Chapter Text
Nat was alone in a hospital room. Her suit pants were uncomfy, although that was likely the least of her concerns. Her white shirt is soaked in deep red, drying blood, and she couldn’t really see out of her left eye. She was dazed, she couldn’t fully recollect where she came from, her memories sat in scattered flashes across the course of time. She could only assume the blood was coming from her head, where a large piece of gauze was strapped across her face, probably just as bloodstained as the rest of her clothes.
Lottie burst in, a look of horror on her face. She looked somewhat dazed as well, staring across the room at Nat, who stared blankly back.
“Leave me alone.” Nat said finally.
“Nat,” Lottie said, staring at her, her eyes drifting from her clothes to her one eye. “What did you do.”
“The fireworks were awesome.” Nat said, a small grin coming across her face. “Except for the one that went in my eye.” Nat points towards where her left eye was. “What happened to you?”
Lottie looked disheveled at best, her hair was frizzy, her eyes had large, dark bags under them. She was in heels, but they were covered in mud.
“I fell asleep at the kitchen table.” Lottie admits.
“What?”
“I just did.” Lottie says. “I had some drinks when I got home.”
“What about that guy?” Nat asks. “That guy… that guy you live with.”
“He’s sleeping. He was sleeping when I got home.” Lottie says. “Why’d you do this?”
“Why do you have mud all over your legs?”
“Why’d you do this?”
“I asked you first.” Nat says.
“You did not.” Lottie snaps. “Stop acting like a child. You’re such a spaz. You shouldn’t be left alone with explosives.”
“I didn’t want to be alone.” Nat says.
“It's all my fault now.” Lottie says. “The night before I have to bury my father.”
“What are you even doing here?” Nat asks.’
“Misty Quigley called me.” Lottie says.
“Misty… from high school?”
“Shes a nurse here. She said you came in and you kept saying my name. So she called me.” Lottie sighed. “They thought you tried to kill yourself.”
“Who tries to kill themselves with a firework?” Nat scoffs.
“I know.” Lottie says. “I told them no, you’re just a crackhead dumbass with shit for brains, I told them you’d never commit suicide because you wouldn’t have any scars to show off afterward.” Lottie explains. “Anyway. She said you got hurt.”
“Why’d you come?”
“I don’t know, Nat. I was asleep on the kitchen table and Misty calls me from the freaking hospital.” Lottie looks Nat up and down. “Look at you. Your tooth and now your eye.”
“Why do you have mud all over your legs?” Nat asks again.
Lottie sighs. “I drove halfway, but the car got stuck in the mud.” She explains.
“What do you mean?” Nat asks, clearly baffled by this.
“I mean, I drove part of the way until the car got stuck in the mud.” Lottie says again.
“The car got stuck in the mud.” Nat says, as if not believing it. Lottie was many things, an irresponsible driver was not one of them.
“Yeah.” Lottie says, catching a whiff of Nat’s suspicion.
“What are you even talking about?” Nat asks. “What mud? Where is there mud between the hospital and your house that you could get stuck in?” Lottie's family was wealthy enough to not have the issue of
“Just don’t…” Lottie says. “Just shut up.” Nat continues to stare at Lottie, a look of blank concern in her eye. “There’s mud. On the side of the road.” Lottie finally admits.
“What, you veered off the road?” Nat asks, suddenly shaking the fog out of her head. “Are you drunk?”
“No!” Lottie insists, crossing her arms. “It’s just the windshield is all jacked up because the guy I live with hit a tree last February, and I couldn’t see, and there was this mist or fog or something.” Nat raises an eyebrow. “And I drank a few vodkas. But I mostly slept those off.”
Nat sighs. “So you just… left the car?”
“You know how I get!” Lottie says.
“How you get?” Nat asks.
“Fuck you.” Lottie’s voice darkens. “You know how I get. When you get hurt. You know.”
Nat draws in a careful breath. “Doctor said I’m gonna be blind in one eye.”
“Nat…” Lottie finally approaches her, sitting next to her on the hospital bed. She rubs her eyes, before waiting for him to continue.
“It’s gone. The whole thing.” Nat laughs, not out of joy, just confusion. “But I think it wasn’t just the poke. It was the burn too. The thing kept burning once it had punctured the eye. And so the burn really messed it all up.” Nat explains. Her voice doesn’t contain a trace of sadness, just processing.
“You always had problems with that eye.” Lottie says.
“Yeah.” Nat replies.
“The chopping wedge.” Lottie says.
Nat nods. “The wedge.”
“And that girl who skated on your eye, right? When you were little?” Lottie looks at Nat, to find that Nat has already met her eyes. “And then senior year. The tabasco sauce.”
“And pinkeye.” Nat adds.
“Yeah.”
“I gave you pinkeye that time.” Nat says slowly, trying to recall.
“No, you didn’t. I never got it.” Lottie reminds her.
“I think about that all the time.” Nat says. Lottie doesn’t answer, so she repeats, the medicine making her drowsy. “I think about that all the time. I always think about it.”
“Yeah, well, you’re a freak.” Lottie jokes at Nat, who chuckles halfheartedly.
“I didn’t want you to come in here.” Nat says, laying back on the bed.
“Yeah, right.” Lottie rolls her eyes.
“I mean, I’m glad you’re here. For sure.” Nat says. “But you have the funeral tomorrow and everything. You should go home. Take a bath. Get some rest.”
“Shut up.” Lottie says. “I don’t feel like walking back to my car just yet.”
“Wow.” Nat says. “You’re really drunk, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m just bleary. I feel like I just woke up.” Lottie says. “You don’t understand the week I’ve had. I have to get a call at work to tell me my dad’s lying dead in the driveway.” Lottie says. “And then dealing with… everyone. And this shit. And then tonight, you come riding into town. Here’s Nat, five years later all of a sudden.” Nat just continues to stare at Lottie. “I haven’t slept. I just haven’t slept in like…” Lottie thinks hard, but can’t seem to remember. “I don’t know. Four years or something.”
Lottie turns to look at Nat, who slowly holds four fingers out for Lottie to see. “How many fingers am I holding up?” She asks.
“Four.” Lottie says.
Nat slowly puts three fingers now, a sly grin spreading across her face as only her middle finger is stuck up, right towards Lottie’s face.
“How ‘bout now?”
“Shut up.” Lottie says, while Nat laughs to herself.
Nat sits up. “We can both hardly see.”
Lottie smiles at Nat, who seems to be in a much better mood.
“Maybe that’s for the best.”
They sit in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say.
“What’s gonna happen with us?” Nat asks.
“Nothing.” Lottie says.
“Seriously.” Nat prods.
“I don’t know, what?”
“I don’t know.” Nat says, squinting at Kayleen. “I think I’m seeing two of you.”
“I’m seeing two of you, too.” Lottie says.
Nat jumps to her feet, holding out a hand to Lottie. “Let’s dance.”
“Shut up.” Lottie says, sighing.
“No, we’re both seeing double.” Nat says. “We can dance, all four of us. We can play ring-around-the rosy.” Nat suggests.
“Sit down.” Lottie says, but it’s too late. Nat’s holding her hands, pulling Lottie to her feet. “I’m seriously dizzy!” Lottie warns.
“Me too!” Nat exclaims.
The two of them lean against each other, awkwardly swaying around the hospital room. Eventually, they start smiling, and laughing, Nat sings a song without much talent but all the passion adrenaline and hospital pain medication gave her. Nat slowly reaches for Lottie’s hand, bringing it to her face.
“Will you touch it?” Nat asks.
“What?” Lottie says, surprised.
“My eye.”
“You don’t have an eye.” Lottie says, wincing at the thought.
“My eye socket.” Nat clarifies.
“That’s disgusting.” Lottie says, taking a step back to lean against the bed. “I probably can’t smoke in here, right?”
“Will you touch it?” Nat repeats.
“What are you talking about? Stop being weird.” Lottie says, sighing.
“You’ve always been able to mend my wounds.” Nat says, leaning on the bed next to Lottie.
“Great, glad I could’ve been of service.” Lottie says, fumbling with a pack of cigarettes. “I’m just going to smoke. What are they going to do?”
“I know it’s probably superstition, but I kind of need it. You know you always do it.” Nat says.
“I don’t always do anything.” Lottie says, struggling to light her cigarette.
“You’ve got like, superpowers.” Nat says. “Even tonight. When we kissed, you kissed my missing tooth. The gap. And it stopped hurting.”
“Well, I’m not touching your disgusting eye socket.” Lottie says.
Nat sighs, lifting her hand to the bandages over her eye, trying to get them loose.
“What are you doing?” Lottie asks.
“You’ll do it. You’ll touch it. You’ll heal me. The pills only last so long.” Nat mumbles.
“Stop that.”
“Once the pills wear off, it’s going to kill again. You’ve got to just touch it.” Nat says.
“Nat, stop doing that!”
Nat gets the bandages loose, peeling the top layer off before working on the next one. “It’s okay. I know what I’m doing, okay?”
“I really don't want to see this,” Lottie lifts her hand, shielding her gaze as she turns away.
“I just need you to help me out, Lottie.” Nat sighs. “You know. You know what you do.” Nat has removed all the bandages, leaving only a bloody, disgusting piece of gauze over Nat’s eye. “Will you please just touch my eye?”
“Get away from me!” Lottie says, backing towards the door. “Nat, I can’t look at that, please.” She finally manages to get her cigarette lit, looking at Nat. “Put your… put that stuff back over it! This can’t be healthy, come on!”
“You can make it better.” Nat says weakly.
“No,” Lottie says. “No, I can’t. Leave me alone.”
“Just touch it! Once!” Nat begs.
“No! I will not!” Lottie yells. “I’m not here to take care of you, Nat. I am not a healer.”
“I’m in pain, do you understand that?” Nat yells back.
“I don’t care!” Lottie says, before realizing what she says.
Nat stares for a moment. “Then leave! Get out of here.” When Lottie doesn’t move. Nat yells again “Fucking go!”
Lottie and Nat stare at each other for a bit, before Lottie turns and leaves.
⋆.˚✮⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺✮˚.⋆