Chapter Text
The nurse’s muffled words were cut short as the hospital room door swung open. Bella was careful enough to stop it before it hit the wall. Right behind her stood Gary and Charlie—and then those worried eyes she could stare into for hours.
Ellie stood beside Bella, picking at the zipper of her jacket, her nails catching nervously. Her gaze drifted from Libby's bandaged body—partly hidden under white sheets, thankfully—to her eyes and the longer she looked, the more her expression tightened. Libby was sure she had never seen Ellie like this before. She forced herself to shift her gaze to the other three. Bella looked openly concerned. Charlie appeared conflicted, his posture stiff. Gary seemed to have a few words ready to say, as if he’d been rehearsing them on the way over so he could appear collected.
Max cleared his throat. Standing up from the plush, three-legged chair, he walked toward Bella. From where Libby is, she couldn’t tell whether they were whispering to each other or simply staring.
“How did you guys manage to get past the dozens of nurses and doctors in the corridors?”
“Ask Bella,” Charlie said. “She used fancy words.” He crossed his arms over his chest, the light reflecting off his glasses and hiding his expression—or perhaps his wandering eyes, which kept drifting back to Libby’s battered form.
Ellie’s arms dropped to her side, done with staring at her girlfriend’s hurt body on the hospital bed. She crossed the room in quick, uneven steps and flung her arms around her neck, her nose finding the crook of her neck as if it had always belonged there, inhaling deeply.
Libby let out a small, surprised sound at the near chokehold she suddenly found herself in. One arm hovered in the air for a brief moment before she hooked it around her back, squeezing her closer with as much strength as she could manage. Feeling the murmured words brush against her neck, muffled and watery.
‘‘Don’t ever flubbing do that again. Don’t..’’ Libby didn’t bother to say anything. What was there to say? She, too, found her place in the fabric of Ellie’s jacket, her head falling limply against her shoulder. Libby didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but once they pulled apart, Bella stepped in to have her turn to hug. This one was shorter, and a lot more easier on Libby’s fragile form.
Charlie didnt step in, he stood there like a scolded kid not knowing how to cope with it all. Libby wanted to laugh but decided against it.
Gary? He did step in, not for a hug though. Which would’ve surprised Libby if he did. He simply looked at her for a moment before speaking.
‘‘I was there yesterday. At Cabissto, I didn’t go out to check what happened at first, but then I heard your brother..’’
He glanced subtly towards Max, who had his head on Bella’s shoulder. Talking to each-other quietly about whatever.
‘‘I thought it was just a drunk driver flubbin around.. I should’ve checked. I am glad you are still here Liz.’’
‘‘I am glad I am still here too, Gary. Thanks.’’ He gave a small smile, so close to the one he gave when he promised It’ll get better when they were at his house.
Charlie groaned from where he is along with a resigned sigh.
‘‘Glad you didn’t die before trying to sneak in Hexatech again.. would shuck to go out without answers after all.. that.’’ Libby decided a nod would suffice as an answer. Hoping it wouldn’t make things more awkward.
It had been two, maybe three days since she was in this overly white room with strangers prodding and poking her with whatever they could find. Fun. But hey, Max said she is being discharged today so that’s a win.
Doctors—or nurses—she cant tell the difference, came to tell her that they are going to take the tube in her side, out. They explained that the tube isn’t in her lung itself, but in the pleural space, the thin area between the lungs and the chest wall where air or fluid can collect. And that her lung collapsed because of a rib. Damn. She should probably take her condition more seriously.
They reassured her that it’s a quick procedure and usually feels strange or uncomfortable rather than painful, she chose to stare at one of the doctors(or nurses) rather than whats happening while they pulled the tube and slapped the dressing on. Through the whole thing, Max kept wincing more than she did at the sight of it.
He insisted on being there, so did Ellie and Bella. Though Ellie still had to work and Bella couldn’t visit as often as she liked (Her words, not Libby’s.)
Max? He hadn’t moved an inch from that damned, uncomfortable chair.
She didn’t know what she had expected—he was her brother. They had always been there for each other in ways their mother never was. Even though they lacked most of the motherly love they needed, they had been enough for one another.
Now here she was, back at home but not back at that stuck up garage. She was back in her old room, the room closest to her mothers, Yay.
There wasn’t much there, a green bean bag, an old computer, a wardrobe… and no bed. But Max did found a solution for it, he found a bed frame and a thick mattress to accommodate it.
The weird thing is? No sound from their mother, or.. not so weird. Its their mother after all. She texted Max saying she wont be home for a few days, might be a week she said. So.. yeah.
She doesn’t know what to feel about everything that’s happening. So best to just force them down for the night to think. She huffed and let out a dramatic groan to no one.
Max was outside to get the shopping list done so she was completely alone in the house. She wouldn’t complain if she wasn’t forced to lay down, scrolling through the phone was distracting enough only to some extent. And sadly the silence didn’t help the thoughts getting louder in her head.
She needed―
The jingle of keys outside the front door made her freeze. No way Max could be back this quickly. She heard the door creak open across the hall from her room.
‘‘Libby? You there?’’
Oh. Ellie.