Chapter 20 – 1am
The hum of transport ship was almost deafening to her ears. "This is what it feels like?" She was hunched over in her seat with eyes closed. She heard Mirage yell, "Party at my place after debriefing. You can come take a look at your winners!" Ajay tried to relax in her seat but they were already landing. "How long was I out?" She sat with her elbows on her knees and her forehead in hands. She took a deep breath as she opened her eyes. She felt like her head was going to split open. Stood up but almost fell if it were not for someone catching her arm.
"I got you." She barely heard Anita's voice. "The first time isn't easy but it gets easier." She steadied Ajay and helped her off the ship. "Thank ya." Anita nodded. They slowly entered the hanger and then loading area which served as the debriefing area after matches. Anita helped Ajay into a conference room. Ajay was still hurting pretty bad as she went through her debriefing. She got an ear full about removing her comms device "Which I didn't do!" She gave them an ear full back about D.O.C. not working in Alexander's gas. There was yelling back and forth. By the time she was done all of the Legends were waiting outside of the door to see what was going on.
Ajay opened the door and the Legends scrambled, pretending to be preoccupied with other things. Octavio was sitting on the sofa. Elliot was reading a book, upside down. Anita was filing her nails. Renee and Bloodhound were conversing. The only person acting normal was Alexander, who was approaching her. "You must understand, death is the true test." After that he left the room. She just shook her head. She had no words for Alexander except "What the fuck ever." But she kept those words to herself.
Ajay went to the change screen and changed back into her civilian clothe. It was like magic every time. Anita helped her get her backpack on. Octavio and Elliot approached them. Anita gave them a death stare and the quickly backed off. Elliot stood on the sofa, "Winners here." He pointed to himself and Octavio, "Party. My house. Now." Elliot hopped down from the sofa and both him, and Octavio ran out. The rest of Legends followed. Ajay sauntered out behind everyone; hurrying was not happening for her tonight.
The air outside of HQ was just warm. Just like it was when Ajay entered earlier in the day. Ajay looked up at the moon. It felt like the moon was spinning around her very quickly. Her head was aching. "Hey kid, coming to Elliot's?" She jumped to the sound of Anita's voice. "Nah. I am gonna head home." She replied. Anita raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "Okay. You want me to walk you home?" Ajay shook her head, "Nah. Thank ya." Ajay smiled and they parted ways. Ajay stopped at the liquor store at the way home and left with three bottles of rum. She could party by herself, or at least take the edge off for a few days.
When she entered her apartment she went through her normal routine. She flipped on a light and set her alcohol on the table. She pulled out D.O.C. and released the drone, giving it a light pat. She brought a bottle of rum to her room with her backpack. She rifled through her backpack and pulled out her pill bottle. She pulled out four pills set the bottle on the table next to her bed. She opened the rum and took the pills, downing them with the rum. She pulled her phone out of her bag. It was already midnight. She made it a point to finish the rum. She then laid down on the bed and passed out.
"Che! Che!" She woke up to tapping on her apartment door. She looked at her phone to check the time. It was 2am. She rubbed her face and got out of bed and nearly stumbled to the front door. When she opened the door she found Octavio standing there, well barely standing there. He was just as drunk as she was. "Che!" She rolled her eyes, held the door open, and pointed to the sofa. Octavio fumbled his way through her apartment and collapsed on the sofa as Ajay walked back to her bedroom. "Hey, Che. I want to tell you." Ajay slammed her bedroom door. "Oops. Never mind." Octavio muttered. "Maybe in the morning." He passed out as soon as he finished his words.
Ajay sat in the dark for about an hour. She couldn't sleep. She was afraid of the nightmares. She opened her bedroom and nearly tripped over Octavio who was sleeping on the floor in front of her door. "Why isn't he on the sofa?" D.O.C. was tucked underneath his arm. "What in the fuck..." She whispered as she stepped over him and her drone. She grabbed her second bottle of rum and slinked back into her bedroom, gently closing the door behind her. She began drinking bottle. She felt the pain coming back in her left side. She grabbed her pill bottle and pulled out four pills. She down the pills and the rum and curled up in her bed. In no time she was asleep.
Octavio stretched his arms out and sat up. He was wearing a tee shirt and shorts. Nothing special, just something he could run around in. He loved to run. He was full of energy, he always had been. One big ball of energy. Maybe that's why Che complimented him so well. She was laid back and sometimes more realistic. She balanced some of his behaviors. He looked around her apartment. It was clean, almost sterile. He felt a slight nudge underneath his right arm. He looked down and saw D.O.C. with his vibrant emerald eyes and gave it a firm pat before it drifted away.
He stood up and brushed his jet black hair out of his vision and adjusted his clothes. During stunts or in the arena he wore his hair under a hood to keep it out of the way. "Che" he said softly through the door. He waited for a response but he grew impatient when she didn't response to him. "Che, we need to talk and I would prefer if we didn't do it through a door." His Latin accent was heavy. She still didn't respond to him. Octavio pressed his forehead against Ajay's bedroom door. He was surprised when the door began to open against the weight of his head. He could see Ajay laying in her bed face down. She was dressed in black with a hit of pink on her left shoulder. Her hair still was up in buns.
Octavio walked over to her, "Che, quit ignoring me. We need talk." The room was silent. "Was she really this mad at me?" He sighed, "Please Che..." He trailed off and looked around the room. There were two empty bottles of rum on the floor and an open bottle of pills. There were pills scattered all over the bed. "Che?" He leaned down and placed his fingers on her Ajay's neck and felt around her carotid artery for a pulse, just like she taught him. Her pulse was weak and thready. He didn't know exactly what that meant but Ajay had once told him that it wasn't good. "Oh, no, no, no, no!" He quickly flipped her over into his arms and scooped her up. He had an arm under her knees and one under her back. Ajay's left side pushed into his chest and felt funny to him as he carried her.
Ajay's body felt like a lifeless doll in his arms. Her skin was cool and sweaty. Octavio got Ajay to the bathroom in no time. He stepped into the shower and turned the cold water on. He sat down with his back against wall of the shower. He positioned Ajay with her back to him between his legs and let the cold water run down her and him. "Che!" He was practically yelling at her and almost shaking her. Octavio wrapped his right arm over the front of her chest and grasped her left shoulder. He dug in his pocket with his left hand pulled out a syringe filled with bright green liquid. He popped the cap off with his thumb and squeezed her skin on her left arm. "Sorry, Che." He stuck the needle into her left arm and quickly injected the bright green liquid into Ajay's left arm.
Octavio tossed the syringe to the other side of the shower and wrapped his free arm around her and held Ajay tight against him. Ajay convulsed a few time in his arms. She opened her eyes; her head throbbed against the light and she screamed in pain. She started shivering uncontrollably. Ajay's stomach flipped and turned, then her throat burned and she starting heaving. She emptied what was left in her stomach into the shower. Everything was liquid. She slumped her head over in weakness. Octavio held her tight and whispered to her, "It's okay Che." He just kept saying it over and over. Ajay couldn't make sense of what was going on. He sounded so far away when he talked to her.
Octavio sat and held Ajay against him, she didn't feel lifeless anymore. He looked down as the water as falling from their bodies. He had a perplexed look on his face. The water was gradually turning red. There was obviously a more serious problem going on. He reached up and turned off the water. He shifted her in his arms and stood up, grabbing some towels as her carried her out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. He did his best getting her out of her clothes off of her. He moved her hair out of the way as he stripped her down to nothing. That's when he noticed a dressing that began to fall off of her left side. He removed the dressing and dried her off.
Octavio positioned her on her right side in the bed and put left her arm above her head. "Che, can you hear me?" Ajay nodded with her eyes closed. He pressed a towel to her wound, "Che, I need your help. I need you to hold this." He took her right hand and forced it against the towel. Ajay pressed her hand firmly against the towel. She heard Octavio but his voice was still so far away. "Back in the old days she would keep one under her bed. There it is." Octavio knelt down and looked under Ajay's bed for a first aid kit. He found it in no time and set it on the bed. He opened the kit and pulled the towel away from her skin. He watched as her hand limp against the bed. He got the scissors out and made one snip to the tied off stitch. He then took a pair tweezers and removed the stitches. He quickly readied crescent needle and medical thread.
He rinsed out her wound with saline and patted it dry with gauze before stitching her up, just like her taught her. He rinsed her wound one more time and dried it before putting a dry cover over it; securely taping it. Octavio cleaned up the mess on the bed and put the first aid kit away. He slipped off his wet clothes and hung them over a chair in her room. He climbed into her bed with her, sitting with his back against the headboard. He gently pulled Ajay into him, leaving her on right side. He placed her head on his chest and pulled the blankets up over them. He gently caressed her cheek and ran his finger through her hair. It was all he could do at the moment.
