Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil.
A/N: It is amazing for me to hear that so many people are enjoying this story. Thank you so much for reading and leaving reviews!Lots of people guessed that Alice works in the morgue, but unfortunately that is incorrect. I'm afraid my version of Alice in this story is not nearly that ambitious.
Drenn: I agree with you about it being cliche, but I kind of like the cliches and will definitely be using a few more. I didn't want to make anything too awful happen to Claire and K-Mart because I don't want them to be too emotionally affected by it, if that makes sense.
A/N2: Chapter title from David Bowie again!
As Claire sped into the ER parking lot of the Raccoon City Hospital she noticed Alice was beginning to look a little pale and the jacket covering her wound was now soaked with blood. Claire couldn't help but feel guilty at her own selfishness. She'd taken K-Mart back to their apartment first, leaving the teen with their neighbour down the hall before taking Alice to the hospital. But she had to make sure K-Mart was safe and not around when the cops arrived.
"How are you doing Alice?" Claire asked, quickly parking the truck in the closest available spot to the door.
"I'm going to be fine, stop worrying." With minimal difficulty she managed to open her door and exit the vehicle, and the pair made their way to the entrance. "I know you feel guilty about taking K-Mart home first, but it's fine. You did the right thing. The hospital is going to call the police and you don't want the kid around for that, even though none of this is your fault."
The redhead felt a sharp clenching in her gut at the thought. "I just can't take the risk that they'll take her away from me. I've been her guardian since our parents died three years ago, if I lose her than I'll be letting them down."
Alice stopped walking just as they were outside the entrance. "You're not going to lose her. You proved tonight how much you care about her and her safety. It's going to be alright, okay?"
The first real smile in hours appeared on the redhead's face. "K-Mart was right about you, you are pretty cool."
Alice looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah, well, we should get inside," she stuttered. "I'm bleeding all my awesomeness away."
That snapped the redhead back to reality and placing a hand on the other woman's back she firmly pushed Alice through the automatic doors of the emergency room. The registration desk was easy to spot and as they made their way over Claire noticed several other patients in the waiting room; a mother with two young kids, an elderly man with a bandage over his forehead, and a middle aged woman wearing a face mask as she flipped through a gossip magazine. Claire walked right up to the desk with Alice right behind her to where an attractive African American woman with long dark hair arranged in a braid was sitting, eyes moving back and forth between the chart in her hand and the computer screen in front of her.
"My friend has been stabbed." Claire announced without preamble, getting her attention.
The nurse looked up from her chart, taking in the sight of the dishevelled looking Claire who still had blood covering her face, and Alice hugging her arm to her chest, covered in blood soaked clothing. She glanced back and forth between the two women and Claire was quickly getting annoyed at the nurse's lack of response.
"You're friend was stabbed?" The nurse finally spoke, quirking an eyebrow and Claire was about to jump over the desk and throttle her when Alice spoke up.
"Yes Betty I've been stabbed, so if you're not too busy maybe you can get someone to stitch me up and then we'll be out of your hair."
Betty dropped her chart and stood up, making her way around the desk. "Yeah, of course. Sorry Alice, I was just a little surprised." She gently reached for Alice's injured arm, holding it by the wrist and pulling away the bloodied jacket to get a good look at the cut. Claire felt her stomach flip uncomfortably at the action and she glanced back and forth between Alice and the nurse, wondering how the two women knew each other. "Damn Alice, this looks pretty deep. Was it an accident?"
"No, I'm pretty sure the asshole with the knife meant to stab me" she replied, causing Betty to frown.
"You come with me, I'll have someone fix you up right away." The nurse turned to Claire, "you can take a seat over there to wait."
Claire knew it was stupid and childish but she couldn't help but feel a little jealous as she watched the nurse lead Alice through another set of automatic doors and out of sight. Sighing, and completely exhausted she took a seat in the waiting room, far away from the other patients. Dropping her face into her hands her mind reeled through the events of the evening. None of this was supposed to happen. A little sisterly bonding with K-Mart at the movies had turned into a nightmare. She couldn't even fathom what would have happened to her if Alice hadn't stumbled upon them when she did.
A few minutes later she raised her head at the sound of someone saying her name. In front of her stood nurse Betty wearing a friendly smile. "Hey, it's Claire right?" The redhead nodded. "I'm Betty. Alice filled me in as much as she could and I've called the police so someone should be here shortly. If you come with me, I'll have a doctor look you over."
Claire shook her head vehemently. "No, I'm alright."
"If I may be honest with you, you look like shit, girl. And after what you went through tonight I think it's best if you got checked out." Betty then smirked. "Plus, Alice made me promise that you'd get taken care of, even if I had to drag you down to the examination room myself. And while I'm up to the challenge, I'd prefer it if you just walked."
A small, involuntary smile spread across Claire's face. Even after saving her life, Alice was still trying to help. "Okay Betty, I'll see the doctor; but only because I'm too exhausted to fight you."
"Works for me." Betty jerked her head, motioning for Claire to follow. "So how long have you known Alice?"
"Uh, just a few days. What about you?"
"Three years I think? In this place time just sort of blurs together you know?"
"Alice works here?" Claire's surprise not lost on the other woman who nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh yeah, she loves it. Well, as much as Alice loves anything I guess." A moment passed. "And you two are friends?"
Claire suspected an underlying question but ignored it, instead offering a shrug. "I don't know, we've met a couple of times, and she's been tutoring my sister, but calling someone who saved your life an acquaintance feels kind of wrong." She had no idea why she was saying all of this to a total stranger, but Betty seemed nice enough and the knot in her stomach had lessened considerably after discovering she knew Alice from work and not... something else.
Betty showed Claire into an empty room. "Take a seat on the table, the doctor will be around in a minute. And when you're all done here I'll take you to see Alice, sound good?"
She gave Betty a grateful smile. "Yes. Thanks Betty."
It was over two hours before Claire was able to see Alice. After the doctor had examined and given her the all clear she'd had to speak to the police to give her statement of what had happened. The officer had questioned her for what seemed like forever before confirming what the redhead already knew; that it had been a random attack and it was very likely that the police wouldn't be able to catch the guys who had done it since she hadn't been able to get a good enough look at her attackers. She'd then had to wait outside Alice's room as the blonde was questioned by the officer. During that time no less than five different nurses and hospital staff approached her asking if there was anything she needed, and each time she politely declined.
When the door opened and the policeman left Claire scrambled out of her chair and stuck her head in the doorway. Alice was seated in an uncomfortable looking chair with her injured arm laying on top of a table freshly bandaged. The redhead almost chuckled at how bored the other woman looked, head hanging over the back of the chair, staring up at the ceiling.
Claire knocked on the door before stepping into the room. "Hey," she greeted. "How's it going?"
Alice flopped her arm on the table. "I am now the proud yet temporary owner of twenty-three stitches. I still need to get a tetanus shot and then should be free to go. You already talked to the cop?"
Claire grimaced. "I felt kind of bad leaving out K-Mart's involvement until it became clear that he had no intention of actually trying to find the guys who did this."
"Makes me wish I had gotten a few more hits in." Alice muttered through clenched teeth.
"I think you've done enough." Claire reassured, pulling up a second chair and moving to sit opposite the blonde.
She watched Alice's features soften and change from vengeful regret to gentle concern. "What about you? I see that someone got you cleaned up. You're all right?"
Claire fixed her hair self consciously. "Yeah, I'm fine. My lip should heal in a few days and other than that all I got was a punch in the stomach, nothing I couldn't handle."
"They hit you?" Alice's fists clenched in anger. "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner."
Scooting her chair closer to the table the redhead gently laid a hand over Alice's injured arm, rubbing small circles just above the bandage and locking eyes with her saviour. "Don't say that Alice. You did everything you could, if it wasn't for you we wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation at all." She dropped her gaze to watch the action of her thumb over the other woman's skin. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. You got hurt because of me, you could have been killed."
Alice reached up, picking up Claire's hand and guiding it higher up her arm before laying it over her bandaged wound, keeping her other hand over top. "You're not the one who hurt me Claire. This is going to heal, it might leave a scar but if that's the trade off for having you here with me and not dead in that alley then I'll take it. And I'd do it again."
Claire had no idea how to respond so she just nodded dumbly. Dragging her eyes away from their connected hands she gave Alice a shy smile and was rewarded when the hand over hers gave it a firm squeeze and Alice's face broke out into a lazy grin that the redhead thought just might be her new favourite. But before she had time to analyse it there was knocking on the door.
Betty was wearing a knowing smile as she entered the room and winked at Claire when they made eye contact. Blushing, Claire slipped her hand away from the blonde and stood up from the chair. She noticed Betty was carrying a nasty looking syringe and didn't envy Alice for the shot she was about to be given.
"How are you ladies doing?" She didn't seem to expect an answer as she kept on speaking. "Alice are you ready for this?" She waved the syringe menacingly but Alice was unfazed.
"Yep, knock yourself out."
Betty made quick work of the needle before disposing it in the proper bin. "All right, you two are free to go after you fill out the paper work at the front desk." At that Alice finally showed signs of annoyance, sighing at the prospect. "Oh, and Alice, I talked to personnel, you got the next three days off."
"I don't need it-" she began protesting but was cut off at Betty's raised hand.
"I know you don't want it, but you do need it. They wanted to give you a whole week but I knew you'd find that unacceptable and just show up here anyway. So take the time off, sit at home, relax. Do whatever it is that you do when you're not here. Have some fun." She then reached out a hand to Claire which the redhead gladly shook. "Nice to meet you Claire, though I wish it had been under better circumstances."
"Same here."
Betty winked again, though this time at the blonde. "I like this one, you hang on to her Alice." And with that she was out of the room, leaving an awkward silence in her wake.
Alice was the first to recover, clearing her throat loudly. "Right, we uh, should um... go? Yeah."
A different nurse was now working at the registration desk. Her name tag read 'Maggie' and she was a nice older woman who handed over the paperwork with a friendly smile, greeting both Alice and Claire by name.
"This is a really good hospital," Claire commented as she stood next to Alice filling out the appropriate spaces on her clipboard. "I had five or six people come check on me while I was waiting for you."
The nurse behind the desk chuckled. "I bet you did." When Claire looked at her in confusion she elaborated. "I think Betty told the entire hospital about you. And everyone wanted to go see for themselves."
"See what?" Claire asked getting flustered. She looked to her companion but Alice had her head down apparently deeply enthralled in her paperwork. "I don't understand."
"It's nothing bad dear." Maggie attempted to reassure. "Everyone just wanted to get a look at Alice's girlfriend."
Claire was once again stunned into silence as Alice passed her completed work over the desk. "Claire isn't my girlfriend Maggie, and you and I both know how much Betty likes to gossip. I'll just be sitting over there when you're done Claire."
The redhead was beginning to wonder how many weird things could happen in one night and was almost scared to find out what the world had in store for her once she set foot out of the hospital. She quickly worked through the rest of her papers and handed it back to the nurse.
"I'm sure you realize this since Alice saved your life and all, but she's a really nice girl. A little lonely I think though, so if you're not seeing anyone you should do yourselves a favour and hit that." Claire instantly went from mildly uncomfortable to mortified at the suggestive tone the woman took, and offering what she hoped was a friendly smile but in reality was a painful grimace Claire stumbled away from the desk as fast as her feet would carry her.
What was up with everyone trying to push her and Alice together? If she was being honest with herself, the thought had been bouncing around her mind since K-Mart's comments hours ago but she was yet to be fully convinced. Physical attraction certainly wasn't an issue, Alice was absolutely gorgeous but that was least of Claire's worries when she considered dating someone. For the redhead, the most important consideration was how potential partners dealt with K-Mart. She was a twenty three year old raising a teenage girl, and that often sent other women running for the hills. Claire knew she came with a lot of baggage and thus needed someone who could handle the load. And while Alice had yet to show any overt romantic interest in her, the blonde's treatment of her little sister was a very appealing quality. All Claire really knew at the moment though was that she was exhausted, much too tired to give the situation the serious thought it deserved.
Running a hand through her hair she stopped in front of the chair in which Alice was sitting. The blonde looked up, "You ready to go?"
Claire nodded. "Yeah, I think we should get out of here before the hospital tries to throw us an impromptu wedding." Her attempt at a joke was rewarded when Alice brought out that lazy smile again.
"Ooh, still funny at three o'clock in the morning? Betty's right, I should hang on to you."
Claire joined her in laughter and marvelled at how differently her night had turned out. When they had arrived she'd been feeling guilty and scared, but now it was almost like the attack had never happened. The longer she spent with the other woman the better she felt, and that couldn't be a coincidence. She pulled Alice's keys out of her pocket. "Are you allowed to drive, or do I need to take you home?"
"I can drive, it's not like I really need my left arm for it anyway."
"Doesn't it hurt at all?" Claire asked as she threw Alice the keys and they walked out the doors.
"After the adrenaline wore off it did, but not too much. I guess I have a high pain tolerance or something." She shrugged.
Claire yawned as she opened the passenger side door and climbed into the truck. But as tired as she was there were still a few questions she wanted answered. "Alice, how did you find us tonight? Why were you driving around so late?"
"I was on my way to get pizza," she replied as she pulled out of the parking lot. "I lost a bet with Carlos and was suppose to go pick up his favourite pizza, I was taking a shortcut down that street when I heard screaming. Then I saw K-Mart running out of the alley, and you know the rest."
"That's so random, I owe my life to pizza." Claire laughed bitterly.
"Could have been worse right? I mean, what if it had been gummy bears? That would just be embarrassing."
"I think I've been embarrassed enough for one night, thanks to your friends at the hospital. Betty said you work there, what is it that you do? Nurse? Technician?"
Alice shook her head. "Nothing so glamorous I'm afraid. My job is more...sanitation oriented."
It took Claire a moment to decipher the cryptic answer. "You're a janitor?"
"I prefer custodian if you don't mind."
"Sorry, I wasn't judging you or anything cause hello, waitress here. I'm just a little surprised because K-Mart told me you went to college-"
"I did go to college." Alice interrupted the redhead's rambling. "It was fun and I learned a lot. But working at a desk job isn't something I ever wanted."
"Well, what about your art?"
"It's just a hobby. I paint whenever I feel like it and if other people like it that's cool but that's not why I do it."
"So you like being a custodian? Betty said you've worked there for a while."
Alice thought it over for a moment before answering. "I like messes. I like taking something that shouldn't be there and cleaning it up. Most people don't like being around all that blood, but I don't really mind. I work the overnight shift because it's usually quieter. The job works for me because I'm not ambitious. I don't need a high paying job because I don't want fancy cars, expensive homes or destination vacations. I like where I am and can picture myself doing it for the next thirty years and still be completely happy with it." She glanced over at the redhead. "And I sound completely crazy don't I?"
"Not crazy. It's strange that you like something most people can't stand, but it's not a bad thing. You're not like other people, and I find that very refreshing." There was a long moment of silence in which Claire took a deep breath before speaking again. "You're really special Alice. And I'm not just saying that because you saved my life. Everything K-Mart and I have needed the last couple of days you've given us and I'll never forget it."
The truck slowed considerably before coming to a stop in front of Claire's apartment building. Alice shut off the ignition and shifted in her seat until she was facing the redhead. "When we got to the hospital you told Betty I was your friend, did you mean it?" Claire nodded and couldn't hide the smile that was threatening to take over her face.
Unbuckling her seatbelt, Claire had one hand on the door before she changed her mind and turned back to Alice. "Thank you, for everything," she whispered and before she could change her mind again she lent across the front seat and kissed Alice on the cheek. Claire tried to keep the smug grin off her face when she pulled back and noticed the pink tinge covering the other woman's cheeks. "Goodnight Alice." She whispered again before slipping out of the truck and into her apartment building.
She dragged herself up the stairs and knocked softly on the door of apartment 12. Claire only had to wait a moment before a woman with straight blonde hair and blue eyes answered the door. "Hey Elle," she greeted through a yawn. "Is K-Mart sleeping?"
Elle, who was a few years younger than Claire and lived with her father shook her head. "No, she wanted to wait up for you to get back; we're on our sixth game of Battleship. Is everything okay?"
"Yep, everything's fine now. I really appreciate you doing this for me. After the night we had I couldn't leave K-Mart alone."
Elle waved it off. "It's not a problem. I'll just grab the kid; you two both need to go home and get some sleep." She then left the door open and reappeared after a moment with K-Mart in tow. "Thanks for playing with me K, see you two later!"
"Bye Elle," K-Mart said with a wave and once the door was closed the teen wrapped her arms around her sister. "You were gone a long time."
Pressing a kiss into blonde hair, Claire squeezed the younger girl tightly. "Sorry K, Alice had to get stitched up, and we were both questioned by the police. I came back as soon as I could."
K-Mart pulled away and they walked down the hall to their own apartment. "Alice is gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine."
"And what did you tell the cops?"
"The truth, that I was attacked on my way home. I just may have left out the part where you were there too." Claire unlocked the door and pushed her sister inside before entering, locking the door again behind them.
"So we don't have anything to worry about?"
"Nope." Claire ruffled K-Mart's hair affectionately. "Go to bed K, everything's all right now, okay?"
"Okay." The redhead watched her cross the room to her bedroom door before turning back. "Thanks Claire. Alice may have saved your life tonight, but you saved mine."
"That's my job K. I love you."
"Love you too, goodnight Claire." And when the blonde disappeared into her room, Claire retreated to her own bed, and without changing her clothes, fell into an exhausted sleep.
Despite being used to working nights and being up at all hours Alice was still exhausted when she entered the house she shared with Carlos at almost three thirty in the morning. Upon entering the living room she laughed aloud at the sight of her friend fast asleep on the couch, in a position that could not possibly be comfortable and mere inches from falling to the floor on his ass.
At the sound of her laughter Carlos startled awake and did fall to the floor with a loud thump. He groaned as he sat up and rubbing a stiff spot on his back as he stood. "I was just resting my eyes, did you get my pizza?"
"Nope, I got something better," she held up her bandaged arm. "Twenty-three stitches and a tetanus shot, oh and it's three thirty in the morning by the way."
"What?" He quickly crossed the room to inspect her injury even though it was well covered. "What the hell happened Alice?"
She sighed knowing she wasn't going to get any sleep until Carlos' questions were answered, so she moved to sit on the couch and motioned for Carlos to join her. Breaking the news as gently as she could Alice explained what had happened with the thugs in the alley, getting stabbed, and her and Claire's trip to the ER.
"And you didn't think to call me?" Carlos exclaimed when she was finished.
"It's just a flesh wound Carlos. I'm fine, Claire's fine; things could have been worse."
She watched as Carlos sat in silence, clearly taking it all in. She knew he was considering whether or not he should be upset with her for risking her life and then not informing him earlier of her injury. She also knew that distraction would be her best option in getting him to forget about it, which is what caused her to blurt out her next sentence.
"She kissed me."
Carlos's head darted to the side to stare at her. "She kissed you?"
"Well, it was just a peck on the cheek, but I thought you'd be interested in that."
"You're starting to like her aren't you?" Carlos took her lack of answer as confirmation. "What are you going to do next?"
"Uh, nothing."
Carlos face palmed. "Alice I wasn't even there and I'm pretty sure she likes you. You should ask her out."
"No," she said firmly. There was not a chance in hell she was going to ask out the redhead, especially after the events of the night.
"Why not? What have you got to lose?"
"What if she says yes?"
"Isn't that what you would want?" He asked and Alice could tell he was getting more confused by the second.
"Maybe, but after tonight I don't know." She idly began tracing around the edge of her bandage. "I don't want her to say yes because she feels like she owes me for getting stabbed. If I was willing to break my rules about dating and I'm not saying that I am; but if I did than it would have to be because she wants to date me and not out of pity or some sort of hero worship, you know?"
"Ok Alice, I get it. You want her to like you for you and that's not a bad thing. But you must really like her if you're even thinking about breaking your self imposed no dating rule."
"I don't know Carlos, all I do know is that less than a week ago my life was not this complicated."
"Life always gets harder before it gets better."
"If you say so." She stood, stretching out her tired limbs as she yawned. "I'm going to bed, goodnight Carlos."
Alice left the room and slowly made her way down into the basement where her bedroom was located. And despite how exhausted she was she laid awake in bed for almost an hour, unable to sleep as thoughts of the night flashed through her head. As she pictured K-Mart's terrified face she could almost hear the blonde screaming. And then there was Claire, the image of the redhead pinned against the wall with blood covering her face filled Alice with a pain and rage the likes of which she had never felt before. Was she just disgusted by what those thugs had tried to do, or was it something deeper? Did she have feelings for the redhead? It had been so long since Alice had let herself get attached to someone who wasn't Carlos and she had no idea how to deal with these potential feelings. Accepting that she might indeed like Claire and actually doing something about it were two very different things though. It would be much easier to just keep carrying on the way things were. The redhead had said they were friends and it didn't take a genius to realize that adding feelings to the mix would just complicate things.
But there was this constant nagging at the back of Alice's mind that would not go away. What if by some strange coincidence Claire felt something for her? The thought alone made Alice's stomach flop in a not entirely unpleasant way. She groaned in frustration; never in all her life had she ever had such difficulty in deciding how to approach another woman.
Alice sat up in bed, rubbing her temples as if it would somehow make all the answers appear in her mind. "Claire's not just some other woman," she sighed. Claire was funny, caring, and when it came to K-Mart she was unbelievably selfless. Not to mention she was the most beautiful thing Alice had ever seen. Running a hand through her dirty blonde locks before flopping back on to the bed, Alice stared up at the ceiling trying to decide what to do. Just before rolling over and falling asleep she decided it couldn't hurt to just leave things the way they were for now. At the very least she wanted to wait for this whole 'I saved your life thing' to blow over before she could even think about making her move.
I hope everyone likes nurse Betty because we will be seeing more from her soon! And I also hope no one is too disappointed with Alice's job.
Also, you may have noticed that Elle is not a character from Resident Evil. She is not an original character, I borrowed her from a Heroes, and made her horribly out of character. I ran out of female characters to use (Jill and Rain will appear later). I'm not sure if she'll make another appearance, but it's definitely a possibility.
