Sorry for the long wait! First of all, I want to thank everyone who is still reading and everyone who leaves amazing reviews. They make my day! I hope you like this chapter, I've put some fighting technique in it, but I don't know the first thing about fighting so if I'm wrong about something, please let me know!
'Nikita? You have to help me!'
'Alex, hang on. What happened?'
She sobbed in the phone, her other hand was still holding her scarf pressed around Michaels arm. Tears were streaming down her face.
'It's Michael. He's losing a lot of blood and I really don't know what to do.'
She heard movement on the other side of the line. 'Alex, has he been shot? Where are you?'
'I'm still in Quebec city, we're on the side of the road.' She took a deep breath. 'Nikita, I cut of his hand.'
Nikita was silent for a minute. 'Listen to me Alex, I don't know what happened but he needs to get to Medical as fast as possible, you understand? I'm on my way right now, you steal the fastest car you can get and drive over here as quickly as you can. Can you do that for me?'
Alex nodded, even though she knew Nikita couldn't see her. 'Yeah, I'm on my way.'
'It's going to be okay Alex, it has to be.'
One day had passed since that awful night and Michael still hadn't woken up. The medics had put him in an induced sleep or something like that. Alex hadn't really listened at all. She had just sat there, feeling numb while looking at the man in front of her. She had just cut his hand off! She still couldn't believe what happened. Now she was lying in her bed, looking at the ceiling. She wanted to be with Michael right now, she wanted to be there when he woke up but she couldn't. Not with Nikita next to him. She couldn't look her best friend in the eye, knowing it was her fault that Michael would be handicapped from now on. So she had disappeared into her room, leaving Nikita alone with her fiancée.
She heard a knock on the door and sighed. 'Enter.' She mumbled just loud enough to be heard. When the door opened she laid with her face towards the wall. She felt the bed go down under the weight of another person sitting on it.
'Alex?' It was Ryan. When she didn't answer, he continued. 'Michael is awake. You can see him if you want to.'
She was silent for a while. One part of her really wanted to see him, the other part couldn't face him because of how guilty she felt.
'Well, I don't want to.' She snapped.
Ryan gently put his hand on her shoulder to make her turn around. She sighed and complied.
'Alex, none of this is your fault. If it weren't for you, we would be mourning him right now. He would be dead.'
She looked at him. 'Maybe if Nikita had been there or someone else, the car wouldn't have crashed. I was the one driving, I drove over the grenade. It is all my fault.'
Ryan gave her a small smile. 'No one could have stopped that car from crashing, Alex.'
She closed her eyes, unable to shut out the image of Michaels face and the sound of his cries of pain. All she wanted to do was to curl up in a tiny ball and stay like that for the rest of her life. But Ryan stopped her.
'Hey, come here. Just go in there and talk to him. It will help both of you.' He gestured for her to get up.
She gave him a tiny hint of a smile. 'Promise?'
He took her hand and pulled her from the bed and led her to the door. 'Promise.'
She stood in the hallway, looking through the crack of the door into the room where Michael was lying. She could see Nikita at his side, stroking his hair. She felt a gentle push in her back from Ryan. She turned around and smiled at him.
'Thank you.' She mouthed and entered the room. Michael and Nikita immediately looked up.
'Alex.' Nikita said and stood up. 'Where have you been?'
'My room mostly.' She answered, not willing to look her best friend in the eye.
'I'll leave you two to talk. Will you look for me afterwards? We need to talk.' Nikita told her.
Alex just nodded, a little bit scared. The only possible thing Nikita would want to talk about right now was Michaels missing hand and she really didn't want to discuss that topic right now.
When the door closed behind Nikita, Alex finally looked up at Michael. He looked awful. Quickly she walked over to the bed and sat on the chair beside it.
'Hi.' Michael said after a while.
'Hey.' She answered, her eyes darting to his eyes but decided to settle on her hands instead. When she didn't say anything else, he cleared his throat.
'So, how are you?' He asked.
Her head shot up. 'You're asking me how I am? Michael I cut off your hand! I should be asking you that question!' She practically yelled.
He just raised his eyebrow. 'I know, but you didn't.'
She dropped her eyes back to her hands again.
'So how are you?' She repeated his question.
'Good, considering the fact that I just lost my hand. Birkhoff says he has a mechanic hand somewhere, which can be attached to my arm in three weeks.'
'Well, that's good right?' She mumbled.
Michael stretched out his remaning hand and took hold of both of her hands. 'Alex. Please look at me.' He begged her.
She sighed but did as he asked her. Not that she could deny him anything. She would be in his debt forever.
'Listen to me. I do not blame you, I know it was either this or me dying underneath that car. I know why you did it. Am I happy with it? No of course not! Will I be the same as I used to be? Hell no. But I'm alive, thanks to you. I might not feel very grateful yet, but I'm sure I will, if you give me some time.'
She just nodded and felt the tears finally break free and roll down her face. 'I'm so sorry!' She sobbed. 'I didn't know what to do, the tank was going to blow and I had no choice. I'm so terribly sorry, if I could do anything to make this better, I would!'
'Hey, come here.' He mumbled and pulled her on the bed beside him, pressing her head to his chest with some effort, because he had only one hand to do so. 'It's okay, Alex. We'll figure it out.' He mumbled and pressed a kiss on the top of her head. 'We're going to be okay.'
She nodded and allowed the tears to keep falling down, while holding on to Michael. She had to believe what he told her: they were going to be okay.
Ten minutes later she left the room again, feeling slightly better than before. She knew Michael wasn't happy with the situation but they would work it out. She was only halfway to her room when she heard Nikita's voice.
'Alex.'
She turned around and smiled carefully. 'Hey.'
'Can we talk?' Nikita asked but to Alex it didn't really sound like a question. So she just shrugged her shoulders and followed the other woman to Nikita's room. She closed the door behind her and turned around to face her friend.
'So, what do you want to talk about?'
'I need to know what happened with Michael.'
Alex sighed. 'We've already been over this. The car crashed, his hand got stuck underneath it so I had to cut it off.' She told it like it was nothing but inside she felt like crying all over again.
'I know we've been over this Alex, but I need to know. Was this the only way?'
Alex looked up amazed. 'What? Of course it was! Do you really think I would have cut his hand if there had been any other way? Do you think I wanted to do this?' She knew she was yelling but she didn't care.
'No! I just want to know if this had anything to do with you using drugs!' Nikita snapped.
It was dangerously silent for the next minute. Finally Alex answered, barely being able to hold back the anger.
'No, it had nothing to do with that.' She said and turned on her heels walking out of the room.
'Alex! Alex wait!' Nikita called after her. She heard Nikita run after her, but only stopped when she grabbed her arm.
'Please just hear me out.' Nikita begged.
Alex yanked her arm free. 'For once in your life just leave me alone!' She quickly walked away, leaving Nikita standing in the hallway behind her. When she turned around the corner she ran into Ryan, who reached out his hands to steady her.
'Hey, you okay?'
'Why don't you ask Nikita?' Alex sneered. She immediately felt guilty. Ryan had done nothing to deserve her anger. It was Nikita who had made her feel that way.
Ryan just looked at her, not giving any indication that he minded.
'What happened?'
'She practically said that the accident was my fault because of the drugs I used.'
Ryan nodded. 'Don't worry, I'll talk to her.'
'Good luck with that.' Alex muttered.
He smiled and walked away towards Nikita's room. 'Oh Alex? Be careful okay?' He called over his shoulder.
She nodded and returned the smile before walking away. At least someone still supported her. She made her way to the training basement, wanting to blow of some steam. When she reached the elevator, Michael was waiting for it as well.
'Michael!' She called out surprised.
He turned around. 'Hey there.' She had to admit, he looked much better than when she had visited him this morning.
'What the hell do you think you're doing here? You're supposed to be resting!'
He just rolled his eyes. 'Not you too! That's what everyone keeps telling me. I'm sick of that bed already. I don't need any other reminders of what happened.' He gestured with his arm stump, which was neatly wrapped with bandages.
Alex dropped her eyes to the ground. 'I get that. Sorry.'
'It's okay. So where are you headed?'
Meanwhile the elevators had arrived so they both got in. Alex immediately pushed the basement button.
'Training.' She answered. 'You?'
'The same.'
'What?' She turned her head to look at him. She didn't want to say it again but he really should be resting not training!
'Don't worry I won't fight. I'll be watching you.' He sounded irritated.
'Why?'
'Because everything is better than lying in my bed and thinking about everything I've lost.'
She kept silent after that, thinking about what he had said. She understood why he wanted to get out of bed. It must be really irritating, not to mention boring, to be stuck in bed when you don't want to be remembered of the reason why. And after all, how much harm would it do if he would sit down and watch her train? It was the least she could do for him.
'Okay, fine. But you can only watch!' She finally said.
He just rolled his eyes but gave her a small smile at the same time. When the elevator reached the basement, they both got out. Alex saw a small movement of his right arm before he dropped it to his side again. She pretended not to notice but it still hurt to realize she would never feel his hand on her lower back anymore, guiding her through Division.
'So, you want to watch me train? Just like old times huh?' She asked teasingly, hoping to relief some of the tension.
'Yes, although I think you were holding back, then.' He sat down on one of the mats on the side and leaned against the wall, while Alex pulled off her sweater and quickly braided her hair.
'Now why would you think that?'
'Because I've seen you fight over the last few years. You're definitely better than what you've shown when you were a recruit.'
She smiled, just a little bit proud. 'I might have had some training before I entered Division.'
'So I've heard.' He said dryly.
Alex just smirked and turned her attention to the dummy in front of her. Within a couple of minutes, she had forgotten about all of her problems. The only thing she knew was the movement of her arm, how her muscles worked together and how her hand hit the dummy just in the right place. Suddenly Michael was standing next to her.
'You know you put too much focus on the right side of your body.' He stated.
She raised her eyebrows. 'Oh really?'
He shrugged. 'Just saying. Your left side is your weaker side right now. Try shifting your weight a little bit more to the left, deliver more punches with your left hand. It might save your life sometime.'
She thought about it for a minute. 'Do I really do that?'
'It's normal. Most people do it, but being able to fight with the right side of your body as well as the left side is quite the advantage.'
She nodded, willing to learn everything, which could help her stay alive. 'And how do I learn?'
Michael smirked at her. 'By watching me.' He took a step back and looked at her.
'Michael.' She started, not knowing what to say. She really wanted to learn and she knew how much he wanted to forget about his hand, if only for a couple of minutes. But she also knew that he was supposed to be resting right now.
'Don't worry. I've got one arm behind my back.' He said lightly, but she could hear the hidden pain inside of it. She ignored it as he put his injured arm behind his back. 'What do you say? You want to learn or not?'
Instead of answering she shot out her right arm, trying to catch him by surprise. Unfortunately, he was too quick and he could dodge the blow easily.
'Not bad. For a beginner.'
'Beginner huh? I'll show you!' She said with a smile and then the fight really started.
She had to admit that she was enjoying herself. She had never fought with Michael before and it was quite different from her fights with Nikita or Sean or even Birkhoff. Even with only his left arm, he easily forced her back across the room until her back was pressed against the wall.
'You surrender?' He smirked.
She blew a strand of hair that had escaped her braid away from her face. 'Never.'
She quickly swept her feet underneath his legs, hoping to get him out of balance. Luckily, she succeeded and she could duck underneath his arm so that he was now facing the wall. She smiled at her success. Slowly, he turned around. 'I'm impressed.'
'Are you now? Well maybe you should surrender then.' She couldn't help the triumph in her voice.
He shook his head. 'Not yet.' And the fighting continued. This time he could only force her back until they were standing in the middle of the room. Then she found her balance again and she could defend herself. Or at least, so she thought. Michael started delivering blows only to the right side of her body, which she could easily dodge. But then he suddenly changed sides and landed a perfectly aimed blow on her left collarbone. She cringed at the pain but remained standing. Michael took a step back.
'See that? If I had aimed for your right, your reflexes would have been able to block my blow. But now, you're defenceless.'
She nodded. 'So what do I do?'
'Look at me. How do I stand? Where are my legs, in which angle is my upper body turned, how do I keep my balance, what am I doing with my left arm?'
Curiously, she did what he told her. Her eyes wandered over his body noticing how his legs were spread and his left one was standing in front of his right one. Her eyes lingered a little longer than necessary on his well-defined chest before moving over to his left arm to see that his upper body was turned to the right and he used his arm for balance.
Hesitantly, she shifter her weight a little bit to her left, moving her left leg just a little bit in front of her right one. Michael nodded approvingly. 'Very good.' He walked up to her until he stood right in front of her. Gently he put his hand on her stomach. 'Always keep control over these muscles.'
She tightened them and he smiled. 'Good.'
He examined her thoroughly. 'You're too tense.'
'But you just said I had to tighten my stomach!' She exclaimed.
'No, you have to stand tall. You need to stretch out and tighten your muscles, but not all the way and not every part of your body. You have fought with Nikita right?'
She nodded.
'How does she fight?'
Alex frowned, thinking about the question.
'How does it look when she fights?' He pressed on.
Alex thought back to all their training sessions. 'Like a cat.' She mumbled.
Michael nodded. 'Exactly. She's graceful when she fights. That's because she knows when to relax and when to use the right muscles.'
'Great, so now I have to focus on my left side, use my muscles, relax but still fight?'
He smiled at her desperation. 'It's easier than it sounds.' He came to stand behind her again and took her hand in his. 'Relax.' He whispered into her ear. 'Close your eyes.'
She did as he told her and tried to relax.
'Not good enough.' He murmured. 'You're whole body is ready for a fight right now. Just let it go, let the tension flow away through your body. Breathe.'
She took a deep breath and imagined the tension flowing away with it when she breathed out.
'Much better.' She could hear him move in front of her again. 'Now stand a little bit straighter but keep your muscles relaxed.'
She followed his instructions, here eyes still closed. 'Now tighten the muscles in your upper body slightly. Open your eyes.'
When she did, she barely had time to think before she saw his arm flowing through the air in front of her. Before she knew it, she had blocked it, ducked underneath it and swirled around to kick his legs from underneath his body. She looked down to see Michael lying on the floor with a huge grin on his face.
'Told ya.'
She smiled and offered him her hand to help him get up, which he gratefully accepted.
'But what does this have to do with my focus on my left side?' She wondered.
'Not much, except that you have better balance this way. You have to practice both things I taught you. Next time, try fighting only with your left hand, and then try to keep that position but fight with both hands. You'll get the hang of it eventually.'
She nodded. 'Thank you.'
He smiled. 'Anytime.'
'Alex?' Nikita's voice sounded through the basement. Michael and Alex turned around to see her walking down the stairs towards the training floor. Then she stopped.
'Michael? What's this? What are you doing here?'
He sighed. 'I've been helping Alex with her fighting skills.'
'Excuse me?' She asked. 'You're supposed to be resting, not fighting!'
'Last time I checked it was still my life. It's not up to you to decide what I do with it.' He snapped.
Alex cast a sideway glance at him. He looked very frustrated.
'Michael, you know that's not how I meant it.' Nikita tried.
He just shook his head. 'I don't care how you meant it.' Then he walked away, leaving the two girls alone.
Nikita sighed and let herself fall to the floor. Alex joined her. She felt sorry for her best friend. She might have been pissed at her this morning but she didn't deserve how Michael treated her.
'Hey.' She softly said and put an arm around Nikita's arms and rested her head against the other woman's shoulder.
'What did I do wrong, Alex? He's been like this ever since he woke up. Can't he see that I'm trying to help?' A tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.
'Maybe you should give him some time.' Alex suggested.
Nikita shook her head. 'No, that's not it. He's acting fine when he's around you, right? I just don't understand why he's so angry with me.'
'Look, if there's one thing I know about you two is that you always figure it out. No matter how much you fight, you always find each other again. Just let him get used to the idea of never being able to use his hand again. You'll work it out together, I'm sure.'
Nikita gave her a small smile. 'You think?'
Alex nodded. 'Of course.'
Nikita closed her eyes. 'I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have said what I did.'
'It's okay. We've all been through a lot lately.' Alex smiled.
Nikita turned her head to meet her eyes. 'Come here.' She smiled and spread her arms.
Alex immediately wrapped her arms around Nikita and they sat like that for some time. She realized she had missed her best friend. With everything that was going on lately, they barely had time to talk and when they had, they always seemed to be fighting. So she closed her eyes and kept holding her best friend in her arms.
The next three weeks went by quickly. Alex kept training as Michael had showed her to do. Usually, she was alone but sometimes Nikita came in to help her. Even Michael had visited her two times to help her. Now it was time for Michael to get his mechanic hand, so Alex walked up to medics to see how he was doing. When she arrived, the door was closed but she could hear Nikita's voice.
'Do you know what I know? I've been sleeping alone for the last three weeks. I wish you'd come home.'
It was silent for a while. Then she could hear Michael whisper. 'Soon.' She heard footsteps so she quickly moved into a side-passage, not wanting to let them know she had overheard their conversation. When the footsteps subsided, she slowly walked into medics to see Michael lying in a chair. She knocked on the door. When he looked up, she smiled hesitantly.
'Can I come in?'
He nodded so she made her way towards him and sat on the chair next to the operation chair. She looked at his new mechanic hand. She had to admit: it looked better than she had expected.
'So this is it, huh?'
Michael followed her gaze towards his new hand. 'Yeah, this is it.'
'Can you move it?' She asked curiously.
He shook his head. 'Nope. I can barely move one finger, let alone make a fist.'
'I'm sorry.' She whispered. When he didn't answer she gestured at the hand. 'Can I touch it?'
'Sure. If you want to.' He sounded like he couldn't imagine why she would want to touch it.
Slowly, she stretched out her hand until her fingertips grazed his. His fingers trembled but nothing else happened. Then she gently put her entire hand in his. His fingers immediately curled around hers.
She looked up at him surprised. 'I thought you couldn't move them?' She exclaimed.
'I couldn't.' He said, sounding as surprised as she felt. 'Until now.' A small laugh escaped him, while he looked at his own hand in amazement. 'It's working.' He whispered.
'Of course it is.' She answered with a smile.
He got up from his chair, pulling her with him. 'Alex, it's working!' He repeated and lifted her up and twirled her around.
She giggled at his enthusiasm. When he put her down again she looked at him seriously. 'Maybe you should celebrate this with Nikita.'
He nodded. 'Yeah, I haven't been very good to her lately, have I?'
She shook her head. 'Not really, no. This is hard for her too and she really needs you.'
He sighed. 'I know.'
'Then why?' She trailed off, hoping he would understand her question.
'Let's walk, okay?' He hesitated for a moment but then he put his mechanic hand on her lower back and steered her towards the door. They walked in silence until Michael began talking again.
'Ever since we've taken over Division, things have been rough between us. I know, I proposed to her and then everything was fine again but it's not the way it was before. We used to be a team, even when we were not, if you know what I mean. No matter what, we would always be there for each other. When we fought, we didn't agree with each other but we still understood why the other had a different opinion.'
When it looked like he wouldn't continue, Alex spoke up. 'So what has changed?'
'I don't know. I don't know what she wants anymore. We never really talk anymore. There's always another mission or it's Amanda or something else. I used to be able to tell what she was thinking just by looking at her. Now, it's all blank.'
'Maybe the two of you need some time alone to work it out. With everything that's going on with Division and Amanda, you never had the time to be really alone. Just give it another chance.'
She couldn't help but think about the conversation she had with Nikita three weeks ago. Sometimes she really wanted to knock their heads together to get some sense in them. They should talk to each other instead of both talking to her.
'Maybe.' Was his only answer.
She rolled her eyes. 'You two are too stubborn for your own good.' She mumbled. He took a breath to answer her but Ryan, who had just walked around the corner, interrupted them. 'Michael! We've got an ex-Division cleaner. Nikita and Owen are already preparing for the mission. If you're feeling up to it, you can join them.'
Michael nodded. 'Thanks.' He smiled one last time at Alex before he walked away.
Alex looked at him until he had disappeared around the corner. Then she turned back to Ryan.
'You think it's a good idea to let him get back so soon?'
Ryan shrugged. 'I don't know but Nikita said she wanted him back. I trust her to make the right decision.'
She nodded. 'So when can I go back?'
Ryan looked at her disapprovingly. 'We've talked about this. When you're blood pressure is down, you can go back.'
'Right, like that's going to happen any time soon.' She muttered.
'Sorry, Alex. It's just too dangerous.'
She forced a smile. 'I know. Well, I better get started then.' She turned away from Ryan and decided to look for Birkhoff. He had offered to help her meditating so she might as well try it.
'Good luck.' She heard Ryan say.
'So let me get this straight. The stubborn Russian Udinov princess finally admits that she needs my help.'
Birkhoff couldn't keep the smugness out of his voice.
Alex rolled her eyes, both annoyed and amused with him. 'Can you help me or not?'
He nodded and gestured her to follow him to a strange looking room. It would have looked like a normal Division room if it weren't for all the tiny lights on the walls.
'What is this place?' She asked amazed.
'This, your highness, is the place where you'll get your blood pressure down.' Birkhoff had followed her into the room and was carrying some creepy looking electrodes. Alex eyed them wearily.
'Don't worry, they won't hurt.' He assured her.
'So what will they do?' Alex asked while sitting down on the ground. Birkhoff kneeled next to her and started to attach the electrodes to her head.
'They will measure your brain waves. The more relaxed you become, the dimmer the lights will get. It's quite simple.'
'You really think this will help?'
Birkhoff sat back and looked at her. 'Well, that entirely depends on you.'
Alex raised her eyebrows. 'What's that supposed to mean?'
Birkhoff looked down for a minute before meeting her gaze. 'You say you used the drugs because you didn't want to get benched. Are you sure there's not more to it than that? Last time you started to use, you were hurt because you had found out about your mother.'
'So what are you saying?'
'I'm saying that maybe the drugs aren't the problem.'
She sighed and looked away, knowing Birkhof was right. She looked up again when he put a hand on her shoulder. 'Hey, you'll work it out. If anything, you're stubborn. If you want this to work, it will.'
She smiled. 'Thanks.'
'Sure thing. Look, you know where the room is, whenever you feel the need to meditate, you can go here and put the electrodes on. It will work.'
She nodded and he smiled at her one last time before leaving the room.
She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to keep her breathing even. She tried not to think of anything except her breathing but every time she had to remind herself to do that, which made her realize she was thinking of other things. She groaned in frustration and opened her eyes again. The lights were still the same. She tried again, this time with no success either. She really wanted to rip the stupid electrodes of her head but she knew Birkhof would be disappointed in her if she would give up so easily. So instead she got into a simple yoga position Nikita had taught her. Every time she breathed in, she would slow it down a little bit. Gradually the lights began to dim a little bit. If she hadn't been so focussed on them, she might have missed it. But the lights immediately grew stronger again when she got excited because of her success. She couldn't suppress another groan. When she looked down at her watch, she realized she had been there for an hour already. She quickly pulled the electrodes off and decided to get something to eat.
She had just sat down at an empty table with a sandwich when Ryan joined her. 'I need your help.'
She looked at him surprised and chewed down her first bite of sandwich before answering. 'With what?'
'Michael.'
She just raised an eyebrow and waited for him to explain.
Ryan sighed and clasped his hands together. 'He has failed the mission with Nikita and Owen. He and Nikita seem to be having trouble as well. I don't know what to do.'
Alex smiled reassuringly and pointed at him with her sandwich. 'Those two always work it out. They've been trying to kill each other for a couple of years, you should have expected some fireworks.'
He smiled at that.
She continued. 'As for the mission, Michael is all about rules. He makes them, he lives them, he understands them. If you think he needs to be benched, then do it. He'll get it.'
'Thank you, Alex. I'll keep that in mind.' He gave her one last smile and was about to leave the room when he turned around again. 'Birkhoff told me you went to him for help. Keep going on like this and you'll get there, Alex.'
She didn't have time to answer before he left the room but she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. It was nice to know someone had faith in her.
'Michael, I need to talk with you.' Michael looked up from the table he was staring at to see Ryan approaching him.
'I'm not in the mood to talk.' He mumbled. He had messed up the mission because of his hand, he didn't need anyone to remind him of that.
'I know. But you have to hear it anyway.'
He sighed and raised his good hand. 'Don't bother, I know what you're going to say.'
Ryan looked surprised. 'You do?'
'Yeah, I'm a danger to the team right now so I'm benched until further notice.'
Ryan just kept staring at him. 'How did you know I would say that?'
He smiled grimly even though the whole situation was far from funny. 'I've been running this place for some time before you came along. If I were in your position, I'd have done exactly the same.' He stood up, wanting to get away from this conversation as fast as possible. 'Look, just make sure Nikita is safe, okay?'
Ryan nodded. 'I won't let anything happen to her. I promise.'
'Thank you.' Michael mumbled and started to walk away but he stopped when Ryan called after him.
'You might want to see how Alex is doing. She's with Birkhoff trying to get her blood pressure down.'
Michael felt a pang of guilt when he heard her name. He had been too busy with his own problems to help Alex with hers. Well, since he was benched now, he might as well try to help her.
After looking around and asking some people, he finally found her sitting in a room full of lights. Her eyes were closed and her brow was creased in a frown. He leaned against the doorframe for a moment, just watching her. He didn't know what she was doing exactly, but he could see electrodes attached to her head. That was probably Birkhoff's doing. Five minutes later she opened her eyes and he could hear her frustrated groan. Then she saw him standing there.
'How long have you been watching me?' She asked a little defensively.
Michael pushed himself of the doorframe and walked into the room, closing the door behind him. 'Some time.' He admitted. When she didn't reply, he joined her on the floor.
'I've not been a very good friend lately, have I?'
She looked at him questioningly.
'I confront you with your drug use, you tell me you've just quit and I never ask how you're doing again.' He clarified.
Alex sighed and gave him a small smile. 'It's okay, you've had other things to worry about, obviously.'
'Perhaps, but that doesn't make it acceptable. So, how are you doing?'
She shrugged and looked at the ground, fidgeting with her hands. 'I'm okay. I think. The blood pressure isn't down yet and it's hard to fight the urge but I haven't taken a single pill since I decided to quit.'
He nudged her shoulder, hoping to see her smile again instead of the sad expression she was wearing at the moment. 'That's good right?'
'Yeah, well. Birkhoff said the problem wasn't the drugs, there was something more.'
'Is there?' He asked carefully. He completely agreed with Birkhoff but he wanted to know what she thought first.
'Don't know.' She answered stubbornly.
If the situation were less serious, he would have smiled at her behaviour. Right now however, he opted for a disbelieving glance.
'Maybe I just don't want to think about it.' She mumbled.
He nodded, satisfied with the answer for now. He looked around the room.
'Ryan said Birkhoff was helping you. Is this his work?' He gestured to the lights and the electrodes.
'Yeah, the lights are supposed to go out if my blood pressure goes down to an acceptable level.'
'How are you doing so far?'
Alex gave him one of her looks. 'The lights are still on. What do you think?'
He decided to ignore that and moved until he sat behind her and put his good hand on her shoulder. 'Close your eyes.'
She frowned but did as he told her.
'Breathe.'
He smiled when she exaggerated the movement. 'Not like that. Slow, steady breaths. Focus on your breathing, relax, don't think about your problems.'
He waited a minute until he could hear her breathing go down a little bit. The lights slightly dimmed but it was nowhere near enough. Slowly he brought his hand down her arm until he could graze her fingertips with his own. Gently, he used his thumb to slowly rub small circles over her hand. The room got a little bit darker. But when he looked at her face, the frown was still there. He sat back and gently tugged her shoulder until she hesitantly laid down, her head in his lap. Slowly he raised his hand and started to stroke her hair, hoping to calm her down even more. Within a couple of minutes it worked. The lights gradually became weaker until they went out completely. He smiled in the dark, barely able to make out Alex' face. Her eyes were still closed and she looked peaceful.
'Alex.' He whispered. 'Open your eyes.'
When she did, his heart welt up at the sight of her smile when she realized het room had gone dark.
'I did it!' She whispered.
'Yes you did.' He answered softly.
She got up and turned around to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her head. 'I knew you could do it.'
She pulled back again. 'Thank you.' She said earnestly. Then she let out a laugh and started to pull the electrodes of her head. When she was done she joined Michael who was waiting for her by the door. He held out his hand to her and smiled. 'Let's go tell the others the good news!' She nodded and together they left the room in search for their friends.
I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!