Author's note: Finally getting back into a good writing rhythm, because I did it! I handed in my master thesis! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Another flashback is going to follow after this chapter. I really enjoy writing this story, and I'm excited to give it my full attention. :)
Summary: force ma·jeure noun \ˌfȯrs-mä-ˈzhər, -mə-\ 1: superior or irresistible force. 2: an event or effect that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled. Alicia & Will, seven months after she left L/G. I stand there, unsure of what to do with this situation. I look at her. Despite the bruising, she looks oddly peaceful, curled up in her own bed like that. Then, I realize I'm watching her sleep. I shouldn't be doing that. Instead, I turn around and turn off the light on my way out.
Thanks: To my beta RomanticSoutherner and to all those loyal readers! Love you guys!

Force Majeure

Chapter 7 – Two Hours

"By tomorrow, we'll be lost among the leaves."
– Daughter (Tomorrow)

Thursday, 11:11 PM

They cleared her.

"No abnormalities, no swelling, no bleeding, no fracture," is what they told her.

I offered to drive her home. She nodded, mumbled thank you, and that's all the conversation we had. Now, we're in my car, driving. Alicia is in the seat next to me. She winced in pain every time we took a turn or had to stop.

I find the silence between us unbearable. We used to have comfortable silences. We must have. I can't recall a specific one though. I seem to have forgotten every comfortable moment I ever shared with her. The past months, her… actions have been so infuriating that they got rid of any good memory I ever had of her. There's absolutely nothing left.

Still, there is an, apparently unconditional, urge that makes me want to see her safe. That makes me want to care for her. Then again, I would have done the same thing with anyone in a similar situation. At least, that's what I've been telling myself all these hours in the hospital tonight.

I glance to my right as we stop for a traffic light.

"You should call your kids," I say as I look at her.

She doesn't respond.

"Someone, anyway."

"I'll call Zach in the morning."

I sigh and shake my head in frustration. "What about tonight?"

"I don't know," she mumbles, barely audible.

I watch her sit there, leaning against the window with a blank stare on her face.

"I know, it's bad," she sighs as she notices me looking at her.

I decide not to say anything. Instead, I restlessly tap my fingers on the steering wheel.

It is bad. The bruise on her jaw told me that, the blood on the column told me that, and the fact that she was barely conscious when I found her told me that. I wonder how long it will take her to recover from a trauma like that. Not just the pain, but also the attack in itself. But I guess it's not up to me to worry about that.

The light turns green, and we drive off again.

I keep staring at the road as I ask the question that simply needs to be asked.

"Do you want me to stay?"

Silence.

I don't even know if I'm really offering. I'd rather not stay. I'd rather not be here with her in my car in the first place.

The silence continues. I feel bad for asking. She can't say yes. She can't say no. She needs to be woken up every two hours, the doctor told her that.

I glance to my side once more. She closed her eyes.

I focus back on the road, glad to have an excuse to avoid any other conversation.

Thursday, 11:30 PM

"You okay?" I ask as the elevator starts moving upwards, and I see her hand clenching on to the railing.

"Yeah," she mumbles. The way she stands there, with that tense grip on the railing tells me she's not. She loses balance for a second.

"Dizzy?"

"Mhmm."

I take a step closer towards her. "Wanna sit down?"

She just shakes her head, her gaze focused on the floor. This isn't going well.

Instinctively, I wrap my arm around the small of her waist. I don't look at her as I do, trying to keep distance in any way possible. Her body tenses up, but she lets me.

As we arrive on her floor, Alicia leans against the wall as I search for her keys. I open up the door and turn back towards her, ready to offer her my arm again. But she mutters, "I'm fine," and heads in.

I watch her make her way into the kitchen, and it doesn't take long before she loses her balance again. She grabs the counter for support. For a moment, I stand there in the hallway and watch her barely hold herself together. Am I supposed to leave? I'm not going to turn around and leave now. She might as well pass out.

"You should lay down."

I walk over to her. "Come on," I order her decisively as I wrap my arm around her waist again. This time, she leans against me much more willingly. I'm not sure for what reason. Pure pain and exhaustion, most likely.

I desperately try to ignore the fact that I'm in her apartment. Or that I'm heading towards her bedroom. I try to shut all those thoughts out. I lead her to her bed and hold her as she sits down.

Immediately, she sinks down in the pillows.

"God, it hurts," she groans as she turns on her side, her eyes already closed again.

"I'll be right back," I say and walk back to the kitchen.

Thursday, 11:41 PM

I'm in her apartment.

It only hits me now, standing in her kitchen. I'm in Alicia's apartment. Alicia's kitchen. I wasn't planning to set foot in here ever again.

Nothing changed, I think to myself as I look around. Reluctantly, I open one of the cabinets to get Alicia a glass of water. I know what cabinet to choose. It's the same as where she kept the wine glasses.

I open up the tap and stare at the water filling up the glass. This night turned out differently than expected. And that's an understatement.

I walk back to her bedroom. "Here," I say as I put the glass down next to her. She doesn't respond. Is she asleep?

"Alicia?" I ask quietly. No response. Her heavy breathing tells me she did fall asleep.

I stand there, unsure of what to do with this situation. I look at her. Despite the bruising, she looks oddly peaceful, curled up in her own bed like that. Then, I realize I'm watching her sleep. I shouldn't be doing that. Instead, I turn around and turn off the light on my way out.

I can't leave, I realize as I'm back in her living room. She needs to be woken up every two hours. I glance at my watch. That would be 01:30. I could wait till then. Give her at least two hours sleep. And then what?

I don't know anymore.

I get back to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. I sit down on one of the bar stools and look around the kitchen. There's a half full wine bottle standing on the kitchen counter, as usual. I smile as I remember one night here. She was about to pour in two glasses of wine, but I stopped her from doing so and lifted her up on one of the counters to kiss her. She giggled, wrapped her legs around me, and I carried her to the bedroom. We never went back for the wine.

I break away from that thought and get up from the stool. I don't want my mind to go there. It pisses me off. I don't want to think about any of that. About what we did, or how we were. It doesn't matter anymore. We're over and done. That thought used to hurt, but that hurt has been replaced by anger. Slowly, that's changing into indifference. I really want to stop caring about her, to forget all of it and be unaffected by her presence. Being here is not helping, but I'll get there.

I get my laptop and sit down at the dinner table. I try to move as little stuff as possible, but as I move away a pile of papers, my eye falls on a letter with an all too familiar logo that I would recognize anywhere. One quick glance at the letter tells me it's addressed to Zach. Smart kid. I briefly smile at the though. Then, I realize how intrusive this is. I shouldn't be going through her mail. I decisively put the pile of papers on the other side of the table and open up my laptop.

Friday, 01:22 AM

As expected, the knocking didn't work. I'm back in her bedroom. The door opening allows just enough light for me to see her silhouette.

"Alicia?" I try with a whisper. No luck. "Alicia, are you awake?"

The fact that she's not responding makes me nervous. It takes me back to the parking garage. She's still just as pale as she was when I found her.

I sit down on the end of the bed. "Alicia?" I try again. "It's Will." I gently squeeze her arm. "You need to wake up for me." Another squeeze.

Then, her eyes flutter open and grow big at the sight of me. Her body tenses up. "What are you doing?" She sounds stressed and confused.

"Calm down, it's okay," I whisper, relieved she's responding. "Go back to sleep."

The moment of panic seems to pass as her body relaxes again. "You should go," she whispers, but as she does, she already falls back to sleep.

Friday, 03:30 AM

I can't. I'm too tired. I blink against the brightness of my laptop screen as I thoughtlessly scroll through my e-mails. I haven't even done anything useful in the past two hours. I've just been staring and keeping myself awake. I break my gaze away from my laptop and head back to her bedroom.

I do the same as I did before, sit down on her bed, whisper her name, and gently squeeze her arm. She moans a little, but stays asleep.

I know, I need to wake her up. That's the purpose of being here after all, but right in that moment I find it hard to do so. Maybe it's because I'm so incredibly tired myself, but the sight of her sleeping brings back thoughts and feelings that I haven't had in a long time.

I haven't felt anything in the past months. I was numb. I still am. But the events of tonight had been so hectic and unexpected; I am affected by it in some way.

I watch her for a second. If I didn't know better, and if it wasn't for the bruises, this could be us two years ago. I loved watching her sleep; it could keep me up for hours. I always hoped to be the first one up in the morning. I loved it when that happened.

I sigh and rub my eyes. I shouldn't be doing this. And this is not two years ago. This is now. And a lot has happened in between that time. Too much. And I blame her for it.

I gently rub her arm again. Her eyes flutter open.

"You okay?"

She mumbles "mhmm" but doesn't open her eyes.

I guess, a response is enough. "Okay, good," I whisper. Once more, I walk back into her apartment.

My eye falls on the couch. Oh, I could just lie down, for an hour. Just get a little bit of sleep.

No. I don't want to do that. I should just pull through. So, I sit back down behind my laptop. But my eyes just simply don't allow me to do any more working or browsing. I hold my head in my hands and rub my eyes once more.

My thoughts wander off to Alicia once again. This time to that afternoon when she walked into my office and simply dropped the bomb. Out of nowhere. I hated myself for not seeing it coming. How could I not? Looking back, it was all too obvious.

And now I'm her apartment. For what exactly? I sigh and allow my self to close my eyes for just one brief second.

I'm so tired.

I need this. Just one second.

But I don't manage to open my eyes again, and I slowly lose control over my fatigue.

Thank you for reading!

And thank you for all your support and kind reviews, I'm overwhelmed! Hopefully I live up to your expectations.

Preview for next chapter: Flashback time. Will has an interesting lunch.