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“I could only find my way back to myself because of you.”
With a peck on her lips, I run the tap and grab some paper towels, washing the blood from her.
"Let me see if I can find you something to change into that's less... bloody."
"Thank you," she murmurs gratefully as I duck out of the bathroom and find a nurse. I’m given a pair of hunter-green scrubs, which Emilia swaps her ruined clothes for, and we head back out to the waiting room and a stressed Hawk.
“Any update?” Emilia asks as soon as she sees him.
He shakes his head, handing each of us a cup of crappy but strong coffee. “Nothing yet.”
Snapping his gaze to Emilia, he reaches out and interlocks their fingers, tugging her onto the chair beside him. Draping his arm over her shoulder, his eyes run over her. "How are you? Are you hurt?"
She shakes her head. “I’m fine. Just concerned about Wilder.”
He gives her a tight smile. “It will take a lot more than a few stab wounds to take him out for good.”
Eventually, a nurse arrives with an update, and we can see him. "He’s just waking up, so he’s still a little groggy," she warns as we step into his room.
“But he’ll be okay?” Emilia asks, unable to look away from Wilder.
He’s got a bag of fluids attached to a needle in his arm, and another machine hooked up to his chest. In a washed-out hospital gown and still looking half-dead, he appears more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen him. I find myself hoping he’ll open his eyes and pierce me with his sharp, umber stare.
“We gave him a blood transfusion. He may need another one, but we won’t know for sure for a few more hours. Overall? Yeah, he’ll be fine.”
I think we all breathe a sigh of relief at that reassurance, and as though pulled by an invisible string, Emilia moves to the side of his bed. Her hands hover, unsure where to settle, before landing on his arm and squeezing it to let him know she was there.
The nurse quietly exits, leaving us alone. Pulling a chair over to Emilia, I nudge her into it before leaning against the wall behind her while Hawk claims the one on Wilder’s other side.
"I’m glad you’re okay," Emilia says softly to him. "But I am so furious with you, Wilder. I’m done taking any more of your shit. I’m here. I’m right fucking here, and I’m not going anywhere. You’re just going to have to start believing that, or I’m going to go all Hadley on your ass."
"Angel," groans Wilder, his voice barely audible, his eyes still closed. Emilia immediately sits straighter in her chair. "You’re going to give me a boner, and this crappy hospital gown will do nothing to hide it. You’ll make the other two jealous."
“Shut the fuck up, asshole,” Hawk snaps, but there’s no heat behind it, and a smile plays on his lips.
Wrenching his eyes open, Wilder scowls against the bright lights. Emilia fusses over him, pouring him water from a jug on his bedside table and helping him to sit up.
"What happened?" Wilder asks when he’s settled again. His nose scrunched, he says, "Last thing I remember, I was pouring my guts out to you."
He stares at Emilia with a rawness in his eyes that I’ve never seen before.
"Yeah," Emilia grumbles. "You and I are going to have words about that later." Despite the edge in her voice, her hand holds Wilder’s hostage in a death grip.
"Well, when we showed up, Emilia was acting like a human shield between you and Mel," Hawk deadpans, eyes intent on Wilder. "Seemingly intent on dying alongside you."
He shifts his ire to Emilia, a reminder that she’s not off the hook for that stunt she pulled.
She had called Hawk at work, concerned after her altercation with Wilder in the library. Always a bit of a loose cannon, Hawk had told her not to worry, then had called Wilder himself, ready to ream him out for being a dick.
When he couldn’t get in touch with him, he tracked the GPS on his phone, which showed he was somewhere on the edge of campus. Hawk thought it was strange, and when his location didn’t change, he became worried and called Emilia while coming to get me.
I don’t know if it’s because Mel is systematically targeting us or because Wilder apparently tried to fuck Emilia in the library—fucking idiot—and Mel caught him. Still, either way, we were worried she’d gone after him and specifically told Emilia to wait until we got there before going to find him.
“I didn’t know she was going to be there,” she argues. “It was the obvious first place to look, and I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing while I waited for you.”
“That’s exactly what you were supposed to do,” Hawk grinds.
"You put yourself between her and me?" Wilder asks, interrupting their argument as he stares at Emilia like he’s never seen her before. Confusion and awe mar his features.
