School let out at 3:00 pm, but Will stayed with Cornelia at the nurse's station until one of Cornelia's parents could come and pick her up. Cornelia lay on the bed in the nurse's station holding her stomach and keeping her eyes covered, pretending to be violently ill. Will had taken the small trashcan from the door and held it in case her friend threw-up. She had completely forgotten about her meeting at the park until she heard the clock above the nurse's door chime half-past. Will's blood froze, it would take her 45 minutes to get from the school to the park. Panicked, Will shot up from her seat and made an attempt to dash for the door, but Cornelia grabbed Will's hand. "Please don't go."
"Sorry Corny, but I really gotta go." Will tried to pull her hand free, but Cornelia only tightened her grip.
"Please stay with me. I am scared and my stomach hurts." Cornelia pleaded, but Will only tried to wrench her hand free.
"Cornelia please, I have to go, and I still don't know what to say to Phobos." But Will couldn't get her hand free.
"So, you are putting your enemy over your friend?"
"He isn't my enemy anymore; please Corny, don't make it any harder on me than it already is." It was then that Cornelia's father walked in and helped his daughter to her feet. Cornelia, of course, let go of Will's hand when her father entered the room. Will took that moment to dash out the door before Cornelia could hold her up any longer. With her backpack on her shoulder, Will walked out of the schoolyard with her thoughts and emotions running wild. Why had Cornelia acted so funny? Was she purposefully trying to make her late? It didn't matter at this point, Will would still make it to her destination if a little late; she hopped Phobos wouldn't mind.
Still, there is enough time, so Will chose to walk from the school to the park with a sinking feeling in her stomach. However, the closer she got to the park, the more sinking feeling in her stomach grew; it had to be nervous jitters. At 4:30, the gates to the park came into view and an icy chill ran down Will's back; something was terribly wrong. From where she stood, Will couldn't see the gazebo, but she knew she had to get there and fast. Breaking into a dead sprint, Will dashed in the direction of the gazebo. The wind picked up and scattered drops of rain fell from the sky as if nature knew what was wrong. Why was she panicking like this? It had to be more than nervous jitters; something is terribly wrong, she could feel it. Within two minutes, she reached the gazebo and froze; She didn't see Phobos, but, from where she stood, she saw a dark bundle on the floor of the gazebo. Will's blood ran cold.
She knew the moment she saw the bundle on the floor what it was. Her mind couldn't comprehend what she was seeing. With shaking knees, Will climbed the three steps of the gazebo; her breath caught in her throat when her suspicions came true. Immediately, her eyes teared up and her heart sank to her stomach; she gasped and fell to her knees beside him, unable to think. With shaking hands, she reached out and touched him; when her hands felt the warmth, they frantically grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him onto his back; he groaned from the pain in his back. Will stifled a desperate sob and gently cradled him in her lap; getting soaked by his blood in the process. Unable to control her thoughts, her breathing, or the tears falling from her eyes, Will could do little but gasp his name in the hopes it wasn't too late.
The prince weakly opened his blue eyes and looked up at Will; he knew he wouldn't make this, and he regretted sending Cedric away, but he also regretted that Will had to find him like this. With his blurry vision, he could tell how upset she was, and it bothered him; why did he have to die with her so upset? Why did it bother him that she was upset? With bloodstained teeth, he attempted to smile at her; as he did, more blood poured from the corner of his mouth. Through moments of clearer vision, he couldn't help but think how much prettier she was smiling than crying. He wanted to say something, but the breath for it caught in his throat and he caught up more blood.
"What happened?" she sobbed and her grip on him tightened as his holding him close enough would prevent him from dying. "Who…who did this?" she tried to wipe some of the blood from his face with her free hand, but that too did nothing. The world outside the gazebo stopped existing; somewhere in the distance she heard a light splashing sound, but Will did not care. With her hands slippery with blood, went to hold the wound on his chest; his heartbeat was slow and shallow. A man was dying in her arms and there was nothing Will could do. "Please don't die!"
Suddenly, as though a light-switch was flipped, the light around them dimmed. It was so sudden that Will had to look up and blink the tears from her eyes. Right in front of them, was a void; there was a black hole in front of them that didn't just inhale light but repelled it at the same time. The inky darkness seemed unearthly and cold despite being on the other side of the gazebo; however, Will knew this thing was no threat. Then, the darkness rippled like obsidian water and from its' depth, emerged Diana pale in the face. Will couldn't comprehend what she was seeing. Did her friend just create a portal to the gazebo to save them in the nick of time? "Will, grab his legs and follow me!"
Diana's command at first didn't register in Will's mind; Will simply knelt there, staring up at Diana, who was rushing over to them. When Diana reached them, she made to touch Phobos, but Will only tightened her grip on him; some inner part of her was afraid that Diana was going to take him away from her. However, against Will's expectations, Diana gently touched Phobos's neck, right below his jaw, and checked for a pulse; her brows were furred with concentration. Then, Diana nodded her head and made to take the prince from Will's lap, but Will hesitated. "Will, we have to take him to the Inbetween."
That is when something in Will's mind clicked and she let Diana transfer Phobos's upper body into her arms and Will took hold of his legs; working together, the two picked him up from the floor and carried him through the black portal to the Inbetween. Within seconds, the two were in the entry hall of the Inbetween and within three steps, they were standing in, what appeared to be, an old-fashioned operating room. Once Phobos lay on a metal operating table, Diana turned to her blood-covered friend and pointed to the door. "Get out."
"Huh?" Will couldn't understand that command.
"You are going into shock. Go out that door and wait in the hallway until I come and get you."
Numb, Will did as she was told, but her movements weren't organic; her body moved as though she were a puppet being led around with string. Will didn't even remember stepping out into the hallway, but when she did, she saw her reflection in a hallway mirror and broke down crying. She could not help it; her eyes ran wild with tears and her sobs shook her whole body. No one was supposed to get hurt. Within a matter of minutes, everything was ruined; her hopes to resolve everything: the poisoning, the tyranny, the abysmal conditions of Meridian, everything could have been fixed but not now. That is when fear crept into her chest; what if Phobos died right now? The thought was paralyzing, she did not want to think about it. Her body shook with sobs and fear; she told herself she didn't love him and that she would worry about react this way to anyone she found covered in blood. However, part of her that was a dirty lie. When she blushed that morning at him, a part fell for him. It was a small part that she could have completely ignored, but she couldn't do that now. It was that tiny part of her that was sobbing. Will didn't even notice when Sophia walked past her with a jar of salve; all Will knew at that time, was mourning.
At some point, Will ran out of tears and she was left shaking and trying to control her breathing. Her chest felt hollow; she felt gutted of all emotions. Will did not know how much time had passed; it could be minutes, or it could be hours, but she did not care. Will did not even budge when the door beside her opened and Diana stepped out; her hands were covered in blood and her face neutral. "Wilhelmina, you need a drink and a bath."
"Is he going to make it?" her voice sounded hollow and flat; there were no emotions left inside her.
"That doesn't matter right now, come with me to the kitchen and I'll make you a drink. You look like you need a scotch." Said Diana, bent down and helped Will to her feet. Will did not fight it. Within seconds, Will was seated at the kitchen table with a glass of scotch in her hand. Diana poured herself a glass as well and joined Will at the table; Will only stared at the glass in her bloodied hands. "Drink it before the ice melts."
"How did you know…" Will let the question hang in the air, but Diana knew what she meant.
"Remember my friend K.C.?" Will only nodded her head. "It came back and told me what would happen and where. I did not believe her at first, but K.C. was never wrong before about things like that." Will took note and told herself to thank K.C. next time she saw it.
"Is he…"
"I have patched up soldiers that stepped on mines when I still lived in my village. I have seen worse injuries, but he lost about 30% of his blood out there. He might make it, he might not. I stitched him up and used a salve from Sophia that helps heal wounds, but we won't know until he wakes up." She then took a sip of her drink. "I recommend you take your drink and I'll help you take a bath."
"I can take a bath on my own…"
"You went into shock. Right now, I don't trust you to lay in a bed on your own." Will did not argue that point. With shaking hands, Will sipped her glass; the liquor burned as it ran down her throat. She knew it was wrong to drink at her age, but she savored the warmth it gave her; for a long moment, the two girls just sat there in silence, drinking scotch.
When her glass was empty, Diana helped Will back up on her shaking knees and began to guide her through the Inbetween. Will did not pay attention to where Diana was leading her, she let this brown-haired girl lead through this strange place. As expected, it only took a few steps to get anywhere. Will did not pay attention to where she was going or how; she just found herself in a large bathroom with a claw footed, cast iron, bathtub. Will sat on a small foot-stool as Diana ran her a hot bath with lavender bubble-bath. Without a word, Diana helped Will out of her blood-stained clothes and into the into the water. Will did not say anything, nor did she fight it. It didn't feel weird either, it felt like a mother or a nurse was helping her take a bath. For the first time in, what felt like hours, Will felt warm and save.
With her read leaned back and her eyes closed, Will let Diana gently wash the dried blood from her face with a sponge. As she let the hot water warm her, a thought came to Will's mind. "How do you know so much about helping people?"
"In my village, if you are an upstanding woman you have three choices of where to work. You either work on a farm, in a factory, or you are a nurse. My mother was a nurse, so my sister and I were going to be nurses one day. My village lay on a relief trail, so we got a lot of wounded and dying soldiers. The moment my sister and I were old enough to walk, we were old enough to help mom and grandmother. A lot of soldiers died, but we managed to save a good amount with what we had. Mind you, those boys died with half of their body torn off." Diana's voice was low and steady, almost like reading a bedtime story.
"So, the enemy bombed your house?" Will couldn't think of what she was saying, she just wanted to know as much about Diana as she could."
"One day, it was during the summer, the enemy dropped three air-ships full of air-mines on my village. I wasn't home but walking through town to get supplies. I don't remember much about that day, I remember waking up laying on top of, what use to be, Town Hall with my back bleeding. I did not know it was bleeding at the time, all I knew was to run home to my family. They were all dead. My twin, my mother, and my grandmother; all gone. I buried them, patched up my back, and went about my day." Diana's voice never faltered; it was as though Diana was used to telling her backstory to near strangers.
"Is that how you ended up here?"
"No, I spent some time on the streets, did things I did not want, met Nana, then I met K.C., and that is how I got here. K.C. took a liking to me and offered this place for me to stay. That is how I ended up here."
"How did you get over the death of your family?"
"You don't get over it. A loss like that stays with you for the rest of your life. You mourn over that loss until the day you die. But you don't need to be worried about it. There is nothing wrong with it."
"Then how do I live with it?" Will was trying to prepare her heart for loss, she did not think Phobos could survive.
"It comes in a wave. Some days you feel fine and other days you feel like your world is falling apart. It is like depression had a little brother. Your mind will always think of what could be or what you could have done. You shouldn't dwell on those things; they are fine to dream about, but you can't hang on those things." That is when Diana smiled at her Will, "I know what you are trying to do, Will, but you shouldn't think this way right now. He isn't dead yet, so let's cross that hurdle when it comes."
Will could live with that and simply let the hot water soak into her skin.