Chapter 13:
Gently squeezing Coco's hand, Ruby just sighed gently as she took another deep breath. "I'm so sorry Coco." Ruby said as Coco just groaned.
"Ruby. Relax. You've said that like fifty million times. I think I speak for Em and myself. We get it. And I don't hold it against you. Hell with the stuff they injected into my spine I don't think I could feel anything. This shit is great!" Coco said as she could see Ruby looking even more worried. Rolling her eyes gently, Coco gently pulled Ruby into a hug. "Ruby. Seriously. Relax. I now you don't mean anything by it. And frankly I find it a little funny that even your mind thinks you are even close to being like Summer."
"But she hurt my Daddy and Yang and even claims that she loved them. I know I love you and I put you in the hospital... how am I not like her?" Ruby reasoned as Coco just chuckled with Emerald.
"Okay, I don't want to be that person but, you didn't kill me. You slugged me in the chest. And hopefully in a few days, you'll slug Em. Until then, I'm on powerful shit until my ribs heal enough. Of which the doc said it should only take like two weeks before I can come off them, and then another two weeks before my ribs are healed fully." Coco said with a smile as she began to feel herself being pushed up a little into a sitting position. "Weeeee." Coco said happily as she could hear Emerald just smiling as she chuckled.
"She is going to be fine Ruby. I'd argue that we could place a bird in her hair and nothing would happen." Emerald began with a smile as she just draped Coco's heavy coat over her shoulders as Coco nodded her head. "Plus the docs also said you have a mean swing. And we should probably keep the fun parts of the group away from Coco because our voice of reason is down for the count."
"What do you mean 'our' voice of reason? I can be pretty level headed myself." Ruby pouted as Emerald just stared at her lazily. "Like yeah I can be stubborn to a fault and end up harming myself more and more. But I'm still far more level headed than you give me credit."
"Fine. Level headed and willing to ruin our fun by saying 'no' and will remain firm. Meanwhile I know I can sway you to side with me." Emerald said as she helped Coco into a standing position as she just smiled at her. "And you need to remember, rest is the most important thing which you could do. So no buzzkilling." Emerald said with a smile as Coco just laughed.
"Who's a buzzkill? Because she sounds like a bitch."
"Oi. That is my girlfriend you are talking about. I'll kiss you to shut you up about it. Now just come on. All the paperwork is done." Emerald said with a smile as Coco nodded her head. "Okay Slugger, please bring our drugged up girlfriend down to the car. I'll make sure we've got everything including Coco's meds which we can pick up before we go home." Emerald said as Ruby just proceeded to pout.
"Don't call me 'Slugger'... because I'll slug you... I didn't mean to hurt Coco. You both know how bad my nightmares tend to get. And I really really don't mean to hurt either of you. Unless you call me something like 'Slugger' again." Ruby mumbled as Emerald began to laugh. Something that just caused Ruby to groan as she gently snatched Coco's arm. Just so she could make sure that she got her where they needed to be.
"I'm sorry pretty lady. And don't get me wrong, you are very very very pretty. Like at least a fifteen out of ten, but I have a girlfriend... I have two actually. Both of which are super hot and cute. But also super jealous of this sort of thing and I imagine you couldn't really handle both. Or even Ruby. She has a mean punch." Coco mumbled as she tried to pull away as Ruby just groaned and held tightly onto the brunette's hand.
"Coco, I'm one of your girlfriends." Ruby said as Coco just seemed to smile brighter "Well at the very least today I got a confidence boost today in the form of that and the knowledge that you are so loyal that it is actually very funny for a bunch of reasons, and the fact even drugged you still say rather wrongfully that I'm cute." Ruby said as she came to the elevator. "But we should get you home. You need sleep. And there are a lot of phobias of mine all kind of solidifying into one solid thing and I haven't taken my meds in a while. And I don't want a breakdown in public. Especially with me accidentally putting you in the hospital like this."
"Are you sure I'm dating someone as hot as you? What about that green haired woman? Because she was also really really hot. And like a fourteen. She'd be a fifteen but she called me a buzzkill. I'm not a buzzkill am I?" Coco asked as Ruby just shook her head gently as she pressed the button.
"Yes, you are dating her too. And no. I don't think you are much of a buzzkill. You can tend to be one when I want to eat spicy things, and an even bigger one when Em cooks something spicy for me even though we won't make you eat it. But no. I wouldn't call you that much of a buzzkill." Ruby said just smiling as she could see the doors parting and she thanked whatever god there was looking down upon her that it was still pretty dead for a hospital in the early morning on a Saturday. She was just going to enjoy that fact and hopefully get to the car quickly.
"Damn... Am I lucky or what? Two incredibly hot girls. All I need is a cute outfit." Coco mumbled as she looked down and just giggled joyfully. "Look at that. This is perfect."
"Not as lucky as me or Em."
Grabbing the silver haired man's arm, Emerald just glared as she spun him around to glare daggers at the man. "The hell are you doing here?" Emerald hissed at him as she could see the man just holding his hands up in his defence.
"I work here." Mercury said as he brushed the hand off of his arm. "Well, I just started yesterday I should say. I'm a physiotherapist. What the hell are you doing here?" Mercury asked as Emerald just glared at him. "Seriously. My girlfriend got me an interview with the head of physio. Better question is once again what are you doing here?"
"One of my girlfriend got slugged in the ribs last night, by my other girlfriend who was having an in my opinion tragically ironic dream." Emerald said with a calm tone as Mercury just smiled at her.
"Likely story."
"Go fuck yourself. They mean so much more to me than you do. Just be glad I don't go tell your girlfriend how you couldn't keep it in your pants." Emerald said as she took a few steps back.
"Yeah, no. She would without a doubt in my mind kill the both of us." Mercury said with a smile. "If you don't believe me, look for Neo. Just give me enough time to get far away from here." Mercury continue as Emerald froze.
"Neo... as in Neo Politan?" Emerald asked as Mercury just smiled at her.
"So you do know her. She is certified crazy in many many regards." Mercury said with a small smile as Emerald just took another step backwards.
"Just. Stay away from me and my girlfriends. Especially that crazy bitch. She has already caused Ruby enough trouble." Emerald spoke and didn't even give Mercury enough time to actually respond. She just quickly left the room. She wasn't going to be the one to handle this. She couldn't. Especially because she just knew that she was going to need to convince Ruby that they would need to change hospitals without revealing the biggest topic of 'how she knew this'.
Just the fact that Emerald could say that Ruby's once foster sister who was oddly extremely cruel from her own memories of how Ruby seemed back then, and how Neo had constantly apparently agreed with Roman about and wanted to destroy Ruby's precious story book. The only comfort she had in some of the worst times of her life.
She just had to get as far away from here as possible and protect Ruby. That was what she had to do. That was what she knew mattered the most.
Grumbling a little, Ruby just took a deep breath as the door opened. Glancing towards Coco, Ruby just smiled at the sight of her resting her head on top of Ruby's shoulder, much to her joy. She just knew that it was going to be so much better because she just knew then that she would be able to convince her to just sleep rather easily now.
Frankly, the only hard part that she knew would be, would be to get her to stay asleep given her track record of only ever really getting five to six hours. One that was an annoyance to Ruby, but she knew that it was going to be just fine.
Walking out of the elevator, Ruby could just feel her heart tighten as she could see the all too familiar heterochromatic eyed woman glancing up from her clipboard to almost brighten up immensely at the sight of Ruby.
Feeling her breaths coming in shorter and shorter, Ruby started to curse the fact that Coco was far from being able to help her and Emerald wasn't anywhere near her.
"Ruby. Long time no see." The woman said with a bright smile as Ruby could feel her chest just tightening to an uncomfortable degree. She didn't even know how she was meant to react. One of the nightmares from her past being very present.
"N... N... Ne... Ne... Neo." Ruby stuttered out as the woman just smiled, shaking her head.
"Still have that stutter I see. We should catch up sometime. I've got to make my rounds and talk with my boyfriend for a bit." Neo said with a smile as she stepped around Ruby and Coco into the elevator. Following the woman's path carefully, Ruby just began to take a panicked breath as the much smaller woman waved at her as the doors closed.
Seeing the elevator next to them open, Ruby just took a deep breath as she could see Emerald quickly walking out of it before she stopped. "Ruby... what happened? You look sheet white." Emerald said as Ruby just took another panicked breath.
"N... N... Ne... Ne... Neo." Ruby spoke again as Emerald just took a few steps to gently hold Ruby and Coco together. She knew that if just seeing the woman caused Ruby to become like this, than she just knew that she had to keep the secret of Mercury a bit longer.
The only benefit that Emerald could see to this, was the fact that she wouldn't need to convince Ruby that hard that they had to change hospitals even if it meant that they had to change all kinds of doctors. It was probably the only benefit that she could see in this at least. She just wished that Ruby hadn't ran into her.
"Let's get you and Coco home. That is a lot better for you than this panicking. Okay? Just take some deep deep breaths." Emerald said in a soft tone as Ruby just nodded her head the best she could. She just had to simply ignore the giggling coming from Coco. She knew it wasn't something malicious and instead her just not being in the right place of mind.
Gently taking Coco's arm from Ruby, Emerald simply held her up as she weaved her fingers in with Ruby's. She knew that it wouldn't be enough for Ruby to get her mind back on the right track, but it would be enough to keep her from spiralling further when they were so close to one of her safe havens. One that Ruby tended to enjoy just from how hard it would be to get her when she was in a car.
"N... N... Ne... Ne... Neo... is..." Ruby began as Emerald just looked at her.
"It's fine Ruby. I'm not going to let her harm you. Let's just get to the car, and then we can just go back home where she could never touch you." Emerald said trying her hardest to not let how much she was panicking show. Just because she knew that she had to be strong for Ruby.
Coco was going to be next to useless to offer her the support she needed, and she knew that Ruby was just seemingly a few seconds away from having a complete breakdown in public which would just create the worst kind of spiral for Ruby which would take her seemingly months upon months to at least come back to where she was.
Unlocking the car, Emerald just smiled internally at the sight of Ruby quickly running towards it. She barely even had enough time to unlock it before Ruby would have tried to rip the door off to crawl inside and huddle in the furthest point away from everyone.
Smiling as she could see Ruby closing the door as she huddled into the back seat far away from people. It was at least a little amusing to her, even though she knew that there was going to be a long time for Ruby to talk about this, but she knew that at least right now that Ruby was going to feel a lot safer.
"What is with the cutie?" Coco asked as Emerald just sighed shaking her head.
"Nothing you can help with. At least not right now." Emerald said softly as she could see Coco just pouting. "If you want to help just sit next to her." Emerald said with a smile as she could see Coco just lightening up as they walked towards the door, as the green haired woman simply opened the door, Coco just smiled as she plopped down into the seat.
Gently moving her legs in for her, Emerald just sighed internally at how Coco had been making this beyond difficult. She knew that she wasn't intentionally doing it, but she couldn't help but wonder how much easier this would have been if she wasn't as drugged up. Even if she had most of her senses about her, it would have been so much easier for her.
Just the thought that she would need to be Ruby's rock and Coco's nurse right now was actually making her a little annoyed but she also knew that if the roles were reversed then they both would feel fine in those exact situations.
Reaching across Coco with the seatbelt, Emerald gently swatted the exploring hands away from her. She just knew that would lead to her being distracted for a lot of things and she couldn't handle that. Not for a long time at least. She had to make sure that they got home first and that Coco and Ruby were safe.
"Coco, just relax. Take Ruby's hand." Emerald said as Coco simply nodded her head and smiled as she leaned over and captured Ruby's hand as Emerald closed the door. She couldn't believe that this was what was happening.
Standing up and cracking her back, Emerald just froze as she could see a familiar woman walking out of the front doors quickly looking around. Groaning internally as the recognition seemed to set in as she quickly started to walk towards Emerald.
Clicking the lock button, Emerald quickly walked up towards the smaller woman. She knew that if Ruby saw her that close it would have been just detrimental to her. "Em, jeez, this is a walk down memory lane today. Did you see Ruby and Coco? My boyfriend found Ruby's jacket just laying in a room." Neo said happily as Emerald just took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest as she was left feeling unsure.
"They both are my girlfriends, and Ruby isn't feeling very great mentally, and Coco is on some painkillers right now because she has some bruised ribs." Emerald said as she Neo simply pursed her lips as she nodded her head in approval.
"Damn. You got lucky girl. I always said Ruby was cute. But she probably doesn't really appreciate me popping back into her life like this. I was kind of a cruel foster sister. But apparently not the worst she has ever had." Neo said holding the jacket out towards Emerald to take. "But so you're aware I did leave a note in the pocket that has my number Ruby can call me at. Tell her I'd love to go get a cup of coffee one of these days. You know to kind of apologise... maybe ask her if I was an influence on some of her characters because that is kind of bugging me, but also fair." Neo continued as Emerald accepted the jacket and reached into the pocket that was pointed at by the much smaller woman.
"I can assure you, you weren't. Ruby doesn't like to take people from real life and implement them in her stories. She says that would cheapen them. But you'd be right in saying that she doesn't appreciate suddenly running into you. She is currently trying not to have a panic attack." Emerald said as she could see Neo gently nodding her head in understanding. "Nothing against you, just, Ruby doesn't handle things from that part of her life very well. Just panic attack after panic attack if it isn't a small group. But I'll let her know and let you get back to work."
"Thanks, see you Em. It was fun seeing you again."
Nodding as she watched the woman walk off, Emerald let out a tense breath. 'Oh I swear to god. No more cheating ever. Because she will fucking kill me if she found out about me and Mercury. And then Ruby and Coco would kill me for giving that woman a reason to kill me, and then they'd kill me for cheating.' Emerald thought as she spun around and started to walk towards her car again.
Gently holding onto Ruby in the elevator as she propped Coco up, Emerald was just glad that they were nearly home. All she had to wait for was the doors opening and her needing to fish one of three front door keys out of three pockets.
As the doors parted, Emerald just smiled a little at the sight of Velvet opening the front door and jumping a little at the sight. "Were you just about to head out?" Emerald asked as they stepped out of the elevator.
Nodding her head, Velvet just took a deep breath as she looked at Coco. "Is she alright?" Velvet asked meekly as Emerald winced a little from Ruby squeezing tighter around her.
"She is just drugged up right now, and has a few bruised ribs. But other than that she is going to be fine. Just needs to take it easy for a few weeks." Emerald said stepping to the side as Velvet walked towards the elevator. "Just, tell the front desk to give us a call when you are coming back. I'll go down and bring you up because Coco is going to be sleeping if I have my say." Emerald continued as she could just feel some joy as Velvet just smiled and clicked the ground floor button.
Seeing the doors closing, Emerald just smiled and began to lead her girlfriends into the home. Gently kicking the door closed as she glanced at Ruby who had just glanced up at her. "Go get comfortable on the couch. I'll put Coco to bed." Emerald said as Ruby just took a deep breath as she let go and quickly wrapped her arms around herself in a mock hug as she walked quickly into the living room.
Just happy that that hurdle was over, and she knew how easy it would be to at least get Ruby to open up right now. When they were at home it just always seemed easier. And Emerald knew that it would just require a call to Raven unless it was something really really big. It was at least the easiest thing they could do. Taking a deep breath, Emerald walked towards the locked door, as she reached into her back pocket, to grab the key to the bedroom.
Knowing that on the other side soon enough would be Coco sleeping. She just hoped that it was going to make Ruby relax more. Not to mention it would put one thing in her mind at ease. Walking towards the bed, Emerald just gently lowered Coco into a sitting position as she just looked into her eyes.
"Now, you need to sleep." Emerald started as she started to push Coco backwards just so she would be laying down enough so she could start undoing Coco's shoes. "I don't want to hear anything from this room for at least six hours except snoring. Am I understood?" Emerald said as she slipped the final shoe off as Coco just giggled a little.
"Okay." Coco said as she grabbed one of the blankets and dragged it to cover herself in a crude fashion.
Shaking her head, Emerald gently grabbed one of the pillows as she quickly walked around and lifted Coco's head gingerly as she slipped the pillow under her head and could hear the gentle snoring already which caused Emerald some joy.
"Good night Coco." Emerald said as she spun around and knew from experience that Coco was going to be out of it for a long while. Leaving the door open, Emerald just walked into the living room where she could see Ruby twisting the lock open on the case as she gingerly picked up her story book before she took a seat on the couch and just closed the book as she just held it simply to her chest. As if the moment she would let go, her world was going to crumble away.
Sighing softly, Emerald just walked into the room as she cleared her throat as to just not shock Ruby when she took a seat. Seeing Ruby just look at her, Emerald just took a deep breath as she took a seat. "Did seeing her really shake you up this much?" Emerald asked hoping that she would get some sort of verbal response from Ruby.
Unfortunately all she got was a shaky nod from Ruby as she wrapped her arms around the book tighter. "Come on. Neo isn't going to harm you. I'd never let her." Emerald said as Ruby sandwiched the book between her and Emerald as she held onto Emerald as well. As if she was trying her hardest to just think away this living nightmare.
"Promise?" Ruby whispered as Emerald just smiled and held onto Ruby tightly herself, ignoring the sharp corners of the book digging into her.
"I promise Ruby. If Coco wasn't drugged and sleeping, she'd promise as well." Emerald said with all the confidence that could exist because she knew that it was true. Just because she knew how much Ruby would need them. "So, let's just stay here until you are feeling better. Does that sound like a nice plan to you?" Emerald asked as Ruby simply nodded from her position once again.
"Okay then. But just remember I'm going to be here. You aren't alone. And you never will be unless you want to be and aren't going to do anything dangerous or stupid." Emerald continued as Ruby just nodded again. One that just made Emerald so much happier because she knew that even with the terrible start of the day, it could only get better.
Author's Note:
And done. it was a fun chapter to write,