Oh boy, it's hard to get back into the groove after two weeks away, but I figure the best way to do it is to just keep writing! Let me know what you think.
Sloan was waiting for them in Mac's office. She immediately pulled Mac into a gentle hug.
"How you doing Kenz? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay, although I've got a bitch of a headache," came Mac's muffled reply from her shoulder.
Sloan pulled back from the hug and looked closely at Mac's face. "Would you like to stay at my place tonight? I don't think you should be alone."
For a second it looked as though Mac was going to argue, but then she shrugged.
"Yeah, that would be good. Thanks Sloan. Just let me go to the bathroom and take the Percocet that Jim found for me and then I'm good to go."
As the bathroom door closed behind Mackenzie, Will turned to Sloan.
Before he could speak, she started pounding on his chest with her fists and yelling at him.
"How could you Will? How could you? I know you can be a real bastard sometimes, but this is Mac. How could you bring a guy like Kyle in to do something like that to her?"
Will's first instinct was to yell back, because that was what he always did when he was under attack, but he knew that she was just looking out for Mac. Instead, he caught hold of Sloan's wrists and gently eased her away from him. "Look Sloan, I understand that you're pissed, because my behaviour to Mac has been absolutely awful at times, and I know the staff have been witness to that, but you have to believe me that this time I had no idea. I would never have let Kyle within five miles of Mackenzie if I'd known what he was like."
Sloan raised an eyebrow sceptically.
"Seriously Sloan. You can ask Jim if you don't believe me."
Sloan started at him for another second, but she must have read the truth in his eyes, because she finally relented and lowered her arms.
"Okay, I believe you, I guess. But no way is Mac going home with you tonight."
"I know, Sloan. I know I've forfeited the right to take care of her, but please just let me drive you two home."
"I don't know, Will . . ."
"Please Sloan. Just do this one thing for me? If Mac doesn't like it I won't, but otherwise I would really just like to see the two of you safe inside your front door. I need to know that she's safe, just for tonight. Please."
"Okay. But only if Mac agrees."
Xxxxx
Fortunately for Will's sanity, Mac didn't object to his plan. Will called Lonny, who was just finishing up at the hospital, and arranged for him to pick them all up from the underground car park. The last thing that they needed was someone taking pictures of Mac's face, or Will's hands for that matter.
Will held the door to the backseat open for Sloan and Mac, and then shuffled in after them, so that Mac was sitting between him and Sloan. Sloan gave him a look, but didn't comment. Mac stared straight ahead, looking a bit out of it. Will didn't know whether she was slipping back into shock, or whether it was the Percocet kicking in. He desperately wanted to put his arm around her again, but instead he waited until Lonny was driving and then leaned forward to talk to him.
"How did you go at the hospital?" he asked quietly.
"Okay. I think. The scumbag told the triage nurse that he'd been in a fight, but that he didn't remember who'd hit him, so I don't think he's keen to press charges. The nurse gave me a pretty dirty look, like she was thinking about calling the cops, but I guess the fact that my knuckles don't look like yours got me off. I waited around with him until he got called through, and then I cleared out. It's not the best situation to be in when you're a big, black guy, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah, I know. Well, I mean I don't know, but I can imagine. I really owe you one."
"Yeah, you do McAvoy. Even though I really did it for Mac."
"Thanks Lonny," said Mac quietly.
"Anytime. Speaking of hospitals, shouldn't we be taking you to one? Have you thought about whether you want to press charges?"
Will felt Mac stiffen next to him. Shit. Why hadn't he thought of that? The fucker deserved to go to prison after what he'd done to Mac.
"Do you want to, Mac?" asked Will gently. "We could get you checked out properly by a doctor, and they could, you know, gather any evidence at the same time." Will could barely finish the sentence. He'd had plenty of experience taking his mom to the emergency room after a beating, and he couldn't bear the thought of Mac sitting there, small and pale in a hospital gown under the bright lights, the doctors indifferent, pitying or scornful as they had been with his mom.
Mac was silent for a long moment. "I don't know, Billy. I want to stop him from doing what he did to me to anyone else, but . . ." her voice broke a little "I can't bear the thought of all of this being dragged through the courts and the newspapers."
Will new exactly what this was. Mac's infidelity, Will's punishments, all of their public arguments. Kyle would hire a top defence attorney who would ensure that all of it came out in court.
"You mustn't consider me at all," he said, because he knew her well enough to know that she would put his wellbeing above her own, "I'll support you one hundred per cent whatever you decide to do. But if you don't want to report him to the police, there is another way to take him down."
"Will!" Sloan interjected, shocked.
"Not that, Sloan! I'm not going to kill the guy, much as I might like to. I just meant that if he would attack Mac in such a brazen way, then I'm pretty sure that he must have mistreated some of his female students too. A few phone calls here and there, a few words dropped in the right ears should be enough to kick off an investigation that would end him professionally and let everyone know that he isn't safe around women. He might even go to prison."
Mac touched her injured face tentatively. "That sounds good, Will, especially if it would protect the female cadets at West Point. But if feels like the cowardly way out," she said sadly.
"Are you kidding me?" said Will. "You were so brave tonight. I'm guessing you hauled his sorry ass up to the terrace to call him on his behaviour, and then when he attacked you, you fought back with everything you had, and then produced a show almost straight afterwards. Mac, you are the most courageous woman that I know," he said, realising as the words came out of his mouth just how true that was. God knows she was the only one who could always go toe to toe with him, no matter how loud he yelled.
"Thanks Billy. What do you think, Sloan. Do you think I'm doing the right thing?"
Will couldn't believe that Mac was actually seeking advice from both him and Sloan. She never did that. He was starting to see how much the attack had shaken her confidence in her own judgement.
"I agree with everything that Will said, Mac. You need to do whatever is best for you, and we'll back you all the way."
Mac sighed. "Right now, I just really want to go home, or at least to your home Sloan, and go to bed. My head hurts, I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep."
Mac got her wish. By the time they pulled up in front of Sloan's brownstone, the meds had really kicked in and Mac was fast asleep on Will's shoulder, his arm wrapped protectively around her slight frame.
