together again, but scared Who: Finn and Audrey and later Liam Where: Their house, on the way to the hospital, hospital When: late evening
Finn had waited as long as he could, finally finding Liam and pushing him into the space that they’d taken Eli that they wouldn’t let Finn into. He hadn’t even seen his wounds taken care of, but they’d stopped bleeding, drying stuck to his shirt and it didn’t matter otherwise. What mattered was getting them all in the same place. Which was why, when no one was looking, he left. He could still hear the growls, but his goal was home and he was able to move quickly, letting himself in and shutting the door behind him to call for her. “Audrey!” Audrey had been home. She was in the living room, listening to some music as she went over notes for the children's program, and wondering just how long everyone was going to have to remain inside. She knew there were dire things happening, but part of her was trying very desperately to not focus on it. When Finn called for her, she was up in a shot, however, walking over to the door. "Hey--oh my god what happened?!" she said, spotting blood right away. She was there, checking him over, for injury.
Finn looked at himself and waved her away. “Most of it’s not mine,” he said, even if a fair share of it was. “We need to go. Eli’s been hurt.” He was reaching for a jacket for her, holding it out to her, not even paying attention to whose it was.
It was like someone had dropped the bottom out of her stomach. "What?" she asked. "He's--I--" She took the jacket numbly, also not paying attention to who's it was. The boy-scent in it dictated it was one of the guy's though. "Let's go." She could continue to freak out after she saw how bad things were.
“Liam’s with him. And the healers.” Finn had made sure of it. “We have to move quickly, the wolves are out and I will not let you get hurt.” He was already reaching for her hand, not the hand he’d need for his hatchet, which was still on his hip, stained with blood that thankfully was wolf and not Eli’s.
The hospital. God. When Finn took her hand, she laced her fingers through hers, grabbing the old baseball bat they kept in the porch just in case. They could make this run quickly, right? "Tell me he's going to be okay."
Finn didn’t know the answer to that question. He thought maybe, but Eli had been in and out of it by the time he’d gotten them there. It was hard for Finn to lie to Audrey, but it was one of those situations where the leader in him said it was a good idea. “He will.”
That was what she needed to hear. It was why she'd phrased it the way she had. She didn't ask if he was going to be okay, she told him to tell her he was. It was enough to keep her moving, falling quiet as they rushed to the hospital.
Finn guessed he’d said the right thing and as they hurried he squeezed her hand, keeping her close. They were too far from the hospital. That much he’d decided halfway there. It was too far for Liam to walk, to drag a half conscious Eli. Too far to make sure that Audrey got there safe and sound without any issues. Moving seemed ridiculous, but Finn was almost instantly displeased when where their home was. Too far.
Audrey was keeping her concentration on moving. She heard gunshots ring out in the distance, and that was a sound that echoed down her memory. Her immediate thought when she heard them was 'stop, you'll attract more!' But they weren't out there with zombies, were they. It didn't work like that. It had her running faster, though.
Finn hurried with her, though the shots had caught his attention as well. Handguns. Maybe a shotgun, but it was too mingled with the others to tell. Flashes of his father explaining what each sounded like, telling him to learn it or die without knowing who shot him. “We’re almost there,” he told Audrey, seeing the building up ahead, but it wasn’t for her. It was for him.
The home stretch was hard, she was out of breath by then and a wicked stitch was forming in her side, but they did make it. They got there, the automatic doors sliding open, and she looked around as if she was going to see Eli on a stretcher somewhere, even if that was probably ridiculous.
He would normally have been breathing easier, but the exertion had ripped at the scabs on his wounds, pulled the shirt from where it was stuck to them and without realizing it Finn was wincing. It was only for a moment, then he was moving forward, fighting through the pain to head to where he’d seen Eli last.
Liam was doing the best he could to keep it together. When he was working, he'd tried to tell himself that this was just another person that needed to be healed, not Eli. Not his friend, not his family, not someone that he would die without. But it didn't work. He'd been patching up things, covered in blood that was Eli's and probably something else's and it was still digging a deep hole in his core. His eyes were dark while he worked, helping Dr. Micah with things that he'd needed and once they'd gotten Eli patched up, Liam had refused to leave his side. The other nurses weren't necessarily but they came and went while Liam stayed plastered to Eli's side, hand on his friend's while he waited for Audrey and Finn.
Finding the room turned out to not be that hard, and Audrey was rushing in with Finn, pulling up short with a sharp gasp as she saw him lying there. Tears immediately sprang to her eyes, and she didn't know what to say. It felt like her world had abruptly become a vaccuum. She had visions of them when they were little, on the bus where they totally didn't sit together at all, so on and so forth. Audrey had just really come to terms with the idea that she wasn't doing well with the concept that her boys might be moving on with their lives. But the idea that one wouldn't be there at all was something she couldn't in any way handle.
But it's your job to! Stop right now! You have to keep yourself together!! she immediately chastised herself. Because she did need to do that. It was her only real function. She held it together because everyone else was worse at it than she was. So she sank her teeth hard into the inside of her cheek, hard enough to taste blood, to kill the tears, and she swallowed the lump in her throat.
Finn heard the gasp, still holding her hand and that close to her. Instinctively, he moved to shield her, pulling her closer to his side. That probably didn't help considering how bloody he was, a mixture of his own and Eli's staining his clothes. "How is he?" He asked Liam.
Liam looked up to see Finn and Audrey there, fine and safe and healthy, and that helped counteract a little of the awful he was feeling at the sight of Eli but not much. "He's…hurt," He answered, not sure how else to put it nicely. He wasn't in great shape, not in the slightest, but then anything more than a paper-cut on Eli was awful, awful shape where Liam was concerned. This was just massively bad shape. He stood up and went around to both Finn and Audrey, stepping close enough to bring Audrey in for a small hug. She looked like she needed it and right now, he could use another hug too. "He's patched…but hurt."
Audrey hugged both boys to her tight, as she cut off the panicked anguish going on beneath the surface of her mind. Then she gave them both kisses on the cheeks, and centered her attention on Eli. "He's going to need new clothes, and we'll need to get him his homework, and talk to his boss. She turned her eyes on Liam. "Does he need meds?" she asked, reaching up to quickly swipe at the tears that had come to her eyes to get them away. "I'll go fill his prescription as soon as we can. When was the last time you slept?"
Finn was watching Audrey because he knew what Eli looked like. Actually, despite being unconscious, Eli looked better than he had when Finn saw him last. "In the morning. We can do it in the morning. No one goes out again." He reached for Audrey's hand, holding it tight again.
Liam felt like that was a lot of questions to answer and he wanted to give Audrey an answer for all of them, but he started with something easy. "I'm fine," He promised, voice gentle as he squeezed her hand. "Get meds…we get them before we go. He can't go yet, though…We can stay here, all of us…" Liam offered, knowing he'd be able to pull the strings to make sure everyone was allowed here all night. He could ask Dr. Micah and he was pretty sure the doctor would let them stay.
Audrey nodded. Staying here was a damn good idea. Especially since she knew all of them. They would have no intention of leaving. Not without Eli right there with them. Looking to Finn, she nodded. "Don't worry, no one's going to try to go anywhere." she promised, figuring he needed the assurance. Then she looked to Liam again. "I'm sure you're fine, but that's not what I asked. You were here all night before--I'm guessing you need sleep. We can do it like we used to. Shifts." She looked back at Eli. "...I would like first watch."
Finn nodded at Audrey's affirmation, but saw the way she was looking at Eli. "Have you eaten?" He asked Liam, nodding over towards Audrey, silently suggesting she might like time alone with Eli. Usually Finn didn't need all his words with Liam.
"Couple hours ago, nap." He explained, thinking that would help pacify the fact that he'd been told to slept a lot longer ago than just his nap. Dr. Micah was doing a great job of looking out for him during all of this and Liam was thankful, even if he felt he could still be doing more. The exhaustion wouldn't hit him until later, after the adrenaline was gone. He looked back at Finn and shook his head. "…Crackers, kinda." Glancing Audrey's way again, he spoke up. "…we can bring food."
Audrey still thought people should rest, but food was good too. "I'm not hungry, but you two should eat. Then rest. We can't keep Eli covered if none of us actually rests." she told them, walking over to sit by the bed.
Finn kept his eyes on Audrey until she was settled, then he nodded. “Come along Liam. We won’t be long.” He had Liam’s shoulder, steering him towards the door. They’d get food for all three of them, make sure they had a store before they stuck to the room to keep watch over Eli.