Chapter 3
Evey sat by V's side for hours. He barely stirred, barely moved and never once did he woke up. But she wouldn't allow herself to get discouraged. He had lived longer than he had expected. So he had to make it, right?
Her stomach began to growl and she realized it had been hours since she had last eaten. But she couldn't leave.
"Not now," she told her stomach. She didn't want to leave the room and have V finally wake up. She wanted to be the first face he saw when he woke up.
So she continued her constant vigil at his side.
She jerked awake when she heard a noise.
"V?" She cried. Had he finally waken up? Had he called her name?
She jumped when someone knocked on the door.
"Miss Hammond," it was Inspector Finch. "Evey are you in there?" It's me, Eric."
Was it morning already? She had dozed off and slept most of the night. Had V woken up while she was sleeping?
No, she decided, there would be no more sleeping or dozing until V woke up.
She finally stood up and went to the door. But she was surprised, when she opened the door, to see that Eric was not alone. An older man was standing next to him.
He had gray hair that was slowly fading to white. His blue eyes were kind as he looked at her.
"Hello, Miss Hammond," he said. "I'm Dr. Langsley. My friend, Eric, here said a friend of yours was hurt pretty badly."
She nodded her head in shock. "Yes."
"If you would permit me, I would like to take a look at him."
"Of course," she said and stepped out of the way so both him and Eric could enter.
Eric stopped in front of her, his eyes searching hers for forgiveness. "I'm sorry, Evey, but he needed more help than I could have given him."
"I can assure you that you can trust me. I've been in hiding for seven years from the Chancellor. I've been itching to get out and help people again."
She smiled. "Then, by all means, help."
He smiled back at her. "And I shall." And he turned his attention to V.
"Thank you, Eric," she said.
"You're welcome," he smiled, one of his rare smiles.
"Tell me, Miss Hammond," Dr. Langsley said as he turned back to her, spectacles now perched on his nose. "What exactly happened to him?"
Both Eric and Dr. Langsley were looking at her, waiting.
"I-I don't really know," she stuttered. "I just know when he came back from the train he could barely walk and he was covered in bloodlike he had ben shot multiple times."
"Yes," said Eric. "When I examined him he had multiple bullet wounds, some with the bullets still in him."
The doctor lifted up V's shirt. Evey gasped when she saw the blood-soaked bandages.
"I must get to work immediately," he said and began removing the bandages.
Eric looked at Evey. "You may want to leave."
She nodded and quietly left the room.
"Doctor," Eric said."I must tell you something about this man before you uncover all his bandages."
The doctor never paused in his work.
"This man was badly burned in a fire, an explosion actually. His skin is not a very pleasant sight."
The doctor continued working and didn't stop until all the bandages were removed and V's chest and stomach were fully visible in all it's burns, scars, and bullet-riddled glory.
But the doctor didn't flinch. There was no flash of disgust or repulsion on his face. He was acting like he had seen this everyday.
He looked up at him. "Are you sure, Mr. Finch," he said. "This man was shot up only yesterday?"
"Yes. I stitched him up and everything. Why?"
The doctor motioned for him to come near the bed. "You may want to take a look at this."
"What?" He stepped toward the doctor and looked down at V. He took a step back in surprise.
"Bloody hell," he muttered.
The bullet wounds were almost completely healed. The stitches were ready to come out.
"What do you think happened, Langsley?"
"Well, I have a theory," Langsley turned to him and took his spectacles off. "You said he was experimented on at Larkhill."
"Yes, but..."
"Maybe one of these experiments gave him the ability to heal himself abnormally fast."
"But if that was the case, then how come he still has burn scars? Shouldn't those all be healed, too?"
Langsley placed his spectacles back on his face. "I was wondering the same thing. But look," he pointed around one of the bullet wounds. "The skin is perfect. And I have a feeling that once his wounds heal the skin will be perfect too."
"But, why now?"
"Maybe as the body healed thee wounds it somehow also began to heal the burns."
"That's interesting."
The doctor was lost in thought. "Yes, very intereting."
"So do you think he will be alright?"
"Why wouldn't he? His wounds are almost completely healed and his breathing has gone back to normal." He covered V back up. "It all depends now is when he wants to get up and face the rest of the world."
Evey was peering through the glass of V's jukebox(is that what's it called?) and flipped through the 872 songs that were in there. She smiled as she recognized some of them. She picked one and played it.
"Ohhh I do value you..."
Tears immediately came to her eyes when she remembered the song. This had been the song V had played the day she had left. She regretted that day. What if she had stayed until the day of his revoulution? Would he have changed his mind? Would he have picked her instead of revenge? And would he be fully alive right now, instead of on the verge of death?
So many questions reeled through her mind. She didn't even hear Eric call her name, and he was standing right beside her.
"Evey?"
She jumped at the sound of his voice.
"Sorry," said Eric. "I didn't mean to startle you." He peered at her closely. "Are you alright, Evey?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"You're crying."
"Oh," she quickly wiped the tears that were sliding down her cheeks. "I was just thinking about something. It usually brings to my eyes. It's quite all right."
"Was it about V?" she asked.
She looked up at him sharply. "How did you know?" Then she looked down. "He's all I've been thinking about lately."
"Do you...love him?"
She didn't look up. "That's a question I've been asking myself. I don't have an answer for myself yet. I don't know what I feel towards him."
