Another day, another book shoved in its proper spot on the shelf, August had some books release, causing a stir of children and teens coming to check them out, resulting in a waitlist while they waited for more shipments of the books. It's been hectic because of it, but nothing brightened the librarians' days than seeing patrons eager to check out the books.
For one librarian, nothing would brighten his day more than getting out of the meeting his brother dragged him into, because the speakers discuss numbers or logistics one more time, he's going to turn into the legendary killer librarian!
It helped that he and Lila had a discussion while he's forced to listen, the perks of having telepathy, that he didn't have to suffer the injustice of his brother.
A struggle not to laugh at times when he's talking to Lila, but it's better than listening to the droning coming from the speakers and looking at the graphs.
It's a painful fifteen minutes for Theodore, waiting for the speakers to finally run out of oxygen, hopefully deflate, so he may return to normality.
Lila says to him, "Well, if you hadn't been late for work these last few days, Hammond wouldn't have dragged your ass to these meetings."
Hammond explicitly told Theodore that he was needed for opening, multiple times, multiple days, but the aloof giant always overslept, and as punishment, Hammond forced him to come to the library meetings.
"You weren't helping!" Theodore retorted that Lila didn't help in the matter, but she insisted that she did try to wake him.
He's just difficult waking up from a deep slumber and Lila tried everything under the sun waking him, but he didn't wake up until she decided to cook breakfast.
"I am not even going to dignify that with a response!" Theodore tried to hide his displeasure, the curses of his face contorting as though he's speaking to Lila beside him.
Lila giggled, before telling him that there's patrons coming up to the counter, she needed to tend with Mark helping.
Someone else wasn't the only one late to her shift.
Normally, Bill would've said something about being late to work, if she wasn't coming to work that day, but nobody heard anything from her, and Lila tried reaching her more than once, but she didn't pick up.
It's unusual for Bill doing this, but during the past week, she's been spending quality time with Louise, possibly it finally caught up to her, she's been energized from the word 'go.'
Hammond wasn't happy about Bill's tardiness, Mark's supposed to run the counter for the other section, but he had to double up since Bill didn't come in, having to reshuffle the staff to compensate for being one librarian short.
"Watch out for the killer librarian!" Theodore teases Lila before she became preoccupied with the patrons arriving to either check out books, retrieve slips for the computers, or returning books.
Subtly checking the time on his wristwatch, Theodore sees there's only five minutes left of this hell, in his head, he's counting down to the minute when he can finally leave.
Bored, Theodore stared at the last speaker, before he's struck with a sudden feeling of pain in his head, enough to cause him to audibly groan, touching his head with his large hand as he felt dizziness.
There's numbness on his tongue, his eyes disoriented, the dizziness, and audibly, Theodore called out, "Lee?"
No response.
Blinking, Theodore didn't feel her presence in his head, the wooziness passed, but instead of comfort, it gave him him panic.
Jumping out of his seat, Theodore ran from the meeting room, running back to his section, ahead he sees a crowd, politely he pushed by them, his icy blue eyes fell to Lila's unconscious body behind the counter with Mark kneeling beside her, keeping folded napkins pressed against her bleeding head, panicking.
Without word, Theodore jumped over the counter, kneeling on the opposite side of Lila as Mark panicked.
Taking the napkins from him, Theodore gingerly kept them against the head wound.
"What happened?" Theodore looked to Mark for guidance as he gently touched Lila's face with his free hand.
Sputtering, Mark pointed to the officer among the crowd who'd come to the counter.
There was a conversation and Lila just fainted, hit her head on the edge of the filing cabinet under the counter.
His icy blue eyes pivoted to the officer controlling the crowd, leading them away from the counter, in the distance, Theodore sees Hammond with a worried look as he hurried to the counter, passing the crowd.
"There's been an ambulance called, what on Earth's going on?" Hammond heard someone calling for an ambulance on his way out of the meeting, spurred by his brother, his dark eyes stopped when they saw Lila on the ground, Mark, and Theodore beside her.
Shocked, Hammond joined their side, checking Lila, seeing that she had a gash on her head, caused from her fainting, before asking what'd happened, and Mark finally managed to properly talk, explaining that the officer they saw came to the counter while he and Lila were working.
Standard greeting, asking what the officer wanted, noticing he didn't have a smile on his face, when he asked if they knew Bill.
Couldn't say anything more, the ambulance arrived to the library, and Theodore went with Lila to the hospital.
Immediately, the doctors were able to diagnose Lila with mild shock, the head wound's nothing to worry about, the gash wasn't too bad, just needed a few stitches, and some antibiotics.
No concerns for any brain injuries from hitting the edge of the filing cabinet, everything else looked fine.
It took work convincing the hospital that he needed to be there, not to call her family, as Theodore knew that she didn't want them called unless she specifically wanted it, he managed to sit beside Lila while she recovered.
Nurses came by every now again to check her, bringing Theodore something to eat or drink, since he wouldn't leave her side.
Lila's communicating, been communicating for an hour, now, coherent. The doctors came by to give their little tests, making sure that nothing popped up while she recovered in the ward, a despondent look on her face.
"I screwed up, didn't I?" Lila murmured as she realized she caused a scene in the library, Theodore beside her reached out to touch her hand, comforting her as he tells her that it wasn't her fault.
Though, he didn't get the full story.
Shaking her head as she softly sighed, Lila listlessly said, "You saw the cop, didn't you?"
Nodding, his wild hair bobbing, Theodore responded that he did, and Lila goes on to say, "He started asking us about Bill. I didn't think anything of it. When… when he asked us these questions. What we knew of her and shit. I ended up asking him what's going on… and… he told me… told me… Bill… Bill committed…"
Her voice wavering towards the end of her response, but it's enough for Theodore to understand, his icy blue eyes widened as he processed what happened.
"When?" Theodore softly asked her and Lila answered that the officer told her that it happened sometime last night.
He asked if she or Mark heard anything from Bill around that time, Lila told him that she didn't hear from Bill since the afternoon shift yesterday.
"She… wouldn't…" Lila chewed on her inner lip, feeling her emotions welling up, but Theodore eased it, holding her hand in his.
The time in the hospital was short lived, with the doctors signing everything off, allowing Lila to leave with a prescription of antibiotics and a mild painkiller, clear instructions on care for the gash, standard protocols.
Theodore took her home, where she sat on her couch, her mind processing what she was told back at the library, and she wouldn't believe it.
Bill couldn't have…
She'd never do something like that!
Lila knew Bill for years, if there was anything wrong, she'd known!
Bill wasn't… wasn't…
"Still yourself, my dear Watson," Theodore stopped her thoughts from causing needless pain, as he brought her some clementine tea, sitting down beside her.
Despite Lila's insistence, Theodore refused her to ravage her mind with those thoughts, it won't do her any good, and he made it clear that he understands Lila's pain, he loved Bill, too, Bill wouldn't want Lila tear herself apart.
"Oh lord, who let this spaceman into my life?" Lila sighed as she listened to Theodore.
He spent hours with her until she shooed him away, so he's able to tend to the ferrets, but Theodore made it clear the next day, he'd be back, and that's what he did.
Hammond gave her a few days to process what happened, to figure out everything, really.
Her and Bill's closest friends helped plan the funeral, they're just as shocked as she was when they heard what happened, and they couldn't understand it, either.
Neither them could remember a troubling time for Bill, she'd tell them everything if something bothered her.
When she saw her, Lila asked Louise, if she knew anything, and Louise told her that she was working last night, she didn't know it'd happen until one of Bill's friends called her sometime in the morning.
Lila ended up asking her about Bill and Louise replied that when she saw Bill last, that afternoon, she was full of energy.
No reason, at all.
Couldn't ask much about the investigation, since Lila wasn't family, the only thing she knows from asking around's that Bill was walking along the Southwark Bridge.
That's all she can get from her attempts.
A few days passed and the funeral's held, Bill's friends and coworkers mourned, there, Theodore learnt that there wasn't anyone from Bill's family present for the funeral, and Lila told him that it didn't surprise her.
Old fashioned types, they were.
If they got a phone call, lord knows what they said, not that Lila wanted to dwell on it.
Despite that, everyone Bill met during her time's present for the funeral, and that's good enough.
Once the funeral ended, everyone except Louise left as she's stopped by a phone call.
Reaching into her drab pocket, she brought out her mobile, opening it, she held it to her ear, on the other end, she heard, "Incipit iterum."
THE END