Work Text:
The woman with the braided hair tightened her grip on the golf club and turned to face a motionless Joel. Ellie jumped between pleas for Joel to get up and for them to not do this, to swearing that she would kill all of them. The braided hair one clearly not caring what she had to say as she brought the club high over her head, and Ellie screamed as she brought it down-
Ellie's eyes snapped open and she jackknifed into a sitting position, sweeping over the room for non-existent threats before her brain caught up. Her eyes slipped shut and she took a few deep breaths, trying desperately to get her heart rate back down to normal. She wasn't in the lodge, she was in her room, and those people weren't here anymore.
Ellie swung her legs over the side of the bed and rested her head in her hands for a moment, still trying to calm down. After a few minutes she slowly lifted her head up and gave one final exhale before turning to look at the clock. It read one thirty-two. She had barely lasted two hours before getting plagued by nightmares. Turning back she stared down at the floor and tried to reassure herself that it was fine, he was fine. She had just visited him with Dina before heading back here to try and get some sleep.
Her overactive mind told her otherwise. Images flashing before her eyes of him waking up by himself and panicking, hurting himself even more. Or of him starting to slip under, slowly dying with no one around to help him. Or of Her coming back to finish what she started while he was alone and vulnerable. Ellie was on her feet and moving towards the door before she even realized it, only stopping to put on her boots and coat she headed out and started walking to the clinic.
It was bitterly cold outside, but she barely paid the temperature any mind. She tried to push the nightmare from her mind and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other, but the memory of that day refused to leave her alone.
She remembered waking up to Dina's voice, remembered Joel's lifeless body laying across from her. She had started sobbing as she pulled herself over to him, whispering please over and over again to whoever, or whatever was listening because she couldn't lose him to, please not him to. When she had gotten within reach of him she had placed a shaky hand on his side and felt a fresh wave of grief sweep through her. She rested her head on his shoulder letting the tears fall freely, only to lift her head up in surprise, thinking that she had heard a small noise from him. Not trusting her own ears she had carefully pressed her fingers to his wrist and, after a tense few moments, felt a weak thump.
She had started crying again, feeling relief flood her, and had hoarsely called out that he was still alive. Dina and Jesse had been helping a pale Tommy to his feet, but they all looked up at her in shock before Jesse ran out of the room saying he was going to get the emergency med pack. Ellie carefully rolled Joel onto his back and felt bile claw at the back of her throat as she looked down his legs. His knee was--It was. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before looking it over again. They wouldn't be able to save the leg. She wasn't a doctor, but even she knew that.
Dina sat down next across from Ellie as Jesse ran back into the room, between the four of them they managed to get him patched up with the exception of his leg. Ellie stared down at the pool of blood beneath it, then turned to look at Tommy. He tossed a look over his shoulder to the room where Ellie could still hear the fire crackling before turning back to her. The two shared a wordless glance and Tommy stood up, looking around the lodge for a piece of metal that would be big enough. The cauterizing had been unpleasant, even though he was unconscious Joel had still groaned in pain which had Ellie quietly whispering apologizes and promising that they would get him back to Jackson soon.
With Joel as patched up as they could get him with their limited resources, and Dina checking to make sure it was safe to move his head, they built a sled to attach to one of the horse, piled blankets on top of him, and start on their way back. They sent Jesse ahead so the doctor could get ready. It had taken a little over an hour to get back to Jackson, but for Ellie it had felt like a lifetime. She had constantly tossed looks over her shoulder at Joel, making sure he was still breathing. Tommy was uncharacteristically quiet for the whole ride back, scanning the treeline with a dark look in his eyes as if daring something to try and attack them.
Pulling up to Jackson she saw a group of people milling around the entrance and she recognized the woman in front barking orders as Doctor Watral. She wasted no time in telling a couple of nurses to get Joel onto a stretcher, and stared quickly making their way to the hospital while she started looking him over. After exchanging glances Tommy, Ellie, and Dina had followed behind.
Ellie shook herself out of her memories as she quietly approached the entrance to the hospital. Well hospital was a strong word, it was more like a clinic. The nurse behind the desk looked up as she open then door, but at the sight of her he just smiled patiently and gave her a nod before looking back down at his papers. Ellie slowly made her way through the halls until she came to Joels room. Taking a deep breath she turned the doorknob and walked in.
The steady beeping of a heart monitor greeted her as she entered. Ellie stood there for a moment and looked him over. He had healed a bit in the two weeks since that day, but he hadn't woken up once. Dr. Watral had said that she wasn't surprised. She told them that, due to the amount of stress his body had gone under, it could possibly be weeks, or even months before he woke up. Ellie's eyes drifted over to the couch and she felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth at the sight if Tommy sleeping on the couch.
When Dr. Watral had walked out to the waiting room to speak with them after, hours? Ellie wasn't entirely sure how long they had waited, that entire day had just been one long blur to her. She told them that he was stable, but these next few weeks would be touch-and-go and that they would need to keep a very close eye on him. So there had been a rotation of people in and out of his room. Ellie had honestly been blown away over the kindness she had received these past two weeks. She has gotten flowers, cards, food, and people offering to cover her patrols so she could spend more time both resting and with him.
And Dina, beautiful, wonderful Dina had been nothing short of an angel. She made sure Ellie had eaten and drank enough day to day, and tried to spend as much time with her to try as possible, doing whatever she could to get her mind off things. Ellie was pretty sure she would have gone crazy by now if it wasn't for her.
She closed the door quietly and walked over to the chair. After pushing it closer to the bed she climbed in and put the foot rest up, pushed on the back until the chair was as flat as she could get it. Rolling onto her side she rested her head on her arm and just listened to Joel breathing, feeling her anxiety melt away with each exhale. Doc said that this was going to be an uphill battle, said that it was a miracle he had even made it this far, but Ellie wasn't surprised. Joel was strong, he had to be to survive this long.
After a few minutes she felt her eye lids began to droop and she felt exhaustion pull at them. She reached out and gently placed her hand on his arm feeling a memory tug at the back of her mind of the last time he had been this badly injured. Last time they didn't have a clinic, or a doctor, or medical equipment. So if he could survive that, he could survive this. Before she slipped under she gently murmured the same thing she had told him then, and still believed every word.
"You're gonna make it."