Hopefully the direction that this starts taking at the end doesn't creep you out too thoroughly...? It works out..eventually... I think?
In which things go back to normal…sort of
Relearning her lessons the second time around hurt almost as badly. Almost being the operative word. A week in bed had hit a reset button in her head, leaving Evangeline's hand a shaking mess when she leveled the barrel of the gun to take a shot. Sessions with the Repairman had her sprawled on the ground more often than not. Today was just another one of those days. The Repairman pulled back and struck hard across her jaw. The next thing Evangeline felt was the damp concrete beneath her body. A measured combination of saliva and blood dribbled from her open mouth as she struggled to inflate her lungs. Cross was perched at his usual spot by the door with his head poked between the iron railings of the stairway. "Comon, kid. You're not even trying. Get your head in the game."
The Repairman stood over her and cracked his knuckles. On his face was a look of utter disappointment. "Are you done for the day?" He spat the words out, punctuated by the rough strokes he took to unwind the bindings from his hands. A set of warm brown eyes peered up at him from beneath bruises, swollen tissue, and bangs. Evangeline had managed to pull herself up to a sitting position. Still panting and bleeding, she shook her head.
"Just give me a second." As she shakily pulled herself to her feet, Cross gave a low whistle.
"Stay focused, kid. Get up."
Evangeline pushed herself from the ground, gripping her side. Nope, she thought to herself. No organs falling out. Without warning, her right knee buckled beneath her weight and she stumbled.
"Comon kid, find your equilibrium." She righted herself once more, grimacing as she gingerly put her weight on both feet. Struggling to control her breathing, Evangeline felt the familiar pulsing around her field of vision. By now the sweat was washing down her body in little rivers, and she could feel her face heating. Evangeline clasped her eyes shut; she felt the air blow rapidly from her nose. Taking a final deep breath through her mouth, the girl lifted her chin to meet the eyes of the Repairman. One last push. Evangeline willed the adrenaline to flood down her body as she lunged forward to land a flurry of strikes on the Repairman's solid body. In her weakened state, she was easily disarmed as the Repairman's open hand clapped violently at her collar and pinned her once more to the ground.
A weak moan escaped Evangeline's lips as a pool of blood began spreading from a gash in her scalp. Dots and blurs swam in her eyes as the Repairman tilted her broken body off the ground.
"Hey, hey. No dying on me now." Cross appeared from the right, kneeling beside the small body.
"Fuck you, old man." Evangeline whispered hoarsely. A thick glob of blood slipped down her throat, sparking off a series of sputters and coughs.
Cross's brows furrowed. "To the Recovery Room." He gave the Repairman a hard look and whispered a quick, " I got her," before lifting the girl's limp body like a rag doll.
Hours later, Evangeline's eyelids flutter open. Immobilized from the neck down, she blinked several times to dislodge the hard wax. The cavernous ceilings of the Recovery Room were quickly becoming the most recognizable structure in Evangeline's visual vocabulary. Twisting her head a millimeter to the left, she noticed Cross, slumped against a brick and mortar pillar, legs crossed neatly in front of him. His chest rose and fell in the peaceful rhythm of a deep sleep, and his eyelids would flutter from time to time. Evangeline squinted in the darkness, wondering what he was dreaming of.
When her attempt to wake him with a pointed clearing of her throat proved futile, Evangeline settled comfortably in the hard casing of the healing wax. She had never noticed the strong line of Cross's jaw before, the way it would clench and unclench when he was thinking. Her eyes followed his broad forehead and the light wrinkles that ran across it. She continued her exploration down his nose, straight and thin to where it shadowed over his lips, softly parted to let a soft whistling of air pass with every breath. Evangeline was so concentrated on tracing the line of his lips that she didn't notice his eyes lazily opening, at least until his voice, still husky with sleep, reverberated in the hall.
"Take a picture, kid. It'll last longer." Evangeline's eyes darted up to meet his half-lidded baby blues. Unable to decide where to look, she continued to switch between those eyes and those lips, curled in amusement.
"I…"
"You…"
She blushed. "Can you just heat this thing up so I can get out of here?"
Tilting his head in a mock bow, Cross reached over and turned the dial. "As m'lady commands."
He was returned a sharp glare for his troubles.
Cross raised his hands in the air and straightened. "Don't worry. I'm out of here."
Evangeline watched his back retreating into the dark tunnels leading out of the Recovery Room, inexplicably wishing in her gut that he would have stayed. Little did she know, Cross's hands and jaw were clenched hard enough to break through metal.