Apologies for the rather short length, but I wanted to get something up, and well, suspense won over more scenes. :)
Slowly, Elena became aware of a dull throb in her upper arm, accompanied by an overall ache stretching from her toes to her hairline. She groaned and turned her head. Muffled sounds cut through the ringing in her ears. Voices. Maybe familiar. She blinked.
She was in a small, neat room. The wooden walls were adorned with a single pastoral painting. Next to her bed were a number of calmly beeping machines and an IV tree. There was also a tray table pushed against the far wall next to a chair. Slowly she sat up, blinking against the bright sunlight pouring in through the window. Someone had bandaged her arm into a sling, and there were a number of tubes and wires attached all over her body. The muffled shouting continued.
Slowly, placing both feet on the ground first, Elena stood, leaning on her IV stand. Making her way across the room, she opened the door just in time to see Dorian smack a clipboard right out of Cassandra's hands, sending papers fluttering to the floor.
"I don't give a flying fuck about your list, I need to see her!" Dorian snapped.
Cassandra's nostrils flared. "That was a gift from Lady Montilyet!"
"Dorian, what the hell are you doing here?" Elena asked, a weak grin on her face at his antics; they both turned to look at her as she spoke.
Instead of answering, Dorian pushed pasted Cassandra and enveloped Elena in a tight hug, mindful of the sling. Gingerly, she wrapped her good arm around him, relief washing over her. She hadn't realized how much she needed her best friend until right at that moment.
"Thank the Maker," he whispered.
Dorian held her at arm's length, warm chocolate eyes inspecting her from head to toe.
"Lady Trevelyan, you know this man?" Cassandra asked, eyes narrowed at their display.
Elena grinned, "It's quite alright, Cassandra, he's my cousin and he should be my emergency contact on all my HR forms as well."
"I see, my apologies," she murmured crouching down to pick up her papers.
"Dorian, help her," Elena hissed, giving him her best insistent glare.
Dorian rolled his eyes, but did so, a flush spreading against his cheeks, mostly likely in embarrassment for his outburst.
"I'll just leave you two, then." Cassandra muttered, before stalking down the hallway.
Dorian helped Elena back into her room and onto the bed before he pulled the chair over to sit at her side.
"The explosion was all over the news. Imagine my panic when you wouldn't pick up your phone," he started, tone playfully scolding. "They kept playing this loop of film of a man lifting a red-headed woman into a helicopter with the word 'Inquisition searches for survivors amid the rubble' flashing along the bottom. I wasn't going to wait around for some secretive type to knock on my door…I drove up here. Got here this morning actually. It's complete madness in the valley below."
Elena nodded, eyes wide. After a moment she reached across her bed and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm glad you came."
Dorian squeezed her hand back. "I couldn't very well leave my best girl. Now, what happened in there?"
She paused, the events of the Temple flashing through her mind: the traitorous guards, the strange man in the trench coat, the death of the Divine, so many things that didn't make sense, didn't add up.
"I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you," she said with a pensive frown.
Dorian sighed, "fair enough. I'm just glad you're alright. Well, relatively speaking. You could definitely use a shower."
Elena smacked his arm playfully. "A two thousand year old temple just collapsed on my head, give me a break!"
Before Dorian could tease her any more, there was a knock at the door. She called for them to come in, a moment later a man in a white coat appeared.
"Good afternoon, I'm Dr. Richards, I'm very glad to see you awake and alert."
After making sure she was okay with Dorian staying for their conversation, Dr. Richards check over her vitals and caught her up to speed on her injuries and prognosis.
"Overall, I think you'll be fine. I want to keep an eye on that arm, just to make sure it heals correctly, but otherwise I'm not too worried," he said with a smile.
"Tell that to my tinnitus," she joked.
Dr. Richards laughed and bid her good day. Elena nodded as he left.
Once the door was closed, Dorian looked as if he wanted to say something, but before he could another knock sounded.
"Come in," Elena called, thinking it was the doctor again.
Instead, Leliana, Cullen, and Josephine appeared, eyes flicking between Elena and the mysterious gentleman holding her hand at her bedside.
"Sorry to interrupt," Leliana said, a bemused expression on her face. "But now that you're awake we thought it best to get your recollection of events."
"Oh, right," Elena paused, unsure if she should make introductions before Dorian left. Fuck it. "Everyone, this is my cousin and roommate, Dorian Pavus. Dorian, these are the Vice Presidents of Inquisition Consulting, Leliana Nightengale, Josephine Montilyet, and Cullen Rutherford."
"I see," Dorian said, grinning as he stood. "A pleasure to meet you all. I'll leave my dear cousin in your most capable hands."
With a wink in Elena's direction, he left the room, closing the door behind him. The way he had looked over Cullen as he left had not escaped her notice, and she knew he'd have a thing or two to say to her later.
Elena sat up a little straighter, and folded her legs to make room.
"You can sit on the bed," she said to none of them in particular. "We seemed to have a shortage of chairs."
Josephine sat gracefully at the foot of the bed, while Cullen took the chair Dorian had just vacated. Leliana, it seemed, preferred to stand. The air in the room seemed thicker, heavier now that Dorian was gone. For the first time Elena wondered if she might not be in trouble.
"Before we discuss anything else, how are you feeling? You gave us quite a scare when Cullen lifted you from the rubble," Josephine murmured, placing a hand on Elena's forearm.
Elena glanced at Cullen, who was looking at her in earnest. Was it a helicopter she had seen hovering over right before she passed out? Had he been the one to reuse her from the Temple? Dorian had said the media was showing a video of a man airlifting her from the scene. The thought sent a strange tightness to her stomach.
She licked her lips, tongue running over the dry skin, as she ascertained the answer to their question.
"I suppose I'm alright," she wiggled her shoulder. "A broken arm isn't fun, but I've had worse."
"I'm glad to hear it. Now, Leliana already informed us that she sent you up to the Temple to deliver a message to the Divine, but can you tell us anything else you might remember?" Josephine prompted softly.
Elena glanced at Leliana where she stood with her back to them gazing out the window. She had lied to her colleagues about why she'd sent Elena up to the Temple and Elena wasn't sure whether she should be relieved or worried. Taking a deep breath, she related the tale as well as she remembered it.
"He just disappeared?" Cullen interjected when she explained how the man with the scarred faced seemed to vanish into thin air.
She nodded. "I know it sounds mad, but it's honestly how it appeared. I threw the grenade down the hallway and when I looked back, he was gone."
"There could have been a secret passage," Leliana reasoned. "Although, it would be impossible to prove at this point. Would you be able to describe his face to a sketch artist?"
"Yes, it wasn't I face I'll soon forget," Elena nodded. "Anyway, then the Temple blew up; maybe the other survivors saw something more—how it got in or out, maybe. If there was anyone else working with him besides the two guards with the Divine."
There was a long pause and a Elena looked up, disquiet settling around her. No one would meet her gaze. After a moment, Cullen shifted forward, his hand covering hers gently.
"Elena, you're the only one who survived."
She stared back at him, her hand tightening involuntarily around his. His gaze was warm, fill with compassion and, it seemed, relief despite everything.
"That can't be possible," she said, voice horse.
"Is there anything else you can think of, anything that might be important?" Josephine asked gently. "Leliana has already surveyed what security footage and audio that could be recovered, so we're not completely blind, but anything you could tell us would be helpful."
Elena wondered if Leliana had already included the audio she had recorded of the Divine's conversation with Lucius and Fiona's representatives. Had Leliana lied to Cullen and Josephine about where that audio had come from as well?
Absently, she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear with shaky fingers as she thought. "Um, there was…I mean the Divine gave me, well I'm not really sure what. Did I have anything on me when you…when I was found?"
Leliana stepped forward, pulling a manila envelope from her purse. She emptied it out onto the bed between Elena and Josephine. "This is all everything you had on you."
Reluctantly, Elena disentangled her fingers from Cullen's to pick through the things on her bed. Among the contents were her phone, earbuds, and the green bit of metal the Divine had given her.
She held it up, turning it over in her hand; it was a flashdrive.
"The Divine, she gave this to me right before she died. She said it was important that 'they' must not have it. I don't know who she was talking about though."
"May I?" Leliana asked, reaching forward.
Elena nodded, handing over the flashdrive.
"Curious. Well, I'll see if I can't get Solas to run some analysis on it," Leliana paused for a moment, surveying Elena where she sat. "Perhaps we should let you get some rest."
The others nodded, and Elena lay back against the pillows as they shuffled out. Cullen held the door open for his coworkers, one hand in his pocket. He glanced back at her before he left, a drawn smile on his face.
"I'm glad you're okay," he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, relatively speaking, that is. You had me—you had us worried."
She felt a flutter in her stomach at his words.
"Thank you, Cullen," she smiled. "For finding me, too. I might still be up there, if it wasn't for you."
He grinned sheepishly, a blush creeping up his neck. "I, ah, I should go. Let you rest."
She nodded as he left, passing Dorian on his way in. The two men eyed each other as they passed. Dorian raised his eyebrows when the door clicked shut, making his way back to bedside.
"Princess, that man has it bad for you."
Elena blushed and looked down at her hands. "Yeah, well. I can't really do anything about it. If he had any idea who I was…what I've done…"
She shook her head, ignoring Dorian's pitying look. "Impossible."
Comments? Questions? Constructive Criticism? Please PM or Review!
