After the school day finished, Gavin looked around worriedly for his sister. He had heard about the battle from one of his classmates, and was anxious to make sure she was okay. When he rounded the corner, he sighed in relief and smiled.
"Battle went well then?"
Emma turned at the sound of his voice, and he saw her neck, where it looked like she had been cut.
"Oh my god, Emma. What happened? Are you okay?"
She nodded. "I'm fine, it barely even pierced my skin. Nothing to worry about. It should heal within the next couple days. Come on, let's get you to your appointment. I gotta be at Ernie's in an hour, so we need to go quick."
Gavin sighed as she turned and walked out. He was frustrated because she refused to let him help, even when everyone could see that she needed it. She closed off instantly anytime Gavin showed any kind of concern for her, and it was hurting him to see her like this.
He followed behind in silence, neither of them saying anything until they got to the hospital. Emma squeezed his arm.
"I'll be here when your appointment finishes."
With that, she left and started heading off to the Brainfreeze. If she didn't run, she was going to be late to her shift. Though she knew Ernie would be okay with it, she didn't want to disrespect him like that. She only wanted to be late if absolutely necessary. Otherwise, it felt like she was taking advantage of his grace.
She walked in, out of breath, with one minute to spare. Ernie looked over and saw the mark on her neck. He was about to ask about it, but saw her face and decided against it.
"I need you on tables two, three, and four. The soccer team just finished practice and they all decided to come. I can't handle all of them at once."
Emma nodded as she threw on her apron and rushed to take their orders. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the soccer team left and Emma already looked exhausted. After not sleeping and the rough day she'd had, it was going to be an extremely hard shift.
Her spirits lifted slightly when she saw her best friend walk in the door. Gia saw there were only a couple others in at the moment, and Ernie was taking care of them, so she motioned Emma over to a booth. Emma smiled and gratefully walked over. Any excuse to take a break and unwind with her friend was one she was all too willing to take.
When she sat down though, Gia's face grew serious. "Emma, I wanted to talk about what happened today at the plaza. Why did you run off like that? They had you right where they wanted you, and if she hadn't decided to mess around first, Metal Alice could have killed you."
Emma's smiled dropped. The last thing she expected was a scolding from her friend. She hadn't told any of them about what exactly Vrak had said in the hospital room that day. Only she and Gavin knew the details of his plan, and she didn't want the rest of the team to find out. There was a chance they wouldn't let her fight at all, knowing she was emotionally impaired.
Judging from the day's events, that might have been a good decision, but Emma did not want to sit on the sidelines anymore.
"I don't want to talk about it, Gia."
"Emma, come on. Whatever is bothering you, we are here to help you through it. Gavin texted me earlier and he's worried about you, too. You can't just face everything in your life alone."
"I've done just fine with that up until now. I really do not want to talk about it. I'm okay, and I promise I won't recklessly run in again. Can we just drop it?"
Gia frowned. Emma usually wasn't so closed off. Whenever Emma needed help, Gia usually could see it immediately and was more than happy to do what she could to help. And Emma would let her. But lately, her friend had been shut off from the rest of the world.
"Seriously, you can tell me about what's going on. I-"
Emma saw a customer walk in and abruptly stood up. "Sorry, I need to go. I'm fine, Gia. Go home."
She walked off and Gia just stared at her sadly. From the moment Gavin had shown up at the plaza, she had known all along that Emma was going to reach a breaking point, and knew it would be soon. She just wasn't sure how to handle it, or how she could help her friend. It saddened her to no end to watch Emma struggle, and not be able to do anything about it.
Gia gave one last concerned glance in her friend's direction, before she left the Brainfreeze. There's nothing she could do to help in there if Emma wouldn't let her in.
Instead, she sent a text to her friend, so she could read it later.
Gone to pick up Gavin. I'll bring him home so you don't need to go to the hospital. Just finish your shift and come home. Maybe we'll talk later. Always here for you, love you.
Gia started walking sadly in the direction of the hospital.
