Hey guys. Sorry it's been so long since the last update. I hope you like this chapter, please feel free to leave a review or a story request. My other story, Matching, will be updated very soon. Enjoy!
Delphine pulled into the hospital parking lot after twenty minutes of urging her passenger to stay awake. She parked in a spot as close to the door as she could and after turning the car off, she trotted to the passenger side and opened the door. Once she had unbuckled Cosima and pulled her out of the car as gingerly as possible, it became clear to Delphine that the injured woman, who was swaying on her feet, a distant look in her eye, would not be able to walk the thirty feet to the entrance by herself.
Delphine started out with one her arms slung over Cosima's shoulder, taking most of the shorter woman's weight. After a few steps, Cosima began to slouch more and more until Delphine could no longer hold her weight at that angle. The blonde stopped for a second to strategize. Eventually, she decided that the best way to get the incapacitated woman through the door was to carry her in probably the most ridiculous way possible.
And that's how Delphine entered the hospital. Cosima's back pressed into her chest, Delphine's arms looped under the shorter woman's. She walked backwards slowly, trying to keep her momentum in check and Cosima's dreadlocks out of her face. She had no sooner dragged Cosima into the waiting room when she was surrounded by people, none of them hospital employees. Before she had time to react to the crowd of people around her, Cosima was pulled away from her and into the arms of a tall bearded man who immediately stalked off to the front desk, followed by another man and an angry looking woman. There was still one man standing in front of her, he had short, meticulously styled brown hair. His lips were pouted a bit and he looked Delphine up and down appraisingly,
"You're Delphine?" He asked in a slight accent. Delphine nodded and shifted uncomfortably on her feet, a bit uneasy under the man's scrutinizing gaze. She was also a bit curious about where Cosima had been carried off to,
"Ehm, yes. I found Cosima," she explained distractedly. She turned her head back to the front desk and saw the bearded man still holding a dazed Cosima. In front of him, the woman was explaining something rather emphatically to the nurse at the front desk. Off to the side stood the third man. His nervous eyes flitted from Cosima's limp body to the angry woman beside him.
Delphine was about to join them at the front desk when the man grabbed her by the arm,
"I wouldn't go up there. It's best to just stay back when Sarah's in 'mom-mode,'" he interjected. Delphine looked back over to the woman, whose arms were gesturing to Cosima. She looked back to the man,
"That is Sarah? The woman I talked to on the phone'?" She asked. The man nodded,
"Yeah, her and Cos have been best friends for years," he informed, "the scruffy guy carrying her is Cal, Sarah's boyfriend and Cosima's older brother. He's the quiet type, if you couldn't already tell," the man continued. Delphine looked back at Cal, who was watching Sarah interacting with the nurse. He seemed rather used to his girlfriend's aggression. He watched her passively, answering whatever questions Sarah threw his way. Delphine turned back to the man, "The nervous wreck is Mark. He's Cal's best friend and his brother's the one who pushed Cos off the road, so he's probably scared for his own life right now," the man chuckled a bit, apparently amused by Mark's anxiety. Mark was wringing his hands nervously. He had migrated over to Cal, and more specifically to Cosima. Mark was looking at the girl, muttering something and smiling nervously. Delphine could just barely see Cosima return that smile from where she was standing. It looked like the injured woman was trying to shrug. Something about the action brought a smile to Delphine's face. She was content to watch Cosima smile dopily until her unofficial tour guide cleared his throat, calling for her attention, "And I'm Felix, Sarah's foster brother. I'm glad you found Cosima when you did. I thought Sarah was gonna hire a bloodhound or something to sniff her out," he joked.
Delphine nodded a bit before she looked back towards the front desk. It looked like progress had been made: the nurse had handed Sarah a couple of clipboards and was explaining something to her. Sarah turned on her heel and walked over to the waiting area. She gave Mark and Cal a look, seemingly giving them permission, before she sat down in one of the chairs, followed by the two men.
Delphine and Felix approached the other three. Cal had placed Cosima into a chair and Delphine settled into the chair next to her. She wasn't quite sure why she was still there. Surely Sarah and the others could manage signing Cosima into the hospital and taking her home once she had been treated, but something was keeping her in that waiting room. Perhaps it was the fact that she had not yet spoken to Sarah, and it seemed almost impolite to not at least elaborate a little more about how she found Cosima. But it was probably the weight of Cosima's head on her shoulder that kept her there. The injured woman had nestled her face into Delphine's shoulder as soon as she had sat down. Cosima let out a drowsy chuckle, the heat of her breath on her neck sent a soft shudder through Delphine. Cosima looked up at Delphine,
"I'm in a lot of pain," she whispered conspiratorially, laughing some more. Delphine smiled back, amused by her new companion's positivity. She didn't know what compelled her to wrap an arm around Cosima's shoulders, giving her a sympathetic pat on the bicep, but the way the shorter girl leaned into her side some more told Delphine that it had been a good call.
Delphine looked around at Cosima's friends. To her right, Cal and Sarah were busy filling out the forms they had been given. Across from her, she found two sets of eyes on her. Mark was watching her and Cosima with a look of…relief? Felix, on the other hand, was watching them like they were his favorite television show: eyes wide and focused directly on where Delphine's arm touched Cosima's shoulder, his lips were pulled into an excited smile. Delphine looked down at her shoes nervously and focused on the sounds around her.
She had almost fallen asleep, it would have been understandable if she had, she'd been in classes all day and it was late enough already without the added exhaustion of almost hitting a person with her car and then driving that person to the hospital. She was drifting off when a gravelly voice called for her,
"Delphine? You still with us?" The accented voice called. Delphine jolted a little, careful not to move Cosima too much, and looked over. Sarah was finally speaking to her. The woman's stare was intense. Delphine cleared her throat,
"Yes. Sorry, uh, it's been a long day," she apologized. Sarah just shrugged,
"So, you're saying you found Cos on the side of the road?" She questioned.
"Well, she was standing in the road. I, uh, I didn't see her right away and I almost hit her, actually," Delphine admitted with a nervous laugh. Sarah's face didn't budge and she moved on to the next question,
"Did you see anybody else around? Somebody who looked like him?" Sarah pointed to Mark, who averted his gaze. Delphine shook her head. Sarah sighed in frustration, "We haven't been able to find him all day. He's probably hiding out somewhere," Sarah explained. Delphine cocked an eyebrow,
"Why don't you just call the police on this man? He assaulted your friend, they could do something about it," she asked. Cal let out a snort at the blonde's question. He looked around at the people in the group,
"Yeah, I don't think anybody here wants to get anywhere near a cop. Our report would just devolve into a poker game of "who's done more and worse illegal shit" until we were all in handcuffs. We'd rather keep it between us and settle it like true petty criminals," Cal explained. Delphine's eyes widened in shock.
She didn't have time to respond before a nurse called for a Cosima Niehaus. Niehaus. Is that German? It's a nice name. Cal stood and picked up his sister. He carried her up to the front desk where another nurse was waiting with a wheelchair. Cosima woke up from the commotion and seemed to understand what was going on. She pointed to Delphine from across the room and said in the most powerful voice she could muster,
"Stay there," she was wheeled away immediately afterwards. Delphine watched her disappear down the hallway. She took her new friend's request seriously and settled further into the waiting room chair.