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When I was sure Lucy was out of earshot, I turned to George to softly admonish him. “You shouldn't have said that. About what listening can do.”
George shot me a look that said, seriously? “Well, someone has to. She got way too close to Annabel, and... Listeners can burn out. And we need to look after her. She's good, and... she's finally starting to get me.”
George was right. I knew he was. I also felt the slightest twinge of jealousy with his words and barreled right past it - unwilling to examine that emotion.
“She's a lot tougher than you think,” I said instead, ignoring what George could’ve meant by Lucy “getting” him.
George hummed in agreement.
As I watched the basement steps for Lucy’s return, we both suddenly heard a large crash.
George called down “Uh... Everything okay down there?”
There was no response.
“Luce?"
Glancing at George, we both knew immediately something was wrong.
“Luce? Lucy? Everything okay?” we both called down as we made our way down the stairs.
As soon as I rounded the steps, I saw her lying prone on the ground.
What the fuck had happened?
“Luce?!” I called out as I ran over to her side.
I tried shaking her gently and calling her name to see if she stirred. Nothing.
My heart stopped for a moment as I checked to make sure she was still breathing and had a pulse.
“She’s breathing fine and her pulse is strong. I’m not sure what happened,” I said as George gently lifted her head to see if she had blood anywhere.
“She looks fine, Lockwood. Just… asleep?”
There’s no way Lucy would’ve just fallen asleep in the basement. But since there didn’t seem to be anything wrong, and knowing how much Lucy disliked hospitals, I decided that it would just be best to let her sleep it off.
Not here though.
“Ok George, help me get her up.”
I stood up as George helped get her propped up. Putting one arm behind her back and one under her knees, I lifted her up bridal style.
“Do you want me to help you carry her?”
“No, just go ahead of me and make sure all the doors are open and nothing’s on the stairs,” I responded as I began to walk towards the basement stairs.
While carrying her, I marveled just how small Lucy was. It was a fact I often forgot. Her feisty nature and never-back-down attitude always made her seem so much larger than her smaller-than-average frame.
Gently, slowly, and carefully, I made my way up the stairs. When we finally made it to her room, I asked George to go make her something to drink for when she wakes up.
Because she absolutely will wake up. I couldn’t let myself consider any other possibility.
Once George was out of the room, I laid her down gently on her bed.
She probably wouldn’t want to sleep in shoes, right?
I didn’t let myself think twice about it as I went about unlacing her boots and carefully peeling them off, placing them by the side of her bed so she could grab them if she needed.
Looking at her, I wondered what else she’d need. She’ll probably be cold up here, no? Not wanting to disturb her, I ran down to my bedroom and grabbed my own blanket to cover her with.
Only because I don’t want to disturb her. Yeah, I didn’t even sound convincing to myself.
After I tucked her in, I gently brushed her hair out of her face and wondered if she’d need anything else.
Grabbing her notepad, I jotted down a quick note before ripping it out and leaving it next to her bed.
Lucy,
Hope you rested well. Let us know when you wake up.
Yours,
Lockwood