Hey guys! I've been so happy with all the reviews I've been getting, so thank you so much for taking the time and effort to do that for me, it really means a lot and it's making me heaps happy! So heres a new chapter just cause ;) xx Ellie
She woke up three days later in a cold sweat, shaking slightly as a silent scream came out through her lips. Jess quickly awoke, jerking awake in seconds when the bed next to hers jostled.
"Lia?" she whispered groggily, "I'm fine squirt. Go back to sleep." she whispered, putting a hand down gently on her arm. Jess laid back down putting her arm under her head, when Lia tried to roll back over a shot of pain burst through her leg, screaming she sat up, holding her leg.
"Lia!" Jess cried, sitting up. There was a loud bang and someone came crashing through the door from the next room, her head snapped up to meet them and she saw Hal standing there, gun at the ready and his eyes sweeping the room frantically.
"Lia are you okay?" he said, running over and taking her hands in his. A small blush crept up on her cheeks as she stared up at him and then looked down at her hands in his, resting on top of her wound, the blood slowly seeping through the bandage.
"We need to get you to Anne now." Hal said, slinging his gun over his shoulder and grabbing the bottom of her legs in his hand, the other going around her back. "Wait!" she whispered, leaning down with Hal's help to grab the sidearm stored under her pillow, as she slid it into her holster, a small chuckle came out through his throat, she could feel it emanating from the pit of his stomach, sending a warm feeling through her body.
Jess stood, staring up at Hal curiously, she was only a year and a half younger than Lia, but she seemed so much like a child, it was hard to not treat her like one. "You must be Jess." he said, looking down at her, she smiled and nodded. "I'm Hal." he said, "Lia said you got us out of there. So thanks." she said, Hal smiled wide and nodded, motioning for her to walk ahead of them.
Lia stared up at Hal through her eyelashes, she clenched and unclenched her hand around Hal's shirt, wondering what was going through his mind. She was wondering why he was being so nice, why he would go out of his way for her and carry her nonetheless, and why he brought about such feelings inside her.
Jess trailed behind, looking at the different people and subconsciously pulling her sleeve down more, trying to cover all the way down to her fingertips to hide the bright blue veins. Little did she know that a perfect blonde boy with spikes in his back was trailing behind quietly.
Hal pushed open the door to the chem lab, holding it open for Jess, who smiled up at him and nodded, walking further into the room and coming up short when she realised it was a medical facility.
"Jess." Lia whispered, grabbing onto her shirt and pulling her along as Hal walked, "you're fine, no ones going to do anything to you, I promise." she whispered, Jess nodded slowly, swallowing around the huge lump in her throat, Hal looked a little confused at the exchange, but didn't say a word.
"Anne?" Hal called out into the room, there was a crash and a muttered curse, before a pretty woman with long brown hair and almond eyes came walking out, wiping her hands on her pants. "Hal and... company." she said, smiling kindly at the two girls, who were so obviously sisters.
"Lia here thought that the harnessed kids yesterday were more important then her leg injury." Hal said, setting her down on the examination table. Anne clucked and walked over, pulling the makeshift bandage away from her leg, wincing at the bright red flesh that was visible, before she cut her jeans around the injury and pulled, spreading the seams outward to show the full wound.
"You're the one the skitters had locked up in the hospital... with no harness." she said, looking up into the girls bright blue eyes. Lia gulped, but nodded, "what did they want with you?"she asked curiously, leaning forward a little.
"They... they were training me." she said defeated, but she didn't want to say anymore then that, she flicked her eyes to Hal and then back to Anne, who nodded slightly in a silent agreement. Instantly she trusted Anne, she knew that she was a good person, someone who wouldn't spill the beans.
"Now lets get you cleaned up." she said, grabbing a bottle of iodine and leaning over, Lia gasped and grabbed her hand as she went to pour it, spilling a little of the liquid she knew would burn the absolute crap out of her leg.
"Do you have to use that stuff?" she whispered, a small chuckle came from Hal's throat. "This coming from the girl who pulled a scalpel out of her bone." he said, Lia rolled her eyes and looked over at him, "This stuff hurts more than that, it kills infection, which really-" she was cut off by her own screaming as Anne poured the iodine into her wound, Hal dropped his smirk and ran over, grabbing her hand to hold her steady, she squeezed back tightly, clenching her teeth together and letting a small groan whistle through her teeth.
"Fuuuuuuck" she managed to get out, leaning back and lying down on the table, using her free hand to cover her eyes, "ugh." she whispered as her leg began throbbing, "that was so sneaky." she said, looking up at Anne who laughed, "I used it all the time on my kids when they didn't want needles. Works in a pinch." Lia rolled her eyes and let her head bang back down on the table and clenched Hal's hand tighter as she began to probe deeper into the wound to see the extent of the damage.
"It's scraped bone but theirs no extensive damage to it, so it should be fine..." she trailed off, letting her sentence hang in the air. Lia sat up, knowing where this was going. "But?" she asked, leaning forward a little.
Anne sighed looking between her and Hal. "But, it's torn apart too many muscles, I'm going to have to try and sew them back up and hope for the best, you're going to have to stay off it for as long as possible." she said, sighing deeply.
Lia groaned and laid back down, looking over at Hal who was staring at her curiously. "How am I going to fight?" she whispered, staring up at him, he sighed and looked down to their hands. "You can sit and shoot." he said firmly, before looking up at her and smiling.
She smiled back, feeling a pressure in her stomach as it twisted into small knots at the brilliant smile on his face. "You ready?" Anne asked, coming back with the needle, Lia nodded slowly, laying her head back down as she tore her gaze away from the needle, "I don't suppose you've got anything to numb my leg huh?" Lia whispered, looking to Anne, she smirked a little and shook her head. Groaning Lia put her head back down on the table and holding Hal's hand tighter, focusing on the roof and how many tiles it contained while trying to remain in control of her emotions and her heartbeat.
The pressure of Hal's hand around her had set her heart off again in a wild drum rhythm that shocked even her as she slowly moved her eyes down from the roof to his face, peering up through her eyelashes, watching him carefully as he focused on Anne and her work, trying to make sure that she didn't put a finger out of place as she sewed Lia's muscles together, Hal must have sensed her eyes on him, because his gaze flickered to her, she bit back her gasp, but couldn't stop her hand twitching in response.
He smirked back down at her, lighting up his face as he laughed silently, but squeezed her hand back, knowing she was hurting. Another spike shot up her leg as the needle entered her tender flesh, she tried desperately to hold her leg in place and not jolt everywhere out of pain, but it was getting harder and harder to sit still, it was like a itch she wasn't able to scratch just yet, and she wanted more than anything to reach down and pull the damned needle out of Anne's hand, but she'd get chastised for that, they might even see it as an attack and get Hal to shoot her into submission.
She sighed, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to get rid of the visual, and succeeded in visualising Hal's soft lips on hers, which she liked very much, but didn't feel right with him standing right in the room staring down at her, she squeezed his hand once and fought back the images, trying to focus on her little sister and how it was before, which only resulted in her feeling more like crap and getting depressed… as she usually did.
"Almost done." Anne whispered, setting her out of her revelry and snapping her eyes open. The last stitch was sewn and Lia sat up with Hal's help, his hand leaving a hot spot on her back that burned like a brand, spreading through her system. Anne grabbed a clean bandage and wiped the stitches down with Iodine once, which sent another painful hiss through her teeth, Anne stopped, looking down at her jeans, Lia laughed once under her breath and smirked. "Hand me those scissors over there would you?" she asked Anne. Anne looked a little wary, but once Hal nodded, she quickly swiped the pair off the table and handed them to her.
Lia cut a small line above the stitches and pulled, ripping the excess material off around her legs, revealing more thigh than she would normally be comfortable with, but desperate times called for desperate measures, the bandage would never be able to get on properly and the cut in her jeans competed for the more annoying pieces of clothing she had ever owned. She did the same with the other leg, making sure to measure it exactly right or it would bother her for the rest of the time she owned the shorts, she rolled them up to hide the fraying and was finished.
"Done!" she said with a huge sigh, setting the scissors down into Anne's hand, just to reassure her that she wasn't going to try anything. She smiled at her slightly and nodded, before coming back with bandages and wrapped her leg up tight. "Alright, we're all good, stay off that leg as much as possible alright Lia?" Anne said, holding her shoulder, Lia nodded, smiling a little and grabbed her arm to help herself off the table, but Hal stopped her. "Woah woah woah. Hold on a sec." he said, coming around the side of the table her legs were hanging off and grabbed her under the legs, being extra careful off her thigh, wincing when a hiss of pain came through her lips. "Sorry," he muttered, putting her arms around his neck and pulling her into her arms.
"Hal, there is no way that I'm going to let you carry me around all day. I'm not exactly the lightest person in the 2nd mass." she said, looking up at him. "I know. But I'm going to do my damnedest to try." he said, winking a little. Lia groaned a little but laid her head on his shoulder, feeling her eyes slide close with exhaustion. "Make sure she takes two of these every day, one in the morning with breakfast and one at night with dinner. Prevents infection." she heard Anne say, muffled a little by the thick blanket of sleep.
She felt Hal start moving, but he was stopped again by Anne. "Hal." he turned slightly, "what happened to Karen-" he tensed slightly, "it wasn't your fault, and it's okay to let yourself fall again… she's a beautiful girl, but she's been through a lot. Make sure you're completely with it before you do anything, you'll break her heart." she whispered. Hal cleared his throat, but she felt him nod. "Believe me, thats the last thing I want to do." he whispered, before turning and walking out of the room.
Lia tried to hold on, but she couldn't and eventually sleep took over, and she succumbed to the blackness.