Hi everyone! Thank you for the feedback to the last chapter, I really appreciated it! The end of this one finally reveals a LITTLE bit of what is going on, but it's still definitely too vague for anyone (except for Jess) to get it! Hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter 6: The End of the Day
"What do you mean, left?" Combeferre asked incredulously. He and Joly had come up from the morgue and begun searching for Dr. Shepard. Finding him nowhere, they had resorted to asking the secretary about his whereabouts. All their friends were still in the lobby; the general mood had calmed down, and no one was yelling anymore.
"Doctor Shepard handed in his resignation, and left." The receptionist said calmly. It was clear that she was unfazed by this information. Combeferre and Joly, on the other hand, were furious.
"I have a signed death certificate for a patient that is not in the morgue, do you understand?" Combeferre said slowly, enunciating each word. The receptionist still looked bored.
"You can't give us any more information?" Joly asked, and the woman shook her head.
"I'm not allowed to disclose – "
"Yeah, we fucking get it. Thanks for nothing." Combeferre said moodily, before grabbing Joly's elbow and pulling him toward the waiting room.
"Are we…" Joly began, a terrified looking coming over his face.
"We have to." Combeferre said, setting his jaw in a hard line. The pair made their way slowly toward the waiting room. Joly took a deep breath, pausing before he pushed the door open.
"You'll tell Éponine?" He questioned, to which Combeferre nodded. Joly nodded as well, set his jaw, and reached forward to push the door open.
They were greeted with their group of friends, half of whom were asleep. They had all been at the hospital for nearly six hours, and the waiting had been excruciating. Éponine was curled up, leaning on Courfeyrac, with Enjolras on her other side, his hand idly on her leg. Joly raised an eyebrow at this development; when had they gotten so close? He shook his head, however; now was not the time to be worried about Enjolras and Éponine's relationship. In all seriousness, Enjolras was probably just trying to be comforting.
"Hey, everyone. Éponine, could I borrow you for a second?" Combeferre said gently, jerking his head toward the door out of the waiting room. She looked confused; her eyes were bleary, and she struggled to get up from her seat.
"See you in a minute." Joly muttered. He was going to stay and tell the group what was going on. Combeferre gently put an arm around Éponine's shoulder, and guided her out of the room.
"Joly – "
"Why is Éponine leaving?"
"What's going on?"
"Where is Gavroche? Where did he disappear to?"
"Everyone shut up." Enjolras commanded. His voice sounded exhausted, but his eyes were sharp. "Joly, if you would."
Joly took a deep breath, before looking down at his hands. "Well, guys, there's really no easy way to say this." Joly was nervous, and wanted to look anywhere but Courfeyrac…the prospect of telling him was almost as terrifying as Éponine. "So, you all know Gavroche disappeared earlier." Joly paused, and finally looked up from his friends. "Me and 'Ferre did some investigating, and found Gavroche's chart. It had a signed time of death on it." Several sharp intakes of breath prompted Joly to stop talking.
Cosette was clutching Marius's hand so tightly that Joly could see her knuckles turning white. Marius's mouth had dropped open. Bahorel had fallen back in his seat, stunned. Jehan's face was stark white, his hands covering his mouth. Grantaire's face had fallen to his hands, his shoulders shaking; he was muttering "fuck…fuck…fuck…" over and over again. Enjolras's jaw was jumping as he fought emotion. Courfeyrac's face was devoid of emotion, his fingers flexing where they rested on his thighs. Joly avoided looking at Lesgle and Musichetta.
"That's not it, however." Joly said. He cleared his throat, and the watery eyes of his friends looked back up at him. "Um… Doctor Shepard had told me and 'Ferre that Gav was fine. Something doesn't make sense here. We went down to the morgue and checked out all the body drawers. Gav isn't down there, and if he died here earlier today, he would be."
"So you're saying…he's not dead?" Marius asked.
"We're not sure. Doctor Shepard told us the surgery was a success, but now suddenly, after we find out that Gav has been declared dead, Doctor Shepard disappears."
"Lawsuit." Enjolras muttered, and Joly directed his attention to him.
"Absolutely." He confirmed. "Me and 'Ferre documented our search this afternoon, and we talked to several people who can corroborate our story. We're going to find out what happened."
"What about – " Cosette began, but a scream from the hallway stopped her words.
"Éponine." Enjolras said, standing from his seat and walking briskly to the door. Grantaire got up as well, seemingly to follow Enjolras to Éponine.
"Sit down, R." Courfeyrac growled suddenly, his eyes flashing. Grantaire whipped toward Courfeyrac, who had gotten to his feet. Cosette looked at Marius, and then to Joly in total confusion. Grantaire was one of Éponine's best friends; they spent nearly every weekend together. So why was Courfeyrac acting so strangely?
Enjolras ignored both of his friends, and pushed past Joly out of the waiting room to Éponine's side. She was crumbled on the floor, her head buried in her knees. Combeferre was rubbing her arm, trying to comfort her.
"Ep, honey, we don't know what's going on, he's probably okay, we just have to find – " Combeferre cut off when he spotted Enjolras, and moved aside for the lawyer to sit next to Éponine. Enjolras wrapped strong arms around her body, and she leaned into him, sobbing loudly.
"We will sue this hospital." Enjolras said quietly in her ear, his hands running up and down her back. "I will win this case. And we will find Gavroche." He sounded so sure of himself that Éponine's crying died down for a second, her breaths coming in bursting gasps.
Éponine did not answer, just buried her face further into Enjolras's chest her hands gripping his arm desperately. Combeferre looked down at the pair, nestled together on the floor, with confusion. He had known Enjolras a long time, and he had never seen him this…familiar with anyone. Especially a girl. Combeferre shook his head. He sounded like Jehan. Or Marius.
"You want to head back home?" Enjolras whispered in Éponine's ear, and she nodded, still unable to speak. Enjolras half stood, keeping one arm around Éponine's body, the other clutching her elbow. He pulled her to her feet, still keeping his arm around her back. He guided her to the door, holding it open for her as she passed before him.
Éponine waited for him to come through the door, before attaching herself to his arm again. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding her close to his body. The group looked up as they reentered the waiting room; there were surprised stares at their position coming from everyone. Marius's mouth had actually dropped open, and it took an elbow in the side from Cosette for him to pick his jaw up.
"I'm going to take Éponine home." Enjolras said firmly. Éponine hid her face in his chest, her shoulders still shaking from the shock. "I'll call everyone tomorrow. I suggest you all go home as well."
No one answered. Everyone stared as Enjolras picked up Éponine's purse and guided her out of the waiting room and outside to his car. He opened the passenger seat door for her and helped her in.
"What about my car?" she mumbled, and Enjolras patted her shoulder reassuringly.
"It's not a big deal." He said, pulling out his own phone to send a quick text. "I'm telling 'Ferre to stick a visitor's pass on it for you."
Éponine did not answer, just crossed her arms across her chest. Enjolras reached over and grabbed the seatbelt buckle and handed it to her. "Please." He said softly, and she took it stretching it across her body and clicking it into place. Enjolras shut the door and walked around the front of the car to the driver's seat. He opened the door, and got in. He tried to focus on the motions of driving – key in, turn key, foot on brake, into reverse – without looking at Éponine. Every time he saw her face, he felt his heart shatter.
He should tell her; he knew this was true. It would, however, destroy everything. Everything with them, everything with the Amis… and it would completely counter why he had left Gavroche in the first place. No one could know, especially not Éponine.
With this mantra in mind, Enjolras put the car into drive, and drove out of the hospital parking lot.
Back at the hospital, the former ABC Society was slowly getting ready to leave.
"Are you guys going to head back to the café, or home?" Combeferre asked tiredly, running his hands down his face. He was holding his seventh coffee of the day; his next hospital shift was due to start in twenty minutes, and with Dr. Shepard gone, he had more work than usual.
"Home, definitely." Lesgle responded, yawning. He threw an arm around Musichetta's shoulders. At this gesture, Joly's eyes dropped straight to the ground. He turned to Combeferre.
"You're sure you don't need me to stay?" Joly asked Combeferre quietly. He knew that Combeferre had been in a desperate need of sleep for hours, and that the events of the day hadn't helped with that.
Combeferre, however, shook his head. "Nah." He said, shrugging. "I'll be fine. It's like med school all over again, studying for exams on no sleep."
"Don't kill anyone." Joly joked, though the warning was real; if Combeferre was too tired, it would be in his patient's best interests for him to go home.
"I'm fine." Combeferre confirmed, clapping a hand on Joly's shoulder.
"Let me know if you hear anything about our boss." Joly said, a hint of disgust in his voice. Combeferre wrinkled his nose.
"Will do. I'll see you…tomorrow?" Combeferre guessed. He had been at the hospital for so long that he wasn't even sure what day it was.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Joly confirmed, nodding once, before turning to follow Jehan and Bahorel out the door.
"We're heading home, Courf, do you need a ride?" Marius said, jingling his keys in his hand. Courfeyrac looked up, his eyes bloodshot and exhausted.
"Um. Yeah. I just have to hit the toilets really quick." He said hurriedly, before standing up and walking briskly toward the restrooms
"Where's R?" Jehan questioned, looking around the group.
"I think he may have gone to the bathroom too." Bahorel answered.
This, of course, Courfeyrac already knew. He burst into the bathroom loudly, banging the door against the wall in agitation.
"Grantaire." He growled, spotting the man hunched over a sink with his head in his hands. At the sound, he looked up, startled.
"What are you – "
"Don't act like you don't already fucking know," Courfeyrac growled.
"I don't know!" Grantaire said in a rush, the color leaving his cheeks. Courfeyrac ignored him, choosing instead to roughly push his friend against the wall. Courfreyrac's usual sunny demeanor had shifted drastically, and Grantaire's eyes widened in surprise at the violence.
"I…fucking…know…" Courfeyrac bit out, and Grantaire began wildly shaking his head.
"No, you really don't understand – "
"I understand perfectly." Courfeyrac said lowly, his voice down to a whisper. "I overheard your phone conversation."
"That's…" Grantaire began, before trailing off. Courfeyrac's grip on his chest tightened.
"I don't want to hear your fucking excuses. I covered for you last time. I won't fucking do it again."
"You're lucky." Grantaire said, as Courfeyrac let go of him. "You're lucky I'm the only one that noticed that." He pointed at Courfeyrac's jacket, where the bloodstain was smeared.
"That's nothing." Courfeyrac said quickly, but his haste to answer gave him away. Grantaire half-smiled, raising a shaky hand to his hair.
"We both know it is." Grantaire said quietly. "But I won't tell if you won't."
"There's…nothing…" Courfeyrac began, but stopped weakly. "Fine."
"Fine?"
"I won't say anything."
"How long?"
"With Enjolras snooping? Not long at all."
I would love to hear what you guys think is going on. I can actually say this time (unlike in 'The Law of Love") that I 100% know where this is going and that I know exactly what happened to Gav and everyone HEEEEHEEEE. This is going to be right around 15 chapters or so; I can't drag it for too long (for that one comment about this being like Pretty Little Liars, I would never drag a story out THAT much), but there's still a lot to uncover, with a lot of explanation to happen! Thank you guys again for reading! And I'll see you all soon! xoxo Brittany
