AN: Thanks so much for the favorites and follows! It means so much to me that there are people willing to pay attention to this horrible, cliche-riddled thing so I'm working a little harder on it now!
The very first thing Nepeta registered when she came to her senses was pain. Blinding, fiery pain that whited out all of her other senses, lancing through every pore, every fiber of her being relentlessly, relenting barely only to come back just as strong, even stronger sometimes. Her sense of hearing started to return and she heard a distant, piteous wailing, and realised it was her. Other voices, urgent and quick, came in, and dark sillhouetes entered her field of view, moving fast. In a few minutes, everything dimmed quickly and she was back into the void, memory of the previous pain, and everything else, almost totally gone.
Karkat was pacing in his store. She was never this late. He'd called her phone and gone straight to the messaging system. That wasn't totally unexpected, her not being totally fond of them. Half an hour past when she usually showed up, he finally opened the store, for all the good it did. Nobody came in, nobody passed by. He noted the dulcet tones of Gamzee starting up just across the road. He sighed and went back inside, walking out with two hot chocolates and setting himself beside Gamzee and silently handing one to the busker, who accepted with a nod.
For a while, the pair was silent, Gamzee strumming softly on his battered little guitar. Karkat eventually spoke, finding his voice surprisingly steady despite the worry in him.
"Have you seen Nepeta? She's supposed to be in the store, and I can't even reach her phone. It's not like her at all to be like this, I'm actually kind of worried about her."
"Bro, take a chill pill. She's probably just sleeping in after a night of gettin' her party on! You'll see, you're gonna get a call with her apologisin' the fuck out of herself, and soon everything's gonna get its normal right back on."
It made sense, Karkat knew. But in his head, thoughts were still racing, around and around, arriving at the worst situations every time. He knew he was being silly. The odds were ridiculously low of something happening! But at the same time, how would anyone know if it did? He began to shudder, standing up and throwing his drink into a bin, pacing again. Gamzee only watched him, not moving an inch himself.
He paced like that for a few minutes, before giving a curt farewell and heading back into the store, sitting down and putting his head in his hands. Grey clouds were starting to dim the sky, despite it not even being midday, and it darkened his thoughts with it. Still no news on his assistant. This was starting to become less a chance of sleeping in, and his worrying increased. He didn't know where she lived, so he couldn't exactly search for her.
His thoughts were abruptly stalled by the jingle of the doorbell. He turned around, greeting the newcomer. It was a somewhat tall guy, pale skin, with sky-blue eyes and strange hair. He was about to tell him that the store hadn't openned yet, owing to the absense of a critical employee, but stopped as he noted the newcomers expression. Downcast, hurting. The man spoke softly, hiding within himself, as though he knew he was going to be attacked for what he said.
"Hey, you... You run this place, right? Um... Look, I know you're going to get angry, so please, stay as calm as you can, but... Last night, I got behind the wheel, despite being a little drunk, and... Oh, fuck, how do I say this..."
He sat down across the table from Karkat, who was unable to think straight. Was this conversation going where he thought it was? Because if it did, this guy was right to expect retribution. His fists clenched and unclenched under the table, ready to lash out at the slightest provocation. He took a deep, shuddering breath, steadying himself, before nodding at the stranger to continue.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is... I ran over your employee. The one with the cleft lip. She's in hospital now, in... I don't know, she went straight to the emergency ward but I think she stabilised? Look, I'm really sorry, I know this is all my fault, and-"
His would-be apology was interrupted as Karkats chair flew backwards into the wall, almost indenting it. Karkat stood almost taller than he normally did, fury written across his features more than ever before. He didn't even realise what he was screaming, but he was raining vocal wrath down on the stranger, and would have beaten him to death with his bare hands if a lanky pair of arms hadn't wrapped around him from behind, holding him fast. Blindly, he lashed out, kicking, elbowing and hitting with the back of his head, but the stranger, if anything, only tightened their grip, holding him fast until he was exhausted, The stranger hadn't moved an inch, and Karkat became aware that his head was in his hands, shoulders wracked with sobs. Karkats body loosened and he found himself falling back into a chair,. Beside him, Gamzee winced as he sat down, and Karkat realised just who had held him back.
"Hey again, bro... Didn't mean to grab you like that, but I heard you screamin' and came running over, and... Fuck, I don't think I've ever seen a motherfucker as angry as you were getting. I had to grab you before you murdered this guy, for your own fuckin' good."
Karkat sat back down, unable to speak for his fury and his tired panting. The stranger was unable to look either of them in the eye. Fuck, it served him right. What would serve him better was a few fists in choice locations, but he didn't have the energy for it anymore. Slowly, he rose, Gamzee keeping a close eye on him, but violence wasn't on his mind. He left the store, not even bothering to close up before heading off towards the hospital. It was a pretty long walk, which was good. He needed time to figure out what he was going to say if Nepeta was awake when he got there. She couldn't have died from a simple car crash. Nepeta was too... Permanent? She'd always been the same, from the moment she'd bounced into the store and asked if he was hiring, despite there being no indication he was, or that he was even the manager.
He hadn't even been all that willing to have her working there. It was hard on his own but he was comfortable on his own too, and wanted it to stay that way. But she didn't give up. She later would reveal that this was because nobody else wanted her, almost making her like a stray puppy. He couldn't just let her be jobless in a world like this, it was needlessly cruel.
So, he took her under his wing, almost instantly regretting it. She was difficult to teach at best, and nigh impossible at worst. The only thing that kept her in the store was her unfailing determination to learn the damned work, and her insane ability to be kind no matter who was in the store. As aforementioned, the hipster who'd plucked up the courage to sexually assault her while she was preparing his drink served as an easy reminder to anyone else that this was no sign of weakness at all.
He almost smiled as he walked towards the hospital, remembering all this. She'd certainly never given up in any area, and although she seemed like a slow learner, within two months she had the whole job down pat. Although she'd certainly messed up later, wounding herself occasionally and coming dangerously close to wounding him. But she'd made herself too invaluable to fire, although that may have been due in part, to his affection for the idea of ordering people around.
Lost in his thoughts, the hospital eventually loomed in the distance. Funny, he thought, how every other time it had seemed like a place of solace and healing. Now, he was a little afraid to go in, to face what awaited him. What if something had gone wrong? What if she was already- No. He could absolutely not think like that. He had to be strong. When he walked in there Nepeta would need to see someone strong, someone happy to see her.
He straightened himself up and walked on, entering the hospital. Inside, he walked to a desk, and inquired as to her location. He was informed, to his dismay, that she was in the ICU still. Still, he pressed on. Visiting hours for non-relatives were just beginning, and soon, he was just outside her room. Taking a deep breath, he walked in...
...To discover her asleep, breathing shallowly. He hadn't been told she was asleep. The monitors were beeping louder than she was breathing. He almost cried at the sight. Almost. He was stronger than that, or so he liked to think. He sat beside her bed, looking closely at her. There were fading wounds on her face, and it was still easy to see that the crash hadn't been gentle at all. He tried to speak, but broken words were all that could come out.
He was saved having to say something by the entry of someone else, who he immediately recognised as Equius. Equius had definitely been past the point of tears, but was putting on a stoic face. He, too, had been expecting Nepeta to be awake, it seemed. Karkat vacated the only seat in the room for him, leaning against the wall as Equius muttered quietly to his closest friend, his hoarse baritone echoing softly, inaudibly. Karkat noticed his clenched fists, the bruised and bloodied knuckles. He hoped nobody had been on the recieving and of his anger.
Karkat slid down the wall, unable to think, or do anything other than worry about Nepeta. He was eventually told the bad news- Nepeta was supposed to be awake and out of ICU, but an unfortunate accident led to her being given a sedative that was far too strong, and she'd fallen into a deep and dangerous sleep, and all they could do was hope she woke up. Thoughts raced around him quickly, too quick to comprehend, and everything faded into a blur.