Will Stutely (sly_stutely) wrote in nevermore_logs, @ 2020-12-26 20:27:00 |
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Entry tags: | clio, will stutely |
WHO Will Stutely and Clio (and Ella!)
WHEN Boxing Day
WHERE Clio’s house
WHAT A homecoming
WARNINGS TBA
Clio, good to her word, had barely left Will’s side from the moment she’d arrived in the hospital. She’d taken care of everything, got him a private room and firmly insisted on paying for every treatment and test that he needed. One the occasions when she did leave, she’d always return bearing still-hot muffins or fresh clothing or shampoo or other necessities that felt like utter luxuries. When a hospital administrator had stopped by his room for a discreet discussion with Clio about treatment costs, Will had found himself picturing Marian perched at the end of his bed, ranting at top volume about the inhumanity of the US healthcare system and drug companies that cashed in on people’s desperation. He couldn’t stop seeing Marian everywhere. Or rather, it was the absence of her that he saw: the spaces into which she’d usually fit standing starkly empty. Will wasn’t stupid; he knew what survivor’s guilt was. He’d been here before. But understanding it didn’t stop it from biting. They discharged him after two nights. Freshly showered, his wounds cleaned and dressed, the burn of them numbed by painkillers, and loaded up with antibiotics, Will was beginning to feel halfway back toward something like normal. (That wasn’t a betrayal. He tried to remind himself of that. Tried not to think of Marian caged and shackled while the doctor declared him a free man.) The journey back was a weird sort of blur. They’d swung past Alan and Scarlet’s place long enough to pick up some clothes, along with Ella’s Christmas present. Clio’s was still in pieces in the workshop, left incomplete when he was taken by the Sheriff, but Ella’s he had finished across a span of sleepless nights at the apartment, whittling in an effort to still his racing thoughts. And before he knew it, Clio was pulling up to the kerb in front of the familiar brownstone. Before she could climb out of the car, Will laid a hand over hers and leaned across to capture her lips in a lingering kiss. “I’m not sure I’ve thanked you properly yet.” |