"Promise Me" by Badflower

CONNOR'S POINT OF VIEW

I glanced in the rearview mirror, noticing that Cecilia was slowly falling asleep. "Murph," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. Murphy looked about ready to fall apart any second.

"Cec, hey, come on, wake up for me," Murphy said gently. There was no reply. Murphy pulled his hand away from her side. It was covered in blood.

"She needs a hospital." We're about ten minutes away from one of them. I started driving a little faster, trying to shorten that amount of time. Romeo was quietly watching Murphy try to talk to Cecilia to keep her somewhat coherent. Goddammit, Cec.

A car honked aggressively as I cut them off. Normally I would have had some kind of comeback filled with flourish and exaggerated gestures but there didn't feel like there was any kind of time for that at all right now.

Thankfully we got to the hospital without issue. I went through the emergency lane, skidding to a stop. Romeo was out of the car and opening the door for Murphy before I could even say anything.

Murphy rushed into the hospital where a nurse immediately started yelling for help. He glanced back, nodding at me.

"We have to leave, Romeo," I said. He nodded, getting back into the car with me. We got back to the apartment without issue. God was looking out for us today. We stashed the guns, washed up, grabbed some extra clothes for Murphy and Cecilia, and headed back to the hospital. It felt like the longest thirty minutes of my life.

"Is she going to be okay?" Romeo asked. This was the most worried I had ever seen him. And I've seen him go into gunfights without any concern for his safety.

"She has to be," I answered. I didn't want to think of the alternative. Murphy was in the waiting room when we got there. He was still covered in blood. "Have you heard anything?"

Murphy shook his head. He was pale and his jaw was clenched. There was a darkness in his eyes I had only seen a few times. It usually means he's about to do something foolish. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Go wash up and change."

"They might come say something while I'm in there," Murphy shook his head. "I have to be here."

"It won't change anything if you are." He glared at me but didn't disagree as he took the bag and went to change in the bathroom. When he came back, nothing had changed.

After about an hour of waiting, a nurse finally came over. "You're with Cecilia McCarthy?" she asked Murphy before glancing at the rest of us.

"I'm her fiance," Murphy answered. "My brother, our friend."

"Okay," she noted that. "She's in surgery now. It looks like the bullet nicked her liver but she'll be okay. What was the cause of the gunshot?"

"Someone tried to mug her. We got in a fight and she stormed off and," he glared at his feet. Good, he's still thinking that far ahead at least.

"Should I call the police to file a report?"

His gaze flew up to her. And there's the irrational anger. "What the fuck good will that do? I don't fucking know the guy. He wanted her ring and she wouldn't hand it over. It was a stupid fucking fight and-"

"Perhaps we should save this for later, aye?" I asked, trying my best to be charming. The nurse's eyes softened.

"Of course. I'll let you know when she's out of surgery."

Murphy looked back down at the ground, his arms crossed, and started nervously bouncing his leg up and down. We were going to be here awhile. I leaned back in the chair, putting an arm behind Murphy. At least it sounds like she's going to be okay. I wouldn't know what to do with him if she wasn't. He would never forgive himself. Or me. Or God. Or the world, for that matter.

We were at the hospital for four more hours before the nurse came back over to speak to us. Romeo had fallen asleep on one of the couches while I laid down on a few of the chairs beside Murphy, who hadn't moved at all. He just sat there tapping his leg, glaring at the floor or anything that dared to come near him. (And every single doctor or nurse that didn't come over to tell him anything about Cec.)

"She's out of surgery and she's awake now," the nurse smiled kindly. "She agreed not to press charges either. And had almost the exact same statement you did." The nurse smirked a bit, obviously entertained by our resident hotheaded couple. "Did you bring her a change of clothes? Her old clothes are destroyed. We might have some things-"

"We grabbed some," Romeo said, holding up a bag. Murphy looked surprised and grateful. I clapped him on the back.

"Can we see her?" I asked.

"I'm only supposed to let one of you back there," she glanced over her shoulder. "But we aren't busy and you all did just wait six hours out here. So I'll let you all back to see her."

She walked us back to Cecilia's room. She was sitting up in bed drinking some water when we walked in. Her soft brown eyes became stern as she looked at us.

"Don't any of you dare fucking say 'I-told-you-so,'" she ordered. I saw Murphy relax as he laughed, going over to kiss her on the side of the head and keeping his head resting against hers for a few seconds.

"I'll leave you to it then," the nurse laughed.

"I have just one question," I interrupted. Cecilia and Murphy both turned to face me. "How the fuck did you know what to tell them?"

The redhead grinned, shrugged, and winced from the pain of shrugging. "I just tried to think of what Murphy would've said."

"Funny, I tried to think of what you would've said," Murphy raised his eyebrows. Her grin got bigger.

"Yeah, I know. So I just told them what I would've said." Her nose crinkled as she laughed while Murphy looked torn between being proud and annoyed.

"You're both fucking nuts," I laughed.

Romeo went over, kissed Cecilia's head, and then gave her the bag of clothes.

"They said I should be able to go home in like an hour," she said thankfully.

She was right. In an hour, the nurse came back with her discharge papers, a wheelchair, and said she'd wait outside while Cecilia got changed. Romeo and I waited outside while Murphy helped her out of the hospital gown and into the clothes we had grabbed.

We heard a commotion inside as Cecilia tried to fight the wheelchair. The nurse glanced at me to see if she should be concerned. I waved her off with a smile, listening to the lovebirds bickering. "They're just loud people," I explained. "Irish."

After a few minutes, Murphy opened the door and pushed Cecilia out in the wheelchair. She looked extremely displeased. Like a cat that had been thrown in a lake. Murphy smiled pleasantly, eyebrows raised to ask if we were leaving. We checked out at the front desk and got some pain medication for her for the next few days. (With the strict order of no drinking, repeated three times after noticing that we were Irish. Our reputations precede us.)

As soon as we were outside of the doors, Cecilia practically jumped up out of the chair. The nurse that had been looking after us laughed, took the chair back from Murphy and told us to have a good night. Before Cecilia was able to protest, Murphy scooped her up.

"I can walk!"

"You're injured," Murphy replied simply. He's going to enjoy teasing the shit out of her for the next few days. I lit a cigarette as we walked back to the car to drive back to the apartment.