Chapter Text
Xavier couldn’t afford to stop running, the pain radiating throughout his body from the many points of injury threatening to make him collapse where he was. Stopping would mean lying vulnerable in the woods, and they could still be following him, there was no way to know if he had managed to lose them. Looking behind to check would mean slowing down, and slowing down was too close to stopping. So, he pushed himself to keep running toward the grounds of Nevermore and hoped that someone would be nearby when he was finally overtaken by the pain.
They had grabbed Xavier from behind as he had been heading to Uriah’s Heap to try to find a Christmas gift for Wednesday. He couldn’t get her just anything since she had agreed to be in a relationship that was “more than friendship but not boyfriend/girlfriend because those terms are ridiculous” about two weeks into the new school year. Xavier was still waiting for her to approve of any specific term for them to call each other, but he didn’t mind. He almost thought it was his imagination when he saw her running towards him.
“Xavier!” Wednesday called out to him reaching for him as she got close, looking over his shoulder; as if expecting his attackers to be right behind. Xavier finally allowed the pain of his injuries to overtake him and he collapsed into Wednesday’s arms, cradling his broken right arm against his bruised stomach and slinging his left arm around her shoulders to try to keep himself upright.
“I don’t think they’re following me,” Xavier gasped out relieved when Wednesday wrapped one of her own arms around him, she still seemed to be scanning the woods. Thing climbed up Wednesday’s body and perched on her shoulder, squeezing Xavier’s left hand lightly.
“No, they haven’t,” Wednesday frowned at Xavier, eyes scanning him with even more intensity than he was used to, taking in every visible injury and cataloging them away in her mind, “You need to go to the hospital. They will regret this.”
Xavier couldn’t help the slight smile that found its way onto his lips at Wednesday’s promise. He wouldn’t call her words a threat, he knew that even if they didn’t have the relationship that he did with the wonderful girl who was supporting his battered body as they made their way to the school that she would guarantee that the group of normies that had attacked without provocation would suffer.
“I had a vision of you running injured through the woods and realized that you should have been back hours ago,” Wednesday informed, “Who did this to you?”
“I don’t know,” Xavier admitted, both relieved and disappointed that Wednesday hadn’t had a vision about his actual attack. As helpful as it would have been for her to have seen the attack, and thus seen who his attackers were, he didn’t really want anyone to have seen the particulars of this attack.
“We’ll find them,” Wednesday assured, Thing tapped her shoulder and signed at her, though Xavier couldn’t see what it had said. “Right,” Wednesday nodded before turning to look into Xavier’s eyes, “Are you hurt badly where I can’t see? Is your arm the worst of it?”
“My hand, actually,” Xavier admitted looking down at his shattered fingers, “I just-” he cut himself off, he couldn’t say it out loud.
With it being at least five-on-one he hadn’t stood a chance, they’d tied a blindfold around his eyes almost immediately. They’d beaten him savagely with what felt like baseball bats and stomped on him with boot-laden feet. The attack wasn’t filled with the usual jeers, but simmering quiet rage. In the end, they’d worked together to pull him out of the fetal position and extended his right hand out to focus their attack on making sure it was as broken as they could. The attack had ended as abruptly as it began, once he was sure they’d all left him alone, Xavier had pulled off the blindfold and run toward the school.
“I see,” Wednesday stated as she came to a stop next to the steps to the school. Ajax quickly made his way over to them, “We need to get Xavier to the hospital, quickly.”
“I’ll go get the nurse!” the gorgon ran off.
“You’re coming with me, right?” Xavier asked as they waited for the nurse to arrive. He was the staff member who was typically in charge of deciding when trips to the hospital were necessary and usually accompanied the students there personally.
“Of course,” Wednesday stated plainly, “I wouldn’t leave you to go through this alone.” Communication with his gothic love had come a long way, Wednesday was working on being more conscientious of how the words she said affected the small circle of people she cared about (mainly himself, Enid, Thing, and Eugene) and Xavier was getting better at understanding the subtle shifts in tone and facial expression.
Xavier swayed, and Wednesday brought her other arm around him and repositioned herself to better support him, “I’d let you sit, but I think standing is the only thing keeping you conscious right now.” She told him and Xavier pressed his forehead against the top of her head and closed his eyes.
“You won’t let me fall,” He spoke with certainty and felt her stand just a little taller while supporting him. The world was spinning and the pain was getting harder to ignore; except for his right arm which was going alarmingly numb.
“Oh my!” Nurse Jenkins gasped, “We must get you to the hospital immediately.” The man reached out to help support Xavier. However, Xavier jerked away, flinching and not wanting to be touched. “Okay, okay,” the werecat reassured, “Wednesday, help Xavier over to my car, we’ll all head down to the hospital together.”
-_-_-
Xavier wasn’t sure how long they’d been at the hospital, but the pain medication was making him extra tired and everything was fuzzy. Nurse Jenkins was out trying to call his father, apparently, the hospital could only do so much without parental permission. “What if I can’t draw anymore?” he found himself saying.
“Don’t talk like that,” Wednesday ordered standing up from the chair to stand directly next to the bed, “The doctors said that with surgery and physical therapy it is possible to get full control back. And even if not, I am sure you will always find a way to draw.”
“But what if Nurse Jenkins can’t get my dad to answer?” Xavier looked imploringly at Wednesday, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. The day was catching up with him and the pain medication certainly wasn’t helping him to maintain his composure. He felt himself begin to tremble and tears spilled down his cheeks.
Wednesday settled into the bed next to him, sitting shoulder to shoulder with his less injured side. Xavier leaned into her and was surprised when she wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders. “I don’t know,” Wednesday said, and Xavier knew there was more to her statement. It wasn’t that long ago that Wednesday would have listed all the medical possibilities without realizing how upsetting that might be. Now, she was censoring herself in a way that Xavier appreciated, he could imagine the possibilities himself.
For now, he closed his eyes and breathed as deeply and evenly as he could. Having all the medical personnel touching him had been torture at the beginning of this. For once, he felt like he could sympathize with his fellow psychic’s aversion to touch. Wednesday was typically very particular about who touched her, for how long, and when. After the attack, he didn’t really want anyone he wasn’t completely sure was safe getting that close to him.
Resting against Wednesday was safe, he was quite certain that she would do everything in her power to prevent any further harm from coming to him. Also, whether or not anyone else would believe it, Xavier was certain that she cared quite a lot about him. “Distract me,” Xavier requested, not wanting to start thinking about how little his father cared for him.
“How?” Wednesday asked, sounding almost annoyed. Her arm stayed around him, and she shifted her chin so it was on top of his head. With him mostly lying on the bed and Wednesday sitting more upright she seemed taller than him for once, “I don’t believe any of my stories are appropriate for this situation.”
“What were you doing when you got the vision,” Xavier asked, he kept his eyes closed, he hadn’t realized how much the lights had been bothering him until he had felt safe enough to close them.
“I was waiting for you if your shed. You told me that you wanted to show me something after your run. I decided to expedite things by heading over and waiting for you. I was examining your tools, then when I touched one I saw you running injured through the woods.”
“And you came running for me,” Xavier concluded when she’d trailed off, “You hate running.”
“Running is something that should only be done when absolutely necessary,” Wednesday insisted, “I will never understand why you insist on doing such an activity for recreation purposes.”
“It’s relaxing, it helps me clear my mind,” Xavier said, “I’m just glad I fall into the category of absolutely necessary.”
Wednesday hummed at him before sighing and staring out the window. Xavier stayed resting against the girl as they sat and waited to see if his father would give consent for the surgery that was needed to give him the best chance at regaining the use of his hand.