A/N: Today's prompt was from TheAUWalker and was the word: "Corner"
"Marie?" Stein's voice called out as he stepped into his research lab. He could feel her wavelength, but he couldn't actually see the woman, and that worried him immensely.
He stepped deeper into the room, listening intently and could barely make out the sobs. Her wavelength was erratic, and he could see the pain etched into it. Long strides carried him further into the room and he flipped on lights as he went, the trail of sobs he was following gradually growing louder.
"Marie?" Stein stopped suddenly. He could smell blood in the air, and he darted forward, his eyes adjusting to the dark in less time than it would take to find the lights for this section of the lab.
He found her huddled against the wall, her face in the corner as she sobbed. She was clutching her arm to her side, and he could clearly see the wound that wrapped around it even in the dim light.
"Marie?" His hands reached out and touched her shoulder gently, a surgeon's touch. She jerked away from him, her wavelength spiking in fear, and Stein froze for a long moment as she burst into a renewed bout of tears, sobbing shaking her body as she huddled into the corner.
He snapped out of it and reached back out, his touch no longer hesitant. She flinched, pulling away, but he forced her to straighten her arm out and he stared at the long incision in it. The wound had been half stitched closed, but it needed finished. Blood was still trickling from it and she was hiccupping in obvious pain and fear.
She was in his arms a second later, her entire body trembling. He didn't expect for her to struggle against him, but she did, twisting away from him. Her wavelength surged and he felt the calming effects of it as he stood up with her.
"Marie, stop. I have to stitch the wound on your arm closed or you risk infection." Her blood was smearing on his lab coat, mixing with older blood that he didn't remember getting on it. She just struggled, pushing against his chest and he finally let her down.
She stood unsteadily in front of him, her uninjured arm reaching to the wall to steady herself. She cradled her other arm against her body and shied away from him, her eyes on him as she moved around him before darting out of the lab.
Stein stood watching her retreat for a long time. He looked at the blood on his hands and his lab coat, the pieces slowly clicking together. Marie had been hiding from him. She was afraid of him. He had hurt her, and couldn't even remember doing it.
She had been in the corner, clutching a half-stitched wound because of him. Long strides followed her then, the scientist moving quickly through the dark lab. He came around a corner and found a locked door between him and her.
"Marie… let me in. You're injured… at least let me take care of it. Marie, please." Strangled sobs came from behind the door. "I… I'm sorry. I know something happened, even if I can't remember any of it."
Stein waited with baited breath as he heard a rattling sound and the door knob twisted. Marie opened the door and stood unsteadily in the doorway, swaying. There were tears in her eye and she opened her mouth as if to say something when she pitched forward and into his arms.
Stein barely caught her, and her weight sent them both to the floor. He glanced down at her arm to find that she had removed the few stitches that had been in it and he shook his head, gathering her in his arms as he stood. A short time later they were in the lab and he was stitching the wound closed.
Once it was done he sat in his chair and twisted the screw in his head, wondering what he had done that would have caused such pain and fear in Marie of all people, and why a corner had been where she chose to hide instead of leaving him and the lab all together.
Perhaps she thought she could still save him if she stayed?