiled floor. Vi raised her fists, more than ready to trade blows with the inventor. In fact, she had almost been yearning for it since she had met him. But with a growl of frustration, he let his arm drop back limply to his side. "Not here. I'm not stooping to your level." With that, he turned around and stalked off to the waiting area, Mercury Hammer still swinging on his back.
Vi almost wished he'd hit her back. At least then she wouldn't have the growing anxiety that he could be right.
The minutes turned very quickly into hours as Vi leaned against the crisp and clean hospital wall, her giant gauntlets at her feet. Vi counted the spots on the walls over and over; exactly 267 little black dots splotched sparsely across the alabaster white walls. She counted the black and grey tiles that stretched down the multitude of hallways connected to where she was. As far as she could see, there were about 685. She got up and paced the floor over and over, avoiding the EMTs and nurses who occasionally rushed by with gruesome victims lying unconscious on stretchers to their own emergency rooms.
She didn't realize she had fallen asleep until the young nurse had come back and found her slumped at the bottom of the wall, her gauntlets laying by her side. The nurse tentatively approached her, tapping the bruiser on her large steel shoulder pads.
"Excuse me, officer?" She called out quickly, shaking Vi awake. The enforcer lazily came around, eyes opening slowly and blearily. She groaned, rubbing her eyes with her right hand and pushing her messy hair out of the way. She locked eyes with the nurse, realizing where she was and jumping up with a startled cry.
"Where's Caitlyn?" she exclaimed immediately, groggily scanning her surroundings. The nurse took a step back, and gestured for Vi to calm down.
"Sheriff Deramore has made it through emergency surgery and is being moved currently into Intensive Care." she informed her, looking at the gigantic hextech gauntlets laying at their feet. "Grab your things, and if you wish, you can come see her condition."
Without hesitation, Vi scooped up her gauntlets and trotted after the nurse who had already begun walking away. Her head was reeling with the new information; so Caitlyn had made it through? But she was in the ICU? What did that mean for her? Vi wasn't exactly formally educated, and knew even less about medical terminology. In fact, this was only one of a handful of times she'd been inside of a hospital. During her criminal days, she'd treated every wound and injury on her own. To have professional help seemed so foreign to her. And having never had the luxury to watch television or movies, she had almost no knowledge about medical terminology beyond the absolute basics.
"So, is she going to be okay?" Vi asked, a desperate tone in her voice. She studied the nurse's face for any sign of emotion that could tell her anything, but her features were neutral and stoic.
"I'm sure Dr. Dubois can explain the situation to you when we get there." She offered, her heels clicking starkly against the dark tiles. "Your friend, Jayce, is already waiting by the room for you. I was surprised when you weren't in the waiting room with him."
"He's not my friend." Vi muttered bitterly. "We don't get along very well, so it was best not to wait together."
"Oh. Well, just as well then. Better than having an altercation in the emergency wing." The young nurse turned a corner, leading Vi past a reception desk and through some disinfecting stations. As they travelled through the Intensive Care Unit, Vi tried hard to look into some of the rooms they passed by. The rooms that did not have a curtain closing them off held some patients in even worse shape than Caitlyn had been in. Patients in various states of consciousness, surrounded and encompassed by a huge mass of tubes and machines. Some unconscious patients with loved ones sitting by their bedside, faces stony and yet somehow still anguished. Vi felt her stomach drop as she wondered morbidly how Caitlyn would look when they finally reached her.
It didn't take much longer, however, as Vi saw a very exhausted looking Jayce come into view at the end of the hallway. He stood beside a slightly larger room, equipped with blinds and its own door. On another day, Vi would have scoffed about how typical it was that richer patients got the bigger, more private rooms, and the lowly citizens had to make do with tiny spaces and flimsy curtains.
But not today.
"Dr. Dubois will be right with you two. He's just inside checking on her vitals." The nurse informed them. With a polite nod of her head, she turned on her heel, and hurried of to her next task.
Vi and Jayce stood around in awkward silence, both not comfortable enough to look at the other. Vi turned her gaze out a window that looked out onto the Piltover skyline, and was startle when she saw bright sunshine pouring in through the glass. She turned her attention to Jayce, who grudgingly made eye contact with her.
"What time is it?" she asked in an incredulous tone. How long had she been asleep for? Jayce pulled out his communications device and glanced at it briefly before replacing it in his jacket pocket.
"Just going on noon." He replied with an unrefined yawn. He looked like he'd stayed up the entire night, his eyes red and bloodshot He certainly didn't look like the high class aristocratic genius that he liked to present himself as. His transformation into an average person satisfied Vi greatly.
"Shit, I can't believe it's so late." Vi mumbled, tightening her grip on her gauntlets and yawning herself with an emphatic stretch. Her back and arms were incredibly sore, both from her poor sleeping position and the brawl with Jinx the night before. She was lowering her arm when Jayce awkwardly cleared his throat.
"Uh, Vi? I have to apologize for the things I said last night. That was incredibly rude and insensitive of me." He managed to get out. Vi almost snorted. She couldn't imagine he apologized much. "We were both tired and under a lot of stress last night, and I didn't mean those things." At that, Vi couldn't help but let out an incredulous snort. Yeah right.
"There's no need to bullshit, Jayce. I know you meant what you said, and frankly, I don't really give a damn what you think about me. There's no need to save face." She replied flatly. Jayce clenched his jaw at that, clearly unsure what he should say. Luckily for him, the door before them finally creaked open, and there stood a tall, older man in a long white coat.
"Ah, hello there." The doctor greeted them both in a quiet but powerful voice. "You must be here to see Sheriff Deramore." Vi was surprised by his heavy accent; he clearly hailed from some part of Demacia. It reminded Vi of Fiora Laurent, and the Demacian champion's tendency to shout out heavily accented battle cries before tearing her armour to shreds. Vi almost shuddered at the thought.
"Yeah, I'm Officer Vi, and this is Jayce." Vi introduced, gesturing towards Jayce beside her. The doctor gave a noise of surprise, and reached out his hand to shake Jayce's.
"Ah yes! The Defender of Tomorrow! So good to meet you in person!" Dr. Dubois said emphatically, shaking his hand hand as Jayce responded with a polite smile. Vi's eyes almost rolled out of her head. She did not have the patience to wait for someone to finish licking Jayce's boots. "Anyways, if you would please follow me, we can discuss the Sheriff's condition." With that, Vi and Jayce were ushered into the sizable room, and Vi's heart almost launched up her throat.
Though Caitlyn has looked in rough shape when Vi had pulled her out of the rubble, she looked much worse. Her face had fully developed bruises, her hair was pulled back and her head wrapped in numerous bandages. The large oxygen mask that had covered Caitlyn's face the last time Vi had seen her had been replaced with a breathing tube that stuck in her mouth and travelled down inside her throat. All around her hung IV drips and monitoring equipment, the cords and tubes all hanging around her like ethereal tendrils of some otherworldly beast. Her arm was encased in a large, heavy-looking cast, looking much too big in comparison to the woman's petite body. Her classy, silken dress had been replaced by clean and pressed hospital fatigues, making Caitlyn look even smaller and uncharacteristically grubby and unrefined. Almost every inch of her pristine skin was covered in some amount of gauze and bandages, all immaculate and white as snow. Overlaying the whole sight was the constant rhythm of Caitlyn's heartbeat on the monitor, beeping evenly and with precise consistency. Vi felt her mouth go dry and her tongue stick to the roof of her mouth.
"How long is she going to be unconscious for?" Jayce was the first to break the silence as all three of them stared at the Sheriff's idle form. Dr. Dubois cleared his throat, his expression suddenly grave and serious.
"This is the problem here. Sheriff Deramore has sustained a serious head injury. The damage done to her brain has rendered her unconscious." Dr. Dubois explained, his tone taking on a detached, professional edge. Vi wondered if this was how he always sounded when delivering grave news to loved ones of patients. She thought she was going to be sick. "Because it hasn't been a full 24 hours yet, we cannot conclusively say anything, but the symptoms we are seeing right now are suggesting that she may be in a comatose state."
Jayce, in complete contrast to his usual stoic self, let his mouth fall open in shock. He stuttered a little, his words coming out jumbled over his lips.
"S-so when will he wake up?" He gaped, taking frantic glances at Caitlyn every few seconds. "Is there anything that can be done?"
The doctor shook his head solemnly. "I'm afraid that she scores quite low on the Coma Scale. Because of this, it is impossible to tell when she could wake up, or if she will at all. All we can do for her is keep her on life support, and watch to see what kind of progress she makes, if any." He straightened his shoulders, sparing a glance over his shoulder at the unconscious Caitlyn behind him. "I'm very sorry to inform you of this, especially because our dear Sheriff is extremely important to Piltover." He began to leave the room, the clacking of his polished shoes the only noise breaking the monotonous beep of Caitlyn's heartbeat. "You may visit her now, for as long as visiting hours are open." He ushered himself out of the room, the almost imperceptibly quiet click of the door marking his exit.
For a few moments, neither Vi nor Jayce moved, neither knowing what to do with the information they had been presented. Vi gently placed her gauntlets down on a nearby empty counter, and slowly approached the foot of Caitlyn's bed. Jayce cleared his throat, his voice still carrying a very slight tremble.
"She almost looks like she's sleeping." Jayce murmured quietly. Vi stated stonily up at Caitlyn's face and gave a small nod.
"Yeah, it does."
Another few moments passed by, the two of them just staring blankly at Caitlyn. It seemed like Vi could not get the reality of the situation to sink into her brain. It still felt like she was dreaming.
"I... I need to go." Jayce said suddenly. He shifted his weight between his feet in discomfort. "I'll go make sure that Jinx was brought into custody with no issues." Vi was surprised; was Jayce actually doing her a kindness? Or did he really just not know what to do with himself?
"Good idea," Vi replied, bitter at the mention of the gunner's name. She strode carefully to the side of Caitlyn's bed, and looked up, making eye contact with Jayce. She narrowed her eyebrows hatefully. "Make sure to tell her I'll be coming for her soon."
Jayce stared uncertainly at Vi for a moment before taking one last glance at Caitlyn and leaving the room. Vi waited and listened for the door's soft click and his footsteps growing distant before approaching the Sheriff's still body.
Vi's hands trembled terribly as her fingers hesitantly reached out to touch Caitlyn's. They weren't quite as cold as they had been when she had brought her here. They had also been washed of the blood that had previously stained them. Vi turned around and dragged a chair over to the bedside, dropping herself down into it unceremoniously. Her digits still shaking, she took Caitlyn's smaller hand into her own. As though to soothe herself, she ran her own stubby fingers up and down across Caitlyn's palm, wondering silently to herself whether or not the unconscious woman knew she were here doing this. She wondered even more curiously what she would think of her if she did.
"Come on, Cupcake," Vi whispered, barely audible over the heart monitor loudly voicing Caitlyn's steady heartbeat. "Don't give up on me just yet."
Vi sat there by Caitlyn's side for what seemed like forever. The sun shifted its position as it streamed in from the window on the far side of the room. She was so engrossed with her rhythmic stroking of Caitlyn's soft hand that she didn't hear the door creak open until it was too late.