Joly immediately rushes to her side, checking for a pulse. Enjolras knows he should make himself useful somehow, but he can do nothing but stand and stare. Eponine. Mere hours ago she was with them all at the café, as happy as one could be with a life such as hers. Now, she was dying before his very eyes in a pool of her own blood. Enjolras curses himself, he knew something was wrong, and yet he still did nothing. He would never be able to lead a revolution if he could not save even one girl. Except she isn't just one girl. She is Eponine. Enjolras grabs Gavroche, trying to turn the boy's eyes away from the sight. While he had no idea that the two were siblings, he could tell that Gavroche cared for Eponine very much. The pure terror in his eyes when he went back to the café said it all. Enjolras hands Gavroche off to Combeferre before kneeling down next to Joly and Eponine. "Is she, is she alive?" Enjolras could barely ask. He would never be able to live with himself if the answer is no.
Joly nodded, but still looked grim. "Yes, but if we cannot get her help immediately, she will not live much longer. It's too dark to see much, but it is obvious she has been stabbed. She's lost so much blood already..." Joly's voice trails off.
"What are we to do!" Marius turns to Enjolras, his face showing the shock that Enjolras feels. Unlike Enjolras, Marius has no problem showing his emotions.
"Joly, what will you need to do to save her?" Enjolras specifically made sure that he did not say try to save her. Eponine must live, she must. But looking at the unmoving girl at his feet, he could not be certain.
"I need to stop the bleeding. Immediately. My medical equipment is at my flat. In the mean time she needs to be somewhere safe. Is there any way she could stay at your and Grantaire's flat? I know it's not the most convenient, but it may be our only choice." Enjolras and Grantaire shared a flat, and Combeferre and Joly had a flat about two blocks further.
"Yes! Joly get your medical supplies! Immediately! I will take Eponine." Enjolras was in full commander mode by this point, and Joly did not even hesitate. "Marius, your jacket." Marius takes it off and places it in Enjolras' hand, who presses it against Eponine's wound in hope to staunch the flow of blood. In the moment, Enjolras has forgotten his own jacket. It seemed that his mistakes were endless tonight, at a moment were he could afford mistakes the least. He gently lifts Eponine off the ground and is shocked by how little she weighs. While it was fairly obvious to any eye that she is underfed, she was practically like lifting air. Combeferre grabs Gavroche, and they move as quickly as possible to Enjolras' flat. When they arrive, Enjolras swears he sees Eponine's hand twitch. "Grantaire! The key! Open the door!" The group crowds in and Enjolras places Eponine on his own bed. A few moments later, Joly returns, bag in hand.
"You should probably all exit the room now, this is going to be a long night." Joly is in full doctor mode now, completely focused.
"I must stay, you will be in need of assistance." Enjolras insists.
"I'm her best friend!" Marius protests.
Joly, knowing time is of the essence, does not argue with them. Combeferre and Grantaire take Gavroche out of the room. Enjolras cannot imagine the emotional trauma the young boy must be going through. He turns back to Eoonine. Joly removes her dress, the well worn fabric tearing easily. "Damn these corsets." Joly mumbles under his breath. He ends up cutting it, Eponine's life being his only priority. He wraps up her chest to protect her modesty. Enjolras hears Joly suck in a gasp. Enjolras stares in horror at the mass if bruises covering her. Her entire torso is covered in bruises, and Enjolras sees her arms are covered as well. He makes out a few distinguishable hand shaped bruises in her wrists. What sickens him the most are the awful bruises in her upper thighs. He did not want to even think about why those are there. Oddly enough, the only thing untouched is her face, except for a hand shaped mark on get cheek. Joly quickly twitches up the gash in her side from the stab wound.
Joly then moves on to inspecting for broken bones, shaking his head when he discovers many. She has several broken ribs, and four of her fingers on her left hand are broken. He wraps those up before finally letting out the breath he had been holding throughout the process.
"Is she going to be alright?" Marius asks, his eyes growing wider.
"Her life is in the hands of God now." Joly states simply. Not unlike Enjolras, he was horrified that someone had done this to her.
Enjolras puts those thoughts into words. "Who has done this? She's practically a child! Marius, how old is she?"
"Seventeen." Marius responds, shaking his head. He could not even describe how he was feeling. Eponine was one of his closest friends, and seeing her in such a state made him feel repulsed.
"A child. She's only a child, and yet someone has nearly beaten her to an early grave. I must know who has done this." Enjolras is furious now. No one had the right to do this, she did not deserve this. No one deserves this.
"Calm yourself, Enjolras." Joly pats his friend awkwardly in the back, unsure if how to calm their usually emotionless leader. "We will find out when she wakes."
The three go out to the sitting room, where Grantaire is furiously sucking on a bottle, even more distraught than usual. Gavroche us sitting beside Combeferre anxiously. "Is 'Ponine okay?" The desperation in his voice is enough to bring Marius into hysterics. He crosses the room to the open window, trying to get ahold of himself.
There is a long pause. It is Joly who finally speaks. "We will simply have to wait until she wakes."
"She will. She's always been strong." Gavroche says with more confidence now.
"Gavroche, do you have any idea who has done this to her?" Enjolras asks, determined for an answer.
Gavroche's face contorts into an expression of fear and sadness, the look aging him twenty years. "It isn't my place to say."
Enjolras is about to press for information when he hears screaming coming from his bedroom. He jumps to his feet, along with the rest of the men. "Please! Please no! No!" The cry is followed by a series of screams and sobs, and it is Enjolras who first rushes to her side. Marius tries to shake her, causing her to jolt awake. She looks at all of the faces in pure horror, immediately throwing her arms over her face in an attempt to protect herself. "Eponine? 'Ponine it is just us, we aren't going to hurt you." Marius says softly.
"How long have I been here, I must be going!" is all Eponine says, trying to get our of the bed.
"That will not be happening." Enjolras says firmly.
"You don't understand! I need to go! My father..." her voice goes from urgency to terror. "If I'm not home..."
"'Ponine!" Gavroche jumps to her side. "I knew you'd be alright. I told 'em so."
"I few bruises can't hurt me." Eponine tells him. Enjolras can see the resemblance between the two now, and he wonders how he could have missed it before.
"Gavroche, it has been a long night. Why don't you go and sleep on the coach." Combeferre suggests.
"But-"
"Now," Enjolras adds, and Gavroche wanders out if the room. All eyes turn to Eponine. "I know this has been a horrid night for you, but will you tell us who did this?" Enjolras tries to ask as gently as he can.
Eponine just shakes her head. "You wouldn't understand," she mumbles, her eyes staring down at her lap. A tear slides down her cheek as she speaks.
"You can tell us 'Ponine. We care, we can help." Marius adds.
Eponine looks up at them now. "No you can't. I'm forever damned to the life I'm living, and there is nothing any of you can do to stop it." There isn't even a hint of sadness in her voice, she says it as a fact.
"We will not allow you to be hurt. No one deserves this." Enjolras insists.
"But I do. It was my own fault tonight, I deserved it."
"No you did not. Nothing justifies what has been done to you!" Enjolras argues, shocked that she would find this acceptable.
"I knew I was in for it the moment I stepped through the door." She says, but as she does her mouth twists up as if she knows she said something wrong.
Enjolras takes a moment to realize what she must mean. "This happened to you in your own home?" Surely it couldn't have. Impossible.
"You do not know the life I live." She says sadly. "And I must get back to that life, immediately. I need to get home!" The urgency in her voice is back.
"You cannot go home if that is where you were hurt!" Combeferre says, speaking Enjolras' own thoughts.
"If I don't, they will find me. They will also hurt all of you in the process. I refuse to let that happen, and you have already helped me more than I deserve."
"Who is "they"? You said they will find you," Marius asks.
"The Patron-Minette." Eponine states.
"As in the Patron-Minette?" Enjolras asks, horrified. Enjolras prayed that was not the case. Almost everyone in Paris knows of the terrible gang of murderers and thieves. Get on their bad side, and you are as good as dead. Then, all the pieces slowly start piecing together. The name of she man who attacked her earlier, Montparnasse, had seemed terrible familiar, but at the time Enjolras could not remember why. Montparnasse is one of the men in the Patron-Minette. Eponine just nodded in response, ashamed.
"Why are you involved with them?" Marius asks, bewildered. He also seemed a bit wary, not that anyone could blame him for that. A friend of the Patron-Minette is a dangerous friend to have.
"Do you think I want to be!" Eponine shouted, now furious. "It is not my choice!"
"And why is that?" Enjolras demands.
"Do you know who the leader of the Patron Minette is?" Eponine asks, softer now.
"A man named Thénardier, I believe." Grantaire says, speaking for the first time.
"Do you know what my name is?" Eponine asks them.
"Jondrette," Marius responds. "You told me your last name is Jondrette."
"If only," Eponine says sadly.
"Eponine, what are you trying to say!" Enjolras is usually a man of patience, but he could not stand this any longer.
Eponine takes a deep breath as if what she is about to say pains her. "My name is Eponine Thénardier."
If there's enough interest, I'm probably going to start updating weekly, on either Friday or Saturday! Thanks for reading and be sure to review and follow/fave!