"What the fuck are you doing?" I can't stop the question leaving my mouth as a few more doctors appear from nowhere and support Eric's hulking figure.
"Avery! I didn't see you there, help us get him to room 4." Jen says quickly to me, but my feet are frozen as they attempt to drag Eric into the nearest ward. But a moment later I follow them in.
"Right, start an examination, immediately." Jen orders, and my mouth moves open and closed like a goldfish.
"Jen," I call her attention and she turns to me as the other doctors rush over him. "there better be an explanation for this."
"Of course there is, he never comes for any type of health check-ups, and never even comes here for injuries, ever. We're going through all the procedures while he's here willingly!" Jen says exasperated.
"Are you even allowed to use those drugs on a leader?" I ask her warily. I don't know what it is, I'm extremely on edge.
"We are with orders to." She says and grins. "Honestly, I thought I'd never see this day…"
The doctors have already taken a blood sample by the looks of it, and have started testing for blood pressure.
"Right, those blasted gunshot wounds…" Jen mutters to herself, but I can't help but butt in.
"They're both grazes, no bullet fragments either, he'll need stitches. One on his upper arm and one on his abdomen." I say, and she looks back to me.
"You were there?" She asks, and I go through possible lies to cover up my involvement.
"I was with Axel when he convinced Eric to receive help." I say vaguely.
"Well, Axel seems to have actually paid attention in the last first aid talk, this is extremely thorough." She murmurs examining his wounds. "Do you know what Axel did to him?"
Looks like she easily bought it. "Cleaned them, disinfected them and bandaged them, kept him hydrated, and gave him… I think it was around 5 of those blue painkillers." It must have been around five if Eric was that high…
"Five? What was he thinking, these aren't even bad gunshot wounds!" Jen shrieks, before carrying on with the ever-busying doctors. They stitch his wounds up, seemingly unknowing of my presence in the corner of the room while they work.
"Phew… all done for the next year hopefully." Jen tells the other doctors and they all seem very relieved. "…Avery, I completely forgot you were here. He'll be out for another couple of hours, and we've been given clearance to handcuff him to the bed if he tries to leave before his wounds heal… which will be a good two weeks of misery for me…"
I keep my face as straight as I can. "I think I'll stay until he wakes, he wanted to talk to be but I don't think he anticipated being incapacitated." I tell her, and she nods and leaves, while I sit down by his bed side. A few of the doctors linger, but it doesn't take long for them to leave.
My mind is blank as I lightly pull the light white sheets over Eric's body, his brow slightly tense. He'll be here for two weeks… that's even longer than how long he was on patrol for. He's not going to be happy either, I don't know who "ordered" Jen to drug him them chain him to the bed, but he won't like them.
Plus, that means the "evening" I promised him, if he even remembers, won't be available for a while.
The time passes easily as I slip into a light rest myself, and his shifting brings my attention.
"…argh… what the fuck?!" He curses violently as his body moves, his eyes still barely open. My hands land simply on his forearm and shoulder, with a light pressure to keep him from sitting up.
"I couldn't do anything Eric." I say immediately, in order to deflect any instinctual blaming. His eyes glare open, as he glances around, and my heart skips a beat as they soften as they meet mine.
"What the fuck happened Avery?" He seems to use my name without realising, and I try to not let it deter my speech.
"Jen received permission to drug you before going through the procedures on you." I say quietly, and though he says nothing, I can see his thoughts are thunderous as his hands curl into tight fights and his jaw twitches.
"I'm sorry, I wouldn't have asked you to come if I'd known they'd do this." I tell him honestly, and though he continues his silence for a moment, the hand connected to the arm I was holding turned to hold my arm in turn.
"What else did they do?" He snarls, but his demeaner contrasts from his actions to me as his thumb starts stroking my skin.
"The put stitches on your wounds, and took blood tests and such to monitor any other health issues." I say, knowing lies would get me nowhere right now. "…Jen also got permission to keep you here till your wounds heal."
His grip clenches slightly, but continues nonetheless.
"Which is for how long exactly?" His words are tight, laced with fury.
"Two weeks." I reply softly, returning his gesture as I let my hands stroke up him arms. He growls, but other than that stays silent and I wonder what he's thinking. I thought he'd be much angrier than this. As in so much more that he'd storm out before Jen could get a handcuff anywhere near him.
After a comfortable silence, he starts to get up but I stand and smooth his shoulders back down to the bed. As I do it I meet his eyes however, and a blush overtakes my cheeks and I bite my lips nervously. What has gotten into me?
His hands keep me in position as my eyes dart around his head, never looking at him, before my peripherals notice his staring and my face lights up even more as my jumper hangs extremely low down my cleavage. I pull back but he doesn't let me get far so I settle for sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands resting on my forearm and thigh.
"I should get Jen, she'll want to know you're awake." And calmed… well as calmed as he'll ever be.
He doesn't say anything, but I can feel his resistance as his hands claw at my arm and leg as I stand to leave.
"He's awake." I say straightly and Jen's eyebrows rise.
"Really? I thought he would've been louder…" She says to herself, but as soon as she opens the door ahead of me…
"What the fuck were you thinking you bitch, I have half the mind to shoot you in the arm and stomach!" His shout is almost a roar and Jen's head tilts backwards at its force.
"Of course, Eric, I was following orders." She says simply and his eyes merely darken. He sat up, I thought I told him not to. I guess he can't really yell standing up.
"Who's order's? Funnily enough I really don't feel like staying in this goddamned place for two weeks!" His voice is quieter, but possibly more enraged.
"I thought you'd know, Axel put the order through before the patrol got back." Jen says and my eyes widen. She's got to be kidding! That bastard he had me roped in from the beginning!
"That arsehole…" While I quietly plot his death, Eric sees no reason to hide it.
"That son of a bitch! Well, I need to leave to gut a friend of mine." He pulls the covers off him but as he moves he can't hide the slight tension in his jaw from me, and I move forward to stop him standing.
"Eric." I say smoothly, not wanting to say anything more with Jen watching, and he growls at me but stays put.
"If you want to kill him he'll be coming by tomorrow morning anyway, and you have to at least stay tonight because of the overdose of pain meds he gave you. We can't let you out whilst going through the withdrawal, he gave you over thrice the recommended amount!" Jen snaps.
…I guess he really was quite out of it… and he is Eric so getting him of all people that out of it would have taken a lot of pain meds…
He grunts irritated, with a brief glance at me as I force myself not to remember his previous state.
"Anyway, your stitches are all good, but we'll need to double check for bullet fragments unless you want metal fragments inside of you till you die, and we're monitoring all your stats since you haven't been here for two years…" Jen trails off and leaves before he can retort, and he merely looks to the floor wistfully.
"Will you lie back again? I don't want you hurting yourself more…" I ask of him softly and he looks up to meet my eye before lying back as I pull the covers back over him. "It's almost ten, you should get some sleep and catch up on the lack of it you usually get." I implore him and he rolls his eyes.
"Look who's talking you need more sleep than anyone." He retorts but maybe its not just me noticing a slight worried tone of his own. I've never admitted my insomnia to anyone, but I'm pretty sure he must've realised by now.
"I'm much too used to it for it to matter." I say as a throwaway comment, but his eyes sharpen.
"Go and sleep, you've stayed here long enough." He tells me, and though I nod as I turn to leave my arm trails behind against his form on the bed.
"Avery." I turn instantly as he looks at me slightly hesitant from the bed. "You know the passcode." It takes me a moment to realise he's referring to his apartment, but does he want me to use it? I didn't think he would want me in his apartment while I'm waiting for him to do whatever he says he will. "Kasper's coming back tomorrow."
Ah. I share a look with Eric as I realise Kasper could be a multitude of feelings when he returns, and a prominent one is vengeful. He's offering me a safe place instead of the dorms.
"Will he be joining training straight away?" I ask, my voice short, not giving anything away.
"He'll be back in the evening, training the day after." He says, and his eyes are dark as he stares me down. My heart is stuck in my throat as the intensity of his gaze never relinquishes. "Stay away from him. Under no circumstances be in a situation like last, he won't hold back this time. His reports have said nothing good in terms of his attitude. Don't rest on that lone bunk of yours anymore, make sure at least Axel always knows where you are, though your preference should be to-" He cuts of for a second and my eyes are wide as I observe him. "…come here."
I barely here the words, and I'm sure he was indeed half hoping I wouldn't hear them. My cheeks warm, but flush even more so as he looks away at the floor hiding most of his face from my view. He's embarrassed. Eric's embarrassed. Something inside me flutters over and over in circles, and my only instinct is to save him from it.
"I'll be sure to make up this evening to you, I'll keep my side to the promise." I say, changing the subject yet trying to prolong our conversation for as long as possible.
He smirks at me, seemingly over his momentary distraction, and I wait for him to reply. "Since I have to stay here 2 weeks, surely you owe me 2 weeks' worth of evenings?"
I scoff slightly and roll my eyes at him not answering, but as I turn to leave a small smile grows on my lips. I won't say no to that.
The next morning I'm silent as Lily and I start our run, leaving myself the peace of mind from yesterday's antics and what could be to come with Kasper's return. I'm grateful Lily seems to realise it as I run with my eyes closed peacefully as I run at her pace rather than mine, before we stop early to start training.
"Okay, today we're working on agility again, which I've decided is going to be your main strategy." I tell her and she nods. "I'll be hitting you and you'll have to dodge, as before, but whilst that's happening I'll be reciting to you the best places for you to attack. Though your arms have strengthened up, it still won't be enough against men like Four, Axel or Eric- so you have to attack wisely."
"Okay then. Let's start." She says and I smile before aiming a medium paced punch to her shoulder which she manages to dodge quite smoothly. It's been a few days, and though she hasn't improved greatly, her improvement is like her running; smoothly paced and gradual. But that's fine. I can work with that. It's not so slow I haven't noticed any improvement, I've increase the speed of my punches ever so slightly since yesterday, and whilst she couldn't block them when I first saw her two days ago, she's managing them now.
"Underarms. Under the jaw. Noses, hurt like fuck. Balls." I list.
"As demonstrated by you." She adds with a grin. "Man, seeing Eric's face kicked in the balls." She laughs almost hysterically.
I smirk to myself. Funny how he was happy I'd fought back when that happened.
"Boobs, they also hurt like hell." I say and she looks slightly horrified. "Spine, though if it's a friendly fight I'd stay away from them. Ulnar nerve in the elbow, it's especially exposed."
We carry on, and I start repeating the best targets so she can remember the best ones, and hopefully she'll find ones that favour her. I don't tell her, but it's quite easy to figure out I favour the spine and neck. Though I told her it's best to stay away from in a friendly match, somehow, I've gained a sensitivity to how hard I hit or press which means I'm quite good at controlling whether to just make them gasp for breath in extreme pain, pass out, or actually do bruising damage like on Kasper, or potentially break their neck, which though I've never done, I'm pretty certain where the boundary between it is.
"We should head to breakfast now, you're not going to have enough energy to continue at this rate." I say as she's getting sloppy.
"Okay."
"Remember Jay's filling your plate, I didn't make sure yesterday." I say and she makes a guilty face. There's a few moments of silence, before I open my mouth again.
"Sleep in the bunk above Jay's from now on." I tell her, and she looks at me confused.
"Why, I'm close enough to you aren't I? Is there a reason?" She asks, utterly bewildered.
"You know very well I'm not in my bunk most of the time Lily." I say shortly and she looks at me slightly sceptical.
"Yeah… well I did see your bunk empty a few nights, but I thought it was just those nights, you never seem any more tired than usual." I smile wryly at her, boy does she know. "I still don't see why I should move to above Jay though."
I stare her dead in the eye.
"Kasper's coming back today. That's what I was called away for yesterday at dinner." Half-truth really. She looks at me with the same expression, frozen.
"I'd be fine with you where you are as I'd notice anyone near since I sleep light-" Lie. "-but I'm not there nearly enough to watch your back. Jay's the only other one we know can hold Kasper off, and he's the only one I'd trust, plus Ben sleeps next to him so they'll both be there."
"What about you? You're always somewhere else on your own. We were saying yesterday… do you go drinking when you're not in your bunk? Because what if Kasper finds you when your drunk, you won't be able to fight back as well and you're in way more danger than me!"
"That's the other reason- I won't be sleeping in the dorm more often than not now. Axel will be keeping an eye on me, and I'll be sleeping elsewhere, random places in the compound to avoid him finding me. Anywhere but the dorms is best for me, especially since I know my way around." I make up the lie quickly, since I know Eric is just going to continue pushing me to stay in his apartment, which to be honest I'm not against at all. "Come on, let's go to breakfast."
We stay in silence until we get to the Pit where we meet up with the others.
"So, do you really go drinking at night? Why don't you sleep?" Lily asks, back to her normal self.
"Wait you asked her? Lily you shouldn't have-" Ben starts slightly awkwardly but I chuckle.
"What you think I'm secretly an alcoholic? I guess I do sometimes, but I never get drunk, just a little night cap if I can't sleep." When I can't sleep. "Honestly, I couldn't bring you along even if I wanted to- you'd all be gone before I take a second sip."
"What, hey I'm not that bad!"
"Excuse me I drank more than you last time-"
"That's a bit of an exaggeration!"
"I'll drink more than you next time!"
I merely smirk with a chuckle as we go to sit down for breakfast, and let the training day commence.
It's knives today and I almost curse at myself for getting so sloppy at remembering our timetable. I'm glad though, knife throwing is where I have to hide the least. So, I secretly move myself to different angles from my target at the end of the line, and people don't really take notice of me, too concentrated in their own work. Beside me, Jay frowns.
"How the hell are you so accurate at this? It's like I have a circle of where it may hit, like a metre wide!" He whisper shouts to me pleadingly.
"You're aiming with your eyes, aim with your body. It's the angle of your shoulders and arms that really make the details." I tell him, and watch him as he completes another step, and chuckle to myself.
"Now you're aware of it, you're not consistent at all. Try hitting in a row, you need almost the exact same angles each time." I say, before turning to my own target, and through six knives, each lining up next to each other perfectly without so much as a millimetre in between. Wow, that set was really good actually. God I love knife throwing.
"Argh, honestly!" Jay grumbles, still frustrated and I give him a grin before carrying on drilling. It gives me time to think, and I realise I should probably confide in Jay about Kasper returning.
"Jay?" I call his name and he makes a sound of acknowledgment. "Lily's going to move into the bunk above yours, be nice will you."
"What do you mean? Did you two fall out again?" He asks and I shake my head, speaking in hushed tones.
"No, but she needs to be safe when she's sleeping now the erudite team have finished." I say, hoping he'll get my meaning without having to cause a scene. His eyes move to mine surprised, but he understands.
"Is being near you not enough?" He asks quietly, and I give him another look.
"I won't be around much, I've been told to avoid him, and you know I'm barely ever at the dorms anyway, nowhere near enough to keep her safe. I know Kasper won't dare to attack her again with both you and Ben around, no way he'd be able to do it without either of you waking up." I explain to him and he nods slowly.
"When you say avoid him… what exactly are you going to do, drink your way through every night?" He asks, concern in his voice and I chuckle.
"You know me Jay, if you guys can't figure out where I am than Kasper definitely won't." I say elusively, and I can tell he's slightly put out by my vague answer. "I'll be spending most of my time in the back hallways, you know, the ones that have no use. No one goes there, and I can sleep quite peacefully."
I give a reassuring smile, plastered over my blatant lie.
"We still won't be able to find you if something happens." He says pointedly and I grin at him.
"If something happens, I'll be the first to know." He shakes his head at me before grinning, and throwing his last knife onto my target in the heart.
"Yes! Did you see that, it was perfect!" He says hands in the air.
"Yes, it was also extremely sloppy and therefore pure luck." I say dryly to myself but he pretends not to hear, and his infectious grin climbs onto my face as well.
Next chapter! This time I focussed on introducing some humanity to Eric's character, and trying to show more of his incline towards Avery, and I know I say this every time but God I fall for him harder every time I write! To come in the next chapter, Kasper's return and some Axel in there to further develop Eric and Avery's relationship (well that's the plan), and I don't know whether Eric will be out of hospital yet, but he'll still be in it a fair amount! Anyway, I'd really appreciate some reviews, it really motivates me to write more often, but I hope everyone has enjoyed this chapter regardless !