Gavroche and Abby walked through the park a few weeks later when suddenly they heard a lot of shouting in the streets. "What's that?" Abby asked him, he shrugged "They must be rioting again. They've been doing that lately" he replied. They stopped at the edge of the park and looked out into the street at the group of people that were yelling.
"Let's go get a better look!" Abby said, Gavroche grabbed her arm "Wait! Not in the street, I have a better idea! Come on!" he called. They ran along the side of the park until they reached a tree that was fairly close to the rioting. Gavroche pulled himself up onto a low branch then grabbed Abby's hand and pulled her up.
They climbed up as high as they could before stopping and watching the riot from the safety of the branches. Gavroche was a few branches above Abby "What do you think they're rioting about?" he asked her. She clung to the trunk of the tree as she sat perched on her branch like a little bird "I'm not sure, but I think I see the police coming to stop it" she told him.
Suddenly the shouts rose up and someone fired a gun. Abby shrank down against her branch "Suddenly I don't feel too safe up here" she admitted. Gavroche looked down at her "Why not? We're nowhere near them!" he told her. She blinked "Yes, but they're firing guns now, maybe not at each other, but into the air. What if they shoot into this tree not realizing we're here?" she asked.
More shots were fired and Gavroche leapt down a few branches after a shot whizzed past him. The crowd was beginning to break but a few men were beginning to get rowdy. Suddenly another shot was fired, then another, and suddenly Abby let out a yelp and was knocked off her branch, crashing down and hitting the ground hard.
He ducked and climbed down the tree "Abby?" he asked. She moaned, clutching her stomach and breathing heavily "Gavroche, they hit me. I..." she was cut off by a wave of pain "told you so!" she finished. She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned again "Gavroche, you gotta, find Joly!" she gasped.
The boy shook his head "But I can't leave you all alone!" he told her. She took some shaky breaths before standing up "The cafe's on the opposite side of the park!" she cried out "I won't make it!". Gavroche gasped at the sight of the blood soaking her dress "Well then hurry!" he told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her along.
Continually they had to stop because Abby was having trouble breathing. Her breaths came short and blood was now trickling down her forehead from when she'd hit her head falling out of the tree. Finally the cafe was in sight but she fell and shook her head "Gavroche" she said in a choked voice "I can't go anymore".
Gavroche began trying to pull her "Come on! We're almost there!" he told her. She shook her head "Go without me then" she said quietly, growing exhausted. He stood and ran as fast as he could, nearly getting hit by a cab as he darted across the street and into the cafe "JOLY!" he cried.
The student looked up from a book he'd been reading "Joly Joly you gotta come quick!" he said, pulling on Joly's waistcoat. He looked amused for a moment and pushed him away "What's the matter Gavroche?" he asked. Gavroche was now in a panic "Joly! Me and Abby were climbing a tree cause there was a riot and someone shot into the air and hit her by accident!" he said quickly.
Joly's amusement vanished at once and he stood "Where is she now?" he asked, and Gavroche began pulling him again "Across the street in the park! You gotta hurry up!" he told him. Grantaire, who'd been sitting at the bar trying to decide whether he should get drunk now or later, stood up as well "I'm coming too!" he stated, following them as they ran out of the cafe.
Gavroche sprinted ahead of the two men and went to where he'd left Abby. He shook her "Abby? Abby you still alive?" he asked. She nodded weakly "Did you find him?" she asked faintly. Before Gavroche could answer Joly was at her side "Abby?" he asked. She looked up at him "Joly you gotta do something!" she nearly begged him. He nodded and stroked her hair back away from her face "I will" he assured her.
He stood and Grantaire picked her up, cradling her "Where's Enjolras?" he asked as they began heading back towards the cafe. Joly looked at Gavroche and called him, the boy was at his side in an instant "Go find Enjolras, tell him he'd needed right now at the cafe, but don't tell him what happened. Understand?" he asked. The boy nodded and ran off and Joly and Grantaire went to the cafe.
When they entered Joly told Grantaire to lie her on the table in the back room while he went to get his medical bag. Grantaire nodded and carried her, lying her down gently. She blinked and looked up at him "Nanny?" she asked, he swallowed uneasily "Yes lassie?" he asked gently taking her hand. She squeezed her eyes shut again "Go get yourself a couple drinks, your look too nervous" she told him.
He shook his head "Let me wait until Joly gets back so your not all alone, then I'll go have a few drinks. Alright?" he asked. She nodded "What's gonna happen?" she asked him, he shrugged "I don't know lass, but you'll be alright don't you worry" he assured her. She smiled "It's a good thing I'm not having a baby right? Then we could be in trouble" she joked with him, Joly still hadn't passed that exam yet, even though he'd retaken it twice.
Finally Joly came in and Grantaire kissed Abby's hand before going back into the cafe to drink like she'd asked him to. Abby watched Joly nervously "What are you gonna do?" she asked him weakly. He picked up a cloth and put something on it "Save your life, hopefully" he replied.
"Is it gonna hurt?" she whimpered, not that she could be in must more pain than she already was, he shook his head and approached her "No. But I'm gonna have to put you to sleep for a little while. Alright? We'll be right here when you wake up" he told her "I promise".
She nodded nervously "Joly, if I don't wake up, you'll tell Enjolras and the others I loved them right?" she asked. Joly nodded before pressing the cloth under her nose and mouth, she breathed it in and she was knocked out quickly. Joly then smoothed back her hair "I won't need to tell them" he said quietly "They'll already know".
Meanwhile Enjolras, Marius, and Combeferre were walking to the cafe after class when Gavroche ran up to him "Enjolras! Joly needs you at the cafe right now!" he said, panting. "Why?" Marius asked, raising an eyebrow "Does he have another 'cold'?". Combeferre shook his head "No, he probably tried to help some poor girl in labor and killed the child" he joked.
Enjolras shook his head at his friends jeers and looked at Gavroche "What IS the matter that Joly needs us so urgently?" he asked. Gavroche shrugged "He wouldn't tell me, he just said for you to hurry!" he lied. Enjolras patted his head "Well we were just heading to the cafe anyway" he told him.
They walked, Gavroche nervously jumping at every little noise "What's the matter Gavroche? Being followed by a ghost?" Marius asked him, Gavroche shook his head "No, I just got caught up in that riot that was in the streets earlier. Made me a little jumpy" he told them. Combeferre looked at him "Oh yes, I heard about that. Are you alright, I heard some shots go off when we were walking out of class" he said. Gavroche nodded "Oh yes, I'M fine" he said.
When they walked in Grantaire was talking quietly to Prouvaire "Jehan!" Marius said, walking over to him. He noticed that Grantaire was looking a bit upset "What's the matter Grantaire?" he asked. Combeferre went over to the drunk, followed by Enjolras "Are you crying winecask?" Enjolras asked him.
The drunk sniffled and nodded "Enjolras, something real bad happened" he sobbed. Courfeyrac and Lesgles walked in, joining the group quietly and listening as Grantaire sobbed "What happened?" Combeferre asked him gently, patting the drunks back and trying to calm him. Before he could speak Courfeyrac gasped "Grantaire! Why is there blood all over your shirt?".
Grantaire sobbed louder "It's w... wine" he lied, his voice trembling. Prouvaire shook his head "You're lying, don't lie to us Grantaire. What's going on?" he asked. Suddenly Marius looked around "Hey, where's Joly? Didn't he say he needed Enjolras here right away? Well where is he?" he asked.
Suddenly Feuilly walked into the cafe and looked around "Where's Abby?" he asked. Grantaire sobs caught in his throat and he looked down. "Winecask? Where are Joly and Abby?" Enjolras asked. Before the drunk could answer Joly stepped out of the back room "Enjolras?" he asked.
All the students looked up and stared at him "What's going on Joly?" Enjolras demanded. Everyone was fully focused on the medical student, except for Courfeyrac, who was gently trying to calm Grantaire down by offering him more to drink. Joly swallowed and looked down "Enjolras, Abby was shot during the riot on the street earlier".
The room went completely silent as the words soaked into everyone's minds "Shot?" Marius repeated, as if trying to fully understand the meaning of the word. Enjolras swallowed "Is she..." Joly cut him off "I just removed the bullet and bandaged her the best I can. I won't know for sure until she wakes up. Even then, if infection sets in or she pulls the stitches..." he explained.
Finally Enjolras walked up to Joly "Might I see her?" he asked. Joly nodded "I'll give you 10 minutes to yourself" he told him "I promised her that we'd all be here when she woke up, I intend to keep it". Enjolras entered the back room quietly and approached Abby.
Her face was pale and her breaths were slightly uneven. Her head and stomach were bandaged and Enjolras felt a little heartbroken that someone would shoot a 7 year old girl. He picked her up and sat in a chair in the corner, gently cradling her.
In his mind he wanted to scold her, wanted to say how foolish she was to be playing near a riot, and getting shot, but a part of him wondered if he said those things, would he regret them if she died? Somehow he knew the answer was yes. 10 minutes later the rest of the students all filed into the room.
Courfeyrac stayed with Grantaire and led him into a quiet corner of he room, talking soothingly to him, giving him some wine to drink, and trying to get the blood off his shirtfront. Combeferre, Marius, Feuilly, and Prouvaire were talking quietly to each other about something, while Lesgles and Joly asked Gavroche to give every detail about what had happened earlier.
After about 2 hours Gavroche had fallen asleep, and some of the students began to get restless. Enjolras was still holding Abby close, but Joly had given him a blanket to wrap her in. Joly kept checking Abby while Lesgles tried to help, but he wasn't going much. Prouvaire had begun falling asleep on the table, and Combeferre had to shove him off in order to wake him again.
Suddenly Abby moaned and the students all sprang up. Enjolras stroked her cheek "Abby?" he asked gently, her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him "'Jolras?" she asked weakly. He nodded "We're all right here" he told her "And everything's gonna be fine ok?" he asked.
She nodded "Where's everybody else?" she asked, Joly walked up "We're all right here just like I promised" he told her. She smiled at him "Thank you Joly" she said quietly. One by one the students began to approach her, telling her that she was going to be fine and saying how brave she was.
To each students she would merely nod, exhaustion evident on her young face, and tell them that she loved each one of them. After everyone had seen her, Joly told Enjolras to bring her home, and he did so at once. When they entered the flat Enjolras brought her to her room.
Before he could put her down though she spoke in a little voice "Enjolras? Could you just stay with me a little while? Please?". He sighed and held her gently "Abby you're going to live, hear me?" he asked her, she coughed and gasped in pain "'Jolras, it hurts a lot" she told him weakly "I know" he replied softly, kissing her forehead "It's going to hurt for a while".
He waited quietly until she fell asleep, which wasn't very long, and even cradled her a little while after that before changing her into a clean nightgown and putting her to bed. He kissed her forehead once more before leaving "I won't let this happen again" he told her as he stood in the doorway of her room "I've failed my promise once now, but I won't fail again".
Well that was the mushiest thing I think I've ever written. Wondering why? Well here are some answers
1. Abby will NOT be getting shot at the barricades, so, I had her get shot here in the building up to the time of the barricade. Spoiler alert! Enjolras will send her away when he sends away all the other 'Women and Fathers of Children'. But she comes back afterward
2. I'm in a mushy mood. My last day of school was yesterday (Well two days ago since it's past midnight now) and everybody was all sad and everything and the boy I like gave me the biggest hug ever and wrote the sweetest thing in my yearbook. So, my heart's all fuzzy from that
3. Come on, Abby/Enjolras love is SO CUTE!
So there you have it. School is officially done now, HOWEVER, on July 12th I'm leaving for Kentucky and may not be able to update. I will try in the hotel rooms, but I'll be very busy so, don't hope too much. That's a long ways away though, in the meantime, we will have LOTS of updates! Heck maybe I'll even finish this by then! We're on a good time thing right now!
As always, please REVIEW! Seriously, I don't even care if you just skimmed this, reviews modivate me to write. No reviews, no chapters (Unless I get some crazy idea that I just GOTTA write down). Thanks for Reading!