Who: Amelia & Gavin Where: Green Street When: Tuesday afternoon, 01/23 Status: Complete
Gavin hadn't stayed long at the bar after Jules left. Thankfully, Miles had been able to come in and take over when Gavin told him there was a family emergency. He didn't ask any questions, probably used to the Lucas family emergencies by now and Gavin might have felt more grateful if he wasn't so completely full of existential dread. He hurried home, feeling weirdly out of control of his driving, more so than if he had been drinking. It was that damn exhaustion, muscle deep and mind numbing. He wondered if Jules was right, if that was because of Jasper and the thought of it just made the already heavy weight in his stomach worse.
It didn't feel like a good sign when the first thing that greeted him upon arriving at home were the dogs rushing out to meet him, whining and tugging at him. Amelia didn't answer when he yelled her name and when he found her in the bedroom he had a fleeting moment where he thought she was dead. She looked small, curled up in the center of the bed.
"Amelia," Gavin said shakily, his stomach doing summersaults now, bile rising in his throat. He couldn't do this. If she was dead he was pretty sure his next move was to put a gun in his own mouth because he couldn't do this. "Amelia," he said again, unsteadily approaching the bed, a little jarred when Rude hopped up there and started licking Amelia's hand. He followed him, knelt by her side and tentatively leaned in and touched her. She was warm and she stirred, making him inhale deeply in relief, lungs hurting from not having done so for a little too long. "Wake up sweetie," he whispered and she made the tiniest noise in the back of her throat before her lashes fluttered.
"Daddy," she managed, her voice thin and strained. "I couldn't get up." She didn't smell like alcohol but she looked like she was passing out from too much of it anyway, her words slurred and her body completely still as her eyes closed again after barely even opening in the first place. "I couldn't get up," she repeated faintly. "I wet the bed." Her voice broke and she stopped trying to talk, her shallow breathing a little ragged now.
Gavin was pretty sure she was crying but it was hard to tell when she wasn't sobbing or frowning or anything. Her lashes looked wet and he rubbed her shoulder before he started crawling backwards off the bed, pulling her with him. "It's okay," he murmured, trying to sound reassuring and unbothered by it all even if he thought he was having a damn panic attack. "That's not your fault. You don't worry about a thing, we just gotta go to the hospital and get you a little medicine, you're gonna be just fine."
This wasn't what he'd imagined when he thought Jasper might hurt her but he had no doubt Jules was right, this wasn't normal and getting Amelia out of bed and all bundled up was so hard with his own energy zapped and one arm not fully functional. Later he wouldn't be entirely sure how he did it, just that there was a lot of stumbling and leaning against walls, his stronger arm wrapped tightly around her as he half dragged her out of the house. At least she was fully dressed and he was pretty sure it was the same clothes she'd been wearing the day before - maybe even the day before that too. He thought of calling Aaron to help him or getting her an ambulance but it felt too vital to get her out of the house as fast as he could. He couldn't sit there and wait, he needed to move. Jasper wasn't home but he might be back from wherever he'd gone at any minute and it felt strange to be scared of his own son. Sure, Gavin had often felt nervous around him but to dread his presence like he was a monster was heartbreaking on a whole new level.
Once he'd gotten Amelia in the car he didn't bother going back into the house. The door was left ajar and Gavin couldn't bring himself to care if someone robbed them. He didn't really even stop to catch his breath until he was behind the wheel with the doors locked. He just knew he had to rush because Amelia might still be alive but she looked like she was circling the drain and Jasper might come back. He couldn't help but imagine him changed somehow, like a shadow of himself, morphing into some eldritch horror. Maybe that was for the best, he couldn't imagine Jasper hurting Amelia so it had to be something else. It made sense but that didn't make it less frightening.